Dreaming of Vintage Treasures

  While recently sorting through old photos, I stumbled upon some pictures I'd completely forgotten about. There I was, long curly hair, wearing a denim dress I used to love, and bold orange boots that always made me feel like I'd could be one of Charlie's Angels. These photos were taken in early 2021, I'm pretty sure I was going on a date to Cannoli Bar at the time. Some things never change... I still love a cute outfit and eating a pistachio cannoli! You know that feeling when you look back at old photos and think,  “Wait… I looked amazing!” ? It’s funny how often we don’t see it in the moment, too busy worrying about things that, in hindsight, didn’t matter at all. It’s such a common experience, and yet each time it happens, it feels a little profound  like a gentle reminder that we’re usually far more beautiful than we realised. I'm so happy I've kept a blog post throughout the years. It's like a time capsule, where I can look back on highlights (and out...

  A little while ago, my sister, mum and I attended  An Evening with Priscilla Presley  in the city, an event I was looking forward to. We saw her at a similar event in 2017 and I was happy to see her again, this time talking about her new autobiography. We were a bit rushed to squeeze in dinner, but I enjoyed a nice plate of lamb chops by the Yarra River. Just beyond the water, a towering Christmas tree stood bright, evoking seasonal joy. Having read her books and heaps of books on Elvis already, her stories were ones I've heard before but what I really loved was seeing her in person, a few rows from the front. No photography was allowed during the show, so this was the only one I snapped before it commenced. Priscilla Presley was very candid and giggly, regularly making the audience laugh. She spoke of her childhood, film and TV career, animals activism, her famous ex husband, and family. Audience members came away with a feeling that she has been very resilient through...

 Once in a while, my mum and I visit a gorgeous and magical place called the Werribee Rose Garden. It's filled with a variety of roses in every colour and scent imaginable. It's the perfect place to wander around, snap photos, stop and actually smell the roses or have a picnic.  In fact, we have done all of these things in the past, which you may remember reading about  here or  here .  In the former post I have fond memories of a picnic on Australia day back in 2020 with my family friends. I remember my aunty Carmel who's in red in the above photos, who has now passed, admiring and smelling almost every rose, saying "Here Jessica, smell this rose....mmm this rose smells nice... did you smell this rose?" only to conclude that "Jessica, these roses are all beautiful but your mum really has the best rose garden, doesn't she?", which made me laugh. She is really missed by her friends and family. In 2021, I wore this cute fringy skirt to visit the rose ...

For a foodie, the Conservatory in the city is a dream come true. A beautiful buffet filled with every food imaginable and situated by the water, it is no wonder that my mum and I love returning there a couple of times a year.  We daydream about the fresh seafood, especially the oysters, crabs, prawns and vongole.  There are so many desserts to choose from! This time I enjoyed the tiramisu, strawberries in chocolate, Persian fairy floss and New York cheesecake. It is a gorgeous, fancy place with marble, hanging lights and glitzy costumes near the big entrance that leads up to the restaurant, so naturally we love to dress up.  This time I wore a maroon velvet dress and my vintage fur coat, along with a vintage bag and snake print boots.  My mum wore a beautiful red tartan skirt that she made herself with a denim jacket. If you had the option to eat anything in the world, what would you choose? Title : Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley.

Day 4 in Tasmania began with a 2.5 hour drive from Hobart to Launceston. My family and I stopped off at a small town and browsed the lolly shop, antique shop and bakery. I spotted two bright red telephone boxes and of course had to take a photo in front of them. We wandered through a park once we arrived in Launceston and admired the ducks, beautiful flowers and would you believe it - Japanese monkeys! Poor things must've had flees as they were constantly picking bugs off each other and eating them. There were also three baby monkeys being carried around in their mother's pouch, so cute! In the afternoon, we strolled around the city centre which ended in a visit to a wonderful bookshop.  At 5.30pm, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant called Pickled Evening . I had the butter chicken with garlic naan bread and rice - so delicious! It was such a big serving that I ended up taking half of it home in a takeaway container and eating it for breakfast the next morning!...