Shopping list ...

Things I have to bring back from Australia*:
Rexona (lots), Palmolive Gold soap, Milo (two tonnes), Cherry Ripes (hundreds), Panadeine, Nurofen and Nurofen Plus, Bushells Blue Label leaf tea, Madura teabags, barbecue sauce, Barbecue Shapes, plus lots of fabric so I can make myself some fab summer frocks.

* for some of the Bondi staff, friends and family - not all for me!

:: There was a retro thang happening here while Lily was in town for her Spring Break: she's moving into an empty double dorm at college and wanted mt to make her two big floor cushions ouot of denim. Not knowing where I could buy denim, I pulled out a pile of jeans that Will has discarded (he's so tall and they were all too short) and set to with the cutter:

It so reminded me of the '70s, when we used to cut and re-construct old jeans as shorts, or bags, or those skirts with the weird crotch dead centre! Anyway, the result last week was these two fab, soft, denim cushions. All Lily has to do is buy the inserts and sew up the tops ...


:: There's a biker convention on in town and the place is roaring! Everywhere you look there are metallic tangles of the most beautiful bikes from all over the US, corralled into parking pens or in rows along the street, their immaculate paintwork and chrome bits sparkling and shining in the sun.

And the streets are loud with them. Their owners, sans machines, are easy to spot in their uniforms: lots of black T-shirts, leather vests and jackets (with and without long dangly fringes), bandannas, pigtails and ponytails (often grey!). So much fun!

:: A wonderful, wonderful day yesterday - most of it at the Bondi! The sun was shining, the air was warm, everything looked beautiful. Will was busy waiting for the call to help on a music video some friends of his were shooting, so Dave and I took the dogs for a long canyon walk, returning via the local park, and then we headed downtown for lunch. Well! The place was humming!
We had all the big folding doors wide open to the street and the porch, and there was a happy, relaxed crowd inside and out, enjoying a cold beer at the bar, sitting out on the sunny porch and having lunch, little groups of girlfriends huddling and giggling ... if it was an indication of what the place will be like when summer well and truly arrives - wow!
Friends from LA, Damien and Leah, were there as well so we arranged to join them for dinner. Back up the 5 for a sleepy, sunny Saturday afternoon. Dave had stayed up the night before listening to the disastrous Dockers v Pt Adelaide game online so he had the New Yorker and a nap; I sat out by the pool, tanning my legs, and crocheted a few more granny squares; Will came home and fell asleep on one of the couches downstairs ...


... this pic is actually Will asleep on one of the couches last winter, but that's just how he looks. That night, Will was off again, so David and I smartened up (just a bit) and headed back to the Bondi.
We were 17 for dinner! And the place was absolutely packed. At our table were Yanni Trianides and his American wife, Shannon, and her brother Bryan. Yanni is a young Melbourne man of Greek descent who lives now in Pasadena. His family own and run the Villa Romana in Lygon Street, and he is still involved in restaurants, so it was fab to get to talk to him.
Our friends from LA are similarly fun and interesting: Damien is Queensland's deputy trade commissioner, and his wife, Leah, is a composer, writes music for film and telly, and is an Australian - American Fulbright Scholar. She is also a voting member of 'the Academy' - as in Oscar! Imagine!
They brought with them several friends of Damien's from his uni days at UNSW and UCLA, plus two Australian doctors, Erica and Andrew. Erica is researching the role stress plays on children's mental behaviour. Andrew is a paediatrician and they both work at hospitals in LA.
With them was Lisa, an Australian forensic psychologist, now working at a research institute in LA, looking at the devastating effects on aid workers of living with trauma and working with victims of trauma.
Such great people, doing such fascinating work - so bright and enthusiastic and appreciative of the experience and opportunities they're enjoying in the US. One of the best things about Bondi is the opportunity it gives us to meet them all.