Wintergram

In between feeling sick ALL OF THE DAYS, Madeleine and I love nothing more than to rug up and get out and about and walk the streets of Melbourne. Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she sits up in her pram and sings, which makes everyone else walking the same streets smile and I think it is a wonderful talent to make strangers smile, don't you? Here are some snippets of our wintery walks, brought to you by the letter I for Instagram (this is me if you want to say hi or follow).

Some mornings the fog is so thick the city seems to disappear, and it is as though Madeleine and I are alone in our little bubble of love and sore throats.

A couple of weeks ago it was so cold and the clouds had that funny look I remember from when I lived in New York and I indulged in a delicious fantasy that lasted the entire way along Lygon Street and down Rathdowne Street that went along the lines of imagine if it snowed in Melbourne! But it didn't.

We like to eat out, me and my little two-teeth girl. And now that she is finally growing a few new chompers, Madeleine loves to experiment with new lunches every day. It is so much fun to watch her face as she tastes something new.

Where and what do we like to eat? Top to bottom: pizza and fizzy water at Brunetti's in Carlton; jaffles and baby beets by the fish pond at Grub in Fitzroy; rosebud tea and Persian love cake at the brand new Travelling Samovar in Carlton North (this place is so lovely it deserves a whole blog post of its own, coming soon); and a take-away mini raspberry cupcake from Sweet Source, also in Carlton North.

And just like that, last week the weather went all mild on us. Suddenly sunny and 16 degrees after lunch, we couldn't believe how balmy it felt. I introduced Madeleine to the joys of the park: the swing, the seesaw, the slippery dip... But what she loved most of all was crawling around in the bark and getting gloriously muddy and filthy. As you do.

ps. Giggles and kisses with dad, over a teeny-tiny mug of hot chocolate which cannot be seen in this photograph because it had been spilled all over yours truly.