Monday, July 27, 2009

Tea, sweets & vampire kisses

This is what occurs when one overindulges in cakes, scones, crepes, tarts and ice-cream at the Windsor Hotel High Tea. Yes, that's me in a self-induced 'sugar'-coma. Oh the joy! Oh the joy! :P

To celebrate a relationship milestone, BF & I decided to check into the Windsor Hotel & check out their Sunday afternoon High Tea. Nowadays, high tea often refers to an elaborate afternoon tea rather than supper or 'meat' tea as it was traditionally known. Regardless, it was still lovely to sit in the Grand Ballroom and wonder which Melbournians & out-of-towners have also dined here. After all, the hotel has been serving afternoon tea since 1883.

We joined a handful of couples (maybe 6 men in total) & scores of women folk in celebrating an old Windsor Hotel tradition. So I donned my DKNY dress (now a wardrobe staple) & tried to remember not to place my elbows on the table, not speak with my mouth full or slurp or make any loud noises. Also you must be very polite to your servers. I succeeded in being polite to our waiter (yay 1-for-me) and also managed to NOT talk with my mouth full... well, only because I was completely engrossed with the delightful treats on offer. Seriously, who can talk when you're mesmerized by scones, cream & chocolatey treats?? Not me!! I did however break the hold long enough to Twitpic which I'm certain breaks many etiquette rules. *droolz* Oh well... too bad.



Oh the choices at High Tea



Round 2...

Looking back on the pics does give me a slight sugar headache hehehe.

BF & I also took in a late night horror treat at MIFF on Saturday night. Nothing screams romance more than a Korean Catholic priest who becomes a vampire, develops sexual urges, covets his best friend's wife & she becomes a blood thirsty psycho. No? Doesn't it sound like fun?? Well it was!! Bloody, gory & hilarious! With a running time of 133 minutes, Thirst was a tad too long. I've give it 3 1/2 stars ... it made me laugh, it made me squirm & the whole journey was awesome. I just wish it did it more succinctly. Check out a Screen Daily review for more details or watch the trailer below:



Hope to see some more films at MIFF this year. Any suggestions, do let me know. Before I go, how crazy was it that the MIFF website was hacked by the Chinese for not withdrawing "The 10 Conditions of Love" from the Festival. "The 10 Conditions of Love" is a documentary about the exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. Festival dirctor Richard Moore was contacted by the Chinese Consulate last Friday demanding the film be withdrawn and wanting justification for its inclusion. Obviosuly, such a request was declined (Yay!! Mr Moore). It appears the Chinese governments efforts to squash this little film & the minority group it represents have backfired with programmers around the world contacting the Festival Director for their chance to screen the film too. Chinese government did succeed in withdrawing the Chinese films from the Festival. It's an interetsing display of bullying and censorship in action. I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

Later
GB xo






Monday, July 20, 2009

Revenge of the Nerd... I hope

So I feel a little bit like 'Josie Grossie" from Never Been Kissed. Not the "Smokin' hot babe who wins the boy" at the end of the movie. No, not her... the pre transformation one. The one wearing glasses & braces, has acne and is either weezing or sucking on her Ventolin. OK so maybe that's a slight exageration but it's pretty close. *weeze*

I've been on this crazy-ass diet for a week now to determine what food intolerance I have. Last week I tested for allergies and didn't react overtly to anything but I did react slightly to certain foods. So for 4 weeks I cannot have caffeine, wine, breads, olives, onion, etc, most vegetables, all fruits except pears, most spices, drinks, nuts, oils, OK most food and no dairy products but thank god for rice milk. This is torture for a good old ethnic girl who only ever listened to her mother when she said "eat more". Luckily I can eat meats, potato, rice and more importantly I can have gin & tonic!! Liquid diet it is then :P

I discovered that food is the second most common cause for nasal & sinus congestion. It's taken 34 years to discover this fact but finally I may put an end to this constant cycle of illness... the sniffles, then sore throat & viola a chest infection... Not only am I tackling this with crazy-ass diet but I have an arsenal of WMD's.. yes that's right... Weapons of Mucus Destruction. See my pretty babies below.


Results so far are: 6 days of headaches (gone now), hunger (from not knowing what to eat then just putting off eating - my fault), grumpiness/anger/irritable (my poor BF) because I'm hungry but best of all.... I'm congestion-free (almost). However I must bitch about how bad, bad, bad flavourless toothpaste is. GAG!! EEEK!! Day 7 has been pretty good as I finally figured out what to have for lunch... Mountain Bread. Lunch was always my stumbling block. I wouldn't eat it cos I didn't know what to eat, I'd get hungry, then angry and then headaches. I really am so predictable. How disappointing!

Moving onto the the not-so-predictable. My lovely friend Verity chose to go to a Burlesque class for her Hen's night party on the weekend. I was a little hesitant. Choreographed movements & I don't go so well together. However this was quite a bit of fun!! Thanks to Bottoms Up Burlesque on Brunswick for a fun night out with the gals. Two surprising outcomes from the night:

1. I successfully completely a short choreographed routine. Like wow! Seriously!
2. I surprisingly had a great time using a feather boa.

Highly recommend it for a night out!! And am considering further classes. Check out our moves below:

The Lady of the hour, Miss V

Strike a pose



Best get some ZZzzzZzzZzzZz's now. Plenty of work to do the rest of the week along with my arduous nasal routine & diet. Dear lord *shakes fist to sky* this better work.

Later peeps
GB xoxo

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

An Inconvenient Lock Out


What a super fantastic start to the week I've had. Thanks to **spirit fingers** Just Jack at the c word, I nabbed an invite to the launch of Safe Climate Australia. Al Gore was the keynote speaker for the launch. I'm still pinching myself I was in the same room as him. He was such an inspirational speaker. I'm really excited about the possibilities & opportunities that will come from tackling the climate crisis.


Unfortunately this was the only shot I got of the man himself. I was half tempted to rush over to him like the rest of the crowd but had an appointment on the other side of town to get to. I didn't like my chances of battling it out with 1000 other guests for cabs at Docklands.

So check out the Safe Climate Australia website for more information. SCA are a non-government organisation which plans to mobilise all the scientific, technological, economic and political expertise to tackle the problem of climate change. There is plenty to do to keep the world & us safe, so sign up or donate or educate others if interested.

Lovely sunset in Elwood after being locked out of house


*sigh* I must say I peaked way too early this week. GirlBug world came crashing down to reality with a thud ... computer crashes, wedding dramas (not mine), doctor enforced diet (oh dear lord, my 1st ever diet) and getting locked out of my house. Ahhhh a comedy of errors really. Can't wait til Friday when I can dance my 'troubles' away Burlesque style at Verity's hen night. This should be fun, no matter how uncoordinated I am when it comes to choreographed moves.

Later peeps
xoxo
GB

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Mornington Peninsula bliss


After a crazy busy week at work with some 5am start times, filming a DVD plus keeping on top of other work, it was so wonderful to head down to Shoreham for the weekend. I was EXHAUSTED by Friday afternoon so had a sense of déjà vu when I was walking down the street in the rain dragging my little wheelie bag. Lugging that bag plus my giant Mimco handbag from tram to train to car with my weary body... made me feel like I was back in Europe :( Oh well... it was a weekend away.

And what a relaxing weekend away it was. Spooks marathon, cuddles with a cheeky puppy (& BF of course), a local footy match in the rain & plenty of delicious food. BF's mum was super super nice & made us a mouth watering lasagna (yes we're spoilt :P). I made a sweet potato, ricotta, pecan & baby spinach salad. The lasagna had black olives throughout the sauce & worked so well with the salad. It was a perfect match *droolz*. Must make that combo again.



After lazing about & eating til our ♥'s content all weekend, we decided to take Bea, the crazy puppy for a walk along the beach. With dreary, grey weather since Friday, it was good fortune to have the sun shining as we headed out for a walk. Beautiful weather, beautiful beach... exhausted as Bea walked me. My arm was almost yanked out of its socket several times. En route home, I was glad that Bea led me up the hill hehehe.


So I have an early start again tomorrow. Pick up at 6am *weeps* although it should be our last day of filming tomorrow (fingers crossed anyway). This week I will be counting down the days til pay day. I've been lusting after this bag by Melbourne designer Lulki. This week it will be mine... all mine!! Ok yes I have to wait delivery... but then it will be mine... all mine!!


BTW I'm loving the quality of photos from my Jesus phone. They do not look like a camera phone, do they?

Enjoy your week. Later peeps

GB xoxo