As the Southern Hemisphere snow season draws to a close (or rather goes under protest – this past season has been PHENOMENAL – it was open till mid November, and there are Summer Snow rumors!) it also makes me a bit nostalgic for the Northern Hemisphere.

Around this time every year I often wish that I was heading back to the States to teach, and every year I tend to think ‘Next year I’ll go back’. Alas, I haven’t yet. Perhaps next year . . . :P

Anyway, I came across another fabulous etsy store dubbed Avril Loreti, that do fantastic bandanna’s with Mo’s on them. I go through several bandanna’s a season – I prefer them to balaclava’s or fleece covers.

And with these super cute mustaches on them, who could resist?

Appropriate for Movember too, I thought. :)

I was having a hard time last week, and ended up piking on a Square date, where I was to make incredibly yummy pie. But oh, how I adore the Square:

From: The Second Quarter
To: The First Quarter
CC: The Third Quarter; The Fourth Quarter
Subject: URGENT: pie

Dear First Quarter,

You are hearby summoned to The Square Flat (hereafter known as “the flat”) for the purposes of making a spinach, feta and sun-dried tomato pie (“pie”). Should you be unable to attend to this duty within a reasonable period of time you must immediately divulge all relevant pie-making secrets to the inhabits of the flat so they may attempt to construct said pie themselves.

Yours sincerely,

The Second Quarter
Chief pie-eater

Needless to say I shall NOT divulge all relevant pie-making secrets, and shall instead answer the summons. :)

As I write this – I am SORE. My back aches, my shoulders are complaining, and I’m so. Incredibly. Tired. But, I care little. Because all this pain? SO WORTH IT!

Because over the weekend, The Boy moved out of his old flat in town, and into his new one in the suburbs. And the new one is FANTASTIC! The place is cheaper, the rooms bigger, the house cleaner (hurrah, I might actually get to bake in his kitchen! The last one was often so filthy you never wanted to touch anything in it. We both attempted to scrub it clean several times, only to have to it decimated before I could bake anything). The flatmates are nicer (and have the added bonus of not being my boss), there is a yard with GRASS, and a very nice friendly kit. And the house is filled with exciting geek things that don’t just belong to The Boy! There is a fancy projector, servers in the garage and just all sorts of madness!

The only downside I can see is that I don’t have a handy carpark for work anymore, and there will be no short walk home after a night out.

Still, with many more upsides than downsides, it matters little. I’m relieved he has moved.

With this move, and the fantastic blue Skies we’ve had lately, things are beginning to look up, and I am SO GLAD! :)

As I mentioned previously, a couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to accompany Liz around Armageddon. As Liz has strong connections to The Hub Productions (who usually bring a star or two across from Oz) it usually means hanging out with a few ‘stars’ some too.

This year, we did dinner before the convention. It was a very fun night at an old pub style place in town. I was talking to Liz earlier, and I think what I enjoy most about these nights is that for me, while I know they are important star people (who usually have such fantastic outgoing personalities, that the much of the night is passed in laughter and gossip), often I don’t actually know who they are.

At the convention, there are fans who will stand in line and wait to talk to these people. They will pay a fair amount of money to have a photo taken with them. These are THEIR STARS – the people they watch on tv every week, people from their SHOWS.

Alas, while I DO watch alot of TV, I don’t watch alot of the shows that these stars are from (Scifi shows, usually. Lately its been the Star Gate kind, Atlantis, whatever.) So, I’ll be sitting with Liz talking to some people before I realise that this gorgeous blonde women who I’m laughing along with, that her job is to be a Wraith Queen. I’m not quite sure what about the specifics of a Wraith (I was thinking along the lines of LOTR, but apparently that’s not quite right) but listening to her talk I realised that while I thought it was just a funny story, there are people who would die to be sitting where I was.

I think what I’m trying to say is that I feel okay hanging out with these people that other people squee over, because I don’t actually know who they are, or what shows they are from. I’m not a fan, and often Liz will whisper a quick explanation into my ear about who they are, and what show they are from so I can follow some of the more bizarre conversations. It makes them easier to talk to, when I’m not all star shocked and forget that they are anything more than just people over from wherever.

However, I’m not removed enough to not feel special when, while walking through the convention, some of stars will stop and have a bit of a chat with us across the barriers.

Here are a few shots from this years show:

Andee, Liz and I. Andee was fantastic, I will forever remember sitting at dinner and her being amazed at the size of Power Rangers lips. She was really really lovely! She also sneaked us chocolate eclairs while we were waiting in line – sneaky!

This is Ernie (from Ghostbusters) and me – Ernie was SO GREAT! He really is fabulous, and has a fantastic fantastic philosophy on life. We walked back from the restaurant together and he was just so lovely. I think out of everyone I met that weekend, I enjoyed his company the most. I think he stopped what he was doing to talk to us every time we walked past!

This is me and David Hewlett. I only really met him at the convention, so it was really nothing special. He has no idea who I am, and in truth, I don’t really know who he is either. His talk was funny, though.

I enjoyed Armageddon this year, despite spending half the weekend in hospital. It really was fantastic!

I’m addicted to browsing Etsy. It’s like window shopping, but from the comfort of my couch. And oh, oh how I wish I had the money to support all the fantastic artists I come across, and adorn my walls with pretty, pretty art!

>Instead I’ll just pimp things to you, and perhaps your walls will adorned instead.

My Etsy shop of the moment is Studio Mela, who does the cutest inspirational prints! My favourites:

So go check out the store! There is more fantastic stuff there too. Oh Etsy, you are fantastic!

Last week Quinn had his first day at Barkley Manor which is a Doggy Daycare Centre. I know, I know, its bad enough that I have a handbag dog who has his own hoodies, but to send him to daycare too?

Believe me, it’s necessary. Quinn is a people dog, that is, he prefers people over other dogs and I’m fairly sure he’s convinced himself that he’s just a very small oddly shaped human. This is fine, usually. But when it means chasing him while he flees QUITE a long way from me and other dogs at the dog park something had to be done.

And with Sibling and I working more hours (I, for the moment, have TWO jobs now, oh joy) we just aren’t around enough anymore. Having the poor pup sit home alone four out of five weekdays isn’t good for him. And so, Barkley Manor.

Barkley Manor is a *fantastic* place – I was met with Krista (the owner, who is delightful and super enthusiastic) who talked through their philosophy and how they operated and whatnot. Apparently Tuesday was ‘Little Dog Day’, which was good for Quinn, and while he was introduced to the (HUGE) play area, and some of the dogs I got to watch through the camera system.

First thing he did was take a dump in the middle of the room (my dog is classy like that, see) but after he seemed pretty happy to be there. A little unsure of the other dogs, but being a people dog that’s how he rolls.

When I came back at the end of the day, I was delighted to discover he’d made a friend! I was so proud – he and a tiny little Dachshund named Woozle had been getting on so well together, and following each other round. I was quite glad my pup had made a friend!

That right there made it worth it, for me. That there was one dog that not only did Quinn not run from, he hung out with him! My dog was socialising with other dogs! I feel like a ridiculously proud puppy parent, so designer or not, Barkley Manor has worked out for us, and he’ll start going regularly now.

[edit]It appears Close Up has put a ‘designer’ and ‘elite’ spin on Barkley Manor in a piece they did. You can view the video at the Close Up Site. [/edit]

So, on my first tentative day back at my *other* work I arrived to find a UPS Parcel sitting on my desk. For someone who lives in NZ, parcels from other countries are QUITE exciting!

Unfortunately being weak like a kitten prevented me from ripping it open right then and there (I had to ask for help – siigh!) but once I did get into it I was greeted with the iconic Sailor Jerry wrapping paper. And then I saw the jacket I’d been lusting over for the last year or so.

As the site said:
These ass-whupping jackets look gorgeous coming and going. They look good on a gusty day when your hair is blowing back. They look good in shitty, beer-stinky clubs (especially if you’re in the band). They even look lovely when you’re pissed off and saying ugly shit you’ll regret later. They are made of 100% cotton. With serious Sailor Jerry art big and bold on the back. The pockets are perfect for smokes, lipstick, razors, whatever you’re packing these days. Made in collaboration with Alpha Industries in Knoxville, Tennessee .

And they were so fucking right – this jacket is THE SHIT! And as this item is now discontinued, I got mine just in the nick of time. There is nothing like mail and new clothes to make a girl feel better about returning to work – Hurrah!

Once again my plans for a fantastic weekend were completely ruined by another hospital stint. Last time it cut my long weekend in half, and in doing so halved my time with my incredibly good friend Liz and her fantastic connections to the tv-stars that come over for Armageddon.

The weekend after my plans to head up to Mangawhai Heads with The Square was completely ruined and alas, they all went away without me while a doctor toyed with my insides. It was a fantastic trade off, really it was.

So while I was recovering from another horrid weekend (oh internets, where would I be without you?) the latest novelty from Dima Loginoff, a fantastic Russian designer, caught my eye:

He has designed a series of LED lamps modelled on the trunk of an Elephant! It’s made in glass and chrome plated steel, and is incredibly fun and unique.

And if I was rich I would install several in my kitchen. Le sigh. Till then I shall share them with the internets!