COFFEE BOX ESPRESSO || DARLING HARBOUR

Monday 23 May 2016












Happy Monday everyone!

Those of you who follow me on Instagram would know that I love a good sit-down meal, especially a lazy drawn-out breakfast. Unfortunately for most of us, the working week affords us no such luxury - I know for me personally, it's a two-minute health shake and swig of water in the morning then straight out the door. Well, city kids (especially those of you around Darling Harbour), you're in luck because Coffee Box Espresso has just rolled up right where you are!

We swung by to visit Vasili and his team last weekend and were greeted by an array of breakfast treats - croissants, cakes, breads, muesli, wraps, sub sandwhiches, you name it. And of course, it wouldn't be Coffee Box without a solid choice of coffee (and tea for me!) We opted for a Red Velvet Cronut, an Iced Coffee, a Summer Tea and the House Bacon & Egg Wrap (guys, this thing was phenomenal. PHENOMENAL. More on this later). The store is set up exactly as its name suggests - in a pop-up style 'box' so you can grab and go!

The cronuts on offer were from Brewtown Newtown and were the only baked items not made inhouse; Everything else from the banana date walnut bread to the chocolate almond brownies were baked fresh on the premises. You can't really go wrong with a Red Velvet anything - and this time was no different. The cream cheese went perfectly with the flaky pastry, but I could only manage a couple of bites before hitting a sugar high! Definitely yum, but you might have to go halfsies or save a few bites for later :)

Now you guys would know I'm really not a big coffee drinker. In fact, I'm not a coffee drinker at all. Absolutely love the smell, can't really appreciate the taste. They say an Iced Coffee is a good place for a newbie to start, so that's exactly what I did. A shot of good coffee (their own cold brew), milk, ice, and get this, GELATO, and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised! Sure an experienced coffee connoisseur would probably go straight for the real stuff (just that full bottle of cold brew, perhaps?) but I was perfectly happy with my iced treat!

Now onto the two favourites of the day. First up, the Summer Tea. This, I absolutely loved. Made inhouse from a blend of Ceylon tea, peach puree and blueberries, it was just as refreshing as it was delicious. Needless to say, it didn't last very long (I gulped half of it down before remembering to get a photo!) - it wasn't overly sweet and made for a great perk-me-up. Finally, the star of the show for me - the House Bacon & Egg Wrap. Holy moly. Now from the outside, this may look like your generic bacon and egg wrap - but don't be fooled. We're talking a perfectly runny egg, thick cut strips of bacon, and a TRIPLE DOSE OF SAUCE (smoky barbeque, tomato relish and garlic aioli) in a deceivingly healthy looking spinach wrap. Glorious. 10/10. I'm a little relieved I don't work near Darling Harbour because this could be dangerous.
The next time you're around Harbourside, do me (and yourself) a favour and get your hands on one of these.

Thank you Vasili and the Coffee Box team for having (and feeding) me! Congrats on getting up and running - just a few months in and already in full swing with amazing stuff. I'll definitely be back for more :)


Guys, now I'm really hungry. I need to find some dinner. Hope you enjoyed the post; We'll chat soon!


x.

WEEKEND PLANS?

Wednesday 18 May 2016







Call me a grandma, but I absolutely love plan-less weekends!

Sure it's fun running around with a chock-full schedule, but ever so often you just need two days with zilch on the agenda and a surplus of me-time. Of course, I realise there are a few more resourceful ways to spend this time besides lying in bed netflixing my life away - so I decided to compile a list of 'Things To Do When We Have Nothing To Do'.

1) Clean out that wardrobe

No, I'm serious. Clean it out, sell or donate the stuff you no longer like (if you haven't reached for it in over a year, you probably aren't gonna reach for it again), reorganise the stuff you do like, and the best part: replenish with a couple of timeless pieces you love. Sure it's a bit of an investment (time and money) - but I honestly think that by streamliing and refreshing your wardrobe at least once a year, you'll get a lot more wear and value in the long run.
Tip: Do be patient with this one and work in sections. Don't do what I often do and over-optimistically dump everything (tops, bottoms, dresses, bags, socks, winter gear, summer gear, clothes from when I was 10, EVERYTHING) on your bed in the hopes of clearing it all in one sweep. Trust me, it's not gonna happen and you'll have to just shove all your hard work onto the floor at bedtime. Or sleep on top of it all. Speaking from experience, neither is ideal.

2) Back up your laptop

I know this seems like a chore (netflixing your life away is totally the better option right now), but once it's done you'll be thankful for it. Clear up all your documents, delete or file things in folders (I love folders). While you're at it, clean out your desktop. If you can't be bothered going through your 300 screenshots of random things you can't even remember screenshotting, just dump them in a folder called 'Screenshots' and worry about it later. Either way, just back it all up on an external hard drive. Peace of mind and less paranoia about sudden laptop death. It's worth it, I promise.

3) Make a list of new restaurants to try

Get Google ready, get your Instagram ready. There is some serious research to be done. Sometimes you'll scroll through Instagram and see crazy photos of some food blogger having brunch on a milk crate at some hip acai bowl-serving cafe in the middle of nowhere. Now I'll be honest, acai bowls don't particularly interest me and neither do quinoa salads nor cold pressed vegetable juices. But hey, sometimes there are red velvet pancakes and I do red velvet pancakes. Or there are yummy desserts covered with an unnecessary amount of flower petals, and I do those too. But I digress. My point is that when you spot aforementioned food photographs, you should screenshot them. Then go through, do your research and make a list of places and things you'd like to try. This will come in handy on days where no one has an opinion on where to eat, and hey, you'll get to try yummy food.

4) Sleep

This is such an easy one but I read an article this morning about how we're pretty much all running on a sleep debt (Oh thanks Huffington Post, thanks for that). So sleep. Catch up on your sleep, but don't nap for more than 90 minutes or you'll wake up not knowing what year it is.

So now onto my own weekend - I'm proud to say I spent most of Saturday decluttering my room. Okay fine I made a start by putting a pile of clothes away, but that counts. Ooh, I also created my own bouquet of flowers (do you guys like it?! I really like the fishbowl vase) and spent the weekend admiring them whilst munching on these ridiculously cute cookies. The concept of creating your own bouquet is really growing on me. As much as you can't really go wrong with flowers, I just think customising your own bunch (especially as a gift for someone) is extra sweet and adds a nice personalised touch. Thank you, Flowers Across Sydney for letting me handpick my own arrangement and go crazy on the tulips!


Now it's bedtime. I've got a sleep debt to catch up on.

x.

Flowers by Flowers Across Sydney, Cookies by Spoon and Fork

AMPR BLOGGER BREAKFAST SS16

Saturday 7 May 2016













Oh hey, lovelies!

Just sharing a few snaps from AMPR's Blogger Breakfast last Tuesday where I got to view the new SS16 collections.

It was my first time at La Porte Space in Waterloo, and boy was the venue perfect. Large, airy, beautifully refurbished warehouse spaces are always tough to beat - and I did get some great interior inspo just from the front foyer! The team at AMPR treated us to a delicious breakfast spread (look at those cheeky cookies!) and I left especially excited for the new lines from Elka Collective, The Fifth Watches, Forever New and of course, Linen House.

Do keep an eye out and I'll be sure to update you guys once my favourite pieces have dropped!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.
I've heard it's going to be a gorgeous sunny one!


x.

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