Notes from a muse: January


Pompidou, Milsons Point. Who doesn't love a good flat white to start the day? I love this cafe's sense of style - black and yellow with a stylish French twist.

I was walking behind this funky family approaching Milsons Point station one weekday afternoon. It struck me as they walked in time to each other, that they represented a family that had just had a great time together, and were on their way home for dinner. They just looked content and happy.

Walking home from Central Station one weekday afternoon I heard this protest long before I saw them. There was a crowd on the other side of the street, watching them, including police. I didn't get the gist of what they were protesting as it was in another language but the signs said "The Free Egyptian Policy". I wonder what it was all about.

These were fake flowers in the hotel that my new boyfriend and I spent a very happy 4 days at the start of 2013 together. They remind me of gerberas, which are my favourite flowers. I love the bright colours, and I will always remember how happy we both were on that holiday.

The door to my apartment, which I have previously spent 5 years alone in, this was taken on the day I moved back from spending a couple of years with my mum and dad, brothers and sister in law. This time I knew I was going to have the companionship I always yearned for, as well as giving me the independence and freedom I always crave.

A new favourite order, the piccolo, at Gnome, Surry Hills. I love this cafe for the very clever interior design to be able to seat customers within the limited floor space they have. This photo captures none of this apart from the excellent coffee that they serve.

On the corner of Bourke and Campbell Sts, Surry Hills, this brightly painted building stands out like a.... well.... pink, black and purple coloured monstrosity. Something about the way the angles are painted, however, means the building gets away with not being an eyesore, rather a curiosity.

A moment captured in the minutes during a red light at the main road of Coogee, opposite the beach. The light suddenly came through the trees, and I snapped this in the second it happened.

Clovelly Beach in summer, during a rare moment of solitude, far from the madding crowds.

A little slice of Italy outside Brsuchetteria, Surry Hills.

The neon stairs leading up to Santa Barbara

A happy moment with the boy, just kicking back at the pad. My face says it all, really.

I found true joy in organising all those changes for my apartment that never happened when I first lived here - one of those tasks was washing the huge windows that supply the light for the place.

i really love the textures in this photo - the shiny tiles, warmth of the wood and the coolness of the stainless steel door handles. i also love the way the guy is leaning against the far wall at The Beresford, Surry Hills.

Sunrise over the duck pond, Centennial Park, Sydney. I am not a morning person, but adhering to another of my resolutions, to train every morning (once a week with a friend outdoors like this) has made me a much happier person.

I would love to know the story behind this tree of thongs in Coal Cliff, a little community about an hour south of Sydney. The thongs all have messages on them, and are attached to the tree and go right up into the branches.