Embrace Your Saddlebags

On Friday, the Empress, Sporty, MC and yours truly bid goodbye to the working week at Bortolotti's on Mariahilfer St. After we had finished our respective ice-creams and animated discussion of various household chores (!), the Empress and I decided to check out the sale at P&C. Despite not actually "needing" anything, I walked out with a cool Pepe t-shirt and a bright pink scarf with tiny white baubles. What really caught our eyes, however, was a truly unusual pair of Miss Sixty jeans that looked like an ode to ye olde saddlebags:

Hmmmm. Should this become a trend, I think we'll pass.

Little Green Men

Update: it's completely dead now. R.I.P.

Last week, my phone began acting up and presented me with the smartphone's white equivalent of a blue screen with sexy options to "boot", "reboot" or "reboot bootloader". No matter what option I chose and how many times I removed the battery and reinserted it,  I always ended up with the same geeky menu. Not good. 
To be fair, there were intervals when a little green man (the "droid" symbol) and exclamation mark made a cryptic experience: 

Since Saturday, my phone has been in "safe mode" and I hope to get my hands on a technician before I contact customer service in faraway HTC-land...

Quality Time with MC

On Saturday, MC and I spent 6 hours "at the mall", or rather in the Parndorf designer outlet. According to the weather forecast it was going to rain so I decided to go swimming on Sunday (which I did: had a great day at Kongressbad with Frida and family) and spend some of my hard-earned (well, more or less) money on Saturday. MC was more than willing company.

As she wanted a radio/cd-player with alarm function and the only electronis store was in the "cube" behind the outlet village proper, we started out there and managed to buy stuff at 4 different shops there already. Including the radio-CD-alarm clock.

We spent more than half an hour at the Barbour store where MC was torn between taking a navy ("unwaxed") jacket in the smaller size with temperamental zipper or the bigger size with functioning zipper but less snug fit and less sexy size-tag. In the end, she asked the shop assistants to hold the bigger size and later went back to get it. Predictably enough, I put all the that time we spent there to good (?) use and bought what is the 5th (!) Barbour brand jacket of my life. This time, a super lightweight quilted one that is ideal for travelling and a Granny Smith shade of green. It reminds me a bit of a Fay jacket:

I also saw a sexy DKNY bag the only disadvantage of which was the fact that it sort of gaped open, i.e. did not have a satisfactory clasp. I said I'd think about it and had made up my mind that I did want to buy it after all, but someone had been quicker than me. Bummer. Maybe I should also get in the habit of telling staff to hold items for me, but for some reasons I've never done that and rather like the element of surpise, even if it means I won't get what I want. I see it as an exercise in logic: if I hadn't set foot into that store, I wouldn't know about the thing's existance anyway, so what. Yep, I do have my lucid moments, I really do.

When we left, the sun was still shining and we decided to drive to the lake (Neusiedler See) and see if we could get a table at trendy watering hole, Mole West. We even managed to grab to armchairs right by the waterfront where we stayed for 2 hours. The food, alas, looked considerably more spectacular than it tasted:
On our way back to the carpark, we passed a crazy golf course and a "cage" with giant trampolines. MC read my mind and asked if I fancied a go, her treat. After having made sure that it wasn't just for kids - the weight limit was 90 kgs which despite having eaten all that greasy batter pictured above we could manage not to exceed - we took off our shoes and behaved like the big kids we are. You see, trampoline jumping sort of is MC's and my "thing" ever since we were let loose at Stadionbad's trampoline 2 summers ago, which actually gave me the idea for a team event. This time, I perfected the so-called "Oaschler" (Oasch=Arsch in Viennese slang = bum), falling on your behind, then landing on your feet again as you bounce forward.

I don't know if it was the jumping or the shopping-overdose, but I collapsed into bed at a quarter past 10 and didn't wake up until 9 on Sunday morning - a record for me!

Quite Particulière

If you're not interested in makeup at all, nor ever read women's magazines you'll be forgiven for being completely oblivious of the hype about Chanel's nailpolish in 505, Particulière. Just google it to find out how many entries will come up... I've been intrigued by its murky colour ever since I saw it on the Empress's nails, months ago. Now, even though I've had bad experiences with expensive nail polish, including a Chanel one that disappointed me by extremely streaky application and which I sold on eBay immediately, I tend not to buy cheap drugstore own-brands. However, when I saw a s-he Stylezone limited editon display at a DM drugstore, I was attracted by the similar colour and, totally expecting I would hate it, bought the incredibly cheap (less than 3 or even 2 Euros, can't remember the exact price) product anyway. On Friday night, I finally tried it and was really impressed: super-smooth application and nice results after only one coat (I put on two, though) and a good dupe for the Chanel original as well. The flash washed out the colour and and emphasised the maroon undertones more than it looks in real life, but you get the idea:

So if anyone is looking for a readily available dupe of the elusive Particulière, s-he stylezone's nail polish in "500" might do the trick for you for a tenth of the price. Go for it!

Pick Me Up Here

Last Friday, the Gazelle, the Scholar, Sporty and myself went for an after-work erm...coffee (I know, the glamour) to a fairly new place, Prince Coffee Club. It's a nice and spacious place with huuuuge sofas and tasty coffeeshop fare. You collect your pre-paid drinks at the designated "pick-up" corner, but it looks sort of naughty when a girl in a mini-skirt is waiting next to it, don't you agree:

Free teenage girl with your latte macchiato, anyone?

Deep-Fat-Fried

Today in my lunch-break I tested a new eatery with a friend (who is planning to write a blog herself soon, I'll keep you posted!). Nice concept (think Vapiano goes Asian) and tasty food as well, but incredibly nasty deep-fat-frier smell. I had green tea noodles with tofu and mixed veggies and their "Kyoto" (miso and ginger) sauce. Not bad:

I don't know about you, but I hate returning to work after having eaten in a restaurant that is either smoke-filled or greasy-smelling (worst of all, both) and feel really self-conscious when I reek of that stuff, compulsively smelling my clothes and hair every five minutes.

Direct Marketing

When I come home tonight, my cleaner will have worked her fortnightly magic on the floors and surfaces of my flat. Not everyone can count themselves that lucky and I'm not talking about those who are not able to afford the services of a professional. As I was waiting for a tram on the last bank holiday, I noticed handwritten ads on benches all over Urban-Loritz-Platz station. The heavily interpunctuated message said that its author was looking for a cleaning lady and was willing to pay a very generous € 13 per hour:

The usual way to find a good cleaner is by word of mouth, which is not that complicated provided you know people who know cleaning ladies and the latter have free slots in their calendars. Maybe I'm being naive and the above-average hourly pay (or even the odd periods after almost every single word) suggests that it is services of an altogether different type they are looking for. Who knows.

Patent Pending

Every once in a while I clean my makeup brushes, using either a shop-bought brush cleanser or Michele Phan's olive oil/washing-up liquid method. As I don't own fancy gadgets such as plastic brush-guards for letting them dry upside down as you should if you don't want moisture to dissolve the glue in the handles, I've devised my own technique:

Genius, eh? And so sophisticated-looking, don't you think?

Summer. They Say.

Today is the first day of summer. According to the calendar, that is, since someone obviously neglected to inform the weather gods:

Sigh. Practice isn't any better than theory, in this case: 

On the plus side, though, chances of getting skin cancer from too much sun-exposure is virtually nonexistent in this weather.

LBB on its Maiden Cruise

So you seriously thought I'd overcome my bagdiction now that I own THE bag? Nah, I just have to excert more patience these days when I tend to buy them from one of my favourite so called shopping communities where you have to wait up to a month for your parcel to arrive (as in: don't buy ski gear shortly before your winter holiday or a bikini a week before you're off to the beach). On Thursday, my much awaited slouchy bag from Ri2K finally arrived. Ta-dah:

Isn't it a sexy little beast? I love the bee detail, not only on the front flap, but also the reverse side:

It's the perfect little(ish) black bag for events such as last night's birthday bash in honour of the Empress's upcoming 30th birthday. I haven't been to any 30th b-days since I turned 30 myself, by the way. Somehow, I seem to have upgraded to 40th parties, which do not have quite the same glamourous ring to them and remind you of your own looming dangerously close on the horizon. Change of topic...It was lovely to chat with Karel and his wife (Mrs. Gott? Darinka?), not mentioning spectacular molecular cocktails - think lots of dry ice and unexpected textures.

Bloody Rip-Off!

On Thursday, I finally found out what bood type I am, 0+ in case you were wondering. The thing is, Austrians usually know what blood type they are because it's written in the little booklet of vaccination records (Impfpass) that they, or rather their mother, get when they are born. For some reason, the "blood type" field was left blank in mine:
Not having ever donated blood (shame on me, I know!) I lived to the old age of 38 without having a clue what blood group I belonged to. On Thursday morning I went to have my blood tested. I had last had blood drawn by a professional when I was in primary school and they just take it from the tip of a finger. This time, it was the real deal with 3 vials taken from the crook of my arm. (I had been to a doctor near work on Tuesday to get an FSME refresher shot and mentioned that I felt quite exhausted most of the time and near-comatose after meals and asked for a referral to the lab - the results don't show anything strange, as far as I've been able to tell: relieve!) I asked the lady at reception if they could also tell me my blood type while they were at it. Without batting an eyelid she said "That would be 32 Euros. We also take cards." Gulp! I contemplated the likelihood of donating blood in the near future (not very high unless I take time off from work or go in my lunch-break, when I actually prefer to put something in my system) and then reached for my bank card. I've paid obscene amounts of money for more frivolous things in the past, haven't I? But still...

Monstaron

Yesterday, on the way back to the office after (a light Asian) lunch, MC and I decided to stop at Gerstner's on Kärntner St. for a sweet fix. MC tried a  vanilla bean cup(e)cake which did not survive the journey back to the office for photographic documentation and almost put her into a sugar/fat-induced coma. I decided to try a gigantic macaron, called "Parisienne" for some reason. You can see just how big it from the Nespresso capsule sitting next to it. Like the cupcake, it's € 2,90 and it defintely counts as one portion of dessert. Admittedly, that's a hefty price for one big macaron and the filling was a bit heavy on the jam, but I did like it. After my nasty experience in Bratislava recently, my expectations are not too high, mind you.

Cheapo

The original plan was to get a white RADO watch. Last year, I wanted to be sensible and not spend that much money on a "seasonal" accessory what with my expensive holiday to Japan. This year, I decided I'd rather buy a classic grown-up watch rather than fork out more than € 1000 for something I might not like that long. Let's face it, I'm fickle when it comes to accessories. Yesterday I was at Tchibo's when I saw this pretty nice watch for about € 16, which does not even bear the inevitable TCM logo on the face. Deal!

I can be surprisingly sensible and spendthrift sometimes. Although I do sort of regret that rationality decided to descend on me in the Burberry in London outlet and I ended up not buying that cool grey trancoat. Ah, well.

New Routine

The Mermaid's and my Monday night pilgrimage to Stadthallenbad has been replaced by a Wednesday night routine at Amalienbad. The pool is considerably smaller and the locker rooms are more cramped, but there is one advantage: the close proximity to Tichy. Not quite surprisingly, we often end up there after swimming to make up for the potentially dangerous loss of calories immediately. As you do.

The Mermaid working on her banana split

Just 3 Things

...I love about the UK.

1. Pret A Manger

picture from their website

I'm crazy for Pret and could happily get lunch from there every single day even though they've apparently discontinued my favourite sandwich (the one that had avocado and roasted pine nuts in it...drool). Should they ever decide to open a branch in Vienna (please, pretty please!) I would single-handedly make them over-achieve their revenue goals.

2. Magazine Feebies

So this is the booty from my recent trip. Not bad, eh? I was also thinking of buying Glamour for its Benefit goodies, but as I already owned the one product I was most interested in, I resisted.

3. Salt and Vinegar Crisps

S&V crisps, by the Walkers and (Irish) Tayto brands in particular, are my favourite savoury snack. Austrian crisps-maker Kelly's once experimented with the S&V flavour (mainly available at petrol stations) but got it so wrong. The crisps tasted like nailpolish remover smells. Not in a good way. S&V crisps are a love/hate thing and I know many Austrians who love them as much as I do and would surely buy them if they were more readily available in this country. Luckily, I work in close proximity of a shop where you can buy them (overpriced) and I occasionally go for my dose of Walkers or Kettle S&V crisps.

London!

I had a perfect mini-break in London and the PP's sister was the perfect travelling companion. While people were sweating back in Austria, we enjoyed nice and moderately warm weather and only experienced two or three 5-minute intervals of drizzle. I probably should not mention this here for fear of you snatching away the last room next time I visit, but we stayed at a really nice and reasonably priced B&B near Victoria Station - the nicest hotel I've experienced in London. As the PP's sis had never been to London, we did some touristy stuff (Buckingham Palace, the Tower, St. Paul's cathedral, a boat trip to Greenwich...) and visited the better-known holy grails of shopping, such as my absolute all-time favourite, Liberty, and, of course, Harrods:

obligatory "anonymous shopper" photo

I did not buy anything at Harrod's, though and although MC has asked for a "haul post", my purchases aren't that exciting and mainly consist of clothes (from GAP, Uniqlo and the Burberry outlet), tea and tidbits from Paperchase, another of my favourite shops. If money had not been an issue, I would have bought half of Liberty's!

Apart from many sandwiches at Pret (I so wish they had a branch in Vienna!) I had traditional fish'n chips at Canteen in the lovely company of an old friend. I have to search my old posts to find out whether I've assigned her a blogname... don't think I have.

On Sunday, we explored Hyde Park, where this veiled lady feeding ducks caught my attention:

Speaking of parks - I once more got proof that a spot of rain does not keep the British from anything, least of all an impromptu park bench picnic:

I won't include any pictures of London sights here, you know what these look like, right? Sometimes what was going on in the vicinity of those sights was equally interesting anyway, such as a fashion shoot with Big Ben as a backdrop:

We saw dozens of identically sized elephants all across town (a nice change from the usual cows and bears I've seen so far) of which I liked those two best:

London is not a place where I'd want to live permanently, but it's the one city I get "homesick" for when I haven't been there for a while. And it definitely isn't the same with l'Italiana no longer living there.

While I'm Away...

I thought I'd share the hilarious tannnoy announcement at Stadionbad. (Don't mind my feet). 

Service Disruption

image stolen from here

It's too hot to think, or write, remotely meaningful things plus I'm off to London for a mini-holiday with the PP's sister tomorrow morning. Normal service to resume next week.

Oh, the Power of the Media

Remember the "cupecakes" photo I took? Ta-dah, the offending letter has been removed:

Rockarons

As you probably know by know, I'm crazy for macarons. On Thursday Sporty and I walked past a nice looking chocolate shop/café (called Bon Bon, if I remember correctly). We had a look at their offerings, which included 4 different flavours colours of macarons and decided to return there after lunch. Having digested our exceptionally disgusting lunch (no exaggeration) and bought several items of clothing each, we walked back there through the pouring rain, mouths watering in anticipation of a lovely sweet treat. So much for the theory. I chose 3 flavours colours, being "strawberry", "apricot" and "pistachio". They were pretty and innocent enough looking, don't you think?

One bite into the artificial tasting super-sweet (well, o.k., that's not unusual for a macaron) substance made me pull a face. They were rock hard and had the consistency of a Crunchie bar. I ate "apricot" and "pistachio" and wrapped the pink one into a napkin to take home. At €1 per piece the price was pretty cosmopolitan. When I arrived at home, I took the rockaron out of my bag. Not surprisingly, it had survived several hours in my overfilled bag, just wrapped in thin tissue without a slight dent. Still, I thought I'd prove that I was not exaggerating with a little experiment:

'nuff said.

The (ceramic) knife just stuck in the thing without the surface starting to crumble or break apart. Having been brought up to appreciate the value of food and not to waste it, I ate half of it, but then threw the rest away.

Possibly the worst """macarons""" ever made. I won't ever complain about my own failed attempts to make pretty macarons - at least they all tasted delicious.

Bratislover

Today is, or rather, was, a holiday in Austria and as I haven't taken the Friday off, I felt like doing something other than be annoyed about the bad weather at home. I realised that I hadn't been to Bratislava for quite some time and found willing company in a very nice colleague who has yet to make an appearance on this blog - let's call her Sporty, 'cause that's what she is and looks like - and who will be holding the fort with me tomorrow.

Thanks to a cheap deal (the Euregio ticket, in case you are interested) we took the train the first thing I noticed upon arrival at the main railway station was that it's still as ugly and "cold war"-looking as it was when I first arrived there in the mid 1990s on a day-trip with Amica:

The little kiosks in its vicinity also hadn't changed a bit:
Which is not to say that there are no pretty architectural details to be seen:
As the weather gradually got worse, we got into a shopping mood (surprise!) and also visited the phonetically written "design shop":
We did our best to boost the Slovak economy at the new (for me at least) Eurovea Gallery mall.

I know a certain perso who said she wouldn't buy, cough, anything until her weekend in London, cough, but somehow she ended up buying, erm...several things, including a cool pair of gladiator-ish leather (! including leather sole) sandals for only € 16,90.

All in all, it was a really nice day-trip and I will graciously gloss over the fact that as usual, the culinary part of my visit to B. was rather underwhelming. Shudder.

Fact and Fancy

I was waiting for the tram yesterday, umbrella in hand, when I saw the above ad for a low-calorie whey drink, promising that "today's gonna be another really hot day". Really, now? The temperature was 13° and the picture of ice-cubes almost gave me goose-bumps.

Will I ever get to wear my Jimmies, I wonder...

The Wonder Drug

Did you know that I do a bit of drug dealing on the side? For years, I've been supplying friends and colleagues with a cough potion I swear by and which is produced and distributed only by a pharmacy in Klagenfurt. I was first introduced to Asthmo-Liquid in my student days by the PP, who kindly offered me her precious bottle. It made my persistent bronchitis go away and I even took a bottle with me on my year abroad. It's an aquired taste (very herbal and alcoholic), but I have yet to find an adequately potent cough remedy. I've also got my boss hooked and have been supplying him for quite some time - free of charge, mind you, so I guess I have some learning to do on my way to becoming a proficient drug zar.