Milkwood Masters

If you live anywhere near Melbourne, you must go to Milkwood.

Milkwood is a wonderful little cafe in Brunswick. Absolutely delicious organic foods! I'm a little obsessed with the ricotta pancakes with honey yoghurt, banana and toasted shredded coconut.

Yep, I'm dribbling right now.

Yummiest coffee I have ever had. And some heavy reading... my Masters. Time to read it all the way through. It's a little mind boggling. Thank god for Milkwood

The Borgias

Has anyone else been watching The Borgias?

People have been dancing about suggesting that The Borgias are the new Tudors. As you may well know, I'm a major Tudors lover. Having watched about four or five episodes of the Borgias, it's lacking the Tudors love and intrigue. That's not to say I'm not enjoying it. It just lacks the beautiful dresses, romance and royalty of the Tudors.

I do like the overload of betrayal about the place in the Borgias, but I want a love story or two or more as well. Which is why I loved this little story (above) between Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) and Prince Djem (Elyes Gabel).

My favourite character is definitely the assassin though, Micheletto (Sean Harris, above). He sparks the most intrigue for me.

Above: Two other characters I am fascinated by are love are Cesare (Francois Arnaund) and Giulia Farnese (Lotte Verbeek).

I don't know much around the history of the Borgias and, unlike the Tudors, I feel uninspired to search out the truth. I'm waiting for it to blow me away with awesomenesss. Fingers crossed!

What do you think?

Run Wild Horses

Yep, we did venture off to the Healesville Twilight market, despite the terrible weather and un-summery cold. We got there nice and early and had wander about the market before it became too hectic.

Mr. Boyfriend managed to gather an unexpected Christmas present for his father - a combination of jams, chutneys and sauces. I was carefully keeping an eye out for my own mum, but couldn't find anything. I did walk away from a lovely stall with so many delightful tid-bits with the above headband in hand. It's simply gorgeous and I can't wait to wear it on Christmas day :)

I was also eying off a steampunk-inspired clock necklace (and many others!) as well. A definite feast for the eyes! If you're interested in browsing their goodies yourself (which I highly recommend) check out their store at: Run Wild Horses

Enjoy!

Marie Antoinette

I have finally purchased Antonia Fraser's biography of Marie Antoinette. I have finally opened the pages and begun to read it. I can't help but slipping in images of Sofia Coppala's Marie Antoinette (2006) film with the writings of Antonia. Of course, it was this book that was used in writing the script for the film.

The full portrait of Marie at 15, because it's beautiful :)

So far, it seems quite dense, but I am enjoying it. Such an amazing life!

Sex with Royalty

I've found it really hard to get into 'relaxing' mode these holidays. I had 8 large assignments due in the last two weeks of uni, with a total of 24 assignments for the semester. You'd think it'd be oh-so-easy to put up your feet and relax after that... but I have (weirdly) really struggled. But, I think (and hope) that I have finally conquered it.

And how can I tell? Why, I finished a book!

Sex With Kings

Eleanor Herman

2004 HarperCollins

I have been reading this book for a long time. Or rather, I started it last holidays, was forced to put it down to complete my 24 assignments and only just finished it. And it is awesome!

At first I was a little put off by a few things. Firstly, Eleanor Herman is a journalist, not a historian. Secondly, I was hoping for more of my beloved Henry VIII's wives; particularly Anne Boleyn. And finally, I was slightly confused while reading it. See, each chapter is based on a theme, rather than giving narrative biographies of royal mistresses. With the book centering largely on around a small selection of women (largely, but not limited to: Madame de Pompadour, Madame du Barry, Marquise de Montespan, Lady Castlemine, Nell Gwynn), it seemed thematic approach lost some of the details of the lives of these lavish ladies.

However, after letting go of my grudges, I found the book to read like a juicy juicy gossipy book. I couldn't help but love it and become sucked into these different worlds. More than once I longly thought to myself 'oh, if only I could become the king's mistress!' The dresses, the jewels, the extravagance and scandal! Wow. Definitely worth a fun and exciting read :)

I was touring Borders trying to scout out a good book on Anne Boleyn (anyone got any suggestions?) when I found that Eleanor Herman has also written a book Sex with Queens. That is most definitely on my Christmas Wishlist!

Check out this website for more info.

John Galliano for Christian Dior
Autumn/Winter Paris Fashion Week 2010

Don't you just simply adore this princess look? It shall be my inspiration for my outfit tomorrow :)

Beautiful :)

Karl Lagerfeld

I've just been having a snoop at the images from the 2010 Spring/Summer Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel Paris fashion show. I must say, I'm absolutely and completely in love with the pastel palette and the funky hair-dos.



I love the almost 1940s style of the sleepy sky blue jacket on the left in the above picture. I'd happily add any of these pieces to my wardrobe!


Now I'm off to see if I can imitate the model's hair :)

Decadent Demarquette

One of my friends was lucky enough to travel to London over Christmas. Not only did the good little boy take hundreds of photos of the castles, palaces and other glorious buildings for me, but he also trapsed through the cold and the snow to fetch me these lovely chocolate gifts! Truly spoilt!



Apparently these handmade chocolates are from a famous and internationally awarded chocolatier. Each chocolate is a different flavour; and when I say different, I mean different.
Thai Lemongrass, anyone? Perhaps some Brazilian Pink Pepper? Earl Grey chocolate more your style? Or would you prefer the Highland Malt?

My first choice was the coconut, banana and rum mix. Completely unexpected but completely delicious at the same time! The orange flavoured one disappeared soon after :)

My friend tragically explained to me that because these chocolates are handmade, they have a very short life span. Which means I have to eat all these by the 25 January - tomorrow!! I can't possibly demolish all these babies by then! They are far too lavish for my tummy, especially with the range of exotic flavours that I want to saviour.





Another box of chocolates was presented. This one is a set of caramels, again with interesting flavours. I think 'Cornish Sea Salt' (the blue ones) has to win as the most odd flavour there. The Kentish Pear was delightful- a surprise as I usually don't like pears. I can't wait to get to the Yorkshire Rhubarb and Scottish Raspberry :D



And as if that wasn't already enough, there's more! The bottom row there is a collection of King Henry VIII mint chocolates, with each chocolate wrapped in a portrait of Henry and each of his six wives! Absolutely charming! Again, they'll be impossible to eat because they look so gorgeous as is.

The larger portrait is an Anne Boleyn 'oakmoss' scented soap- exactly what every girl needs! :) That one came from the tourist shop at The Tower. I've been trying to open the box without ruining to see whether Anne's lovely face is printed on the soap bar, but no luck yet.

I'm very happy and very spoilt! I can't wait to go through all the photos :D

Thank you so very very much to my darling friend :)

The Good News

I heard this song last week, and absolutely loved not only the fun video clip, but also the song that goes with it. It's impossible to listen to this song and not bop along to it!


'The Good News' - Philadelphia Grand Jury

Enjoy!