Batman to the rescue....

After earlier in the week complaining that Darby was going through one  of of those "uncooperative, naughty and cheeky stages that was driving me crazy"

Today I was pleasantly surprised.. I literally ate my words...  

My little batman loving boy.. was taking a page out of his favourite characters book and was a little superhero for me all day! 

This was the perfect day for him to pull out his Ace cards with his behaviour because I felt like death warmed up! 

I went into work feeling all stuffed up with a head cold.. it was all downhill really as I began to feel worse, cloudy, hazy and generally just miserable... I was not being a productive worker .. 

I decided the best thing to do was to leave at lunchtime.. head home and rest!

I wasn't sure whether to pick Darby up from childcare early and take the risk that the afternoon could go quite pear shaped if he started acting like he had for the last week or so...  Should I just  head home for some child free time to just rest with no distractions, no complaining, no demands? 

I flipped a coin and decided to pick him up.. mostly because I didn't want to go back into the city after I got home.. The stress of dealing with peak hour traffic would ruin any rest I was going to be having! 

I arrived at his Kinder when all the kids were resting.. nothing cuter than seeing 15 little 4 years olds having a nap on the floor.. How they get them all to sleep and so quiet in unison is seriously a mystery.. They need medals for this (I am guessing most of these kids don't have a sleep on a normal non kinder day!)

I hated having to wake Darby up after only 20 minutes of rest... His face when he saw me was of such disbelief and shock..  I had to calm him to let him know that everything was ok as I think he got a bit of a fright.. but he jumped straight into my arms for a cuddle..

After his initial shock he was talkative and excited to see me... there was no grumpy residue left from his quick nap.. 

We headed towards home and he was genuinely concerned that I was sick and wanted to look after me! We dropped in quickly to grab a coffee at Le Chien, he wanted to chat about his day and talk about my day... My little boy was acting so maturely.. 
We got home and he smothered me in cuddles and kisses, he put on his most charming and delightful self for the afternoon.. the one I remembered so clearly and that has been missing in action for a week or so now! 
No complaining, no demands, just bliss... happy, inquisitive.. happy to play by himself, happy to get me drinks, happy to smother me in love and blankets.. boy have I missed this little man! And more so, I was so thankful that he chose today to put on his best behaviour... Its hard being sick and by myself, I generally feel my lowest and realise how alone I am... but now Darby is so grown up, he can step up and take on the role of the caregiver from time to time! 

So whilst  I sat in my red chair and whined and sneezed.. He covered me in love and Wonder Woman stickers.. his way of telling me what an awesome mum I am and his way of making me feel better!
Ah bless his heart.. how I am so thankful for him! 


Until next time, stay out of the cold... 

Linking up with Kate at Kate Says Stuff for Thankful Thursday. What are you thankful for today?

On the right Track!

I woke Monday morning with only a slight recollection of the night before. No, I hadn't finally opened that lovely bottle of Tanqueray Gin sitting on my bench (although I probably should do soon!). Although It did feel as though I had had one too many which would explain the  temporary memory loss and grogginess!

 In fact I  had woken at 3.30am with a throbbing tooth ache... oh no, here we go again! My dental history has never been the best, due to a number of underlying factors I wont get into, but tonight pain was back and it  was real bad! 

 I  am known to have some pretty decent pain killers stashed in my cupboard you would think I could run some kind of on the side pharmacy! I located in the dark some thing that had Forte at the end  (to me that meant strong). From memory I only ever need 1 but in my drowsy haze  I wasn't very compliant and gulped down 2! Silly Silly. These were pain killers of similar strength to Morphine!  So It definitely dulled the pain and I went back to sleep straight away, but I woke at 8 in a groggy mess... my eyes just  didn't want to stay open and poor Darby was looking concerned, luckily he can get his breakfast phew!! At 9am I finally surfaced, feeling oh so light headed and  all over tingly, the bonus was I had no pain!!!!

I did however need some kind of  caffeine hit fast! Something strong! I got ready and we were out the door in 10 minutes... I didn't want to go to far in the car (should I have driven at all?!) , so we went to North Melbourne!  We went to Cafe TRUTRACK, as I haven't been there before and have always been  intrigued. We were there early and the only ones inside . This cafe is owned and run by the same people who run the garage workshop next door (I'm pretty sure anyway). The Barista was nice and friendly and we ordered pronto. I'm not sure in my vagueness I ordered a latte, but that's what I ended up with. Even though its not my usual tipple, it was no less enjoyable, a nice strong crema, led to a smooth and enjoyable latte!  Maybe I will try one more often! The lovely ironwork and exposed brick lend to a very warm and welcoming cafe. I will come back when I'm in much better shape!!

I will also be reluctantly be calling my dentist!!! No more self prescribing!!

One of Darby's 1st babycinos - chubby and 11 months!

I have been asked recently why I haven't written about Le Chien... the cafe I have frequented for well over 6 years ..... the simple answer to this is it is too hard... too personal, too close to a nerve, too emotional,   too difficult to chose a particular moment, visit,  coffee or meal . 

I have spent the latter part of my 20's visiting here almost everyday. From my hip surgery, to my pregnancy, to baby Darby, to toddler Darby, to being terribly sick, to turning 30, to weddings, funerals, 100s of catch ups with family and friends and to more recently a relationship breakdown and the aftermath.  Now being a little further away in Yarraville and its not as convenient as being in the street we once  lived in,  I still have Darby asking daily  to go to "Andy's Shop"for babycinos, soy cappuccinos and muffins!  There are so so  many memories and I  actually get choked up when I even write this,  so if I begin to unlock these memories, I have to do it gradually, because some of its quite difficult! Its like I have lived out my life here.  

I went in on Thursday, almost feeling guilty as I hadn't visited for a while because of my challenge and all of the staff asked where I had been, if I had moved out of the area (I felt even guiltier!)  I told Dwayne the coffee maker what I had been  doing.. and told him  the coffee is still as I remembered , just like tasting a memory I suppose!  I will be back, there are no doubts about that! I plan to have many more happy memories that here. 

Until Next time xx

I was sick here, with a 20 month old Darby

Darby celebrating Birthday number 2 with a little bacon and eggs!!!

Coffee.. yum, just how I like it!

The Hangover!

Good or Evil??? I'm still to decide!!

Firstly today Ill be talking about another drink starting with the letter C... this drink too has many wonderful qualities like its friend coffee . It helps to make you feel relaxed, confident and happy, it is used to toast the big celebrations in life and is generally  loved by everyone! But today I am seeing the Ugly side of that drink! Now to clarify,  I'm talking about Champagne and too much of it!
Today is probably  not the ideal day for me to write. My head is fuzzy, like its stuffed with cotton wool, my tummy is rumbling, I'm hungry but I'm not, I close my eyes and see stars and also a vision of myself dancing some Zumba moves in front of lots of people!!ugghh and I'm slowly going downhill .... the evil evil culprit of alcohol, now I wonder why I don't drink!!!  It was however  all in the name of a good cause to celebrate Catherine and Dave's wedding. It was an amazing celebration and the most fun I have had in a long time, I  was completely honoured to be there to share the joy and love, but the aftermath is never ever pretty! Suffice to say there will not be much coffee drunk today! Hangovers and caffeine don't mix for me! 



Gingerlee Soy Cappuccino



 Having said that though, when I felt less fuzzy and dehydrated and more spritely or maybe still a little tipsy this morning I did have a Soy mocha with my hangover cure (Eggs and Bacon at Le Chien).

The cure has not worked its magic and its a slow and steady decline!

Oh well Ill have to perk up now as I am taking Elisha out on an excursion to a coffee place I haven't tried and then I can't say no to coffee! Suck it up Jane..... Here goes.....



Elisha and I head over to our old stomping ground of Brunswick! So much has changed  in the years since I moved to the West. I always get reminiscent having spent 4 years living there in my twenty somethings! Ahh the memories! I do romantically wish I lived their now, the shops are better, there are dozens more cafes and the coffee and availability of good coffee in Brunswick has more than tripled.. Brunswick  covers at least 10% of my Melbourne Coffee Review List.



Passionfruit Cheesecake with Lemon Curd



Today we pulled over to a place on Lygon St  - Gingerlee.  Elisha and I had actually been there 2 years ago and I remembered it well.  We sat outside overlooking busy Lygon St and ordered our coffees. Mine was delicious!  Could not fault it, the only thing maybe was that the cup was a tad under full  but nothing too major there! I also had a wonderful little passion fruit cheesecake with lemon curd.... was the perfect  size so I didnt feel too guilty scoffing it down!

Ill be back to Brunswick...  very soon I hope , they know how to nail a good coffee, just hurry up car so I can get over there again!   

Until next time xxxx



Elisha and her Skinny latte

The Finished cheesecake



New Years Resolution!

Like most people I always make New Years Resolutions, most of the time they are to Lose Weight , Get fitter, spend less money , save more money, plan a trip etc etc etc etc
But after a tumultuous year.... one of the hardest of my life, I have decided to be kind to myself.. Yes I will try and lose weight and et al but this year I want to do something I can actually achieve, feel proud of and learn more about myself as I go.  This New Years Resolution sounds silly, but I think it has lots of  potential to be great and its already giving me some purpose (The buzz word for Resilient people) ... so here we go!
I took some inspiration from the a cute little movie 'Julie and Julia', but making my way through an exquisite cook book was a) going to be expensive, b) probably would not help with losing weight c) I wouldn't really be leaving my house.....

So instead I am going to go to all the places (plus more) in the Melbourne 2011 Coffee Review http://www.melbournecoffeereview.com/ -  all 100 of them to try their coffee and if it gets too easy I will seek out more places to go! I have downloaded the application and have started already!
So in  trying to practice what I preach from a Health Promotion and Psychology point of view (what I do everyday at work) I thought a SMARTER goal was more achievable for me. 
 S  - Specific goal- drink coffee from the 100 best places in Melbourne 
 M - Measurable - I will become a coffee expert, go to new places and may meet some handsome barrista's or two
 A-  Achievable - Anything is achievable when you are buzzing on caffeine
 R-  Realistic - well I love coffee to start with, so it should be easy
 T - Time Based - 12 months should be easy - 11 months to go
 E - Exciting - what is NOT exciting about drinking great coffee most days of the year
 R - Recorded - That's what this blog is for! No cheating here!
As I go along I will give my own description of the experience and of course the most important part - the coffee. I plan to make some excursions from the West to the North, East and South all in the name of my resolution!
So here we go...........
Straight up I better clear up how I take my coffee - Soy Cappuccino (with 2 equal .. I know I'm trying to quit..), but I am open to trying lots of different beans, milks and styles... see its already liberating!


A month into 2011 and I have already been to 11 places (plus a couple of extras that I think should be on the list)
- Cafenatics (near my work so very easy!)
- Eclipse ( just discovered and also near work .. so I don't have to try too hard either)
- Brother Baba Budan - stopped on the way back from a meeting - understand why it gets 3 beans! It was amazing... will be making another trip back there before February is gone
- Di Bella Coffee Roasting - another yummy coffee experience... near my sisters and was feeling a little hungover so need to go back again! Food was delish too
- The Corner Shop - Home Territory ... love the way they use Real Choc on top....mmmmmm
- Le Chien - Well this has been my place for coffee for sooo long, six years I have been going here and probably for a long time to come, I love the familiarity, I know the staff and I love how the place makes me feel. Reminds me of good times (and some sad). It helped me get through last year with a smile on my face.
- Pope Joan - Need to come back here again, the coffee and food were gorgeous, but I had a grumpy and squealing Darby with me so the 'experience' could have been better, service was lovely, they wrapped up the uneaten fruit toast in foil so I could make a quick exit! Bless! Ill be back again, I wish it was here when I lived in Glenlyon Rd... would have been my place to go.
- Duchess of Spotswood. - A new find and very close to home... need to come back again to try the food.. Coffee was yummy, using Bonsoi milk makes a difference... just have to watch I don't get a thyroid problem! Will be back.
- I shouldnt Forget Seven Seeds... which took me on a wild goose chase to find, but was completely worth it. I have been looking forward to this experience for so long I hoped it didn't let me down as my expectations were very high. Thank goodness it didn't. The coffee was so delicate but intense and strong at the same time (now I sound like a coffee snob!) I will be back here no doubt... 3 beans from me as well
Until next time ......