Sweet leetle prechussness

This kid is so goddamn cute, I just want to eat him.

The one where I was tagged in a meme and started to feel popular.

What is your current obsession?
Vintage aprons, Agatha Christie novels, sell sell sell on Trademe.

What is your weirdest obsession?
Oh lord, let's not get into those.

What are you wearing today?
MAC Red Russian lipstick, black jeans, vintage silk shirt, darling little Italian shoes that I picked up recently for $10 BRAND NEW!

What's for dinner?
Gluten-free pasta and yummy sauce a la Jules. (Remy is a GF baby, and I just eat the same things as him. Mostly. He doesn't seem to consume as much chocolate or red wine as me. He's such a baby.).

What would you eat for your last meal?
Sorry, can't think about that. I only just ate and I have this thing where when I'm full from the last meal, I can't think about eating.

What's the last thing you bought?
Groceries. Yawn. Boring.

What are you listening to right now?
Remy doing his best to avoid bedtime. Maaaaaaaaaaaammy. Maaaaaaaaaaamy. And so on and so on.

What do you think of the person who tagged you?
Sas is one of my very favourite bloggers. I always feel so pleased when there is an update from her. And she leaves me the funniest, wittiest comments. She ROCKS.

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Goodness me... a dream come true... London. Or New York. Or San Francisco. Or Rome. Or, believe it or not, Oamaru. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
I'd go straight to Nottingham to pick up my darling Katy, then I'd whisk her away to Barcelona and we would have cake/s and champagne and we'd laugh and laugh.

Which language do you want to learn?
French. Soooo hot.

What's your favorite quote (for now)?

(It's actually a Poem called 'Leap'.)

"yes, let's
leap
into a
leaf
heap".

Wystan Curnow

What is your favorite colour?
Red, absolutely. And at the moment I like to pair just a little smudge of it (currently my new red red red lippy), with grey, or black and white.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
Ummmm, that's really hard to answer... I guess any of my vintage silk scarves.

Honestly, vintage this, vintage that - do I ever pay full price for anything? (Actually, I can't leave that rhetorical question unanswered. I definitely, without question or doubt would never buy vintage underwear. Uh, just NO).

What is your dream job?
Ruler of the world. A world where everyone had to do what I told them. And one where I could eat limitless amounts of cheese and chocolate and I'd lose weight. In fact, I'd be one of those people who says "No matter what I do, I just can't seem to gain weight".

What's your favourite magazine?
Interiors (I think that's what it's called, it's American and has the most awesome houses in it), Vogue, and this new one called Pilot but I have only been able to buy one copy so far because nowhere in Oamaru stocks it. (And, shhh, secretly this list also includes the likes of US Weekly but I save that one for when I am having a particularly blue day).

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
Let's see, that converts to about $300 New Zealand so perfume, makeup, and really good sushi.

Describe your personal style?
It will come as little surprise that I am going to say vintage. But I'd like to think that I don't look like I'm wearing fancy dress. I like to keep the vintage items to one or two per outfit with the rest of the outfit something a little edgy or super cute. Depending on my mood of course.

What are you going to do after this?
Sleep.

What are your favourite films?
Weeeell, this is where I have to admit that, while I like films, I watch them and then forget them. I blame my parents not providing us with a telly when we were growing up. Or giving us a place to live that was less than 2.5 hours away from a cinema.

What's your favourite fruit?
Mandarins.

What inspires you?
Landscapes, cityscapes, clever people, good design, art.

Your favourite books?
The Bone People... struggling to come up with any other titles. It's late.

Do you collect anything?
Books, icons, art, scarves, aprons, anything connected with the Queen's 1953 visit to NZ, quilts, material, buttons, pretty stationary.

What are you currently reading?
I have a few things on the go - Robert Hughes "Nothing if not critical", PD James "Death in Holy Orders", and William Boyd "Any human heart". I also have about 5 Agatha Christie's waiting for me by my bed.

Go to your book shelf, take down the first book with a red spine you see, turn to page 26 and type out the first line:

"It was a pleasure to enter by a side street
in the center of the city
a bathhouse said to be 300 years old,
old enough to have opened the pores of Florence Nightingale
and soaped the musical head of Franz Liszt."

It's the start of a poem called Istanbul by Billy Collins.

What makes you follow a blog?
I follow blogs that make me laugh, ones where I like the writing style, blogs where I can learn something (sewing being the obvious thing), ones that are not too perfect. I hate blogs that make me feel inadequate, so I'm always up for hearing about that time you vomited in front of your boss (yep, I've done that).

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag eight other people.

And I'm going to tag Nikki,Miss Smith at Home, Karen, Louise, Emma, MeganWegan, MaryNanna, and Jannelle.

Puzzles can eff off as far as I'm concerned.

Allegedly, we're supposed to learn something new every day.

I'm clearly behind the class here because I'm certain I don't learn something new every day; in fact, I think I may be forgetting something old every day, thereby gradually becoming more and more stupid.

But yesterday, I did learn something new. And that something was a very valuable lesson.

It's been raining here for, let's see, 1, 2, 3, 4... 100 million days in a row now and everyone is getting a touch of cabin fever, so when I was in the local Sallies and saw the stack of puzzles, I had visions of us sitting around the table, the fire glowing in the background, chatting merrily away with the occasional "jolly good", and "oh, I say", finally completing the puzzle and growing closer as a family. It wouldn't be about the actual completion of the puzzle, oh no no no, it would be about the journey.

The truth was far more gritty.

I opened the box, and Remy ate a piece. I yelled. Jules stuck his finger in Remy's mouth to get any remaining piece, and Remy bit his finger.

So, I thought to myself, 'that's ok; Jules and I will do it once Remy is in bed tonight. We'll laugh, remark at how much we love each other, and forever remember this as the day that we grew so close that there were never any harsh words spoken between us again'.

Remy went to bed at about 7.30, and so did Jules.

I was determined not to give up on the puzzle. It didn't ask to be wrenched out of its cosy spot in the shop only to be cruelly abandoned by its new owner that very same day.

So I sat down at the table by myself, the laptop beside me so I could listen to podcasts, and began the puzzle.

Things didn't start well. About 60% of the puzzle seemed to be blue. Sure, variations on light blues and dark blues, but still, it was mostly one colour.

I didn't give up.

I picked out all the bits with straight edges. And that's when I suspected that I wasn't having fun. In fact, if anything I was starting to get tense. Very tense. Angry in fact.

I kept going. I found all the similar colours and put them together.

And that's when it struck me. Doing a puzzle is like cleaning the house. You find random bits of crap EVERYWHERE and have to find somewhere to put them. It takes a long time, and when you finish, it goes back to looking like it did before you started.

I gave up. Puzzles suck.

The one where there are photos of me trying to smile with my eyes.

Here are the thrifting photos! And not too late either. It's a freaking miracle I got my crap together enough to do this before Christmas.

Let's start with the scarves (and please excuse the lack of ironing; it's really not a strong point of mine):





And the jumper:

(Yes, a self-portrait in the bedroom mirror. I had no idea these things were so hard to do. I promise I will no longer judge the people wh take self-portraits for their Facebook profiles. And here I have to digress and skite that this is a hand knitted jumper, in some yummy warm mystery wool, and it cost $2.00. Yes folks, TWO BUCKS. What a find. I think it was knitted in one piece, and then it does up at the sides with three buttons.).

A silk shirt by Peirre Cardin but made in New Zealand? I'd love to know more about this.

I had a splurge when I was in Dunedin this week - A MAC lipstick called Russian Red. Fun!

And, to finish, my favourite Agatha Christie yet - "The Moving Finger". That's an outstanding title. Out-bloody-standing.

Treasure hunting

It's been a great week thrifty treasures wise. (But no photos just yet I'm afraid; I've left it too late tonight but maybe in the next few days).

I struck scarf heaven at the St. Vincent de Paul's. Some woman must have been having a jolly good clean out*, and that woman had jolly good taste.

I also got the cutest, hand knitted jumper. Definately photos of that to follow because I just know you'll be impressed by it.

And I picked up a couple of Agatha Christie's in a sweet wee shop in Dunedin. We had to drive through snow to get to Dunedin (note to self - check the weather forecast first next time), so I'm extra pleased I got them.

And that's all folks! I really have have have to go to bed.

*I refuse to believe that she died. A woman with scarves like her scarves should be immortal.

Playing at Riverstone in Black and White

Mmmmm, books

 

I love and adore Agatha Christie books. And I love and adore Slightly Foxed, a wonderful secondhand book store in the Victorian Precinct (what was once known as the Old Part of Town).

I've found some wonderful AC treasures there of late... but it's never enough. I can never find enough time to clean the fridge, but I can finish one of these books in a matter hours once I've started reading.

Any chance you, my dear reader, would be willing to swap some Agatha Christie's for, perhaps, some vintage aprons? Or vintage scarves? Or maybe you'd like me to keep a look out for a certain little retro something for your collection?

Memory Lane

My love affair with the scanner continues. Today I bring you two photos I have just discovered (and had never seen before) in the bottom of a box of stuff* my mum gave me.

On the back of them, it's written that these were taken in December 1979 at a Christmas party.


*My mother is not generally the sentimental, pull her punches type when it comes to her kids, so included in this box are things like the letter she got advising of my suspension from boarding school, and all my crap school reports from my I-wish-I-could-forget-them teenage years. But, I guess, photos like these brighten up the box a bit.

Awkward is as awkward does

When they say Awkward Family Photos, they really mean awkward.

To the Fairies

This note totally cracks me up.

It says:

Dear Fairies,
I lost my second tooth.
Can you find it for you to keep.
Put some money beside my bed.
Megan.

I can remember the situation vividly. I had just lost my tooth - I use the term 'lost' very loosely as there was definitely some coercion involved in getting the tooth out of my head - and it was a bit messy. So I took it to the bathroom and was using my toothbrush to clean it when it went down the plughole. Disaster!

How could the Fairies know that I had really, truly lost a tooth without there being any evidence whatsoever? The only solution? Write an affidavit, sign it, and put it under my pillow instead of the tooth.

My favourite part is "Put some money beside my bed". Yeah Fairies. Hand over the cash already!

Optical illusion: Tell me, is there a face in this flower?

I do declare

This has been the best Mother's Day ever. EVER.

Check out this beauty:


Oh, yes siree - that's pure pasta right there. Plus, not only is this necklace a thing of beauty, it also goes with everything I own.

And I got a cup of tea in bed this morning.

Yep, best Mother's Day ever.

Aprons: Let them make housework fun for you.

I've had a wild time of late in one of my very favourite op shops in Oamaru. No, of course I'm not going to tell you which shop. I look much kinder than I really am.

I stumbled upon a treasure-trove of aprons this week. I always think there is nothing that makes housework more fun than a cute little vintage apron.

And you guys are in luck! Because I have what could now be considered an extensive collection (or, if you like, the kind of problem with thrifting that will one day result in my neighbours calling the Council to perform an intervention on the wild-eyed lady across the way) I've forced myself to put a few things on TradeMe.

You'll find them here.

Introducing...

...the child that refuses to take a daytime nap anymore (even though he gets very, very tired).

 

What in god's good name to people do ALL DAY with a child?

In other breaking news, I think my electric blanket may have been on all day because I burnt my feet getting into bed.

Time flies

One year ago today we moved to Otago. We packed up our lives in a city of a couple of hundred thousand people, and moved to a town that has barely ten thousand.

Blimey. What a shock it was.

But now it's ok, good even. I feel like I'm part of a community, even more so than I did in Wellington. I've met some fabulous people and only a small scattering of, ahem, total arseholes.

There are still things that I'm having trouble adjusting to like the overwhelming whiteness of the population, and the ease with which some people feel able to spout racist crap. And the fact that the main street is wide enough for there to be car parks down the centre. And the sheer generousity and kindness of the people. It can be disarming at times.

Life's good here.

Rosie Posie

 

 

 

Here's a tip

Today when I was changing Remy's nappy, I found 30 cents. It was like getting a tip for a job well done.

Pop!

I love pop culture. And the term 'pop culture' helps me feel like I'm not just wasting my life away in front of the telly. Rather, I am expanding my knowledge in an important sociological area.

Or something like that.

And so I also like to read about pop culture. One of my all-time favourite sites is MamaPop - a pop culture blog for mamas.

They have expanded my horizons. What would my life have been without Joss Weldon's Dollhouse? Or True Blood, which has our very own darling Anna Paquin as the star. (BTW - and I'm confident this will be the millionth time I've told you this - I held Anna's Oscar. It was heavy).

And now they've introduced me to Amanda Palmer. Man, this woman ROCKS. Check her out for yourself:

Who is that precious baby?

 

We have a scanner! It has improved my life by at least 7%. When I learn how to use it properly, I expect it will change my life entirely.

As you may have guessed, the photos are of me, and are circa 1979.

Prepare yourselves for a re-visiting of my childhood*.

 

*Don't panic, I promise I won't do that. Even I can draw the line at that.