Sushi date night

My husband and I have both been super busy lately; he's been working a lot and our schedules don't always match up very well. But this weekend we managed to go on a date, a real dinner date and it was so nice. I wore my new clogs and prettied myself up a bit, and we headed to one of our favourite places for sushi, Sushi Bar Rashai. Me oh my, it was delicious! And getting to spend time with husband was pretty delicious too.

My creative space

Ok, so I realize that my creative space isn't very exciting this week because I'm still in the early stages of being creative. I've got my pattern, I've chosen my fabric, I've even cut my fabric but I haven't gotten any further than that. I've made this all-day tote from Lotta Jansdotter's book Simple Sewing a couple of times as gifts for people, and now I'm finally making one for myself. I couldn't decide on the fabric and then as I was sorting through my rather small stash I came across this Ikea fabric that I bought for nothing in particular, and I thought "perfect!" It'll be simple enough to match anything since it's black and white, but it's got a nice print to keep it interesting. I'm hoping to finish it by tomorrow so I can use it to carry my yoga books with me to class on Saturday. I tend to get easily distracted so we'll see if that actually happens, I'll keep you posted...

Head on over to Kootoyoo to check out other peoples' more exciting creative spaces!

Berry buttermilk muffins

I found this recipe for berry buttermilk muffins on Jodi's beautiful blog, Ché and Fidel. A couple of days ago when I had some organic blueberries sitting in my fridge, I gave them a go. I love baking with buttermilk, makes everything so yummy. I also used whole wheat flour to try to make them a bit healthier. In any case, they're quite scrumptious and they've made for a great quick breakfast this week with a cup of tea.

owl mug and teapot from Anthropologie, of course

Oh deer!

Since I talked about my love hate relationship with embroidery a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd show you another embroidered project that I actually finished. I mentioned in that post that I learned how to embroider with a kit from Sublime Stitching, and this is the product of those early days of sitting on my couch with a needle in one hand and Jenny's embroidery instructions in the other. Once I had finished the embroidery, I just sewed a very simple tote bag. The stitches are a bit wonky (I'm not great at sewing on straps) and the embroidery is imperfect, but it's one of my favourite things that I've made. I carry it with me often, and I usually get compliments on the pretty deer. When that happens, as much as I'd love to pretend that I'm talented enough to draw said deer, I always fess up and explain about how great Sublime Stitching is. If you're into embroidery, or you just want to learn, definitely check them out. Or better yet, have a friend teach you. I think that's pretty much the best way to learn a new skill.

Yoga school begins

This photo is clearly not from teacher training; it was taken by my friend Vanessa on a trip to Fraser Island a few years ago.

I started yoga teacher training this weekend and it was awesome. It was also scary and overwhelming, but mostly it was awesome. It all started bright and early Saturday morning with 34 students and 3 teachers chanting and meditating for a while. I don't know about everyone else, but I certainly felt nervous. I was quickly put at ease by our wonderful teachers though, who talked about what a great gift it is that we are able to do this and how wonderful it is that we are all devoted enough to give up our weekends for the next 3 months. Yes, from now until June I will be at yoga school all day every Saturday and Sunday. But I don't mind, I know how lucky am I to be doing this.

Over this first weekend we talked about our best and worst experiences in yoga classes, we had a crash course in Sanskrit, and we practiced lots of yoga. We also spent time getting to know each other, which was one of the best parts. Although we're mostly all strangers (I have one friend), I can tell we all have so much in common and I can't wait to get to know everyone better. The scariest part of the weekend happened yesterday when we were given a sequence and had 5 minutes to teach it to our fellow students. Even though there were no real expectations of us, I was petrified. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing, but I got through my sequence and had mostly positive feedback. Teaching for 5 minutes made me realize how much thought and effort goes into teaching, and it's given me a whole new appreciation for all of the yoga teachers I have ever had. I remember when I was following the lovely Nina's teacher training journey, she wrote about practice teaching: "I felt like I was trying to juggle, on one foot, while singing a song, while counting backwards" (from this post). That pretty much sums up what my 5 minutes felt like, but it also felt good and I was proud that I did it.

It was a brilliant weekend, and I'm looking forward to everything that they throw at us over the next 3 months. I have a feeling that I am going to learn a whole lot, and in the meantime, I have to get started on my homework...

Sydney love: Mudgee

I'm once again going to do a Sydney Love post about a place that's not in Sydney, but I think it still counts as something that I love about living here. Mudgee is a pretty country town a few hours Northwest of Sydney with vineyards galore and spectacular landscapes. I especially love the drive up, which is dotted with old sandstone farmsteads, ugly mining towns and of course, lots and lots of sheep! It's an especially important place for my husband and I since it's where we got married, and we've been up there many times over the last few years. This is a smattering of photos from these various trips, hope you enjoy!

My friend told me that I would look like a model here if I wasn't wearing a down jacket, he he. What can I say? It was cold!

These photos are all from a friend's farm.

This place is so nice and I always make a point of going.

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A crafternoon

Lucas chilling on my quilt, which you may recognize from this post.

My friend Caroline came over today so that I could help her make her baby a pair of booties for his baptism. We used the Anna Maria Horner pattern that I used to make these booties for him, but this time we used white satin. They're not quite done yet, but we had a lovely time working on them and playing with Lucas. He seemed happy enough to chill out and play with bits of fabric and a panda while we sewed. I love having crafternoons with people, I definitely need to do it more often!

Cazzie concentrating

My yoga mat bag

First of all I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the encouraging comments on my last post. You all made me feel so much better. Now, let's move on to some sewing of the non fascinator variety shall we? While last week my life was all about sewing fascinators, this week has been all about yoga. I just finished a very long day at the studio, I've been to a class each day and I start teacher training on Saturday. So it only seemed fitting to share my yoga mat bag with you today. I made it with some fabric that a friend gave me in L.A. last time I was there. I kind of improvised it and although it was a bit hard to make, I'm so glad I did. Especially this week when I have carried it every single day.