Two Thousand & Great

Without lists, it's very likely that I would never remember (or do) anything at all. It would be difficult to argue with the stubborn fact that I would spend my days doing little but playing tetris in the sun on my newly rediscovered gameboy, browsing charity stores and listening to very loud music. Below are my lists for the best dressed - not strictly in terms of style - of the year. Please feel free to leave your own (presumably mini) lists in the comments, perhaps you'll enlighten me to some new music, that I will no doubt enjoy blaring from the speakers in lieu of doing anything productive. Just the thought is getting me excited.

Top 10 Albums

Adam Green - Sixes & Sevens
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis - Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (pictured below)
The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers
Late of the Pier - Fantasy Black Channel
Metronomy - Nights Out
Dr Dog - Fate
Teeth & Tongue - Monobasic
Cassette Kids - We Are
Ratatat - LP3

Top 5 Singles

I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids
Young Love - Mystery Jets
That's Not My Name - Ting Tings
Paris is Burning - Ladyhawke
At Last - The Do

Top 5 Gigs

Adam Green (pictured below)
SoKo
Kimya Dawson
Grafton Primary
Cassette Kids

Top 3 Movies

Juno
Young At Heart
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Top 10 Online Destinations

Two Thousand
The Selby (pictured below)
Flickr
Facebook
Face Hunter
Kingdom of Style
Bobbysix
Flavorpill
Style Bytes
Ringo Have a Banana

Top 5 Eats

Govinda's
Shakespeare Hotel
Hot Wok Master
Elephant Jump
Bourke Street Bakery

Top 10 Material Acquisitions

Black and Brown Saddle Bag
Black Lace Up Shoes
Teddy Bear Belt
Pastel Striped Dress
Navy High Waisted Pants
Red and Brown Patterned Scarf
Black Patterned Cropped Top
Cropped White Jumper
Checkered Jodphurs
Long Green Skirt
Camel Wool Vest


Top 5 Outfits From Other Bloggers

Highlights of the Year

Finding such a wonderful, inspiring and central place to live, the plethora of amazing charity shop finds and, most importantly, meeting the man I love.

Young at Heart

You can read Bobby's far more comprehensive review of Young at Heart over here. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to find it contains more words than "wonderful" and "life changing". Should you be unable to make it to Govinda's to see the film due to geographical and/or time restraints I'm certain the film is equally brilliant at other venues. But really, Govinda's is, like, the bomb.

Vintage and Retro Fashion at Hibernian House

Dear Sydneysiders,
For you and you only, Owl and the Grapes and SixOhOne are collaborating to create a one-day pop up store. Just like those fairy tale pop up books you had as a child, but better. You wouldn't have imagined such a thing was possible back then, but trust us, it certainly is.
.

Okay, so the 'collaboration' thing is a partial lie, considering that Owl and the Grapes and SixOhOne are essentially run by the same people. That the event will be a treasure trove of vintage and retro fashion however, is definitely no lie.

In the Green Room housed by SixOhOne, we will be bringing to you all that Cinderalla could have ever wanted. Indeed, we will have food (of the cookie kind), drink (of the BYO kind), The Beach Boys (of the Ipod kind), two cozy cats, a big comfy couch to chill the fuck out on, shoes, bric-a-brac and lots of vintage clothes, mainly of the female genre.

It's the same Saturday as Surry Hills markets so drop down before and/or after to enjoy a laid-back Saturday in our company - we're quite literally just down the street. In fact, we're close to Crown Street, Oxford Street and the City too.

Find us on Level Six of Hibernian House, 342 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. On the corner of Kippax St, just up from Eddy Avenue, opposite Ding Dong Dang, entry via the Stained Glass sign and next door to the (dodgy) Indian restaurant. Zip up in the lift to level 5 (be patient) and there's a security gate on your right. Head up the stairs and at the top you'll see two doors. We're the one on the left. If you're worried you'll lose yourself, don't. There'll be signs.

Take this bread

The take-away sandwich. Too many times have I been disappointed by this animal. Thankfully, no more. For those who have been awaiting the day where they no longer have to endure the overpriced and unsatisfying, say hello to Malibu.

This hole in the wall sandwich bar tucked away in the scummy part of Surry Hills is absolute heaven for any sandwich-loving foodie. Their sandwiches are large enough to feed a small nation and made with only the freshest ingredients. It's run solely by the two owners, Marc and Marcella (I find Marc a little more generous, so sidle up to the front when you see that glint in his eye and oh my wholemeal, yes please) who pile on ingredients as you stand wide-eyed.

Despite it's word of mouth nature and the fact that people like me lived two minutes from it for months without ever hearing of it, at lunchtimes there can be quite a queue. Yesterday, for instance, after standing in a line that stretched onto the footpath outside the tiny shop for five minutes I realised that I had the whole of 20 cents in my purse. While Malibu sandwiches are great value, unfortunately they do not yet give them away free of charge. With one setting you back $7 to $8 (with a full purse, being an absolute bargain) I found myself $15.80 short. So it was all the way to the ATM after which I repeated the whole process.

However, despite being gone for thirty minutes longer than I had said I would be, those gargantuan alo-foil wrapped sandwiches well made the trip and the wait worth while. The two wholly vegetarian sandwiches lasted us from lunch through dinner and looked scrumptious enough that when the housemate walked by to see us trying to unlock our jaws in order to get our mouths around the Surry Hills skyscrapers, she immediately asked for directions. It's just on Foster Street, off Elizabeth. You'll see the tattoo parlour and follow the graffiti. There are a few umbrellas and a bunch of crates out the front and very possibly a line. You might even see a halo hovering above the roof. Don't be surprised, just ask for Vienna bread with whatever you feel like.

Being bad feels pretty good.

Despite the sheer restraint it took not to name the post Being badde feels pretty good, it seems my willpower can't help when it comes to the first sentence. Perhaps I should explain the awful pun. We wandered off to Badde Manors in Glebe the other night for some food and liquor (sans liquor). Although I've had lunch there a fair few times, and excuse my ignorance here (I should know, as the cafe's been around longer than me), I never realised you could dine for dinner in the grungy cafe.


The food was lovely, I had crumbed eggplant steak on a bed of creamy potato and he had some sort of penne pasta. The service was incredibly fast (and after watching Gordon Ramsay that night I was convinced the plates had had three minutes in the microwave) and the food well priced. Also, it is discreetly, though strictly, vegetarian. Which suits me well. Unlike my cat, who, despite my previous thoughts is not vegetarian at all; she was found sneakily snuggling a bird carcass this morning. They also have a fair selection of vegan food. That said however, it's definitely not a cafe only for vegetarians, or especially famous for being as much. My lovely meat-loving friend and her boyfriend were going there for months before, one hungover morning, they discovered there was no bacon and eggs on the menu "But we're vegetarian" said the dreadlocked man with a look of annoyance. Oh and you can smoke in the courtyard (if that's the kind of thing that you think you might be into). And it's open till quite late (at least midnight most evenings). The only disappointment was that we failed to get lewd with the food, but it was pretty good night nonetheless.

Red belt as headband: From mother's to-be-thrown-out pile
Scarf: Birthday gift from the cool as chips neighbour
Cropped black top: Also stolen from that fateful pile
Purple top: Again, also from the pile (a rather good pile in hindsight)
Purple dress underneath: St Vincent de Paul
Bag: Found in an attic, in a box said to be mine.
Blue stockings: Thrifted
Shoes: Cream on crown