Spending Hiatus: The Final Update

Dearest Darling The Internet,

My spending hiatus has ended not with a bang but with a whimper.
I'm sorry. I fell off the wagon.



First, I stalked and sniped a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag on eBay (it's lovely) and then I found a special one-day-sale pair of jeans - soft grey, high waisted, and down from $119 to $30.



And such as 1+1=2, purchase + purchase = failure.
But! As with my 2009-2010 regime of diet & exercise*, I am not berating myself for the failure. I still did remarkably well, ou know, for ME, and the day of the end of the hiatus passed (and it was payday) with only the purchase of a fine tooth comb..
I think that the long term ramifications of this hiatus will stick.

I enjoy the space in my drawers and in my wardrobe. I enjoy repurposing clothes** and while I still haven't gotten around to selling that box of clothes, I have added to it and add again I will. It will probably end up going to charity but it's out my life!

So while I did not succeed completely, I think I did enough. And that will do.

Plus, that bag is really cute. Letters ahoy!


* a story for another day.
** earlier this week I wore a short summer dress under a pencil skirt and blazer, it was very cute as a top. Tomorrow I am going to wear a dress which is two sizes too big but! with a studded waist belt? so cute.

Zoe by Sam Edelman: a review

Now, I am not trying to turn this darling little site into a fashion blog - I don't have the time, inclination, or style to do so - but there has been interest expressed in a particular pair of shoes that I own. Shoes which have been called "cult", like Charles Manson on my feet, my Zoe boots by Sam Edelman*.

Yes, the heel is approximately 7 feet tall. Or 6 inches. Either way, they make me Tall with a capital T. But they also have a substantial platform under the ball of your foot so in reality the incline is more like 3-4 inches. Much more manageable (or is that just me?).

Today was the first day I wore them outside of Park Place and I wore them from 6:30am until about 5:45pm. From the time we left the house until the time we got home again and that, in my mind, is the test of a good high heel. I do not like being the girl who wears flats to the office, changes into heels, changes back into flats for lunch, then back to heels until it's time to put flats back on and slog home. But of course, I am that kind of girl (just not every day) and my wardrobe at work has 3 pairs of shoes in it. My SEZs are now among the hallowed few heels which I do NOT leave at the office.
BUT! I must mention that I spent about half an hour before the end of the day rushing about the complex at work and? they hurt. Not a lot, and much less than you would expect from such high heels, but they did hurt. So I wouldn't wear them if I knew I was going to be rushing and dashing and schlepping about.
Also? the front of the heel is a little rocking-horse-y which was very disconcerting until I got used to it. Beware, beware.



They run a little big, and the leather does not breathe so by the end of the day my feet were slipping around inside a little too much for my liking, but I think these will just be winter heels and with stockings and a proper insole they will be fine.

My 'review' - if you can call it that (and I am) - is that ... I love them. They make me feel 10 feet tall (or 5"6) and are comfortable enough to be an ordinary-day-at-work kind of shoe, only they look totally hot while doing it. Eight out of ten!

Plus. They look really good with skinny jeans. And they make me very (for me) tall.


* incidentally? I was wearing my Jeffrey Campbell Potion boots the other day and young, very rough looking builder type bloke stopped to tell me they were awesome. Jeffrey Campbell Potion: Approved by Builders in New Zealand.

Week Fifteen

Sunday
I spent most of the day filming for Tetris Cops. These Star Wars potato heads were on the set.


Monday
Monday was a holiday. I baked Brownies with a Himalayan Salt crust. They were delicious.


Tuesday
The one Easter Egg I received in 2010, from my darling parents.


Wednesday
I slipped and fell on some rotten fruit on the ground in Petone Pak n Save. It hurt. A lot. But mainly I was worried about my camera so I took a test shot.
It occurred to me that despite there being a lot of Pak n Save workers around, not one person other than Craig checked that I was okay.


Thursday
Two of my current favourite accessories.


Friday
After after work drinks.


Saturday
The sun was out and I couldn't think of a good excuse so I went to Wellington and watched Craig play football.


&

Tattoo Test

Yes, parents dear, I do these things specifically to make you despair.

Big Sky New Zealand

Week Fourteen

Sunday
I bought this print of Alice by Modigliani from the side of the road in Karori. She looks perfect in our hallway.


Monday
A work trip. Which I don't discuss.


Tuesday
Some days I hate this sign and some days I like it. Tuesday was one of the latter.


Wednesday
Craig's threadless order arrived! 4 new tee-shirts.


Thursday
A hateful day. April Fools.
But! The last day of a short week before a four day weekend!


Friday
We woke up late, packed, and drove to Taupo.


Saturday
A not so nice day. Craig was due to skydive at 11am (his christmas present!) but it was delayed until midday, then until 2pm. But the clouds didn't part. The last time he even got into his jumpsuit (pictured) but still no dice.
We will reschedule. And pray for clear skies.


&



Tired.
Also? I'm wearing a sweatshirt purchased (I forgot that it might be chilly during the day in Taupo) in the Child section of a large department store. Craig was very amused.
But it was half the price and with a greater discount than the grown up clothes. There are benefits to being diminutive.

An early memory ...

One of my earliest memories is of going to High School with one of my parents (I believe it was my father), they were teachers and I was off school/kindy/creche (no memory of my age) sick.

I mustn't have been very sick though because there I was, sitting at the front of the class at my father's desk, drawing. The gigantic students in their black woolen jumpers heckle me lightheartedly Are you our new teacher? Is she our new teacher, sir?

And I can remember very clearly feeling mortified, trying to ignore them, incandescent with embarrassment, and thinking furiously to myself Of COURSE I'm not. I'm OBVIOUSLY a small child. GOD.

Week Thirteen

Sunday
Craig borrowed the painters' ladder and stole the pears from the tree. The birds had been so enjoying them.


Monday
Raindrops and brakelights on the commute home. A long Monday.


Tuesday
Working out the bus schedule after the Tweet Up. A little drunk, I ended up catching the bus all the way home instead of the cheaper option: bus and train. Maybe I was a little more than a little drunk.


Wednesday
A grey day, I went to Cue and tried on a fuchsia top and an acid-lemon-chartreuse trench coat.


Thursday
I went to the mall to pay off another chunk of our Hawaii holiday while Craig went to the gym. I walked home at dusk.


Friday
Craig and I went back to the mall to pay off the rest of the holiday (woo!) then picked up Japanese food for dinner. This was taking while waiting for the food.


Saturday
I used Jamie Oliver's iPhone application & cooked Bacon and Asparagus Tagliatelle (from his recipe for Bacon and Asparagus Parpadelle) and it was amazing. Simple, fresh ingredients, and so delicious. And, most of all, it had asparagus in it and Craig ate it all. And! it made me feel a bit like a chef.


&



I ran.
I have (as of today) just finished Week 2, Day 1 of Couch to 5K.

Last night: Wellington Tweet Up

@McQuillanator (Laura), @sarahrose (Moi), & @MsConstantine (Kim)
Polaroid taken by @kathrynwilson24

I met people from the internet. A lot of people.
And they did not chop me up into little pieces and distribute me around the city.

There was a Wellington "TweetUp" at The Malthouse and I went along, arriving just before the name badges and sending Craig frantic messages trying to look busy as I tried to find someone I recognised (turns out, twitter icons are TINY and NOT USEFUL FOR IDENTIFICATION PURPOSES) until, finally, someone I knew approached me. And she had the name badges.

But oh, I met a lot of lovely people.
And I met a lot of the lovely people I have been following on Twitter for some time. That was probably the best part.

The weather today? I think that was me.

Hell may have frozen over.

I now own running shoes.
And more than that? today I used them to RUN.

I just completed Week 1 - Day 1 of Couch to 5K.