Get up! Stand up! Show up!

It has been another historic week in terms of local and international affairs with NAIDOC week here in Australia but lots of change overseas. I think the plates are still shifting and with the surge in COVID-19 infections, I have booked my second booster and fourth vaccination for COVID. After going down hard in March, I will do everything I can not to get it again.

Above: Gimlet at Cavendish House interior

Culture-wise, it was wonderful to see Melbourne restaurant Gimlet in the top 100 longlist for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 – the only Aussie contender to make it. I feel grateful to have dined there shortly after it first opened. If you’re venturing out to the eastern suburbs, I also drove past authentic looking Italian wine bar Mister Sandrino on Riversdale Road in Hawthorn and my aunty who is a local has given it kudos as a dining destination.

Not every restaurant or person is lucky enough to have fared so well over this time – I was sad to hear the Morrocan Soup Bar in Fitzroy is closing its doors after 24 years although it will still trade for takeaway and catering. With the rising cost of living, Foodbank Victoria is also providing food for 50,000 people every day and it is a difficult time for people in more vulnerable situations.

I missed the Finders Keepers market at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton and the So Frenchy So Chic Bastille Day discotheque at the Melbourne Meat Market also looked like a lot of fun but there are lots of activities happening around the place including the Winter Night Market every Wednesday night at the Queen Victoria Market and the Scandinavian Film Festival at Palace Cinemas.

I’m in the middle of doing some minor renovations at home and have had a setback after discovering borer (luckily not termite) in our bedroom flooring delaying the wardrobe installation – I’m hoping there’s not a knock on effect as we’ve also had to wait months to have carpets laid in the bedrooms. The unplanned events you don’t budget for…renovating or building is also a lesson in patience and acceptance. I’ll be ‘camping’ in my lounge room for the next couple of weeks.

It’s the dead of winter and I’ve found myself eating a lot of baked goods so it’s just as well I’m back at yoga this week and went for a long run (for me) today. Mr Rosanna and I have been enjoying the delights of Bread Wise bakery in Ivanhoe including its cinnamon donuts and substantial roasted pork bahn mi. This weekend I tried their date and orange scones which were delicious and I’ll be back to sample their passionfruit icing topped vanilla slice! A competitor, An Bahn Mi, has just opened across the other side of the road so no doubt I’ll be giving them a go as well.

We visited Rita, Michael and Fidel for a yummy brunch at Picket Fence cafe in Ivanhoe East as well over the weekend given we know them from our days in Rosanna when they owned the Greville Road Fish and Chip Shop. I also drove Mr R and his friends to Vinoshis for drinks at East Ivanhoe Village a few weeks ago which looks lovely but be warned it closes early at 9pm if you go. Apparently there is a new bakery going in at East Ivanhoe to replace Brumby’s – which is also going to offer ramen – so that will be an interesting combination if it happens! Only in Melbourne…

Good luck for the start of Term 3 this week if you have school-aged kids.

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Get up

Happy Friday people. It’s been a long week for me. I flew home from Sydney on Wednesday night and then was in the city first thing yesterday for an all day team planning workshop. It was a great exercise for the entire division looking at where we’ve come from in the past two years to now and from now looking forward to the next 5 years. We often do this professionally, I’m not sure if we do this as well personally unless we’re outsourcing to planning professionals and coaches, which not everyone can afford. That old saying about failing to plan has been ringing in my ears on a number of fronts and as I’ve got older, I’ve become better at thinking strategically although it’s been a learnt skill and I still trip up. We can all benefit from stepping back and asking why we’re doing certain things in a certain way, if we need to do them at all and if we do, how they all fit together and benefit us as a whole. Big pictures not little ones need to be drawn.

I didn’t get to see a lot of Sydney while I was there which is generally the case for work trips – it’s more the inside of your hotel room (note to self: throw in your bathers next time!) and the four walls of the conference room. I did go for a walk around Hyde Park (above) when I arrived taking in the sights including the Australian Life outdoor photography exhibition and the Night Noodle Markets set up on one side. And I wish I could say I spent time enjoying Darling Harbour – I did enjoy glimpses of the view while at networking drinks on Monday night. And while room service is often the easy option, I did venture out two different nights on my own as I was near Regent Place, which was a lot of fun and I’m sure made some of the Asia-Pacific conference goers happy.

Closer to home, my team and I had lunch at Touchstone Cafe in Macleod the other week and it’s recommended. It’s had a write up on Broadsheet and the food and coffee were great. My only criticism – and I’m not sure whether it’s a suburban or cost thing again – is the use of fake indoor plants! A pity, as someone who enjoys nature and the benefits that indoor plants bring and indeed what this whole part of the world is about.

Lots going on this weekend and I’m glad the weather looks like it is starting to warm up. The Finders Keepers Melbourne market is on this weekend if you’re wanting to start your Christmas shopping early (I already have) and I did want to mention the Marysville Jazz & Blues Festival Weekend which is also on from today. I’ve been listening to both The Teskey Brothers and The Meltdown and love that both bands are from Melbourne, and the Teskey Brothers are from Warrandyte. The north-east taking over the world…