Anniversary

It's been 6 months and 11 days without a single drop of diet coke. Not one.

Thought this was worth a mention.

A brief reprieve

We're thick in the school holidays at the moment - read; full on children filled days, fighting the ever present battle against the 8 year old and electrical equipment ie. Nintendo DS, TV, computers, playing dinosaurs, cars, sometimes at the same time. Also read: no breaks. At all.
So in a fit of killing two birds with one stone, the boys and I took a ferry trip to the city to meet with The Husband, take the boys into his office, have a bit of an adventure, and for me to swap a team shirt for our Oxfam event at a shop in the heart of the city. So I put my semi dressed up clothes on and feel ok'ish. All is good. The Husband was incredibly helpful and suggested that instead of walking the boys about 10 blocks to the shop, he'd take them back to the office so I could do it on my own. Lunch time, Sydney is an exciting place for those of us who live in suburbia. Lots of tailored suits, pencil skirts, black rimmed glasses, straightened hair and stilletos. And me, feeling that even though I am wearing none of the above I cut my own unique style with no evidence of mum-dom at all. I am me, I am no longer just a mum, I am walking through the city in a busy lunch hour looking like I have somewhere to go, looking like everyone else. And then it happened.
A young, stylish man approached me and asked where I got my hair done, I ran my hand through my half straightend, half mad curly, dreadmopped hair and said I did it myself, he then said he was from a "5 Star" salon and would I be interested in having a "massively discounted hair styling" at this "5 Star salon", still feeling confident and gorgeous, I glibbed that I'd just left my children with my husband so I could get to a shop and didn't have time. He smiled and called out "Go Mum!!!" as I strided off. A little less confidently.
Why...
Did I not lie and say i had an extremely important meeting i needed to get to that I was chairing
Did he ask me if I needed my hair done...was my half straightened/half mad hair look particularly in need of "massively discounted styling"
I was instantly a mum again.

A story about a tailor

Still in Vietnam folks, gad could this be more paralysing slow than what I'm posting at the moment! (sorry, writing on my other blog www.keeponmovinggirls.blogspot.com with countdown to the Oxfam trailwalker event underway!)

Hoi An in Vietnam is a gorgeous little french influenced town, a few kms away from a lovely stretch of beach - think China Beach, South China Sea, and with a lovely little, totally walkable "old town" with stunning building and good shopping. But for many Hoi An is all about tailors and getting clothes made for next to nothing in next to no time at all. Those in the know turn up with picturse ripped out of Vogue magazines, fabric preferences, and all the details they need to copy whatever they're wnating. They go to Hoi An for their cheaps suits, their copy designer dresses, their new wardrobe. But not me. Knowing we had only a day and a half in Hoi An, I didn't bother doing any research into what I could have made if I had the chance. Nup, I'd do other stuff I thought, I'm not going to spend our time faffing around with fittings and indecision. In fact they have been my actual words. What I had done though was look at my trusty friend Trip Advisor and see what the top 10 things to do in Hoi An were, with the No 1 being - to visit To To Boutique. This is what it said:

To To Boutique is a professional tailor in Hoi An who makes clothing made to measure. They use excellent traditional tailoring techniques and high quality garments and fabrics to ensure a perfect fit. They are considered one of the best and most reliable tailors in Vietnam and have a wide range of designs covering both classic and more modern designs. Whether looking for a suit, evening dress, shirt or even casual clothing To To is an excellent choice.

Whatever, I thought, but as we stepped outside our hotel for the very first time, the first thing I saw right beside our hotel was....To To Boutique. This was too good an opportunity to miss, so I told The Husband I'd just ENQUIRE how long it would take to make "something" and then we'd be off. But they told me they could turn something around in 24 hours. So it started. My first mistake...I paniced into what I needed or could have made. I had absolutely no idea, just random thoughts. The sort of helpful people showed me some old Next catalogues circa 2002, they would have to do. So i started flicking. Then I remembered that my extremely stylish friend Sarah had a gorgeous A lined white linen racer back sun dress made in NZ. Righto, I wanted one of those. Next I remembered I had tried to buy a Witchery white tuxedo racerback waistcoat, but they had sold out, I'll get one of those too, and lastly I realised a few days earlier that I needed something other than short shorts to go out in in the evenings in Vietnam (remember I had only packed 12 kg of luggage shared with the Husband), so a pair of black wide legged linen pants was added to the Must Have list. So 3 items, for around US$150 (hmm, maybe not quite the bargain I thought but was on a roll by now). Are you thinking how random this collection is, if not convinced of it yet let me tell you this decision was made in about 20 very hot minutes (complete with measurements). So two fittings later my outfits were completed, 15 mins before our taxi arrived to take us to the airport. Verdict 1/3. My black pants are ok, my white waistcoat is ok, but quite short and gapes, well, where my boobs are, and the white dress...a complete disaster. As The Husband said, "that will be perfect if you ever need a nurses outfit". Approx $70 USD for a white nurses dress. What was I thinking????