fade out

A sure sign that people are mildly bored at weddings is when they start taking pictures of the table decorations excessively. In sepia even...

Plan B

So sowing apparently didn't do the trick to revive the lawn on Heldenplatz after the EURO 2008 and huge numbers of lawn turf have been ordered:

I presume the owner of the company delivering the rolls will be able to afford a fancy holiday this year.

High in the Sky

It looked as if it was going to start raining any minute, but the weather goods had mercy on our little after-work project last night, this year's "summer intern event" at the outdoor trampolines by the Danube. Great fun:

You might not exactly look dignified in the process, but it's definitely worth it!

The cinematic equivalent of a Mojito. Or two.

I don't like musicals. Which is why I wasn't too excited about the release of Mamma Mia, the movie, or rather, it wasn't on my must-see-list at all. I do love ABBA, though and after several people had told me the film was so funny and the perfect summery feelgood movie, I decided to see it. What can I say - it was hilarious and Prefab Babe, my partner in crime, and I came out of the cinema still laughing about Pierce Brosnan's singing erm talent (see below) agreeing we wouldn't mind seeing it a second time. This time, the hype was justified and it was exactly that kind of feeling I'd expected to get from the SatC film, but then didn't really.

speaking of shoes

I discovered this pair of boots in KLU last week:
Not exactly cheap at € 689 and noticeably "distressed looking" (click to enlarge). Hey, I can do that myself! If old and worn looking boots are all the rage this winter I'm willing to drag out some old pairs and put them on eBay.

shopportunity

or should I say: shoeportunity? I found the ultimate bargain in KLU on Friday where a Salamander store had lots of shoes on sale, all in size 38, which is a miracle in itself. A pair of Hugo Boss "ethno-chic ballerinas" and Tommy Hilfiger trainers, the same (incredibly comfortable) style I already own in white leather for a total of € 99,98!

Which makes them pairs # 120 and 121 of my shoe collection, probably...

and that's exactly why handbags are a girl's best friend

Oh, the irony of it! But let's begin at the beginning. The weather was acting up yesterday and so I didn't go swimming. Instead, I visited 2 exhibitions and then went home, looking forward to spending the rest of the afernoon reading in the hammock. I was in the mood for a new glossy mag and - it being a holiday - set out to cycle to the petrol station to buy one. I grabbed my wallet and contemplated taking a small handbag for storing said wallet, my mobile phone and keys, then decided against it, stuffing the phone into the back pocket of my jeans and the keys ito the right hip pocket. The wallet I held in my hand. Just as I had bought the magazine and was about to mount my bike, my mobile rang. It was my dad who said they had just crossed the German-Austrian border and were on their way. When I got home, there were no keys. Oh-oh. I knew I couldn't have accidentally chucked them out while taking out my phone as they were in separate pockets. They must have just fallen out. Damn! I suspected a certain spot where I had to drive over the curb and felt a noticeable bump. Slightly panicky, I retraced my steps four times, both on bike and on foot. I even cycled to the police station to leave my details, knowing that they were not really in charge of lost property. The police officer on duty was nice enough to humour me and promised to e-mail the information to all the other stations in case somebody turned them in to another police station. Back home, I cycled to the petrol station once more before I gave up and waited for my parents arrival on the steps in front of our house, reading my magazine and feeding the Beast Sheba from the tin (bought at the railway station BILLA that's open every day of the week). I had just returned from another walk to the petrol station accompanied by my Mum when the waitress of the restaurant next to the petrol station whom I'd left my telephone number with called to say somebody had found it. Hurray! I was incredibly relieved and walked returned to retrieve my keys from there, willing to give a reward to the nice finder. He had already left so I just thanked her and vowed NEVER TO LEAVE HOME WITHOUT A HANDBAG EVER AGAIN!

Wörther See - Lago di Wörth - Vrbsko Jezero

Strandbad Klagenfurt, where many happy summers have been spent and still are:

homework

Southern Comforts

Three random observations about life in KLU:

1) Everyone aged between 1 and 100 wears Croqs in loud colours. Whether this has to do with the fact that the first flagship store opened in Klagenfurt long before anyone in Vienna had heard of those shoes, or whether Carinthians just prefer comfort over style, I don't know.

2) People are very chatty and shop assistants often engage you in conversation. Admittedly it's often just small talk and platitudes, but there's still a big difference to your typical borderline hysterical American cashier who gives you a dazzling smile and shouts "I loooooooove your jewellery!!!!" only to switch off the smile after 2 seconds and turn to the next customer.

3) Prices in cafés and restaurants are very moderate compared to Vienna. Frida and I went to the current hotspot, the Sunset Club (see photo below) the other night and ordered the "sunset salad" for €7,50, assuming it would leave plenty of space for a panna cotta. Not so. Neither of us could even think of dessert after an enormous bowl of (good) salad.

In the Jungle

the mighty jungle
the lion tiger sleeps tonight...
I'm in KLU for a week, house, garden and cat sitting while my parents are on vacation.

consolation

...for those who wanted to get married on this auspicious date today, 08-08-08, but didn't manage to book a registrar or fancy venue on time: it's raining in most parts of Austria today. Not in Vienna, alas, where it's sweltering and yours truly who believed the weatherman is slowly perishing in a long-sleeved blouse.

Viennese workaraound or: we are nice to our trees

Dr.-Karl-Renner Ring bus and tram station:
There's a total of 3 trees the roof was customised for.

Stalkers, Inc.

"Would you say it's worrying that I still regularly check the e-mail account of my ex, two years after we split up?" Schatzi asked. You see, he "accidentally" discovered her secret password when they were still going out with each other and after they broke up has been taking (a masochistic) pleasure in perusing her inbox. "You know, it's just like that film...I feel like I can read women's minds! Like, she would write something nice to a guy and you'd get the impression she was really into him and then bitch about him with her girlfriends. If it's taught me one thing then it's that girls are no better than guys."

Oh, and my answer to his original question was, "That's quite o.k."

Adrenaline Shopping

Yesterday, I was dragged to ZARA by one of my colleagues (let's call her Bambi for her doe eyes) in my lunch hour. I wasn't actually too keen on entering what I knew would be a grey zone of sale-leftovers-fighting-for-floorspace-with-not-yet-unpacked-autumn-wear and I also knew that I'd inevitably pick up some bargain or other and have to drown out the voices in my head shouting "Declutter!" with a capital D. Pick up something, I did indeed:

A beige waisted cotton jacket reduced to € 29 from an original € 99, perfect with several of my summer dresses. I had to earn this purchase the usual hard ZARA way, though. There were 6 or 7 of these jackets on a rack, all of them size "M" (no other sizes left). I tried on each and every one of them, not really surprised that some were so tight I could not close the button, some did not actually have a button attached to them, some were smudged with make-up, others had the security thingy attached to all(!) layers of sleeve fabric. At last I found one that fit and had a button that was only slightly loose.

Had the object of my desire not a) been drastically reduced, b) not really needed at all and had I c) not been just browsing idly in the first place, I would have been really annoyed.

They do this all the time!

I usually know my size (a German 36) and everywhere else I shop, clothes fit (unfortunately!) and trousers have just the right length. At ZARA and its Inditex siblings, though, you have to try on at least four different sizes until you find one that remotely fits you and when you think you've found one you can't rely on that for your next visit at all. The trousers are always half a metre too long, seams poorly stitched.

Women probably only shop there either because they take comfort in a mutual frustration-fest in the changing rooms or because they are driven by some primeval urge to hunt for the best bargain.

déjà vu

When I visited my great-aunt in hospital yesterday, I took her for a little spin up and down the corridors in a wheelchair. It wasn't until I stopped for a pit-stop at the vending machine to get us a cup of hot chocolate that I noticed the 2 € coin slot:

I know I have a notoriously vivid imagination, but I couldn't help visions of cranky old people being logged onto shopping trolleys in suburbian supermarket car parks by their relatives popping into my head.

there's few things I hate more

...than a summer cold! Haaaaap-chi! Almost every year I fall prey to some kind of involutary airconditioning, such as earlier this week at the Firm's Dublin office where I spent 5 days sitting under an air vent coughing arctic air on my neck and shoulders. Flying didn't help much so when I arrived yesterday my sore throat had good company: a runny nose and sneezing fits that got worse by the minute. When I got up this morning, I felt rotten and looked worse. Which reminds me of a "compliment" MC recently made: "Hey, you look exactly like I am feeling today". Right.