one year on, part two

As promised, here is part two from our family photo shoot with Gui Jorge. Clementine and I changed into more casual outfits halfway through the shoot (because I'm indecisive), right around the time she was going crazy trying to jump head first into the water. A lot of wrangling was involved, but Gui and Michaela made it work and the resulting action shots are some of my favourites.

This weekend, I'm planning to print and frame a few of these to add to our collection. I confess that I'm a bit worried that our place is beginning to look like a shrine to Clementine. There are so many photos of her hanging on the walls, resting on the bookshelves and decorating the bedrooms. How do you guys deal with family photos? Do you practice restraint when it comes to decorating with family photos, or do you go wild?

one year on, by gui jorge

I'm so happy with these photos, and so happy with our life right now. It's not perfect (whose is?) but it's lovely nevertheless. And having these beautiful images to document it all, well that's just the cherry on top.

I wanted to do this shoot to celebrate Clementine's first year, and as always, Gui and Michaela have blown me away with their talent. They were there 2 weeks before Clementine was born, and 2 months after. They got some sneaky shots of Clementine when she was a cheeky 8 month old and a couple of months later as a part of my sling diaries. I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have photographer friends, and I honestly feel so grateful for all these memories captured. Gui and Michaela are just so damn good at what they do, and such a pleasure to hang out with.

As an aside, I realise that these don't really look like family photos; they look like Gaby and Clementine photos. That's because I don't share pictures of my husband online (he's a private kind of guy) but there are some very sweet captures of the three of us that will soon be framed and hung on our walls. There were so many images I wanted to include here, so later this week I'll be posting part 2.

p.p.s. You can see all the photos Gui has taken of our family by clicking here.

sydney maternity photographer: vanessa

Last month, I travelled up the coast to photograph my friend's sister in law. We shot at Bouddi National Park, where the conditions were wild and windy. But 38 week pregnant Vanessa didn't complain at all, not even as we hiked through the mud. She was a trooper.

I have to say, I was a bit nervous about this shoot as we had to do it at noon on a very sunny day. As any photographer will tell you, these are not the most ideal conditions. That said, it was good for me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, and I'm quite happy with how the photos turned out.

p.s. more photos from Bouddi

markets & meal planning

Back in the day, I used to be quite disciplined about meal planning. I would plan our dinners one or two weeks at a time, and my husband and I would do one big shop on a Sunday afternoon. Now that we live near a supermarket (and now that I'm significantly less organised than I used to be...), I find myself winging it every night. My current system goes something like this: it's 2pm, I start wondering what I should make for dinner tonight. I hem and haw, flip through cookbooks and peruse pinterest before finally choosing a recipe and heading to the grocery store. This "system" wastes so much time, energy and money each week and it's been my intention to do something about it for a while now. Just this weekend, I finally got around to it.

On Saturday afternoon I sat down with a cup of tea, notebook, pen, stack of my favourite cookbooks and my notes from Whole Food Kitchen. I started by assigning each night of the week a theme. I ended up with:

Monday: Mexican
Tuesday: Indian/Asian
Wednesday: Italian
Thursday: casserole/crockpot
Friday: pizza
Saturday & Sunday: wildcards

I then went through each of my cookbooks jotting down the recipes I use most often, and their corresponding page numbers. I kept in mind that it's winter, and stuck with meals appropriate for this time of year. When spring rolls around, I'm planning to change my nightly themes and compile a new list of favourite recipes. Armed with my new list, planning this week's dinner was a matter of simply filling in the blanks. The whole process took me around an hour, and it was actually quite enjoyable.

With this week's meal plan in mind, we moseyed over to our favourite farmer's market early on Sunday morning. While I bought our produce for the week, my husband took Clementine to a sunny patch of grass where she could run free. It was the perfect place to sit, drink coffee and eat breakfast while not having to worry about Clementine destroying anything (restaurants and cafes are pretty much out of the question at this point). She was super interested in the ponies who she kept calling woof, so we paid for her to have a ride. Much to my surprise, she got quite scared once the pony started walking. It was cute while it lasted though.

I'm feeling optimistic about this new approach to meal planning. My goal was to keep it simple, and I think I've done that. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, my friend Stace has also written a post on meal planning, which you can read here.

sydney maternity photographer: katia

A few weeks ago, the lovely Katia got in touch to see if I could do maternity and newborn photos for her. As you all know, I'm a big fan of baby bellies so of course I said, "yes please!" We met last week for a session in Bondi, and spent an hour dodging tourists and chasing the sun to get the shot. No baby news to report yet, but if you'd like to find Katia you can read her blog here and check out her shop here.

the cold

The cold finally arrived this weekend, about a week after the official start of winter. We woke up under our cozy duvet and my husband said to me, "wow, you were cuddly last night." A sure sign of the weather; I usually want as much personal space as possible. After six years here, I'm becoming a total wuss. Once the temperature drops below 25 degrees, I start carrying a sweater with me, just in case. When I lived in Vancouver, anything above 20 degrees meant summer. It's amazing how you adapt.

We've had quite a nice long weekend. On Sunday the three of us drove up to the Central Coast for Mason's birthday party. On the way there we went to Bouddi National Park, where I did a maternity shoot for a beautiful couple. I've never been before, but oh my is it ever beautiful there! It was wild and windy, but we rugged up Clementine and she had a wonderful time playing on the sand and exploring the cliffs. Afterwards, she wore her party dress and enjoyed the ruckus that is a kids' birthday party. We ended the day at our friends' place back in Sydney, where the social butterfly entertained us all with her shenanigans. By the time I put her to sleep, I was exhausted but buzzing with nervous energy from our day. I forced myself to unplug, do a restorative yoga practice and drink tea while reading my latest book. Tonight I'm aiming for another early bedtime because the baby (I wonder how long I can keep calling her that?) keeps waking up between 4:00 and 5:00am, not my preferred time to start the day. Here's hoping it's just a phase.

I hope you're all enjoying the last of your weekends, long or otherwise.

my no buy month

unrelated photos from our wander through Wendy Whiteley's garden

Way back in December, I went on one of my annual de-cluttering sprees. I even managed to get my husband on board, and between the two of us we donated more than a carload of things to our local thrift shop. It's truly amazing how much we have managed to accumulate in the 5 and a half years we've been living together, especially considering that I moved here in 2009 with just two suitcases.

Of course, I know that all the de-cluttering in the world is just a temporary solution. I started thinking that to really make a difference, we had to get to the root of the problem: buying stuff. So I decided to spend the month of February buying nothing but the essentials, which I deemed to be food, petrol, and basic household necessities like toilet paper. Now, I wasn't overly strict with myself. As a mum to a baby, most of my social life revolves around catching up with friends over coffee or tea, so I let myself spend money at cafes. I also had to cheat once; my husband's birthday is in February and I figured he wouldn't be thrilled to hear, "Surprise! It's no-buy month so I didn't get you anything!"

But other than that, my project went surprisingly well. One of the things I noticed is that because I knew I couldn't buy anything, I never went into shops (not even thrift shops) and as a result, I saved time and money. I normally have a running list of things I'm on the hunt for and I'll often let myself buy something from my list if I find it on sale. In February I found a pair of sandals that I loved, and they were a steal. I didn't buy them thanks to my commitment to no buy month, and in March, when I could buy them, I resisted. I learned that when I want something, I should write it down and wait, and wait… Often, the urge to buy just goes away. Other times, I'll find what I want for very little money at a thrift shop, which is what happened this month. A candleholder was one of the things on my list, and I spent all of March looking for the perfect one. Eventually I found what I wanted at Vinnie's for $3; it took me over a month but it was worth it.

The no buy month also made me evaluate the difference between wants and needs. About halfway through the month I ran out of one of my moisturisers. I had been using two kinds - extravagant, I know - one for day, one for night. There was a brief moment when I thought I'd just go out and replace it, surely that would count as an essential… But I knew it wasn't essential (not even close) and two months later, I'm still using the one kind.

The other thing I've discovered is the power of the internet to make me want to consume. I had to unsubscribe from all of the newsletters I had subscribed to over the years; if I don't know that Anthropologie is having a sale then I'm not tempted to buy anything. So simple. But I also have to beware of blogs, particularly home and design blogs. Our home is a pretty funky mismatch of furniture we have been given over the years. Until recently we were still using my husband's great-grandmother's couch! It's certainly not a magazine worthy home, but it's comfortable and I think we've done well to make it us while spending very little money. There is a part of me though, that pines for my dream couch and is tempted to spend money whenever I see a beautiful home tour. So I'm staying away from all those beautiful design blogs for now. Call it a breather, good for my sanity and our wallets.

Have you ever done a no buy month? I'd highly recommend it.

indian summer

We're in the middle of an Indian summer, here in Sydney. During the day, the heat and humidity are constant and at night we're still sleeping with fans close by and nothing to cover us but a light sheet. While I'm getting quite sick of the never-ending heat, the one silver lining is that it's still beach weather. I've taken my mom to several beaches during her trip, but this postcard perfect one is my favourite. Hands down.

Last week, on yet another hot day, we drove south to the Royal National Park. It's a bit of a trek from Sydney, but oh so worth it. We had Wattamolla beach almost all to ourselves; no need to fight for a patch of sand and a piece of water like at most Sydney beaches. The water was crystal clear and we wasted no time diving in and taking Clementine for a swim. She cried when it was time to get out.

I've heard before that autumn is the best time for ocean swims, and I'm starting to believe it.

Kinfolk Australia

This week I was lucky enough to attend two Kinfolk events: a media day and a dinner at Glenmore House. I had been trying to get along to one of their events for ages, so I was pinching myself that I got to spend two days in a row in the beautiful world of Kinfolk.

Earlier this week a small group of bloggers, artists, photographers and creatives gathered in the stunning home of Jessie James to meet Kinfolk's Co-Founder, Katie Searle-Williams, and Community Director, Julie Pointer. In between bites of yummy food (thank you Mario's Kitchen) I got to chatting with the girls about life in Portland, travel, family, and celebrating Christmas in the "wrong" climate. I was delighted to hear that Kinfolk is doing a feature soon on just this — alternative ways to celebrate Christmas, going beyond the traditional Christmas tree. I was also excited to learn of Kinfolk's Canadian connection; its Founding Editor, Nathan Williams, is Canadian and the magazine is printed in Vancouver.

I find it amazing that Katie and Nathan were able to create something so wildly successful pretty much straight out of college. And that their work has spread way beyond the magazine is also quite impressive. Their vision to foster small gatherings has quite literally become reality with dinners, workshops and events being held all over the world. In no small part thanks to Julie, who organises so many of these gatherings worldwide. Talking to Katie and Julie, it was obvious how driven and passionate they are about their work, and about their co-workers and contributors, who seem like family to them.

The next day my friend Katie and I drove out to Glenmore House for the largest ever Kinfolk dinner. The venue was completely perfect; Katie said it made her feel like she was back at home in the English countryside.

After getting snacks from the grazing table — a big farmhouse style table piled high with bread, cheese, nuts, crackers, strawberries, grapes, cherries and more — we sat down at the longest table I had ever seen. As you would expect from a Kinfolk gathering, every little detail from the menus to the flowers was perfect . Like a pinterest fairytale. The food came out family style, and as we shared with our neighbours we got to know and laugh with new friends. The highlights? A fig, mozzarella and caramelised onion pizza and a rose and almond rice pudding. It was a truly memorable evening and I just have to say thank you again to Luisa, and to Jaclyn for organising it.

our evening walk

Every day — in the late afternoon or early evening — I take Clementine for a walk. It started as a way to get her to sleep, but now it's one of my favourite parts of the day. Sometimes I push her in the pram, but more often than not, I carry her close in a carrier. I love to watch her as she slowly surrenders to sleep. Her squishy cheeks against my chest, her pouty lips, her slow belly breathing...

As I walk past old sandstone terraces and tiny workers' cottages, I peer into open doors and windows. I can't help myself; naturally nosy, I like to see how other people live. And I wonder about the families I see — where do they work? How many kids do they have? How long have they lived here? I also catch myself daydreaming of the day when we have our own little cottage with a backyard to play in, and a letterbox where the mail doesn't go missing.

 But even though we don't live in our dream house yet, I'm reminded of just how charming our neighbourhood is. And it doesn't cost anything to admire the beauty all around us. Especially at this time of year, when the jacarandas are in bloom and their purple blossoms litter the footpaths.