Boxing Day..

Regional area style!

Being from Melbourne I was accustomed to Boxing Day crowds. I had a plan; priority list of stores and things to look for as well as the order to look for them in (most popular items to disappear first to things people don't go straight for at the stores).

Our Myer opened at 8:30 am, the other stores at 9am. I wasn't sure what to expect, are the shoppers here as dedicated (insane) here as in Melbourne? Will I be crushed by a mob trying to get in the door?

I decided to arrive to the shops earlier in case parking was difficult. Turns out there was no need. 8:10am and the car park was practically deserted! For once there was no need to hurry and plenty of time to sit and enjoy a nice breakky.

Freshly baked scones with delicious cream and jam!

I was expecting quite a crowd around the front entrance by the time Myer opened, but there was just a small handful of people milling around which was awesome.
Unfortunately being a small store there really wasn't much of a selection available and not much caught my eye-the only thing I had been after was the MJ Dot fragrance gift set which was sold out prior to Christmas.

Thank goodness for Myer's Christmas Eve online sale!
photo from sephora.com

After a quick 15 minute circle of the store I decided my time would be better spent checking whether Peter Alexander had opened.
Sadly they hadn't, but when they did I was the first in the door!

Score one! Mr Kittylove gave me the matching eye mask for my birthday.
photo from peteralexander.com.au

Score two! $10 cheaper than online as well!
photo from peteralexander.com.au

The only disappointment at PA was that I couldn't grab the teddy bear nightie at the top of my list and while I did stumble across the Alice in Wonderland nightie, it didn't make sense to pay $50 for it when it was only $37 awhile back and when I can buy other adorable nighties for $29!

With the high priority shopping behind me, I went back to Myer for a second look. I needed another sheet set as I hated the rough BigW one I had (brought late night when all other stores had closed and I realised I had no bed sheets to fit my new queen sized bed!)

Myer had 40% off Sheridan and 50% off Heritage and Vue, but the prices were still a little steep for me. So I wandered off to Target for a looksie just in case they had a sale on. They did! 50% off 1000 and 500 thread sheet sets. So I ended up with a 500 thread count sheet set for the price I would've paid for one 250 thread flat sheet at Myer. Anything's an improvement from the old Big W one, I purchased an Ikea flat sheet for less back in Melbourne a few weeks ago and it's luxurious in comparison.

By this time the crowds had started to pick up, so I decided it was time to leave the big stores and head to the smaller stores.

Forever new had 50% off the already reduced price for a few items. I picked up the last of the Karmen Biker jacket in porcelain.

Surprisingly comfy
photo from forevernew.com.au

I was ready to head home, but all the traffic in the car park intimidated me so naturally I walked into Country Road for some bargains. Thanks to an additional 25% off for members I ended up with a pair of stretch jeggings for $45. 

What's in the bags?

The haul

I left the shopping centre with an additional T by Bettina Liano dress and Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil, both from Myer.

I was pretty pleased with all my bargains today, almost everything had been 50% off or more. Then I made the mistake of adding up the amount of money I'd spent. *face-palm*

Oh well, I'd been pretty good up until now AND I'd refrained from buying this pack from Kit Cosmetics which has since sold out.

Limited Edition Power to the Pear Kit from Kitcosmetics
photo from kitcosmetics.com.au

Did you brave the crowds today?

Tis the season to be jolly!

Monday marks the start of my 8 day work week ending Christmas day. Boo!

Walking into work today bleary eyed and grumbling to myself about how wrong it feels to be at work at 7:30am on my RDO (rostered day off)-admittedly I'm a sook; when I came across a parcel that'd arrived late yesterday afternoon...




It was my KK gift!

GH Montego Bay Candle and PA nightgown

Thank you KK! How adorable is the kitty nightgown?? Coincidentally, the candle box matches my bedsheets quite well. Bonus!

I had finally had the chance to light my Rio De Janerio last night and can't wait to try out my Montego Bay candle. I think I'll light it on Thursday because I know I'll need a pick-me-up on Thursday night.

PS. If you're reading this KK, I gave Ninja some Christmas hugs on your behalf. He really enjoyed playing with the cute Santa wrapping paper. Happiness all around in the household!

Today I was given a last minute (V forgot to tell me) invite to a Christmas dinner tomorrow at a friend's house. The host had said not to bring anything, but etiquette dictates that I should never go empty handed. Keeping with the Christmas theme and last minute grocery shopping (found out at 2pm in the afternoon and going to dinner straight from work tomorrow) I decided that a White Christmas would be the easiest thing to whip up on the side while cooking dinner tonight.

Unfortunately I forgot to purchase some cupcake paper cups so I had to make two large spreads of it which I'm regretting now as it's not that easy to cut!

I'm not keen on dried fruits, particularly glace cherries (fresh cherries are the best!) so I replaced the dried fruit in the recipe with..mars bar. Hey, it was going to be unhealthy anyway given that there is 250g of Copha involved, I figured that the mars bar wasn't going to make it much more unhealthy.
It was disgustingly delicious.

Does everyone have the holidays off?

Back again

I will post about my recent trip home soon when I have some time. In short: it was great to be home, even for a few days!

It's been 24 hours since my flight landed back in QLD and I am getting homesick already. Award goes to the wonderful staff at Qantas who really did take care of me on my return flights.

I had a very embarrassing moment where I started crying like a baby when it was time to board at the airport. The staff quickly handed me some water and sat me aside while I got myself together and were very attentive during both my flights (same crew on both flights!). So 'thank you' to them, I can't believe how embarrassing I was...

On another note Ninja cat was ecstatic to see me again. Apparently he was an awful guest as soon as I was out of sight and was a nightmare to deal with. Thank goodness our staff are great and put up with him hissing and spitting at them! All they said was 'he's turned into a different cat as soon as he's with you!' as he sat in my arms and purred.

Work has been chaos again as expected and it doesn't look like I'm going to have much rest these next two days and nights.

Did everyone have a good weekend?

I may never win Tattslotto

But I really have won the job lotto.

Speaking to a close friend of mine who graduated with me reminds me just how lucky I am to be working at the place I am now.

I have supportive bosses who are more than happy to teach me and correct me when I'm wrong without putting me down. I have colleagues who I'm sure I drive up the wall with my questions at times, but they never give me attitude or refuse to help.

Sure, there's the odd staff member who's not exactly trying to include me in conversations, but is still professional when it is work related and now improving with their attitude to me once I'd made it clear I can't be bullied.

No family is perfect, but I can't see myself working anywhere else or finding another place better than this. All the tears, worry and stress I'd felt earlier this year when looking for a job, the times I'd cried with rejections and finally, when I made the decision to come here over another higher paying company: it's all been absolutely worth it.

Yes, I still groan when the alarm goes off at 6am and I savour my days off. But if I'm going to be working, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. At least, until I have to work 8 days in a row and on call for multiple clinics in the lead up for christmas..we'll see how I feel in a few weeks time!

Is it possible..

for a car to hate someone?

My car and I don't get along. In the last 4 years of driving my old car I'd only had one small accident on a stationery object.

Since taking over my parents old 4wd and moving up here, in the short 5 months I have had:

• one major scratch, 
• one dent at a shopping centre carpark, 
• one scratch (from some other driver parking too close and hitting my door) 
• and one big accident with my neighbour reversing into the side of my car as I was also reversing out of my carport.

Today as I went to start my car, the plastic part of my key cracked and broke.

Temporary repair with leucoplast at work. Sticky tape just snapped when I tried to turn the key again on my way out!

Luckily the key still works and I can lock/unlock and start the engine.

Nevertheless, I have a feeling my car is trying to send me a message.

What do you think?

It's a cracker of a season!

Today was our work Christmas lunch and Secret Santa exchange!

They also decided to celebrate my birthday at the same time as they discovered yesterday that my birthday was over the weekend, so I felt rather spoilt by the time I left.

Prawns and massive ham for lunch! (Ham not in picture!)

My wonderful boss also made an ice cream birthday/christmas cake! It's vanilla with macadamias, marshmallows, oreos, cranberries and of course, two ice magics on top with coloured sugar balls!

It was AMAZING!

Secret santa was so much fun, I love seeing what everyone gets and hoping that my recipient likes their gift. The budget was $30 max. My Secret Santa was into fitness, so trying to make the most of it I went to the Lorna Jane outlet to see if I could find an item within the budget.

I managed to pick up a singlet reduced to $20 down from $30 something and then headed to Typo for a fancy diary (she was going back to university next year so I thought a diary would be great to get everything organised!). After alot of umm-ing and ahh-ing, I settled on a navy blue buffalo diary for $10. I was very proud that I been right on target with budget. I'm not certain, but I think my recipient liked her gift!

From my secret santa I received a 6 month subscription for Recipes + plus two Revlon nail polishes (Fearless and a Quick Dry topcoat). I am very excited about the recipe subscription, I'm not much of a cook, so I'm always looking for healthy food recipes. Hopefully there's still a few naughty cake recipes in there for me to bake as well!

One of our workmates J whipped up some beautiful Rum Balls and White Christmas for all of us with the cutest christmas card attached. It's so cute I don't want to unwrap them!

Our bosses also gave us each a lovely Christmas card, mine included a message about how they were happy to have me as a part of their work family. I'm a sentimental person and I'm definitely keeping that card, it's so nice to feel appreciated. The included gift cards certainly helped too, haha.

Very spoilt today!

While at work I also discovered my order from Ambient Living had arrived. This was my first order with them, and though we had a few hiccups at the start so I couldn't get my order in time for secret santa, I have managed to get a gift for Mr Kittylove's sister in my order. I have to admit that they did an excellent job with the gift wrapping. I'm very fussy with it myself and they've done a better job than me!

Of course it never makes sense to just order one item, so I got a few gifts for myself.

Jimeale weekend bag, Glasshouse Rio De Janeiro, Glasshouse Leura (gift wrapped) and Glasshouse Tahaa minature

The Jimeale bag made it just in time for my trip to Melbourne and I'm quite pleased with it, I've already started to pack clothes inside! Ninja cat had a wonderful time playing with the styrofoam packaging in the delivery box-he was running around so much I couldn't get a picture of him with it. Whenever he flattened a foam piece, he'd go back to the box to fish out a fresh piece to play with!

How does your workplace celebrate Christmas?

3 days and counting...

Till I go back to Melbourne!

I can't wait to see Mr Kittylove and my family again, it's been a long time now. As much as I love where I work, I'm also getting a little burnt out as I haven't taken a holiday in the 6 months I'd been there. I can't even remember the last time I baked any sweets!

Mr Kittylove's family is also holding an early Christmas lunch so that I could be present. With 3 days left I'm a little behind on my Christmas shopping.

What I have so far:

• Mr Kittylove's sister

Glasshouse Leura Candle (image from candlebra.com.au)

• Mr Kittylove's mum-  No image yet as I haven't purchased it yet, but I am planning to get her a helmet (Mr Kittylove and sister are buying her a bike)

• Mr Kittylove

Peter Alexander Dino-Snore PJ set (image from  peteralexander.com.au)

I also want to get Mr Kittylove something else, but I've been at a loss. In the past I've done the wallet, watch, phone, fragrance, sweater and books. There are so many cool iPhone gadgets around but he doesn't own an iphone. So I've decided while a little boring, he'll appreciate money towards a fancy road bike of his choice or towards fixing up a second hand car when he gets one.  He's been fixing up an old car with his friends and it has him wanting to have one himself as a pet project.



As for myself, things I'm currently lusting after

Peter Alexander Miss Penny Cake Mould (image from peteralexander.com.au)
as well as the other adorable bakeware they have at the moment!

Peter Alexander Alice Nightie (image from peteralexander.com.au)

Marc Jacobs Dot (image from ldnfashion.com)

MAC Divine Desire sets, happy with the pink or coral (image from xocherrycoke.blogspot.com)

Ted Baker Sassey Dog Bobble-Matinee wallet or similar Ted Baker wallet (image from dachshundlove,blogspot.com)

What's on your list?