Birthdays and Camera Ninjas.

A few test pics!

My nana in the kitchen, oh bless.

I GOT A NEW CAMERA and I probably won't shut up about it for the next few months.
It's a beautiful Canon 7D which also takes HD video. *faints*
Wayne secretly organised for my family and his family to pitch in for my birthday to help us pay for it. I am absolutely so grateful for the great family I have.

This is something I've wanted for a very long time but with buying a new car and saving up for a wedding it has been at the bottom of the list.

I really enjoy photography especially when it comes to fashion and weddings so in the next few months I have a few personal projects which my lovely friends will help me out with. I want to put a folio together, and honestly it just seems like a side hobby but I'm open to where ever it takes me.

Right now I'm trying to experiment with different styles. I'd like to create a vintage feel to the photos without having to use photoshop. I don't want my photos to look exceptionally perfect, not fun for me!

So keep a look out for my projects this year. I guess it's also pretty helpful that I have 5 weddings to go to, so I'll be a 'camera ninja' as Wayne would call me. Sometimes he can't even find me when we go to weddings because I'm 'hiding' and clicking away, I just can't help myself.



xx
Farrah

Luke and Nicole's wedding

Linda Gorringe dress - notice the tie matching? kudos to wayne.

The wedding had a yellow theme! very different.

Mr. & Mrs.

Diva ring, nails are OPI bling dynasty and my clutch from - davie and chiyo

Wayne and his brother with their cheesy salesman smiles.

Sorry we haven't posted in a while, we went away this weekend to a wedding :)

This is wedding number 3! It's Nicole and Luke's wedding in Tweed Heads which is located on the border of New South Wales and Queensland.



View Larger Map

Oh and it's worth mentioning that Nicole is Wayne's cousin.

We woke up at 3am and we hopped on a plane at 6am and were off to the Gold Coast! great start on a Friday morning. I must say we were both extremely tired for most of the trip and I suspect the early wake up call had something to do with it.

It's so funny that Wayne and I were decked out in jackets and scarves and when we arrived at the Gold Coast we thought it was so nice and warm with a slight breeze, it wasn't cold at all and Wayne's uncle says 'Yeah it's a bit cool today'.....WHAT? this is not cool this is hot for us 'Melbournians'.

For my overseas readers, Queensland is usually known as the 'sunshine' state, it's usually quite hot over there throughout the year and Melbourne is well known for its cold weather.

The wedding ceremony was held outside at a beautiful winery and the reception was held at the same resort Wayne and I were staying at which was was very convenient.

The theme of the wedding was yellow, summer, tropical, it was quite consistant throughout every detail.

We had a lovely time but towards the end we were ready to go home, small getaways can be quite exhausting.

Enjoy the pics xx

I suck at baking - Part 2 (Easiest cake...ever)

YUM! Prepare yourselves for the easiest cake to make. It's so shiny after the icing melts.

LOL "It's MIIINE" Wayne adores this cake, all for him.

Ok, what is going on? I just can't stop baking. This is my new hobbie ever since the TV was packed away.

Now, I LOVE food safari, it's an aussie cooking show and my chicken tandoori recipe is from them as well. Last week I remembered one particular recipe and I was inspired to make it. It's the EASIEST cake recipe, an Orange and Almond Flourless cake, yum yum.

I wasn't really planning on blogging about it, but I thought it's handy if there is anyone else out there new to baking like me.

It's a very moist and dense and is perfect with a nice cup of tea.

You can watch the video on how it's made here



Recipe:

2 oranges (I used Navel oranges)
6 eggs
250g caster sugar
250g almond meal
1tsp baking powder
Extra caster sugar for dusting before baking
Icing sugar for dusting after baking
Margarine for greasing the pan (I used baking sheets)


Wash oranges and place unpeeled, in a pot of boiling water for 2 hours. Drain the water and allow the oranges to cool. This can be done ahead of time.

Preheat oven to 190°C.

Break 6 eggs into a mixing bowl or blender. Add caster sugar and beat or blend together.
Place the two oranges into the egg mix. Break up the oranges and then blend together to a smooth consistency. Add the almond meal and baking powder and blend.

Grease or add baking sheets to a 20 cm spring form baking pan and dust with caster sugar.

Pour batter into the pan and sprinkle caster sugar on top and bake for 1 hour to an hour and a half or until the top is golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar to serve. Wayne likes it cold, so we put it in the fridge for a while.



Happy Baking xx


Farrah

Cupcakes & Dresses

Over the weekend, Wayne and I thought we deserved a night out so we decided to go out for dessert. This got me excited because I wanted to wear my new dress, which has *drum rolls please*............... shoulder pads! haven't decided if they suit me or not. I don't remember the shop name but I got the dress from Brunswick street, the day I visited Rose St Market. Currently I'm loving the combinations of red and blue. It's the colours we learnt to avoid when I studied web design back in high school, but in the fashion world these colours are gorgeous together.

Wayne made me pose. It's true. "Farrah put your hands on your hips".

It's great without heels too, fun in the park before going out.

Wayne still has this hat on....I think I may need to buy a new one for him

Being silly is our nature.

Okaaay, we are a bit mushy. We were enjoying a cup of
tea and a slice of cheesecake! yum

Speaking of Red and Blue, I had to sneak this picture in. First (yes first ever) batch of cupcakes I baked. They're 'red' velvet cupcakes in 'blue' polkadotted cupcake papers!

This weekend was all about red and blue. I had a blast making them with Nicole, even though it was a messy experience with the red food colouring. Practically the whole kitchen was red, I think Wayne would have freaked out if he saw what the kitchen looked like. To his surprise I cleaned up everything straight away lol. You see Wayne has threatened once that he would sneak in a picture in our blog if I leave the kitchen messy ever again. Whatever, I'm proud of my messy baking skills.

plenty of smiles and cuddles,
Farrah

Rose Street Artist Market

I finally had the opportunity to visit the Rose St artist Market on the weekend! Wayne had a guitar jam with a friend so I had a free date.
My lovely friend Yael has had a stall there for a while now and I've been meaning to visit her to see her knitting goodies.

It's a gorgeous market filled with hand made crafts from local Melbournians. I always like to encourage and support local artists and it was mind blowing to see how talented they were. It was like an etsy store, but in physical form...heaven! There's 70 stalls, a cute cafe, and the best part is that it's open every Saturday and Sunday 11am till 5pm.









I highly recommend you visit the Market if you're after unique items, accessories, clothes, designer pieces, homeware and limited edition artworks. I already got my eyes on a few items for our house.

Of course I'm going to plug Yael, I love her work and she's just the nicest person ever. She's situated in the back corner of the market and she is most certainly the knitting queen. She makes gorgeous wraps and scarfs perfect for the winter season in all sorts of colours.





I ended up chatting to a few other stall owners, feeling inspired. I want to sew, or make something. My Nana was a tailor all her life, and my Mum is also fabulous at sewing. Surely they can teach me? if they are patient enough lol.

Along with many other perks of Rose St Market, Brunswick Street is just around the corner. It only happens to be my favourite street, ever. Lots of other shops to visit (vintage goodness) and plenty of food to eat! I took my friend to eat pizza's at 'Bimbos Deluxe' a quirky pub and a semi lounge/club by night that makes delicious affordable gourmet pizzas.

This top is something my grandma would wear, but I love it - by Friends of Couture & I'm looking tired.

Here we are at Bimbos! looking at their menu.

Agnello: Tomato, mozzarella, spiced lamb, rocket, pinenuts, sultanas

Melanzana : Eggplant, fresh tomato, mozzarella, mascarpone

Both Pizza's AMAZING.

I had so much fun, it was a great day. Nothing like a bit of shopping and good food accompanied by lovely people. Write it on your calender 'Must visit Rose st artist Market' because Farrah said so =P

xx

I suck at baking - but this recipe is easy.

Hideous picture, I know. Can't we just eat the whole thing uncooked? yum.

I love taking pictures of people when they're not ready. Haha sorry Kate.
mario tshirt = awesome. Nerd alert.

Kate is a natural model. hehehe I love you.

Wayne had a men's bbq thing on Saturday and I invited my lovely friend Kate over so we can have a baking extravaganza.

I'm not that bad, honestly sometimes I'm just un-coordinated, is that even a word? Flour and sugar all over the bench is not a good sign of good baking skills now is it? or maybe it's a sign of my passion for cooking...let's go crazy and throw flour everywhere! woo.

We ended up baking muffins, they were nom nom and so easy that even someone like me actually ended up doing okay...thanks to Kate's supervision.

Kate: "Farrah, what are you doing?"
Farrah: "I'm sifting the flour"
Kate: "In the bowl Farrah, not on the bench"
Farrah: "Oops, I knew that, I just thought the bowl was there, er, aaah"

So if you're not much of a baker, try this recipe but make sure you sift the flour where the bowl is, not where the bench top is...................................................yeah only I can do that haha.

Chocolate Fudge Muffins

300gm self-raising flour
50gm cocoa powder
220gm caster sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
90gm butter (melted)
180ml milk
120gm sour cream
100gm milk choc chips
100gm white choc chips

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line 12 muffin pans with paper muffin cases.
2. Sift all dry ingredients into large bowl.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.
4. Spoon mixture evenly into muffin pans
5. Bake 15-20 mins. Until cooked.

We're living temporarily in this unit, and the oven looks like it needs replacing so it took us longer than 2o mins to cook but see how you go.

I'm seriously turning into a 50s house wife.

First night without TV & taking up hobbies

This blog is a rambling one - and with no picture, sorry.

I have to admit it was hard coming back home from work and not automatically switching the TV on for a bit of background sound while I cooked dinner.
I felt so lonely, and when I'm alone the TV makes me feel I'm connected to the rest of the world. Does that make sense? or am I the only one? it was weird hearing the clock ticking, but ever so slowly I was eventually used to the silence in the house.
It gave me time to reflect, time to think about life, count my blessings etc. It was nice, different.

When Wayne came back home, I was so over-joyed it was quite funny. I appreciated his company to a greater level, after an hour on my own feeling disconnected from the rest of the world it was like WOW I have someone to talk to now.

We normally sit on the couch and watch TV when we eat dinner but this time we sat on the table like most normal people would do (obviously we're not normal) and talked for ages.

We talk a lot already, but it was nice to share a meal and have a chat rather than watch TV/DVDs. I thought this was truly quality time, watching a movie 'together' is not really quality time. You don't talk when you watch a movie, this is why I never understood why couples on a first date went to the movies? how do you get to know one another?


This TV-ban has been a blessing in my opinion and it will be interesting to see what will happen after 1 month. Are we desparately going to put the plug back in and start watching the rest of our Stargate dvd's? or are we going to have a much stronger appreciation to the time we've saved not watching movies, dvds, or tv shows?
I hope we do get this sense of appreciation. There's just such an obsession in this world with entertaintment, I don't want to be stuck in that bubble.

So now that we have a bit of free time I thought it would be good to take up a few hobbies:

- Sewing (Hi Mum and Nana) pretty much most of my Mum's side know how to sew and I want to learn. I actually know a bit, I just need to practice. So off I go to the op shops! and helllo spotlight! (to my overseas readers, spotlight is a fabric store)

- Wayne has an idea for a business - it's sort of a personal project and he's spending a bit of time researching on it.

- Baking - I haven't had the chance to do much baking, only when I was young to help Mum out.

- Story-writing - Wayne has a fabulous imagination and it's one of his other personal projects which I'd like to encourage him to continue working on.

- Photography - I love photography, pretty much what I'd like to do full time.


What would you take up if you had a bit of free time?

House Update: Moroccan themed outdoor area

I hope you enjoy our house updates. We get excited by just one simple update.

They're going to be putting the doors and windows for lockup stage on Wednesday. But you never know with building, we'll stay optimistic about it.

They also finished adding our small deck which we're hoping to extend next year to make it bigger, I'd really like our deck to have a moroccan theme with patterned cushions, lanterns and rugs.

Here's my inspiration board I put together:





When friends come over for tea I'd love to use this silver tea set. How fabulous is the tea pot? it's too pretty to use.


Have these comfy star ottomans scattered around for a nice cosy evening.

And these gorgeous ceramic pieces, sigh.



I know it seems impossible to achieve all this in such a small space, but with this picture I've been inspired that anything is possible in small space. How good does it look? I love the vibrant bright colours.

I can't wait to star decorating the outdoor deck now, it's pretty exciting. Do you like? or do you think it's too much?


Pictures: Metroscope and Kasbah imports