have a sweet weekend: 5 march xx
It’s the first Friday of Autumn. So let’s mix this up a bit.
a particularly autumnal image, no?
Starting from today, each Friday I’ll post a rundown of random things that make life sweeter as you roll into your weekend. This weekend I’m meeting up with two journos I met on Twitter – journo Caroline Overington and blogger Kerri Sackville. I liked their tweets and thought I’d like to meet them and so I DM’d and Caroline suggested morning tea at her place in Bondi.
As I’ve mentioned before, I do this. I contact like-minded people and suggest a catch-up. It scared me the first time I did it. But now I just plunge in and trust that like-minded people will dig the intention. We have 80-odd years on this planet. I’m not going to sit around wondering what it would be like to meet someone who seems like a lovely, big spirit.
I’m baking rice flour, grated pumpkin, almond meal and basil muffins tomorrow. With chia seeds. I made the recipe up and they worked when I made them last week. They will either impress or repel (I’ll report back).
I’m also off to check out The Corner House, a new bar on Bondi Rd run, in part, by the kids who set up the Wine Shop on Curlewis St. I love how Bondi has become a real neighbourhood with bars and cafes geared at community. Special mention of Bru (which lay out picnic blankets on the nature strip), Flying Squirrel (which opens in the early afternoon on weekends so parents with kids can enjoy an afternoon wine while the kids play on the grass), Luigi’s (where Andy knows everyone’s name) and Greens (where Nick will run up the road and buy gluten-free bread for customer’s like me).
Anyway, I hope your weekend is light and your Sunday devoid of commitments (see my Sunday Life column to get what I mean).
Enjoy x
1. An astute Alain de Botton quote: “To start writing means trying to quieten the thousand internal voices that argue why one is obviously not the right person for the job.” Follow Alain de Botton on Twittter here.
2. Nipple chats: The Times asks whether Carla Bruni should’ve worn a bra with this dress. 
No Way, is my answer. Nipples are great. They’re unique, often lopsided, and have little personalities of their own. Hannah Betts writes:
Our culture is obsessed with heaving, blancmangey cleavage, but the erect nipple is a far more potent yet insouciant sexual signifier. The pert pap winningly protrudes between the sluttish and the demure: contained arousal, clothed incitement; an invitation more beguiling for being a whisper rather than a shout.
I find it odd that the “younger generation” (God, I can’t believe I say such things…but sometimes it’s required) have such an issue with nipples. The whole padded bra cup thing – I don’t get it. And how hard is it to buy a bra that’s of a sheath-like fabric??? I don’t think it’s prudishness, per se. It’s more to do with denying individual, raw form. Anyhow, I liked that it’s up for discussion.
3. Free Jamie Oliver demo next Sunday afternoon in Sydney. The kid’s chatting about ethical eating. Bring a picnic. Come join me! Jamie in the Park deets here.
4. I’m all about Sprezzatura. Seth Godin chats about this – it’s an archaic Italian word for being able to do your craft without a lot of visible effort. Flow, being streamlined…but with a nicer ring.
5. Under-react to a problem. Nice advice from The Happiness Project.
Carla Bruni can wear whatever the hell she wants.
Every body is unique and should be admired for its own statement. I am very happy to have been a lad in the bra free 1970s and find this current obsession with pumped up ,”barbie doll” falsely uniform shaped and “expression free” ( hidden nipple) body image trend very borimg … disturbing and quite sad.
+1 on Sarah’s “pro-nipple movement”. Naomi Watts in 21 Grams certainly gets my vote!
Wow, Sarah you make Bondi sound very appetising indeed. I will have to suffice with Melbourne and Chapel St (the Baghdad end, not Paris end) this sunday.
Have a great weekend all!
Would love for you to post the recipe for your rice flour + pumpkin muffins! Yum.
Not every body part is meant to be so clearly defined in our clothing simply because we have it….shall we also wear some nice white spandex pants with no undies so we can show the world can read our lips?” Um, please no!!!! The visible nipple thing is just tacky.
The muffins sound amazing. I’m sure I’ll be exceedingly impressed. Just the fact that you cook with almond meal & chia seeds is mind blowing enough for me.
As for my nipples, well, best they stay covered. At least for the first meeting. Or until after we’ve got through the first bottle of champagne…..
xxx
Ok, so if you’re ever on the Sunshine Coast, would love you to come for Sodashi Revive tea and gluten-free chocolate nut balls.
Woo-hoo Carla! Who was she meeting? Why so formal? I’d forget my bra too if it was Barack Obama?! Take note of her bra action when meeting with Gordon Brown the human cardigan or our very own cabbage patch doll Kevin Rudd. She can get away with free jugging coz they’re small and neat. I love fridays. xxx
Nikki, I will take you up on that offer! Kerri, chia will change your life. Or even just your bowels. A girl’s best friend.
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of nipple. I am annoyed that I have to wear a padded bra in my freezing office otherwise I’d be on ‘high-beam” all day.
Hi Sarah,
Your post about reaching out and connecting with like-minded people who write or blog really resonated with me. After experiencing postnatal depression in 2008, following the birth of my first child, I had to completely re-assess how I lived my life and who I wanted to be. From that point I started making decisions by asking myself the question “What would I attempt to do if I knew I could not fail?’. Doing this was a huge leap of faith for me as I am pretty much an “A-type” personality who has always done the ‘right’ thing. The result has been amazing. The past year and a half has been the most amazing period of growth and enjoyment of my life to date. I started writing a blog to share my journey and I left my career as a PDHPE teacher and followed my heart to lululemon athletica – the yoga inspired athletic wear company whose original intent is to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness. (I am the community leader at the ivy George St store in Sydney). This is my stepping stone to fulfilling my own dream of opening a concept store for kids called ‘Give Love Get Love’. I’m taking your lead by telling you that I would absolutely LOVE to meet up with you to connect and share because I too believe that life is too short to not reach out to amazing people. x Bel Youll
Hi there ( I’m not sure what your name is!?). Thanks for your lovely post. Love hearing about this kind of stuff. Contact me direct via the contact submission form if you have something in mind….I’m based in Darlinghurst.
x