The story of my life.

I really should know better considering my track records with guys and dating but I figured as I had not really ‘put myself out there’ over the past 6 months that I should make an effort and meet new people.  When my friend asked if I was interested in having coffee with her and a male friend of hers I said sure, why not.  On first impressions, the guy seemed nice, polite and quite friendly. We ordered drinks and food and pretty much settled into conversation.  The usual questions came up, what do you do, where do you work, where are you from etc etc. Now usually I have no issue with answering these questions but there seemed to be a bit too much emphasis put on the ‘where do you live’ and the ‘how much do you make’. I find it pretty rude when someone asks me my salary and I almost always avoid the question or say “that’s personal” so I guess the guy was rubbing me up the wrong way already.

Then we went on to talk about traveling and where we had been etc etc and he told me he had taught English in Japan for three years, I asked how that was and he admitted to sleeping with one of his students. Now for someone to admit that to a stranger shows either stupidity or over confidence. I’m not sure which one he was but I was not impressed. I later found out from my friend that this guy enjoys pleasurable moments with Asian ladies that he’s happy to pay for. Clearly I’ve found my soul mate!

On other disturbing news I can’t believe Kevin Sheedy has been sacked. I’m not a huge foootball follower but I have always taken an interest in Essendon and I’m a huge James Hird fan. I’m sure Sheedy will move onto bigger and better things but it’s definitely an end of an era.

Another awesome week

No matter how things are in your life I think it’s always flattering when an old employer looks you up and offers you a job.  I have been blessed through out my short career to have always left my previous employer on fairly good terms. I think it’s important to state that I am enjoying my current role and I have in no way gone out and seek any new opportunities. With this in mind it was a bit of a shock when an old contact in the shoe industry rang and offered me a job. It’s always tempting when an offer is made and I think there’s always a part of you that wonders whether or not you should take it but in the split second while I was listening to the job on offer I had already decided that I was happy where I was and the idea of moving interstate again really put me off.  As much as I miss my friends and family, a part of me is quite content here and now that I’ve settled into a routine I really have no interest in disrupting my life again.

Now, pretty much all my close friends would’ve read Harry Potter over the weekend. I don’t know how you all feel (feel free to leave comments) but I was a little disappointed. I rang Frutzie and asked him if he thought the ending was soft. Both he and Cheazles were happy with the ending and thought it finished the story quite well.  I on the other hand finished the book with a feeling of disappointment. I guess I was expecting one of the main characters to die, possibly Hermione or Ron. Frutzie thinks I’m too vicious, what are your thoughts on this? All in all the story was good, it kept me going as the previous books had but I was probably more excited about the ending this time around than previous times.

The other great thing that happened this week was that my issues at work have finally been resolved. Well at least I think they have, I was having problems with one of the team members in my group and it was getting quite ugly. We finally spoke and resolved it on Friday which is good, work was getting a little uncomfortable under those circumstances. I do hope it’s resolved for good, I don’t really want this to linger on as it could pose bigger problems later down the track. For now, I’m pretty sure the issue is gone.

 The last two things I want to mention are fashion related, firstly I bought this gorgeous silk halter neck dress from this little boutique near my house, the dress was 60% off and so I bought it. Now, I’m not sure when I’m going to wear it but to be honest I really don’t care, it fit me, it’s a good length and the red/pink tone actually sets off my hair. If I get a chance I’ll post a photo of me in the dress. It was a bargain!

Lastly, my little sister went to her annual end of financial year ball and here are some photos of her in her gorgeous dress. Enjoy!

Check out the dress!!

What’s this cooking rating? / I have red hair!

Firstly, Amphine and Frutz, what the hell is this rating business? I need to be a 256? Please explain! Secondly, Amphine you make a good point about needing the Internet and also about the fact that people are lazy etc etc. I understand this but it doesn’t mean I have to like it! Again, I’m too sensitive for my own good sometimes and I take a lot of things to heart. Something I need to change about myself moving forward.

 Now, I really hate photos but I might not ever do this again so irrespective of how bad I look in the photo I feel the need to put it up because I don’t think I’ll ever have red hair again.  I have to say if I was in Melbourne I might not have done it but being in Perth has liberated me and given me this false sense of confidence! So here I am with red hair!

My red hair!!

Gilmore Girls / Birthdays / Friends / Food

After seven years of Gilmore Girls it’s finally come to an end. Having been a loyal fan since the beginning it’s sad to see the show finishing up but having also watched the last season I have to say it’s probably about time.  I know I’m probably too old to be watching this but I have to say I still love the conversation, the relationship between the mum and daughter makes me think a lot about my own relationship with my mother and grandmother for that matter!  I’m looking forward to seeing what movies these actors end up in.

In the past couple of months since I last blogged I’ve turned 25. Happy belated birthday to me! It’s a scary thought turning 25, there’s the expectation that you’re more responsible, that you’re more organised, have direction, have a life plan etc etc. I’m not too sure how many of those I actually have but it’s all fairly daunting. Sometimes you just wish things were simple again…

Now the topic of friends, I find that having no internet access is a great way of testing friendships. How many people are willing to make the effort to pick up the phone and ring you or text you when they can’t speak to you via MSN? For some reason, the creation of MSN has given people an excuse not to call and catch up with friends. I’ve had this experience recently and it’s quite disappointing. There are some friends you think will call and see how you are and then there are some who you know never will because it’s simply not their personality or they are not that close to you. When those you think will call don’t end up calling, it’s a little disappointing.  Perhaps Cheazles is right, I simply take these things too personally. I value friendship more than some people and I think that creates disappointment.

Now onto food, I’ve been cooking quite a lot lately. Pasta bakes, apricot chicken, roast vegies, stir fry noodles, I’m beginning to get the hang of this whole cooking process which is nice. I actually find cooking quite enjoyable, now I don’t know how much of my cooking I’d let other people eat but for my own consumption it’s fine.  I have to say, my apricot chicken was quite a success, a little dry but I’ll get it right next time! The mash potatoes were good too

       

I threw up :(

What an embarrassing day today, I decided to go along and do the “Jacob’s Ladder” which is the equivalent of the 1000 steps in Melbourne.  Now I know I haven’t done exercise for ages but I’m usually pretty good at knowing my limits. If my body starts to hurt or I can’t breathe then I’ll stop and call it a day. I’m not one for punishing my body when I know full well it hasn’t experienced anything like this for a long time. I did three sets of these stairs, the stairs around about 200 or so steps so it wasn’t a bad effort considering where my fitness level was.  Anyway, after the third set I was pretty sure I had had enough so I stopped, sat down and caught my breath.   

I thought everything would be fine until I started feeling dizzy, you know that feeling you get when you know you’re going to be sick and there’s nothing you can except prepare for it? Well I went pale, felt it coming and got prepared. I stood next to the  bin and as I inhaled the smell of rotten bananas (that were sitting at the bottom of the bin) I threw up. My friends were there rubbing my back and asking if I was ok, to be honest I was feeling a lot better but the whole throwing up thing was very embarrassing. Strangers walked past and asked if I was ok, I’m sure people thought I was hung over from last night, little do they know it’s actually because I’m really unfit and my body decided to rebel. The funny thing is, I’ve never had that happen before, even doing the 1000 steps in Melbourne, I’ve never felt sick. I just don’t know what happened.

 To top off the lovely morning, I finally stopped puking, looked up and saw this cute asian guy standing with his friend. I have to say, it’s just not happening for me right now, all of my dating opportunities have been ruined by me being absent, me being sick or me being busy. I guess I’m going to have to ride out the boy drought!

Obligatory Blog

Firstly, I can’t believe I haven’t blogged for over a month! Is time just flying by or what! In a way it’s good ‘cos it means I’ve been able to occupy my time and keep myself amused but I’ve had Cheazles and Frutz on my back about not keeping them up to date on my life so here goes. Essentially anything between March 1 – Easter is dated and not worth going over, I spent Easter in Melbourne with my friends and got to catch up with a whole bunch of people. In particular I spent the evening with a very old friend, we caught up on gossip, each other’s lives and how we never thought we would be where we are. It’s scary to think that I’m now at an age where I can actually say I’ve known this person for over 10 years. I’m going to be pretty scattered in this blog so I apologise in advance if you can’t keep track. I’ve been racking my brain since New Year’s for a New Year’s resolution, I know April seems a little late to be making one up but today I finally decided what my 2007 resolution would be. This year is all about me being grateful, I’m grateful for fantastic friends, friends who have known me for many many moons, I’m grateful for a family that always supports me and is always proud of my accomplishments. I’m grateful for my life, the career I’m in and the good health I have. I’ve wasted too much of my life being upset or complaining about what I don’t have, this year is all about appreciating what I do have. 

         

After my Easter break I got straight back into work, these past few weeks have been very hectic and stressful. Putting a range together is hard and takes a lot more effort than people realise, once the glamour of shopping and finding the shoes is over you have to pick and choose which shoes make the final cut. It’s an exhausting proces with a lot more thought behind it than people realise. I’ll state again that I love my job and I wouldn’t swap it for the world.

The weekend after my trip to Melbourne was spent recuperating, everytime I go home it feels like I come back to Perth to recover! I cram in as much as I can and live on as little sleep as possible and then come back exhausted! That weekend I slept in, did grocery shopping and watched DVD’s. Last weekend I went to a bead shop and bought some bits and pieces so I could make a bracelet and earring set. I saw this gorgeous design in a magazine and decided to try and make it. I think they turned out pretty good for a first effort. I might be inspired to make something else in the near future.

Last Sunday I headed down to Subiaco market, it’s sort of like a small version Vic Market, lots of food, fresh fruit and vegatables and lots of craft stands and stuff like that. The day was over cast and a little wet, perfect market weather! I really enjoyed it, bought a couple of hot donuts, some more beading stuff and then came home.  A pretty enjoyable day!

This past weekend has been quite eventful also, Saturday morning I did my usual grocery shopping, it’s getting harder and harder to come up with new dishes to make but I have been extending myself to making stir fried noodles and vol – a- vonts. I went to high tea at the Hyatt yesterday afternoon, they had jazz music and it was fantastic. The food was all buffet style, the service was excellent and I walked out filling full and very happy. Last night I went and watched a local production of CATS, it was unfortunately a little disappointing. I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting but when it finished I walked out feeling a bit jibbed. I have a feeling it’s because I don’t like cats in general and so I walked in with a bias but irrespective of the reason, I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the performance and wouldn’t really recommend it. It was more like a big high school performance and less like The Lion King. While we’re on the subject of theatre I would highly recommend people wath Miss Saigon, now I haven’t seen it myself and I don’t think it’s coming to Perth but I’ve heard great things about it. Apparently the acting is amazing and my friend got quite emotional so I think it’s a thumbs up for a girly night out. If anyone else sees it, please feel free to leave a comment on my page.

I was meant to go to the Perth motor show today but I got lazy, it’s on till Wednesdsay so I might go Tuesday night. I haven’t been to the motorshow for ages, a good 3-4 years now so it will be exciting to see what cool cars are coming out.

I’ll try and blog more often, no promises though!

Grandma’s, hygiene and domestics!

Due to the lack of time spent on the net over the last couple of days, I need to condense all my blogging into one blog. In-case you didn’t know, I’ve had my grandmother, aunt and mum in Perth over the long weekend (Monday was Labour day over here) so I’ve been tied up doing obligatory family things. It’s been fun having them here and it’s always nice to spend time with family but my grandmother has been driving me insane since she’s been here. They arrived last Wednesday so I’ve had a fairly hectic time finishing work and then spending time with them in the evenings, I’m not sure if this is an old person thing or if it’s just my grandmother but nothing keeps her happy. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too wet, I’m not hungry, I’m very hungry, I’m tired, it’s late blah blah blah blah and the list just keeps going. Now, if you know me, you’ll know that my grandmother has lived with me for the first 19 years of my life and we’ve always had a pretty close relationship. I’m a huge fan of grandparents and encourage all of you to spend as much time with them as possible, after all if Jay Chow can write and dedicate a song to his grandmother, the least we can do is spend time with ours! I love my grandmother dearly and I’ve been spoilt rotten by her over the years but this weekend really tested my patience, for some reason she just rubbed me up the wrong way. Obviously it could’ve been all me, I might’ve just been moody or inpatient but whatever it was, I just couldn’t wait for her to leave! It’s the worse feeling in the world when you know you should be spending time with someone but you just can’t bear to be near them. Now, I did say that our relationship WAS good, it’s been strained in recent years (mostly my fault) and if you ask Hungry Hippo he’ll give you the details of the infamous “disappointment” speech I was given a couple of years back. I want to reiterate though that I do love my grandmother and I hate that our relationship isn’t as strong as it was 5-6 years ago but I just don’t have the patience anymore!!!!

 Now my second topic, hygiene. I bought a Gloria Jeans iced chocolate today and was drinking it out the back in the store room. A friend that I’ve been working with asked if he could have a sip, I said sure go ahead thinking that I wouldn’t have an issue sharing spit with someone that I was friends with. The problem is, after he drank it I felt somewhat grossed out and didn’t really feel comfortable drinking out of that same straw. Now, correct me if I’m wrong but I remember being in high school and sharing drinks with 3 or 4 different people.  We used to share/exchange drinks, food, ice-creams almost all edible things when we were in high school and the whole hygiene issue was never raised then. I felt more than comfortable taking bites out of ice creams and sharing drinks 10 years ago but now I feel weird and gross? Is this something that comes with age and do you only feel comfortable sharing stuff with people who are your boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s etc now that we’re older? How do you guys feel about the food/drinks sharing thing? I’m interested to see how others feel about it.

Last topic is domestics, I’ve only witnessed my ‘couple’ friends fight every now and then and I would never call it a domestic. Usually one person gets annoyed, the other person apologises and that’s pretty much it but last night, the Asian couple living above me were having a full on domestic. She was crying and screaming and yelling and crying and screaming and he was just yelling every now and then telling her to ‘be quiet’. I found it hard to sleep ‘cos it was so loud but it was my first full on domestic. I could hear things being thrown which was a little scary but eventually I drifted off to sleep so I’m not sure how things ended. I’m pretty sure no cops were called ‘cos I didn’t hear any sirens and I guess they’ve made up (or one party has moved out) ‘cos tonight there’s nothing but silence

I have to say, the good thing about having your mum come and visit (although it’s a little hard sharing the same room with your mum when you’re 24) is that you get home cooked meals and she helps with the cleaning! Mum’s are a godsend, we definitely take them for granted! Thanks everyone for leaving comments on my blog, it’s good to see that all this babbling isn’t going to waste!

Can I also mention that the next two days in Perth are going to be 42 degrees, it’s so disgustingly hot over here that any movement results in sweat. It’s yuck and I should’ve gotten that air conditioner a month ago. I’m kicking myself now!

I’m so frustrated!

I don’t want to seem like I’m blowing my own horn or anything but the last couple of days have been so frustrating.  I spend my days in retail stores trying to learn something new but most places get me to do the things that I already know how to do and since they know I’m not staying around they don’t feel inspired to teach me too much. Yesterday I spent the whole day in the office, half the day was spent listening to the ‘road show’ which is the introduction to Winter 2007, that was a worth while afternoon but the rest of the day was me sitting at my computer trying to look busy. I’m not sure if you ever have that feeling when you’re at work and you feel completely under utilised. I almost feel like my brain is on pause right now since I’m not actually doing any work. I’m so mentally frustrated that I feel that the only way I’m making myself smarter is by reading!!!!! There must be something wrong with me! I know all of you will say that this is just a passing phase and that once the training is over I’ll start my real job but I have to say between now and then I honestly feel trapped and suffocated. It feels like I’m going to do retail forever and I’m getting really tired of it. When will the product development start?!!!!!!!!!!!!

My kids won’t starve!

What a successful week in the kitchen this week, firstly there was the home made lasagna that was not only edible but quite tasty. A little heavy on the chili flakes but that’s ok, it’s all about trial and error. Just in-case you’re wandering how much of the lasagna I actually made I’ll clarify that I made my own meat sauce from fresh beef mince (500g) and layered the dry pasta sheets with cheese slices. I’ll have to take photos from now on so that those in doubt will have proof of my culinary skills! Following from that very successful meal I embarked on my first steak sandwich, the steak was over cooked (very well done!) but the sauteed onions and mushroom were very nice on the side, served with two pieces of white toast and a mandarin for desert. All in all, a very healthy meal and as it was my first time cooking meat I was quite happy with the outcome.  I’ve also learnt that you can make most meals with one pan, as long as you chop things small enough, they’ll all fit in the one pan and cook at the same time. Saves washing up and also marinating, if you cook it all in the one place, the flavours will combine in the pan. Clearly the Jamie Oliver book is coming in handy!

Last night I made a ham, cheese and mushroom omlette, there wasn’t enough egg and it stuck to the pan which was disappointing (it ended up looking more like scrambled eggs then an omlette) but it tasted fantastic again, entree was dip with crackers and desert was an apple. I found this really easy apple pie recipe in the Woolworths magazine which I’ll attempt this weekend if it rains as it’s predicted to. Also, as I’ve clearly developed my cooking skills since moving here, I’m going to attempt my first Curry. I have to be honest, I’m not actually making the Curry paste myself, but I will be forced to slice the raw beef so that I can make the Thai Green Curry, I’ll post the results of this Curry in my next blog.

Retail has been quite good this week, I’ve spent some time in B grade and C grade stores which have been fun, the girls keep me entertained and I’ve been fed way too much junk food. In one store we polished off two large packets of kettle chips and two packets of chocolate biscuits. Needless to say, I felt very sick that night!

Another exciting thing to happen was that Gilmore Girls seasons 1-5 was on sale at Kmart, now I’ve already got 1-4 and I was quite distressed to find out season 5 was sold out. Luckily my brother wasn’t working that day so I sent him on a wild goose chase to find me season 5. Now, I’m the proud owner of season 5 and 6!! There will be a lots of Gilmore Girls over the coming weekends. Absolutely Fabulous was also on sale and with my complete and utter lack of self control I bought seasons 1-3, I’ll be having an Ab Fab weekend I think! Anyone who can relate to loving Ab Fab, feel free to email me or comment on my blog!

Not much else to report, heading out to watch Miss Chinatown (a friend of mine) participate in a cook off today. They’re still celebrating Chinese New Year over here, so it should be a good day.

Will upload more photos soon!

What about the Air Conditioner?

Hungry Hippo brought to my attention that I had not explained the air condtioner fiasco, essentially our body corporate have decided to save money by restricting the number of hours our air conditioning is kept on.  This has caused my mum to start complaining and whining about not having ‘free’ air conditioning, she’s been complaining for a couple of weeks now and I just keep telling her to buy one for our apartment but being the bloody asian that she is she just keeps putting it off. Anyway last night when she called and started complaining again, I lost my cool and just told her off. I really don’t have the time or energy to hear it anymore!!!!!!