Chandeliers

Well I have been looking for ages for the best solution to getting some interesting decoration in my bathroom that won't be damaged by a bit of steam and I finally found something. It is a shadow of a Chandelier and it looks amazing - might have to get some for my other walls now.

and no the pic attached is not my bathroom but gives you an idea of the design.

sorry posts are a bit slow but have been busy - last week - went bowling, to a farewell, conducted 2 parties, organised 3 events, planned queens birthday trip, got flu injection, took on more responsibilities at work, and the list goes on

Pleasure in the simple things in life

Happy mothers day to my friend Isabel who has just had Hugo so it is her first.

I had a lovely experience on Sunday as went down to see my nana and take her some fish and chips and take her out for a ride and it touched my heart that such a simple gesture meant so much to her and the other ladies at lunch who also enjoyed the special treat. I think sometimes its nice to slow down and remember the simple things are sometimes the best.

Happy mothers day mum - thanks for all your love and support all through the years

ten year tattoo

Well some of you know that on the day I turned 20 I got my first tattoo that represented to me where I was in life at that age. In short it has 3 rings for the three generations of my family, black and white for the two cultures of my country and the circle a symbol of sun and water and eternity and so on all to me representing energy and life and youth etc...

so this year I turned 30 and as I had a tiny plan to place symbols up my spine every decade to remind me of where I have been I chose a butterfly. The butterfly I chose is one from the tropical north of Australia called the Ulysses I thought as Ulysses took ten years to travel home after the fall of troy the ten year thing was kind of a nice parallel to the time I was marking and the greek name/aussie origin thing a nice way to symbolise my time in Melbourne. I have always loved butterflies and some of my fondest memories are of catching them in Pauanui as a kid at easter time(I always released them after a look). Anyway both have loads more meaning to me but this give you an idea.

Thanks to the amazing artist Hamish McLauchlan at Two Hands in Newton and my sis for the moral support as pain is not something I willingly put my self through often.

Oh and ps you are lucky I am sharing this as I don't normally discuss my tattoos as they are very personal to me but thought I would make an exception

New look spice girls

courtesy of our air-brusher extraordinar Nivin at Marker

Ginger - Tanya, Posh - Sharleen, Baby - Alice, Scary - Tim and Sporty - Noemi

for my regular readers

I have been told if I miss entries people feel neglected so since I haven't been up to much as have been down with a cold I will talk about a discovery I have made from a magazine. Its called Kohu Road and its a new superior NZ ice cream - definitely something to look into so maybe on a nice day I might just have to pop over to their shop conveniently located near my work and have a taste. All their designs and photography certainly work on me.

Busy bee weekend

I must concede I am getting old as with all this partying I have come down with and ear infection - just don't rebound quite the same as I did ten years ago.

Friday went to Pilobolus Dance at Aotea Centre. Very erotic and saucy so a bit of fun not to mention some amazing feats of strength, balance and flexibility. Especially loved a water stage glide dance thing at the end which the dancers were kinda naked in so reminded me of a moulin rougesque affair.




Saturday went to Louise's 30th which was fun got to catch up with the camping crew and meet some new faces. then on Sunday went to sell Chefs toolbox at the master chef Savour weekend - saw Julie Buiso and Peta Mathias oooh love crazy female chefs.

Its raining like crazy in Auckland so once I figure out how will ship some over to the drought in Australia so you can all enjoy long showers like me :)

Jimeoin on ice

Well hangover number 2 for the week - I think I have accidentally discovered the best cure ever - cold and flu tablets as I have stuffed up ears so took one and its completely irradicated my hangover symptoms.

Marker went out for a night of laughs and good food and wine. Jimeoin was funny in his reflections on pubic hairs, farts and the weirdness of ordinary things. Then it was off to Cafe Midnight Express for yummy turkish food and lots of wine.

Tims last day

So it is officially the first day of my new healthy lifestyle but it is also Tim(who works with me) last day so in his honor our cupcake fairy has baked millions of cupcakes so its a good test to see if I can avoid it.

The Chefs toolbox launch

So for the few of you that I haven't told I am now a consultant for a new company which sells amazing pots pans, knives and bakeware. Last night I went to the official launch and got to meet some great people like Julie Le Clerc food editor of Women's weekly magazine. So watch this space as I will be putting up more info soon.

Pecha Kucha

So went out in the pouring rain tonight to a great event called Pecha Kucha. basically consisted of 11 speakers showing 20 slides and talking for 6.5 minutes each so a whirlwind of ideas, creativity and thoughts. Was held in Samoa House on KRd which I finally know is the strange building you can see in Beresford Square.

my favourites:
Amazing glass mosaics by Samoan artist Penehuro Papalii which are all for sale for a mere $2,000 which if you see their size and beauty is a steal.

crazy talk by a french artist Ariel living in Berlin about minor urban disasters
http://www.flickr.com/groups/minorurbandisasters/pool/71022595@N00/

local plug for a guy who makes robots out of retro electrical waste pretty quirky and a nice slant on sustainability and recycling.
www.buggyrobot.com

And a talk by heritage walk guide about the history of kRd

to be honest though all talks were interesting and offered something interesting.

anyone interested should check out
www.pechakucha.co.nz

Trip to Melbourne

Well my official 30s celebrations are over and no one could argue that I don't drag my birthday out for as long as possible. I had a great time thanks to all my wonderful friends.

What I got up to in summary:

Sat morn - went shopping and eating with Ellen (My hotelier for the week)
Sat eve - had my dinner at Mecca Bah in Docklands MMMMMMM! champagne was good too
Sun morn - went to my fav St Kilda markets and finally saw the houses on Brighton beach
Sun eve - had scrummy BBQ with Del, Sean, Jodie, Wayne, Sarah, Ed, Ellen and kids and watched gladiators and sytscd(dance)
Mon morn - tried to be cultural and went and saw Sidney Nolan exhibition and others at both galleries
Mon eve - went out for ethiopian dinner yummo
Tues morn - hung out with Sara, Daisy, Jack and Tilly - so much fun playing with kids although watch out for the static shocks off kids and slides
Tues eve - hung out with Kev and had Thai for dinner
Wed morn - went for a trip to seaford to see Kathleen and Dusty's new digs
Wed eve - had chefs toolbox training then went back to Kathleen's for tacos and never ending story
Thur morn - checked out day cares and dentists with Isabel mum to be and had another koko black hot choccie mmmmm
Thurs eve - went round to Regan and James for homemade lasagna and some fashion updates (miss having my style council around)
Fri all day - lazy day went to the movies with Kev to see Deception a bit predictable but OK then watched a dvd at Ellens American Gangster which was fabulous
Sat morn - went shopping - had no money but decided to blow the credit card anyway and brought a few additions to my wardrobe - my fav being a comfy pair of flat boots from Sportsgirl
Sat eve - went out for Japanese with Mel to wish her a happy birthday and then caught up with Andy who is stuck inside with a broken ankle.
sun - flew home

so needless to say a great time was had but an exhausting one. Hopefully I can make it back at the end of the year.

Congrats Amy

Well my very brave friend Amy raised over $3,000 for her efforts which I am sure is well needed by the Leukemia foundation. Much more gutsy than me I think I would pay the same to keep mine :)

The Big 30

Another milestone down and don't feel to old so that must be a good sign. Have a squizz at the amazing cake a friend of mine at work made me - it is definitely up there as one of the best I have ever had and its lemon soaked inside can't wait to bite into it MMMMMMMM! only 3 more days and I will be back in Melbourne for a well needed break and catchup with everyone.

Anyway Happy 30th to me.


Even though this is commercialism at its best it was still a nice touch from 2008s best social network.

say goodbye to my twenties party

Thanks to all my friends and family for helping me have a great night out celebrating the end of my twenties. It will be a special night I will always remember. A special thanks to my sister, her boss and Fiona for gifting me my first real investment artwork which I absolutely love.

If anyone is wondering how my hair and makeup look so great its all thanks to Tayla, Kristy and Toni at Rodney Wayne and Sharon my mac makeup goddess – all angels who worked hard on making me feel like a princess.

New diet idea

OK so after seeing the success of my workmate on our resident smoker I have decided to employ her tactics on me and my getting healthy so watch this space - if it works might write a book and make my millions.

Auckland Food and Wine Festival

On Saturday I went with my friend Michelle to the food and wine fest hosted by Foodtown of all people and held down in our waterfront viaduct area. It was OK as any social event is but to be honest when it costs $20 to get in and the entertainment is 3 impersonators Elvis, Neil Diamond and Freddie Mercury with the star being a NZ idol winner and the only other things you receive are a glass(Empty) and an enviro bag(Empty) I think the money could be better spent at a good restaurant or a picnic.

Most memorable thing for the day was Elvis who was rather pudgy pumping with his hand on his groin - not what I call something that promotes appetite.

I did however go to the movie adaptation of one of my all time favourite books - Hunting and Gathering. It was a great telling of it and well cast so definitely reccommend it to any other chicks out there.

We finally had daylight savings today and I relished it as waking up with the sun seems so preferable to the dark. Can't wait for winter as we seem to be skipping Autumn with a mega long summer

mighty mouse

This morning I finally understood why there are so many mouse traps left here from the previous occupants as I was in the kitchen doing my lazy colleagues dishes when a mouse ran over my foot. Which had I been wearing shoes might not have noticed but as I was in my trustee havianas got to feel every clawing step it took.

Now I am not usually a screamer but as it was so unexpected and first thing in the morning I ran out shaking my arms and making quite a racket. Guess on the upside I am a girl had I been a boy it would have been more embarrassing.

One day I would like a fortune teller to explain why I am so special that out of everyone around me I am always the one chosen to experience the stranger things in life.

A new way to quit smoking

A girl at work has taken on the (Seemingly impossible) crazy task of trying to get her fellow staff member to quit smoking. Her technique is based on guilt, slapping, gratitude from his mum and my favourite - colouring in of his cigarettes. Kinda makes something normally ugly and rotten pretty.

will let you know if it is effective.

Shave for a cure

Wow a friend of mine(Amy) has just offered up her blonde locks in order to help raise funds for research I think this is an amazingly admirable and gutsy thing to do so if you would like to sponor her visit www.shaveforacure.co.nz and click on the sponsor button.

Hot pools, nuts and honey

What a way to start a weekend off by heading out west to Helensville and starting the morning at Parakai hot pools. I have never been to this particular hot pool park but it was nice, nothing showy like Waiwera but no nudists like Palm springs across the road. It was very relaxing and by noon extremely popular from people of all nationalities. As in the area we also had macadamias at macnut and some delicious food at bees online before heading home. I then finally got to watch Helvetica the movie about the font which as a designer was extremely interesting to hear so many opinions on such a mass culture typeface and also to learn how some of the font designer greats got into their professions and thoughts behind their creations.


Sunday finished an interesting book on stargazers in the time of the inquisition and Galleleo called the Apothecaries daughter a nice change from all the biographies and non fiction I have read of late however I also read the saucepan book by Bryce courtney a loose rendition of his wife's grandmothers journey across and out of Russia.

Happy birthday to mum who happens to be celebrating at earth hour this evening so might help the darkness when all the lights are switched off if we have a cake full of candles for her.




Spotted something only design geek like myself would get excited about a set of mugs coloured in the pantone colour system will have to get one maybe the pink and purple ones.