vacay

A piece a Week – Aloha to a Tangram Design Top & some Ukelele Playing

| poppypeach
After the week of lemons, symphony and a geometric top (1st draft) I wanted to try out another top in the same design just to see how it would look in a brighter colour combo. I have this lovely green fabric by Liberty of London in my fabric stash and I combined it with a magenta fabric.
The reason for all this brightness and colour is because we are off on vacay to Maui (see the Panama hat in the pic!). We will be staying on a 2 acre property in the upcountry where it rains most of the time – which means it will be lush and wild and away from the condos and people! We are planning to hang on the beach and hike and check out lots of yummy food. I have been busy planning the itinerary for the week as we want to make the most of our time there. The Road to Hana is on our list and I will have to get prepared with the ginger candies for travel sickness as I mapped the route and there are many turns and bridges, so best to be prepared. 
Hope this top travels well as I will wear it with some jeans and my beloved Campers for airport security – you know take those shoes off and wander around. After the airport fun, I cannot wait to go and swim in the sea and check out some turtles. The countdown is on!!!
Liberty of London fabric and Magenta

Big V at the back of the top

Saturday the local library had a Ukelele jam and what better way to get into the spirit of Aloha than to get out my Uke. It was a fun time and I learned some songs and how to hold my fingers on the strings to get a G note – looking at the picture, it IS as tricky as it looks!  

My ukelele out and about

Oh and just for some fun and to bring in some cat energy – Cat Cafe in Mountain View anyone?!? I have been reading on the neighborhood forum boards that there is an interest in having a cat cafe in Mountain View. There’s one in Oakland, one to be crowd funded in San Francisco, one in Melbourne and there are at least 39 in Japan! Kitties, Tea and pats what a lovely way to pass the day…

Yay to the Cat Cafe says Macaroni

Kitten Art Ms Bella

Portland – a mummy vacay away!

| poppypeach
After all the craziness of final weeks school I planned some time away to visit my friend in Portland, Oregon. This is a place where I could move to tomorrow with it’s amazing food and lifestyle. It was such a place of dreams where I could buy vegetarian food with a depth of flavour I had never experienced before, eaten ice cream with strawberry balsamic vinegar and pickled strawberries and eaten sustainable sushi with tasty cocktails as well. I have to say the cocktails have to be some of the best I have tried with local artisan gin called aviator and this incredible ginger liqeur my friend used in the cocktails at home. Well the dream had to end and now I am back to reality with the everyday but my inspiration has been with cooking my daily meals with the hope to replicate something of what Portland has to offer! I have a few pictures of the highlights of my vacay away…

Gonna take you for a ride on a big jet plane…

Natural Selection desserts – the first restaurant I visited in Portland, a vegetarian heaven

Oh yeah – the Portland Naked Bike Ride

Drinking cocktails with my friend – a Linoncello cocktail for me! 

Lobster Ravioli with Marscapone – dreamy!

Super fresh Rice Paper Rolls with a dipping sauce – perfect with the truffle oil fries on the side (I was hungover that day!)

Mother’s in the city – my brunch frittata with feta and olive goodness

An ice cream treat after I had my tattoo below – this is a Salt and Straw combination of flavours

My tattoo from the wonderful tattoo artist Cody at Scapegoat tattoo

A bowl of sustainable sashimi at Bamboo – something sushi fantasies are made of
 
At Portland airport – a fond farewell

My new favourite shoes for the season by FLY London – I love shopping in Portland with no sales tax!