Anniversary!

We had a great anniversary. I had a job interview in the morning (fingers crossed!), then we went and looked at 4 houses, then went grocery shopping. We'd missed lunch, so our hunger got the best of us and we had a late "lunch" of battered hot dogs and champagne. I don't care what anyone says -- it RULED. Then later on, Iain made incredible filet mignon and pappardelle with a sun blushed tomato sauce.

Today I'm packing for my USA trip. Despite studying international packing under the tutelage of Iain, I am still guaranteed to screw something up. It's usually a case of packing too much of one thing ("How did I pack 14 t-shirts?") and not enough of something else ("Crap! I didn't pack any pants!").

House hunting, interviews, trips home!

This week, I have two job interviews, a flight home to Buffalo, and 5 houses to see. Talk about packing it all in! We spent another weekend driving all over, checking out different neighborhoods and homes. It's incredible how a house can look awesome in pictures, but you get a completely different vibe up close.

Here are some pics.






Tomorrow is our 3rd wedding anniversary, to be spent with a job interview in the morning followed by 3 or 4 homes to see in the afternoon. Then we'll crack open the bubbly and settle in for a nice romantic meal at home.

House Hunting!

We've started looking for a new house!

Last weekend we drove out west to the country, checking out a few places along the way. On the ride home, we happened to drive by this hideous development with the ridiculously nouveau riche name of "Mansion Court". We are obviously NOT shopping in this neighborhood...

ER

Last Sunday, after a day of house-hunting, we settled in with the cats for an evening of couch bed and back-to-back episodes of Dexter. We were just getting comfy when there was a knock at the door.

It was our neighbor (the landlord for the Americans, who left without saying hello OR goodbye!) He's one of those guys who is ALWAYS doing "home improvements" but you never see any result. A fence gets half dismantled, and never repaired. A yard gets torn up in anticipation of landscaping or paving, but it just sits unattended for months. He's a nice guy but man... We've spent entire Saturdays sitting on our deck reading magazines, while all you can hear next door are the sounds of hammering and sawing. There should be an entire second house built by now, for all the work this guy does. We're always remarking, "What the hell is DOING over there?!"

Well, turns out the guy's not skilled. He'd cut himself with a saw and was wondering if he needed a ride to the hospital. He was pretty freaked out. But a quick rinse under the tap revealed a minor cut, the type that bleeds a LOT but isn't deep. We sent him on his way with some iodine and Iain's version of bandages. I asked for a picture. Yeah, that's duct tape.

Jet City Woman

Well, I've been practicing straightening my hair almost every day, but I have a long way to go. It takes me forever and the result is not exactly desirable. It's looking a bit like Geoff Tate from Queensryche. But each time, it gets a little easier and I get a little better, so I'm hoping I eventually nail it.

Double rainbow!

It's been raining every day for over a week, but it's like most tropical storms: Lots of sun, then it POURS for a few minutes, then it stops and the sun comes back out. So we've been seeing lots of rainbows.

Louis Theroux can suck it!

This documentary was a terrifying look at the city's rougher neighborhoods, but anyone who sees it will immediately think this represents all of Philly.

Home!

I'm getting really psyched for my trip home in a few weeks! Iain's also getting psyched to fly to Dunedin, and the cats... well, they don't get to go anywhere.

We've had a pretty uneventful week, so no posts.

What the WHAT?!

I was standing in our living room yesterday around 5pm, Tama in my arms, when I looked in our backyard and saw some KID traipsing across the lawn. My response time in situations like this is abysmal. Someone could walk in and rob our home in front of me, and I'd just be standing there. I managed to say, "Um, Iain - why is there a kid in our backyard?!" Thankfully, Iain is like Blue responding to the sound of the can opener -- he raced right outside and confronted the boy.

When asked why he was walking through our backyard and not out on the sidewalk, the kid replied with a sullen, "It's too far."

It's TOO FAR?! What?! No apology, no fear, no nothing. It was like he was annoyed with IAIN for bothering him on his quiet walk through everyone's property.

To be fair, he was about 10 years old and in school clothes -- it's not like we had a gang member back there - but it's still a little disconcerting, and moreover, his whole "Wha'd I do?" attitude was infuriating.

This experience re-ignited the, "Let's just sell the house and move somewhere else already" convo, but we finally calmed down and acknowledged that we aren't ready to sell yet.

Next door, the Americans moved out. Odd to have neighbors for that long who we never spoke to, but we've now realized how good we had it. For all of our complaining about their antisocial behavior, they were excellent neighbors. No noise EVER. We're now living in fear of who will move in: A family with five kids, ranging in age from 6 months to 14 years?? A couple who also works from home but plays hip-hop music all day? A drummer? One of those people with a huge exhaust pipe on their car who likes to let the car idle in the driveway? The list could go on and on.

Hair cut!

Big news this week is my long overdue haircut and style -- the woman taught me to straighten it and and then re-curl it, so it's wavy and not frizzy. I'm just happy to have hair that looks different that doesn't involve cutting all of it off or dyeing it blonde! Confession: I look very serious in this photo because I'm concentrating so hard on lining up the camera to my face in the mirror -- I am totally embarrassed by how much coordination this took. I have a similar expression when trying to do math or when listening to someone give me directions.

To celebrate (not really), we had dinner at a local restaurant called Eight Point Two (located next door to a fish and chips shop called The Codfather). Here are some pictures. Eight Point Two has given me hope for NZ cuisine -- we have great restaurants over here, but fine dining leaves something to be desired. This place was fantastic. It was as good as some of the restaurants we used to frequent in Philly -- that's high praise!

Local News!

Fall in New Zealand

Last year I must've been too wrapped up in school to pay attention to the seasons, but this year I've really noticed it. We've had a great fall. Iain reminds me that it was also quite rainy last year, while we've been treated to some really spectacular weather this year with only a few days of rain.

After the day of rain on Friday night that lasted through most of Saturday, we awoke on Sunday to gorgeous blue skies. The perfect fall day! We hopped in the car and drove to Hallertau Brewery, a really cool restaurant/home brewery in the country. We ordered the mixed platter, which had enough food for 6 people, so we took half of it home for dinner.

When we got home, we set up Couch Bed and got settled in for the afternoon with our books, magazines, cats, wine, and some Bebel Gilberto.

Weekend!

It's POURING rain today. The rain began last night as we went to bed, so it was awesome sleeping weather, but now it's Saturday afternoon and it hasn't stopped!

Iain spent the morning going around to all our rooms and finally removing the masking tape we put around the trim when we painted everything in 2008. We were expecting it to be THEE worst job EVER but it was surprisingly easy. Some of the paint came off with the tape, so there's touching up that needs to be done, but that's it. In our next house we're hiring people to do this crap!

Last night we celebrated the start of the weekend by indulging in some cocktails while Iain watched rubgy on TV and I sat on the sofa watching Lost and Gossip Girl on my laptop. Perfect!

Tonight we're going to a going away party for one of the New Kiwis -- a woman named Abby who's moving to Sydney with her husband.