Weekend

This weekend and every weekend for a while now, we've been shopping for house stuff. Doorknobs, light switches, door stoppers, window hardware, carpet, bathroom tiles, overhead lights, kitchen and bathroom fixtures.... it's a lot. But it's been pretty fun, although I have had a few small meltdowns where I get really stressed and second and triple guess my decisions.

Yesterday, between tile shopping and looking at lamps, we stopped off for a bathroom break at this place.



Is this a resort of some kind? Is that a pool? A fridge full of champagne and beer? No - it's where Iain works. Want pictures of where I work? It's an office building downtown, next to a seedy internet cafe / poolhall and even scarier pub where people have been known to throw pint glasses at passersby.

Christmas decorations

They unveiled the revamped Santa last week, complete with two huge reindeer on either side. The "new" Santa looks a lot like the old Santa, just less creepy and without the menacing moving finger they had last year.

Neighbors

When you were growing up, remember how there was always that one really mean neighbor who glared at you through through drawn curtains, had lots of cats and couldn't wait to bust you? Yeah.

"So anyway... I'll start calling the cops on those kids down the street, then order us one of those dog silencers... and we'll be all set!"

- Iain

Movember Update

Iain's "mo" is in full swing, and he's not alone. We had brunch last week with two other couples, one of whom also had a mustache. It was a little creepy.

Today we shopped for bathroom tiles and more bathroom fixtures, then rewarded ourselves with a burger from Murder Burger. I could eat 4 of those things.

The Ritz

Remember our crappy old shower? Iain came up with a great solution. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what they have in 5 star hotels.


Wondering where do we brush our teeth? The kitchen sink. Yeah.

Extreme Makeover

Farmer's department store has given their iconic Santa a makeover, only rather than just waiting until the Christmas parade to unveil his new look, they've chosen this route instead. Let's hope his new look is better than this.

Dormer!

They started building the dormer -- we're very excited. Pictured below is what our upstairs bathroom will be. The other half of the dormer will be a dressing room, which we hope will be great for resale since it can double as a home office or baby room.




If anyone has any ideas for window dressings for this window, please let us know!!!

Mo' to Love

Every November is Movember - a huge fund raising drive for prostate cancer.

Guys grow mustaches, look ridiculous, raise money. In Iain's case, he's slowly starting to look an awful lot like Brian Cranston from Breaking Bad. Stay tuned -- he has two more weeks to grow!

Viaduct Harbour

Last weekend I was still nursing a cold but we were going nuts just hanging inside the house, so we went downtown to the Viaduct for some lunch. This part of the city was built for the 2003 America's Cup and remains a really touristy area, but I still love it.

Los Angeles SWAT Team fire truck... in Auckland?!

Whenever I see a US flag over here it always catches my eye, so this blew my mind. I'm sure it's for some exhibit or show, but it's still weird.

Television

We Got Building Consent!!!!

It's been an interesting week. My department's three month "restructuring" was finally announced. The result is full job descriptions and contracts for my group, ending everyone's daily paranoia about getting laid off. It hasn't been fun -- people freaked out, jobs were questioned, some quit, some got laid off, others got promoted. Now that the dust has settled, everyone on my immediate team has the exact same positions, but our titles are changed. I'm relieved.

And on the same day, we received approval from the local council to proceed with the house! Yay!!!!!

We celebrated in style with some cough medicine and a cheap take-out dinner, since I've been sick with a cold all week. We always said we'd really do it up once we got building consent ("We'll go to the Langham for a night!" ; "We'll have dinner at The French Cafe!") but we'll do nothing of the sort. We can't afford it!

We aren't out of the woods yet -- there's now a series of building inspections that may result in more repairs and more money, but hopefully the worst is over. I'm sure I just jinxed us.

We're also getting quotes from landscapers to finish the outside. Currently, it resembles a big muddy parking lot. To really do it up right with decking, retaining walls, etc. won't be cheap, so we're exploring all the options. We have to do something, though. Wood decks? Pavers? We'll see. The deck off one of the guest rooms is finished, and it looks great. It's a really nice feature.

Spring has arrived! (we think)

Now that things have settled down for us, we've started exploring the cool neighborhoods around Auckland. Last weekend we hiked up and around a huge hill (old volcano!) in Mt Eden, which is a gorgeous old neighborhood with big, stately homes and lots of parks and gardens.

Yesterday we hit Ponsonby, meandering through the backstreets that are jam packed with really neat villas. Then we walked down Ponsonby Road so I could check out all of the stores. Ponsonby is sort of like the Kiwi version of Soho -- its super cool to walk around in, but you can't afford to live or shop there. We went into this one recycled clothing store where everything was at least $350. It's nuts, but it's fun to go to.

We capped off our walk by treating ourselves to a Monkey Fist, a miniature hamburger at a burger joint called Murder Burger. It might've been all the walking, but it was one of the best burgers I've had in NZ. They also have kangaroo and ostrich burgers, which I will NOT be trying.

For those on Facebook, you may have seen that I went on two week booze FAST (not fest, as everyone thought) to jumpstart the diet, save some money, and generally feel healthier. The result was zero weight loss and I felt exactly the same only bored. Like quitting smoking, I'm sure you have to do it for much longer to feel any real effects, but it didn't stop me from indulging in a Cosmo on Friday night and a glass of wine yesterday.

Attached are some pictures of our outings.

Halloween!

We celebrated Halloween with the season premiere of Buffy the Vampire - season six. The stupid DVD kept skipping and stalling, causing much frustration and cursing. We had about 10 Trick or Treaters, mostly kids in make-up and ripped tshirts or mom's skirt and jewelry. It was nice to see zero store-bought costumes, although this might be a sign of the economic status of our neighborhood more than anything else.