Alien Spouse

One of the lovely things about Asheville is that there are so many talented and creative people here, and they are so damned nice as well!

The shop stocks the work of several local artists, and I've always really liked the line of jewellery made by Amber Hatchett that we sell.  Amber creates sustainable jewelery from an eclectic range of found objects - Her pieces can combine vintage charms, chains, bullets, antlers (that were shed by the live deer!) or any number of other things.  All of her necklaces are gorgeous, but they are so very individual and unique, none of the ones we had in the shop were exactly right for me.  Fortunately I knew that Amber also takes commissions, and I had one or two lovely shiny things that I thought she could make me something from.

I selected a few items that I thought might work, and Amber agreed to make me two necklaces from them.  I was SO excited when she told me they were ready, and that she'd deliver them on Sunday!

This one is made from a glass button that fell into my lap when we went to see "Guys and Dolls" in London, it popped off Sarah Brown's jacket during the Cuba number.

The pixie pendant I've had for as long as I can remember, and I'm frankly amazed I haven't lost it.  My Mum bought it for me from a gypsy!

Amber added two tiny leaf charms, along with her signature touch of several different kinds of chain.

I love it!

The other necklace was made from a large glass brooch and the matching clip-on earrings; I loved these but they were so heavy they really did not work as they were originally intended. Now, with the addition of a gorgeous vintage Ulsner pendant they are the perfect statement piece.  If the statement you want to make is "Fabulous!", obviously.

The Previous Shop Me and Resuming Knitting.

Last week I popped into the coffee shop next to my (heheheh!) shop, and got chatting with the very nice girl behind the counter.  When I mentioned that I was working two days a week next door, she said "Oh! You replaced me when I left!"

I had heard a lot about her, all glowing, so it was nice to finally put a face to the name and she was just as lovely as I'd heard.  I asked what she was doing now, and it turns out that her main focus is knitting - She's writing patterns and teaching people to knit.  Naturally I was intrigued, and friended her on Facebook the moment I got to a computer!

That conversation has also inspired me to get out my knitting needles again, especially since I retrieved my stash of craft supplies from storage at the weekend.  I have just cast on a lace scarf from a pattern on Ravelry, and I'm going to use up some half-skein remnants I have on an extended swatch before starting on the scarf proper.  I'm doing that because so far I have yet to succesfully knit any lace, and I want to iron out the technique before applying it to the actual project.  I'm really enjoying this already!

 

Evalyn and Hobbes.

I was thrilled to find a soft toy tiger that looks almost exactly like Hobbes for $10; but I must admit I am feeling slightly guilty too.  This isn't an official Hobbes, and has no mention of Bill Waterson on it's tag... But on the other hand there don't appear to be any official Hobbes available... So...

Doc C pointed out that this tiger has a beard, Hobbes doesn't, and I then noticed that this tiger has a white tip to his tail, instead of black.  I suppose that is enough of a difference to not be a copyright infringement? Really?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, Eva has a Hobbes to get into scrapes with so let's not over analyse, eh?

 

Speed Mobility System - From Milan.

It is utterly bizarre to me that I have somehow stumbled into a life in which I am shopping for motorcycle accessories.  How the hell did that happen?

I bought a SMS Visione in pearl white with black stripes, and it arrived yesterday.  I am very happy with it; it fits snuggly whilst still being nice and light, and I love how it looks.  There is a definite hint of Princess from G-Force about it, now all I need is a pink dress, a white cloak and some high white boots.

Originally I was heavily leaning towards a sliver glitter helmet, which was rather stunning, but that didn't have a face visor and I decided that whilst looking like a mirror ball might be fun, it might also be a little over the top.  So I went with something classic (and a good $50 cheaper...).

The SMS website has the following information about their designers:

"SMS is an Italian designed helmet line.  Mr. Landi is the main designer behind these exclusive scooter helmets.  Mr. Landi lives and works in Milan, where he finds much of his design inspiration in this beautiful old European city in the heart of Italy.  Guiseppe is the other Italian designer, responsible for building high quality, safe helmets with a stylish look.  Together they have created this elite line of scooter helmets with a distinct European retro feel."

I love that!  Mr Landi and Guiseppe!  

"Whadda You Got?"

Saturday is my only day off at the moment (which sounds worse than it is!), and we have a nice little routine going.  I love listening to NPR's "Car Talk", "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" and "The Splendid Table" with Doc C and Eva whilst we eat a leisurely breakfast, play silly baby games and generally sit around in our pyjamas.  It's very civilised.

The afternoon varies depending on our mood; so today we got out the scooter for a short scoot and a short photo shoot.

The weather wasn't very nice today so I really didn't do much more than ride up and down in front of the house at a top speed of about 12 miles an hour.  It was exactly like something out of "The Wild One".

After that we went out for a lunch of burritos, a walk around the UNCA Botanical Gardens (Eva loves it there!) and then we went to three different motorcycle dealers to look at helmets.  A helmet was included with the scooter - but the previous owner was quite a heavy smoker, so it does smell of cigarettes and besides I have no idea how old it is and therefore how sound it still it is.  So I want a new one.  No luck today, but there's no rush.  I want to buy something that I really like the look of, co-ordinates with the scooter (obviously!) and that keeps me safe.

Today has been fun and we even have some frozen yogurt for desert.  Yum!

Blue and White with Chrome.

Well... I own a second-hand Keeway Agora scooter.  It's pretty cool looking, don't you think?

I chickened out of riding it home, which was probably a less than ten minutes journey, but I suddenly felt very aware that I haven't driven anything for twenty years.  Doc brought Eva and I home, walked back to collect it and then rode it home.  He liked it a lot - But he'd better not get too used to it, I tracked down a local motorcycle riding instructor and I've already e-mailed to set up some training.  Then those roads will be MINE!

Love Asheville.

On Sunday I was working at the shop, and it was fairly busy which was really quite fun.  I was saddened to see that the clock hand earrings I'd been eyeing up had been sold since Thursday, but I probably shouldn't wear attractive dangly earrings around Eva McGrabby-Hands anyway.

Sundays are a nice day to be working in one of the coolest shops in Asheville, because we get a lot of tourists who are visiting for the weekend and usually by Sunday they are relaxed and chatty.  I really enjoy meeting people when they are happily chilled out, so it's a win-win.  This week I was wearing my new "Love Asheville - Go Local" t -shirt

Even better this week I recognised one of our customers, but I couldn't immediately place her.  Fortunately I realised who she was before she left - It was Go Go Ren of the Appalachian Roller Girls!  Squee!  I, of course, fan girled out, and told her what a great jammer she was.  Go Go seemed quite surprised to be recognised, but she was lovely and didn't skate a lap around the shop at top speed or anything.  She mentioned that she had retired her skates, and asked if I'd considered joining a derby team myself (Don't worry Mum - I'm a wimp, I'm highly unlikely to strap on the knee guards) It was a definite highlight of a pleasant day at work.

Asheville.  You have got to love it.

Eva's New Furniture.

This evening we bought Eva her own bed, well, it's a crib that will convert into a bed when she's old enough. Point being she won't be sleeping in our bed for very much longer - first, we have to build the thing, and, second, get her comfortable with sleeping in it.  I'll report back on which is the most difficult.

A Runabout.

Doc C has been doing our taxes today, and thinks we might have a bit of money coming back to us; which would be lovely.  We are doing some fantasy shopping with the money (which we'll probably end up paying bills with - but let's pretend, eh?); my current favourite notion is buying a scooter, so I can zoom around town on my own.  It would be so much easier than having to drag the entire family out in the car, not to mention it looks like fun.

Ideally I'd like something like a classic Vespa in a nice cream with a pearl finish, but I expect you pay over the odds for the name and I'm not that fussed about the colour - Just so long as it isn't pink!

 

Shopping/Working.

It was a very, very quiet day at work; so much so tha,t after I'd printed bags and swept the floor, I browsed the racks and tried a few things on.

Long story short - I spent today's wages befoe they even made it into my pocket.  I do have three gorgeous new tops though, so it was totally worth it.  Next week I have my eye on a skirt...  Ooh!  And a pair of earrings made from vintage clock hands...

This job is clearly going to be dangerous to my wallet.

Working/Shopping.

The only problem with working at my favourite shop in town is that it can feel like I'm browsing for the whole of my working day - And then I just want to spend all of the money I'm earning before it's even in my wallet.

Today we got a big delivery, so I was unpacking, hanging and steaming some really lovely dresses, skirts and blouses.  I sent Doc C a phone pic of one particular dress in a gorgeous duck egg blue with a print of penny farthings, and he immediately responded "It's like it was made for you!".  I know.  Damn.

I resisted trying anything on today, mostly because I was super busy steaming everything, but I'm not sure I'll have the self-control when I'm in on Sunday.

One Thing After Another.

What a day!  

First of all Eva woke up at three again.  This had better not become a habit - Actually I suspect she knew I had a long day ahead of me, she likes to make sure we know who is boss around here.

Anyway after that my nine o'clock (I have "nine o'clocks" now.  Hehehe!) was cancelled at the very last minute - So last minute that I was actually already at the client's office when I heard.  So I came home and had a bit of a nap.

Then I opened the shop and that all went fairly smoothly; it was freezing this morning so the shop was totally empty for the first hour.  I started unpacking a delivery of jeans, checking it against the invoice, pricing the merchandise and putting it out on display.  This is usually pretty straight forward, but today I found one pair of jeans had a hole in the crotch so those had to be kept to the side and I made a note of them.  No problem!

Then Doc C rang to tell me that he'd tried giving Eva some formula, because we were low on milk and that she had found it absolutely unacceptable and was inconsolable.  So he had to bring her to the shop for me to feed - And of course that's when the customers suddenly streamed in.  Fortunately she had calmed down enough that she could wait until we had a quiet moment and I could flip the closed sign on the door for a few minutes.

That crisis over I re-opened and Doc took Eva into the staff toilet to change her, this is just off the stock room which is seperated from the shop by a curtain.  The next set of customers brought a very friendly and inquisitive dog with them, and he was happily and politely  exploring the shop when he suddenly took an interest in the stock room.  I suspect he could smell Eva's nappy, and the next thing we knew he'd nipped behind the curtain to check things out.  He was very easy to get back out though, so again all was well.

Ok.  Then I was running a customer's credit card and the card reader first of all rejected her pin and then seemed to spontaenously void the sale on the next attempt.  So I tried a third time, and at that point it announced it was out of paper.  Good grief.  When I'd sorted that out it became clear that the card reader had read the customer's card twice, so I had to call the owners of the shop to ask how the hell to stop it doing that.

Around two-ish I vaguely remember hearing a distant crashing noise, like slates sliding against each other.  I didn't really pay too much attention - Until the street filled with fire engines and paramedic vans.  I could see where on the street they were focussing their attention, but I had no idea what was going on - until a customer told me a building that was being renovated had collapsed when they removed a load bearing wall.  Fortunately no one was hurt, but the street was closed off to traffic for most of the afternoon.

I started to unpack a delivery of socks, price those and display them.  I'm not sure why I was surprised when the gun that spikes those little plastic hanging hooks just came to pieces in my hand and refused to do it's job any further.  So I arranged the socks on a table instead of hanging them up, really not too much of an issue.

Moving on to my next task I set up the counter for bag printing (This is super fun - It's a hand stamp of the shop's logo, that's satmped onto each bag by hand), and got a stack of blank bags ready to print. I took the lid off the ink pad, and turned to put it on the side... And as I did that I knocked over a display of earrings, they flew off the counter and all over the floor behind the till.  Even better two of them went all the way under the cupboards; I had to get down on my hands and knees, and get my arm covered in dust and spider webs to retrieve them.

Let's recap:

1. Eva's three am snack.
2. Last minute meeting cancellation.
3. Holes in the merchandise.
4. Eva's complete rejection of formula on a day when we were low on pumped breast milk.
5. A dog maurading in the stock room.
6. Card reader madness!
7. A BUILDING COLLAPSED.
8. Tag gun malfunction.
9. Earrings knocked onto the floor.

Can you believe after all of those things that the till actually balanced?  And, whilst I was really tired by the end of the day, I was in a pretty good mood actually.

Doc C came to pick me up and when we got home he made me a nice cup of tea.  Then he ordered us a curry, because I'd had a slightly tricky day and also because it's our sixth wedding anniversary.

As I said - What a day. Still once I'd had a snuggle with my baby (and eaten a delicious salmon tikka with a locally brewed beer) I was totally chilled out and now I'm ready to sleep for, um, the next three days or so.

Sunday Trading.

It was my second day at the shop, and for the second half I was flying solo; I even cashed up the till, set the alarm and locked up by myself (well, Doc C and Evalyn Alice were there to get me, but they didn't really help with closing up).

And it was actually a really fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon - How often do you get to say that about your job?

Working Hard for the Money.

Thursday was my first day back in retail, and it was good!  

Well, ok it was raining so hard ALL day that precisely eight people came into the shop & only two of them bought anything.  So not the best day for sales, but actually there was so very much to learn that it was probably no bad thing (for me anyway).

Of course this also gave me a great opportunity to really check out the stock thoroughly, and this has always been one of my favourite shops, so that is really quite dangerous for our budget. There's at least one necklace with my name on it already, and several really nice coats.  I do not need another coat.  Remind me of this.

I was exhausted by the time I got home, because you are just on your feet all day when you work in a shop.  You get used to it fairly quickly, and it's not a problem once you are back in condition, but the first few shifts are quite brutal.  It also hadn't helped that I didn't get much sleep the night before - I tried, I really did but it was not to be.  We went to bed at 11, which was later then intended but not awful, but then Doc's phone rang at midnight (it was the university's emergency broadcast system and it was a bloody test.  At midnight.  On a Wednesday.  Ugh.)  After that I got three hours sleep, before Eva woke up and requested feeding; this is a new thing, and I really don't approve.  She went back to sleep immediately, I dozed and eventually got back to sleep shortly before she woke up again at 5 to be fed again.

Whilst I was earning some money, Doc C was looking after Eva for the day.  She was very well behaved all day apparently, and was perfectly happy.  In fact she didn't seem to notice that I hadn't been there for seven hours; which is great obviously...

On Friday afternoon I had arranged to have coffee with the owner of a local video production company, because they happened to be looking for a part-time project manager.  It was a really good meeting, and reminded me of exactly why I love working with creative people and on film projects.  Keep your fingers crossed on that one, because it seems like it would be a perfect fit for me at the moment and I WANT IT!

All in all, Asheville has just been fantastic to me this week. *contented sigh*

Weekend of Contrasts.

The bad news is that I spent the weekend fighting off the cold that Doc C had, and I managed it fairly well - At the cost of needing to sleep for the majority of Saturday and Sunday.  Fortunately the Doc was better so he could look after Eva, and, even more fortunately, Eva doesn't seem to have caught anything.

On the other hand, the good news is that I got a call on Saturday to say I'd got the job!  Squee!  I start my six week trial period in a fortnight's time - It's just two days a week, but it is at my very favourite shop in Asheville!  I cannot believe my luck!  Squee, Squeee, Squeeeeeeeeeee!

 

Chilli Sauce and Milk.

This week I discovered Sriracha sauce.  It is AMAZING.  I know you probably already know this, because I seem to be extremely late to this party, but if you haven't had it before I highly recomend just spending the $4 on a bottle to try it.

Since buying this bottle I have so far added it to:

• A slice of fake bacon (my first taste)
• Chickpeas and rice
• A bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon
• Mushroom risotto.

It was delicious with all of that, and I find myself planning what I want to try it with next.  Scrambled eggs on toast is a definite.

By the way I did stage this photo specifically to include the breast milk next to the sriracha in the photo; the milk is not usually kept in the door like that so there is no possibility of a comedy mix-up I promise.  I;m just super-proud of myself for thinking of getting those really small post-it notes and using them to put the date of pumping on the bottles.  It should make it a lot easier to keep track of the milk and that's just one less thing to think about when Eva is screaming for her next meal.  

The girl has no patience what so ever

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Faux-Hawk!

Doc C dressed Eva today, but he was shamelessly pandering to my taste and I was particularly smitten with this outfit.  Look at that faux-fur faux-hawk!  Ridiculous AND Adorable!

We actually had to go out this morning to get blood taken for some blood tests (nothing interesting, just standard tests for the medical we had with our new doctor yesterday) and we weren't supposed to eat before hand - So we were very motivated to leave the house early today.  

Eva slept through the whole thing, and only really woke up when we went out for breakfast, and even then she was really good.  There was a bit of crying, but only because she wanted to get out of her pram and STARE around the restaurant at people.  She is definitely getting really interested in other people and what they are doing, which is really fun to see.

She wasn't quite so good when we later had to go to the chemists to pick up our prescriptions, but who can blame her?  Walgreens is really not as much fun as the Early Girl Eatery!

Bedecking on a Budget.

Today I decided to put up Christmas decorations, this necessitated a trip to the storage unit to collect our baubles and a visit to Target to buy a packet of ornament hooks.  

Every year I like to decorate differently to the year before, and this used to be much easier because I used to be able to just walk into Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road, get inspired and probably buy something fun (Actually I'd usually go nuts in the January sales and then hoard my new shinys for next year).  Doc C isn't against decorating for Christmas, but he is against spending "too much money", which I'm not 100% sure there is a specific figure for, but I am certain that this year I am well within it.  The total outlay for our festive flourishes this year was $1 for the ornament hooks.  Yes!  I win at frugal holiday trimming!

This year is additionally tricky because I decided against putting up fairy lights.  I love little white twinkly lights, so this was a tough choice, but we live in a small space with only a few electrical points in any of the rooms, and on top of that if you put some toast on all the ceiling lights in the flat dim slightly.  So no lights this year.

On the other hand we do have a really elegant picture rail around our living room, so I decided to just hang ornaments from that.  I wasn't sure if that was going to work to be honest, because I couldn't remember how many ornaments we had in storage; fortunately a couple of years ago we bought a pack of 48 baubles in four acid colours, and each colour has two different finishes (shiny, matt and glitter).  I hung them in colour sequence (pink, blue, green, silver), but put the finishes up in random order, if that makes sense.  (Clearly I will need to post photos, but by the time I put these up it was dark so I'll take pictures tomorrow)

It's starkly fun, and there is absolutely no chance of Edith knocking any of them down.  Although, now I've said that she will probably find a way.  Edith is resourceful.

Sleep and Clean.

Today we went serious stuff shopping at Target.  We had a list and everything.

Most important was a special type of bedding for the baby; we are still swaddling Eva at night, because otherwise her arms tend to get a bit flaily and she ends up waking herself up by accidentally hitting herself in the face.  The problem is that as she gets bigger she gets stronger, so just using swaddling blankets doesn't work at all any more because she can easily wiggle her arms free.  We were given a couple of special swaddler wraps that are sort of a cross between a sleeping bag and a straight jacket; and Eva cannot Houdini her way out of those, so we bought a couple more.

Eva's on the verge of out-growing those, so we went to buy a larger size today.  All of the ones hanging up on the display were small/medium, the size she's about to burst out of, and I couldn't find any larger ones at all.  Just as I was about to give up, I noticed one of the packages of swaddlers tucked behind a nightlight on a shelf next to the display - They were the last pair of large swaddlers!  Yes!  I have no idea why they were there, but I am very glad to have found them in what would have previously seemed to me to be the dullest easter egg hunt ever!

Actually the other thing I was particularly looking for was even more thrilling; a cleaning product I was keen to try - Barkeeper's Friend.  When we got home I was barely through the front door before I was testing it out on some stubborn tea stains on the work surface.  And I was delighted when those tea stains vanished! So satisfying! And it's derived from rhubarb? Ok then!

These are the things that I find exhilarating these days?  Post-pregnancy hormones are just bizarre, aren't they?

Denim Purchases.

After much consideration and my observation of a good deal on my favourite cut of jeans, I decided to buy two new pairs of jeans and a pair of pajama bottoms.  I priced it out ahead of time and with the discounts it came to $50 - Acceptable!

I specifically wanted grey jeans and I've also been thinking about red jeans for a while; so that's what I took to the changing room to try on in my usual size.  They did not fit.  As it happened that the black jeans I was wearing were the exact same cut of jeans, so I knew what size I should be.  Then it occured to me that I'd had these the black jeans since before I became pregnant, so maybe I'd stretched them? sigh.

I left the chenging room, and as I handed them to the changing room assistant she asked if they were any good. When I said no and pulled a rueful face, she said that actually this particular run of jeans were sized particularly small,  Which I thought was very kind of her.

Still I went back to the display of jeans and had another look at them, and a second assistant cheerfully told me that these jeans run at least two sizes too small, and, as there was no way that the woman in the changing room had told her to say that (I am nothing if not sceptical), I knew it was good intel.  I bit the bullet and went up two sizes, and this time the jeans fitted perfectly.  I just don't want to look at the label on them, because they are bigger than my pre-pregnancy size and damn it they shouldn't be.  Ugh!  I know that there are some women who would simply refuse to buy clothes that have the "wrong" size on them, so I think I understand why these particular were so heavily discounted at the moment!

Whilst I was trying things on, Doc C was toting Eva around in her harness carrier and browsing the baby section.  He decided on two pairs of blue jeans, a pair of red jeans (just like Mummy's!) and a pair of grey fleece trousers.

We took everything up to the till, and it came to just over $100.  I hadn't miscalculated my cost of the haul, instead Eva's stuff had actually cost slightly more!  Good grief!

Primary Carer (For Four Days Anyway!)

Doc C is at a conference this week and he won't be back until Saturday night, so it's just me, the cats and my darling baby at the moment.  

Eva's been really good, but she's still not very chatty so I walked down to the bakery with her this afternoon partly to make sure I had at least one adult conversation today - Even if that conversation was purely "Could I have a multi-grain sandwich loaf please? Thanks!" Actually I also asked for a bear claw and a iced raspberry tea, so it was really quite the chat!

Kissing Birds and Stripy Stripes.

We bought Eva some long sleeved tops and leggings to keep her warm as the weather turns a little bit chillier.  

Doc C chose this super cute onesie, and I selected the ridiculous stripy leggings; the resulting outfit could only be pulled off by a pretty baby with a sweet smile.

By the way when I took this picture Eva was in her car seat because we were about to go to the supermarket and pick up a few things for dinner.  Whilst we were there she got a bit restless, so I took her out of the pram and carried her instead.  She quieted down immediately and was perfectly happy for the rest of the shopping trip; as was I until I put her back into the pram and saw that my t-shirt now looked as though a tub of cottage cheese had been tipped down the front of it.  Thank you Evalyn Alice!  Good thing you are a pretty baby with a sweet smile!

My Favourite PJs.

Batgirl pyjama bottoms!* Squee!

Evalyn, your Mummy is a total nerd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Purchased from Old Navy several months ago.  I don't know if they still have them, I sort of wish I'd stocked up on a few pairs now!

Leopard Print Knit.

Today I bought a lovely merino wool cardigan (It's the Leopard Print Tippi Cardigan from J. Crew).  I feel a bit weird buying clothes for myself whilst I'm not actually earning any money, especially from somewhere as ridiculously preppy and, frankly, over-priced as J. Crew.

This was a carefully considered purchase, and I proceeded based on the following criteria - a) I've been sort of obsessing over leopard print cardigans recently, b) it was reduced from $89.50 to $49.99, and J. Crew currently are offering an additional 30% off on all sale items, c) I haven't bought any non-maternity clothes (not counting a new dressing gown) since December (and, actually, I stopped buying maternity clothes in May because I didn't feel I'd get enough wear out of them in 3 months to justify the purchase).

Whilst pregnant I've been working with a capsule wardrobe of 4 dresses, 1 pair of maternity jeans, 1 pair of non-maternity shorts that I could get to stay up with a hair-band, 1 pair of linen trousers, 2 skirts and a selection of tops that I didn't care too much about over-stretching.  It's served me well over the last 9 months, and for the most part I have been quite happy with how I looked - But I am really looking forward to the autumn, and being able to wear some different clothes. This cardigan is going to be paired with a) jeans, a t-shirt and a pair of boots, b) a black dress c) a black skirt (pencil or circle).  I also think it would look great under a leather jacket, but I don't currently own one of those so that's the next wardrobe item to obsess over. Clearly.

Oh, my only slight concern with this clearly fabulous woollen is that it says dry-clean only in the description.  Babies instinctively know not to puke on dry-clean only clothes, right?  Right?  Why are you laughing?

Homewares.

Whilst I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'm nesting at the moment, I am definitely invested in getting the flat thoroughly organised and so today we went out in search of those canvas storage crate things.  I specifically wanted two large ones (one for my bewilderingly large collection of belts and one for my entirely necessary assortment of bags) and a small ones (especially for headscarves), and it was but the work of moment in the home goods section of Target to find exactly what I wanted in a jaunty multi-coloured polka dot canvas.  Score.

This means that I've emptied the top drawer of the small chest of drawers and Evalyn's socks now have a designated home.  Eva's not even born yet and she's already got an entire (although small) chest of drawers to herself, whilst Doc C and I are sharing the large one.  I decided this was necessary when I was packing her hospital bag, because I couldn't find her red socks and the Wonder Woman onesy will look so much better with red socks!

We carried on with the home improvement shopping by purchasing some outdoor furniture in the form of two cheap-and-cheerful plastic (but entirely recyclable) adirondack chairs.  These are surprisingly comfortable, and I've spent a lovely late afternoon sitting in the shade of a tree, drinking lemon barley water (Thank you World Market!  You are magnificent!) and reading some essays by G.K. Chesterton on my Kindle.  The cats are very taken with this novel development and love having us outside with them, Edith in particular is ecstatic and has been perched on the railing right next to the chairs just gazing at us lovingly.

At one point Edith moved along the railing a bit to get a better view of something, and her profile was beautifully framed against the sky.  She looked like she was composing poetry, and I was irrestibly reminded of Jordan Catalano from the nineties teen drama "My So-Called Life" .  Edith, I feel sure, would lean beautifully if she were a human.

Safe Baby!

This morning we had the baby safety class, which covered child proofing the home, infant CPR and treating choking; it was equal parts TERRIFYING and reassuring.  It was terrifying in that the nurse teaching the course kicked off with "Babies have a death wish and it's your job to keep them alive", and reassuring in that most of the stuff we covered was either common sense, something I already knew or actually seemed pretty instinctive.

I did enjoy learning that the best beat to do infant CPR to is "Staying Alive", or apparently "Another One Bites The Dust" but the CPR peeps decided that the BeeGees' lyrics were more appropriate to bear in mind at such a moment.  Also CPR works far far better on children than on adults, because the blood pressure that CPR produces is actually pretty close to a child's natural blood pressure, so you can actually keep a child's brain properly oxygenated for hours with CPR.  Good to know!

It was interesting to meet other soon-to-be parents, but I was jealous of the couple who are expecting their baby around Halloween - And they said that they don't even like Halloween, so it's wasted on them!  So unfair!  Can you just lie about when a kid is born by a couple of months?  How noticable would that really be?  Hmmmm?

After the class we rewarded ourselves with doughnuts, followed by a quick flit around Target to buy a few more baby things. Because there are always more baby things to be bought.

Please Prepare for Slightly Too Much Information.

Yesterday the manual breast pump I'd ordered arrived.

(That should have cleared the room a fair bit already, but let's just give them a moment to get their coats)

Naturally We unpacked the thing, looked at it, read the manual and then put it back in it's box... Until I got ready for bed, at which point I thought to myself that I really ought to just give it a quick test pump or two.  And then my boobs started to leak.

Which freaked me out frankly.  Doc C walked into the bedroom at this point, saw my face and asked what was wrong, so I told him and he was also a bit freaked out.

I mean obviously this is really good, because I intend to breast feed and this means that means that my body is pretty much ready to do that and yay for the miracles of the human body, etc, but still - OMG!  That was SO weird, and it;s all just going to get weirder isn't it ?

A Portrait of the Queen.

We've been meaning to get a portrait of the Queen for a while, and this week we actually got it organised. 

First of all we found a portrait of the Queen that we liked on-line (It's a Dorothy Wilding photo, that was hand-tinted in those gorgeous fifties colours), downloaded it to a zip drive and took it to Staples to be printed on shiny card stock.  That cost a dollar.

Today we went in search of a frame, and we very specifically wanted something a bit tacky.  In one of the local antique markets, after some thorough searching of the aisles, we found a faux mother-of-pearl frame of exactly the right size for $6.50.

It's so fabulous, it goes with our red mid-century modern living room beautifully and it cost us under ten dollars.

 

The Bella of Cars.

A quick summary: Last week we moved to a new flat in a new city, where we are expecting to have a baby in about 6 or 7 weeks time.  Naturally this is the perfect time to also buy a new (used) car.

So we did.

We traded in the red Mini and got a black Honda Fit.  It's nice!  It's not a Mini (which we must have said at least 50 times today - we were, after all, at a Mini dealership, surrounded by Minis and everyone in the building was wearing a t-shirt proclaiming their love of Minis), but it's nice!

Of course my good opinion was immediately secured when we went for our test drive, because when I opened the car door it smelled like a really nice packet of orange almond cookies.  We now own a car that smells delicious.  Beat that!

Car Seat : Mouse Tested!

Last week we ordered the car seat from Amazon, and we picked it up from the post office today!  Very exciting!  Neither cat has exhibited any interest in being a stunt-baby (in fact you might call their attitude to this idea "total aversion"), so we used Miss Mouse as a stand in for Eva.

She fits the new-born seat insert pretty well, doesn't she?  I imagine Eva might be a bit bigger, but not much really; so it's really weird to realise that she'll totally outgrow this seat before I'm even completely used to the idea that I have a daughter.

We chose this car seat because it clicks into a base in the car, so it's really easy to lift in and out, but also because there is a wheel base that goes with it so the car seat turns into a pram.  It doesn't hurt that it was actually one of the cheaper options we found, but we mostly were impressed by the reviews it got on Amazon and the ratings that Consumer Report awarded it.  We looked into this very thoroughly before committing to a choice as you can see, and actually I think it's going to work really well.  It seems to be well designed and sturdy, but it's still light enough for me to be able to carry it with one hand (you see this is where the cats would have come in handy as they are about the weight Eva will be when I'm lugging her around in the thing at first).

The car seat itself and the base for it both have an info-graphic on it to show the correct orientation of the seat, and that info-graphic is quite clearly of a Mini-Cooper. Doc C has been very much of the opinion that we HAD to change the car because getting a baby seat in and out of it would be too complicated.  I thought that this info-graphic might indicate that he was wrong about that, so we did practice setting up the base in the car and took turns putting the chair in and taking it out.  I'll admit it was not ideal, particularly because once the car seat was safely installed then you couldn't put the driver's seat back in place.  Hmmmm, Doc may have a point here.

New Laptop.

We have decided to get rid of our Dell desktop, because after four years it's become something of an unwieldy paperweight. Doc also took our laptop to the university's computer clinic, because we suspected that I had seriously maimed it; actually it turns out I had kind of killed it.  This left us with something of a gap in our technology, because nice as the iPad is, it's simply not designed to do everything we need it to do.

So after work today we went to Staples and bought a new HP laptop.  Squee!

Doc is kind of freaking out about spending money on things like this right now, but honestly we can't move to a new city with a new baby without the necessary tech to hand.

Registration.

Our friends Randy and Laura have very kindly offered to throw a baby shower for us, and asked that we set a gift registry somewhere so that people could buy us stuff.  I wasn't convinced this was an actual thing that would happen, because it just seems too good to be true doesn't it?  You choose stuff and other people buy it for you? Really?  Doesn't that sound like a total scam?

However, I stand corrected because I put a link to the baby registry on Facebook, and then next time I looked four items had been purchased for us! Ok, things were kicked off by my Mum because she wasn't going to let anyone else buy "The Hungry Caterpillar" (the book and the wooden pull-toy.  So cute.  Thanks Moth!) for her grandaughter, but still! Weird! And great!

I may actually expand the list, because we were being quite restrained at first but it's hard to know what you really really need.  Car seat, a crib, nappies and some clothing right? What else? Does anyone have any suggestions for 100% must have baby stuff?

Happy 60th Liz!

We went to Asheville for my haircut on Saturday, and we had a few other things to take care of as well. Mostly this involved going to shops that we do not have in our own small town; for example, why would we need a maternity shop actually in our town?  I mean, who gets pregnant here?  Aren't babies just found in a cabbage patch?  It's stuff like that about living in a small town that drives me crazy!

Anyway...

We also decided to go to World Market and buy some British food.  We are fully stocked with Hobnobs, Branston Pickle, Malteasers and Tunnock's Teacakes (although I've already eaten all the Wine Gums).  I also wanted to find a small dish, so we went to look in their kitchenwares section - And discovered a display of Diamond Jubilee related nonsense!  Oh deep joy!  Naturally we snapped up a commemerative mug, and if there had been a tea towel I would have bought that too.

This lucky find meant that for the actual Jubilee I was able to sit on the lawn eating scones with jam and clotted cream and drinking PG Tips out of a proper Diamond Jubilee mug. Brilliant!

Phriday.

Friday and I'm in Philadelphia! Yay!

I started off my day with a forty minute walk uptown to get to the book fair, with a couple of detours to Lush (Fresh Farmacy soap & Imperialis moisturiser) and H&M (nothing in my current size). The books were ok, but nothing amazing. I bought an anthology of Campion murder mysteries & a trashy murder mystery set in Philly, with some nice over art.

By this point it was lunch time, so I re-traced my steps to a falafel place I spotted earlier. I had forgotten how much I like falafel. I finished my lunch,and bought three falafel balls to tide me over for the rest of the walk back to the hotel. And I stopped at a different falafel place a bit further on, because they had juices as well and I thought a nice vegetable juice would be a good counterpart to my plans to get ice cream later.

Obviously by the time I got back to the hotel there was just time to say hi to Doc C, have my after lunch nap and then go out for ice-cream. What? The baby needs calcium! Ok, she perhaps didn't need that calcium to be covered in hot fudge sauce, but that was just how it came! In an appealing rum-raisin / pistachio flavored format!

Doc still had some conferencing to do, so I came back to the hotel to wait for him, and then took him to a martini bar nearby that had good reviews for food. Those reviews were well earned.

So yes, I ate my way around town today and I'll probably do it again tomorrow!

Me Without Me.

Every weekday I go to Doc C's office to have lunch; I usually also have a nap, so I always take off my glasses, earrings and watch, and take my keys out of my pockets. These items are so integral to my day-to-day self, that this is practically a self portrait, just without me in the picture.

You already know about the glasses and the watch, I go absolutely nowhere without these.

The earrings are from Rhubarb's Etsy Shop ( there will be nothing left on Etsy after I'm finished), and they are my new favourites. These are vintage grey glass drops, which were originally listed with long kidney hooks, but the seller was happy to swap those out for the leverbacks. I love that about Etsy!

The green skull is a Fred and Friends silicone key cap (It glows in the dark and came in a pack of six, so I had five more colours to hand - what is with me and the greens at the moment?), only one of my keys has a cap on it, specifically so I can find the key to my office door without looking at them. I highly recommend this, it saves valuable seconds of thinking time.

Accessorises.

I bought this vintage Samsonite travel bag on Etsy specifically to use as my carry-on luggage when we flew to Vegas. After we got home I simply never transferred my stuff back out of it again, so it's become my everyday handbag.

It's ironic that I think this bag is so fabulous when it is only a shade or two brighter than the green that made my school uniform so very hideous and despised. Seriously, who dresses an entire girl's school in mushy pea green blazers and skirts?

The shades have long been a favourite of mine, but I could only wear them when I had my contacts in - until I got prescription lenses put in! Also just in time for the Vegas trip! 

Dry Shampoo.

When we went to Las Vegas in January I spent most of my money in two shops; Lush Cosmetics and H&M (Maternity Wear Department). Yes, I went to Vegas and came back with a great deal of fancy soap and a pair of maternity jeans. I think, perhaps, I misunderstood the point of Vegas, you know?

We can put the trip to H&M to one side, you don't need an essay on how comfortable maternity jeans are, but Lush had a revelation in store for me this time. I love being able to browse in an actual Lush shop, because, whilst I know a lot of their products really well at this point, there is always something new that I either haven't heard of before, or that I want to smell &/or ask questions about before I buy it. This time I discovered they had brought out a dry shampoo, No Drought, which seemed interesting.

Ok, so WHY didn't anyone tell me about dry shampoo before? Did everyone know except for me? I have very fine hair, I've been washing it every day for years now and that then necessitates putting products in to try and get some volume and texture.  It turns out that if I wash it every other day, and then use dry shampoo on the second day. That works really well, and I'm starting to think that my hair looks better on the second day.

This is great for three main reasons; first of all it saves me time when I'm getting ready on the alternate mornings, secondly I'm bound to use less hair product this way and therefore save money and, thirdly, this is the perfect excuse to buy a retro-glamorous shower cap (I know point two was about saving money, and point three is about spending it - But this is a one-time purchase of a shower cap at $23, as opposed to repeated purchases of, say, textured hair cream at $26 a tube).

This may seem trivial, in fact it is trivial, but it's important to find and appreciate the small things that make one happy (especially when one isn't allowed a martini). A good book? Captivating! Birds singing? Adorable! A blue sky? Enchanting! Your hair behave the way you want it to? Luscious!

Cake and Asheville Therapy.

Here is a nice slice of cake from a hippy cafe that we went to in Asheville. (Well, I say it was a hippy cafe, all of the lovely smiley girls behind the counter had dreadlocks and/or tattoos of trees, but then it had a very clear "brand identity" and logo, plus really plush bathrooms so it was distinctly upmarket hippy.)

 

This was a chocolate almond cake made with beet sugar, which is why it looks slightly pink. This adds fuel to my theory that Red Velvet Cake really does not need to be made with three bottles of cochineal in it, but that the same effect could be achieved in a much less artificial manner. It was quite dense, not too sweet and altogether a nice bit of cake. 

 

This was the introductory snack to my Asheville day trip therapy which also included:

• A two-hour drive there, listening to Kylie all the way (I was DJing, obviously, and in dire need of some handbag pop)
• A haircut from Naomi
• Browsing second-hand books
• Delicious lunch (I had really good fish-and-chips, Doc C had shrimp stuffed salmon that he was just ecstatic about)
• Shopping for maternity clothes (a striped grey dress, a skirt, a blouse and two t-shirts) and anti-stretchmark body lotion
• Unexpected bonus purchases of make-up and a picture book about London.
• A two-hour drive home, listening to Ok Go (I was DJing again, but being kinder to the Doc)

My lobbying for us to move to Asheville has been moved up a notch.

Phoning It In.

Today we had afew things to do before going to Jack and Amber's house for dinner and cooing over their preternaturally cute baby son.

First we had to take out the recycling because it was at the falling-on-you stage, and as our preferred recycling center happens to be close to a Verizon shop I decided to upgrade my phone. Well, actually, I did not want to upgrade my phone, because an upgrade to me would mean a smart phone and I do not want to pay for the monthly data plan - In fact I wanted to get the simplest of the basic phones, I'd actually have quite liked to down-grade to something without a camera or an MP3 player, because I never use those features. I tried to explain this to the assistant at the Verizon shop, but I think he'd just taken some cold medication or something else that advises you not to drive or operate heavy machinery, I soon realised I was on my own out there. In the end I grabbed an LG Cosmos 2, which was fairly cheap, had a slide out keyboard and uses a micro USB to charge. When I got home I second guessed myself by checking on-line reviews and it seems to be a good texting phone and have a good battery life. Perfect.

After that we bought a cherry pie and came home to get changed for dinner.

Happy Pink Cloud.

As I mentioned at the time, we went to Asheville this weekend, and I took a photo of this rather cheering mural. Obviously it was the happy pink cloud that caught my attention initially, but I particularly like the black half-cloud at the top left; it's painted on a bit of masonry that's sticking out slightly so there is a pleasing 3D effect.

It's always been my aim to have a photo up every day, but that has definitely been dropping off recently. The main problem I have with downloading and editing my photos at the moment is purely that I have to use the desktop in the study to do that, and it's a temperamental beastie at the best of times.If you plug in a USB before switching it on, then it crashes and Doc C has to physically take it to bits and re-build it. This sort of thing makes me wary of using it.

Anyway, I had read about memory cards that had built in wi-fi and would just automatically upload all your photos when in range of your home network (or any of the 32 other networks you can give it permission to use). So I bought one, and it's all set up and raring to go. So far I've just taken some test shots of an empty cake stand, but once I've got something better than that I'll post them here.

The Stuff Diet.

In the midst of my recent and un-characteristic de-cluttering (Next on my list to get rid of is all of the acrylic yarn I bought when I first started crocheting/knitting, I have no idea why I was keeping this because I really dislike working with it), I find that I'm being offered really good deals on things that I've been wanting for a while. Out of nowhere the fleece lined Doc Martens I've been visiting on-line for two years were suddenly reduced in price by $50, and then this morning BuiltNY sent me an e-voucher for $10 off their super cool Cargo™ Travel Organizer.

It's definitely odd to be simultaneously buying new treasures as I'm clearing out old junk, but I don't think it's entirely contradictory. What I noticed during my purge is that I've been holding onto a lot of cheap things that I didn't care for that much, as opposed to owning a reasonable number of good quality belongings that I love. I'm thinking of it like transitioning from only eating junk food to a diet of healthy but delicious things; so the aim in both instances is not to weigh yourself down with stuff you don't actually need or want but to consciously aim for a good balance.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” William Morris

 

Surprise Finger Monster.

One of the joys of on-line shopping is when you get an unexpected bonus item, and this is all the more true when it's something fun. I received a small box of daft gifts* today and, when I opened the box, a finger monster was on top of a heap of bio-degradable packing peanuts.

I particular appreciate that who ever it was that put him into the box was thoughtful enough to give him a snack; don't worry, the packing peanuts are made from potato starch, so it's probably safe for monsters to nom on.

*Since moving to the US I almost dread the annual office gift exchange, because it is so tricky to gauge what might be a good gift for a colleague. I can't fall back on that standard of impersonal British gift giving - A nice bottle of something.

A Kindle's Journey.

For my birthday Moth gave me some Amazon gift tokens, so I could buy a Kindle! I ordered it on my birthday (along with a olive green leather case, and a book for the Doc) and have been tracking it's progress ever since. Wheeeee!

That's really been the focus of this week for me, so I've found it very hard to write blog posts that weren't just detailing the Kindle's journey from Amazon's mysterious seller facility, the location of which is merely given as "US". The first stop on the trek was Hebron, Kentucky, which gives us a clue as to the seller facility's location because it only took an hour to get to Hebron from there. We can also deduce that Hebron must be delightful, because the Kindle spent 7 hours there. What do you think? Brunch with some of the other parcels, maybe a mini spa day?

Happily refreshed the Kindle spent the next day travelling from Kebron KY to Charlotte NC, where it checked in for the night. Kindle left Charlotte for Alienspouseville at 2 o'clock this morning, and I kept checking the shipment tracker, and when it's arrival was logged I got VERY excited; so I walked to the post office at lunch time.

Did I mention that today has been the first day we've had proper snow? And, naturally, the heaviest flurry was at lunch time, so I walked to and from the post office - in the snow - to get my Kindle and...

...The delivery it was on hadn't been unpacked yet, so I have to go back tomorrow.

It'll probably snow again, and there will be some sort of geological event that will mean I'll have to walk up hill both ways. Actually it was quite a nice walk really, and it wasn't an entirely unfruitful trip, the birthday present I'd ordered for Doc C (and the t-shirt I got at the same time) had arrived, so that was something. Doc's present was an apron in suitably drab colours, the man lives in drab, with the slogan "I (pictogram of a loaf of Bread) Bread"! "I Loaf Bread"! Love it!

New Vintage Chair.

Having tidied and re-organised the mezzanine before the Halloween party (although I'm not really sure why now because it's not like anyone went up there), we had a nice bit of open space that was just begging to be used. Three of my bookshelves are there and it's probably the warmest place in the house, so it made sense to make it into a designated reading area; which obviously required seating.

I fell in love with this chair from Urban Outfitters, not least because it looks like it fell off the set for "Mad Men", and was even more enamored when one of the colour choices was inexplicably reduced in price to $199.99. Stylish and cheap? For me! On pay day I went on-line to order it, and was annoyed to find that despite there being free shipping on anything over $50 that my chair had been tagged with a $35 overweight fee - Well, this threw my very carefully calibrated purchasing budget for the month right out of the window, so I decided to spend Saturday searching the local antiques shops for an alternative.

The very first shop I went to, out of all three in town, had a very plain upholstered rocking chair outside that I liked straight away, but I carried on looking just to be thorough and then came back to it. Then I called Doc C to come and look at it (oddly he hadn't fancied trawling the antiques shops for hours, so he went to his office to write job applications), he haggled a bit on the price because it does need to be reupholstered (I don't think we'll have the spare cash to get it professionally reupholstered and re-sprung any time soon, so I'm probably going to DIY a temporary cover to hide that faded green nobbly fabric) and then we went to lunch to think about it. After lunch I paid $135 for it and stuffed it in the back of the Mini, so now we have a reading chair. Yay!

The cats disagree; they think we have a new cat chair and one or the other has been sitting in it pretty much constantly since we brought it home. I think this is an excellent sign that I chose well, because, as we all know, cats are discerning connoisseurs of comfort.

New Vintage Make-Up Case.

At lunch time yesterday I had a couple of things that I had to do in town, so I walked over from my office and on my way I decided to briefly stop at the large antique shop on the high street. Well, it says antiques over the door, but really it's a flea market and that's actually fine with me because I usually want something vintage and cheap, not appraised and expensive.

I was looking for something to store my make-up in, because proper make-up cases are ludicrously expensive and I really couldn't leave all of that stuff sitting on the side in the bathroom anymore. It was taking up all the space, and there was always the risk something would get splashed with water and ruined. I'd tried organising my cosmetics collection into a vintage thermos lunch tin, but I wasn't 100% happy with that. Anyway, at the antiques shop I found a number of oddly expensive lunch boxes, but none with a print that really spoke to me; a large vinyl doll case full of battered barbies that smelled strongly of stale tobacco smoke and then I found the Ugly Kitten Box.

It's another doll case, this one is designed like a small steamer trunk in tiffany blue enameled metal with white plastic edging, and metal corners. Gorgeous! The enamel is nicely beaten up, and the corners have a charming rusty patina to them.

I'm sure you'll be wondering why I call it the Ugly Kitten box, and I think that's a fair question. Let me show you:

!!!

It really could have been such a tasteful box, but then someone slapped a cartoon kitten with a bunch of daisies on the lid! I love it!

Plus all of my make-up fits inside neatly, but with room for my collection to grow and it was only $10. Happy sigh.

Birds and Other Animals.

This is the bird feeder (that's what it was labelled anyway - but I think it makes a better bird bath than a bird feeder, because surely it's just going to fill up with water when it rains?) I bought in Old Salem yesterday, the shell is about the size of a hand and the little metal bird is probably a little bit smaller than life size.  It was only ten bucks! Score!

So far the birds have totally ignored it, but that's hardly surprising as it has nothing in it.

This is right next to our now empty seed holder, which Doc filled up on Thursday and which was then systematically emptied by the cheeky chipmunk that lives under our house. This morning I saw a squirrel hanging on the empty feeder - Sorry Nutkin, too slow! The chipmunk is quick and efficient!

Being animal-loving softies we are secretly rooting for the chipmunk, and so we didn't chase it away or remove the feeder when we saw what it was up to. Of course that doesn't mean we are going to refill that feeder any time soon, the chipmunk has more than enough to last it for quite some time and the birds won't really need our help until it snows.

 

Sadly, there is a down-side to being animal loving softies.  Apparently when you rescue a mouse from certain death at the jaws of your cat and release it from the front door, what the ungrateful wretch then does is run round to the back of the house and climb back in through the tumble dryer duct. I know this because I saw a mouse sitting in the middle of the downstairs bathroom when I got up this morning, and I am pretty damn certain it was the same mouse from last night.

I called Edith, who naturally ignored me completely, but when I got her and carried her into the bathroom she pretty soon figured out what I was trying, in my moronic human way, to tell her. The mouse slipped away under the washing machine, and Edith so has been on high alert ever since. She has been patrolling downstairs and checking all the likely places a mouse might hide, including a very close examination of under the sofa. She is very thorough.
If I were this mouse I would get the hell out of here, but, seeing as it came right back to where it was caught last night and then just sat in the open where even a dopey human could see it, I'm assuming it's Pinky and not The Brain.

White (Chocolate) Bones.

Today's plans to stay in my pajamas and play "Portal 2" all day were modified slightly when it became clear that I needed to get more baking soda and vinegar to unclog the drain in the bath, so I got dressed and we went into town. Now if we were forced to go into town for boring things, then we were also going to look at Halloween stuff. I know it's barely even September, but the Halloween goods are on display already and I need to get the good stuff before it runs out. I've learnt from previous years that leaving the Halloween shopping until the day before results in a disappointing amount of orange plastic junk, and none of the good chocolate.

This year we are having a cocktail party with the theme of Suburban Nightmare, this only requires a very simple costume for me which I already have pretty much got together, and so now I'm focusing on the menu. I definitely want to make cupcakes with something poking out of them, and I think that something is going to be a miniature bone or two. I bought the mold this afternoon, and have successfully made two white chocolate skeletons.

I also got mini-cookie cutters to make hors d'oeuvres of grave stones crackers and cheese slice ghosts; as well as a baking tray which is supposed to make molded bone-shaped cookies, although I'm thinking of using that to make bone-shaped cheese straws.

Doc C is also getting into our theme, and has had some really good ideas for the decorations and ambiance of the house. This is going to be such a fun project to work on with him!

Hankering for Autumn.

  

This is an approximation of the outfit I am particularly looking forward to wearing as soon as the weather cools down enough. I put this together from the options available to me on Polyvore, and when I totted up the total worth this particular version costs $2292.

Gulp.

Fortunately my Mum gave me a pair of gorgeous red leather gloves a couple of years ago so I don't need to spend $345 to get those. Then my new herringbone jacket is from L.L. Bean rather than D&G, so it cost $50 in the sale rather than $635, and my jeans were $10 not $80. The major saving though is in the boots mine are Doc Martens that were under $200, and the boots in the picture here are Rupert Sanderson riding boots which retail for $1145. Good grief! Who wants riding boots that cost over a grand? That is ludicrous!

The real-life ensemble would therefore be under $300 (if we're including make-up and socks etc), which is roughly $2000 cheaper then the fictional version. I suddenly feel very thrifty indeed.

I don't have a red leather flower brooch though, but at $6 I think I could splurge. 

Up-Beat with a Hint of Mint.

You know what really cheers a girl up on a Monday when there is fricking rioting going on just round the corner from her old house? An 80's music internet radio station and the delivery of her internet purchases.  I think it's the combination of heavy synth and a free lipgloss that is really making all the difference.

It's good to be distracted by something, because otherwise I'd be hitting renew every 30 seconds on Facebook to check my friends in London are all ok. I don't like this one little bit.

Face Paint.

I've recently been updating my make-up collection, in particular I'm adding more colours to my eye-shadows and I have bought actual proper brushes with which to apply the cosmetics once I've got them. Today, as you can see, I've gone with a simple pink wash over the lids with an asphalt grey shadow as an eyeliner and black mascara.

My main problem with every day make-up is that I get raccoon eyes from my mascara, yes even water-proof, but the very nice lady at Sephora in Charlotte (Hi Cindy!) gave me a sample of Urban Decay's All Nighter setting spray and that plus a mascara primer seem to have sorted me out.

I ran out of the sample on Monday, so I ordered a full-size bottle but went with De-Slick in the hopes that will also keep my t-zone in check. When I mentioned that I'd just ordered some more stuff from Sephora, Doc C asked what I'd bought. I hesitated for a moment, then said that I didn't want to tell him because most (straight) men don't understand make-up and he wouldn't get why I needed it. He laughed and admitted that was probably true, and that his question had been prompted by thinking that surely I had enough make-up already.

Ha! Poor fool! Enough Make-Up? There is no such thing as enough!