ASOS 'In Your World'

I've been slack with posting this because I lost the charger to one of my cameras (I have no idea where it went and can't for the life of me remember the last time I had it!) but you might remember a few weeks ago I mentioned going to one of the ASOS 'In your world' launch party events in Sydney. I went to one of the parade events at Opera Point Marquee, which I have actually been to before. I love it there because of the view, ambience and glamour of being in a marquee overlooking our beautiful harbour.

I actually have never been a fan of ASOS' clothes but this was a fun, free event so I thought why not!

Excuse the very photo heavy post ahead =)

They had this wall where you could scan the pics of clothing using your smart phone and the special ASOS app to purchase it straight away.

These wristbands were personally ID'd so that they could take photos of you then scan your wristband and the photos would tag you on fb automatically. It was definitely a very technologically savvy event!

And here are some photos of the clothes on parade:

 I like the poised sparkly fun aspect of both the dresses below (though I would never personally buy them!)

 The final walk...

All up I think the clothes looked better in real life than I expected - the fabrics were better than I expected and better than I had seen of other ASOS items I've seen friends wear. The fashion parade and event in itself was short and snappy with three runs of it happening over the night and bits and pieces of finger food and drinks on offer.

All in all a fun night out and the goodie bag wasn't half bad either!

This pic is a bit terrible 'cos its on my old camera....the sunglasses are going to come in handy in Bali when I'm sitting by the pool all day!

The Grounds Alexandria

I have been trying to go to The Grounds at Alexandria for ages, but everytime I go the wait time is ridiculous (I am not waiting 45 mins+ for normal breakfast fare!). Anyway, I've now been let into the secret which is to order take away and perch yourselves at the outside tables (tip for next time, right!).

Last Saturday however I managed to get myself out of bed early and met up with a friend who lives around the corner for a quick brunch/breakfast meal. I have to admit, the vibe there is really awesome with the grounds just so family friendly and almost unexpected in the concrete jungle landscape of Alexandria.

They're setting up a new bar and pizza area which will be fabulous when the weather warms up and people can chill out on a lazy Saturday/Sunday arvo for drinks and sunlight.

I ordered the croque monsieur which was really well done - and mesclun salad on the side was a welcome addition.

I don't remember what this is but that's my friends Turkish inspired toastie breakfast item. Looks amazing too!

So my verdict? The bandwagon aspect is definitely very annoying but the food is really good quality and well done. The ambience is fun and casual and they didn't push us out quickly despite having queues of people waiting. I wouldn't say the place is mindblowingly unique or the best brunch ever but definitely worth a try (especially with the take away trick)!

Melbourne trip

I was in Melbourne last week for work and while the weather was pretty average and I was pretty busy with work I still found some time to eat and relax!

I went to the much loved and popular asian hotspot Chin Chin and didn't even have to wait for a table! Score!

The sashimi entree was pretty tasty (above) as was the crying tiger (below). Crying Tiger was a little too spicy for my liking but we also tried the crispy skin duck which I don't have a pic of which was awesome! The serving size was very decent too which is always a plus.

I stayed at the Crown Metropol again which I love mainly because of their beautiful pool and facilities. Being the newest of the Crown hotels it has uber modern interiors and a fabulous view. Below is the view from the gym - makes exercising that much better!

They ran out of king rooms so I got a double room instead...one bed to sleep in and one bed to sit and watch TV and read in!

And that famous pool - it is on the second top floor with an edgeless infinity pool feeling as the pool overlooks the edge of the glassed walls all round. The view is magnificent! See below the pool water appears to flow over the edge and you can see the view just yonder.

Not to mention the pool temperature is beautifully heated and the perfect 1.2m height continuously across which is perfect for lap swimming.  Below is the view from where I was perched in the hot tub/jacuzzi which is awesomely heated at 38 degrees. I just chilled in here to relax!

I love going to Bistro Guillaume everytime I'm in Melbourne and this is my standard order - Steak Frite with paris mash instead of the frites. The bearnaise sauce is just right! Usually I will also order dessert (profiteroles) but I just couldn't fit it all in!

On my last night I went to Cumulus for dinner and despite it being a Thursday night the wait wasn't actually too long. I have to say, I've been there for brunch but their dinner wasn't as wow as I would have expected. We ordered the whole snapper and wagyu brisket as our main dishes, both of which were tasty and well cooked but not wow. We did order a freekah salad though which was amazing and had a selection of charcuterie items and entrees which were all very filling and came to about $40 a head which is pretty good considering how full we were.

I just had to try the breakfast buffet at Metropol which is on the top floor at their exclusive 28 members bar and lounge. Being just above the pool, it has an amazing view over the city skyline and of course of the pool below. The buffet is just between the two 'book cases' and the interior decor is beautiful. It apparently can be hired for functions and I was just imagining it would be beautiful and perfect for a 21st, work cocktail function or engagement party. It is very reminscent of the manhattan rooftop style location of my 21st actually, which is probably why I loved it so much!

The breakfast selection was small but refined - just the right amount of variety though for the $38 pricetag I think one would generally expect a larger selection. They had the normal scrambled eggs, mushrooms, sausages, bacon etc as well as the yoghurt station below, beautiful fruit selection, pastries, breads and cereals.

Annd finally...my room service breakfast order one day was pretty swanky - butter milk pancakes with fresh berries. Delish (excuse the blurry iphone photo!)

After all that though...I'm glad to be back home in Sydney!

En Pointe!

I've always loved ballet - I learned it for several years as a child and definitely wish I had continued! I stumbled across this beautiful and captivating video from The Australian Ballet recently and just had to share.

Isn't it just so heartfelt and exquisite?

Shoe Watch: October 2012

I was procrastinating from doing work the other night so decided to look at new hot shoes - it always makes me feel better!

Anyway, here's an edit of some awesome shoes I've seen recently:

The Bergdorf Goodman shoe catalogue was a good start - I love the photography and the way it has been put together. See for yourself!

And aren't these bow crystal heels by Giuseppe Zanotti amazing?

And while these are really wintery (coming into Northern Hemisphere's colder months), I could see these Alexander McQueens being practical and pretty

As for these Roger Viviers...stunning, absolutely stunning! I love the style and the strong vert hue and delicate bow as a touch of girliness to the shoe-boot

Inspirational

Lots has been happening in my life lately as I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads. This quote has kept me going through these times though:

"Maybe all one can do 

is hope to end up with the

right regrets"

                             Arthur Miller      

I believe everything happens for a reason so in a way don't really believe in regret. But if they are the 'right' regrets, they're really more aptly described as the right decisions. Do you believe in regret?

Where has the year gone?

Am I the only one who cannot believe how fast this year has gone? Did you know its roughly 10 weeks til Christmas? Crazy!

Anyway, on the topic of crazy, that is an appropriate description for my week. I'm going to Melbourne this coming week for work so I've been badly trying to get everything in Sydney done before I go away, plus on Wednesday I went to one of ASOS's launch party events (a post on that will come soon I promise!) and had work events and birthdays on Thursday and Friday.

Because I love my pics and I'm lazy...some pics for your viewing pleasure!

I went for lunch at my favourite quick eat Malaysian place in North Sydney - nowhere (well, very few!) places do this Prawn Noodle dish as well as To's!

This how I spent one afternoon this week - on an island near Drummoyne fishing! The weather somehow held out (it literally poured all morning and cleared in the arvo) and it was so blissful looking over Sydney Harbour with a glass of champagne in hand just chatting with friends.

This is a terrible photo but on Friday night I was at The Star and who was performing randomly at the bar but Jessica Mauboy! So random! But there was no mistaking that powerful voice.

And because I was uber lazy today and woke up at 11.30am (very unusual for me but I'd had a really big week and haven't had a sleep in like that for literally months!) I went for a yummy late brunch at my  normal haunt bills but this time at Woollahra. I alternate between going to Woollahra and Darlinghurst depending on what I need to get done during the day but after the shocking service last time I went to Darlo I'll definitely just keep going to Woollahra. I went to school in the area many moons ago so I love going there and just wandering!

NYC: Torrisi Italian Specialties

Yes I know its terrible that I've been back from my whirlwind overseas holiday for almost 5 months now and I'm still blogging about my holiday! I just went to so many amazing cities and experienced so many different things that I could literally post everyday for 3 months and still not be finished.

Anyway, this week Michelin released their 2013 food guides with the all important Michelin stars being given out for restaurants around the world. I was so excited for Torrisi Italian Specialties that they got honoured with one michelin star for the first time this year!

When I went to NYC in 2011 I was dying to get a table but at that point in time it was a no reservations first come first served basis with tables incredibly difficult to score. This year I was really happy to hear they had started taking reservations so it was one of the first tables I tried to nab!

So here are some pics of the food - a few Antipasti courses up first. The course structure was very authentic with a whole lot of small plates, some pasta then the main courses and desserts. These are some breads and warm mozarella which was just so soft and creamy.

Another antipasti - fresh spring greens and first pecorino.

Fresh pepperoni and pea shoots - this was really meaty and flavoursome so though it looks like a small pieces to share between two it was actually a perfect size!

Soft shell crab mix fry - I absolutely adore soft shell crab and this was lightly battered to perfection and not at all greasy.

And now for the pasta - no Italian meal would be complete without some, right? Octopus, shells and potato.

View from our window seat table - it was lovely to be able to see the hustle and bustle outside but be perched at a lovely quiet table like this.

Now onto the main courses - meat and fish were offered so my sister and I opted to try both. This was the BBQ lamb, corona beans and celery slaw. I don't think this was anything extraordinary but of course it was cooked perfectly so was succulent. I don't know what happened to my piccy of the fish course but I had a John Dory which was fried and served with a bit of an olive drizzle. Again it was lightly battered so not too heavy which is just how it should be.

I loved this - a bit of a palate cleanser in the form of a sorbet!

And finally, a tasting plate or 'dessert tray' to share. There was the celery cake, grape jelly and peanuts (which is the rectangular chocolate coated delicacy towards the back), pizzelle cannoli at the front, rainbow cookies (italian flag coloured), apricot and pistachio cuccidati (white to the left) and finally peppermint patty in the middle. I loved this dessert plate because I could try a bit of everything and the bite sized morsels were a perfect way to clean your palate with something sweet but not feel like you need to roll yourself out of the restaurant because you've eaten so much. 

The menu changes daily so I'm definitely going to try and go again the next time I find myself lucky enough to be in NYC again. I loved as well that they gave us this little post card to remember our meal by :)

And here's a random shot - as we were leaving I took a sneaky photo of the underground kitchen. This was taken from the street level outside looking down and in. I don't think they were too happy about me taking a photo!

My experience at Torrisi was fab, but then I absolutely love any food that is Italian. I'm not sure that I would put them up there with other one michelin star restaurants I've been to, but what they're doing there is authentic, hearty and wholesome Italian food which I absolutely adore.