lilifields [oxford street, paddington] was our choice for brunch. a veritable fairy garden, this is the most peaceful place for a spot of scrambled eggs after a busy week at work. handcrafted vases, jewelry and the loveliest cards grace the walls, not to mention the buckets and buckets of beautiful blooms. peonies, sweet peas and hydrangeas waft around you while you're eating and fill the store with the most stunning scent.
my mum used to own a florist shop when i was a wee ness, and after school and on holidays my sister and i would spend our days in the back of the shop, watching as our mum stripped blue gum until her hands bled and transformed unassuming stalks into the sweetest bouquets. that strong heady smell of roses and lilies mixed with blue gum always remind me of my mum and that part of my childhood.
with bellies full, we meandered down oxford st into the markets at the Fringe Bar [oxford st, paddington]. i love seeing the popular paddington watering hole transform into a vintage wonderland come saturday mornings. soft leather belts, tan bags, feathered fedoras, shiny secondhand shoes (lovingly scrubbed) and local designer jewels are some of the treasures (and trash) up for grabs. i walked away empty handed but with the cutest pair of patent mary-jane heels on my mind.
the first time i came to sydney was in 2006, for three weeks of work experience at a couple of magazines, and also, i guess, to scope out my future home. i stayed at bondi, and after a long day of coffee-fetching and photocopying and transcribing pseudo-celebrity interviews, i would walk up and down the streets and laneways of the beachside suburb, peeking into tropical-night themed bars and dusty retro shops. despite its cool beach image, i discovered bondi was actually a really fun indie girl in hiding; full of record shops and tucked-away coffee bars and... the best bookshop ever.
introducing... gertrude&alice. (after the infamous literary duo gertrude stein and alice tsolkias of course). Not only was this darling shop jammed full of the best secondhand books, but the cafe served the best salads and chai tea in sydney. steamy and cinnamon-y, i loved to curl up in the worn armchairs with a cup of chai and a copy of wild swans. when i moved here for good, i discovered that gertrude&alice had a sister shop in paddington. in the last year, the bondi shop has very sadly shut its doors but the paddington haunt is still going strong (with a name change though, to ampersand cafe and bookstore) with the same greats reads and amazing chai as ever.
my other favourite bookshop is berkelouw books, just around the corner from ampersand. this too has a great secondhand collection (2 levels worth) and a cafe (which does the best long blacks in sydney). they have a really good new book section, plus lots of gorgeous art and photography books, stationary and lit magazines. i could quite seriously spend a good deal of my weekend perusing these two bookshops.
surry hills was our next stop. this is sydney's design hub, crammed full of all the best homewares haunts, galleries, paper+stationary boutiques and lots of tiny treasure-chest shops with one-of-a-kind finds.
Ici et la, [bourke st surry hills] has such a crazy eclectic feel to it. huge steel alphabet letters, vintage teatowels, espadrilles, french-inspired textiles and striped deckchairs... you can almost taste the south of france on the tip of your tongue. sandy beaches and champagne here i come!
chee soon and fitzgerald [crown st surry hills], sandwiched between trendy wine bars and steamy indian restaurants on crown street, is the original surry hills design shop. opened in 1992, the area at the time was still pretty much a slum like nearby redfern. the residents were pretty happy with the local pub and weren't really keen on browsing marimekko fabrics or artimede furnishings. (funny that!) but -- the shop thrived and spurned the opening of hundreds of similar shops on nearby bourke and foveaux and commonwealth streets.
I love the EYOI YOI table lamp by Marc Pascal...
and these funky spanish-style Dibbern ceramics...
and of course, what girl doesn't dream of filling her studio apartment with fabulous marimekko fabrics and ceramics...
our last adventure before seeing The Savages at the palace verona cinema on oxford street (fabulous film btw. recommended v.highly) was a well-deserved stop at the book kitchen [devonshire street surry hills]. no sydney adventure would be complete without a pot of english breakfast tea and a chocolate brownie at this quaint cafe/cookbook shop. chocolate-y goodness and food books abound... bliss!
ness x
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