Just in case I needed it – another excuse!

I can always justify shoe shopping to myself, but I’ve just been given another excuse I can use to justify it to The Boy. My brother and his fiancée are getting married next February (see their website link on the right), and preparations are well underway. My mission, and I’ve chosen to accept it, is to keep an eye out for wedding shoes while I’m in the USA.

Sorry, Boy, but what’s a bridesmaid to do? It’s my duty!

Flat shoes???

I’m heading away on a business trip to the USA in a few days – a combination of California & Florida, this time. I’m lucky that business trips for me (being in the travel industry) often involve theme parks and sightseeing tours – one of the few perks of the industry. The downside is trudging around inspecting 10 huge hotels a day in 33 degree heat.

Anyway, this time I’m fortunate enough to be invited to a Busch Entertainment VIP party. They’re the owners of the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens theme parks (and Budweiser!), among other things. This year we’re being picked up from Orlando in Hummer limos (believe me, The Boy is so green with envy that he looks like Kermit the Frog) and taken to Busch Gardens Tampa Bay for a private “safari party”. I can tell you from past experience, these guys really know how to put it on, so I know its going to be a great night.

Just one problem, though… my lovely friend who has organised this emailed today to say there’ll be a fair bit of walking & an outdoor dinner (on grass, by the sound of it), so comfortable shoes are recommended – and she suggested flat shoes. Flat. I don’t own any flat shoes except ratty old beach slips-ons and ratty old sneakers, neither of which are appropriate. Seriously. Not that I’m admitting to being short or anything, I just like heels. Honest. I think I’ll have to take this as a good excuse to go shoe shopping when I get to the USA – damn, what a terrible thing to have to do… Sorry, Boy, but what can I do?? I’m being forced to go shoe shopping! And if I just happen to find something else I like, say some nice new strappy heels, well that’s not really my fault, is it??

Scrapheap Challenge

Have you ever seen the Scrapheap Challenge on tv? It’s a very sad and strange show where teams compete to build something (usually a car or boat) out of scrap from a junkyard. Well, we had our own version of the scrapheap challenge last night, albeit a somewhat less greasy & grimy one. Warning to all guys: you might want to stop reading now – this is definitely a girly post!

I have a friend’s wedding in a few weeks, and have been wondering what to wear. I was given a skirt a while back that I never wear because, although I like the top, I hate the bottom of it. So, I had the bright idea of chopping the bottom off and replacing it with some black satin that I knew I had in storage.

After trekking out to the storage unit to pick up my sewing bag and then to mum’s to use the sewing machine, I discovered the satin wasn’t in my sewing bag… which meant it was MIA somewhere in the depths of the bedlam we not-so-lovingly call our storage unit. Doh! It was just too hard to head back looking for it, so we plumbed the long-forgotten depths of my sewing bag (unused for many years) to find an alternative.

What we found was a huge amount of lovely soft black silk, a big length of black organza and a shorter length of broderie anglais black satin. After a bit of consultation, we decided to just make a new skirt from scratch, and settled on a layered wraparound that only required a few hooks and a vintage brooch found at the bottom of one of mum’s old jewellery box (no nasty zips or buttonholes). Mum definitely earned an upgraded Mother’s Day present by slaving away doing the actual sewing while my sister in law & I supervised.

The result is fantastic – just like a bought one, only better. Not bad for a ‘scrapheap challenge’ skirt. Thanks mum – you’re a star.

Never trust a boy’s bargains…

You’d think I would’ve learned by now, but every now & then I decide to give The Boy the benefit of the doubt when he wants to make a bargain. You know the type of thing I mean –“Honey, if you cook tonight I’ll cook every other night this week…” What he doesn’t seem to realise is that every time I do give him the benefit of the doubt & he blows it, he just makes it harder for himself next time.

Yes, you guessed it – I foolishly caved and made exactly that bargain on Tuesday night. At the time he was given an exemption for Thursday, since we’d already planned the movies, but was supposed to do Wednesday and Friday to Sunday. Well, care to guess how many of those 4 days he actually cooked??? No, not zero. After conveniently deciding to go out with the boys on Wednesday & Friday nights (which he decided to do after he’d already made the bargain), he did manage to cook one meal – he made a beautiful dinner on Saturday. So well done, Boy – you’ve won a special prize – the “Gee, Thanks Honey” prize.

check out Rialto’s extreme makeover

We went to the Rialto in Newmarket last night for the first time since it re-opened. One word – wow. What a difference. I used to avoid Rialto whenever possible, even though they show some great movies, because the grot factor was just too high for me - call me a snob, but I do at least expect semi-cleanliness. The place has been completely transformed (plus, you can take your glass of wine from the bar into the cinema, which is great for all us booze-hags).

The Boy & I were there thanks to his connections at the Brazilian Embassy. He scored us tickets to the Latin Film Festival opening, and the pre-drinks hosted by the Ambassador of Mexico. Very nice. The movie was Amar te Duele (Love Hurts) – a Mexican film. It was basically a modern Romeo & Juliet, and wasn’t bad if you like such things. It was definitely too long, and the director seemed to have a bit of a thing for nipples. There were loads of gratuitous nipple shots – male and female (although, oddly enough, The Boy only noticed the female ones…).

My main complaint about the movie was that we were sitting in the front row, which is too close for a subtitled film (it was pre-seated and full, so we couldn’t move). Since my Spanish is limited to ordering a beer and cursing at people (you know, just the important stuff!), it was a bit of a pain.

All in all, though, a good night out.

Who is that guy?

Ok, so the hair wasn’t too bad, in an Establishment sort of way. I will miss the long flowing locks, but the short hair does make the grade. It makes The Boy look pretty different though – what is it they say? A change is as good as a rest?

I'm scared!

Yep, I'm a bit scared to go home today. The Boy got his long hair all chopped off today. It was half way down his back, but is now a Young Republican Short Back & Sides (what am I supposed to hang on to now?!).

I've seen a pic that he sent to my mobile phone, but the resolution isn't too hot. Makes it a bit hard to tell how it looks, really. Oh well, I'll find out soon enough...

Its a disease...

Did anybody watch the controversial “Bloody Mary” episode of South Park? If so, you’ll know that they were actually bagging alcoholics and AA more than Christians, and you’ll understand the “It’s a disease – I’m powerless” reference.

Anyway, I’m more and more convinced that The Boy does indeed have a disease, and is (quite willingly) powerless. The disease is computeritis, with the added complication of internetitis.

His latest discovery is http://www.orkut.com/ – a sort of ‘find an old friend’ website. There are dozens (perhaps hundreds) of his old school friends, family and acquaintances from Brazil on the site, and he has been like a kid at Xmas since he discovered it yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the wicked witch of the west. Well, ok, maybe sometimes… I’m happy for him finding all these people again & being able to catch up with what they’re doing (even if it does seem like half of the female population of South Brazil are ex-girlfriends of his). I think its lovely for him, but its just the latest in a long string of discoveries of such things (Google Earth, Hi-5 etc etc). Its never ending, which is both the blessing & the curse of the internet.

If anyone knows a cure for computeritis and/or internetitis, can you please contact me on pjinthecity@gmail.com – I’m willing to pay. A lot.

a confession...

I have a confession to make - I've never really understood the appeal of blogging. My partner is a mad-blogger, with not one but two blogs - one of which he spends a huge amount of time updating and fiddling with. I suspect he may also have a 3rd secret (from me, anyway) blog where he vents about my... well, lets call them my 'adorable quirks'.

In my role as Good Girlfriend I read his blogs daily, but they're pretty much the only ones I've ever looked at regularly. I do like the Borowitz Report (www.borowitzreport.com) for a bit of news satire, though.

Anyway, my personal take on blogging has always been why the hell would anyone want to read random rants from people they don't even know? And who the hell has time to upload pages and pages of stuff every day? However, The Boy has suggested that I not knock it until I try it, so here goes. A commitment from me to not only try to read more blogs, but to actually have one of my own & see how long it lasts. Any suggestions of worthwhile (and preferably entertaining) reading are welcome.

One thing I've learned from The Boy is this: keep it short & simple. Plus, you're probably not as interesting as you think you are...

So, with this in mind, the Virgin Blogger is about to make a start. Watch this space...