i know... i know i said i'd update you on sunday, but all day was spent in recovery mode prone on the couch in front of the telly with the ceiling fan on, occasionally getting up to get myself a glass of water, or to spray myself with cool water mist, then lie down again. needless to say saturday night was huge, and everyone looked absolutely amazing.
upon initial arrival we all exclaimed at each other's dapper-ness, even went so far as to question why we didn't dress in forties fomal attire all the time? there were many delicious boys in three piece suits, and many delectable ladies in red-carpet-worthy gowns... but them the heat kicked in and boy, was that fun. i think i might have lost a few millimetres off my thighs, such was the effect of the heavy brocade skirt and multiple layers of petticoat i was wearing. we had a swing dancing lesson or two which was fun, but the evening (for me at least) consisted of drinking copious amounts of champagne and white wine, and having several long-winded ( and curiously incomplete) conversations. all in all, fun times. the only regret i have of the evening: if i had known in advance that there was an adult-sized wading pool on-site, i would have taken a change of clothes... instead i watched wistfully at the water's edge as four from the aforementioned delicious/dapper/delectable set stripped off, jumped in and (cigarettes and wine glasses aloft) proceeded to work together to make a most impressive whirlpool...

what, is the universe conspiring against me?
at least i can say i was never a bridesmaid in pink who crashed through a wedding cake, and as far i as i know i've never been sandra bullock... but seriously, on the last friday of my week of leave, did you expect me to be sober? 28 days is on. i choose not to see this as a sign...
(on that note let me just say - 42 below feijoa + half a lime + brown sugar + soda water = yum. we like - a lot. if you should go there too, you will most probably find that you like, too.)
i have a kick-arse dress for the party tomorrow night, and bling, and a hat - and i will have my hair in curlers and hope that i will have jessica rabbit hairdo happening to show for it. cross your fingers for me... merry happy holidays. against better judgement, i will probably watch 28 days, unless the urge to chuck in a dvd of some girly-girly flick in my collection takes over. i promise to enter an update on sunday, when it is projected to be 42 degrees. i will be indoors and doing laundry. so it will most likely mean i will be on the net, telling you all about the party on saturday night when i finally wore the dress to end all dresses which i hired from malcolm's costume hire (let me just quote malcolm - it fits me 'dangerously') - and just in case you were wondering, malcolm is an absolute legend. i love him. i will post photos. and i will see you on sunday.
cheers!

ah, time off. mark and i have a week off work and it's nice to just laze around (though the stress-head within has tried to make an appearance a couple of times so far, i've managed to keep her buried for the time being). i forgot that they'd moved veronica mars from monday nights to friday nights so was a little disappointed last night - though neighbours is back now, so at least there's something to watch on the telly. the rest of the week i'm hoping will include a visit to the aquarium (haven't been for a while, and we got a '2 for 1' voucher in the mail last week), and some shopping...
haven't really got much to report apart from the fact that my fingernails are looking good lately, i've actually been able to grow them slightly so i've been painting them every couple of days to discourage any biting-style-action. exciting news i know, but i thought i'd share it with you anyway. maybe i'll throw it open - if you have any questions for me, leave them in the comments section and we'll take it from there.

they're using a huge saw at either at the building site across the road from our house, or right outside our front door, this morning. i just hope they get all the cutting out of the way by thursday, cause it would be a real shit to be at home and have to listen to that while trying to come up with something to write...
i have updated the clippings page with a couple of new bits - one from december and one from last weekend. enjoy!

on my way back from the shops i got a craving for a big, sloppy mango. it must have been the sunshine and the breeze through the trees that reminded me of fiji, and hence the craving. so i went to the supermarket on the way home and bought one humungous mango (amongst other things, as is always the way when you go to the supermarket for 'a little shop'). all the way home, i had visions of a bowlful of mango piled on a mound of creamy vanilla ice cream... yum! when i finally got home, i chopped the top off the mango - and realised it was pale yellow and hard instead of soft and golden-orange. now, i'm assuming that for most people this would be the point where frustration would kick in, and the mango would be turfed. but not me.

with the sound of my husband singing that MIA line over and over again in the back of my head, i peeled and sliced the mango, then got some salt and chilli powder. then i ate my mango dipped in chilli-salt. i can't even remember the last time i did that. even though the mango didn't taste as good as they used to in fiji - mangos off the tree, irrespective of their state of ripe-ness, taste so much more amazing than ones that have been sitting on a shelf in the fruit & veg section of a supermarket.

having said that, i think it's time for a (small) bowl of vanilla ice cream.

happy new year! hope you all celebrated in style and had a ball. mark and i spent new years eve at a friend's place in the country, and it was excellent. we played UNO and cranium (and played with the dog, bosley), drank champagne and ate jellybeans, and started up a 'let's go in on the complete box set of all 10 seasons of 90210 on dvd' buying group. so all in all, a very promising start to the new year, i think.