It's Spring ... apparently

The first weekend of September brings our annual pilgrimage to the city to view the Spring flower display at David Jones.

No matter how cold it is outdoors, as soon as you step inside you are instantly bombarded with the joyous sense of Spring.

The Piano Man is an institution and I suspect he knows every tune that has ever been composed.  He captivates and serenades the young and the old alike.

It's all about flowers, perfume and handbags.  What more could a girl ask for?

But it's mainly about the flowers.

Rituals

Since we returned to Sydney a little over three years ago, we have started a tradition of visiting the city at this time of the year to soak up the Christmas atmosphere and to do some shopping.  Little did we know that two days after our visit Sydney would be thrown into turmoil with the hostage situation and the terrible consequences.

All Sydneysiders are feeling pretty crushed and the events are still raw in our minds.  I'm finding it difficult to come to grips with the fact that three innocent little children are today without their mother or that a young coffee shop manager just doing his job has lost his life.  God bless you both.

Despite these tragic circumstances, our city is rising above it all and life is slowly returning to normal. Therefore I have decided to show what it was like here last Saturday, before we grabbed the world's attention for all the wrong reasons.

Our first port of call was the Queen Victoria Building, with its stunning Christmas tree soaring through three levels and ending under the magnificent glass dome.

The upper level has the most wonderful toy shop which I suspect is designed more for doting grandparents than children.

A little further along we came across these gorgeous glass baubles waiting to be personalised.

Imagine my delight when we emerged from the Queen Victoria Building to discover that the streets were festooned with patchwork banners.

After a refreshing coffee and wholemeal scone, we did a little more window shopping.

 

Part of the ritual is to visit the David Jones' Food Hall ...

... if for no other reason, just to see what ridiculous price they have put on their cherries each year.

Still, they make everything look so wonderfully tempting, we quickly get over the cherries.

We had already purchased our panettone, but were sorely tempted to buy one of these, even if we threw away the contents and kept the box.  However, sanity prevailed.

The Christmas display windows had children of all ages enchanted.

This lovely young lass and her colleagues bopped along to the music and sold reindeer antlers in aid of children's cancer research.

I wish you a very happy Christmas and most importantly, hug your loved ones.

Looking for Spring

It's difficult to believe that winter has finally departed, in theory at least.  In fact it's still hanging around and bringing along its friends, rain and wind.  However, if you look hard enough there are delightful pockets of the new season to be found and yesterday we set out to discover a couple of them.

After a soggy walk through the city we arrived at the pop-up gallery where our daughter Maz's paintings are on exhibit, along with some other talented artists.  We were greeted by lovely the gallery director Emilya Colliver who delighted in advising that all Maz's painting were sold and indeed there was a waiting list for new paintings.  Emilya champions emerging artists and her vitality and enthusiasm shine through.  If you are in Sydney you can catch the exhibition which runs until 14 September.  Details can be found here.

 Why not make a day of it and take in the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes at the Art Gallery of NSW?  

Earlier in the day we took our annual pilgrimage to David Jones in the city to take in their annual Spring Flower Show which is always the best way to get the spirits soaring.

This year the theme is The Enchanted Florence, celebrating the renowned artist Florence Broadhurst.

The display did wonders for us.

The iconic pianist was there to greet the visitors with his cheerful smile and amazing reservoir of tunes which he can choose from at the drop of a hat.  

Of course, the merchandise blended beautifully with the surrounding floral displays and I was hoping to return today to relieve them of a handbag or two.  But we didn't win Lotto.

Thank you David Jones for making us all feel a little younger.

And thank you to our daughter for making us feel so proud.