Learning

My Dad always says "the sun will come up tomorrow" and he's right. 

But "even sunshine burns if you get too much".

How terribly sad is that?!

Found on instagram

Boobs

This is a perfect quote for me and my Valentines Day!

Hope there was lots of love and laughs over your weekend xx

29/31

My friend over in London sent me this clip and I just had to share.

I worry that ye olde food blog has taken a turn into bitter single 30-something hood, but this is too good not to post. It totally gets me.

I am 31 at the moment and this rings so true. At 29, the world was my oyster. I was embarking on an exciting new journey and starting a new life and career in Melbourne. Fast forward two years, and well . . . in the words of Garfunkel, there's nobody left!

I'll be back with my decadent chocolate cake recipe over the weekend.

Food is good for the soul. Not so much the waistline or that bridesmaid dress I have to squeeze into by December.

A fairytale in the making

Who believes in fairytales?

Let me share a story with you . . .

I got a flat tyre over the long weekend and had no idea what to do. Normally my Dad would be able to fix it or now that I'm in Melbourne, I'd call on my housemate to help a sister out. But he's in Bali and my Dad's in the Rads and the hours of daylight are limited after work.

I don't normally need a car during the week as I can easily walk to work and the train station is at the end of my street, but I've just been invited to a fan-say ladies lunch on Thursday and needed the car for the occasion. I wasn't going to turn up with a sweaty brow and smelly pits at this shindig. No siree.

So, I youtubed 'how to change a flat tyre' yesterday and felt empowered to get my strong on.

The light was fading by the time I got home so I turned on my hazards and got to work emptying the contents of my boot. 

I had everything laid out neatly when a dashing young man stopped at his front gate on the way home from work and asked if I was okay . . . did I need any help?

Fiercely proud, determined and independent, I started with 'Oh thank you so much, but I'm going to give it a crack. I've never done it before, but I've googled it and should be fine . . . '

Then I faltered . . . 'Is it hard? Will I be okay? Surely I can do it on my own? Or not? I'll let you know if I need any help . . .'

And I caved 'Well, if you'd like to help, I'd love you to. Only if you want to though, are you sure? Thank you so much.'

He dumped his stuff and came to the rescue. Did I mention he was very good looking?

I kind of stood there helpless, holding my iPhone torch as close to the tyre without getting in the way (I was totally in the way). It was all very hot and sweaty work, he was down lying on his chest, pumping the jack, cranking the L shaped thing. So heroic.

We chatted about work, how I'd been living just two doors down for about a year - he, only a month. Just small talk.

Then we struck a stumbling block when one of the nuts on the tyre was different to the other three - it happened on all four tyres. Turned out the L shaped thing needed a special attachment at the end to fit that special nut. I found it in the boot, phew. Saved the day, I think he was impressed. (Do you like how I turned that around to be being the hero?!)

Anyway, I was able to flex my muscles and lift the new tyre into place - not without a struggle, I might add. I was very appreciative and at this stage, quite dirty (why couldn't I have washed my hair that morning? Or worn my super sucker-in-erer leggings instead of my really-thin-shows-all-the-bumps ones?).

I thanked him for his efforts and said he knew where to find me if ever he needed a cup of sugar. 

And we both went on with our lives.

Only once I was back inside my house did I remember a joke I'd had with my housemate earlier that day. She offered to try and get home early to help with the tyre, I said don't worry, I'm determined to do it on my on and who knows . . . I might meet my future husband!

So I rang a friend to work out what to do next. He wasn't wearing a ring, he was dressed very well and ever so handsome. And what lovely manners! Worth a crack!?

I rushed down to BWS to buy a bottle of Pepperjack Shiraz and turned to my present box (everyone's got one of those, don't they?) in my wardrobe to find a notecard to attach - in case he wasn't home. 

And look what I found in my Vanity Fair collection. Is this the most perfect card, ever!?

I taped the card (signed 'Cheers, Kate from #41') to the bottle and headed down the street to say thanks. (Props to Alice for not letting me change my outfit, wash my hair or apply lipstick. That would've been OTT. Good move).

I knocked, but no answer. I think I heard the shower going.

So I left it on the doorstep - out of the way, but hopefully visible next time he walks through the door.

The rest, my friends, is now in the hands of the Gods!

So we wait.

My housemate walked past this morning and said the bottle was gone. My guess is it's either been stolen, or his gorgeous, successful, perfect girlfriend has picked it up and used it in a beef bourgignon without telling him.

Regardless, it was a nice thing to do. Good manners never go out of fashion. That's what Tina told me anyway.

So there's a little bit of excitement for your average Tuesday night! If he gets in touch, I'll let you know. You will all be invited to the wedding!

Disappearing acts

Got the surprise of my life today when I opened my afternoon mamamia update.

I seriously thought one of my friends had taken an email I'd sent to them from earlier this year and published it for all to read . . .

"I was dating a guy for a while, and it seemed to be clicking along nicely. He talked about long-term stuff, he told his friends about me, he even introduced me to his sister.
And then he got abducted by aliens. Or fell off a cliff. Or died in frozen aisle of the supermarket. I’m not sure what happened, but he completely disappeared. As I like to call it, he did a Ghosty.
One minute he was inviting me over for the weekend, the next minute, poof! He’d turned into a ghost. No more calls, no more messages. No responses to the voice mails I left (just to be clear, I was extremely far from stalker territory. I was very restrained, considering I wanted to beat his door down just to kick him in the shin and run away). Our plans for the weekend were left hanging in mid-air. I still don’t know if he actually died. We weren’t connected on any social media, so I was left typing his name into Google to see if any obituaries came up.
For an extremely mild-headed girl, I was absolutely livid. Any excuse under the sun would have made me a lot happier than a Ghosty."

Words from my soul sister. Lucy Gransbury, you speak to me.

I've pretty much detailed the exact same experience to my friends across the country - here's looking at you Beth, Alice, Sally . . the list of victims is extensive. Apologies to my friends for these explosions of dating diarrohea.

They'd had it from me on numerous occasions these last few months. The same heartbroken emails, teary phone calls and texts of complete dismay. "How did it happen again?!"

Some of these boys are outlined here for your reading pleasure. But there have been more losers since March. At least three . . .

Seriously dudes, why can't you man up?

Take Lucy's advice and come up with an excuse - as lame as it is - and have the decency to end it. Don't leave me hanging. 

Read her article here. I LOVE it!

In the meantime, who's free tomorrow night? I've had some space cleared in my diary ...

*** Update 24 June 2014: I had breakfast with a friend on the weekend and she suggested that perhaps I should tone things down - we don't want my future husband coming across this post and mistaking me for a psycho, bitter single girl. So I've removed the specifics and names - I did Media Law at uni, I should know better than to slander! 

Yu are the best

Yu have changed my life.

Yes Yu. No, not you. Yu.

Meet my new favourite lipstick. The pink colour is perfect and the pencil goes on like a dream.

My friend Melissa gave me Yu for my birthday and I in turn gave Yu to my Mum for Mother's Day.

It's a totally different pink on her - quite hot pink on me, but dark pink on Mum.

It's a winner. But really, when has anything Nars ever not been a winner?

Yu complete me.

However, when I'm going on a date, I do steer clear of pink lippy. Just in case, you know, as my Mum would say, I "get lucky"

So I've found myself adopting a love of nudes lately, a la Kim Kardashian. Have been rocking the Chanel Rouge Allure 'Indecise' like a boss lately. Thanks for the introduction, JB.

Makes me sound quite active in the dating stakes, doesn't it?

If only it were true . . .

#usinglotsofpink

#wishthenudewasrunningoutfaster

Wine time, or vodka even

 

TGIF ladies! We made it!

 

Heading out with the girls tonight and I'm especially thirsty. Dashing home from work to slick on some lippy and slip on some heels. Luckily my morning blow dry has *almost* held.

 

Loved this quote I found on the sheshopped instagram the other night. That Lucy Cornes is a crack up!

 

The mood I'm in, I might need my friends to confiscate my phone . . . #trouble

 

Happy weekend lovers xx

 

PS. Go the Power! We're having a Mexican Showdown party to celebrate the first game at Adelaide Oval tomorrow. I'll share the famous pulled pork recipe with you next week . . . if Liam lets me!

Couldn't have said it better myself

(If only sound worked on this!)

 

This dating game is ruthless! And tiring. And expensive.

 

It's been a fun summer, but seriously, where is he?

 

There have been a few candidates along the way, let's recap:

• The weirdo with the bag of chocolates keeping warm in his pocket that he produced as a gift for me (weird, but they were Lindt so . .  .)
• The dude with the lisp who was so lovely but reminded me far too much of my brother (so pashing was way out of the question)
• The English guy who liked long {awkward} pauses and wore sneakers with socks
• The catch of the year who I never met even after four weeks of texting (I'm starting to think he never existed - just call me Casey Donovan)
• The dude who drank coffee, and only coffee - look, I like coffee but I'm so much more charming and witty and gorgeous after a few vinos
• And most recently, the perfect guy (sigh) who turned out to be the biggest turd in the world (insert expletives here)

 

I even looked this up this morning, out of pure desperation, but my mother would kill me.

 

The time has come to turn to the sisterhood - surely you must have wonderful, eligible, charming male friends out there?

 

My friends are having their first 'Bring a Friend Friday' drinks at The Carlton this Friday in the city, and I invite you to a) come along and b) bring a delightful male guest! We're all new to Melbourne and are keen to broaden our friendship group - it's very Adelaide centric at the moment an it's time to adopt new peeps to the fold!

 

There will be other singles there (that's the good thing about this city, I'm not the only one!) and it's sure to be fun. Beats sitting on the couch on your own eating a whole block of chocolate and watching online episodes of Real Housewives of Melbourne (because that's not what I did at all last Friday night . . .)

 

Let's talk, friends!

 

PS. How GOOD is Real Housewives of Melbourne!? #carcrashtv #loveit

 

UPDATE

 

And here my friends, is the extended clip . . .

 

 

If only for a second

 

Total tearjerk moment here, friends.

 

I love this!

 

xxx

Pucker Up

I'm always on the hunt for clever ad campaigns and love what Burberry has done with Google recently.

Maybe it's because I'm a romantic at heart, or maybe it's because I'm a proud owner of a new Burberry trench (which I must add, I got dirty with makeup today - any tips for how to get it off the collar? Grrrr!)

Check this out . . .

Isn't it sweet?

You can read more about it on the Google Blog here or check out the Burberry Kisses website here.