Lost in Yonkers

The stage play by Neil Simon about the story of two brothers in Brooklyn opens tonight at the Heidelberg Theatre Company in Turnham Street Rosanna. I’ve not yet made it to the theatre in all the time I’ve lived in Rosanna although I will be going to see Into the Woods which opens at Ivanhoe Grammar School next month. New York is still a dream destination of mine and I will be forever regretful I never made it there for work when I was in my mid-twenties working for beauty company Aveda whose headquarters were in Minneapolis but PR done out of New York. Different times and the world has changed since then to become a lot more globalised.

I’ve had to learn at least four different types of online platforms and databases since starting my new job which has involved zoom meetings (similar to Skype and FaceTime) and live webinars with people based in the US. Welcome to the new age of working. Mr Rosanna meanwhile is working on a large-scale IT project with Indian nationals based here and in Pune, India. I can’t quite keep up…

While we’ve entered a new chapter in our lives and it’s been busy, we have continued to play house and bought a vintage Danish mid-century chair (above) for the TV room at Grandfather’s Axe in Northcote last weekend. If we ever renovate or move to a larger house I can see myself going back there for more living room furniture! It’s also been good to speak to builder friends about different ways to come at the same issue – instead of a skylight, we’ve been advised to add a new window instead (for more natural light) which makes more sense but sometimes gets lost in the detail. I did drive past a brand new Bunnings store about to open on Darebin Road in Fairfield and I seem to spend a lot of time at Bunnings. I’m sure that many of you in this area do too judging from all the activity I see on the street and in my neighbourhood. My fellow mid-century lover and local interior designer friend Renae Barrass was also commenting that she tends to get busier whenever there’s a downturn in the real estate market as more people decide to stay put and renovate.

I’m still celebrating Lunar New Year with my family and there are events on at Greensborough Town Square and the Bell Street Mall in Heidelberg West tonight and tomorrow if you’d like to welcome in the Year of the Pig. Have a good one.

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Live like you’re dancing

Welcome to 2019. It’s my take out (above) from the book The courage to be disliked which I finished reading before Christmas. We’re so often busy thinking about the final point that we miss all the living in between, which is where our focus really should be and this is something I’m going to try to keep in mind this year. After my not so thrilling word for the year last year being ‘consolidation’, this year’s much sexier option is ‘adventure’!

Yes, I’ve decided freedom, courage and self-acceptance will be my mantra for this year – a year to try new things with new people and keep an open heart and mind. It’s a big year of change for my family with all of us on new and different paths so I hope we transition well into this next stage of life.

We had another short but sweet stay at Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Coast this time booking a house called ‘Endless Sunset‘ on AirBnb (pictures above and below), which was a lot of fun. Em – the owner has a great eye and the house had all sorts of vintage quirks and pieces mixed with new. The dog-friendly back yard, with a fantastic deck and established vegetable garden, was a real highlight as well as the big TV screen and surround sound inside which was great for enjoying New Year’s Eve movies. The equally dog-friendly street leading to the dog-friendly cafe 150m away was also very handy and you guessed it, we spent a lot of time at the dog beach while we were there, which was the whole reason we chose the Bellarine Coast instead of the Mornington Peninsula.

We managed to catch up with friends one night for dinner at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club but the nearby Ocean Grove Golf Club was also recommended by Em. It was a pretty low-fi break with our diet consisting of pies, burgers, pizza and fish and chips – standard beach fare! As always, I’ve been envious of those with family beach houses as I think it’s a great opportunity to involve your kids in Nippers, beach swimming and running events, sailing and surf lessons and a whole different lifestyle if you are lucky enough to have access to these options. Mr Rosanna also enjoyed going out for a long bike ride meeting up with a friend one sunny morning in nearby Point Lonsdale.

I sadly had to come back early from our trip to attend a funeral, but it was still great to get away for a period of time. Mr R and I have also spent time looking at furniture and furnishings including checking out mid-century furniture at Grandfather’s Axe in Northcote (with a gelati pitstop at Il Melograno) as well as the Vintage Bazaar in Alphington, which is closing down. The current space will be a warehouse until April but after that the business will be going online. After a decade of living in our house, Mr R and I lashed out on a 1930s Art Deco sideboard to replace my mum’s teak cabinet that I’ve been storing for her all this time. We are looking forward to receiving our new (old) piece once it’s delivered and finally completing our formal living room although now investigating the possibility of installing a skylight given how dark the room is.

Point Lonsdale beach

Our former toy room for the kids is also slowly changing to become a proper second living space and so it’s been nice to look at new furniture options for that room as well. It’s been one of the best things about children growing up and moving away from all things plastic to technology (despite some of the pitfalls that also brings with it) and I’m not missing stepping on pieces of Lego.

Il Melograno – Northcote

I’ve got a couple of weeks before I start my new job so madly scrambling around trying to get myself organised for the year and put some systems in place on top of general de-cluttering and keeping the children amused, given Mr R is already back at work.

Kite surfer – Ocean Grove

There are some great things happening locally on the cultural front, which I’ll be posting about soon. I hope you had a restful and relaxing festive period – lucky you if you’re still on holidays but even for those at work, January is still pretty sleepy so enjoy the slower pace!