Autumn/Late Summer Television Watching

Shows that I'm hooked into...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1837642

REVENGE
Set in the affluent Hamptons, Revenge is pure eye-candy for the snob in me. I have real estate envy on the main character's ( Emily Thorne's) beach front cottage. The plot is not too bad either and after two episodes, has me hooked in already..
Monday, TV2 9:30pm

http://www.hollywoodlife.com/2011/10/31/desperate-housewives-8x06-recap-pics

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

Half a decade ago, my favourite tv shows to watch were Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and Lost. However, New Zealand soon got invaded by the sudden influx of C.S.I and Criminal Minds-esque shows, then along with the Screen Actor's Guild strikes in Hollywood circa. mid 2010, good TV shows were hard to find. The ones I watched became dull, boring, predictable and pretty soon I turned to YouTube for new blood. But six years on, Desperate Housewives is finishing up its final season with what promises to be a great finale.. and so far I'm liking it.

Monday, TV2 8:30pm.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1536998400/tt1826940

NEW GIRL

29 year-old school teacher Jess suddenly finds her self single and dating again.... wait. 

Is this a biography of my life? It's pretty spookingly close to my own tragi-comic year.

I looove Zooey Deschanel (see 'The Happening' with her in lead with Mark Walberg) and I love this show so far.

Channel Four, Tuesday 8pm

http://www.throng.co.nz/files/u4208/goGirlsS02.jpg

GO GIRLS
Not bad for a New Zealand drama. The main character Kevin is not bad on the eye either and Anna Hutchison, bearable to watch.
TV2, Tuesday, 8:30pm.

http://austenprose.com

DOWNTON ABBEY

I am a sucker for a good historical drama and Downton is set in an old English manor around the First World War. I love how this show explores the social classes of old-England and its preoccupation with ridiculous and fastidious etiquette. Worth buying the box set and settling in to watch this one dreary winter.

TV2, Tuesday, 8:30pm.

http://img.poptower.com/pic-53594/once-upon-a-time-abc-tv-show

ONCE UPON A TIME 

I don't know. Is this going to be whimsical nonsense? The premise of the show could turn the plotline into the "cheesy" category. Fairytale characters living in modern times, not knowing their true identity? The second episode has barely scraped by on the watchable radar. Time will tell. 

Thursday, TV2 8:30pm.

mirandahartfan.tumblr.com

MIRANDA 

I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon for this one, but this show calls for a LMAO comment.

I'm not particularly addicted, but every time I watch it, I find myself LoLling- eek I said that ghastly word.  Miranda Hart is a comedian, a giant, and a huge personality. Her terrible blonde friend in the picture, is from Smack the Pony- a show I loved in Britain. 

Thursday, TV One (I know) 9:30pm.

What are your favourite shows?


Budgie xo

Happy Valentines Day!

Roll on the violins... no Valentines for me this year.

But what is better than receiving a gift?  Giving a gift.

Hand baked chocolate biscuits, baked and given in a recycled box.
Instagram picture.

Ma Higgin's Cookie Dough

I've always wanted to buy the frozen cookie dough tubes, slice them up and bake them until crunchy warm and gooey inside. 
The summation? Not bad.

Lush Bubble bar

Worth waiting the year for this Valentine's edition bubble bar. Frothy, long-lasting bubbles running under cold water at first, Then add in your hot water. Strawberry and Vanilla.

Hipstamatic Picture.

Nails: Essie's Smokin' Hot. Smoldering Smokey Dark Purpley/Gray.

Rose ball hung from my windowsill and wreath hanging from my front door. On sale post-Christmas $4 Farmers.

And lastly, I'd like to share with you my first EVER Valentines card. When I was fourteen years old, a geeky boy gave this to me. Go on, read it...

AND then there is the inside...

Wait for it...

I was fourteen.  And traumatised. This was not even my boyfriend. Horrified I was.

Well, I kept it for a laugh obviously.

Next post: Autumn television, the newest shows I'm hooked into.

Budgie xo

The Perfumerie

Taylor Swift’s Wonderstruck

Just look at this bottle… it is gorgeous. And yes, it the stuff made of my whimsical teenage dreams: trinket charms, Taylor Swift in a princess dress… it takes me, unashamedly, back to the days of Claire and Leonardo in Romeo And Juliet. 
Described as “..a floral perfume with fruity tones on a wooden background”. Yes please! “Top notes of raspberry, dewberry, green tea, freesia and apple blossom?” SOLD. Don’t forget the sweet vanilla along with sundrenched honeysuckle and white hibiscus. Notes of golden amber, musk, sandalwood and peach are in the base. 
There is also something coconutty about the lingering afterscent too that leaves me dousing myself with this good stuff all summer long.

Chloé Love

A classic. This bottle is so sophisticated and reminds me how to be a grown-up. I picture myself in a pinstriped suit walking Parisian streets as I gingerly spray this onto my wrists. 'Love' is a feminine and sophisticated floral composition, described to be powdery and soft. Blended notes of orange blossom, pink pepper, iris, lilac, wisteria, hyacinth, heliotrope, powdery musk, talc and rice.

Predominately it is the talc, musk, iris and hyacinth that envelopes me.

Narciso Rodriguez For Her

Smells like wee pink smoker lollies. Yum! Notes are: Musk, Vetiver, Orange Blossom, Osmanthus, Vanilla, Honey Flower, Amberlyn, Solar Musk. This is my second bottle.

Lush Tuca Tuca and Imogen Rose

Tuca Tuca is whimsical with a fantasy violet accord. As it settles, you get hints of jasmine and vanilla, too. Perfect for my current violet obsession.

Imogen Rose is Rose Absolute. A herbally concoction for both of these fragrances as you would expect from Lush. I do love the smaller Tuca Tuca tube though.

Escada Collections and full-size Moonsparkle

Summery and youthful. Although I find Escada fragrances always slightly sickly and floral, that the scent lasts all but a nanosecond on your skin and that they all have slightly the same notes- they do remind me nostolgically of my teenage years and the first perfume I ever owned was from Escada- something strawberryesque.

Jennifer Aniston

http://www.glamfull.com

Liquid Gold. I could die happy bathing in this everyday. If only I grabbed a bigger bottle? It’s first on my list to purchase next month in Sydney. Jennifer you are so beautiful… your fragrance too. She wanted a fragrance that smells like California in the summer evening: Jasmine and Gardenia. However, some people have described this as eau de toilet freshener.

Top notes are citruses and rose; middle notes are jasmine, violet and lily; base notes are musk, sandalwood and amber.

Vera Wang’s Lovestruck

I have been waiting months for this bottle to hit our shores, and was disappointed when it did. Swooping down onto the perfume counter last week at Farmers, I eagerly clutched this prize bottle in anticipation and feverishly sprayed it up and down my arms… and was left unsatisified. Even though it is limited edition, I still did not feel the need to purchase it straight away. Maybe my second encounter will change my impression.  Has anyone else tried it?


Budgie xo

The Freaky Moment

I live by myself and I have found it neither to be financially viable nor healthy for my mental stability to live by myself for any further long length of time... and pretty soon I will get a flatmate. There are times I worry my habits are becoming detrimental to my own mental health.

Sure, there are all the quirky habits everyone has.

1.  Making and drinking your morning coffee in your underwear in the kitchen
2. Being completely absorbed in your own routine in whatever order you want to do it
3.  Not closing the bathroom door
4.  Shamefully leaving your place in a messy state just because you can…

But then there are the weird ones.

You know when you’re in that freaky zone of disarray. For me it’s laid back on the couch, leg over the backrest, coffee cup on the ground, toast crumbs on the plate balancing on my tummy, legs spread in stubby shorts with the undie/ groin exposed for all the world not to see.

I think to myself … What would I now do if a flatmate walked in from their day at work?  “Ahh.. excuse me for a moment. Nothing to see here… Go on, walk around me.. carry onto your bedroom...I will holler out when I have straightened myself out and I’m decent again. Sorry about all this “. *points to her ‘situation’ *

Do I need reprogramming?  I am becoming increasingly aware that I may have developed some antisocial habits and have become obsessed with To-Do Lists.  But they keep me balanced, I stay in-check, self-motivated and they give me something to do. Recently my friends chuckled when I told them I even have a list of things to do when I have nothing do. “It’s my ‘What to Do When I Have Nothing to Do’ list .. What’s wrong with that?” I asked as they snorted .. “Oh yeah, I see your point.. that is weird…” suddenly self-aware of her madness.

However, I am not alone in writing lists of things that make me happy. Along with Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Gratitude Journal’ (which I truthfully find both simultaneously nauseating and fascinating), there has been Gretchen Rubin’s  ‘The Happiness Project ‘ to keep me sane. Gretchen pursued happiness in her year-long journey by starting to write down things that make her happy. And that is exactly what I did.

Please tell me that you have your own freaky zone.

Budgie xo

Apricot Square

Returning from Christchurch, I now know why New Zealand has the nickname the Shaky Isles. Two earthquakes woke me last night, the cupboards rattled and the china shook.

To calm my own and my great aunt's nerves, I made a nice slice for our cups of tea. This square is another family favourite and appropriately enough, given to me from my great aunt a long time ago. She assures me that I did it justice, so here it is..

Apricot Square

A page from my recipe book....

I am so impressed with the perserverance, fortitude and comradeship of the people in Canterbury. Christchurch is such a beautiful city and it is pleasing to see hundreds of contractors rebuilding the 900 currently condemned buildings after the September 2010 and February 2011 quakes. In total 181 people were killed in the second quake.

Walking around the city today, there are signs everywhere of the horrific destructive forces that the quakes have also tolled on the buildings. The inner city's new 'Restart' area is an indication of the true Canterburian spirit. The army has kindly donated countless cargo containers for the shops to set up their business in again. The main street developers have brightly painted and refurbed each container with glass frontage and garden/paved entrances. It is worth a visit just to see such great innovation and despite the constant shakes, I would not be put off visiting again.

Budgie xo

Gardening

I am no gardener. My gardening experience consists of a 2x4m plot at the bottom of my stairwell, a few balcony planters and a brief past affair with compost, clay soil and fertiliser. However, the small amount of tips and tidbits I have picked up have been invaluable.

From the ambitious (growing tomatoes from last summer's seed) to the monotonous task of watering (rain showers do not cut it water-wise), I am sharing my experiences with you...

Mint needs to be potted. Too many times, I see a garden over run with mint. The problem with mint you see, it is a root- so it is extremely hard to dig out if you are over run with it. This pot was planted with another herb. I completely forgot about planting mint in here last summer, and it started to regrow an entire year later.  Leave mint in pots.

(L-R) Parsley, Lavender, Broccoli, Gardenia (bottom),Rose Bush (centre), Daisy, White Kale

Kale - plant in April, ready for winter. Purely decorative, sweet and pretty but also really hardy through the winter. The bright white contrast on dark, rich winter soil is strikingly beautiful.

Lavender - plant in Spring. Fairly sturdy through winter. Mine has successfully been repotted onto my drier balcony for summer.

Tomatoes - a small miracle has occured. Despite many of my own thoughts of abandonment and those visitors who viewed my dismal looking week seedlings and their suggestions to abort this endeavour,  my tomatoes have finally started to flower and flourish... Yay! 

Was I too ambitious to grow tomatoes from seed? Yes. But there will be a huge feeling of accomplishment once they are finally fruiting. I am hopeful. Small yellow flowers are a good sign that your plant will fruit.

Broccoli - winter. Not recommended for planter boxes. I would suggest you plant these into rich, dark soil in the depths of your garden.

Yuccas - Soo easy to repot and replant. Just take a cutting from the baby sprouting at the base of any yucca. Keep the trim moist wrapped in cloth/newspaper for up to three weeks, then bang it into rich, moist soil in a pot. Be careful of stem rot, this will look like yellow leaves in the centre of the cutting and leaves will easily be tug out. There really is no cure for this, so instead I suggest you take three/four cuttings to ensure that at least one is viable.

As for my tomatoes- the fruits of my arduous labour...I will keep you posted.


Budgie xo

Festival Chic

I have attended enough outdoor music festivals in the UK, Belgium and New Zealand for them to be put on despite terrible weather. Without becoming one of the countless wee girls stranded, with no friends, muddy, soaking wet in a dress and jandals on supposedly on 'one of the best nights of the year', make sure you prepare yourself.

Festival Tips:- 

1. Go with the rain, don't fight it, have fun

2. Gumboots and ponchos are a must

3. Sunscreen, water and a hat- if you are lucky with warm weather

4. Drink through it, alcohol can help!

5. Go with like-minded people

Get to know where the toilets are and any other amenities you might need like a clean bathroom, good food stalls and a meeting place for your friends.

Unfortunately a lot of concerts especially festivals, aren't held in big cities but in smaller residential areas or in the middle of the country. Cell phone towers are often jammed with the sudden large quantity of people, so don't count on the fact the you can text / ring to meet up with people. Organise meeting spots prior to going. 

Likewise, take enough cash with you and purchase gumboots and ponchos before leaving home- they often sellout and you don't want to be queuing either. If you are tenting, take loads of rubbish sacks for wet/muddy clothes or these can be even used as ponchos if you're stuck.

Have fun!

Look forward to getting clean. I love this sweet orange and tangerine soap at Lush. All profits are donated to the Sea Shepherd, anti-whaling cause in Antarctica.

Sea Shepherd Australian Director, Jeff Hansen says “During its past seven campaigns, Sea Shepherd has saved the lives of over 2,781 whales and has exposed illegal whaling activities in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary to the entire world. Last season, 863 Whales were saved from the brutal harpoons of the whaling fleet.

“During the 1900s, the majority of soap was made from whale blubber, making the launch of Lush’s  Divine Whale soap even more significant. Lush’s strict no animal testing policy and its dedication to creating ethical, sustainable cosmetics makes us proud to stand alongside them.”                          - Lush.   




Budgie xo