A slight variation on bullet points - a numbered list! Ending at the number I finish on! (I'm not the "title your post after you've written it" type)

Things that make me go mmmmmmmmmm (in a good way):

1. The dog keeping an eye on goings-on on the street.
2. American Dad being on the box when I thought there was only Coro, Losers and Makeovers. Yay C4
3. Alison's daily snaps. Mike won't be surprised to hear that I went to school with Alison's husband, and now I'm enjoying perving looking at their life. I also enjoyed her practice run for the fair. I'm the kind of person that doesn't practice, because all you will find is that you need more (I must be pessimistic enough to think it won't be perfect).
4. The shop. It is all full of beauty and lovely. We were expecting nothing this month, and have been really surprised at how many people have been through.
5. Ms Frou Frou giving me the idea to download Nouvelle Vague for the shop, which was just what the doctor ordered today.
6. This blog, that I have been entertaining myself with today.
7. The fact I'm going to see these fellas in a few weeks - woo!

8. I've picked up a new stockist.
9. This summer is making my children have happy memories.
10. We had a restaurant at home tonight. When I have a working camera I'll photograph these things, but it is fair to say that Finn and I made an awesome menu, complete with currency to buy the items with.
11. Oy Vey, unmasked - in the frock she got in Christchurch.
12. Cute clothes, in my shop.
13. Rediscovering that the old laptop works just fine, and the right click on it is so functional and great.
14. Wine and chocolate. Nuff said.

Hawt dawg

I don't really know what to write anymore. All the nonsense that used to fill my head and give me mindless prattle to yabber on about has been replaced with the ongoing need to think about buying a clothing rack, make some ads, create order forms, do gst returns, order more hats and so on. I'm hoping that as the year progresses, and the boys are back at school and kindy, and I become a more experience retailer, I'll come up with a few techniques to allow my brain to wander. Or maybe I've grown up and all the nonsense has left the building. I bloody hope that isn't the case. I shall have to develop a P addiction to keep myself interesting.

Valentine's Day lurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrve

Christmas came very quickly to us at the shop. Very quickly. We barely managed to do anything decorative for it, apart from fill about a squillionty zillion online and wholesale orders.

Now I need some inspiration for Valentine's Day. Should I dress a fat baby as cupid and suspend it in the window? Or fill a small paddling pool with jelly and get some pretty people to wiggle in it? Should I print some undies with some loving quotes (I love the fact that Oy Vey makes cupcakes that say "txt me")? Go on, get creative, and help a sista out.

Is Facebook killing blogging?

Facebook has made my brain for writing all bloody "Martha is...", so in the spirit of the Facebook attention span of a newt, my bullet points will be an homage to the "is"

Martha:

is frightened that Britney really is losing it
is wondering when Tom Cruise is going to say "just joking!"
is inundated with work again, after a slight breather
is wondering how come Jon Stewart is back, but can't be bothered finding out if he has writers or what
is quite often wondering things without time to find them out, even with a simple Google search
is looking forward to receiving loads of boxes of goodies this week for the shop
is intrigued by this band on C4 who look really old. Hey! They're Radiohead! Must buy it
is rambling off into bed before beginning to speculate on something really fascinating like J Lo's arse.
is wondering if anyone will notice that I haven't added bullet points. I've said it before, I'll say it again, life is a freaking rollercoaster.

A very jolly day indeed

I woke up a bit seedy today. We had the neighbours around for a bbq last night, and I got a bit carried away with le vin. It worked out very well though, because I negotiated with Glen that he would mind the shop today, and I'll do it tomorrow, and then it turned out that I didn't really feel too seedy at all.

So, between boys carrying on as they do (ie constant chatter, questions, demands for food and toilet trips), I managed to finish of On Chesil Beach, and spend way too much time perusing Hel Looks (found via Melissa), and baking a chocolate cake to act as a medium with which to eat the remainder of Oy Vey's chocolate frosting (recipe for frosting: take a whole lot of impossibly delicious and rich ingredients, mix together, eat in obscene amounts).

And we've just watched Old School. Will Ferrell can make me laugh just by existing, so I enjoyed it in a very chocolate cake gorged sort of fashion.

Yurgle yurgle bork bork bork

I promised drunk blogging before the summer was through, and I can half claim success. I've shared a very nice (mystery) bottle of Pinot Gris with Glen, so I'm an itty bit lagered, but not really. Ms Hubris got me onto vineonline when I needed something bubbly, and we're working our way through the latest order. The Pinot Gris we're enjoy is this cleanskin, and what can I say, it is nice and tasty. Is there a trick to knowing what you're drinking when you're drinking a cleanskin? Like with Popbitch where they drop hints? Like "this travolting star likes to pash men when his attractive blond wife ain't looking".

See how I can bullshit post when I haven't got too much work on - GIVE ME A BLOODY LOTTO WIN UNIVERSE.

And RIP Heath Ledger, you were far too young and far too hot to die.

NOT FAIR

My one small joy these days (tv wise) is the fact there is a new series of Girls of the Playboy Mansion on. Last night I spilled tea on the remote, tonight for the first time, E! is demanding a PIN number to watch the girls. No remote. No girls. Boo.

Harry Potter and the Weasley one and Hermione are severely lacking Kendra, Holly and Bridget's charms. Seriously lacking.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

We flew out of Nelson this afternoon, and as we walked to the plane I commented that it is like a tropical island there, all hot and balmy and hot and sticky and hot. Well, fo' shiz, Wellington has pulled the exact same weather stunt, and I am not coping. This is climate change's revenge for all my griping about so-called global "warming".

So I'm a bit hot and bothered and bah humbug. Also, I am relaxed and chilled after a very amazing weekend away. Hot and bothered relates to having to return a house instead of a ritzy resort with a pool, and clean white towels, and living la vida loca whilst drinking crisp sauvignon blanc and eating cake and sipping coffees and having general holiday blissedoutedness.

When I am very, very, very, very, very, very wealthy, I will make a special point of being on holiday at ALL TIMES.

And here was me wondering what to do with my spare 10 brazillion

I think I've found the solution here.

Up to my elbows in shit - for reals!

Lesson: (with bullet points, since they're so effective at conveying important facts)

• Perhaps you shouldn't rely on 5 year olds to remember the oft repeated "don't put too much paper in the loo, it will block".
• Swishing the toilet brush around won't do much.
• Using a small vessel to remove the toilet papery water will make the entire unblocking procedure less wet in the long run.
• Don't feel the need to adhere to the above point until at least halfway through the de-blocking. Many splashes around the place provides an awesome chance to totally sterilise that bathroom you've been meaning to clean.
• Don't be afraid to undo things on pipes that look like only plumbers should undo. Life was meant to be a rollercoaster.
• Tongs are convenient for turning sausages on bbqs, and also for removing wedged loo paper and other assorted detritus (ahem).
• Wheelie bins are perfect for discarding aforementioned tongs.
• STAND BACK! That shitty water will make a bee-line for you as it gushes through.
• Thank the sun for being nice and hot, and warming the water in the hose, so cleaning the deck up isn't so unpleasant.
• Go and spend the $80 saved on a plumber on things that make you feel better, like perhaps therapy, or a babysitter.

Holy crap

I'm back at the coalface, grappling with mini t shirts and the like. It is raining today, so I'm not feeling too much like I've left a lovely sunny day for a job.

Oy Vey left last night - boo - you couldn't ask for a better houseguest. Hello! The girl cooks cake for a living and shops like a woman possessed. Also, I never witnessed her say "no" to a drink. Fine credentials my friends. She also tolerated me asking her every two minutes if she has tried pineapple lumps, vegemite, milk biscuits, l&p, Crunchie bars, Clinkers, lamingtons, custard squares, pavlova, hokey pokey icecream, passionfruit syrup, mussels... all of which we introduced her to. I'm now on a very slight health kick, that involves staying well clear of all the above foods for 2 years.

Oy Vey!

I have a blog pal sleepover at my place. It is all cute jammies and pillow fights and gin. Well, it is all gin and wine and vodka and chocolate and pastries and cake... it is a lot of fun hosting a chef.

Ms Oy Vey arrived on Friday bearing insane amounts of candy for the chiddlers, who can frequently be heard demanding their "goody bags". Yummmm. I have scoffed quite a few Nerds and fried egg lollies and all the delicious Combos myself. We churned through a few bottles of delicious wine with our dinner on the first night, and Oy Vey has managed her jetlag amazingly well.

We hit the town on Saturday, checking out all the important sights around Wellywood. Te Papa, the waterfront, the Ruby sale. In the evening we sat in the sun and indulged in Feijoa and Pear Vodka cocktails. Mmmm. And lollies.

Yesterday we took off to the Wairarapa and cruised around a few vineyards. Without too much effort the $30 bottles of wine started to seem like the bargains. Ahem. Frugality starts in February. We made a leisurely return journey home today, via a mooch around Greytown. Oy Vey has spent the afternoon baking us enough food to keep us fat for about 17 years.

I really can feel all the stress of last year falling away.

Painted Love

Well, the lounge is white. White like the shop. Black White in fact. It is really strange. We're living in a modernist nightmare/dream. Once all the clutter returns I think it will be nicer.

Not much else to report. Went camping at my parents house in the Wairarapa (so not entirely camping in that we had ready access to loo, fridge, mattress...). It was great fun though, and we got rained on, and the tent held up fabulously. At some point in the future we'll try it again for reals.

While in the Wairarapa I ordered a pretty frock to wear to a wedding we're off to in a couple of weeks. It arrived today, and it is awesome. I think it will definitely look nice with one of the *ahem* 4 pairs of shoes I bought from Ebay. Mind you, two of the pairs of shoes are boots for winter, and one pair is white. It has given me something to look forward to this winter. White boots! I'll be like a freaking princess.

Ms Oy Vey arrives tomorrow, and I'm very much looking forward to showing off lovely New Zild to her. We're going down to Christchurch on Wednesday, and while we're there we will see Minisnap and Ghost Club play at the Dux de Lux.

And now I must go and help erect a new bed.