Breakfast of champions

My 10 year old daughter has the dreaded NAPLAN tests all this week so I am sending her off to school with a full belly ... it helps the brain instruct the hand to get all the questions right, you know!

Yesterday is was porridge with frozen berries mixed in and a sprinkling of brown sugar. Today is is french toast with honey bananas and hot chocolate. Not only does this combo give the brain the jolt it needs, it warms the cockles on these decidedly chilly mornings. We love to watch the steam rising off the back gate as the sun heats up the morning dew .... it makes up feel like we are watching the fog roll in on a Scottish isle. Then a kookaburra will land, dangling a dead skink, and shatter that fantasy.

Miss 10 years old is all fired up to blitz the tests as she just heard she has been accepted into her preferred high school for 2014. Very exciting for us all. I have three girls and they will all be going to this high school so I will be reading notes and attending special days for the next 10 years.

And, am I the last person in the world to fall in love with Game of Thrones? Heck it's good. I feel inspired to do go off and stalk Emilia Clarke online now. I hope she dresses well because I'm going to feature her tomorrow.

Inspired by ... Kate Bush

I have loved Kate Bush for ever! As soon as I saw her wailing and doing her sexy, weird dance on the English moors I have loved her.

When I was a teenager she appealed to the Anglophile in me - the part of this Queensland country girl that longed for green fields and artistic companions with ruddy cheeks and windswept hair. A far cry from the smelly boys I grew up with that never got off their horses long enough to be in anyway interesting.

I thought Kate Bush was the most beautiful and intriguing creature I had ever seen ... and I may have even bullied my best friend into calling me Kate for a week or two. It didn't stick because Kate and I are streets apart. And when I say 'Kate' I mean the Kate of my imagination. The girl that is always winsome and distant, strong and alluring. That Kate, not the real Kate that is probably caught up in the same day-to-day working mother treadmill that I am on.

Anyway, the imaginary Kate had real street cred back in the day and could wear a leotard like no-one else before or since. But her style went beyond that 80s hippy crossed with a white witch aerobics instructor. I present to you the evidence....

In 1982 she signed copies of her album "The Dreaming" for fans in London wearing what look like red and white motorcycle pants. Awesome! And a t-shirt that I think says 'I'm a Madonna and you?'

In 1980-something she wore this completely lust-worthy kimono jacket with red tights. Not very witchy at all.

She suited up like a man for a photoshoot in 1985 and managed to look 100% woman.

Looking beautiful in black and white - I feel the need for some B & W dressing now.

So hot!

Biker Kate - also not witchy and weird.

Doe eyes, red lips, pale face = my idea of 80s beauty.

I don't know if I will be able to dress like Kate but I do want to get my fringe cut now! I know it won't make me look like her but every little bit helps. Maybe I can still capture the teenage dream, and all without even the hint of lycra :)

Tartan times

Breakfast in Manly this morning with a good friend. This is why people pay so much to live in Sydney - the water, the sunshine, the food. What a beautiful way to start the day. These pelicans would have waddled right up and taken my croissant if I hadn't kept it closely guarded - look at them whispering about their plan to seize it! 

Remember a couple of years ago when flannel shirts and bogan couture was all the rage? I couldn't quite bring myself to embrace the faded tight jeans, ugg boots and flannel shirt look so I compromised and bought this scarf to add just the right amount of tartan.  It has served me well and carries out it's neck-warming duties nicely.

I also lust after some tartan jeans - I had a pair I bought at a market in Milan back in 1997 and they were very retro punk. I wore them all the time when I returned from my travels back to Melbourne, but somehow I lost track of them when I moved to the US several years later. And they really didn't have a California vibe so I didn't miss them. I do now though! I'm trying to convince myself that I'm not too old to wear tartan pants but I flip back and forwards on that. I suppose it all depends on what you wear with them.

There is always the danger that a tartan pants wearing person could veer into this unwanted territory ....

Hmmm ... no thanks. I think was going for a bit more of this ...

The beautiful Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova doesn't look like she's going to the golf course at all! I really love this look with the orange jumper and pops of white.

Groooowl!

I have recently found my inner leopard and want to dress like one of those sleek dangerous cats ALL THE TIME.
Yes, I know everyone else has been wearing leopard print for ever, but for some reason the versatile print has flown under my radar. Well, it's in my sights now and I give all my thanks to these shoes from Chinese Laundry for showing me the light!

Hopefully they are on there way to me as I type. I ordered them yesterday and have already imagined a dozen outfits to wear them with - jeans, black tights and black pencil skirt, black pants, black wrap dress and endlessly on.

I think I also need a leopard print scarf to tie it all together but maybe that will be too much cat on one person. How about a leopard print bag?

Check out some other leopard looks that are fabulous (just like my imaginary looks).

Princess Caroline in Monaco at the 45th International "Concours de Bouquets". Sexy shoes with a sensible dress.

Mena Suvari attended the Neff Headwear & The Seventh Letter Sesame Street Art Exhibition wearing Joe Jeans Wild Skinny Jeans in Leopard. Leather + leopard!

Beyonce and Jay-Z out and about with leopard legs in NYC.

Claire Danes at The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in a leopard top and patterned skirt. I like!

Wrap it up!

For me it's a good day when I get to wear a scarf. I love them and have about a trillion which only get to see the light of day once or twice a year because, let's face it, Sydney is not that cold. But today IS chilly so it IS a good scarf day ... skippity hop! This white scarf is from Lands End Canvas and is soft and good with everything. The silvery cheetah jumper is from Old Navy years ago and is a trans-seasonal staple for me.

Today I am inspired in a scarf-y way by these gorgeous ladies -

I don't actually have a grey scarf, but Christy Turlington at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival makes me think I need one. Grey suits everyone, and the fabulous red lip doesn't hurt.

Geri Halliwell wore a beautiful coloured scarf in London this week. A nice pop of colour with the grey.

And Kylie Minogue copied my white scarf look (hee hee) also in London. I just need a soft leather jacket like that and Ms Minogue and I would be like twins!

Tomatoes are delicious - off and on

Given that we have had such a wet, mild summer in Sydney we have managed to still have a pretty good crop of tomatoes from the small tomato grove (about six plants) we have planted on the nature strip at the front of our house. Our neighbours take one or two when they need them - which we encourage - but they usually leave us enough for all the caprese salads and bruchetta we need.

Late last year I discovered a fantastic recipe for roast tomato and red lentil soup ...and then I lost it. But no matter, I have followed the general recipe that I remember and have turned out a pretty marvellous soup that the WHOLE FAMILY eats! Tres rare!

You take these, fresh from the garden if you are lucky enough to have them -

Chop them and put them in a roasting pan with a sprinkle of salt, plenty of good quality grassy olive olive, and loads of garlic unpeeled and put it in a low oven for an hour or two until they are still juicy but baked.

Then you take a saucepan and another splash of cooking olive oil - add chopped onion, celery and two carrots. Saute until soft. Then add 5-6 cups of water and a vege stock cube. Cook for a while longer. I usually add a can of tomatoes just for a bit of added tomato omphf and then add the roasted tomatoes to the soup. When it's all cooked you blitz it with your food processor - we have a hand held one.

In the meantime I cook a cup of red lentil in two cups of water with three bay leaves until soft. You add the lentils to the soup after it has been pureed. Then eat with crusty bread and amaze your friends and family with the rich tomato flavour!!

__________________________________________________________

To go with my current tomato attitude I feel the need for a red dress that does the salsa on my soul. For example ...

Red leather! From Raoul Mock.

Or this cute and cheap one from Old Navy - they ship to Australia you know.

Fancy extra decoration

Etsy is my happy hunting ground when I have to satisfy my need for new accessories... that's if there is no good Anthropologie jewellery listed on ebay, because that stuff is like cat-nip to me.

I'm into leather cuffs and bracelets at the moment and just received a package with these littel beauties...

I also got the plaited bracelet in yellow and another is green - they lift an outfit with their yummy colours.

Other leather beauties I have my eye on are similar but I really like to add colour via accessories so the more the better.

The lovely obi belt from welovebelts.

It's not leather but I really love this gorgeous wooden pendant from depeapa.