Twoobs, teapots and dumplings

Welcome to 2020 – the dawn of a new year and a new decade. I wish you lots of good things for the next 12 months and beyond. A lot can happen in a decade – for me it was largely spent raising children and returning to work in whatever capacity I could initially manage to end the decade working 4 days back in an organisation (or institution in my case). As a couple and family we also travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Greece and I hope that more overseas adventures lie ahead in the next 10 years – Japan and the USA are both on my bucket list as well as returning to Europe but school fees and a mortgage may impact on my ambitions.

I hope you had a great Christmas spent with your biological family (or ‘logical’ family as my friends in the LGBTQI community say). Like many people, I spent mine with my immediate and extended family eating lots of ham and turkey during the day, a swim for the kids and present opening in the afternoon and a seafood dinner to end the night. My morning also started at 6am when my two very excited children burst into our bedroom to open their presents so it was a long day.

I needed to change into something more comfortable (with an elasticised waist!) in the evening so glad I brought a change of clothes and a recent Twoobs shoe purchase (above) – they are the vegan shoes made by Melbourne-based fashion blogger sisters Jess and Stef Dadon from How Two Live. I have to say they are super light and super comfy – perfect for summer down at the beach or by the pool.

Mr Rosanna and I have difficulty every year buying each other presents – both of us are quite particular and want to be more mindful and creative about what we do choose to purchase. So I ended up accompanying Mr R on his shopping quest for me which included the buying of a Japanese cast iron teapot and trivet from T2 – this time in white (pictured above) – to complement the black one which my sister Ange who lived in Japan for many years brought back for me as a gift.

One of my more creative gifts for Mr R this Christmas was buying him a dumpling making voucher (for both of us) from Angie at The Humble Dumpling in Fairfield and presenting it in a dim sum bamboo steamer. We are looking forward to doing a workshop at some stage this year.

If you’re lucky enough to be down at the beach or bush somewhere – you may be interested in some summer reading, podcasting or online courses. After speed reading Boy Swallows Universe, I’ve got some more philosophical books (below) to read courtesy of Mr Rosanna.

If you’re interested, this year’s Bold Thinking Series lectures are all available as podcasts and Harvard University also runs a number of free online courses – one of which I hope to complete over the summer.

I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in this exciting new decade where anything can happen. Stay safe, stay positive and stay well this summer.

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The Pioneer

It’s the name of the new cafe that’s yet to open at 2 Station Road in Rosanna.  From the signage and graphic design already up, it looks very promising.  I just hope they get the numbers given the lack of parking in that particular spot although lots of people walk past on their way to the train station.  I love the name – I was only still grumbling to Mr Rosanna last week that people seem to think culture is non-existent in the suburbs when there’s a big demand for more inner-city style cafes.  Just because I’ve moved a few kilometres out of the city doesn’t mean my sensibility and taste have changed…

I made it to the Van Gogh exhibition for my birthday earlier this week and I think we spent more time queuing up to see the show, than in the exhibition space itself!  I’d bought tickets online but it was still a wait as there were lots of people like us wanting to see the show before it closes this weekend.  I will say, Van Gogh’s later work is beautiful – the way he captured light in his paintings is amazing.  I’m also looking forward to the House of Dior  fashion exhibition at the NGV which will open late August.

The boys took me to upmarket Japanese restaurant Sake beforehand for lunch so it was lovely to spend time sitting in the sun beside the Yarra River.  I’m glad there’s been a lot more development by the river – I could see across to Riverland Bar and know that there’s also ice skating on at the moment at River Rink at Fed Square.  After the exhibition, we actually made it to a late afternoon screening of Wonder Woman at the Westgarth Theatre in Northcote so we loaded up on coffees and hot chips beforehand at Barry.

I got some lovely small things from my family for my birthday including some T2 green tea (with spinach!) and a Frank Green environmental coffee cup designed in Australia.  I’ve not seen the War on Waste TV program but I know there are far too many disposable coffee cups and plastic straws thrown away.  I recently met a senior staff member from T2 who informed me of their ‘Three Cs’ branding – no coffee, no coke and no colour!  Apparently all the staff wear black.  I’m not sure I’d survive a day in there without coffee…

Mr R also bought me some beautiful tulips that I’ve been admiring all week on our bench top – tulips along with orchids and lilies (which unfortunately make me sneeze) are one of my favourite flowers.  I’ve always wanted some Art Deco glass tulips which are collectors items if you ever see them.  Have a great weekend – one more week until we are officially halfway through winter.