Cherry Blossoms

by Kylie Posted on April 17, 2013

Spring finally came to DC.  And with it, the cherry blossoms.  So beautiful, so delicate, so fleeting.  What an apt metaphor for life, contrasted so strongly against the bombings in Boston yesterday. Nic is currently in Boston, though thankfully (so deeply thankfully) was nowhere near the blasts. My heart goes out to those who were not so lucky.

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I was also very happy to see the Martin Luther King memorial. It opened only a few months after I moved back to Australia after my last visit to DC, and I remember being sorely disappointed that I didn’t get to see it then. I am disappointed no longer! It is a magnificent piece of work.

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With love from Washington,


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NYC Highlights

by Kylie Posted on April 8, 2013

I’ve just spent 10 days in New York City, ostensibly for a conference but also to spend some time with Nic and some Aussie friends who were there as well. We were all together for my birthday and for the Easter break, which was grand.

We’ve been to New York enough now that we don’t feel the need to do the touristy things anymore. Instead, on this trip we pretty much ate and drank our way through the city. I think I need to go on an all-salad diet for the next two weeks.

Highlights from the trip:

nic, mat, farenn

(1) Getting to hang out with these crazy cats for 10 days. I’m going to miss them.

(2) Staying in Brooklyn, which is a really cool place. I hadn’t stayed outside Manhattan before so I was really glad we tried somewhere new this time. It was nice to have a home-base outside of the busy parts of the city. It also gave me a better appreciation of the different parts of New York – I never realised how big Brooklyn was before this trip!

(3) Stuffing ourselves silly at Caracas Arepa Bar. Soooo yummy!

(4) Catching up with a dear friend from Georgetown – and chatting away together as though we’d seen each other only yesterday (and not almost 2 years ago).

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(5) Revisiting the Highline and Central Park. They are peaceful, magical refuges in a city that never stops.

(6) Pushing the boundaries of acceptable cheese consumption in one week: Murray’s Cheese Bar, S’Mac and Bedford Cheese Shop are all to blame for our cheese comas.

(7) All of us getting buzzed enough on cocktails and Argentinian red wine that we can’t stop laughing at our own in-jokes while we trapse around NYC streets and subway.

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(8) Visiting beautiful and colourful shops to help Farenn pick out wool for a new scarf that she knit for me (thanks Faz!).

(9) Shopping. I’ve never been the kind of girl who goes to New York for the shopping, but this time I indulged a little and came away with several new lovely acquisitions.

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(10) Finally trying American sweet pies. My fave was the pear with ginger crumble (above), but the key lime pie and berry pies were also exquisite. (Please excuse the photo, I got a little excited and forgot to take a photo before I took a bite!)

(Top photo by Nic, second photo by Mat)


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Technicolour New York

by Kylie Posted on April 7, 2013

In the past, when I’ve thought of NYC, it’s as a city of grey. Full of colourful people perhaps, but otherwise the proverbial concrete jungle: tall, grey buildings; scarce greenery outside of Central Park; streets where light and shadow are in constant dance with each other; and where, underneath, a dark subway rumbles.

This time, though, is different. Maybe it’s because this time I’m staying in Brooklyn, with its open sky and artsy streets. Maybe it’s because every time I come to New York, I discover so many new things and fall in love a little more. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve got spring on my mind.

Whatever it is, this time all I see is colour.

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Photos (1), (2) and (4) by my friend Mat
The rest by me


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Cooking club: March update

by Kylie Posted on April 2, 2013

I’m travelling again, which is why I’ve been away from the blog for a little while. It’s also why I only managed to cook two recipes this month from my cooking club challenge, both of which I made at home before I left.

More updates on travel and other things soon.

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This is my first update on our year-long cooking club challenge to cook as many recipes as possible from the one cookbook. Or in my case, from the one cooking blog: 101cookbooks.com.

This month I cooked:

(1) Lasagne Tart

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This was tasty and a great use of zucchini, but I was lazy and didn’t bake the tart case myself. Those store-bought tart/pie cases SUCK. Why do they always taste sweet? I bought the savoury one and everything, and it was still sweet. Plus, I think it wasn’t deep enough. But despite that little hiccup, this was quite an enjoyable dinner and I think it would taste fab-u-lous if I actually bothered to do it right.

(2) Saag Paneer

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This recipe was really. damn. good. Really. I have no idea where you get paneer cheese from and I didn’t have enough time to make it myself, so I used haloumi instead. Worked a treat. Plus, I added (pre cooked) potato. I think this will now be on regular rotation at our house. It was easy to make if you want to try yourself, but word of warning: it does NOT take only 15 minutes to prepare. It took me at least 30 minutes. But maybe that’s because it was my first time, and I took ages to chop the spinach, and I was texting my friend while I was cooking? Anywho, once all the chopping is done it cooks super fast. And added bonus is that leftover buttermilk = pancake breakfast on the weekend. WIN.

(All photos from the 101cookbooks website)

See what the others are doing (on an ongoing basis) at:

Lucent Imagery // Down by the Sea // Explodyfull // Christa to the Max


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International Day of Happiness

by Kylie Posted on March 21, 2013

Today, 20 March 2013, is the first United Nations International Day of Happiness.

The website invites you to take the take the pledge to create more happiness.

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It also encourages you to acknowledge your Happy Heroes. I have many Happy Heroes, but there are three that come immediately to mind:

First and foremost is Nic, who always cheers me up when I’m sad and brings me even greater joy when I’m happy. Who always listens and gives excellent advice. Who is my guiding light.

Second is my friend, Kris, who is my anxiety-attack confidante. We have shared our vulnerabilities, we have cried, we have talked at length about ways to be more whole-hearted. I feel as though we are on this journey to be-the-best-versions-of-ourselves together.

Third are the happiness cheerleaders that I have found online. Some I have met in person, some I have spoken with via email or skype, some I have only read. All have changed me.

Thank you x

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Some resources making me happy right now:

I’m super happy because my sister bought me Danielle La Porte’s Desire Map as an early birthday present. I haven’t quite started it yet, but I’ve been listening to Danielle’s audio recordings of contemplations, blessings and poems. Do you have them too?  I’ve been listening to “A Declaration of Deserving” about a million times a day. It’s brilliant.

I’m also loving Melissa Ambrosini’s Light Meditation.

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Tell me in the comments: who are your Happy Heroes?


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