Shoe Shoe Song

In what I hope will be the last leg of this season's Summer Sale Rampage, I ended up buying two pairs of shoes last weekend, the first of them, picked up on my way home from work on Friday night, a dangerous thing, as we remember. I bought a pair of dark brown sued ballerinas that are so exclusive (and expensive, despite the sale...) that they are packed in two separate fabric bags before they are packed in a mundane carrier bag:

On Saturday on my way back home (do we see a pattern here?) from town, I suddenly realised that I urgently, desperately, needed a new pair of white sandals:

To clear my conscience AND my shoe rack, I cleared out two pairs of shoes for charity.

Mermaid-Less Month

The lucky Mermaid has quit her job and is currently holidaying in the US for 3,5 weeks before she begins her new job in August. This means, I'll have to go swimming alone and keep my Monday-rants to myself until her return. Sigh.

In her honour, I baked the super-quick and easy Mermaid Cake last weekend. Tastes nice with red currents, too.

Bag Doc to the Rescue

This morning, I was invited for breakfast at FCN's. Last time I was there, I saw the shopping bag I had sewn for her birthday 3 years or so ago, its straps frayed and torn. I was touched when FCN told me its pitiful state was due to the fact that she she used it every day and took a photo of her holding the bag, making a mental note to sew a replacement. Well, it took me a while, but during the rainy Whitsun weekend in KLU I raided my Mum's fabric hoard and made a new one (which I delivered today), this time with sturdier straps.

Kebab Reloaded

When I think of food-intake in popular American tv series such as Sex and the City, what comes to my mind are Asian takeaways in cool cartons. Somehow I have difficulty imagining Carrie et al. munching a döner kebab out of a box in their Manhattan apartments. Nor have I seen anybody walk around with a "Döner Box", but I've definitely seen posters spring up near all the kebab stalls in my district:

Green, Green Herbs of Home

Last Thursday, I was in KLU, where I had an appointment of Wednesday night. I took the opportunity to raid the garden and take my favourite herbs back to Vienna. Lovely rocket leaves and fragrant mint for the best mojitos ever. Even if I say so myself. Well, I have the Mermaid as a testimonial, but then again she is bribed.

In Theory, I Don't Actually Like Logo Print

In practice, though:

In our lunchbreak yesterday, the Empress, the Gazelle and yours truly went to check out the Tommy Hilfiger sale. Alas, with no results.

Itching for a bargain (our 13th salary had just landed on our bank accounts, you know), the Gazelle and I set out again after work, descending on the 3-floors Salamader store on Kärntner Str. , where she bought Tommy H. trainers and a huge Diesel bag. I saw several nice bags "to go with my waxed Barbour jacket" (well, you need a justification after all) which, however, were too similar to bags I already own. After hopping into Steffl to check out their offerings I discovered the specimen above in a smaller Salamander shop and leapt to the till 5 minutes before the store closed - reeeesult!

I Blame it on the Rain

Cold and rainy weather and no prior committments for the day - the perfect excuse for checking out the summer sale at Parndorf...

Again, I went by bus and once more I wondered whether the hordes of Chinese tourists on the bus had read about the outlet center in their guide book or got the tip from the concierge of their hotel.

I spent 3 hours walking from shop to shop and apart from a gift for my godchild, chocolate and several other bits and pieces, I got lucky at Jones (a shop I don't usually go into as I find it a bit boring and conservative, and pricey at that), where I bought a yellow top with an original neckline and appliquéd flower, Burberry (blue lambswool sweater for 30 EUR) and Barbour, where a jacket made me pull out my credit card - EUR 49 instead of 199, a size sample.

It was with trepidation that I approached the BREE store - in the past I had hardly ever left that shop with less than one bag. This time, though, very few bags took my fancy and those that did, I already had at home, ahem.

4 Ladies and the Third Man

On Tuesday night, MM and 2 other colleagues from Coma HQ picked me up to go to the Third Man Museum, which is run by another ex-employee of Coma HQ and currently hosts a special exhibition about the Third Man in Japan.

Logo: 3mpc.net

When I heard "private collection" my expectations weren't too high, I have to admit. I was more than suprised by this highly professional museum, complete with the original zither the soundtrack was played on, an impressive film projector from the 1930s (as we learned, cinemas would have used pre-war equipment when the film was released in Vienna, where it flopped spectacularly, by the way) on which 2 minutes of the film are shown and a separate room is devoted to life in Vienna occupied by the allied forces with lots of impressive photos, IDs and a CARE package with authentic food cans. Being me, I had to buy some merchandising (plastic rats and a DVD of the film which I have not actually seen) products in the small "shop" area.

If you've seen all the better-known museums in Vienna, the Third Man Museum is definitely a recommendation!

Summer Sale, so far

a skirt and pair of cropped trousers, both dark brown (s.Oliver)
a pair of Ipanema flip flops from the Gisele Bündchen rainforest collection
2 belts and a cardigan from La Redoute

I'm poised to hit the Tommy Hillfiger store down the road from the office...

...and here's one I prepared a little earlier

Over the rainy Whitsun Weekend, I made a necklace for my granny's birthday. Last Friday, I was in the mood for some more and made a necklace with matching bracelets out of carnelian and cairngorm (strange word, I just had to look it up the English translation of Rauchquarz) for myself.

I have lots of selfmade jewellery at home and yet hardly ever wear it, preferring the making to the wearing, it seems.

Feeling Blue - Glamorous Holiday Occupation

"So what are you doing on the bank holiday tomorrow?", people asked me on Wedneday. "Painting my loo", I replied, "provided the weather isn't nice and hot, then I'll go swimming instead." The weather obliged and so I finished the paint job I had started on Sunday, when I repainted the white parts of the ceiling and border:

Yesterday, I covered the "terracotta" (that's what it said on the bucket anyway, a friend of mine said it looked like "piggy pink", more like) colour of the walls with a light blue I had mixed myself to go with the toilet seat and "accessories":

It looks a bit like a baby boy's bedroom now, but much bigger and lighter than before , so mission completed. I now have to use the same colour on the picture frame which clashes with the new "scheme".

Retro

Last weekend, I inflated an orange stool that I'd put away the last 7 years and put it in front of my armchair (an "heirloom" from the Mermaid, who didn't want to take it to her new flat, re-upholstered by yours truly).

My parents bought the stool and its identical twin in Paris on their honeymoon in 1971. It is made of incredibly robust plastic (probably full of evil '70s toxins) that has survived years of me and my friends playing on and with it, a move to Vienna in 1990 and alternating periods of deflation and inflation. Now it's time for an airing again and apart from the fact that I love the colour orange, I think it is indeed a modern classic that deserves to be exhibited, if only to the handful of visitors to my apartment.

Entertained by the Ducks Once More

My Italian friends from Mandarina Duck have written again. I regularly get newsletters for an exclusive "my deal"-offer for one considerably reduced bag. These newsletters are always written in interesting grammar German. Those of you who understand the language should click on the image and read the small print if the "nur für ihnen zu" is not wild enough:

Is this the "mercy approach", I wonder, as in: we've been hit THAT hard by the economic crisis we can't afford proper translation service and have to resort to dodgy translation programmes? Doesn't quite work with me, I'm afraid. Then again, might have seized the "nur für ihnen" opportunity had I coveted the bag more...

Sex in the Kitchen

Not what you think, though. I tried out the recipe for "Vanilla Pecan Brownies" from the Magnolia Bakery (of Sex and the City fame) Cookbook.

As I don't like brownies with an overly gooey centre, I kept them in the oven slightly longer than suggested.

Long Overdue...

(If you want to order one, you can do so here).

(Un)informed Choice

At first I said I wouldn't vote this Sunday. Then I reminded myself that I always exercise my right to vote and like to complain about people who don't participate in elections but afterwards rant about "them" whom other people elected. I still don't feel well-informed at all and am not quite sure whom to give my vote. At least there are some parties I can definitely rule out. We'll see...

It's Official

Isn't that cool? And so true...

This is the other souvenir MC got me from Canada:

Homework

On Whit Monday, my Mum suggested an excursion. My Dad was reluctant, or should I say "opinion-neutral", as usual and I have to admit I likewise didn't volunteer any destinations so she suggested a nice area of Slovenia she'd made a day-trip to once with a friend, or, alternatively, the two venues of the "Europe Exhibition 2009", St. Paul's Monastery and Bleiburg. I had never been to any of them, but eventually favoured the Carinthian options to catch up on my cultural heritage.

St. Paul's was very impressive indeed and the exhibition extremely interesting and professional.

Bleiburg, home of Werner Berg and Kiki Kogelnik was nice, too, but I've seen prettier small towns. I liked the Werner Berg Museum as such, but after the splendour of the other exhibition part, the paintings were almost an anti-climax, which is unfair as it is hard to compete with golden chalices, precious manuscripts and other sacral treasures:

In a Murderous Mood. Yet Again

Disclaimer: This is a post with lots of italics, bold print and exclamation marks.

Turned up at the garage at 08:00 sharp this morning to have Flocki's wheel bearings changed and have him serviced while I was at it.

At 11 I get a phone-call to tell me that the service has just been completed but the rear bearings are are a) broken and b) not on stock. Ex - cuse me? I made the appointment to replace the broken rear bearings to on April 20, stressing the fact that I need to know if it was all set and arranged as I need to take a day off work. "Yes, yes, June 2, all noted down". The guy (master mechanic) on the phone assured me. Hah, f****, hah!

After much deliberation I've decided to take the train back to Vienna and either have my Mum, who wanted to get the lift and had been looking forward to some days in Vienna, deliver it to me this weekend or pick it up myself at the next occasion.

The garage told me there was no problem and I could drive back to Vienna just fine but I don't like the idea of driving around any longer with something that's officially broken after I'd avoided all long and unneccessary drives in the past 6 weeks, postponing visits to relatives et al.

Otherwise, I'd have told them to stuff the spare parts somewhere in their private parts and have the job done in Vienna.

Everyone makes mistakes. Mine was not to call back on Friday at the latest to check if they had actually noted down my appointment and ordered the spare part.

Deeeep breath. My Mum said what Austrian mums like to say in just such a situation "you never know what it was good for" so let's hope I've either avoided a fatal crash on the motorway or will meet the man of my life in the train. Possibly both.

PS: It's 20:04 and the chances of the latter are rather slim unless he is trapped in the body of noisy a 15-year-old vocational student of which there seem to be hordes...