Stuff I love - #2

It's been a while since I last did Stuff I Love. I had hoped to make this a regular habit, but there's been lots happening. Anyway, here are a few things I hope you love too. (Note - I didn't so much love doing this quick post - I was back reliving my uni days of HTML when an accidental swipe of the YouTube video meant that a heap of text was deleted and other text turned into HTML!)

Blog

I have fallen in love with Little Wolff - it's a blog full of parenting stories, house renovations and photography, and the thing that has kept me reading (44 pages of archives during my rest time last week!) is the beautiful writing about important issues. Lila covers refugees, gay marriage, domestic violence and examples she's setting for her children.

I especially love this recent piece on chicken soup for the soul - the act of love and kindness.

Appearance Diversity

My wonderfully talented big hearted friend Rick Guidotti has a feature in A Distinctive Style magazine this quarter.

He does such great work to promote the beauty in visible difference - I'm so glad we met.

You can read the magazine feature here.

Again, The Matter with Megan makes it into my list - she writes about what she learnt being a counsellor at a children's dermatology camp. It seems, like with my mentoring experience at the Children's Hospital, Megan was just as fulfilled as a counsellor as the campers were.

Also, I love Humans of New York on Facebook. It's a page that showcases beautiful photos of people on the streets of New York with a little accompanying story. There is such diversity in the stories! I saw this on Sunday night and smiled. I love this woman's attitude.

Get following Humans of New York on Facebook - it'll bring happiness into your Facebook feed.

Social enterprise

I've been brunching at a little cafe called Streat lately. I knew of the Streat coffee cart in Melbourne Central but didn't know it was a full scale cafe until Sandra told me. Streat is a social enterprise , employing and training homeless youth in hospitality. The food is amazing and I know my money is going to a good cause.

I have had the pork belly on Japanese pancake (top), pork feast (middle) and brioche French toast with peanuts, caramelised banana and chocolate sauce (bottom). So delicious.

It's such a great cafe - a cool interior, great prices (going to a good cause), some of the best brunch meals I've had in Melbourne and friendly service. Streat has a cookbook for sale - I will buy one next time I'm there.

Resilience

I've been reading (and writing) a lot about resilience lately - more of my own work on this topic to come soon. I have been inspired by a seminar at my day job, an article by Michael Short, and also Ingrid Poulson who is a survivor of an unimaginable tragedy. I think the concept of resilience is really interesting - it's the ability to bounce back from a bad situation. People have an amazimg strength to prioritise problems, rise above adversity and find happiness in the darkest days. You can watch Ingrid's amazing TED talk here:

 

 

Cute animal pictures

Oh the cuteness!

@darcytheflyinghedgehog - Hedgehog photography by Shota Tsukamoto.

You're welcome!

Bling

When I was in New York, spending time with Beth and Mrs Woog at the Metropolitan Musuem of Art, I really wanted to buy a ludicrously beautiful piece of jewellery from the gift shop. I measure a gallery or museum by the stock in their gift shop - and the MET rates pretty highly on my favourites list (also see the Victoria and Albert and National Gallery of Australia.). I didn't buy the jewellery though - I worried about my budget too much. About a month ago I stumbled across the MET gift shop in Melbourne! I know, right?! (It is in Australia on Collins but you can buy online too.) I was so excited! I wandered in and saw MY jewellery in the cabinet. It was still at full price, but I made a note to purchase it when I get my tax return. On Saturday Camille and I had a brief trip into the city with her gorgeous nephew. I told her about the MET gift shop, and she was as excited as I was! It's full of scarves and vases and lots of jewellery. MY jewellery was half price too! And reader, I bought this.

It's a Faberge pansy bangle. There is a little story in the box about how Faberge designed jewellery for the Romanov family during the Russian Revolution. I studied the Romanovs at school, so I was interested to read this history. Finally this bangle and I are reunited. And I love it! I am calling it a treat for the busiest, strangest, worst yet most successful month of the year.

That is the stuff I love. What are you loving lately?