Brunch review: Zucherro, Manuka

We picked this cafe for a relaxing Sunday brunch because the cakes and tarts in the cabinet looked amazing. I doubt that they're made on site (the kitchen is teeny tiny, and I recognised a distinctively decorated mousse as the same one I had at Bittersweet Cafe in Kingston) but they showed good taste in sweets none the less. This was somewhat ironic because neither of us ended up having anything sweet, but I'd like to return and sample some in-cabinet deliciousness.

The Scoring

Menu variety/creativity: 7/10. Plenty of options, including a few sweet ones.

Taste: 6.5/10. I had Zucherro's beans, which was a pot of beans with chorizo and poached eggs on toast. The bean mix was flavoursome and tasty, and they poached the eggs properly (hooray!).

Coffee: 4/10. A little disappointing, although the coffee itself tasted okay, I don't think whoever made it knows how to froth milk.

Setting/location: 6/10. Nice on a sunny day to sit outside, and there is some undercover seating too... but no indoor seating, so unless they have outdoor heating in winter this would be a no-go.

Service: 3/10. This is unfortunate, because it’s where this place really fell down. We waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes for 2 breakfast dishes, which I do not deem to be acceptable. They did apologise for the delay but didn’t offer any explanation, so I can only assume that their cook is incompetent and that these sorts of delays are the norm there. They were not unusually busy and seemed to have plenty of waiters on duty, if they had been doing their job. The staff, although friendly, were more interested in having fun than serving customers – when I had to go and ask for water (it wasn’t brought to our table as we requested), I stood around waiting to be served while the staff laughed and joked and ignored me. The only lady who was doing work had to eventually yell at the young waiters to come and serve me. The same thing happened when I returned to ask where the restrooms were. Maybe the manager was absent and the staff were taking advantage of it? Who knows…

 Verdict: I wouldn't return for brunch, but the cakes (or tarts) looked yummy so I'd like to come here for afternoon tea. The coffee wasn't great but it also wasn't so bad that I'd avoid the place.

 Here are the meals:

Antisocial Office Behaviour

I have two major pet peeves:

• #1 People who sniff loudly and draw back into their sinuses.
• #2 People who eat loudly with their mouth open - although I can deal with this quite easily as a person cannot eat continuously all day.

Unfortunately, I am surrounded by #1 in the office at the moment. I really wish people would take a day or two off if they are clearly sick, to avoid spreading their germs. We are not busy at the moment and the sick person has hardly any work (and certainly nothing pressing), so he has no excuse. If a person comes in to work, the least they can do is avoid constantly making disgusting noises (and by constantly, I mean every 10-20 seconds).

Yesterday I put on headphones and listened to music and I could *still* hear it. I politely suggested to said person that if he wasn't feeling well, no one would mind if he went home... but he didn't listen. I also tried giving him a box of tissues, but he didn't take the hint. By the end of yesterday I was ready to strangle him, especially when he stayed late at work!

As much as I try to calm down and ignore the sound, I can't - I find it super irritating. Today I plan to listen to music again so that I can hear it less.

Do you think I'm overreacting? And what are your office pet peeves?

Oscars 2012 Best Dressed

Category 1: Cutest

A tie between:

 Source: Mirror.co.uk

Natalie Portman in her girl next door 50's polka dot dress - it's Dior Haute Couture (circa 1954).

and 

  Source: Mirror.co.uk

Michelle Williams in Louis Vuitton

Category 2: Sexiest

  Source: Mirror.co.uk

I'm pretty sure this would be every man's pick: JLo looking deliciously voluptuous. Girl crush? The gown is by Zuhair Murad.

 

Category 3: I'd definitely wear it

 

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Jessica Chastain in the most stunning Alexander McQueen dress

 

Source: Hollywood Reporter 

Alexandra Lamy, wife of Oscar winner Jean Dujardin. Understated yet elegant.

 

And finally, the booby prize for most disappointing:

Source: Mirror.co.uk

Ange, you wouldn't look good in anything right now - you are skeletal. The video of you striking unnatural poses with your leg out would be funny if it didn't make me sad.

Inspirational Furniture / Homewares

Furniture/homewares I want in my house:

This gorgeous suitcase lounge chair is designed by a South African designer, Katie Thompson.

Urban Outfitters Turquoise Chandelier - this now sold out item was almost purchased by me, but I resisted due to my February shopping ban *sobs* It was very affordable - on sale for $30 before shipping!

Restored art nouveau washstand - I saw this advertised on Gumtree in Perth for $950. If only I was living there, and had my own house...

This "Songbird" chandelier was stocked by Anthropologie, and retailed at around $800. A little bit exxy for what it is... I much prefer this $15 DIY version, which I'd love to attempt myself:

Source: Daily Danny

Decorative knobs - the cheap and easy way to spice up a dresser. You can get nicer ones than these, but you get the idea. Source: Ezibuy

Another Perth Gumtree lust have, this beautiful antique dresser is advertised at only $200.

Last but not least, I am in love by the clocks made by Betty of BettyJoDesigns. This one is $150, and would be worth the cost for the joy that it would bring me :-)

Ulta3 Autumn/Winter 2012 Nailpolish Collection

Details of the Autumn/Winter 2012 collection have been released! It's called 'Molten Metallics', and it looks fab.

The collection comprises of the following colours:

• Copper
• Shiraz
• Jade
• Cocoa
• Antique Gold
• Enchanted
• Burnt Orange

For those who haven't heard of Ulta3 (where have you been!?) these nailpolishes are great because they cost around $2 each (some places charge slightly more, eg $2.25 - I think this is the new rrp anyway). The quality used to be better when they were made in Australia (they are now made overseas, and sometimes the brushes are a bit wonky) but they're still great quality for the price. They're such a cheap pick me up - cheaper than a cup of coffee!

I personally will not be buying many of these for now, because I bought most of their Spring/Summer collection and haven't even tried most of them yet! (FAIL...) It is hard to resist when you stumble across a tub of them, and for a limited time they are also being stocked at some Coles stores! 

My pick out of this collection has to be 'Cocoa', which looks delicious:

Ulta3 is stocked at Terry White Chemists, Blooms the Chemist, Good Price Pharmacy and other selected pharmacies. Phone 1800 181 040 for stockist enquiries.

A similar brand, which is from the same distributors as Ulta3 is N.Y.C Color. NYC Color seems to be made in the same factory as Ulta3, and has the same colours under different names.

Here is an Ulta3 colour guide, complete with examples of nails painted in each colour (it doesn't include the A/W12 collection yet). Here is a list matching Ulta3 and NYC Color nailpolishes by name and colour.

Popping the Garage Sale Cherry

I have been inspired by some other lovely bloggers to start looking into garage sales - seeing what others have found at such great prices, they seem to be a great alternative to op shopping at actual stores.

There are 2 problems with garage sales:
(1) The early bird catches the worm, and often they finish at midday. I really value my weekend sleep ins and find it extremely hard to wake up early when I know that I don't *have to*.
(2) I find that advertisements are lacking detail about what is on offer, and in Canberra the majority are only advertised in the Saturday paper on the day of the sale. That means that planning ahead is impossible.

Last Saturday I had an early physiotherapy appointment (early on a Saturday actually means 9am...). Afterwards I had a leisurely coffee and cruised around some shops. Then I randomly checked the newspaper, and saw that there was a garage sale right near where I live that was advertising "vintage". By the time I got there it was already 12:30pm, so one would think that I would have missed all the good stuff. But... you just never know, and I found some wonderful items at fantastic prices!!!
 
I have always wanted a wicker suitcase like this one. I'm not yet sure whether I'll use it for decor, as a fashion accessory or as a sewing box (as the previous owner obviously did - there were some needles and thread left inside). The best thing was that it only cost $2:

The inside has this super cute blue plaid material, and it's in perfect condition. I also picked up these 3 necklaces for 50c each:

 

Do I wish I had gotten there earlier? Well yes, I suppose so. I may just have to find a way to get up earlier on weekends and visit some more garage sales...Linking up with Sophie as usual.

The Cool Kids Bookshelf: Go the F*ck to Sleep

The cool kids bookshelf part #2. For cool kids, and even cooler adults who never really grew up.

This is an adult's picture book. It is also perfectly suitable for toddlers who can't read, as long as you change the words. This might become problematic once they start being able to read if it becomes a favourite. At this point, you can buy the edited childrens version sans swear words. It doesn't have the same zest but it will serve a purpose. I also recommend you keep it off the child's bookshelf, incase Grandmother or someone who isn't quite as liberal as yourself finds it and awards you the prize for the worst parent in history, in the form of a two hour lecture on parenting.

The book began as a throwaway joke on Facebook, and went viral. It became an Amazon best seller way before it was published, still on pre-order. I agree that it is disgusting, contains way too many swear words and is very controversial. But it is also something ever parent or childminder can relate to, and that's why it has been so successful.

I recommend you buy this book to read to your child after a hard day when they just will not shut the f*ck up and go to sleep. Warning: contains (lots of) expletives.

Here are some of the nuggets that we can all relate to contained in the book:

"The eagles who soar through the sky are at rest / And the creatures who crawl, run and creep. / I know you're not thirsty. That's bullshit. Stop lying. / Lie the fuck down, my darling, and sleep."

 "The tiger reclines in the simmering jungle. / The sparrow has silenced her cheep. / Fuck your stuffed bear, I'm not getting you shit. / Close your eyes. Cut the crap. Sleep."

"We're finally watching our movie. / Popcorn's in the microwave. Beep. / Oh Shit. Goddamn it. You've got to be kidding. / Go the fuck back to sleep."

Tip: There are plenty of read alouds of this book on YouTube, even by celebrities. I like the one by Samuel L Jackson. There is even one by ex Playschool presentor Noni Hazelhurst. In this postmodern world, the most innocent things are butchered. I love it.