My favourite things in May

Brrr, it's cold in here! It's officially turned and our favourite things revolve around keepin' the heat in whilst looking fabulous, of course. Here are our remedies for the chilly weather.

1. Phở at Phở Pasteur, George St near central station
(not pronounced Poh or foh, but FUR like furrrr coat)

If you've never had it, it's time to S.T.A.R.T. It's the national vietnamese dish and my superfood. Phở comes in from either chicken Phở gà or beef Phở bò. It will warm you from the inside out, nourish you with it's clean broth and fill you up with lovely rice noodles and meat! I swear by it, whilst all of you were downing cereal for breakfast - I was slurping Phở - jealous much?! And, I guarantee it tastes better in the morning.

I always order the Phở dac biet (beef special) and in the LARGE size $11 - hey, its only $1 extra than the small and it's happiness in a bowl.

2. The Double D
Boys, I didn't get implants in the last week.

But something else did increase in size and that's my bedding, I've busted out the Double Doona, my cushy remedy to the winter blues. 

WARNING: it does make it hard to get outta bed, don't blame me if you sleep. on. in.


3. Shortgrain

Sydney you've done it again, by making it bearable to brave to cold for some fan-freakin-tastic thai. Well actually Longrain, is giving us what we want. Freakin' fiery and tasty thai food with no wait and a cheeky bevvy to go with it.

*Picture lychees, mint, cucumber with a hint of vodka - hello winter warmer*.

Give me a good HAND

You won't hear us staying that too often.

It's been hard to find really good authentic hand written fonts lately. And, we've come to the conclusion...  that you've gotta have interesting handwriting first & foremost, then scan it in and use it. Any font - paid or free - well, looks like-a-font. There is NO way around it. You will never get the nuances like blotchy ink stains or letter form inconsistencies via an installed font, only a good hand will give you this.

Based on our www research slash inspiration, here is some of our fav hands.

Crazy for Kate

Not that Kate, but this Kate. Kate Spade that is! Let me tell you a little story...

Once upon a time, I only wore black.

It wasn't that long ago but I lurrrved it - it was so E.A.S.Y. And it meant that everything matched, no issues, no dramas, mornings were a cinch. Then I met my lovely gay friend who swayed me (although, I already love it) into the love of high end clothing, think Comme De Garcons, Vivienne Westwood (yes, I own a bag, 2 dresses and many a hankerchief plus some lovely stocking - how can you not love her?!), Ralph Lauren (note: pants do not last the fabric wears between the legs), need I say any more.  

BUT now, I love colour, appreciate it and colour-blocking is my new.found.obsession.

Bring forward, Kate Spade complete with motto Live Colourfully - ahhhh, yessss, woman you DO know your colour. Here are the things on my wishlist, and I do envy her way with bold graphics and contrasting colour - so effortless!

There's no I in TEAM

Absolutely, certainly and most importantly we are a big, old, young and middle-aged TEAM here at 31stHQ.

Whenever there's a chance to get down, dirty and bond like a bottle of clag glue, we pounce like ferocious-caged-tigers. Well, not exactly. We did leap happily off our computers as 5pm struck and headed down to the Grand National in Paddington.

How do we bond?

• Speeches utilising the brocollini as a microphone (it doesn't help sound by-the-way)
• Talk of length and girth of you.know.what.
• Lotsa man-love 
• With yummy pub food; linguine, chips, duck and STEAK!
• Red bull mixers at the end to top of many a glass of champayne or wine or beer
• Talk of the HANGOVER the next day - eeeek!

What a blast! We couldn't have asked for anything more, good food, great company mixed with talk of all sorts. A special thanks to the 3 musketeers, Rach, Vaughan and Adele for the great night. Look forward to the next one.

The musketeers Rach, Vaughan and Adele as you've never seen them before.

A4: The Paper Convention is here

It's the final countdown for the Paper Convention Team. It's sooo close, I can smell the paper in the air. I hear, that the workshops are booking up fast, and the Benja Harney installation is going to be colourful and a real show of his skills as a master papercraftsman.

Book in for the opening night party here.
Lock the dates in your diary 31st May - 5th June.
Here's a little taste of very first event by the brilliant Trial & Error.

Bookmarked Lately

It's funny the things you save and collect. This is some of the imagery I starred in my google reader, or saved to my inspiration folder.

My fav is the a giant xiao long bao (chinese stock dumpling) with own built-in-straw, and the Indiana Jones Gif, man-o-man I could watch this all day.

Hope they inspire you, make you laugh or make you start saving images yourself.

Gifs + Photobooth = Friday Funday

A little something something to take you into the weekend.
My motto in life at the moment and a love of animated gifs.
Tagline courtesy of canon.

Wishing the house was like this

Organising and time-management is my strong point (if it's not in the house). Remembering things isn't a problem, the mind is like a bank. Filed, dated and in alphabetical order. This blog has got us intrigued. There's something so nice about seeing things in organised-order, colour-order or just a-bit-of-symmetry.

It's got us a little hooked, making us want to reorganise and maintain the house just like this. But, alas if only there were NO children or space issues, things could be like this. For now, we can get out neat-kicks from things organised neatly.

The only Lady in Melbourne-town

If you haven't heard of Lady Melbourne, then listen up. She's apart of Australia's blogging elite, yep, its now her full-time job. What? Huh? Are you serious? YES, YES, YES.

And why we love her here at 31stHQ?

She gives us an insight into her love of fashion, beauty tips, vintage finds AND even blogging tips. She  taste-tested spirulina just for the hell-of-it and shows us her best budget finds for the season. So, tune in. I've been hooking into her skin-tips and have to say - they work! The proof is in the pudding.

Glued to the royal wedding

Well, did you catch it? I definitely did, sped home so I didn't miss a thing. Dominos pizza in hand, vino in the other. Glued to the screen, ahhhh the trees in Westminster Abbey and THAT dress. It was deceptively simple, traditional and above all fit-like-a-glove something not easy to do - at all. Showing off Kate Katherine's teeny-tiny waist.

I was in royal love... BUT since Will & Kate are now officially the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge, and Kate not longer Kate, but Princess Katherine. The orginal Kate still rocks my world.