Goodbye Goblin Boots

It's now high time for me to get out the suitcase and begin the packmule-ing duties.  I had stored some flat ankle boots away for the Summer and forgotten about them until tonight.  Smee had endearingly called them my 'Goblin Boots'. 

After Smee pulled out my suitcase, I saw my boots and happily retrieved them from their storage hell.  But it appeared all was not well.... especially the right boot. 

The right boot's toe had completely folded over on itself and when viewed from the front, it resembled grumpy old man's face.  It also kinda looks like the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter films.

I could have salvaged them - the sole was just made of cheap bendy plastic courtesy of Primmy hahaha - but the boots were worn out in the heel so I've given them life in the Big Ol' Bin of Shoe Heaven.

I am now the proud owner of...

...my very own iPhone!  It was given to me as a parting gift before I return to my 'real' job.  Well, I guess it's well deserved because I mean....you know....  I am pretty damn awesome! Wahahaha...

You could say that I have jumped on the bandwagon, but it's a bandwagon I've been meaning to get on but the horse kept dragging the cart away from me!  The downside is that all iPhones in the UK are locked and I will have to overcome that little hurdle somehow.  Poo!!

Weekend Results

My Saturday was spent doing... you guessed it, more shopping.  It appears that this is blog is beginning to become merely a display of consumer goods. 

J, Lil Miss J and I planned for our shopping adventures to begin in Covent Garden at 10am on Saturday.  This is a mighty big ask from me, as I am one who relishes the weekend sleep-in.  I set my alarm for 9am and yep, didn't wake up for it and only rose when J messaged me at 9.30am.  It must've been my day because I was on the bus to Covent Garden by 10am and got to the meeting place at 10.10am.  Ten minutes late - it's very acceptable!  J had under-estimated my super-powers and was still at home when I called her at 10.  I began shopping alone (no biggie) and started ticking off the remainder of my list.

David & Goliath was the first stop where I picked up a few cheesy tshirts.  Note of warning- their tshirts are US$1: £1 on their US site.  If you're buying a few (and by a few I mean probably more than 6), then dish out the US$50 (!!) UPS fee and get them from the US. 

I couldn't help but succumb to this t-shirt.  Nevermind that it was a bit tight.

Lil Miss J and J finally joined me and I showed them the Le Sac dress.  Lil Miss J gave me a little verbal smacking and agreed that we could indeed make the dress. 

Next we ventured into Cath Kidston where J insisted she gift me with this adorable necklace.  We had an small "Asian-restaurant-who's-paying-the-bill-type-of-fight" at the counter.  We didn't take it to the level of wrestling but hey, it's a small store and we would have guaranteed some weird looks.

I like bows!  Fanks J - you're the best! Muah, muah!

A few more items were ticked off and we marched on despite the burgeoning Christmas crowds and the less than sprightly weather... well... it was just an endless umbrella fight down the West End.  We managed to get some wardrobe building blocks for J (yay for 30% off Gap) and our KK gifts for Sunday's Christmas gathering (yay for Muji!).  Btw, my KK gift rocks!! (A portable hairdryer which Lil Miss J cleverly bagged).

Our day ended at M&S where we stocked up on brassieres.  We all agree that M&S rocks!  Thus ended our 9 hours of shopping. 

Sunday was our early Christmas celebration at OKR Paddington-style and mulled wine was served.  Mmmm... mmmm...mmmm that's all I have to say.  The Christmas meal of the day was Asian Steamboat.  Mmm... Christmassy...?

After filling up, we all had a shot at the KK sack and we could endlessly argue who got the best gift, but I do have to say Smee did bring home an Elephunt.  That's pretty cool and the winner in my opinion!

Le Sac Dress - DIY

Well I seem to be getting some feedback about the Le Sac dress, except from Moo who only grasped that her knees are ageing along with mine.  While I do like it, I still look at it with slight contempt.  Anyone with very limited sewing knowledge could make that dress in an instant!  I made a drawstring bag in high school, I can make the dress!  I think the worst part is, despite my sewing *cough* prowess, I still bought it anyway.  I guess this is the price you pay for laziness and US-based labour.  I should be thankful that laziness is such a privilege. 

For anyone who wants to make the dress *wink wink nudge nudge SuBoo*, there are plenty of tutorials online but I thought this one was pretty clear cut.

American Apparel: Le Sac Dress

In the spirit of my previous blog post, I went on a small shop-wander in Covent Garden on the weekend.  Among the shops which I entered was American Apparel.  I always knew that they did a good selection of cotton basics but never bothered to buy for a number of reasons: -

1.  The US$ price is visible and almost 1:1 to the GB£, which up until recently equated daylight robbery;
2.  Most of the items were cotton and I had more than enough of plain, cotton garments (thank you Kookai);
3.  They tend to cut their clothes tight which is not very flattering for my frequent bouts of bloating and;
4.  The other stuff on offer - leotards, shiny tights, weird stuff - were not my cup of tea.

Not expecting to find anything to buy, I saw that they had a cotton spandex version of the Two Birds convertible dress.  'Hmm' I thought, 'This could be handy for summer'.  A unfussy fabric meant that this dress would be more casual than the Two Birds bridesmaid variant.  So into the fitting room I went with a size M. (I told you they cut their sizes small!  I also have gotten a little plumper hehe.)

So what did I think?  The dress was so-so.  The single shoulder style probably looked best along with the plain bandeau strapless.  The sweetheart strapless style (which I dearly wanted to work) didn't really suit me and would probably work better on a flatter chest :-S  The halter neck made look like I was gonna bust out.  The other looks were ok but I wasn't loving it and deduced that if I bought this dress for the £34 it was going for (cheap by British standards but still wtf, it retails in the US for $43!!), well I was only really gonna utilise two of its looks. I was pretty happy to leave the store at that point.

However, the (surprisingly) helpful fitting room assistant had handed me a "Ways to Wear It" pamphlet to help sort myself out with the bandeau dress.  She should well be pleased she did because this resulted in a purchase after I saw a picture of their Le Sac dress!

The very unimpressive Le Sac Dress. →

Let's face facts. I essentially bought a rectangular piece of jersey fabric with a jersey string. Shout out to Suboo - you must make me a replica!  I'm still too lazy to sew at this stage!

Still not so impressive on the hanger.

Oooh well this dress seemed to work much better for me.  The 'sackiness' of it all meant that it would be accommodating for fat days and the Le String (such a stupid name) gave me some looks which I preferred. 

Four of the looks I liked most.  I'm not the greatest poser and ok, I do look a bit flabby in the second pic. Also, is it me or are my knees ageing? Note to self - remember to wear a bra. 

I headed home pretty content with my purchase and raring for the many wears I would get out of it with the upcoming Aussie summer.  Yippeeeee!  On top of that, American Apparel doesn't exist in Oz...... but wait.... after coming home and beginning THIS actual blog post I discovered.....WTF!!!  They do have a store in Oz!  Since when?!?!!?  Obviously I've been away for some significant time *sigh*  Poo!!

Well at least I can revel in consolation that the strong AUD made my purchase in the UK cheaper than it's retail AU price.  Hmmph! I need more consolation than that!  Maybe I should go and buy more stuff?  Hehe...

Filling up the suitcase

In the build up to heading back to the Antipodes for an extended period (maybe forever, but yay! No London Winter!) I am fulfilling other people's shopping requests.  Of course whilst wandering in and out of stores, I have succumbed to making purchases which were otherwise not on the list.  One....can't.... help..... themselves!

For now, I'm leaving all my Winter gear in London and bringing back just the essentials.  You would think that would make my suitcase light, but I already can see that it's going to be full of crap.  Not my crap either!  In addition to men's shirts (hai Spuey!), silly romance books (hai Moo!), here's some of the other stuff I bought on the weekend.

A winter jacket from Zara.  Not the wisest thing to buy given that I will be missing the London winter.  But I will justify myself because 1. I really like it, 2. the winter jacket range in Oz is atrocious, 3.  it was reasonably priced and way cheaper than an equivalent jacket in Oz, 4. when I finally do bring it to Oz, no one else will have the same jacket!



I don't really 'do' big jewelry but this necklace was only £3 from Primmy. I'll find something to wear it with.  Either that or it will sit nicely in the bottom of my drawer. 




A bubble hem strapless dress from Zara.  At £36, well I'm not going to get such a dress at home for the same price.  It fits pretty much perfectly, the hem cut just above the knee and with a pair of killer heels, my legs also look pretty damn good in it.  Also, Mooey can wear the dress!  Yay! *clap clap* 

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box

It was only after I recently began playing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box that I remembered one of the numerous causes of my blog backlog - playing my Ninny.  No, I wasn't attending to Sparkie and Buzz (those poor doggies), but rather Professor Layton and the Curious Village.  Knitting, blogging, Ninny-games, reading.... it's all just one vicious time-consuming cycle.  There are not enough hours in a day!

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box plays in the same fashion as it's predecessor.  In order to progress in the game, you must solve puzzles.  I like puzzles!  The brain teasers on offer hark back to my primary school days when the 'Maths Mobile' (I can't remember the actual name) came around for their monthly visit.  Us little 6-7 year olds were given tangram puzzles, river crossing riddles and other mathematical dilemmas.  Of course they were presented under the guise of wooden toys and colourful playboards.  The nerd in me developed early!

Anyway, this game is keeping me up at night and is great at filling in dead-time on the bus/tube.  I haven't resorted to finding a game walkthrough yet, because struggling with the puzzles is part of the fun!  I've already put in a request for Smee to get me part 3 and part 4 once they're released in English.... which may not be for a while :(  If you're interested, you can check out the official Professor Layton link here and play some demo games.  Now if you don't mind, I'll be getting back to playing my game!

Applied Knitting

Well the little recipient of the knitted baby set has grown up a bit (all 8 months that he is) but it's been a fair while since I've seen him.  He's already outgrown the beanie and the mittens are a bit tight, but if I really wanted to I could force them on. Hehehe...  But it's good to know he still fits the booties (if only just). 

Here are his little tootsies - aww baby appendages are so cute.

Happy Halloween!

Smee has waited an entire year for Halloween to come around again.  Not that either of us were brought up trick-or-treating and not that I even care for the pagan 'tradition'.  I'd be the first person to pretend I'm not home if trick-or-treaters came around.  Nope, Smee wanted Halloween to come around so that we could carve pumpkins togethers!

The pumpkins grown for this time of year come cheap at £1 - £2 depending on the size.  Smee and I did get excited at the prospect of having roast pumpkin and pumpkin soup but upon carving off the top, it was immediately apparent why the pumpkins cost next to nothing.

Yes they are a genetically modified bunch, or at least specifically bred to have no edible pumpkin flesh inside!  I don't squirm at much but here's an inside view of our pumpkins.

I couldn't help but think of the contents of an aggressive tumour after seeing the mess inside.  Ewwww...gross.

 Smee and I each carving our pumpkins. Smee getting right in to the stabbing spirit.

My empty pumpkin shell.

I carved a classic Jack O'Lantern face while Smee attempted a more happy design.  Here's the completed product with and without a tealight candle.  Ooooh spooooooky!

You don't need a really sharp knife to carve the faces, just a butter knife will do.  Next year, I'm going to do a more complicated design.

Me, the Witchy-Poos getting into the Halloween spirit and putting on my best crazy face.

Our pumpkins tried out the kitchen bench and then the coffee table.  They couldn't decide where they wanted to stay.

I recommend everyone carve a pumpkin in their lifetime!  Happy Halloween!