Rising

It’s the name of the new art, music and ceremony festival being held in Melbourne starting 26 May (the same night as the lunar eclipse i.e. a new moon rising). It’s also a call to arms given the collective suffering of our artistic community over the past 12 months. The Wilds at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl looks pretty amazing and I also love that Golden Square in Melbourne’s Chinatown where I used to park when managing the Bold Thinking Series at the State Library is being turned into an ‘art carpark’ with ice sculptures, a laser-eyed inflatable (?), kayak performance and moon parades which sound intriguing to say the least.

Image via Rising.Melbourne

One of my sisters works for Melbourne City Council and like other public servants, she’s been asked to return to the office 5 days per week given the CBD cafes, restaurants and hotels that are struggling, particularly during business hours and days (rather than on weekends).

A number of new hotels have actually opened in Melbourne over the past 12 months including W Melbourne and the Lancemore Crossley St. however I was excited to read about the Hilton Hotel returning to Melbourne in the heritage-listed Equity Chambers building – the oldest continuously occupied barristers chambers. There’s nothing like a bit of old school glamour especially in the absence of being able to travel overseas – it’s lovely to be able to enjoy what we have in our home city if you can afford it.

I was interested to find out more about the private dining rooms that are also available in the city in addition to those I knew about at Kisume, Cumulus, Spice Temple and Flower Drum restaurants – a number of friends celebrating special occasions this year are opting for something smaller at home or lashing out at places like these.

Speaking of flowers, Mr Rosanna bought his mum this beautiful bunch (above) from French Blue Flowers today (and a native bouquet for me). I hope you’ve had a great Mother’s Day if you have a mum in your family. For me, my morning was spent talking to my own mum – a single parent who raised three kids on her own – as well as seeing Mr R’s parents this afternoon. I also enjoyed home made scrambled eggs in bed and a hand drawn card courtesy of my boys. Given those separated from their families at the moment and unable to see their mother, or be a mother, for whatever reason – it has felt like a real privilege.

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O Christmas Tree

Is your Christmas tree up? We finally put ours up on the weekend and while I love the look and smell of fresh trees – we decided a long time ago to go plastic which apparently is more sustainable in the long-term (over 20 years). Either way, it seems to be a vexed question these days! I make no judgements but am over the amount of plastic we seem to have in our lives.  I now carry a glass coffee cup, glass straw and camp cutlery at work to try to minimise my impact, particularly with single-use items, but it really needs to be done at a corporate and structural level.

And while I will always be interested in fashion and clothing, I’ve also found my interest dwindling as I’ve got older, not because I don’t care about what I look like but more that I’m concerned about the amount of stuff that ends up in landfill. It really is better to buy investment pieces that will stand the test of time and  – as I say to my kids – ‘do it once, do it properly’ and I think that also applies to clothes, and other purchases, which still work and don’t necessarily need to be upgraded just because they’re not the newest or latest thing.

Kisume image via Open Table

I do however still love dining out and Mr Rosanna and I had a special dinner out with his best friends on Saturday night at Japanese restaurant Kisume on Flinders Lane almost opposite Supernormal. The food and service were flawless and it’s a glamorous dining spot if you’re after something more upmarket. It’s not cheap – we had the $85 per head dining menu and with drinks it was $120 a head but given Mr R and I don’t get out much these days, it was worth it.

There are a couple of new places that have just been featured on Broadsheet which I’m interested in visiting at some stage.  For something more high-end, Lesa (above Embla) on Russell Street looks great and for modern Vietnamese, Sunda in Punch Lane is also on my list.  We are so spoilt for choice in Melbourne – it really has become a foodie capital.