June 2022 – Miss Rosanna

Portrait of a woman

The Picasso Century at the NGV is now open and we went to see the exhibition today thinking crowds would be lesser before the school holidays. It was still pretty busy but great to see so many people in the city out and about despite the cold. We weren’t very prepared given the late morning tickets I’d bought so grabbed some coffees and toasties at Protaganist cafe at the Arts Centre Melbourne before heading inside but if you do get hungry, Bar Lourinha currently has a pop up restaurant at the NGV.

The exhibition is broken into two parts and I recommend walking outside to the pink open air Pond(er) installation – a reminder of Australia’s great inland lakes – if the sun is out, it’s good to catch some rays of vitamin D and rest your legs before viewing part 2.

Pablo Picasso lived through some very hard times over his lifetime including the Spanish Civil War followed by World War 2. It’s hard to imagine how much suffering and loss people had to endure over nearly a decade – there are no winners with war only pain and loss on both sides.

The winter solstice is fast approaching and I’ll be glad once it passes although I’ve been so busy at home and work – it’s been a welcome distraction from the dark days and nights. I still have tradies booked over the next 6 weeks at our place to do various bits and pieces but am looking forward to having a breather from house stuff before spring.

We’ve celebrated the solstice with an open fire outside in previous years and if you’re a BBQ lover, I’ve heard good things about Grill Americano in Flinders Lane which has a hand-built wood oven and Josper Grill. Further out, Olivigna at Pietro Gallus Estate in Warrandyte is holding two more Italian Grill Night experiences (at $75 per head) on Wednesday 6 and 20 July, which look delicious.

For full snuggle mode, you might want to lie down with a good book wrapped up in a quilt. I love the new Nancybird hand stitched patchwork kantha quilt (above) while today at Dymocks in Collins Streets, The Museum of Modern Love by Stella prize winning (and aptly named) Australian writer Heather Rose caught my eye, but I ended up walking out with Japanese writer Ken Mogi’s book (below) The way of Nagomi. I did have a shiatsu massage with my long time massage therapist Aliki Zouliou last week and it was just what I needed in trying to find some balance inside and out. Wishing you a peaceful week ahead.

A laugh and a half

After having a few fairly intense past weeks on both home and work fronts (this year continues to surprise me), it was nice to let my hair down this weekend celebrating one of my uni friend’s birthdays at the The Comic’s Lounge in North Melbourne last night. Ten of us met there queuing on the stairs to get in where we had a booked table (thankfully in the middle not at the front) and where they do a good pub line up of fish and chips, pizza and chicken parmigiana etc. which most of us ordered before the fun began.

We were treated to a warm up act by the host and then three sets of performances by six different comics which had us laughing at our tables. It’s been a long time between drinks for performers and the venue itself came close to shutting for good over the pandemic. Gold passes to see unlimited shows for a year are $70 each and some of the comedians were spruiking their wares at the end – if you can support them, I can highly recommend for a great night out.

It’s been super cold and lucky you if you have headed to the mountains this long weekend to enjoy the bumper snow that’s fallen. Our house is our holiday, beach house and investment property all wrapped into one at the moment so we won’t be going anywhere for a while! Given the dark, it’s been great to see a number of inspiring-sounding indoor experiences including Bruce Monro’s light installation From Sunrise Road from 25 June at Heide in Bulleen, The Picasso Century at the NGV and Light: Works from Tate’s Collection at ACMI which both started last Thursday and Vincent van Gogh currently showing at digital art gallery The Lume Melbourne.

While we’ve now found our forever home, I still enjoying looking at houses and this showstopper in Merton Street Ivanhoe has caught my eye as well as the quiet charm of these two houses in Valentine and Green Streets in Ivanhoe. The former looks like the home of a creative couple and I love the parkland access of the latter. Not all houses have to be obvious to be attractive in much the same way as people.

If you’re a fan of Angus and Celeste, their sale is currently on and while I’ve not had the budget to indulge – I love this oversized shirt with green detailing from Kloke (above first image) as well as some of the middle eastern-inspired homewares from Saarde. While I have returned to wearing platform or block heeled shoes (no higher than 6cm), most women in the city are still wearing flats and they are a lot more comfy! I’ve got my eye on these Frankie 4 sneakers and Bared work flats for summer. Stay warm peeps.

She’ll be apples

I mentioned green being the new black a while ago fashion-wise and it’s a particular shade called Bottega green. I’m more of an emerald girl myself but I’m loving all the colour. It was interesting too to read about P.E. Nation’s collaboration with Virgin Australia – I’ve got a lilac sweat top that I’ve worn to death and know their activewear is very popular.

Speaking of style, after a two year hiatus the Banyule Women in Business lunch event is back with a vengeance on Friday 15 July at The Centre Ivanhoe and I’ll be attending as a guest this year sitting at local influencer, trainer and speaker Nikki Ellis‘ power table of 10. This year’s keynote speaker is celebrity stylist and entrepreneur Lana Wilkinson and I love that you can recycle old clothes with Upparel – who Banyule has partnered with for this event.

I’m so excited that I’ve already hired my outfit (with a back up outfit in a smaller size) from Glam Corner and have some vintage and other accessories to match it up. All will be revealed if you’re coming along! It’s been a long time since I’ve worked in fashion but I thought you might like this 90s throwback photo of me (above – check out the fringe and dark matte lipstick) as Daimaru house model in Kenzo long before the days of Instagram and Tik Tok.

I worked in the international designer area selling Armani, Max Mara, Kenzo and other labels in the Valentino boutique while studying Public Relations at RMIT. Some of my fellow staff alumni from the time include Jacqui Bonnett Hoppe – the current owner of Chapter One in East Ivanhoe, my New York-based friend and stylist turned sustainability warrior Susan Joy as well as my former Divisional Manager Leigh Forster (who happens to be singer Chrissie Amphlett’s sister – a coincidence I discovered later as I am named after Chrissie, which is another story all together). I am still in touch with all of them and they were heady days indeed.

From my time there I ended up moving into fashion PR with my first career job at AMPR (Ann Morrison Public Relations) working with the inimitable Ann and her daughter Catherine Hancock (Ab Fab eat your heart out!). I then went on to work as beauty PR for Aveda (around the same time as Aesop with both companies being started by hairdresser entrepreneurs) prior to the company being bought out globally by Estee Lauder, before ending up as PR for David Jones in the days of the travelling European and Australian Designer Collection fashion parades up and down the eastern seaboard.

While I am now in a more serious stage of life – I do think it’s possible to be a woman of both style and substance. I’ll forever be grateful for my early years in the creative industries surrounded by creative people. It has given me an edge in my professional career with the ability to think laterally and add a different string to my bow – no experience is ever wasted.

I hope you’re coping OK with the onset of winter – it’s got very cold very quickly. A quick shout out for my friend Alcohol Mindset Coach Kathryn Elliott who is running a free Living Well conversation with Holly Ransom (above) this coming Tuesday night at Be Well in Hawthorn. You will need to register on Eventbrite if you’re going along.

As an arts lover, it’s been great to see the Rising Festival also resurrected – The Wilds at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl looks like a lot of fun if you’re brave enough to venture out in the elements.

Nb. Miss Rosanna is attending the Banyule Women in Business event as a guest of Banyule Business.