week in photos #006

001. I should seriously invest in some sort of notepad for work. Almost everyday I come out of there with my hand and sometimes my arm covered in notes. People at work seem to find it amusing, I find it normal as I always jotted things down on my hand in school.

002. J and I have a habit of stopping by the video store on Friday afternoons, usually for him, but lately I have gotten more into watching movies. I always grab three even though I know I will not watch all of them. I've surprised myself this week by watching 2 of them so far. 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my all time favourite movies. J had never seen it, which is crazy, so we curled up in bed on Saturday and watched it together. Always get a little sad when I watch a Heath Ledger film now. Confessions of a Shopaholic was shit. I read the book ages ago and liked it, but this film was dire. And who doesn't love Romeo and Juliet? Probs one of my favourite films ever made.

003. After missing 3 or more weeks of our traditional Saturday breakfast dates we finally made it out again. We went back to Trevino's as it's my favourite, but sadly this time wasn't as good as the first. Still want to go back for the pancakes with caramelised bananas and bacon. I had initially decided to take myself to Edward Hopper Cafe for a cup of tea and some french macarons before shopping as I couldn't convince the boy to get up and ready, but after I mentioned it he wanted to go for brekkie. Typical boy.

004. Saturdays are our lazy days, which usually means we don't use the kitchen for anything apart from getting drinks. I was craving pizza like no one's business, a big New York style slice with tonnes of pepperoni...ended up getting two vegetarian pizzas instead. And squid rings! Hell pizza has the best squid rings ever. I know they have a couple in London and Dublin, so anyone in the UK should pop in there and try it. I recommend the Cursed and Sloth, so so yum!

005. I've posted about Theobroma Chocolate Lounge at least once before and honestly it deserves it's own post. I'm not a huge coffee shop person because I hate coffee, but this place was like it was designed especially for me. They have the best hot chocolates in ChCh, and I have tried a lot. I had the hazelnut while J had the mint...one taste of his and I have been dreaming about it since. Also had my first whoopie pie after reading about them on countless blogs. Gotta say I loved it. Would like to try my hand at making some, but I'm rather lazy about baking lately.

006. Not only does Theobroma serves drinks but they have a vast selection of chocolates. I could buy one of each and be a very happy girl. I just love looking at the displays and all the different chocolates, love eating them more.

007. I was almost drooling over this window display from WildPair. Wedges are my favourite shoes for spring and summer, and autumn if it's warm enough. I'm in love with every single pair in this photo and if I had unlimited funds I would have them all.

008. I love the taste of bubble tea, but I cannot stand the tapioca pearls. I have a serious issue with slimy jelly feeling things in my mouth, and those are horrible. Luckily for me Jels has ice slushys that are amazing. I always stop there in summer for one, usually peach as it's the best flavour. On Sunday, before the cold and snow moved in, we stopped there so J could get an icy tower. I opted for a pineapple slushy. It was good but didn't compare to the peach.

009. I went shopping on Saturday for the first time in what feels like years. I had set a limit of $100, which I managed to stay under whilst at Dress Smart, then I stopped at The Warehouse for hair colour....2 pairs of shoes and a Harry Potter DVD later I left, only realising I forgot to by the hair colour. I'd been eyeing up these floral brogues for ages but always talked myself out of them. They were marked down to $6 and the last ones in my size so I snatched them up. So glad I did.

010. This is the only chocolate I bought from Theobroma. It was called marshmallow delight and I imagined it would taste like marshmallow creme. It did not. Tasted like white chocolate and nothing else. Disappointed, but at least it was cute.

week in photos #005

001. Muddy paths and well worn boots. Next time I go trekking I'm investing in some hiking boots, althought wellies would have been a good choice as J and I stumbled upon a swamp that borders the beach. Did not know that was there until we got to the top of a very high dune.

002. Updated my ipod with new music and deleted some of the songs/bands I always skip. The Airborne Toxic Event is being rotated heavily, along with Mona and Two Door Cinema Club. Still need more music, but haven't heard any new bands that hold my attention. I'm open for suggestions!

003. If you look in the corner you can see a little crab, kind of blends in with the rest of the inside, but I can assure you it is there and it freaked me out. I feel really bad about it as I thought it was full of water and sand, so I pried it open only to find whatever it is still in there with said crab. Refused to touch it after that, and because that was one active crab and I was terrified it would climb out on me.

004. Gorged myself on peanut M&Ms this week. They served as my lunch a couple of days when I was too lazy to have anything else. Really need to cut back on the chocolate, don't usually eat it much, but this week I feel like I haven't stopped.

005. View of the beach from the top of a dune. Climbing dunes is hard work and my legs were shattered after. J loves stuff like that, being all "at one with nature", I on the other hand grew up in the country and have a serious dislike for that. Got it out of my system when I was a child, now I'll take a city adventure over hiking any day.

005. We found a flag on a pole on top of the dune, which is the whole reason we climbed up there...and to get down to the beach and away from the swamp. Don't know who put it up, but it was rather tall and impressive in person.

007. As well as a beach and swamp there was also a lovely wooded area at Spencer Park. I wish wish wish I had a size comparison for this, it was bloody massive! Probably the size of my hand or larger.

Rather boring week, it was all work and one day at the beach. I find it odd that a week ago I was frolicking on a beach and today I'm sat wrapped in two blankets with the heater on as high as it will go, wearing 2 scarves, a woolie hat, and a dressing gown and there is a good covering of snow outside. The mind boggles.

week in photos #004

Posting this very late, but I was internetless from Monday afternoon until around 6pm last night. Was not best pleased with that, but I did catch up on some sleep, cuddled with the boy, and did lots of relaxing and de-stressing. Will probably do that this weekend as work has been hellish.

001. I actually hate my hair colour right now. I had it dip dyed from red to hot pink, and I loved it, but after two months of having it and doing touch ups to the pink every 3 weeks, 4 weeks for the red, I was over it. Plus the pink colour alone was $17, plus another $17 for the toner that I mixed with it to get the right colour, then another $15 for the red...that's just far too much money for hair colour IMO. So in a flash of "brilliance" I decided to go back to red, except the bleach ends didn't take the colour at all. It now looks like an ugly ombred style, red to orange with bits of baby pink in it. So much hate. Think I'll break down at some point and buy some manic panic off trademe, probably in red so I can have one shade. And I'm a lover of MP, used it when I lived in America and it's my favourite. Much better than the Fudge Paintbox hair stains that I used for the pink, that get every where and never fully wash out.

002. This is probably the worst photo ever, but I like it. J and I went to see Harry Potter on Saturday, and my god it was bloody EPIC! Afterwards we didn't feel like going home or to the pub, so we did our normal thing of getting in the car and picking a random destination from a map. We only chose somewhere in ChCh that we've never been to. Ended up at Spencer Park, on the beach in the pitch black. J wanted to walk around some of the paths, but made the mistake of mentioning the horror maze we went to and someone jumping out on us and that was enough for me. We did stay for a bit, and I took far too many bad shots of the moonlit ocean, but we had fun.

003. I spent $30 on that bottle of OPI shatter polish and I've probably used it 2-3 times. I wanted it so much when I first saw other bloggers posting pics of it, and when it finally came to NZ I bought it. I loved it when I got it, and proceeded to buy more off trademe in purple and dusky pink. Now I never use them. Stupid. Going to try and start, and I did find a white one at the weekend that I was literally dreaming about. I've gotten rather lazy with my nails as of late, which is a shame because I love nail art. Rocked some awesome cupcake and leopard nails before, need to do that again.

004. J and I celebrated our anniversary on Saturday, and had planned on cooking a big 4 course Italian feast for ourselves, but I received my IRD refund and that plan flew out the window. Instead we went to the Running Bull, where I had the best BBQ ribs outside of the South. I've had them before, and have wanted them again. J had a t-bone, which was so tender and had just the right amount of seasoning. There was so much food, J finished his off without a problem. I, however, brought home enough ribs for J and I to have as another meal. It was a good day.

week in photos #003

I'm cheating this week. I didn't actually leave the house this weekend, except for one trip to the dairy for orange juice on Sunday and a trip to the spa today. And I was at work all week, then home doing nothing of consequence. Proper old lady.

It was my birthday weekend, something I really hadn't given much thought to at all, even forgetting that it was coming up until someone mentioned it. J and I are saving money like no one's business, so I assumed I would be sitting at home doing my normal lazing about. J, however, had other ideas. While we did stay at home, he cooked me up a full English breakfast and then cooked a lovely steak dinner with salad and potatoes. He also bought me a chocolate mud cake from Divine Cakes, and surprised me with a 2 hour spa package at Erban Spa.

Spent all of Sunday playing on the Wii and playstation, then curled up and watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Also had the mum and sister come round singing Happy Birthday very loudly and off-key as they walked down the drive to our flat. Neighbours probably thought they were right crazies.

Today I was up and at the spa at 10am, well a little past 10 as I got lost. Chch is spread out and this isn't the first time I've been lost while driving in a random suburb. In fact, I've been lost more times than I care to remember. Just shows that I need to explore more of the city! Anyway, I was at the spa for an hour long facial and an hour long full body massage. It. Was. HEAVEN! If i could indulge in that every week I would. I was so relaxed during the massage I nodded off, then had to force myself off the table afterwards before falling asleep. I have never felt better, and it was without a doubt the best present ever. Think I'll start putting money away for my next visit. If you are ever in Christchurch, head over to the shops in Avonhead and look for Erban Spa!

The other snaps are just random ones from my phone, some are recent and some aren't. I literally only had 2 snaps from this week, and forgot to throw my camera in my bag for more. I use an android phone and these photos were done in the vignette app, one of my favourites. Just got a new one that I'm going to try out. I'm so addicted to the photo apps, I have like 10. Ridic!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

week in photos #002

001. I don't know why, but lately (as in the last three weeks) I have woken up every Saturday with a craving for a full English breakfast. The cravings have led to J and I having a breakfast date on Saturdays, trying a new restaurant each time. So far we've tried Trevino's (my favourite for now), The Pantry (J's favourite), and Milieu (good, but not the best). The only problem I'm having is finding new places to go.

002. Honey chicken noodles! I love noodles, and always make sure to order them when we go out for Asian. There are times when I don't feel like having a full Chinese meal and just want the noodles with meat. Enter Noodle Canteen. We've been past this place countless times and only just ventured in on Thursday, why we waited so long I will never know. This place is good and cheap.

003. <3!!! J hates when I pull the camera out of my bag because I inevitably snap him and promise that I won't upload it anywhere. I lied, obviously. He wouldn't smile for a photo if I paid him. Grumpy face aside, I do love him to bits.

004. I've been drinking hot tea like it is going out of style, so I switched it up and had a hot chocolate on Saturday. It was alright, but no where will come close to the hot chocolate goodness from Theobroma. Did combat the cold nicely though.

005. I stumbled upon pixiwoo the other night and have watched video after video. Quite surprised I've not watched them all by now. I literally spent hours watching the vids on Saturday. If you only watch one make it the contouring video, which is what I'm sporting in this pic. My makeup has never looked better!

006. These boots are the new love of my life! I'm convinced it was destined for us to meet. I had planned on a quiet weekend to get over the utter lack of sleep during the week, but had decided to pop to Postie Plus for some new foundation and hair colour. The selection was crap so I headed to Dress Smart to hit up Bling for ELF products and brushes. When I go to Dress Smart I can't just go into one store and leave, I have to pop into my favourites. So one visit to Glassons and these boots were mine for the crazy price of $20, plus if you bought one you got another accessory for free and I managed to snag an awesome handbag. Haul post coming soon.

007. J and I are rubbish at cooking on weekends. We live off takeaway from Friday night to Sunday lunch, only cooking dinner on Sunday nights (most of the time!). We hit up Noodle Canteen again for Sunday lunch, it was a toss up between that and Dimitri's for souvlaki, but I needed something quick and that didn't tie up my hands as I was chatting with my family in the States. I had the Chili Beef this time, while J opted for the Sweet Box, both were delicious.

week in photos #001

001. I'm having a hair crisis lately. it has to be pulled back for work, and when i wear my hair in a ponytail for 5 days i lose all gumption to actually style it on my days off. my usual go-to style is pulled around to the side and plaited, but today i felt like trying my hand at a messy up do. my hair is super thick, so trying to get it to stay up is a hassle...i probably have at least 10 hair grips in there. also considering a colour change, possibly purple on the ends. don't really care as long as i get my roots touched up.

002. had a wee non-clothing shopping spree today. penny lane was selling DVDs for $5 a pop so i couldn't pass these up. this doesn't show the 4 or 5 the boy bought, or the 6 he came home with the other day.

003. heard on twitter that the Mediterranean food store was open again. it closed after suffering quite a lot of damage from the earthquake in February and just reopened despite having some fairly large aftershocks recently. the quotes are from my baci chocolates that i bought there, and they are divine.

004. the is my guilty pleasure as of late. i love catchy little pop songs and this is definitely one. I've been rotating this along with Ellie goulding's lights (bassnectar remix) and passion pit's sleepyhead (starsmith remix).

005. another purchase from the Mediterranean food store, amarettini cookies! i hate almonds, but i love amaretto especially when mixed with coke. these are like a little crunchy bite of amaretto flavoured goodness.

006. crunch! i don't know when these came to New Zealand and how i missed it, but as soon as i saw them in the super market i grabbed two. re watching series one of skins, the first gen cast is still my favourite.

007. watched Friday's ep of emmerdale, well just Aaron's storyline, and teared up like no one's business. i never usually get so emotionally invested in a show, especially a soap, but this storyline has been an emotional roller coaster. and the acting! Danny Miller that plays Aaron should be in movies, seriously, he always has me crying.