The Best Day EVER!

It was better than Christmas morning, better than my WEDDING (just kidding!!)

On Monday, September 27 at approximately 11am my iPhone 4 arrived!! My coworkers, wielding their inferior iPhone 3s, gathered 'round for what is hands down the best new product experience you can have: opening a brand new Apple product. The packaging and presentation is phenomenal, right down to the little paper-clip thingy for opening the SIM card holder. Work ceased for a few moments.

Life has changed for this internet-addicted social-media obsessed gal. Within a day I was posting Facebook statuses from the bus, checking into various Foursquare locations, Tweeting from the sidewalk and texting like crazy. Friends who already own smartphones congratulated me like I'd just had a baby or found Jesus. (only this is BETTER!!!!) Now when I attend marketing and advertising events I can be like all the cool kids!



The autospell on iPhones takes a bit of getting used to. "Skank" became "Shank" and the name "Orca" mysteriously appeared in a text to my friend Cecile. I guess there's a slight learning curve... But I've already discovered brilliant time wasting apps like Incredibooth which takes pictures that resemble the ones you get in a PhotoBooth. One click and it's on Facebook. Awesome.

Please prepare yourselves for thrilling future on-the-go blog entries like "Check out this guy on the bus", ""Funny Magazine Cover", or "I'm Sitting in a Restaurant, Iain's in the Bathroom so I'm Taking A Random Picture and Posting It on the Blog." It's gonna be great!

What are YOU doing this Saturday night? I know what I'M doing: downloading apps!!!!! I've already downloaded the essentials and a few others, including old-school Solitaire. I love you, iPhone! I think my marriage may suffer....

Winter Weekends

I think I've said this before but we've had an absolutely stunning winter. With the exception of a few freezing (not literally) days, it's been sunny and mild. And thanks to my massive down coat, I've been able to sit outside and enjoy the sun!

Tama doesn't like the cold, however, and prefers quick outside trips followed by long bouts of lounging in the sun. He's definitely not a winter kitty and would much rather have us all in the house together. Conversely, Blue is like a polar bear.

I've also sort of kind of maybe possibly started to watch rugby, or at least tolerate it. It's entertaining, to say the least. I never got to this point with American football (and never will) and still can't fathom cricket.


This morning, after I finish rewatching the hilarious Old Spice guy spots, we're heading out for a clifftop walk in Mairangi Bay. We'll make the walk to Browns Bay, have brunch, then walk back. It helps justify the hollandaise!

Kitten Cafés

Ok, so apparently in Japan you can go to a Kitten Café -- this sounds like the absolute BEST job EVER.

For Kate Brill

Hey skank,

Here's a picture of what we have in our fridge.

I hope this lays your fears to rest!!! (Although, I DO say "toMAHto sauce" in restaurants.)

More TV and Movie Clichés

#4. During a chase scene, the person being chased trips and completely wipes out spread eagle on the ground before scrambling back up again. C'mon!

#5. After an emotional confrontation where one person leaves, the other person shuts the door then leans against it - back to the door. This is almost always accompanied by looking up towards the ceiling, with a heavy sigh.

TV and Movie Clichés - part one

Iain and I are constantly pointing out those things you see on TV and in films that no one in real life actually does. Here are a few examples, seen today on episodes of SVU and Gossip Girl:

1. The woman sauntering around the man's apartment wearing his buttondown and nothing else.

2. The woman sitting at her dressing table brushing her hair at night while talking to her husband. Alt: woman sitting in bed rubbing moisturizer on her elbows while talking to her husband (oddly, this one seems reserved for the moms; you never see a single gal doing this)

3. "Surely you can't think I did this?" as an answer during police questioning. Usually followed by "... I LOVED her/him!"

I'm going to start keeping track of these. If you can think of any, please post a comment here or on Facebook.

Law and Order SVU

Is it just me or does SVU suck now? Honestly, the last few episodes I've seen have replaced decent plotlines for celebrity guest appearances. They've even tried injecting humor into the show which is just totally bizarre.

Also, I guess the writers finally realized how hot Mariska Hargitay is, and so now the show always has a scene where she just happens to play a dominatrix, a hard core lesbian, a sexy speed dater, or a slutty corrupt detective -- but it's okay 'cause it's for the plot.

The latest episode was a ridiculous dramedy featuring Kathy Griffin playing a man hating lesbian-turned-bisexual activist. Yeah.

Of course, I will continue to Tivo it and watch religiously....

Famous!

I've been in this country two years and I've been featured twice in national magazines! (this might having something to do with the fact that it's a country of slightly over 4 million people.) Here's a picture from this month's issue of MiNDFOOD. It's me with two friends at the Kiehl's launch at Smith + Caughey. Truthfully, we were just there for the free wine and samples.

P.S. They made me hold that magazine.

Slow News Day

This breaking news story appeared on page 3 of the New Zealand Herald. Come on. Page THREE?!

Tired.

My partner at work is on vacation so I enjoyed a 50+ hour week (that's not a complaint -- I just heard of another local ad agency doing poorly in this economy so I'm feeling lucky. Tired and cranky, but lucky. Ok, yeah, it's kind of a complaint.)

Iain handled all house-related chores, going down almost daily for frustrating meetings with our infuriatingly (sic) non-communicative builder. While I've been at work from 7.30am to 6pm, he's been dealing with the logistics of scheduling the carpet guys to come back and flatten the carpet that the radiator guys disrupted, calling the screen guys, emailing the kitchen chick to find out when the new sink arrives, and trying to find out why the hell we have no exhaust fans in the bathrooms! We are tired.

It's Friday night and Iain is watching a rubgy game. I'm catching up on Facebook and just wasted 15 minutes of my life watching The 30 Most Important Cats of 2009.

Here are some pictures of the radiators and carpet. What's weird is that these things, more than the kitchen install or the bathrooms, have made it all seem like a real house. Seeing the house almost finished gave me that little knot in my stomach - the first real feeling of excitement.

I confessed to Iain that I've felt negative towards the house lately, and wasn't nearly as psyched by the completed bathroom or almost-completed kitchen as I thought I'd be. I said, "This sounds awful, but I'm just sick of it." He nodded and said, "I've hated this house since June." And then we just started laughing.

Here's something strange: one of the biggest thrills has been seeing the carpeted closets. I did a quick mental search through every house and apartment I've ever lived in and realized that only two had carpeted closets. But so what, right? It never occurred to me to care about such an unimportant, arbitrary feature, but yet here I am, fantasizing about hanging my clothes in these brand new carpeted closets. Weird.

Auckland Anniversary Day!

Monday is Auckland Anniversary and the whole city gets a public holiday. This is absolutely perfect timing since we both had rough weeks. I had a positively vile 5 days in the office, followed up by two tiring nights of house meetings (builder, electrician, closet guy, tiler). Our electrician doesn't get along with our builder or Iain, so he's taken to calling me direct at work for all things lighting-related. So, we definitely could use a break.

The weather is stunning today -- I've done 4 loads of laundry and they dry on the line within an hour! (I always feel like I should be in a Jerry Bruckheimer film as I'm hanging stuff on the line -- I keep expecting to see planes flying overhead and an American flag somewhere. Maybe some Aerosmith music....)

I spent the morning cleaning our grody house - Iain is finishing up the job with a good vacuum, and then we're off for sushi and a swim! Oh, and we bought a rangehood for the new kitchen! Yay! Final days... we're almost there!

Movies:
Avatar - incredible
Drag Me To Hell - awful
The Lovely Bones - yawn
Rachel Getting Married - annoying filming but great acting
District 9 - good, original

Drag Me to Hell

It has always been a goal of mine to get Iain to watch horror movies with me. We're starting small, with a not-scary-at-all film. What we both found fascinating was our cats' reactions to the movie. We couldn't believe it.

Here is Tama, who is technically Iain's kitty. Blue is mine.

License Plates

Kiwis like their vanity plates. There’s an absolutely preposterous radio spot that features “real life” people whose business was on the brink of bankruptcy until they turned it around with... a vanity plate.

Here’s a list of plates I saw one morning on the bus. 70% of these make about as much sense as Tracy Jordan’s vanity plate.

Misti
EZ-G
NoBos
DukeH
8th Sin (on a Jaguar of course)
Liquor
Txter (pretty ballsy since it’s illegal!)
Nike01
Go300
SRFER
VW Ate
4Tarsh
Our Joy
Hefner
I SPY
14U2C
A Dove
BMW (why do people who drive BMWs always have a license plate that says the name of the car?!)
Mini (and AGAIN...)

Monday

Today was frustrating for two reasons:

1. The Golden Globes are on and I missed them because I have a j-o-b. It was agony all day!!! But I do have sick days and holiday time, so next year I'll plan better! Skype call anyone?

2. The kitchen install is actually a two day process: delivery on day one, installation on day two. So I have to wait until tomorrow to see it all. Damn it!

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.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Commentary

I know they're constantly in the tabloids and we're all sick of them, but I'm really beginning to dislike them. I thought it was ridiculous when they claimed that they wouldn't get married until gay marriage became legal. I agree with their cause - everyone should be able to get married - but then stick with it! How lame of Brad to then turn around and say that the REAL reason they aren't married is because he's terrified of going through the same emotional hell as his divorce from Jennifer Aniston. That's lame on like 50 levels. If you don't want to get married, fine - but just say so already!

I also thought the shots of Angelina in 'W' weren't so great. So there! (ok, she looked really pretty in the breastfeeding shots, and the picture of her and Maddox is cool, but that's it)

Labor Day!

It's Labor Day weekend over here (that's right - I'm leaving out the "u" in Labour). We're enjoying our day off by sanding & painting (Iain) and writing code while obsessively checking Facebook and email every 10 minutes (me). It's terrifying how addictive Facebook can be. I hate it - but I kind of love it, too.

My updated site is up, after a few weeks of finessing. It's still a major work in progress, but at least now I have something to show prospective employers. I added a client login feature that doesn't work yet, but I'll worry about that next weekend.

Our useless group project at school is over, and tomorrow we're scheduled to begin learning Flash. I am really psyched!

Last night we caught about 10 minutes of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition". What's the deal with this show? I've never watched a full episode but every time I catch a snippet of it, it's about someone who either fought in Iraq or had something to do with 9/11. Whatever it is, whoever it is, there's always an American flag and someone crying. It's completely bizarre and a little too subversive for my taste.

Once Iain finishes up some painting we're off for brunch!

Who needs Gossip Girl & Eli Stone?!?!

Slow News Day....(again)

More music videos...

Friday night we watched music videos. Iain loves Lionel Ritchie so were required to watch this in its entirety. I don't know if it's because it's so old, or if something happened in the conversion from NTSC to PAL when they shipped a copy over here, but the audio is totally out of sync. Check it out. It's HORRIBLE: