Cinderella 2015

Yesterday I had the very cool privilege of taking someone to their first movie EVER!!! My fave little girl, 3yo Sophie, her Mum and I went to see Cinderella at Mission Bay.  Sophie did so well! I was really proud of her because it's actually a really long movie and it's confusing and it's 100% not a cartoon. Unfortunately it starts with sadness, death and dying ( oops) but luckily Mum was there with pretty fantastic answers to all of the questions.

I was so surprised but... I really enjoyed this!!! I thought the marketing to women instead of/ as well as girls was a bit weird but I get it. This fairy tale has such an appeal and they've vamped it up just enough to make it relevant and give it a place in 2015.  It's still a fairy tale and of course there's the Insta-Love problem and the 'Prince has every female dance for him then chooses a bride' problem but given that it's Cinderella and a fairy tale we'll let it slide.

I loved this Cinder. She was just a little bit sassy and she never gives in.  She handles the Step mother and sisters as we've come to expect Cinderella to but you never really get the sense that she 'becomes' the slave girl or that she gives up hope of a different life.

Of course they've done a beautiful job of making it beautiful! *Sigh* - That dance at the ball. Oh MY. I now want a big swirly dress and a classical dance at my wedding. So. Freaking. Perfect.

Go see this movie people. Take it for what it is ( a fairy tale) and just get swept away. As modern females of course there are problems with this story but it's not a modern story and at the end of the day it's fun to day dream about dancing with the prince at the ball ( Harry I'm Looking at you!).

LOVE 8/10

xo

I've found the secret!!!

A long time ago my friend gave me a great bit of advice. I was rabbiting on about not having the will power or determination to get myself on the health train and she said... (dum da dum dum) "Don't take things away just add them" 

It's actually such a simple and elegant solution to the "I cant give up sugar" or "I don't have time to exercise" or any other excuse. In essence don't give up sugar. Don't even think about the sugar you eat and drink just add as much water and clean food that you can. Drink that coke and eat that chocolate but add in a few glasses of water and some almonds for example. The idea being that if you slowly keep adding "good" things you eventually wont have space or time for the "bad" things that you're trying to give up or change about yourself.

I took her advice on board at the time. I thought it made sense and was pretty smart actually but didn't really do anything about it until recently.  Since I've moved into my own house I've been trying to add things to my routines. I'm very driven by routines , I love them. In the last month I've added a glass of water, A face washing-hair brushing-tooth cleaning routine to my mornings and I've added a ton of walking to my day.  So far I'm noticing that waking up is so much easier and I'm so much more on to it when I get to work.

I've added in my asthma preventor medication twice a day and OH MY GOD I ran for the train this afternoon and humid as it was I was barely out of breath and nothing like the red faced, heaving chested wheezy mess I usually am!!!!

I'm loving this simple idea and it's already working for me. In the next few weeks I want to add as much water as I can and I want to add more sleep. About 8 hours a night sounds good to me. After that I will add some sort of exercise class I'd say. I've only been thinking about doing it for about 3 weeks but the results are great so who knows what the future might hold and I can still enjoy drinking coke and eating Easter chocolate!! PERFECT

xo

The Jar of good memories

My friend Anoushka made this jar for me for Christmas... well, she decorated and purposed it for me I'm pretty sure her glass blowing skills aren't that great! 

The idea is that I write down all the moments that either make me smile or are ones I want to remember and store them in the jar over the year. At the end of the year it will be really nice to read them and reminisce about all the great things that happened during the year.

This photo was taken on January 20... it's safe to say my life is pretty good at the moment. I think they range from "Mum cooked an awesome meal" to "Tony came to have lunch with me and it was so sweet it nearly made me cry"!! hahahaha!  So, it's  smaller things AND larger things but all things that make me grateful and appreciative of all of the people I have.

I cant wait to read through them all at the end of the year but I think more to the point I cant wait for all of the moments that I know are going to be filling that jar to overflowing between now and then :)

xoxo

I cant decide if my life is embarrassingly sad or insanely awesome!

I didn't ever plan to make this blog quite as personal as I have recently but to be honest these are the types of blogs I like to read and also right now the things that are on my mind are kind of personal... so WHATEVER.

Tonight I went to the Library to get my new book ( Landline by Rainbow Rowell *SQUEE*) and then decided since I wasn't quite ready to go home that I would have something to eat before going for a bus. I probably chose a really dumb place to eat because it's dark and lovely and not a place to be on a Friday night by yourself. Within two sips of my overly sweet muscato I was starting to get really pissy with my life. I mean it's pretty cool to be able to read in lovely surrounds while eating beautiful crepes BUT on a Friday night after a week of work I'd really like to not be taking myself out on a romantic date. I'd really like to have someone to unwind with and to enjoy it with me! I thought that a boyfriend would be good for that sort of thing but of course I end up with one who lives in a different world that runs on different norms. It just all feels really unfair sometimes. 

Now I'm being a brat I know and obviously I am in no way comparing my situation to people with actual problems but it's so frustrating and a little depressing. 

I tend to go on a bit of a roller-coaster with my thoughts on being in a relationship with someone who has a ridiculous job they adore. On one hand, I have a great man who's amazing to be around and is nothing but awesome to me and who has a work ethic that I am actually really proud of BUT on the other I essentially have the life of a single person without actually having the right to act like one.  It's not that I have any desire to act like a single person and get on that dating wheel again, not even a little bit, but I get all the bad things about being single without the fun of dating! NO FAIR

HUMPH! I know logically that it's about accepting all parts of the person and loving them for who they are and what they bring to your life. I know that the universe is 'not a wish granting factory' and as such it's important to be able to be flexible with what you're wanting and dreaming of. To be able to reconcile what you want with what you get. I know that if I'm going to get off this roller-coaster I need to accept what I have in this adorable man and adjust my expectations. After all, who knows what the future holds. I am probably missing parts of the puzzle and maybe in time a picture will reveal itself that surpasses all of my dreams and is more than what I could hope for right now.  

ARGH

Ok whiny baby time is over!

Going home to read more of this cool book and clean my house so I can go to the film festival guilt free tomorrow ;-)

The GOOD with the BAD

***Long random sorta post ahead***

Things in my neck of the world have been a bit of a whirlwind over the last 6 weeks or so. It's so hard not to be all 'poor me' but there have been so many fantastic things that I have loved during this time that if I do dip my toe into the quick sand just thinking about them is enough to pull me out.

At the end of march my flatmate passed away. She didn't just pass away she had an accident here at home and I had to call the ambulance and it was a pretty nasty situation. I didn't think she would pass away that night but it was still so scary. Even now, all these weeks later it's still a little hard to actually fathom that she died. After a life of having these types of accidents and not dying ... she died. Hmmm. It's impossible to get my head around and it's so easy to say all the right things and of course the brain knows, logically that things couldn't have been different but generally speaking when things happen the heart is more powerful than the head. 

During the month I've had disappointment after disappointment on the job front and the resurgence of an injury that I just didn't think was ever going to be a problem again but which has meant that I've had to turn down work which always sucks. My finances are so stressful and past choices are making it hard right now. Of course it will all be better when I have an income!

So there's all of that and while I'm adjusting to looking for a new job and a new place to live I have had some major first world problems that have simply added together to make life so frustrating and kinda sorta like I'm constantly walking through gel ... or something. 

Today is the last day in my 100 happy days project. Looking back through the last month or so of pictures has really made me realise how incredibly lucky I am. If I were religiously inclined, which I'm not, I would say I were blessed. 

My friends and family have, on several situations helped me to have some amazing and fun times. Two nights after my flatmate went to hospital Mr left me speechless and just a wee bit in awe of him when he gave me a private tour of the civic and then a little later a crazy fun night in that had me wearing his clothes plus fairy wings and a crown and dancing around the house with his flatmate :)

I got to go to a hot air balloon show ( ?) which was really amazing. I've actually spent a ton of time with my sister and nephew in the last little while and I've really enjoyed it though having a 16 month old staying with me in my totally not child friendly house was freaking exhausting!. 

I finally had the graduation ceremony for my Graduate Diploma in Teaching. It was such a surprise to me but the day was super special and really enjoyable. I loved participating and I'm so glad that I went along. This ceremony was so much better than my graduation from my degree :)

My mom has been really supportive in lots of ways but she worked really hard to make it possible for me to have a dinner party for 8 of my friends. This is actually a bigger deal than it sounds and I had a fantastic time. The party was to celebrate my birthday and my graduation and my friend getting a job and also the fact that I thought I was going to be leaving this hood. 

Today I went for a long walk and I realised anew that this neighbour hood is spectacular and I am very lucky to live here. It's so great to live at the beach. Every day it's a little different and while it looks awesome it often also smells pretty great which is something that I love. 

So yeah. Things might be a little hard right now and while I'm prone to over thinking and being a drama queen I have an amazing life that is only going to get better. I am going to keep on keeping on and keep making plans and dreaming dreams because THATS how things get better. I will keep trying to reach my ideals and then when I do I will find new ones. I just need to take a breath and chill out sometimes.

Awesome Auckland day .. despite the weather.

Today my friend Michael and I went to the Ports of Auckland open day and also hit up the museum for a lil photo exhibit and ... the garden center for a coffee! LOL you start to wonder how old you really are when you suggest the garden center for coffee :)

I have an unhealthy obsession with the port. Absolutely love watching the giant machines driven by the (comparatively) teeny little men moving all that mysterious freight off the ships and into such specific locations... 

AHHHHHHHH!!!!! This was beyond cool. I was worse than the little kids around the straddle carrier. I didn't even think of getting my photo inside but after the little kids did I was next in line! Of course I had been in the rain and was wearing a dress that doesn't apparently translate well but whatever! I was having a ball so who cares? The lovely guy telling us about it said that all you need is a drivers licence to get hired! hmmmmm

After this we raced up to the museum to see the "A decade of days - Auckland through Robin Morrison's eyes" exhibit. It was really small but very awesome and as an Aucklander who gets in free I reckon absolutely worth the trip. The photos are really amazing and you also get a cool little bit about Sir Edmund Hillary's trip to the top of Mt Everest. The Auckland Museum is really such a gem and these days they're constantly having little surprising gems. 

And after that we decided to skip the crowds in the gallery cafe and hit up Palmers garden center for our caffeine. It's such a lovely place, I love to pause in the entry and take a giant deep breath just to appreciate how beautiful it smells :) - the service is pretty average and the goods much of a muchness with any other place but it's just so ... nice! and a good place to feel VERY young on a Sunday afternoon. There are so many things to look at after you finish your coffee and muffin...

xo

Mr....

These pictures are all from my pinterest account and they all make me think of someone who has become very special.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468882810197/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468882140107/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468881877620/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468882668159/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468883063207/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/224687468883024031



He is someone that I've only met in person a couple of times and yet he occupies a LOT of mental real-estate. This man is quirky and cute. He is passionate and protective. He loves his family and doesn't take any bull. He's so cool and yet he doesn't know it. He's my polar opposite in many ways and yet I have never met anybody that I want to spend time with more. He constantly makes me smile and laugh and wish that I could wake up next to him. This is a man that I could absolutely have introduced to my grandfather which about says it all. The pictures say fun and comfort and beauty to me and that's what THIS man represents.

I am such a girl though, spending all this time imagining him as mine! LOL I haven't come across many people who are so adamantly their own person. I have no idea what the future will hold. I don't know if we will ever live in the same city or if it will even be the same if we do. I know I can be pretty annoying sometimes... and we really are quite different. 
I guess that time will tell and I'm still winning even if we only ever stay friends. It's so much fun to dream though, to really imagine he and I as a couple. I think it would be so much fun to hang out with him all the time! 
Just in the way you can't really plan an epic night out I believe that things like this just happen if the time is right. I'm putting it out there into the ether BUT I'm just going to go with the flow. It goes against my nature not to at least have a little bit of detail about the close future but this will happen if it's supposed to...
It's quite exciting :)

xo

Merry Christmas :)

It's December 25th and I'm sitting in my house all by myself drinking a green coffee and watching Mama Mia... kind of awesome :) 

I'm just waiting for my friend to come pick me up and then we're off to see my family for some Christmas goodness. This is the outfit i wore to the hospital yesterday. I wear it every Christmas eve and usually people just look at me like I'm weird and they pretend they didn't look at me but yesterday it was so cool to see people smiling at me all day long and loving my weird outfit. I felt like I was making people happy which was awesome.

Last night we went to see the lights on Franklin road. This mirror ball goodness was my favourite. Can't beat a good mirror ball!

This window made me laugh. It was pretty funky with all kinds of Christmas imagery ...and ALF! hahahahaha LOVE IT

At the top of the street we popped into Fred's for a coffee. I would never have even known it was there if my friend wasn't already a fan. Such a sweet place! All funky staff and painted brick walls. The coffee was pretty great as well :)

On our way from our Mexican cafe dinner back to our car we stopped in to watch the final 'joy to the world' at St Patrick's. I love this cathedral even though I'm not Catholic. Absolutely beautiful and in the back ground our Sky Tower all lit up for the season :)

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to  every body . I hope  y'all are having better weather for it than I currently am! Grrr Mother Nature what is the steaming hot lead up and then a wet and grey day all about?

x

Fashion and Hello Kitty... all in one morning!

This morning I caught up with a friend I haven't seen for a while. She's been busy moving to the other side of the city and getting employed and such while I've been hanging out reading a lot... LOL

We went to the Auckland Museum to see their 'Selling Dreams' fashion photography through the years exhibit. I really liked it but nothing compares to the 'Who shot rock and roll' exhibit from the Art Gallery last year :) There are some pics from the museum below. I even took a couple of snaps of my fave photos before I noticed the no photography sign. Apparently it's a copyright thing so I wont load them up here even though they rock! I don't know if I would recommend a special trip for this exhibit but certainly check it out if you happen to be at the museum. It's cool but not large enough to really justify paying for it I don't think.

After that we went to the pinkest cafe in the history of the world... seriously I could have got myself a dose of diabetes just by looking in the window! Actually it's pretty cute and if they put a little more effort into the details they would have an A-MAY-ZIng little cafe. As it stands I would love to host a 6 year old girls birthday there :) The coffee was pretty good and of course they have super cute templates for decorating. The wedges were amazing. Really perfectly cooked. I just think that if they made it a little more luxe by focusing on little details like the cheesy little stickers on the walls and the cheap white plates they put the coffee mugs on then it would elevate them a lot. I'm also obviously a terrible person but I found it quite off putting that the staff were all male.... I don't know. They were perfectly lovely and good at what they did but it just felt kinda wrong. I know... off to sexist jail for me but .... really??

I'm not gonna say anything about that chair ... it was pleasantly firm... bwa-hahahahaha :-P  The collage is sadly not as clear as the photos are individually but the idea is to showcase how crazy awesome I am at having my photo taken!! hahahaha I have the dumbest look on my face in every one of them. I hardly look like I brushed my hair! LOL.  It just makes me laugh :-)

x

Federal Delicatessen and Montreal Poutine!!

A couple of weeks ago my friend Hue was so excited to let me know that she'd found somewhere that was selling poutine. Ever since I returned from my year in Canada in February 2010 I've been missing the stuff. I mean it's kinda gross and really a heart attack on a plate but it's just soooooo tasty and holds a ton of fab memories for me. I especially used to love hitting up the Dairy Queen that was behind the library I worked in for cheap poutine and an iced tea the size of my head. Good times!

The restaurant in question is the Federal Delicatessen. It's a gimmicky little New York style (I assume) place opposite the Sky Tower. From the waitresses uniforms to the menu it's all about 50's fun.

 

The menu is very Jewish with Kosher this and that. It just screams tasty. I wanted to eat almost everything on the menu. Sadly my food intolerance meant that I was pretty restricted. Sometime I will go back and just carpe diem and eat the damn cheese! hahahahaha yesterday though it was all about memories....

May I present ... dum da dum.. Montreal Poutine!!!! yaaaaayyyyyy!!!!! :)

This delightful little concoction is fries, gravy and cheese curds. It doesn't look so amazing but it's seriously tasty. I would say that the Federal Deli did a pretty admirable job with recreating the awesome but not perfect. It just wasn't... heart attack-ey enough! LOL. I think if they'd presented it in a bowl and been a bit more generous with the gravy and the cheese then it would have been almost perfect. For me the flavour of the cheese wasn't quite right either but that's probably a personal preference type of thing. I really remember the curds being a very mild sort of flavour and these ones were quite intense by comparison. Still.. this was great! I will absolutely order it again but next time I'll try one of the amazing looking sandwiches or mash dishes. This really is my kinda place! 

Christmas is coming to The Big Little City :)

I love this video!!!

It shows off my fab city as the Christmas decorations go up. I know it's a little early for Christmas ... I try not to even think about it until my friend Sheri has had her birthday on Dec 8 Buuuuut it came through on my Facebook feed this morning so I had to share.

:)

2013 Parnell rose festival

My friend Sheri and I walked to the Parnell Rose Festival yesterday. It was about a 12k round trip which was good training for the half marathon I'm walking with my sister in a couple of weeks. It was super hot but absolutely worth the walk. The festival was busy enough to feel like a successful event but organised well and spread out well so you didn't feel caged in. I cant say enough good things! from the go carts and juggling pins for the kids to the whole 'compostable straw' culture of the event it was AWESOME. I cant believe I've never been before. I shall certainly return!

10/10

These ones are the randoms :) Some of my faves from the jewelry sale that I went to a couple of weeks ago. Love the dog broaches and the rings with 'emeralds'. Take note future husband... I like old things with a story!

This weekend I walked through the marina for the first time and I just thought that the boats in their dry dock getting ready for summer looked pretty cool.

These ones are from the Parnell rose gardens. I LOVE the views down to the port which happens to be one of my fave parts of the whole city. Not sure why but I really love the whole idea of it :)

The fairy queen looks a little dodgy for some reason...

It was just so beautiful to be among the lovely flowers. It was calm and orderly and the air smelt beautiful! 

x

just some stuff

It's been a quiet kinda Saturday. I put the sexy raincoat (LOL) on and went for a walk this morning. I think that half marathon I've signed up for in November will be a breeze if they have a coffee stop every 2k or so like they do around here :)  It's quite interesting. I was talking to the girl at Starbucks about the awesome Salted Caramel mocha's which are now in season. YUM first of all and YEP still very intolerant of dairy and mocha's secondly ... anyhow she was saying that we're affiliated with Starbucks Singapore instead of Starbucks North America thus no Pumpkin Lattes for us :( ... Oh my first world problems!!! hahahahaha

I've spent the afternoon trying to get into 'Gone Girl'. My flat-mate is away and she gave me orders to read it before she gets back so we can talk about the ending but I'm having issues even getting to half way! I don't even think it's the book. It's more that I have the attention span of a goldfish these days hahahaha :P  Speaking of my flat-mate she's supposed to be back from Hawaii today but I don't have any clue when to expect her. I don't even know if she was getting in today or leaving Hawaii today and thus early morning arrival here tomorrow. It's just weird waiting when you don't know if someones turning up or not. Also I'm paranoid about having the house perfect and so stepping VERY lightly. It's as bad as when my mum comes to visit!!!

And now it's all about reality television goodness! My fave Ice Road Truckers then The real Housewives of Orange County and ending the trifecta with Vanderpump Rules!! YAY!! Except for I.R.T such trash and not such a bad way to spend a Saturday night. Of course I can think of one or two other ways that I would rather spend the night but what are  you going to do. LOL  

x

Sunday adventures

Yesterday was soooooo fun! The weather was warmer and drier than it's been for a few days and so my friend and I headed out for an adventure :P We explored further in a part of town that I am so amazed I happen to live very close to. For the longest time while I knew the suburb was there I had no idea what delights it really held and ever since my first summer afternoon spent walking to the end of the spit I've been in LOVE. We walked down the side of a cliff to the cutest little bay ever. People actually live there and their homes have the look of an artists commune right on the sand. As we walked along we were constantly saying "wow" "omg check that out" whilst trying to remain circumspect and not come off like crazy stalkers hahahaha. 

Just.So.Beautiful and I cant wait to spend the day on that sand and finally hit the water when summer comes around.

<3

It's SPRING and I'm loving some things :)

Hell YES! Woooo it's spring time here in the Big Little City. It's come so fast that a lot of the trees and insects and things that kinda live by spring are all confused. I think that must have been the .. smallest (?) winter on record. It just had such little impact, a couple of colder days that required a hat.. a little bit of rain here and there but over all it was warm, dry and FAST. Many of those confused trees have been in flower for weeks!!

I am currently sitting about 2 months away from finishing my course at University. I mean how fast has this year gone?? I can't believe that these months have flown by because it has really seemed to be interminable while I've been struggling through them. I have come to really hate being a university student. I love being in the class, working with the kids but as far as my classes at uni and the way they're run... I CAN NOT WAIT till they're done. I just...  I don't even know how to express how much I am looking forward to walking out of that place and not going back!

First LOVE. Last night I celebrated my friends birthday at Orphans Kitchen in Ponsonby ( ... and Long room it must be said). I don't have any pics because we'd already been at Long room for a while before we got to dinner ( .... lol) and we were having a lot of fun so taking pics wasn't high on my list of things to think about.  The place has only been open a couple of weeks so my trendy friends were hot to get there asap given the amazing reviews that they've been getting all over the place. I was a little baffled when I saw the menu ... I didn't really understand a lot of it. I mean a margaritas and nachos at the Mexican place in Mission Bay (Dos Amigos) is how I normally get down for a celebration and this was remarkably more intense and 'foodie' than that. I decided that my friend should just order for me. she did and it was so A-MAY-ZING I was reduced to a drunken pile of 'omagawd omagawd' as I chowed down on the BEST gnocchi in the world and a spectacular version of a banoffi pie. Along with some yummy red wine that I would NEVER have decided to drink on my own. So in conclusion FOOD n WINE = Indescribable. I mean how many times can you say amazing and ohmygawd before it ceases to really mean anything (... OK I know ohmygawd doesn't really mean anything) ATMOSPHERE = really very conducive to having a great time and SERVICE = so friendly and actually pretty fast I thought given the overwhelming crowd they were dealing with. I think my friends who go to 'proper' places a lot had a couple of things that they noticed could maybe be improved. I don't know what they were but even my friends enjoyed the over all experience so much they didn't care.  So yes, Orphans Kitchen is the first thing I'm loving right now. I was so serious... chef Tom, if you are single and straight MARRY MEEEEEEEEEEEE :P

The second thing I'm loving is the Infernal Devices series by Casandra Clare. I heard that it was better than the Mortal Instruments series and as it's the prequel I decided to start with this series. LOVING IT. I am totally getting the collective swoon of book nerds around the world for Jem. *SIGH* Great writing, I love the way that the action grabs me and I am literally swearing out loud when I'm surprised by something. All of the best books make you react out loud :)

I got my hair cut a couple of weeks ago and I finally got around to taking a pic and posting it up yesterday. I'm kinda in two minds about it. I do like it but it's quite different and I don't know that it expresses 'me' very well but maybe as I get older I'm no longer the messy curls person .. I don't know.  I predictably got a lot of nice comments on Face Book. You have to love your friends for that right? Problem is that they're friends and they have to be nice. I asked a guy I know who I wouldn't count as a friend for his opinion on the way girls wear their hair to try and get a bit of balance... and I was kinda curious. I am not the girl who is going to do something like cut my hair to impress a guy but it's still interesting what they find attractive collectively. Well the dude was so useless!! He told me he likes my curly hair (which this is NOT lol) but had no idea what I was talking about otherwise. HAHAHAHAHAHA poor thing, just so easy to bamboozle. Oh well, I guess it's not like I can put it back on my head so his opinion or lack there of is pretty irrelevant. :)

LASTLY. I've noticed one tag or link up or what ever on my blog roll a lot recently and while I'm not going to link up I thought I might finish this post with a reduced version of "the songs that define me". I've given it some thought and here are my top 10 all time favorite songs ever... in no particular order... 

1. For the people - Nesian Mystic

2. Spin One - Aradhna + Che Fu

3. So True - The Black Seeds

4. Waka - Che Fu

5. Slow Jams - Baby Face + Tamia

6. The rest of my life - Brian McKnight

7. Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

8. Arithmetic- Brooke Frasier

9. Get Me Bodied - Beyonce

10. History in the making - Darius Rucker

:-)

I love how many of them are Kiwi artists. I didn't realise how much I love New Zealand music until I started to think about this list. Some honorable mentions are : Red Camero by Rascal Flatts, Faithful by Brooke Frasier, Around the way girl by LL Cool J, Whenever You Call by Mariah Carey and Brian McKnight, Jumpin Jumpin by Destinys Child and I'm ready by Tevin Campbel. 

This weekend kicked my butt!

WoWZERS It's been a hell of a weekend. I'm sore from my nose down! hahahaha :P

Luckily it's all in the name of heaps of fun. On Saturday night I went to my friends first ever public performance with her ukulele group $4.30. It was more about having fun and supporting my friend than really expecting them to be perfect musicians but guess what... win on all fronts :)

While nobody is ever perfect I actually think they did really well with the music part of it. Go Them :) The 'gig' was on K rd which is a super cool but kinda ... OK.. really dodgy part of town. I don't normally go up there and I don't think I've EVER been at night but I was with my friend and we were really early on in the night so it was all good. He and I had a few drinks in a couple of places and took a few photos of the sights as we are want to do. The people watching was great!

So today, after one drink too many and about 3 hours sleep to few I got up early to go and be an acid green shirt wearing volunteer at the Story Lines festival at the Aotea Center.  This year is the 20th anniversary of the festival so it's a bit special. I was with the face painting team and to be honest I absolutely couldn't tell you if there were 5 or 50,000 people in to the event. My GOSH it was intense. Little face after little face, all the concentrating and trying to make shy little kids talk. Doesn't sound like a crazy hard kinda deal but WHEW it was draining. I am physically in PAIN and I SAT DOWN for most of the day hahahahhahah :P

There ya have it. Sweet weekend :)

It was so cool to see my friend stepping out of her comfort zone to perform in public. I am really inspired by her! It was also super cool to hang out with the friend that came to the show with me. He's probably  not someone that I could have introduced to my Grandfather but he's so sweet to me and really cute so I guess I will keep him around ;-) Lucky he doesn't live in this city so it's not even an issue. It was great to be a small part of what I assume was a fantastic festival devoted to stories! How cool is that? Now I am going to have to fight myself to stay awake till a decent hour to make sure that I'm not awake half the night. Tomorrow is devoted to my social studies essay. There WILL be a kick ass draft before I get on that bus to come home.

Happy Monday! 

mmm yeah

Whateves!!!

:)

Apparently you cant go back..

I've been thinking a bit lately about people that I used to know.... well two or three of them specifically. I am such a nosy nelly that I just want to know what happened to them. I want to know what their life is like and that they are doing stuff that makes them happy. I'm just interested I guess. There are very few people that I've lost contact with and never want to hear from again. I am certainly not one for grudges and I guess if people get in my life it's because I like them and if I like them I will always like them despite life happening :)

It's such a bummer that my inquiries have come to nil :( I have sent emails and asked mutual friends and know absolutely nothing more than I did before I started. I guess one of them is a guy I used to ... well.. know? Hahahaha so I was probably reaching there but STILL???? There is nothing so frustrating as failing to have your curiosity satisfied!!!

:P

Last weekend things

Last weekend I did a few cool things which I posted pics of in the previous two posts BUT I realised that I didn't really write anything about what I was doing so here goes ...

Saturday breakfast at De fontein in Mission Bay

This was a pretty cool surprise. I've been to beer-o'clock at the down stairs bar and I've eaten their mussels but I never knew that it was possible to get breakfast here. We had picked a beautiful day and so despite it being the middle of July we sat out on the balcony overlooking the bay. AWESOME start. We started with hangover busting glasses of coke and then on to the coffee. It was totally fine coffee but not amazing or really much to write about. My friend got an omelet which was also a bit underwhelming but essentially fine. I had a raspberry waffle and WOW it was soooooo good. It looked beautiful and tasted perfect. The location and the great service really made this a great experience.  

The average omelet and coffee lets them down a little but to be honest it was such a relaxing and enjoyable experience that I will still give them an 8/10 :)

Matariki celebrations at Orakei Marae (KITE DAY)

This was very cool. The Marae is in perhaps the best location in the city with sweeping views over the ocean. The kite day was a simple event ... literally flying kites on the hill :-) There were a few professionals there with some pretty eye catching displays. What I loved about this was that there were no hi tech anythings and yet the hundreds of people there were having a ball. FANTASTIC.

Rekorderling winter lights pop up pub

I was really looking forward to heading into the pub. It had been all over my face book and blog roll. They had taken over a small corner of down town and claimed to have a bar that evoked a winters night in Sweden  The claimed snow and warm fires and it just sounded awesome! 

I have to say that frankly it was crazily over hyped. It was cool with the fir trees and fake grass. There was a little bit of fake snow falling when you first walked in but I was expecting it to be covering the place. This ended up being the sort of place where young people in their party clothes were sitting on the floor and the giant glasses they served the alcohol in were littering the place. I don't know why I was so underwhelmed. It worked on paper but in person I wasn't into it. Perhaps because it was such a warm night in the city or perhaps because there was nowhere to sit even though the place wasn't packed when we were there... I reckon the problem is that everybody was expecting so much and were determined to have fun despite the fact that it was .... at the end of the day just another pub. 5/10

Matariki lights at Maybury Park in Glen Innes

Now THIS was really really cool. Another free event put on by the local community board that was very well attended by the community. There was a trail laid down around the park and all the way around were sculptures made from neon lights. There was even a mirror ball in a tree which I LOVED. It was really fantastic and as Saturday was the last night of Matariki it was topped with a fireworks display. FANTASTIC. Awesome firstly that it was free and awesome secondly that it was so well attended :)

Silo park markets and dinner at Wynyard quarter

Definitely love me some Silo Park.  The markets were on and at almost every stall was some little treasure that I wished I could take home with me. The weather was awesome and so the beer garden was busy. Such a lovely way to spend some time and again its always awesome to see the public spaces being so enthusiastically used. We went to the fish market for dinner. My friend had salmon and chips. It was so simple - a salmon steak and chips for $18. Absolutely perfectly done and given the price of fish in this country it was really reasonably priced.  I had the kids fish and chips and the first great thing was that they gave me the option to have it battered or crumbed. Again a simple dish but elevated by it's perfect execution. 

Lilac gelato at Smiths in Glendowie

On Sunday I went for a walk around the spit in Glendowie. Again it was pretty fab weather so we stopped in at Smiths for some gelato.  I'd never really had gelato before so it was a very new experience. The Lilac flavour is so hard to describe .. a little strawberry a little minty and perhaps even a little chocolate. Very sweet but not intensely so. .. Quite the mystery but VERY delicious :)

Another post about the awesome weekend :)

Here's a few more pics of the rest of my awesome weekend. I've had such a great time and OMG my lovely city has been lovely. It helped I think that the weather has been a-may-zing. I was walking with my friend around a park today in a tank top!! LOL. Of course she was in a sweatshirt but what eves she's crazy it was totally summer today hahahahaha :-)

The beer garden @ Silo Park

@ one of the booths they were selling mirrors. Love this shot of my fave possession :)

My pretty city 

The wynyard bridge :)

Cider at the pop up pub 

Terrible selfie #1 LOL I still kinda like it

Matariki lights at Maybury park in Glen Innes

Dream catchers @ the silo markets

Pop up pub goodness

Wild beasties in the park 

Terrible selfie #2! hahaha The Lilac Gelato from Smiths in Glendowie was Awesome