I love breakfast. I think it’s partly genetic – my mum can be slightly obsessive about breakfast cereals and is always on the hunt for the latest and greatest. It would not be uncommon for my mum to spend some time talking about the breakfasts after they’ve been away on holidays. (Very nice muesli in New Zealand, apparently, and Grape Nuts from the USA are favourites.)
Anyways, this morning as I had my breakfast, I was a bit overwhelmed by the product promises. Who knew that a simple granola and yoghurt breakfast could be so, like, totally awesome? It’s all a bit much before I’ve even had coffee…(The granola is actually fantastic, by the way – it does almost live up to the hype.)
Not just granola, it’s granOHLAAH. And, yes, I have started backflipping like that on the way to the bus stop most mornings.Like, totally!Even the fibre is fabulous.I can’t confirm that (a) this yoghurt is actually made with love or (b) it has the world’s best taste. Pretty sure it is organic though.
Happy Friday to you! I was very excited to receive a package from Kathmandu this morning. (That’s the big Australian outdoor retailer, not the capital of Nepal.) We started our Camino trekking training last weekend with a fantastic 18km round trip from The Spit to Manly. I wanted to take photos of the bzillion beautiful spots along the way, but I didn’t want to mess with our momentum. Next time.
Anyways, this walk made me realise that I need some more outdoorsy trekking gear if I want to do this thing properly. So, in the first of what I’m sure will be many, here’s a pic of something that I have bought that I never thought I’d own in this lifetime. It’s a 2 litre water bladder. So I don’t have to carry pesky water bottles and stop to drink – no way man, now I can just suck water through this tube and KEEP ON TREKKIN’.
Now I just have to work out how to fill it and make sure it doesn’t leak through my backpack…
Sorry, couldn’t resist. It really was a hoot, though. My fabulous niece Lauren (one of Pirate James’ lovely sisters) turned 5 and chose an owl themed party to celebrate with her family and friends on Saturday. And my clever sister-in-law Jo, fresh from the Pirate Party Extravaganza only two weeks ago, created another incredible party, with beautiful props and delicious food. Oh, and 1000 screaming little people. Ok, maybe not exactly 1000, but there were a LOT of excited girls and boys enjoying the party. Well, except for that little girl who started crying hysterically when her water balloon popped before the old school water balloon egg & spoon race even started. (Don’t worry, she recovered in time for the Musical Statues game.) Here are some pics from the festivities…
Balloons and flowers – the cornerstone of a great party…Stylin’ it up with owl party props.Fairy Bread – one of my contributions to the festivities. Just call me Nigella…The canvas (hand-painted by Jo) for Pin The Owl On The Nest. X marks the spot.After the owls were all pinned. Methinks some of the kids could see through that eye mask…Some of our cupcakes with handmade fondant owls and flowers.The fruit cups looked great, but weren’t really a big hit with the kids. This scary dragon guard might have had something to do with that though.A table of treats. Hoot hoot.Oh yes, did I mention THE CAKE?
So there you have it – an owl party fit for one of my favourite people on the planet. The best storyteller I know, an incredible little lady with crazy curly hair, a brilliant sense of humour and fun, an amazing imagination, incredible energy and such a social butterfly.
Happy birthday, lovely Lauren. And well done to your amazingly clever Mum!
I am excited. REALLY EXCITED. I have just booked my flights for a European trip later this year. But it’s not just any European holiday – no sunning it up in the Greek Islands, no David Hasselhoff gigs in Berlin, no Portugese tarts in…um, Portugal. Not this time. Not for me and my friend Steph (you may recall her as one of the Color Run Stephs). We are going to walk the Camino de Santiago – starting in France, popping over the Pyrenees and then trekkin’ across northern Spain. Because, why not?
The modern sign of the Camino – this shell marks the path. It’s hard to get lost, they say. We’ll see.
If you’re not down with the Camino (a.k.a. the Way of Saint James), it was a super-important medieval pilgrimage – with many different ways to walk (as in different paths, not different walking styles) to reach the Spanish town of Santiago de Compostela, where the remains of Saint James are reported to be buried. Apparently, the route was very popular in the middle ages, but numbers dropped due to things like the outbreak of the Black Death pandemic and the Protestant Reformation. Pesky little things like that.
But in the late 1980s, the Camino was declared one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites and the tourists came back – undoubtedly a lot of religious and spiritual pilgrims, but also a lot of people looking for a unique physical and psychological challenge. Apparently tens of thousands of peeps walk the Camino every year (with an increasing number of cyclists too), generally starting from somewhere in France, Portugal or Spain. If you walk at least 100km (or cycle at least 200km) of the Camino, as evidenced by stamps collected in your Camino passport along the way, you get a special certificate when you reach Santiago de Compostela.
The spectacular Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Also known as THE FINISH LINE.
Steph and I are walking the Camino Frances, which starts on the French side of the Pyrenees. Reports vary, but from start to finish, it’s approximately 800km. We’re hoping to walk it in around 30 days. Which means getting up and walking every day with our backpacks, regardless of the weather, regardless of our mood, regardless of our aches and pains. Needless to say, I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’m really excited about the challenge ahead. We will get into training shortly and I’m looking forward to getting my walking poles and hiking boots like a real trekker. Well, like a real trekker or like the 250 year old man who uses walking poles to walk along the path near my home. The countdown has begun!
I’m not an artist, so I’m frequently left in awe of people with artistic talent. And when an artist uses some wacky materials in their work, so much the better, I say. Which is why I was so excited to discover the work of Malaysian artist-architect Hong Yi (nickname Red) via one of my favourite sites: designboom. One of Red’s latest projects is ’31 Days Of Creativity With Food’. Sounds good. Looks AMAHZING! Here are some of my favourites…
Hong Yi’s foodie version of ‘The Scream’, via designboom.comHong Yi’s chickens, via designboom.comNow these are the kind of balloons that I like, along with Hong Yi’s soy sauce people, via designboom.comGrrrr – eat your radish, carrots and prunes, says Hong Yi’s tiger, via designboom.comIncredible Oreo art by Hong Yi, via designboom.com
You can check out more great pics on the designboom site here and there are more amazing projects on Red’s official website here. Such incredible talent and imagination, I’m truly in awe.
everydaysparks 