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).

so basically while i was all negative about my new job it has its bonuses. for example i'm working in what is clearly a male dominated workplace. there is a first for everything i guess.

it is just like i expected. the women's toilets are miles away.

plus men flirt. i'd forgotten. interestingly, there are no flirts in my actual vicinity, but IT are all about inviting you out for coffee. or at least dropping it into conversation casually that they drink coffee. same difference i reckon.

remember when i was in vietnam. that was awesome in terms of boys. but they only wanted me for my sunnies...


this guy stole my sunnies in a handicapped handicrafts shop without warning. i was alarmed, but ready for the photo opportunity. obviously.

this weekend i was invited to hubris hq for a boy party. but i'm pretty lame about these things and in the end watching the West Beverly class of 93 attend their senior prom proved too hard to turn down. brandon walsh is such a loser. unlike hunk of burning love steve.

but, while that was lame i did manage to haul myself out of the relative 'warmth' of my house to prove my friendship and go wedding dress shopping with a bride to be. not only was this awesome in and of itself. but i was reminded of how people hook up at weddings. i know all about this cos i've seen the wedding crashers. fingers crossed for an owen wilson type.

although, right now in all honesty i'd settle for an electric blanket. my house is so not aligned with the world health organization's healthy home guidelines. 18 degrees is the healthy house temperature. that is just a pipe dream for me. which is why i think i've come over all sickly. either that or i have slow developing malaria. which seems unlikely given how i was covered in deet all through vietnam and cambodia without fail.

and in vietnam and cambodia i was hot. stinking hot even. i am struggling to remember the feeling. i bet it was choice.

since the whole cat incident my easter weekend has improved. i spent friday doing laundry, which obviously is an improvement on the cat. and watching so you think you can dance. my quest to bring tele back continues.

saturday i just about passed out from exhaustion numerous times. i went to craft two point oh where i saw about eight million things i wanted to buy. i restricted myself though. because i'm going to vietnam in under a week. i will hold off buying unnecessaries until then. i couldn't resist the cupcakes however. and got a sugar rush and a headache immediately after.

i also did my new favourite saturday activity: la cloche followed by playing with the puppies at animates. rounded out by a trip to the supermarket and looking for trendy but unrequired homewears at nood, my day just kind of evaporated.

then i went to the palliser hotel. the what? exactly. some of my readers will appreciate that. anyway, it doesn't have a website but since i'm evidently all about links today, try this. it was for my cousin's 21st. the theme was black and white....



and my cousin did the mtv standard birthday party appearance dressed in red. so super sweet sixteenth. there was lots of food. and speeches. and singing (they even sang my favourite song of childhood) and some fights. i even went to break up the fight i saw. the three taekwon do lessons i had that time have made me cocky. but there was no need as my cousin got there first to do same.

after speeches, pavlova and some dancing i left to head back to town for 24 hour party people. i was just about dead on my feet by that point. in part because instead of wearing sneakers, which would have been sensible, i was wearing black girl shoes to match my black and white outfit. my feet just about fell off. and my eyes were just about permanently closed. but i managed to dance up a storm to the arcade fire and interpol in particular, but to most of the awesome music generally. and my favourite barman was there. and he recognised me. it really must be love.

but even that adrenaline couldn't keep me on the dancefloor after two thirty. by which time the line to get in was metres and metres long.

yesterday i brunched at the recovery room, where i was also recognised by staff. i am such the girl about town. then AL and i read fashion and gossip mags at scorching bay where we could feel the jealousy of everyone else at the beach who wished they were us on our pink beach chairs. i also got to play cards with my family and eat a sunday roast care of my mother.

today though is when it starts going bad again. today i'm trying to get a bit of work done. i just have a few things i want to finish off before vietnam. damned sense of responsibility. it is so lame. i wish i could be more devil-may-care. anyway, so far i've put in about thirty seconds. i have spent the bulk of my time being an excellent aunt at the swimming pool and shopping for new slippers at the warehouse (what happened to the reserve i displayed at craft two point oh i wonder?).

oh and it is my birthday this week. i've put some energy into pretending it isn't real. but i am starting to come to grips with it. it being old age obviously. maybe the black cat that attacked me was just the shadow of old age rather than the shadow of death as i first predicted.

it is entirely unoriginal, but i hate having a cold. for the past week i've felt constantly tired and really uninterested in anything other that the adventures of meredith grey and my duvet. and i've gone through about three boxes of tissues. my nose even looked bright red and someone pointed it out in a meeting. which was a bit shame. but hello, like i could help it.

on friday afternoon i got home from work early - about three pm - and slept until seven then watched tv for two hours which was exhausting and i had to go back to bed. and yesterday i went out for a party planning brunch (btw: my party is going to be AWESOME. you should rsvp already) and i had to sleep for two hours to recover. after which i only had the energy to make chocolate and banana muffins and watch grey's anatomy. somewhere in there i managed to get enough energy to go to hide a surprise gift for my mother at mum and dad's house. and i am possibly underestimating my level of sloth yesterday. yet i was still exhausted.

so it has been such a surpise that today i managed to do some housework and go on a fact finding mission to porirua. on my fact finding mission i also soaked in some culture at pataka where the contemporary samoan art exhibition was choice but let's face it: i spent more time in the gift shop. due to my new found energy i even managed to talk myself into buying a present for myself. a felt tiki brooch.

then i went to save mart where i also managed to convince myself that one day soon someone will invite me to an 80s party. and so i bought myself a dress that would make cyndi lauper green with envy...

it is hard to tell, but it is lace and has puff sleeves. and a bit of a ra-ra skirt. if an eighties party doesn't present itself soon i may just introduce it to my everyday wardrobe. or start a goth rollerskating dance troupe. it is a truly versatile dress.

so, anyway, now i'm home from porirua and while i could obviously go a nap i actually think i will survive without one. meaning i may well and truly be close to recovery. after a week. gosh darn, colds suck.

someone once sent me a powerpoint presentation of inspirational statements. my favourite was something about how it is a miserable existence if your only fun time is the weekend. amen, i thought. so i printed it out and put it on my cubicle wall. the boss lady thought i was funny and i won friends and influenced people with my irreverence.

anyway, today was all about having fun time outside of the weekend. because i had the best evening ever (that didn't involve a romantic lead, that is, because romantic leads make evenings pretty awesome also). to summarise, i:

1. went to the launch of this report and there were ministers of the crown there and salmon puffs. personally i was more interested in the puffs, but i made nice with the suits and even flirted with a blind man.
2. walked along the waterfront in the sun.
3. swam in oriental bay - i did handstands too, even though i had intended to keep my hair dry tonight.
4. had a spa at freyberg pool. it is a communal spa and the man with the underwear instead of togs nearly put me off. but it was just so warm and relaxing the underwear man became irrelevant.
5. dinner at sandwiches. as well as cocktails. although my mouth is swelling the way it does when i eat tomatoes. i wonder if there was something particularly acidic in my pizza (pizza at sandwiches? it just seemed so right). both cocktails and pizza were delicious and that decor! even with duct tape holding the seating together it was just a pleasure being there.
6. leaving notes on the car windshields of hot men. or just men. whatever, i was drunk after sandwiches. everything seemed like a good idea.
7. came home and ate schoc chocolate (walnut and coffee - farcken amazing combination)
8. discovered that not only was their a marie claire magazine (new) on the couch but that ten years of nineties one hit wonders was on tele. 1990 was vanilla ice (pictured). it was awesome to watch but it annoys me when the term one hit wonder becomes meaningless. so, for example, my homeboy vanilla had at least two hits, the second being play that funky music. similarly the one hit wonder for 93: 4 non blondes ignores the value of their song joey, which is actually my favourite of their songs. but this is me arguing the details. the actual net result was a great television night.

and NOW i'm preparing to watch the final disc of season two of full house (fyi season two of gilmore girls is over for me. it was so great and i'm in love with both christopher and luke). honestly, best day in history. i'm so glad that weekends aren't my only fun time.

oh my god i have had the lamest weekend. i've made about a million (or really 13) crochet squares, watched eight episodes of gilmore girls and have loaded the dishwasher. oh, and taken a million and a half self portraits.

it hasn't been all dire (i've been out of the house etc...) but really, am i twenty seven or seventy two? objectively, based on my activities so far, it would be hard to tell.

today i am going in to work, which would at least suggest i'm under retirement age. so that is something.

also, on friday i got given flowers by some friends as a thank you (remember when i helped people after they'd taken recreational drugs? it was from them). and when i was walking back to work someone saw me and said: i hope you bought those for yourself and not someone else. and i just smiled. but really i was thinking of my favourite saying: i'm in the business of receiving flowers, not giving them. anyway, here are the flowers.

happy and friendly. personally i prefer thorny and dramatic. but then i'm the one who has watched eight episodes of gilmore girls this weekend so who am i to say what is right and what is wrong.