this past weekend: what is the single biggest worry when you're hosting a party? that's right, that noone will come. i have a new way to deal with this: only semi host a party. that is let your friends hold a party at your place. if they have enough friends that you adore then you get most of the benefits of hosting a party but at the end you don't have to clean up.

monday: my landlord's wellington representative came over(thank god for the post party cleanup). she probably didn't suspect a thing, but this means that she thinks my flattie and i are alcoholics judging by the liquor bottles in our recycling this week.

tuesday: i had a hell day at work. and just wanted to go home and sleeeeeep. but the arctic monkeys were playing and i had tickets so had to go. thank god i did, cos it was a much better way to spend the evening that hitting refresh on facebook status updates. for more, read this.

wednesday: i was supposed to take annual leave. but went to work for an important meeting and took a long lunch break. i went to my new favourite city eatery. and i am so reluctant to tell you about it because i don't want everyone to go.... but i'm going to anyway: picnic. and after the walk up the hill you deserve a friggen chocolate milkshake. and maybe a breakfast burrito. but beware the birds. they've got brave, which is unfortunate because they are two wings away from being mice. and you should all know by know i equate mice with the devil.

thurday: the world sale. ie the most important fashion date on my calendar. i didn't go exactly nuts there (two tops, both awesome) but i was so jubilant that on the way back to work i accidentally bought two pairs of shoes, a clutch purse and a fascinator. can anyone say 'economic crisis'? anyway from tomorrow i'm starting my next 101 in 1001 days task: no clothes purchases for three months. i will not know what to do with my time!

oh my god, i can't believe it. i've never been this far away from home....





in case you were wondering... it was awesome....

i have spent a chunk of the weekend watching twenty years of oprah. i have a lot to be grateful for. the thing about oprah is we are very similar. like me, she was deeply moved by princess diana's life and her passing. and she mentions it at every opportunity. and she asks the hard questions that everyone wants to know the answers to. like how she asked lisa marie if she ever had sex with michael jackson. the answer was a surprising yes.

i've done other stuff besides watch oprah. but i can't really remember it. i'll stick to the highlights:

• chris brown and rihanna at the tsb area. chris brown is cute. rihanna is beautiful. and they both know how to put on a show. i suspect a lot of training and rehersal on their parts. highlight of the night was the encore performance of umbrella, where they dueted. however, this didn't stop me wondering when either chris brown or rihanna were going to kill it like ice cube. it never happened. note to self: buy shares in supre and fake tan. this is what all the girls - and there were thousands - were wearing.
• brideshead revisited. too much of the girl characters, not enough of the boy characters - but still quite a lovely relationship between sebastian and charles. 7/10
• young @ heart - i cried at one point, but basically this documentary about a group of 70+ singers who reinterpret more modern songs had all the character in the world, but as a documentary it wasn't great. worth seeing just for the performances at the end. and for louie. 7/10
• rain of the children - i avoided seeing this until now. the life of puhi, an 80 year old woman from tuhoe, is retraced. and it plays like a love letter from vincent ward to her, twenty eight years after her death. the movie is proof that history repeats. 9/10.
• my nephews are in town. ice cream outside the zoo is my new favourite activity.
• i am going to a ball on tuesday, so had to buy a new dress. think red chiffon. needless to say, i keep pulling it out of my wardrobe just to admire and pet it. i hope i am as much of a hit in real life as i am in my imagination.
  

one of the things that my one counselling session taught me was that i too often over book myself monday to friday and then spend weekends at home thinking i have no friends. but not doing anything about it. it is my form of being socially spastic.

but it doesn't happen every weekend.

this weekend was all highlights, all the time.

i should probably start with blackalicious.

fifteen out of ten. it was off the charts. or off the hook. or whatever the young kids say. i know i'm old cos i turned up two hours early for the show. but pay off! cos i also got to be pretty close to the front when blackalicious came on stage and - after getting caught literally in the middle of a fight - i heard opportunity knock and found a posie right at the front. close enough to get serenaded by gift of gab during some love song i didn't know. and at some point in the song we locked eyes and he pointed at me at the part in the lyrics where he says "you complete me" (this may not literally have been the words but it was the subtext). i have thought about it since, and i should have stayed for the after party. but if i did i probably would have hooked in to gift of gab. on the plus side he is tall and famous, on the down side i'm more into his home boy lyrics born, and i also plan to marry kanye west or simon le bon.

on saturday, i day dreamed about what my life would have been like if i'd succumbed to the obvious chemistry. but mostly i distracted myself with an art gallery tour of wellington. the dowse for craft 2.0 (and some stationery. have i mentioned i heart stationery?) and pataka for the patricia grace related exhibition.

i heart craft 2.0. but there seemed to be fewer people there this time. not that i ever notice the people really. only when they get in the way of me and notecards. the sun was a plus and there were even stalls OUTSIDE. just like a summer market.

i also heart pataka. they have a shantytown you know!!!! you must check it out. if only for the shop window display....

what the???

there is also an exhibition of photos by my favourite photographer ever. desiree dolron. check out the pataka website here for clues at how awesome she is. or deireee dolron dot com here.

being cultured is exhausting though so i had to have lots of pit stops for coffee, tea, berry crepes and fruit toast (the latter coming from the aunt daisy cafe in titahi bay, 8/10 for decor).

in the evening i went to 24hr pp. and it was awesome.

have i told you i'm so in to robert palmer right now? this outfit was loosely inspired by the simply irresistable girls. plus with a lime green bow how can you go wrong?

i had sore feet so was waiting for sux, or less good songs, but finding a chance to sit down was impossible. as i tried new dance moves (more twirls and footwork as well as some bgirl fusion - adapted from blackalicious the night before). hrc and i also got to dance with some of our favourite dancefloor celebrities as well as adopting a new friend for the evening who knew almost as many words as i do. almost. luckily the verve was played at some point and i had an excuse to leave. that point didn't come until after three sometime.

then this morning i went to the zoo zoo zoo with ryles. he was less interested in the animals than in pretending to be one. there was a heartbreakingly cute moment where he saw three otters lying in the sun and he demanded that he be put inside their enclosure so he could play with them. i could understand that. otters look like they would be wonderful to play with. he ws disappointed when i wouldn't lift him up. and when i said that if anyone was getting otter hugs it was me. but i handled the resulting tantrum the way any good aunt does. with ice cream.

then i spent the rest of the day watching dvds and trying to rest up for the working week. i watched the original (not harrison ford remake) of sabrina (7/10 overall, but 10/10 for the wardrobe and for audrey hepburn's eyebrows), and pillow talk with doris day (7.5 for the movie, 12/10 for rock hudson for being dreamy).

wow, said franz, sweet ride!

i am pooped. walking to lyall bay before dinner is awesome. but also it is more exhausting than watching reruns of friends. what was i thinking?

i was thinking the other day i should go and see mamma mia the stage show. given that i have seen the movie three times already and am contemplating a 4th. it is like i'm addicted to feeling good. SOS!

SOS! or rather save our credit cards. i am buying stuff on the internet like the economy isn't dying. honestly. today i nearly bought leopard print togs. actually, what stopped me. i bet they would be the greatest purchase ever. plus i'm getting a bigger after tax income due to a tax cut.

you know what i am using my tax cut money for? concert tickets. i just noticed the kaiser chiefs have sold out and i have my ticket. safely in my gmail inbox. you didn't know the kaiser chiefs were even touring? they're not. they're touring new york, dummy.

i will be in new york in a month and a half. i just go there like it ain't a thing. i'm so international. but also did i mention that i'm pooped. damn walking.

over the weekend i walked a lot. i was dog sitting charlie who is adorable but also maybe a bit horny. hence the ungodly acts with his cute little stuffed dog toy benny. anyway, me and charlie did some touring of hataitai. it was like waltzing down memory lane. hataitai is where i ate flowers and drank coke from glass bottles when i was a wee 'un. it was also where i would play my little ponies for hours on end. braiding their hair and whatnot. and playing dress ups.

i either need to do some laundry or buy some new clothes. my preference is the latter. it wont happen though. mostly because i can't imagine ever wanting to go into a wellington 'fashion' outlet ever again.

i am so bored with wellington shops. i think i need a holiday.

my summer holidays are nearly sorted. there is talk of hiring a van. to be clear: i hate driving vans. i can't imagine rocking up to rhythm and vines and impressing my future husband franz with my white budget rental cars van. but since our love is deep, i hardly think that a van will stand in the way. now i think about it.

i'm so angry at new york city.

if you've read my blog even once before you will know i'm going to new york. for a wedding. and it will be awesome. but somehow the wedding is on at the worst possible time for me to see the bands i'm in love with.

yesterday i declared that my life's plan is to dance to interpol. life's ambition denied. because they play NYC about a week before i get there. arctic monkeys are the same. kaiser chiefs are there the same time as me. in fact so much the same time that they are playing the exact same time that my friends are getting married. i contemplated finding a way of doing both but i'm pretty sure it is not feasible. the biggest heart break was morrissey - who i miss by like days. then there are the bands that play hours after i leave (bloc party) or a couple of days after i leave (lcd soundsystem).

luckily though i'm there in time for genesis.

i hate new york.

despite this i'm saving for it. which is why i'm having my weekly to-dos. last week i set the bar low and still failed to deliver. mostly because i keep buying songs on itunes (spandau ballet's gold anyone?). hence my creditcard use. that plus the visit to the bendon outlet store in otaki which somehow is like introducing my wallet to the toilet (in that my money seems to get washed away). but i did everything else: dancing til dawn (or thereabouts), 90210 special features, and lots of toasted sandwich lunches.

this week i will try and raise the super low bar a little, just to inspire some kind of action or inaction on my part. i will know it is a good week if:

• i use my remaining student loan overpayment cheque to pay off some of my credit card debt
• i find some concerts to go to in the USA that do not involve phil collins
• i buy some awesome sunglasses to go with my new bathing suit
• i remember to charge my cellphone consistently
• i take my lunch to work at least one day and have zero berry yoghurt trios for breakfast
• i have a fabulous afternoon tea with hels.