dining all'aperto at la svolta Posted by Helena

Everything at La Svolta was delicious. I ate it all! That’s enough of a review, right? Okay, probably not. Read the full one over at The Modern Con.

I can personally vouch for the beef and tuna tartares, prosciutto with deep fried pizza dough (just as yummy as you think it is), the seared tuna and the chickpea and capsicum salad (how can chickpeas be so yummy with so few ingredients?). A special mention must be made to the Nutella pizza. The base was some kind of combo of puff and chewy pastry and the Nutella was so thick it stuck to the roof of your mouth. Heaven. Seriously.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s the best Italian I’ve had since I visited Italy and was raving about it for days afterwards. I’ve already told my friends we’re adding it to our Must Eat At List. It had a really nice atmosphere and nursing a glass of bubbly, I ended up making friends with the other ladies at my table. In fact, we’re going to brunch next week!

My new friends are: Sandra and Stina from Klaus and Fritz (Stina is also gold and grit photography) and Olivia who's probably the most famous Instagrammer I know and her sister Steff

La Svolta, 3-5 Cecil Place, Prahran and 450 Hampton St, Hampton.

perfume making // mpavilion Posted by Helena

This year's MPavilion has been designed by Australian architect Sean Godsell. It's a meeting place and also a host to a free four-month program of all manner of talks, workshops, performances and installations from October to February.

MPavilion is an architecture commission for Melbourne and each year for the next four years an outstanding architect will be commissioned to design a temporary pavilion for the Queen Victoria Gardens, opposite the Southbank Arts Precinct.

I went to the perfume make meet with Briony Wright from Odelab. She talked to us about the history of perfume and then we got to play with some of her scents to make our own perfume! Mine is aptly titled The Helaylay and is a mix of patchouli and citrus.

mixtape // september Posted by Helena

I'm listening to so much girl pop at the moment and it's the most fun to rock out to in my car while on the highway. If you ever see someone singing overly enthusiastically while eating a piece of toast and sipping tea, that could very well be me.

I've also included two of Many Things' songs because they're great and Mikey's amazing and Hayley from The Jezabels sang vocals on Chains and it's heartbreaking beautiful. I'm also listening to One Direction's new free song Fireproof on repeat (not available on Spotify though). I've read a lot of people saying it's like The Beach Boys and John Mayer, but all I hear is Fleetwood Mac!

listen on spotify: fourzerofive - 2014 september

Allday - You Always Know the DJ
Angus & Julia Stone - Heart Beats Slow
Charli XCX - Boom Clap
Ella Henderson - Ghost
G.R.L. - Ugly Heart
Iggy Azaela feat. Charli XCX - Fancy
Katy Perry - This Is How We Do
Many Things - Chains
Many Things - Dear One
Neon Jungle - Louder
Nicky Night Time - Everybody Together
NONONO - Pumpin Blood (Belarbi Remix)
Northeast Party House - The Haunted
One Direction - Fireproof
Rizzle Kicks - Tell Her
RÜFÜS - Sundream
Savoir Adore - Dreamers
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

two door cinema club in new york Posted by Helena

Dream gig! Two Door Cinema Club performing in Central Park. I've seen them live in my three favourite cities - Melbourne, London and New York, and I got to see them with two of my best friends. Special memories!

ballin' good time at smithballs Posted by Helena

Photograph by ALP Photography.

I was lucky enough to attend the launch of Smithballs for The Modern Con. Check out my write up here.