My glorious weekend

Well, I am feeling well and truly 50s today - sporting a wonderful red satin full skirt (and crinoline underneath), black sweater and red scarf tied into a bow at my neck. And I'm here to report on the fabulous weekend I had with J!

Friday night - our anniversary!

Thanks to my fabulous employer, I had Friday afternoon off for "study leave", so I put the finishing touches to J's pressie (a photo album and some PA pjs) and dolled myself up. When J got home, we exchanged pressies, and bless him, he was so nervous! He wanted to be out of the room when I opened my pressie, but I forced him to stay. And look what I got!



A gorgeous Thomas Sabo necklace and pendant, which I absolutely adore! J totally nailed my jewellery style, but it took a while for me to convince him that I really did love it! J thankfully loved his pressie too (but I felt bad for not buying him something more meaningful) - when he's wearing his new pjs, he says he has loud legs! Too cute.

We then headed out for dinner (me wearing my new necklace <3 ), to the Black Bull Tapas restaurant in Geelong - and OH. MY. GOD. The food was absolutely sensational! Their website isn't working right now, so you'll have to forgive my terrible non-Spanish names for the dishes we feasted on:

TAPAS
- Meat balls (the highlight of the night)
- Mushrooms on sourdough
- Chorizo

RACION
- Moorish lamb skewers

MAINS
- Twice roasted duckling

DESSERT
- Churros and chocolate

DRINKS
- two imported Spanish beers (6.5% alcohol!) for J
- the nicest tasting 'Traditional' (bourbon cocktail) for me

OTHER
- Toasted sourdough

Grand total - ~$100 and totally worth it. The service was excellent, the food was divine, the ambiance was perfect. I cannot wait to go back there again!

We then went and hired some movies from VideoEzy (classy, I know) - but we got 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'Creature from the Black Lagoon'. We decided to start watching some old classics because the quality of some modern movies is atrocious. Back home, we watched Creature and drank our special bourbon - hand bottled, wax sealed Jim Beam on the rocks. We then retired to our bedroom ;) .....

Saturday

Saturday we headed into Melbourne with my brother and two of his mates to see the Crusty Demons show at Rod Laver Arena. Not the most romantic of events, but fun nonetheless. Perhaps we're just getting old, but the Crusty girls (oh, I mean Crusty "Babes") and the constant "make some noise, you're not loud enough" got old very quickly, and in the end J and I were shaking our heads from the lameness of it all. But the metal music and the riding prevailed and it was an enjoyable night.

The highlight was when they pulled four kids out of the audience to do an air guitar competition - one kid was just so into it, he was spinning around on his back on the floor, doing backflips, and just being too darn cute. He ended up winning a motorbike and the others won BMX bikes.

Sunday

Sunday was a relaxing day, we watched a movie in bed, then lounged around for most of the day. J went for a dirtbike ride with his dad, and they got lost in a state forest so I had a few hours to myself. I was meant to spend said hours studying for my assignment due next Monday, but instead I spend them on the couch with the dog, watching recorded Foxtel programs!

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Oh, I almost forgot to mention! My brother has started painting the interior of our new house! It's a big job so thankfully he's getting started now. While we were inspecting his craftmanship, my mum turned up and we started going through some of the cupboards and drawers in an effort to begin the cleanup process. And you wouldn't believe some of the things we found! WWII ration tickets, program guides for country fairs from 1918, letters sent from a relative fighting in WWI, an antique coin holder from perhaps China, induction certificates from the Masonic Club of Geelong and the best find of all - a massive album of postcards dated 1908! The album itself has seen better days, but its contents (around 200 postcards from 1906 to 1908) are immaculate! We'll definitely be getting these things valued, and then insured. We also found numerous photos from 1890s to 1950s, and I'm planning on putting all of these into an album for my dad. It was just so exciting finding things over a century old just sitting in the bottom of a drawer. I'll be sure to take some photos the next time I'm down there to share with you all!

xxx

Great news!

On Saturday May 30th 2009, at 2pm, I will be pinned up again!



Professional makeup artist, hair done by Paula, two costume changes! How utterly exciting! And I bet J isn't half excited either, considering his love for the first lot of pictures! Thinking this time I might do more cheesecake / vintage glamour shots, seeing as I've already got the more pin-up style pics. Yay!

Pinned Up Twice?

Right, well, I discussed it with J, and I've decided to go for the shoot with Paula! I figured that I'd regret not doing it, especially seeing as she's leaving Melbourne, and that she's dropped her price to $350 (from $450). I did say that after the first shoot I'd be back for a second, but once I started focusing on getting out of debt, the idea was placed on the backburner. Well, I've bit the bullet now, I'm just waiting to hear back if she has any spots left, *fingers crossed*. I'll be sure to update you when I hear back!



I have been in a spot of bother. Over anniversary gifts. We first decided not to do gifts, because we're both a smidge tight-up for cash. Fantastic. Then J decided, no, in fact, he wanted to buy me something. And that something was jewellery. Damn. So I've been stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to think of something that I could pass off as a significant, meaningful present. But J either has everything, or my ideas were slightly too grandiose. So I settled for the tried and tested photo album. But I'm worried... is it a little clichéd? We don't exactly have many photos of us together, so I'm leaving it half empty for the future. But it's not as meaningful as jewellery, is it?

Déjà vu!

Oh dear, it appears I've named two consecutive blogs the exact same title! Gosh I need to be a little bit more creative, me thinks!

It's been a while!

It's been a while, hasn't it!

I've been living under a rock lately, forgetting assignments to the last minute, suffering from week-long gastro, and just plain old being lazy!

I did finally get out of the house last night. J's mate invited us to see his brother's band, Teramaze, play at the Barwon Club here in Geelong. I'd never had the chance to see them play before, but J had, so we jumped at the chance... and I'm so glad we did! Metal is one of my true loves, and Teramaze rocked, despite the lead singer having self-diagnosed swine flu! I did hit the turps (or bourbon in this case), and by the end of the night I felt quite crook. I did look smashing in my What Katie Did pastel pink underbust corset, worn with a black singlet underneath and black skinny jeans. So smashing in fact, that a random (and cute) bloke at the bar said it was disappointing I was with my boyfriend. Comments like that are great for the self esteem, and I thank him.

It's a sad thing when you realise you just can't drink as much as you used to. Back in my college days, I could easily survive drinking three or four nights a week. And I'm talking about heavy drinking. Now, I feel sick in my stomach after three or four drinks. And the hangovers are so much worse now! It's like they've come back to haunt me. So I guess that's it... Rach's days of living large and inebriated are well and truly over.

I was just taking a squizz at the What Katie Did website, and they've had a bit of a facelift! They've also added a new range called CC09 - 1940s style bras and stockings in beautiful colours. The 60 denier seamed stockings look fantastic! My favourite item from the website right now is possibly this, the glamour corselette:



I'm wondering if the budget will stretch that far, but at the moment I'll have to dream of it from afar. I'm absolutely enjoying being debt free, it's such a fantastic feeling after spending the past 5 years in various levels of debt.

And now to some sad news. I read today on Myspace that Paula Delley, the wonderful cheesecake and pinup photographer located in Melbourne (whom I had my shoot with) is relocating back to Sydney! This is devastating news, as I was planning on having another shoot with her later in the year, but with her final shooting date set for the start of June, I won't be able to front up with the cash in time :( So girls in Melbourne, get in quick! And Sydney girls... you're damn lucky! Here's one of my fave Paula pics to celebrate:


Ruby Riot @ Dirty Pretty Things - mua: Miss Ruby Rouge

And for some exciting news... it's J and my anniversary on the 15th. And to celebrate, I'm getting a new tattoo! And it's something I said I'd never do... get a tattoo for a partner. I know, I know, it's tacky and something you could live to regret. Well... stuff it. I'm getting a teeny tiny (seriously, about 0.75cm big) solid pink love heart behind me ear. I'm yet to choose which ear. We're then going out for tea to the Black Bull, a Spanish tapas restaurant, then to Mr Hyde for a cocktail. Finally, home for a glass of our special bourbon on the rocks! Can't wait!!!