Game of Thrones is 801 pages long and I need to have it finished by February 9 for the bookclub I joined especially so I would read it.

I've made a fair dent, but it's taken some pretty committed reading. That makes it sound like a chore, which it is in part. Not because it's not a fantastic story full of fascinating characters, but because I already watched the TV series and know everything that's going to happen.

So, some images of what I've been up to inbetween devouring 413 pages of text since I last posted.

***

My Orly thinner arrived.

Okay, confession time. Are you still thinning out your gluggy nailpolish with nailpolish remover?

This is destroying your nailpolish. Nailpolish remover breaks down the polish formulation, eating away at the pigments and other ingredients. Thinner, however, adds back the solvent that has evaporated from your polish during use which caused it to go gluggy.

Think of it this way. You don't thin a tin of paint with paint stripper. You use paint thinner. The same applies with nail paint (remember when it was called "nail varnish"?)

A few drops of thinner and viola! Your nailpolish is restored to its former consistency.

It's also super cheap (this cost me a grand $AUD 6.50 inc. postage on ebay), so no excuses anymore, okay!

***

Last weekend I pottered around doing my own thing, while Mr K was off on a buck's weekend.

I was too late for breakfast at Sweethearts, which serendipitously led me down a side street in South Melbourne to a cafe I'd been meaning to try – Freestyle Espresso.

It's very small and tucked away in an alley among warehouses.

Late in the afternoon it's lovely and quiet and perfect for savouring my long awaited coffee and the paper.

I guess this article was stating the obvious, but I don't like to buy roses that aren't scented.

To me only half a rose's beauty is in the way it looks.

An unscented rose is like a beautiful person who doesn't have much personality.

***

In the same street as Freestyle Espresso is a yoga studio with this gorgeously cute flower box perched out the front. I want to do yoga there just because of the cute flowers.

I couldn't help but stop and admire it on my way to the market to buy a heap of vegetables for a stirfry.

I was craving colour!

Do you eat the stems of broccoli too?

I love them because they're actually sweeter than the florets. The dark green heads can be quite bitter, don't you think?

You probably already know that broccoli is one of the so called "Superfoods" and has been linked to having antioxidant and anti-cancer benefits. Believe it or not, the stems actually have more beta carotene (the good stuff) than the florets, so most people throw the best part away.

I slice it up very thinly and it cooks as quickly and as tenderly as the other vegies.

***

When the weather is as sunny as it's been lately (Melbourne's summer finally arrived!), I would MUCH rather read outdoors, and take advantage of the park nearby.

My bookmark is a laminated US dollar bill from when I lived there many moons ago.

I had it laminated at a local picture framer's years ago. The lady was very reluctant to do it because apparently it's illegal to tamper with legal tender.

I think a Glenhuntly picture framer was safe from being dragged off in leg irons by US treasury officials.

I like using it. It reminds me of an amazing year of my life living in Chicago.

***

I baked these Coffee Macadamia Cheesecake Brownies for Mr K's grandfather's birthday.

Don't they look delicious?

They were not. They were carp.

I didn't know that, though, before I boxed them up all nice and pretty for a gift.

Actually, they weren't carp, they just weren't really chocolatey the way brownies are meant to be. Nice and rich and dense and muddy.

They were kind of like a moist cake.

I was pretty annoyed, though, because they took half a day to make.

That, and I learned never to shake the lumps out of caster sugar when you haven't sealed the Tupperware lid properly!

POP!!

That's 2 cups of sugar on my kitchen floor… haha!

***
I bought a copy of the Big Issue from a guy who has just started selling outside our local supermarket.

I haven't lived or worked near the usual places you see the Big Issue for years, so I'm happy to be able to get them from a local now.

He was a chatty old guy, and we talked about the movie Hugo. He asked me if I saw it in 3D and I told him I did. I thought it would be gauche to ask him if he'd seen it too, but he told me he'd seen Avatar and I walked away feeling a bit confused and awkward about not knowing what to say to a homeless person.

I need to look into who the Big Issue work with because I think I'm a bit bubble-bound about these things.

***

This weekend just gone was the Vogue book club (Melbourne chapter – pun not intended), and it was lovely to meet two other voguettes I hadn't met before.

We talked about A Visit from the Goon Squad.

None of us really liked it. Certainly none of us found it "life enhancing", as one cover review described it.

In fact, as I was walking to meet the girls I searched my brain for anything memorable to talk about, because far from being life changing, I'd forgotten it all the moment I closed its cover a couple of weeks earlier.

I think you could safely miss this apparent bestseller and live a no less rich life for it.

***

I decided to do some window shopping and wandered into the GPO building.

As luck would have it, they were giving away free icecream at a pretty candy striped stall.

Determined to only window shop, I kind of cheated and used a gift card at Myer to buy a faux tan my mum's been looking sensational wearing.

It's one of those instant bronzers that also build up colour gradually.

I will need this when we go to Thailand in a few weeks because I am pasty white.

Not a beautiful "alabaster" or "ivory" or "pale porcelain princess" kind of white.

I'm "Good god girl, haven't you ever heard how slimming fake tan is?" kind of white.

***

I even managed to not "buy" a Sportsgirl nailpolish by using a gift card.

This is Phoenix.

It looked like a kind of pinky base with a very dense, bold gold microglitter through it.

I'm wearing it on my toes and it is FLAME orange! I guarantee, if you have olive or dark skin this would look amazing and I would hate you and be jealous.

With the aforementioned pasty white skin, not so amazing…

Shame.

***

At least my black leather rose ring made me happy all day.

I have a silver leather one too. They're fabulous.

You can pick them up at Ishka for like, $5, or something ridiculous.

***

Saw this poster on the side of a cafe wall yesterday and it made me laugh.

Obviously I'm always banging on about eco friendly-this and environmentally sound-that, but you've got to have a sense of humour about these things too

xx Kiki

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But I wanted to try my new green polishes from Jaztee, and put them on straight away.

Jaz, this mani is thanks to you

Even though I loved this gorgeous trio of greens in their bottles, I did wonder if I'd find them a bit out there for everyday wear.

Then I realised there was a way to minimise the bling – wear all three at once.

I haven't tried an accent nail before, but this China Glaze Holly-day mani lent itself to two accents -  China Glaze Glittering Garland on my ring finger and Kleancolor Holiday Jingle on my pinkie.

I'm not sure if these pictures really do the colours justice, but far from being out there, these greens are quite muted shades and this is actually quite an elegant manicure.

I'd have to say, this manicure is one of my favourites and one I know I'm likely to wear again.

I've also fallen in love with the accent nail concept, and have a feeling they'll be cropping up in many a manicure post to come.

Have you fallen for the accent nail trend too?

xx Kiki 

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The horrendous humidity and torrential downpours, interspersed with weeks of 40 degree days that typified the summers of '09 and '10 made me utterly miserable and frankly, dreading this summer.

But the perfectly balmy 24 – 26 degrees we seem to hover around (with the exception of last week's heatwave) in Melbourne keeps me in a perpetual good mood.

There are a few other things that put a smile on my face today.

Like this flower given to me by a little old man while I was waiting for coffee.

He popped his head through the cafe's walk-up window and called me over, then handed me this hibiscus he'd obviously picked on his walk.

Totally made my day.

***

It's also thrilling to find another local cafe with good coffee, in an area brimming with hipster cafes selling the kind of milky concoctions you'd expect from Starbucks.

And amazingly under $3.00 for a small (that's not a small).

Bonus points for being organic and fairtrade.

Ahh, so Things White People Like…

***

One of the unexpected benefits of the endless stream of technology that comes into our home is the awesome silica that's sometimes packed with them.

I can't bring myself to cut it open and add it to the rest of my collection just yet.

***

I'm loving rediscovering actual bricks and mortar bookstores. Especially when they're within walking distance from home.

It's great to save a tonne of money buying from Book Depository, Abe Books, Amazon et al.

But there's no way shopping for books online offers anything like the wonderful experience of an actual bookstore. I love the smell of the printed page, the way time seems to slow down while you wander from shelf to shelf and genre to genre, picking up and browsing through books simply because of their beautiful and intriguing covers.

I just joined another book club which will discuss A Game of Thrones in early Feb, so I needed to get a start asap. Book Depository has been getting progressively slower in their delivery times, and losing their relevance for me as a result.

Thank goodness for a local Readings store because this is not a short book.

***

On our walk back from the bookstore last night, Mr K stopped for an icecream and scoffed at me when I snatched the lid before he threw it in the bin.

I like entering competitions, and have won enough over the years to know it's worthwhile.

I won a pair of boardshorts. Well, I would never wear the Roxy ones, so I chose the Quiksilvers for him. Hopefully they arrive before our trip to Thailand in Feb.

Fingers crossed for the Jeep too!

***

I must be on a lucky streak because I also received these three gorgeous green nailpolishes from Jaztee's blog giveaway.

Thank you SO much, Jaz. I can't wait to try these for my very next manicure.

From left to right, they're Kleancolor Holiday Jingle, China Glaze Holly-day and China Glaze Glittering Garland.

Must go out and buy a lottery ticket, and hope this winning comes in threes!

***

Before I start on Game of Thrones, I want to finish the book I'm reading for my first book club.

I found this hard to get into for the first couple of chapters, but now I'm really enjoying it.

Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character, and each one unfolds into the next character's story, weaving a thread through multiple lives and multiple angles.

It's not really clear whether it will all tie up into one narrative, but I'm really enjoying the journey anyway.

***

Do you love those painted tin cups as much as me?

I have a black one already that I use to store makeup brushes when I'm not using it as a vase, but I wanted one for the bathroom.

This is the not particularly attractive plastic one I've had in there until now. I've had enough glass and ceramic ones slip out of wet hands and smash in the sink to know I need something unbreakable.

I hate drinking out of plastic, so I can't believe I've put up with it for so long.

I couldn't decide between the blue and turquoise cups, though, so because they were on sale I bought both.

I'll just rotate them when I get bored.

***

Tonight I finally – FINALLY – got back on my bike.

My poor bike has been neglected on our back deck for far, far too long and I haven't ridden it for a couple of years.

I need to lose 7 kilos to get back to my natural weight – the one my body seems to stabilise at and is obviously my healthiest weight – and the best way for me is to ride my bike 3 to 4 times a week.

That and cut out eating rubbish, of course.

It's really as simple as that for me. No need for diets or boot camps or gyms.

When I ride regularly – for an hour – the weight just falls off.

I'm going to try to walk for 20 mins each morning and ride after the sun's lost its heat in the evenings at least 3 times a week.

I actually feel I look my best when I'm 2 kilos under my plateau weight, so I'll be working a bit harder for that.

It feels so, so good to be exercising again.

***

I really need to get the sleep sorted out too if I'm going to be getting up for walks though!

Goodnight

xx Kiki

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For a few years I would have always have a bbq for friends and family, but the last few New Years have been quiet nights in for Mr K and me.

But last night, my brother was doing audio for a party and invited us, so we decided to check it out.

I needed a party manicure and so picked out the brightest bottles in my collection.

The kind I have no idea why I bought and would never usually wear, but would be, if not suitable or appropriate, then perhaps forgivable on New Year's Eve.

It's some random Miki, who don't seem to name their polishes, and BYS Through the Looking Glass.

The Miki is very, very sky blue and the BYS is a fine blue and gold glitter in a blue base. It's the kind of polish that looks awesome in the bottle.

Maybe it would have looked better with an extra coat of glitter.

It's garish, and I only wore it for a few hours but it was fun and just right for my party mood.

Hope you enjoyed your New Year's Eve, whether you partied or had a quiet night in

xx Kiki

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I was always a terrible diarist, though. I'd have intentions of writing every night and then collapse into bed, promising myself, "Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will write."

The problem was I thought I had to write about "the Big Things" that happened to me. What I thought of Life's big questions, how I was changing, how I wanted to change, where my life would take me, etc. etc.

Who wants to do that every night?

Ruminating on the Big Things happens – to me – in passing thoughts snatched in the shower, in traffic, while daydreaming, or in conversation with someone in an equally thoughtful mood.

I enjoy talking about the deeper things when the mood strikes, but I don't really enjoy writing about them. I can never seem to collect my thoughts into anything not resembling an incoherent, pitiful rambling mess.

In T.S. Eliot's poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, he writes "I have measured my life out in coffee spoons", a sad assessment of a life made up of small, insignificant events.

If that was all there was to one's life, of course, that would indeed be sad.

At the same time, I think there's a lot of pleasure to be taken from recording the seemingly small insignificant events that make up the bulk of any day. It's why I like to include so many photos when I write. I will forever have a pictorial record of what my daily life looked like from my early 30s onward.

It's the kind of journal I probably would have enjoyed creating all those years ago when I beat myself up for not "keeping track of my life".

Whether it's of interest to anyone other than myself is unimportant, although anthropologists do seem to work up a great deal of excitement over the day to day lifestyle implements and habits – life measured out in coffee spoons – of centuries and millennia past.

***

Well.

Anyway.

All that was just my way of introducing (excusing?) the most banal of banal posts – A Week in Photos.

***

7 Years Bad Luck

How much makeup has been sacrificed to the gods of my bathroom tiles over the years? At least this time the powder didn't shatter.

I love this Covergirl powder – it's my HG – but gosh I hate that nasty, tacky plastic blue compact it comes in.

I really believe that just because something's cheap doesn't mean it has to look it.

***

My Favourite Pen

I have a thing for really fine nibbed pens. This one's from Kikki K, and it's so enjoyable to write when the ink flows effortlessly and the fine nib produces a lovely elegant script.

***

My Obsessed iPod

My iPod has an unhealthy obsession with Pink.

No matter how much I shake the damn thing, the shuffle only wants me to listen to Pink, Pink and oh, you haven't heard Pink in the last two songs… here's some more Pink.

Drives me nuts.

At the moment, I really want to listen to this. When my iPod lets me.

***

What I'm Drinking

Miss Kitty over at Miss Kitty Cat Goes to Town put me onto T2's Melbourne Breakfast Tea, for which I'm forever grateful.

It's black tea with a hint of vanilla, and actually tastes like real vanilla without being sickly sweet or overpowering like other tea infusions I've tried.

I'm also a sucker for a tea named after my much-loved home town.

***

Flowers

I'm so glad I discovered that Carnations can actually look chic rather than tacky, once you remove 2/3rds of the stem.

They're such a cheap and cheerful way to have flowers around the house when you've overstepped the budget a bit.

Carnations also have a pretty good lifespan, so you get good bang for your buck.

These frilly pink and white ones are so, so pretty.

***

My Christmas Pedi

Speaking of longevity, I'm forever amazed at how long I can get out of a pedicure.

Especially a glitter pedi, which would probably survive intact a barefoot trek of the Kokoda Trail.

This is only concession I made to Christmas decorating.

It's TBN Raspberries and Cream with Milani One Coat Glitter in Red Sparkle over the top.

Oh shame, too tiny to see the glitter properly.

***

Terrifying

I saw a whole pile of doll magazines at an opshop.

I don't care what anyone says. Porcelain dolls are freaking terrifying.

Way scarier than clown mugs.

How do people sleep in the same room – the same house – as dolls like this?

Doll collectors freak me out.

***

The Orange Cow

This is the cow that Mr K loves.

This is the cow that I, err… don't love.

It lives in the window of a picture framers on Chapel St and if Mr K had his way it would live in our lounge room.

Can someone please buy it? Please.

xx Kiki

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So instead of using French mani stickers to paint just the tips, I decided to freehand.

Big mistake.

Ugh. That ring finger especially is just embarrassing.

I'm also not quite taken with the colour combo I chose.

It's B by Bloom in Antwerp on the base and Chi Chi Husband Shopping on the tips.

Both are really great colours on their own. I especially love Antwerp, which I picked up for a $5 steal at a recent Bloom sale.

It has a very soft shimmer through it, but isn't pearlescent, which I hate (oh how I hate pearl polishes).

Husband Shopping, apart from having an awesome name, is an awesome bright magenta.

But together… not loving it.

It might also be because I cannot bear wearing a badly done manicure.

As I always say, the only thing worse than chipped nailpolish is poorly applied nailpolish.

I'm going to try it again, with some other colours and the French mani stickers.

I really like this one, neutral with pastel tips I saw over at Nail Stories.

Now those are what tips should look like.

Adore this colour combination.

xx Kiki

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I stole this really, really long questionnaire from Sophia over at & etc who has the most exquisite eye for all things beautiful and dreamlike.

Being a bit obsessed with illustrating all my posts, I totally underestimated how long this would take me to do!

Which is why I've broken it up into two parts. The next 50 will come… uhhh, when I find the time.

***

1: Do you sleep with your wardrobe doors open or closed?

There's no way known (okay maybe very, very drunk…and even then) that I could go to sleep with an open wardrobe.

It's very Sixth Sense, and my imagination goes into overdrive.

2: Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel?

I'm pretty precious about what I use on my hair, so I only steal them for my grandma, who loves freebies like that.

3: Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out?

I have never, ever understood top sheets. I loathe them. I've never slept with a top sheet and not woken up practically strangled by it. Thankfully Mr K feels the same.

4: Have you ever stolen a street sign before?

No, but my uncle stole one with my name on it for me!

Source

5: Do you like to use post-it notes?

Yes! Best invention ever. My last boss banned me from using them because he had a personal dislike.

Should have done this.

6: Do you cut out coupons but then never use them?

The petrol docket vouchers usually expire before I use them.

7: Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees?

It would probably be over quicker with a bear.

P.S. Do yourself a favour. Don't type "bear attack" into google images.*

8: Do you have freckles?

Not on my face. There's always a few random ones sprinkled over the rest of my body.

Source

9: Do you always smile for pictures?

Yes, if I can't avoid photos altogether. I hate how I look in photos.

10: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Tags sticking out the back of someone's top. It's very inappropriate to touch strangers, but my fingers itch to tuck it back in!

Source

11: Do you ever count your steps when you walk?

Um. No.

12: Have you ever peed in the woods?

When you've gotta go, you've gotta go.

13: What about pooped in the woods?

This is why I don't like camping.

14: Do you ever dance even if theres no music playing?

No, I need music.

15: Do you chew your pens and pencils?

Gross.

But I probably do.

16: How many people have you slept with this week?

Two. Mr K and my niece.

I slept, she didn't.

17: What size is your bed?

King.

18: What is your Song of the week?

Sietta – What Am I Supposed to Do?

I was googling the lyrics of a song I heard in a shop and found this instead. Love serendipity like that.

19: Is it okay for guys to wear pink?

Love it. I've noticed a lot of young guys wearing pink shorts lately.

20: Do you still watch cartoons?

I feel a bit sad that I no longer watch The Simpsons.

21: What's your least favorite movie?

Inception. The only person I know who was completely underwhelmed.

22: Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some?

Pull up the carpet, lay down the notes, put back the carpet.

23: What do you drink with dinner?

Water.

24: What do you dip a chicken nugget in?

I don't eat nuggets.

25: What is your favorite food?

Don't make me pick. I don't have a favourite anything. I'm constantly in a state of flux.

As of today, I'm partial to raspberries.

P.S. Blue raspberries do not exist. I just wish they did. 

26: What movies could you watch over and over and still love?

I was going to say "See 25" but then remembered The Princess Bride.

27: Last person you kissed/kissed you?

Mr K

28: Were you ever a boy/girl scout?

No. That must explain the lack of "executive functioning".

29: Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine?

Maybe. Depends on the type of nude, I guess.

30: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper?

Do cards count? I write letter-like cards to people I care about. I should write more letters, though.

31: Can you change the oil on a car?

No, but I did once remove all 4 slashed tyres wearing a pencil skirt and high heels.

It didn't occur to me to go inside and get changed.

32: Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

A krispy creme store's worth.

33: Ever ran out of gas?

Actually, I don't think I ever have.

34: Favorite kind of sandwich?

The ham and salad ones Mr K makes. It takes him about half an hour (seriously), but it's worth the wait.

This is the secret ingredient.

35: Best thing to eat for breakfast?

Eggs Romano at Cafe Sweethearts. Melbourne's most delicious breakfast.

36: What is your usual bedtime?

Let's just say my ideal bedtime would be 10pm.

37: Are you lazy?

In so many ways.

38: When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?

We didn't celebrate Halloween when I was a kid.

39: What is your Chinese astrological sign?

Snake.

I really want this Thomas Sabo ring.

40: How many languages can you speak?

Sadly, just one.

Source

41: Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

No, I learned that lesson. I don't even read the ones I impulse buy.

42: Which are better legos or lincoln logs?

I didn't even know what Lincoln Logs were, without the help of google.

They look kind of limited so even if I had grown up with them, I'd say Lego.

43: Are you stubborn?

No.

Source

Hear that sound? That's my entire family shrieking with laughter.

44: Who is better…Leno or Letterman?

Neither. Both are a cue to get up and go to bed.

45: Ever watch soap operas?

No.

Source

46: Are you afraid of heights?

Yes. Just looking at this photo makes me feel sick.

47: Do you sing in the car?

Yes, at the top of my voice, pretending to be Adele.

48: Do you sing in the shower?

No, strangely I don't.

49: Do you dance in the car?

No.

50. Ever used a gun?

No, but I'd quite like to go to a shooting gallery, if only the targets weren't people shaped.

I'd like to try clay pigeon shooting.

xx Kiki

* I told you not to.

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It's a problem with my boyfriend's problem – collecting random food that he will never, ever eat.

Now, it's not like I'm some kind of food nazi who dictates every morsel of food that is allowed to cross our threshold.

I wouldn't care if he wanted to buy Hungarian rollmops to put in brandy snap baskets and garnish with chocolate coated cranberries and caraway seeds.

But just like the postage stamp-sized bench space, our pantry is completely impractical, being about 8 foot tall, 30cm wide, and 1 and a half feet deep.

It's one of about 5 kitchen reasons I daily call down fire and sulphur on the landlord's head.

Two words: Sliding. Baskets.

The absence of this ancient pantry invention is the only reason I have a problem indulging Mr K's peccadillo for buying food purely to decorate the abyss at the very back of these shelves.

That's where all his seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time culinary collectibles end up. Only to be excavated by me several months later in pique of decluttering.

Exhibit A

Name: Real honeycomb

Age: 3+ years

I have decided to ban Mr K from shopping at Simon Johnson. Ever again.

An excursion to this beautifully mouth-watering but also eye-wateringly expensive providore typically results in us walking out with a jar of Yemeni spice rub, $20 crackers baked in a far flung French province, 3 smelly cheeses made from camel milk by North African nomads, and a $100+ charge on his credit card.

He will neither cook with nor eat any of them.

***

Exhibit B

Name: Organic sultanas

Age: 5-6 months

These Happy Fruit make me quite unhappy.

I cannot get Mr K to eat fruit.

I have never seen a piece of fruit pass his lips that I haven't cut up for him, placed in a bowl and practically force fed him while he grimaces at me like I'm an overbearing mother.

Yet every time I pull this packet out of the pantry and threaten to give it to my nieces, he vehemently insists he will eat them.

All 500g.

I'm giving them to my sister on Thursday, before they completely shrivel up and resemble crystallised mice droppings.

***

Exhibit C

Name: Gherkin spread

Age: I have no idea

I do apologise if you are eating and I've flung this photo of Snot Spread at you, causing your stomach to heave and your appetite to flee.

I have so much trouble imagining a jar containing a less appetising filling that I'm temporarily at a loss for words.

It doesn't matter if it tastes like angels dancing on your tastebuds. It's simply not allowable to spread on a sandwich something that looks like boogers.

This has never been opened and shall remain so.

In the bin.

***

Exhibit D

Name: Sweet mustard pickle

Age: Again, no idea

What is it with pickles and relishes? I believe they are the most bought-and-thrown-away-unopened-or-unfinished foodstuffs in a Western fridge or pantry.

Who has ever cleaned out the back of their fridge and not tossed a jar of pickle?

If you say you haven't, I say you lie!

Supermarket pickle is always grotesque. I protest every time Mr K stops at that shelf.

He buys them anyway.

A year later, I toss the full jar.

***

Exhibit E

Name: Pop Rocks

Age: 1 month

To be fair, I do have my moments where I buy things I'm never going to eat.

Lollies from my childhood are my particular weakness. Which is why, when visiting the ubiquitous Ye Olde Lolly Shoppe in a country town recently, I got all nostalgic and bought these.

I should have eaten them then and there, while basking in warm primary school memories. Now the moment's passed and I'm not so interested.

I'm actually hatching an evil plan to give them to my 2 year old niece next time I get her in my clutches.

Come on. Who wants to see the expression on the face of a 2 year old eating pop rocks for the first time?

Me!

xx Kiki

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And while a burnt or bitter brew will often leave me snorting about Melbourne's proclaimed title as Coffee Capital of Australia, travelling interstate does make me appreciate the ease with which you can generally find a decent coffee – often only steps apart – in this city.

Ultimately, though, it all comes down to personal taste, and mine keeps pulling me back to one place – Market Lane at the Prahran market.

Please excuse my not-so-great photos. Even though I asked if it was okay to take photos for my blog, I go all shy when I'm taking photos in a place of business.

Do any other bloggers feel that way? I wish I could be a confident snapper – after all, I had permission and it's free publicity for them – but I'm more snap-and-run than devil-may-care.

I really need to get over that.

Anyway, we do most of our fruit/veg/meat shopping at Prahran market, and make a beeline straight for Market Lane as soon as we arrive.

They mostly do coffee, with a small selection of excellent quality sweets and cakes (macarons, brownies, a ginger and pear cake so amazing I almost fell off my chair in raptures, etc.) and toast with spreads, so I hesitate to call it a cafe, in the most common use of the word.

i.e. if you want a full breakfast with your coffee, go elsewhere. If you want a fantastic coffee, come here.

Their blend of the day changes frequently, however, you can choose your preferred blend from a rotating selection. I have favourites, but I've never had a blend I didn't like.

But one of the things I like most about Market Lane is the discovery of Dulce sugar.

It looks like brown sugar but is drier and flecked with darker, molasses bits. Strangely enough, it's nowhere near as sweet as brown sugar.

In fact, I think it's half as sweet as regular sugar, and this is the only place I ever have sugar in my coffee. Because it actually has a near-magical ability to enhance the flavour of the coffee, instead of only sweetening it.

I know, it's pricey (I think that's for a 500g bag) but I imagine it's completely worth every cent for coffee aficionados. Me, I'm happy to have it exclusively with Market Lane's coffee.

Every table has a pretty single bloom. Last week were peonies.

I love these little cast iron sugar stations. I don't know what they once were, but they're awesome.

I haven't bought any take home coffee because I like coming here for a treat.

Drinking it at home would feel like working at my favourite book store. Is that strange?

***

The only thing I would change about Market Lane coffee is the size of their cups. They only do one size – small. For once-a-weeker's like me, I want to savour it for much longer than 200mls allows.

Maybe it means more accurate order taking and making, having just one size. Decreases the variables and errors, I'd imagine.

At $4 a pop, it's worth every cent, but it's pricey when your week-long wait means you sometimes want two to feel properly caffeinated.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to Saturday and our Market Lane pit stop.

xx Kiki

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All those few dollars – $5 here, $20 there – all add up eventually.

But I still enjoy browsing when I get the opportunity, and occasionally find a gem here and there.

Like this Gorgeous eyeshadow.

Now before you think I'm stark raving mad buying makeup from an opshop, I examined this very, very closely.

It's absolutely brand new. There's not even the faintest hint of a mark on the surface. Obviously someone was doing a clean-out of their makeup stash and decided this colour wasn't for them.

It seems like a fairly easy to wear neutral, called My Girl, and I have wanted to try Gorgeous cosmetics. Even though I hardly ever wear eyeshadow.

So anyway. Maybe I'll go blind. But I think I'll be fine

***

I also picked up a Guerlain nailpolish that also looked completely brand new and unused.

Since nailpolish is pretty much chemical soup, I don't worry about bacteria in this one at all, if it has even been used. Especially since getting salon manicures means sharing nailpolish with countless strangers, anyway.

I needed another red like I need a hole in the head, but I'm curious about the Guerlain formula. And for $1…

***

I've always liked the idea of having a classic fishbowl with goldfish, so when I saw this for $15, I grabbed it.

I spent another $50 at the aquarium on rocks, plant, water conditioner, fish.

No one told me how much work is involved in keeping a simple fish bowl!

Fish poop far too much.

Changing water every few days… cleaning the sand with that vacuum tube sucker thingy… I ended up with too much poopy water in my mouth from that stupid tube (well, from doing it wrong) than I could ever be comfortable with.

So when the fish died (not from neglect, I slaved for those fish), I gave their bowl away on freecycle.

I'm way too lazy to keep fish.

***

I was very happy with this little rectangular velvet pillow that I picked up for $2.

It adds a lovely contrasting texture to the bed cushions I use with our neutral linen.

We only have white and taupe linen, which I'm finding a bit boring lately. I really like this blue and white floral set from Gaiam.

It's cotton jersey, though, and I'm not sure what that would feel like to sleep in. Has anyone got any jersey bed linen and can share what it's like?

I'm worried it would be a bit hot, and would also stretch out of shape after a while.

***

I have no idea why I need a little cream milking stool.

Well, obviously I don't, and I broke my promise to myself to only buy things for which I have a use or space.

But this is so gorgeous, I just couldn't leave it in the opshop. One day, when we have a bigger home, I know I will find a corner for it to live. Right now it's banished to the deepest recesses of our ceiling storage space.

I accidentally left it in the secondhand cowboy boots store a few doors down, where it came in very handy while I tried some on (they didn't have seats). The owner came running out after me, waving my stool!

***

In one opshop, I saw two of my favourite books ever. I already have both, so I didn't buy them, but I was very tempted. I could have given them as gifts, but I don't think people really feel passionate about the books that I do.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I think this is the most powerful book I've read in my life, so far.

I remember reading it in one sitting (it's quite short) and getting so, so agonised, I actually slammed it down on my bed a number of times in sheer frustration. And then, unable to bear not knowing what happens, picking it up again within seconds.

In a piece Miller wrote for The New Yorker in 1996, called Why I Wrote The Crucible: An Artist's Answer to Politics, he says, "Fear doesn't travel well; just as it can warp judgment, its absence can diminish memory's truth. What terrifies one generation is likely to bring only a puzzled smile to the next"

The Crucible is a work of genius for communicating the 'witchhunts' of the McCarthy era in what is a head clutching, gut wrenching, visceral read.

I think Marilyn Monroe was luckier to be married to Arthur Miller than the other way around.

The other book was Daphne du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel.

I went through a stage where I was a little mad about Daphne du Maurier.

I think Jamaica Inn is as gothic and classic status-worthy as Wuthering Heights. My Cousin Rachel should be as well-known and widely read as Rebecca.

It's spell binding. Did she or didn't she?

Have you read either of these?

***

xx Kiki

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