What I want...

Lately I've been overwhelmed by a Verucca Salt type urge to buy an iPad - "SB, I want a 16G iPad and I want it NOW". With some upcoming tutoring opportunities (and a very generous hubby-to-be that believes I should see some of the fruits of my labour), this might become a reality. I thought in the same little "I want, I want..." vein (or should that be vain? LOL), I'd compile a list of what I'm lusting over at the moment!

1. White 16 Gig iPad - to 3G or not to 3G, that is the question

2. The Natasha Tablet Case from Forever New - how could I not?

3. High-Low Hem Silk Animal Print Dress from Forever New - I would feel so glam in this!

4. A course of microdermabrasion - my skin's texture is just awful at the moment

5. A pair of pants that didn't feel baggy - put on my "tight" jeans today only to find out that they are no longer so... this losing weight bizzo is expensive!

6. A concession pass to yoga lessons - Chandeleah has got me wanting to try hot yoga! I think I might try their hot yin class first!

7. A new swimsuit - nothing too sexy, something that will hold the "girls" in place while doing aquarobics... I very nearly had a wardrobe malfunction last session!

8. A new home office set-up - this will definitely have to wait until the business makes some money!

Phew, it feels good to get that all out! I don't feel quite as needy anymore! In my experience, when you put it out there it's far more likely to happen - whether you believe it's God or the universe, I'm sure you've had a similar experience!

What are you wanting at the moment, Scribblettes?

Long weekend...long shopping list.

It's a long weekend here in wee old NZ and it's sure living up to the name "Land of the long white cloud". On the upside we've managed to get up to date on a lot of the shopping we needed to do but the malls are packed and anything that required using a fitting room got postponed until there is a bit more room to breathe in the mall.

Bought:

• New boots (Number 1 Shoe Warehouse) - not sure whether this store is NZ exclusive. Great place for cheap shoes - doesn't hurt so much when they need resoling after one season. Take note, Hannahs, your fall-apart shoes should be half the price.
• New sheets - this winter has felt sooooo cold and the only flannelette sheeting we had was a hot pink sheet set from my early uni days. A little emasculating for SB. Two new sets of suitably gender neutral sheet sets on sale for 60% off.
• New hairbrush - was cleaning out my hairbrush the other day and realised I couldn't remember when I purchased it. I'm sure that there is a life cycle for these sorts of things... does anyone know? Anyway, bought a new "ionic grooming" brush - have no idea how these things work but my hair looked smoother :)
• Two cans of dry shampoo - my hair goes on the fritz if it's washed more than two times a week but sometimes you want to look polished and fresh. Batiste to the rescue :)
• Bike lock - needed a keyless solution to locking the gate on our driveway. Ghetto-fabulous combination bike chain to the rescue :)
• SB purchased some headphones for use with his iPhone - we ended up choosing some from the Skullcandy line I first heard about on NubbyTwiglet.com
• I bought a new keyring - my old one bit the dust and spat my keys everywhere. New one is gorgeous, with just a little bit of bling and a hidden compact mirror.

The one thing that has been an epic fail so far is trying to find decent winter dresses. I'd hoped to get a couple for our Christchurch sojourn but it seems that in NZ you need to dress more masculine if you are heading to cold climates. I had such high hopes for this dress but it made me look completely chestless - and let's face it, it's one of my finer features.

May the search continue... have any of my Scribblettes got the down-low on where to find winter dresses? My only requirements are long sleeves, black or jewel colours and flattering to a larger bust. Let me know!

Building Good Foundations

I'm in the enviable position of finding myself with the best part of a week with no study and very few work commitments... what to do with this time?

• Exercise - the weekend weather has been totally crap and really limits the amount of time you can spend out and about soaking up some Vitamin D while getting fit. Today, stunning blue skies. Walking is always more fun when you have someone to talk with so I'm hauling mum out to pound the pavement with me, trying to build a habit for the semester ahead. I tend to let fitness go down the tubes when assignments are due so it's good to get this sorted now.
• Reading - I have a lot of reading to do for my courses next term and I am lucky enough to be aware of some of it already. This afternoon will find me curled up in my favourite armchair, vanilla chai in hand, reading my way through some of what I consider Shakespeare's more challenging works.
• Research - Along with reading, the courses will require further research into related subject information. With ample time and ability to print resources, why wouldn't I get a head start on this?
• Gift Purchasing - I have several milestone events coming up - big birthdays, engagement parties, baby showers. I really hate battling shopping crowds on the weekend so I will use some of my time this week looking for those perfect gifts to make those people smile.
• Catching up - I'm currently in the process of making arrangements to have lunch with people various days of the week. When combined with the walking, this gives me enough time out of the house to make the time I spend in the house more productive.

I'm hoping that all of these combined will create a good foundation for moving forward next semester. A mighty house is built on strong foundations so let's hope it goes well! How are you laying foundations, Scribblettes?

March, you've been a month...

March is usually a fairly crazy month at the best of times - it's the last of the summer (although it's officially autumn) and you get a lot of people trying to squeeze in events at this time. I know already of a wedding I'm going to in March next year! This March was as full on as I had expected - even more so really! Let's recap:

• Birthday dinner, where I had a great time with those friends who are dear to me.
• Started uni - was totally overwhelmed in the first week.
  
• Mum back into hospital where they finally detected a bacteria that shouldn't have been there and gave her the appropriate antibiotics - she hasn't been back since
• Met a certain handsome boy who had been sending me lovely long emails - and have been seeing a fair amount of him since
• Felt more au fait with things the second week of uni - got used to class and schedules and the fact that one of our assignments was to READ (I mean, how cool is that?)
• Finding a pair of jeans that fit my butt!
  
• Got surprised by Gothika who usually lives in Australia - she asked me to pick her up to go to our friends' engagement party
• Engagement party - this couple has been together for years but it doesn't make it any less special.
• Worked a shift as I was coming down with serious illness - I swear I actually felt kinda delirious.
  
• Got my ass absolutely booted by a cold - it was not cool. An ear infection made me deaf for a week and I'm still fending off a snotty nose and a cough
• On the upside, that didn't seem to make the boy like me any less.
• Dates... lots of dates. Including holding hands at the movies - oh man, have I missed that.
• A weekend away in Waihi in which I managed to miss the boy, feel stressed about Gothika's personal circumstances in Sydney, feel relieved that Ex-S has decided to be not so much of a baby and enjoy spending time with my crazy friends. There is also photographic evidence that I spent most of the evening in my sleeping bag - damn March nights are cold :D
• Handing in two assignments, one early - damn it feels good.
• Getting assigned to practicum at the school I wanted and prepping for the experience, purchasing a $160 dictaphone - yikes!
• Having two classes cancelled yesterday and resting for most of the day - for what feels like the first time in March.

There's only two days left of March and at this stage it looks to be relatively quiet, the boy is going out fishing tomorrow morning and I'm doing a church thing so tonight will just be some snuggling on the couch and then I've got a housewarming thing tomorrow night (which I am hoping the boy will come to... just quietly) - if the rest of the time can just be uneventful, that will be fantastic!

Pointless Depression

I just have to share with you guys how silly I am when it comes to that silly old thing called "Money". Being at home I've been able to save a lot of money over the last six months and stop living such a hand-to-mouth existence. I've been happy about the way that my bank accounts/credit card/general financial existence looks healthier and it's allowed me to make exciting plans for the future (January holiday to Christchurch, July holiday to Sydney) as well as cover my irregular expenses - I have a separate account I put money aside in for this, and it covers things like car registration, WOFs and general larger item purchases.

A week ago, I had to fork out some money for car registration (which I'd saved money for, and needed urgently as it had expired already -oooops), some presents (which I had saved money for and were on sale at an insanely cheap price and also needed to be purchased before Christmas) and tickets to Christchurch for January holiday (which I had saved for and were on an insane discount, almost 20% off regular cheapest price). I had plenty of money earmarked for all of this, plus my weekly spending and it was lovely to just be able to make all the necessary payments without having to do a lot of mental mathematics to make sure I'd be able to survive.

That was until I opened up my online banking a couple of days later to make an electronic transfer. My heart just dropped. Where had all my money gone? The hysterical thing is that most of it was still right there. I was all depressed because my account balances were lower than they had been, even though I was only spending money on things I had already earmarked it for. I'm not living on the bones of my butt but it just made me feel so poor. Regardless of how much money I earn in future, I don't think I'm ever going to feel any different about this.

Do any of my readers have this problem? This pointless depression at watching numbers go down even when it is for things you have already planned? Or am I a miserly nutcase?

Gah... the shops don't want my money

After going for a nice walk and goss through the botanical gardens with my friend PCock we decided to go and have a browse at the moment. I'm looking to splurge on another pair of pants (I have like two that fit at the moment, and they are still baggy as) and a dress that M has told me I have to buy for her daughters' christening. Not as easy as it sounds... I have a "ghetto booty", which means that half these supposed mid-rises are still showing off a good solid chunk of butt cleavage. I found two passable pairs of pants but I didn't love either of them... I got the style number of the most adequate pair of pants but I'm so not excited about them. I found one dress that didn't look like I was going to a funeral or out clubbing (both not particularly apt for a christening) but it was in this ghastly peach colour that made me look like I hadn't slept in a month... le sigh. I've avoided those "mummy-style" shops... but maybe I need to suck it up and have a look. Who knows, I might find something amazing.