so when i'm doing exciting stuff i don't blog. when i spent four hours watching grey's anatomy, however, i'm all over the blogosphere telling everyone about it.

go figure.

anyway, i'm clearly back from vietnam. this is a photo in hanoi. the only place i was cold in vietnam. everywhere else i was so hot i thought i might expire. so it was just as well we were living the high life with swimming pools. returning home was not as cool as i'd hoped. but there were advantages, like my own bed. and cheese.

oh and i have a new job. you might be all like: didn't you just get a new job. and yes, but this is a different one. one i didn't apply for. again, go figure. but i'm embracing it with open arms. after all it means i'm now only seconds away from strongerlight during the working day, and that i get to walk around with a security card WITH MY PHOTO ON IT. life ambition achieved.

one last thing. i hosted a party last night. you might have known about it, in which case you were probably there and are still buzzing from how awesome it was. if you didn't know about it, i blame myself. i was patchy at best on the invites. but all you need to know is that it was a talent quest and it ruled. there were three categories: performance, baking and visual arts. and many more winners. plus my own entry, a lip synch to hayley mills and hayley mills in the Parent Trap, received honourable mention from the judges who were ENTIRELY UNPROMPTED TO DO SO. i'm thinking of taking my act on the road.

that is probably it. there are other events, such as my inability to sleep, which i will probably blog about later. along with how insomnia is not cured by watching episodes of 90210, but it sure is made more awesome by them. for now, i should attempt sleep. i have a big day tomorrow. what with the new job and all.

here are my tips for job interviews:

• pop a breath mint before hand
• take a pen and paper and write down their questions as you go, and as you're answering pretend to tick off the points you wanted to make (people are sheep, if you look like you think you've answered the question, they might too. especially if they have stopped listening)
• remove your chipped black nail polish the night before. noone wants to hire someone who looks like a lazy goth.
• eyemakeup - no amount is too much
• make your panel laugh. which is not necessarily difficult. the hard part is figuring out if it is with or at you.
• avoid making miss world statements akin to wanting world peace as a result of your appointment.
• pause before answering questions to give the appearance that you are thinking about the answer, even if you only have one example left and you were planning to use it regardless of the question.

i can't tell you if these tips work or not. because i haven't heard back from my panel. which is probably not strange since the interview finished at four pm today. i guess i will keep you posted. another tip, which is i think probably best avoided, this morning i realised i look like my mother.


i was just taking my morning selfie, as you do, and lo! i look like my mother in the photos from when i was just born. goddamned nose.

anyway on the topic of selfies, TRAGEDY! this week's fashion challenge was tragically cut short by the scattering of my beads all over the kitchen floor after an altercation between the beads and a door knob. but short as it is, below i present:

fashion challenge!!!!! part iv

week four: candy beads

history of the necklace: i bought this on my sister's wedding day. she was being a semi bridezilla. as in she decided about three hours before her wedding ceremony to go shoe shopping. i blogged about it at the time. but left out the part where i left her and her other bridesmaid and bought this necklace.

it went with the shoes i had bought. plus looked like lollies. who could resist? although really i often wished i had because it is really long and i had nowhere to put it.

day one: purple rain

i thought what would work with such a colourful necklace was to pick the general hue (a pinky purple) as a key piece of the outfit and then have the rest of my outfit as plain as poss. cardi from veronika maine (my fave piece of the summer), top from world season 08, and skirt from the internets. all up cost around $170.

i enjoyed wearing this outfit. mostly cos i enjoyed wearing the necklace. here i am first thing in the morning. overjoyed.

although truth be known i was listening to robert palmer on chelsea clinton so that may explain the smile as well.

i really would have struggled finding another outfit to wear with this necklace. i once had a wardrobe dominated by pink clothes. currently i own one top that is vaguely pink, but actually it is more purple.

the problem with the necklace breaking is that i didn't get to give it away. and pay it forward or whatever. luckily i recovered most of the bigger beads from the kitchen floor. so i may make a bead art work. or just throw them out. i haven't decided yet.

i have an eyelash in my eye. i rub it and rub it but surprisingly this course of action just makes things worse.

i walked to the supermarket before with the affected eye winking all the way. i probably have a series of boyfs now, who think they were getting the glad eye. for various reasons, they were not.

anyway, i think the main cause of the eyelash issue is that i overdid the eye makeup this morning. because i had a meeting with my minister. not in the religious sense, but in the Minister of the Crown sense. and i thought i'd make a bit of an extra effort to look awesome. anyway, backfire.

and it is such a shame too. because at the moment at work i'm trying to dress more amazingly than normal. because i'm applying for a job. and according to urban legend (and jan from the office (USA)) you dress for the job you want not the job you're in.

the job i want IS the job i'm in. but whatevs. plus, unprompted, someone told me i put the rest of my work to shame with my exceptional fashion sense. she could just have been trying to build bridges and breakdown walls, given the day before we'd had a disagreement. i tell you, i'm a tiger in the workplace. you're lucky you don't work with me.

anyway, i've thanks to google i have looked at what other people wear to interviews. this guy was my fave.

he is such an inspiration. actually, the t.shirts i ordered my brother and brother in law from threadless have FINALLY arrived. i only ordered them in the first week of december. anyway, one of them asks: what would macgyver do. maybe i should wear it to my interview. great talking point.

although by then i may have rubbed my eye so much i'm blind. that would be an alternative talking point.

cripes. eyelashes are tiny but mighty painful. note to self: cut down on the glittery eye liner. sigh.

desperate times folks. i had ONE task tonight - update my C.V. so far i haven't even got close.

but i have compiled this week's FASHION CHALLENGE photos.

Fashion Challenge - part II

week two: blue plastic beads.

the history of the necklace: someone moved house or left the country or something and tried to get rid of a whole lot of things, like crap jewellery. and hrc thought of me, and took this treasure, which she then gifted to me. lucky. or so i thought... finding three outfits was quite the challenge.

day one: casual monday



red top - bought years and years ago from jacqui e. skirt an american acquisition and jacket, not pictured, a farmers bargain. all up this outfit cost around $200.00


i thought the outfit kind of worked but was a bit tame really.


here i am in the outfit...
the sweaty look is courtesy of a walk home on a humid day. the necklace looks good, not sure about me though.

day two: dressing up for andrew bird.

remember how i love purple and green? i thought andrew bird might too. so i prepared an outfit that was a bit daytime/nighttime barbie. i don't think in style magazine would feature this in their piece on how to take office wear to the clubs but still i was happy with it.
cardi: veronika maine (worn last week too, talk about limited wardrobe), singlet that looks like a body suit in this photo: world and skirt off the internets. all up this outfit cost about $180. plus i got flowers ages ago and i saved the ribbon and guess what: PERFECT MATCH.

here i am in the outfit. i was smarter on tuesday and took the photo before i left for work, the point at which i theoretically look my best....
i look a bit glum, but otherwise i love this outfit. note that my handbag (slung over my shoulder) matches too! plus my ipod (the earphones for which you can see) is green and matches like a dream.

day three: fashion crimes


again, i found the third day very very hard. i was being picked up for work by cal and had a very set time limit. which i nearly didn't make. anyway, cardi is a marc jacobs cardi i foolishly paid retail for, skirt was the bargain of the century skirt, which i referenced last week, and top is my new WORLD top bought at the sale last week. plus an additional set of beads i bought from country road about three years ago. total cost: $500. someone at work suggested wearing an additonal set of beads was cheating. they were willing failure though because they were hoping i'd give them the blue beads. not a chance.


anyway, apparently i looked a bit like a gypsy today. i am not sure about the fashion crime of blending navy blue with black. but i loved my cardi.

not that you can tell from this photo, cos again i look miserable.

anyway, week two of the fashion challenge is over. phew. this is much harder than i'd expected.

tomorrow i may go without a necklace just to not have the bother of trying to match outfits to jewels. also, a necklace may get in my way when i dance like a maniac to fergie at the police concert. i hope she plays my humps!