Goodbye work boots and jeans....hello skirts and heels!!!

That's right....just call me Corporate Barbie!!

After many exhausting interviews, on the phone and in person, I have mercifully landed a job! Hooray for me. And it is on the city no less so it is goodbye work boots and hello heels.

That's right, out comes the corporate wardrobe which means skirts, heels, suits and proper makeup. No longer will I be able to get away with a dash of concealer under the eyes and a lick of mascara. Gone are the days when hair that is simply clean and dry is considered 'done'. And no more will I be able to roll out of bed, grab my jeans from yesterday off the floor, dig a clean (but wrinkled) workshirt out of the laundry basket and jump in the car.

Poor work boots....they look sad already....

Hmmmm....that all actually makes me sound like a slob. Perhaps this corporate stuff won't be so bad after all....

Dream Mixer

For months (years!) now I have had my eye on a KitchenAid stand mixer. They are apparently fantastic and they would want to be for the price they are asking for one ($600-700!!!!)

I am determined that one day I will own one.

How far in the future that day is I don’t know but one day.....

Ahhhh...

Swoon...

Sigh.....

Waterskiing over Easter

While camping over Easter I also got the chance to learn to water ski. Shaarndra, Dave and the girls had their fancy new boat out on the dam and we all got the chance to ski.

Ready...

Set...

Up...

Uhhhh..uuppp?

Down.

Let's try that again...

Ready...

Set....

Up...

Up...

Up...

Ohhh...down...

Really down.

One more go...

Ready...

Set...

Up..

Up...

Up....

And staying up!!!

Woohoo!!!

It was incredibly fun and can't wait to go again!!! :D

April – The Month of Cakes

April has been the busiest month! 

Every weekend I have had something on. The first three weekends were birthday/party filled. And each of those parties required cake (after all, no birthday is complete without cake. It’s a rule.) And the last weekend in April was Easter/Anzac Day/camping so I spent the week leading up to it making cupcakes and banana cake to take with us. That’s a lot of cake!! I think the sugar high will last until June.

Peace Cake - Em's 12th birthday

Puppy Cake - My 25th Birthday

Circus Tent Cake - Zennia's 18th Birthday

 

I really must look into getting a proper mixer if I am going to continue to cook as I am. Fortunately, I don’t think there will be many months like this one. And if there is, I hope it’s not for a while. I need to rest. The Easter break could not have come at a better time!

Easter Long Weekend

Easter weekend for me meant camping. It has been such a long time since I have been camping. I’m talking years! But it was just as I remember....fun! It was the best weekend I have had in a long time. The spot where we were was picture perfect. It was so relaxing just lying by the dam and reading. Sigh...bliss.

The view from my tent

Sunrise

Sunset

While camping I became the fire master and was responsible for building and maintaining the fire while we were there. I have never got to build the fire by myself before and I think I did a dam good job of it!!

It created some perfect coals for toasted marshmallows (Is there anything better in the world...????)

Camping also includes fishing, which I have discovered I am awesome at!!! I lost two lures and created a massive birds nest by getting the line tangled up! On the plus side I did learn to drive he boat which I LOVED! I am definitely getting my boat licence now.  

Me and my line tangle

Fishing and driving the boat...talk about multitasking!

The Easter break also meant lots of reading for me, which is great for the 100+ challenge. I finished 3 books over the break. Whoop!

Home Sweet Tent - relaxing.....ahhhhh

The Bearded Lady

As part of Zennia's Circus Birthday Extravaganza we were required to dress up.

Which of course, I hate to do (not!).

As the theme was circus I decided to go as the Bearded Lady...

The Bearded Lady and Madam Sword, Fortune Teller

The double takes and strange looks were hilarious. Luckily I don’t mind making a bit of a fool of myself!! :P

Dog Sitting

 I was Chief Dog Sitter this weekend. AJ & fam went away for the weekend so I ended up dog sitting for beautiful Jester. I was a little worried about the fences at my house not being high enough and he might escape but there was no problems.

It was so great going for runs with him and playing outside and just sitting out on the veranda with him. It made me realise how much I still want a dog!! Unfortunately since I don’t know what I’ll be doing next year for work etc (hopefully I will be going overseas) it just wouldn’t be fair to get a dog now and possibly have to give him away in a year or so. But it was sure was great to have a dog, even if it was only temporary. Any time you want me to dog sit again AJ....  :)

( I must remember to start taking photos!! A blog post with photos is much more interesting!)

Wild Mage series

Another four books have been devoured. Similar to the ‘Song of the Lioness’ series, the ‘Wild Magic’ series is an incredible read. Again they are geared for young teenagers but they are such fantastic stories and exciting writing that I read them over and over. This series follows Daine, a young girl with Wild Magic. It gives her the ability to speak to animals, heal them and even shape shift into them. It’s another great series from Tamora Pierce that incorporates characters from the ‘Song of the Lioness’ series (it is set in the same place, just a few years on).

They are truly wonderful books and I wish there were more!

The Touch

I finished an amazing book today. It was ‘The Touch’ by Colleen McCulloch. I have read some others by her;  ‘The Thornbirds’ (probably her most well known), ‘Angel Puss’ (one of my favourite books) and ‘On, Off’ (a creepy psychological thriller). I am very happy to say that ‘The Touch’ completely lived up to my expectations. Her style of writing is so engaging. I spent most of Friday night finishing it because I couldn’t put it down. 

It is the story of Elizabeth, sent from Scotland to live in Australia circa. 1867. She is sent to marry a man she has never met, Alexander Kinross. Alexander has made his fortune in gold and built an entire town around himself, it also being called Kinross. The story follows the journey of Elizabeth,  Alexander, Ruby (Alexander’s mistress) and their children through to 1890.

It is a truly wonderful story. Colleen McCulloch is one of the best writers around and if you liked her previous stuff, you would love this. This book was another Bookfest find and another one that will be handed on for AJ to read (although I’m not sure she has read the others I’ve passed on yet).

Skirt Progress

So close, yet so far....

I am so close to finishing my skirt but still not quite there. I finished the yoke and the facing and put in the zipper. I have now discovered that zippers are not fun. I got a little bit frustrated when I couldn’t get it sit right but luckily Bron was there to help me. I have decided that I am just going to have to do zipper after zipper until I get used to them. They will not beat me!!! My next challenge will be an invisible zipper, which I am told has a completely different technique.

My skirt is nearly done, I just have to finish off where the zipper joins the yoke and finish the bottom stripe of colour which will be simple. I would have liked to have got it finished yesterday but I got hung up on the zipper and ran out of time.

My next project will be one of my dresses and I have set myself the daunting task of having it finished in time to wear to my birthday. This will mean that I will have to do a lot of sewing at home on my own, which is a little scary but also exciting. I am getting much more confident on my machine now so I should be ok. I am still going to continue classes though because there is an unbelievable amount still to learn.

Trickster series

My love affair with Tamora Pierce’s writing continues. This series was actually the one that got me started on her writing. I read it as one book (rather than spilt into the two as a series) and just fell in love. It is actually the more recent of the books of Tortall (the fictional land where this series, Lioness and Wild Mage is set) and the way that histories, events and people from the previous series are interwoven is truly spectacular. When you first read it you don’t notice but when you read it after reading the other two series there are multitudes of ‘ah ha’ or ‘awww’ moments when you associate back to the other series.

This is the story of Ally, a young girl who is captured as a slave and sent to work for an upper class family. However the family, the Balitangs, and their household are not all they seem. They are the main conspirators in a plot to overthrow twisted dictatorship under which they live and install a rightful queen on the throne. It falls to Ally (with the help of the Gods) to use her considerable talents to help achieve their goals.

Although most of Tamora Pierce’s books are geared towards teenagers they are truly engaging and great reads, even for adults. Definitely some of my favourite books!