Polaroiding

A Short Break

I will be going a short break with my friend Cam and sister to Vietnam and Singapore this Friday. It's a welcomed break because I'm sick of work. Can you believe I've worked enough overtime and call outs to get me out of work for 8 days? That's in a period of 7 weeks. Nasty!

I have not prewritten any posts except for one and I don't plan to at this stage. I will update on my spending after I come back. Yes I am still keeping a record and will do while I am on holidays!

Well hope everyone has a good break too even if it's just a weekend or a break from work!

Photos Of The Garden

Even though we're just getting to autumn, some plants are still green and flourishing.

This picture was converted using the Poladroid software. I can't rmb the blog that I saw it... but it's a nifty program and it's free here.

The original photo

This one is my fave shot. I love how the leaves all point towards the sunshine and they are so cute!

Icon of Geraldton

At the Sydney Memorial in Geraldton

2nd Week of Spending

Ok, here it goes for the 2nd week of May:

Monday 11/05/09
Nothing

Tuesday 12/05/09

• $131.50 skirt
• $44 Upmarket workshop

Wednesday 13/05/09

• $22 book
• $3.20 post
• $121.98 shoes
• $40 waxing
• $6.14 groceries
• $13.90 magazines
• $3.34 pantyhose
• $4.45 hair ties

Thursday 14/05/09

• $4.60 craft items
• $129.99 trench coat
• $30 dress
• $59.95 shorts
• $21.99 overalls
• $3 eggs

Friday 15/05/09

• $12 lunch
• $69.95 MP3 car kit
• $22.50 dinner
• $11.80 chocolate + ice cream

Saturday 16/05/09
Nothing

Sunday 17/05/09

• $91.50 skirt
• $78 trench coat
• $69.5 skirt

This week didn't go as planned. I had a couple of rostered days off and went to 'have a look' at the shops in Geraldton and found myself buying some stuff on Thursday. The skirts were from eBay... actually I did a lot of eBay browsing which was not good....

Ok, so the total for this week is $995.29. Definately could've done better!!! Ok, tomorrow is a new day and a new week! :-D

Cruising

Cruise control is the best thing to have in cars for long drives especially ones that take 5 hours

Printing

Was printing out my passport photos for Vietnam on my printer and saw:

My face appearing in coloured bands.

More Spending Records

Friday 08/05/09

• $300 for my mum (this is sort of my "rent" money)
• $10.80 lunch at Roadhouse
• $35 bank fee
• $30 dinner

Saturday 09/05/09

• $8.52 more groceries
• $69.95 hair clip
• $1.50 travel shampoo and conditioner
• $9.95 postage

Sunday 10/05/09

• $37.10 fuel in Geraldton
• $100 car hire for the weekend

Total spending for the weeking starting the 04/05/09 = $679.86

It actually could've been lower by $100-200... if I didn't eat out or buy lunches while I was out, my bank fee could've been avoided, and the hair clip. That was definately a want. Also the car hire and fuel could've been avoided if I stayed in Geraldton for the weekend.

Cupcake Baking

I decided to try Su-Yin's cupcake recipe here. I like how they are nice and fluffy but next time I think I will reduce the oven heat so they don't get burnt on top.

Also I didn't make enought icing to pipe the whole top area of the cake but I think that dollop is enough as the cupcake itself was quite sweet already.

Please excuse the darkness of the pictures. I am still working with my camera!

The nicest trio which I gave to my friend

Background in focus, foreground not.

In reverse.

Spending From 04/05/09-07/05/09

I'll start with finishing from the other post here.

So for Saturday (02/05/09) dinner:

• $27 for dinner
• $4 for bubble tea

Sunday (03/05/09)

• $87 dress from eBay

Monday 04/05/09

• $3.70 for ham, cheese and tomato toastie at a roadhouse
• $29.54 for food for the Geraldton house

Tuesday 05/05/09
No spending today!

Wednesday 06/05/09

• $17.80 for more groceries
• $26 for dinner (out with the other relievers)

Thursday 07/05/09
No spending again today.

Not too bad! So far it's been pretty controlled. Check out Feli's progress. She's been a saint!

Covergirl Lash BLAST Mascara

The one that comes in a big fat orange tube:




My lashes before:

And then after: (It's not a big difference, but it's there)

The initial reaction of the wand was: that’s a BIGGGG wand. However if you look carefully, the spikes from the wand are not long and won’t poke your eye out for those with short lashes. Don’t be afraid of the wand!

It makes my lashes look darker and thicker at the base and does a little lengthening magic. Not bad for a natural “work” look.

What I don’t like about the mascara is the size of the tube. It’s massive compared to other slimmer ones. I doubt it’s got more mascara product and it’s very cumbersome with the fat handle. It’s slipped out from my hands a couple of times. Also since I am travelling now, it does take up a fair bit of space. Means I don’t get to take some eyeliners.

However I will look at buying this again. Wish they could improve their packaging.

My Final (Budgeted) Spending Days

Friday (May 1st 2009)
Went to the city and Harbourtown with a budget of $200. Managed to just go over by $14. My thoughts to why I bought them are in brackets.

Spent on:

• Dress $49 (fitted really well)
• Hoodie $49 (winter is coming up!)
• Eyeliner $45 (always wanted to try this brand)
• Sunscreen $25.95 (it was a natural brand)
• Pair of nail clippers $20.62 (one of them was perfect for travelling + 20% off too)
• Mortar and pestle $11.85 (been looking for one of these- didn't realise it had a discount too!)
• Lunch $13.40 (got a bit hungry... could've waited til I got home tho..)
• Mini containers $3.15 (for relieving to carry various spices)

The dress and hoodie was bought from City Beach at Harbourtown. I didn't buy anything thing else which surprised me. The others excluding lunch were from David Jones. The containers were from Coles.

Saturday (May 2nd 2009)
Went to return the containers and bought a different style.

• Containers $6
• Lamb to roast $20.40 (got to pay for some groceries sometimes while in Perth)
• Mixtape zine 1 year subscription $35 (been waiting for them to announce a new issue so I can get the subcription)

Not too bad so far.

Failed to win an eBay item- missed out by $2!! Don't you just hate that?? Oh well.

Going to dinner tonight with friends so will most likely pick something between the $20-25 range. And that would conclude my Saturday spending.

There's some online stuff that I'm thinking of getting... Most notably the Upmarket workshops: How to start a Fashion Label and Starting a Small Business. They are $44 each and I'm still deciding whether to go to both or one. If one- which one??

Also on my to-buy-but-still-debating list:

• MP3 player for Vietnam and Singapore trip- still deciding between 2
• 2x tops (online)
• 1L collapsible bottle (neat travel idea here)
• corner eyelash curler
• straightener
• eyeshadow palette
• USB port
• perfume
• 1 year subscription to a magazine
• knitting book (can be found here)

Oh it's going to be hard!