::: Meet Me At Mike's :::

:: A Year Of Good Things : 27/366

2012-01-27T07:13:00.000+11:00

image via Lobster & Swan

Adorable blogging superstar (and veteran!) Lobster & Swan has launched The February Matchbox A Day Challenge! Yay for her! Every day you decorate or design a matchbox to fit the theme! She's using vintage matchboxes, wooden ones, but you could do this with regular matchboxes too and set aside the matches like this!

I think this is such a cute project! I love an art/design/craft challenge. I think a daily habit is a really great way to get inspired and stay motivated. (That's what this whole blog is about really. It's a mostly daily challenge to myself!)

Are you the daily habit kind of person? Are you the challenge kind of person? Do you love this cute project?

xx Pip

27|366
Good Thing : A Daily Challenge (via Lobster & Swan)
This Good Thing Is For :: Crafty types
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: A Year Of Good Things : 26/366

2012-01-26T19:52:00.001+11:00

Picasso via Lexi, too!

Today I woke up and checked my Facebook. Ye gads. My friend Lexi was a bit upset. Rightly so. Overnight she'd been called some pretty nasty names on FB by people she doesn't even know.

Why? She'd posted an image on Facebook of a woman breastfeeding her baby. Standing on her head, yoga-like. In the nude. Facebook deemed the image offensive and removed it. It also removed any images that other people reposted of the nude headstand mumma. Hm. What the? It was actually pretty cute and funny, in my opinion. Others begged to differ...

If you click over here, you can read more about what happened. I wrote a piece about how I feel about breastfeeding. 'I'm not really a mummy blogger.' But I am a mum. And I know about breastfeeding. I think it's rad. I think boobs have baby nourishing super powers. I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed all my kidlets. I'm all for the Mumma Milk Bar. Yesiree.

What do you think? Do you have super powers? Is breast feeding important to you? Or is it something you could not do... or even chose not to do? I think all mums are rad, breastfeedy or not. Booby or not. Nude or not. I think all mums try their best.

xx Pip

PS : I decided not to post the image here, because I am all trolled out on this blog. But you can see it on my JustB post!

26|366
Good Thing : Celebrate Breast Feeding
This Good Thing Is For :: The World!
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: A Year Of Good Things : 25/366 (Yesterday)

2012-01-26T18:51:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we made pancakes for breakfast. I like to make pancakes, but I don't usually eat them, ya know? I'm not much of a desserty sweet person, generally. Only for a treat. Yes.

I was cooking these pancakes for Ari and Max yesterday morning (via the Nigella pancake recipe) when something strange happened. The buttery sweet smell of them overwhelmed me. I really HAD to have one. I have not eaten a pancake in about ten years, mind you. Isn't that weird? What's with the pancake strike?

I really wanted lemon and sugar on top of my pancake, but we didn't have any lemons. (Don't you love the smell of lemon and sugar together?!) What we did have was homemade yoghurt and homemade apricot jam, thanks to A Year Of Good Things. That seemed like a great idea. Yep. When I tasted it I realised it was, in fact, an outstanding idea. So yum. Success! Delish. Mmmm.

Do you like pancakes. If you do, how do you like them? What's yum to you?

xx Pip

25|366
Good Thing : Remember To Eat Pancakes. Try them with homemade toppings!
This Good Thing Is For :: Me!
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: A Year Of Good Things : 24/366!

2012-01-24T22:39:00.000+11:00

Today was Ari's birthday! That is a Good Thing! He was born way back in the year 2000! Thank heavens for that! I love him. I do. We all had a great day. I had a bit of a day off and we mooched about and then we went out for Japanese and then we went to the beach to catch some crabs! We only caught a few, and they are for the boys to eat. We threw the small ones straight back, of course.

Here is a bit of our day. A Good Day. Full of Good Things! Was your day good? Are you okey doke?

xx Pip

24|366
Good Thing : Celebrate Ari
This Good Thing Is For :: The World!
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: Happy Birthday Ari!

2012-01-24T08:34:00.000+11:00

Smooches to you, Mr Awesome.

x Mumma

:: A Year Of Good Things : 23/366 (Yesterday!)

2012-01-24T08:28:00.000+11:00

I did want to post this yesterday, but Telstra accidentally disconnected our internet TWO TIMES in one day, so I missed my chance!

No matter, I am here today! Catching up with yesterday! Phew! Hello!

Did you know that we are doing the catering for Rin's wedding ourselves? Well we are! We want super delicious and not super expensive, and to me that means HOME MADE! After a teensy bit of research, we bought a pizza oven! We actually have a really terrible oven at our house, so the pizza oven will double as our new improved oven after The Wedding! That means more home baked bread and better cakes (things our current oven has trouble with.)

We took the oven out for a spin last night. We made lots of delicious pizzas! They had thin, crunchy crusts and melty tops. Y to the UM.

Do you like pizza? How do you like you pizza? Got any good pizza tips for us?!

xx Pip

23|366 (Yesterday)
Good Thing : Pizza
This Good Thing Is For :: The Wedding (and us!)
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: Oops. We bought the couch from 'New Girl'

2012-01-23T21:18:00.000+11:00

Kinda. It was an accident, and yet I am hoping I might magically turn into Zooey Deschanel and get to smooch Nick.

xx Pip

:: Do You Want To Win A Kitchen Aid?!

2012-01-23T17:02:00.000+11:00

Holy cow. Zip over here quick smart to enter! And don't forget to LIKE the Facebook page, too! I totally want the PINK one. Or the Copper one! *faints*

xx Pip

PS : Australia only because it's MIGHTY heavy!

:: Canon Island : Vote Now?!

2012-01-23T08:06:00.000+11:00

Here's my latest entry in the Canon Island photo competition! If you would like to win yourself a camera, go vote over here! You could even vote for ME, if you want to! Considering I am coming LAST, I would love some votes. BUT you should totally choose the photo you love the most. I will keep my fingers crossed that I don't get the wooden spoon. Although, as someone pointed out, wooden spoons are super useful!

xx Pip

:: Soko : No More Home

2012-01-23T07:42:00.000+11:00

This is such a sweet, sad video. Click over to YouTube to hear lots more of Soko's new stuff. It's all quite bittersweet, too. I think she's been having a bit of a tough time. Awww. This is a NEW YEAR and things are going to be great for everyone. Cheer up Soko.

xx Pip

:: Nawwwww

2012-01-22T22:59:00.001+11:00

Pilot Bean.

xx

:: A Year Of Good Things : 22/366 : 11

2012-01-22T22:55:00.001+11:00

OMG. I have been super busy getting a few things organised for Ari's birthday and heading to Weekender for The Bluebottles and making delish food, too. Today I hung out at home and ignored all the things I am meant to be doing in favour of some crochet and TV and sandwiches. Sometimes, you just gotta stop and hang out with your fave eleven year old. So today I did that. Gulp. Ari will be 12 on Tuesday. I am making the most of the eleven time. Eleven is a magical age on the edge of change. Eleven is like teetering on the abyss of semi grown up-ness. Eleven is super spesh.

Do you like this blankie? It's for my sister's baby to be! Do you want to make one?

xx Pip

22|366
Good Thing : Hanging With Eleven
This Good Thing Is For :: Me and Eleven
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: A Year Of Good Things : 21/366 (Yesterday!)

2012-01-22T09:15:00.000+11:00

this yoghurt belongs to My So Called Style

Have you ever made yoghurt? I was in a shop yesterday and they had EasiYo Yogurt Makers on sale for $20. I have never made yoghurt, but I know you don't really need an appliance to do it. Nevertheless, I bought the EasiYo. Here is why. I thought it would be a good reminder to make yoghurt. You know how sometimes if you buy the thing, you are more committed to using it?! Especially if it's sitting in your kitchen taking up space. Does that make sense to you?

Anyhoo, I bought it. Because Cam and Ari and Max love vanilla yoghurt. And I figured it was a great healthy habit to get into, the yoghurt making. I'm going to work out how to make some fancier flavours (without the flavour sachets and WITH vanilla beans or lemon or raspberries.)

Have you ever made yoghurt? What can you tell me about it? Do you like yoghurt?

xx Pip

21|366 (yesterday)
Good Thing : Encouraging Healthier Habits (like yoghurt!)
This Good Thing Is For :: The Famileeee
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: By The Way : CAKE!

2012-01-21T11:23:00.000+11:00

1. Fruit Tingle Cake by Raspberri Cupcakes

2. Kit Kat Cake by Melissa

I wrote a post over here : 10 Ace Cakes To Bake : in case you are feeling bakey this weekend! These are my two faves. Click over for 8 other delish recipes!

xx Pip

:: Elisandra

2012-01-21T08:18:00.001+11:00

I featured a print by Elisandra on the Meet Me At Mike's Facebook Spectacular last week. I thought that maybe you might not be on Facebook? Or that you might have missed Elisandra in the endless stream of stuff I have been sharing over there! Here she is again! She's super wonderful.

I've seen some of her stuff floating around on Pinterest too. Do you know what I think about Pinterest? If you see something you like, try very hard to find the original source and click over. I think it's really important to see the work others do as their work, rather than another pretty thing to pin. I think that Pinterest is great, don't get me wrong, but it's good to remember where all those pictures came from, not just gaze contentedly at a sea of awesome stuff. Dig a bit deeper, when you can I say! Visit the source!

xx Pip

:: A Year Of Good Things : 20/366 : (Yesterday!)

2012-01-21T07:54:00.002+11:00

My very first mother in law was one of the owners of Stephanie's Restaurant (with Stephanie Alexander). Practically, for me, this meant that we were often inundated with the very best leftovers most days of the week. Dure would come around with containers full of all kinds of stuff : brandade, potatoes cooked in duck fat, white chocolate eggs filled with nougat ice cream and cumquat sorbet, Elizabeth David chocolate cake, Sabrina's bread sticks... the list goes on.

Back in the day (in the late 80s/early 90s) Stephanie's used to have a centre table lunch during the week. The chefs (and Stephanie!) would cook whatever was delicious and in season. The Vitello Tonnato was one of my very favourite things. It's veal, poached til it's tender and then sliced thinly and smothered in tuna mayonnaise. It takes a couple of days to pull together so I don't really make it at home very often. But I did make it yesterday, slicing the meat after poaching it the day before that and then finishing it off with the tuna mayo.

I don't know much about buying veal. Someone suggested my veal might not even be veal on Instagram. I don't know if they were right or not, but it was still super delicious. And super nice to take some time to cook something that takes a long time (and not feel rushed about it.) It was not quite as good as Stephanie's one, but I am going to keep revisiting this (find a better butcher) til I get it right.

Some people on Instagram remarked that they thought I was a vegetarian, too. I am not, but I did to a 30 day vegetarian challenge last year. And mostly I eat vegetables. But I'm not a vegetarian.

Are you a vegetarian? Do you like vitello tonnato? Do you like to make things that take a long time or revisit dishes from your past?

xx Pip

20|366 (yesterday)
Good Thing : Cooking something from my past
This Good Thing Is For :: Me and My Famil-eeeee
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: Small Batch Blackberry Jam Recipe

2012-01-19T17:19:00.000+11:00

I only had a HUGE jar from Daiso, so I made a bit over half a jar full. This will make one regular sized jar of jam (like the Bonne Maman jam jars!) Be careful not to burn yourself when you are making jam. Take it slow. I love blackberry jam. I grew up on it and I can not wait to make some scones and pile this on. That is a job for tomorrow. Do you like scones?!

xx Pip

Simple Small Batch Blackberry Jam

makes about 400ml of jam ish

500g Blackberries (remove any icky ones)

1 cup of sugar

1 tbsp of lemon juice

Simmer in a wide, heavy saucepan until thick and jammy, stirring all the time. To test the jam, put a spoonful on a cold plate and tilt the plate. The jam should ooze not run. If it runs, put it back and simmer some more. Spoon carefully into sterile jars and seal whilst hot.

:: My Faves Of Mine, On JustB!

2012-01-19T13:28:00.000+11:00

I am working on the lifestyle blog, JustB. Probs you already know that. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of leeway to do the kinds of things I want over there. They are a bunch of good sorts who put up with my turn of phrase and made up words. Phew. It's really nice to have a proper job to sit beside my handmade jobs. It makes things a bit more secure and a lot busier, which I like.

Here are some pieces I wrote, in case you'd like to read about things other than craft and food and Good Things. I like writing about women and interiors and friendship and technology and improving ourselves. That's what I'm doing over there. Kinda broad no? I'm a kinda broad broad!

Here are some of my faves from the last week or two. They might be your faves too, you just never know...!

Turn On, Tune In, Log Out :: teenagers talking sh*t and Facebook bullying
The Skinny on the Skinnies :: are you judging the thin people, like me?
The Smart Girl's Guide To Smarter TV :: how are you watching what you watch?
Armchair Neat Freak in the Office :: inspiring work spaces that you might love!
Looks Like A Lady :: are women too hard on other women?
Lady Fave With Me :: notice the rad chicks and Lady Fave them!

There are other contributors you might like over there too. Don't feel that you have to read my work. Probs you are sick of me. It's okay if you wanna mix it up. I'm fine with that. Honest. Sob.

xx Pip

:: A Year Of Good Things : 19/366 : Captain & The Kings

2012-01-19T08:14:00.000+11:00

Jolene sent me a link to this video via twitter. HER video. Partly filmed by Jolene's 7 year old, it features many other branches of her family tree...

Captain and the Kings is formed around the songs and voice of Steven Finnie. Joined by sister Jolene, wife Lindsay, cousin Jamie and uncle Jim the band's background in folk music gives their melodic harmony-driven pop an authentic heritage.

I really love hearing new music. And I love hearing what people who read this blog (or follow me on Twitter or Facebook) are doing. I think new music is a Good Thing. I think sharing other people's success is a Good Thing too.

What do you think?! Do you love finding new music? What are you listening to? What successes are YOU having?

xx Pip

19|366
Good Thing : Talking about Captain & The Kings
This Good Thing Is For :: Jolene (and for us too! We get to listen!)
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

(You can join the Do-Gooders for a day, a week, a month or an hour! Click the link and comment to sign up!)

:: A Year Of Good Things : 18/366

2012-01-18T19:20:00.000+11:00

We needed a freezer. I am catering Rin's wedding, omg, and we needed a freezer to open up the menu options a bit. We also need a freezer for the exorbitant amount of iced treats that we have at our house. And we need a freezer for ICE... We are ice hounds. We love ice. We have the usual fridge-freezer, but we wanted to maximise our shopping/cooking/fancy-drink-making so we have been coveting a dedicated freezer. A bit of detective work uncovered this one today. We bought it on Gumtree and it was $100 from a lady with a baby in Alphington. And now it's the keeper of all things good. Zooper Doopers. Sunny Boys. Peas.

Phew. So we're organised for the icy treats and organised for the wedding. Although now I think the menu has changed from Mexican to Spanish/Italian. So we might not need the freezer for the wedding prep after all.

I feel compelled to begin making large amounts of sorbet.

Do you like sorbet? Have you ever made it.

xx Pip

18|366
Good Thing : Getting Ready To Be The Caterer
This Good Thing Is For :: Rin & Joe
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: I Love These Clever Pallet Sofas

2012-01-18T15:53:00.000+11:00

What do you think?! Via here.

xx Pip

:: A Year Of Good Things : 17/366 : Meet Me At Yikes!

2012-01-17T20:39:00.003+11:00

LOOK AT OUR SHOP. OMG. It's nude. It's a mess. We've been painting and plastering and cutting holes in the wall. We've been getting ready to make the shop our living room and office/studio. It's kind of a shambles now. I thought you might like to see! If you've been to our shop, you will know that we've just cut a hole in the orange wall. And that means we can walk in the front door and into our house! It used to be a much more convoluted process. We had to go through the shop and past the side door and in the next door. Now we can just walk in and through. Or in and UP! I am super excited to make this into a cosy home room. We have been squished in for so long, it will be nice to un-squish a titch. Phew.

This is part of our new beginning for Meet Me at Mike's! Soon we'll launch our new-style blog. And then the online store. And we'll also get around to the new issue of Good Stuff too. It's a little delayed because the WEDDING is taking up a lot of my head space at the moment. Are weddings like that, do you think? I do not know, I have never had one, but it's super nice to be planning Rin's with her!

Was your day rad?

xx Pip

17|366
Good Thing : Making Our New Living Room/Life
This Good Thing Is For :: All Of Us At Our House
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: A Year Of Good Things : 16/366

2012-01-16T20:32:00.000+11:00

I am not one of those ladies who mooches about. I am a very hard worker. Today I was boinged back to reality and worked super hard core from 8am til 7pm. It was notso bad. I got a heap of things done and felt a weight lift as I dealt with tasks I had not tackled due to this 'holiday' time of year. I paid some bills. I wrote a lot of stuff. I finished my Frankie project, despite my limpy sewing machine and sent it off to Frankie HQ. I wrote a couple of things for JustB. I'm particularly into this piece that I wrote today! (You can view all my JustB pieces here!)

Also, I worked on my new-soon-to-be-revealed blog. I ate two AWESOME sandwiches. I basically caught up with stuff I needed to do, to keep things nice for my family. I didn't even watch ANY of Friday Night Lights. I took it OUT OF MY COMPUTER, just to avoid the urge! Also, I shared some chips with my doggie. That's Good, isn't it?! AND while I was at the post office, I bought a Delicious Magazine AND a Feast Magazine. That's Good, too!

I really wanted to get out in the world and do something Good for someone who doesn't live under my roof. But instead I stayed in and did the things I need to do. And they were pretty great things, despite the Us-ness of them. Do you have days like that? When you want to do new BIG GOOD things, but you need to deal with the familiar Good things first? I like the familiar things. My first loyalty is to them. When they are sorted I have the energy and excitement for the new. If I ignore the familiar, then I feel anxious and my brain works in Le Strange ways that aren't conducive to good ideas.

Busy Day Toastie Of Awesome

Toast 2 slices of grainy bread

Spread warm toast with one chunk of Meredith Goats Cheese

Add some pesto and chili

Pile with a few slices of beetroot

Salt and pepper, if you please

Eat it up

How about YOU? Do you need to take care of the familiar and the routine to set free the BIG GOOD NEW?!

xx Pip

16|366
Good Thing : Catching Up On Work I Needed To Finish
This Good Thing Is For :: Me & My Fam, too!
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder

:: Do You Want To Help Me With Rin's Wedding?!

2012-01-16T09:30:00.000+11:00

image via

Do you?! Would you like to KIND OF come to Rin's wedding?! We are going to hang Pom Poms in the two big fig trees in the garden! Would you like to send a Pom Pom for the wedding?! Then you can kind of be there in spirit too! Pom Poms can be any size. Make them in a bright colour or a pretty pastel! And then we'll hang them and think of you guys on Rin and Joe's BIG DAY!

Do you want to do it?!

Send them to Rin & Pip : 63 Brunswick Street : Fitzroy : 3065 : Australia
Deadline is February 9th!

xx Pip

:: Why I Like Good Things : A Pep Talk :: 15/366

2012-01-15T11:22:00.001+11:00

warning :: image has little to do with post, but i like it!

Good Things are super important.

I am all for GRATITUDE.

I am a BIG fan of being grateful and appreciating what we have, truly I am.

But. I think it's really good if we be grateful AND do Good Things.

Don't just be thankful for what you've got. Get involved. Make things GROW. Jump up and make some Good Things happen.

Don't be the complacent kind of Grateful Person. Be the Shake Things UP kind of Grateful Person!

Don't meditate on all that you have, all of the time.

Think of little ways to make a big difference. As much as you have, as lucky as you are, it's also up to you to make things even better!

Be more than grateful.

Shake it UP (in a mildly beatific, thankful way, of course!) Make stuff happen. Don't just sit back and admire your life's bounty. Stockpile some extra goodness, by doing some extra good stuff.

Don't be passive-grateful. Be passionate-grateful. Champion the feisty kind of gratitude! Feisty-Thankful is what it's all about!

xx Pip

15|366
Good Thing : Giving A Pep Talk
This Good Thing Is For :: People Who Want To Like It
Join A Year Of Good Things :: Be A Daily Do-Gooder