Awesomesauce

Awesomesauce #1 - every lazy weekend out of town should look like the above.

Awesomesauce #2 - Dollhouse. Just started watching it, can't tear myself away, it's totally messing with my mind. I love you Joss.

Awesomesauce #3 - Ice cream cupcakes! Not cupcakes shaped like ice cream or anything, but cakes made from ice cream. As in, in the batter itself. It replaces the milk and butter and means you can make any kind of totally weird, messed up flavour combination you like. Chocolate with boysenberry icecream. Vanilla with caramel ice cream. I'm working up the courage to see how Goody Goody Gum Drops would work - yes, I am that perverted. I'm predicting melting, burning and probably badness.

Awesomesauce #4 - Sun. What is that bright, glowing, yellow ball in the sky? I haven't seen it in so long that I can't remember what we're supposed to do when we see it. Go outside? Not wear so many layers? Plan outdoor activities? Actually look forward to the coming months? Madness!

Awesomesauce #5 - Hairdye. So much fun, I'd forgotten how refreshing it is to mess around with your hair colour. Bidding adieu to my natural ginge, I've gone darker and redder. Oh la la!

Chur to the Chur

It's Christchurch, can't you tell? Sometimes I forget how much it looks like Arizona...

I was greatly amused by the exotic plants house in the Bot Gardens down there, and this display tickled me pink. Esp after walking around the Arts Centre on a freezing cold wintry day. I'd forgotten how lovely the Arts Centre is on the weekends, completely full of people shopping and buying lunch from the food carts. And squeezing through the crowds at Fudge Cottage while trying to catch the eye of the Fudge Ladies who proffer plates of fudge for the sampling. And seriously, they do the best coconut ice in the universe. That is no exaggeration. I'm pretty sure if you did a study of all the coconut ice available in every solar system in the universe, the conclusion would be that Fudge Cottage coconut ice kicks alien arse every time.

Mmm, chur to the chur indeed.

Awesomesauce

Awesomesauce #1 - The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra. I saw these guys last weekend at their concert in the Michael Fowler Centre, and it was absolutely magical. I want to be just like them when I grow up. http://tiny.cc/ukulele

Awesomesauce #2 - I'm going to Chch this week! Yay! Haven't been down for 4 months and my niece has done a lot of growing since then, she's now a toddler. Can't wait to see her and hang out with the Fandamily :)

Awesomesauce #3 - This series starts on C4 on Monday http://tiny.cc/rocked
We did a lot of work on it and it looks like it's going to be really good. It already looks much more entertaining with Rhys Darby as the presenter rather than dear old Karen Hay in the first series last year. Karen's a legend, but not exactly engaging.

Awesomesauce #4 - Having a weekend when I don't have to pack or unpack. I've been at the new place for a few weeks now, but I'm still in post-move mode and any day that I don't have to sort my belongings out still feels like a luxury.

Awesomesauce #5 - I replaced my crappy old hair dryer with a New Flash One. The future is here and it's drying my hair.

Ola Amigos!

A big ¡Ola! to King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain who have been visiting our fair shores. Why they were in NZ, I have no idea, but it was interesting nonetheless. One of my sisters was due to meet them when they visited the University of Canterbury, but that was unfortunately cancelled after a misunderstanding with another NZ university (which shall remain nameless, suffice to say their grasp of royal protocol leaves much to be desired). So, no Spanish Royals for us! *le sigh

The only member of my family who has encountered a Royal before is my Dad. He met Princess Anne at a function last year in Christchurch, and since he’s from Ye Olde Country I thought he might be rather biased towards the royal family. Ah, but my Dad is not one to be swayed by patriotism, nor celebrity. When I asked him what Princess Anne was like in the flesh he replied 'oh...sort of...Princess Anne-ish'. I pressed him for more detail and he said 'well...she's not the best looking woman'. Heh. I heart my Dad :)

As far as monarchs go (in this progressive and modern age), Spain could have done a lot worse than these guys. King Juan Carlos is the first Spanish monarch since Franco and he’s not done too bad a job. I mean, Spain’s still pretty f*$%ed up but at least he's managed to keep his job (and his head, which is a lot more than can be said for many other new monarchies – yes, I'm looking at you Mr Maximilian I of Mexico!).

(And no, the above picture is not of Juan and Sofia, they're pretty ordinary looking. It's actually of the Infanta Luisa Fernanda of Spain {1832-1897} who dressed much more like a Spanish monarch should IMHO).