Melbourne Living – Marcia’s HotSPOTS!
Recently one of our designers Marcia visited Melbourne. After a whirlwind ten days of exploring the streets, find out where her favourite hot spots were.
1. Proforma was a little store that we stumbled upon whilst in the suburb of Fitzroy. It was my DREAM store, fitted out with hand made jewellery, screen printed textiles, glass and ceramics, furniture, Artist’s prints, gift cards, stationery and more from local and international artists. Everything was so colourful and bright and made me feel HAPPY. Check out their online store here http://proformastore.com.au/collections
2. Signed and Numbered is a print shop that i had been dying to check out for a while. I found their instagram feed a few months back and absolutely loved their stuff. They supply a range of printed goods from established artists, but also under the radar young designers which i think is awesome. I managed to score a print from Gary Seaman who is an artist from Adelaide, Australia. There is no escaping his cute, happy characters mixed together with shapes and geometric elements. If you are ever in Melbourne, be sure to check out their stores either on Greville Street, or Degraves Street. (Both these streets have a bunch of other stores that might interest you also.)
3. Cookie is a thai restaurant right in the centre of Melbourne. What i loved about eating out in Melbourne, was the atmosphere in each restaurant or cafe. Cookie in particular, was jam packed full with a large waiting list, so we were lucky to get a spot! It was decked out in a picture book theme – the menus, the table displays, everything was like a picture book! Im not sure how this has any relevance to thai food, however it was awesome nonetheless. The walls are covered with murals and artwork from Melbourne artists including Beci Orpin, Misha Hollenbach and Monika Ippoliti.
4. I was stoked to see a poster that said some of Andy Warhol’s pieces were being exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria (NVG) It was a pretty crazy building with a giant water feature down front entrance. There were three levels of exhibits – some of them i had previously seen at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery earlier in the year. My favourite Andy Warhol piece, was a self portrait that had been screen printed in 1986. I thought that it really captured his essence.
5. The Victoria night market happened to be on the last night i was in Melbourne. This was a perfect way to wind down and purchase some last minute gifts! It was pumping with people and the mulled wine delicious! I picked up a cool wee leather notebook for my mum with recycled paper from market stall called Uscha. Check out their website at at http://uscha.com.au/ I definitely recommend the night markets which happens every wednesday and more often in summer! Live music, the best food. Good times.
6. The Hardware Société is a cafe on Hardware lane that we went on my 21st birthday brunch! Located down end of Hardware Lane sits a cute little cafe that is super popular – they even had a waiting list for breakfast!?! The counter is filled with delicious sweets – biscuits and croissants, and teapots with tea cosies! LOVE IT! I had baked eggs with baked eggs with chorizo sausage (pictured below) and a cinnamon and banana juice?! (also pictured below)
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