Adventureland

PLEASE NOTE: This blog post is not related to the movie of the same name. Adventureland, the movie, sucked. I wish to have no affiliation with it. The end.

Hanging out at City Park

Last weekend, the boy and I went to Launceston to take advantage of some el cheapo hotel rooms that I scored through work (have I mentioned how much I love working in tourism??).

I've not done much exploring in Launceston. I've driven through it, past it, and (I now realise) judged it purely on first impressions. I didn't like it. It looks grey, and busy (in comparison to the fair old town of Burnie), and I couldn't understand the appeal.

I do now. Launceston has brilliant cafes, a park with monkeys in it, a couple of fab vintage clothes shops, fantastic old buildings, a park with monkeys in it, a lovely cobblestone-type mall, and a park with monkeys in it.

Monkeys. In a park. Monkeys.

D and I drove up there after work on Friday night, and generally lived it up in the snazzy hotel room. We ordered room service, I locked his wallet and phone in the room safe while he was out of the room, and we pretended that we were rich and that this lifestyle was normal. We know how to have a good time.

On Saturday we got up early and explored. Oh, the exploring. We went to one of the best cafes that I've ever been to for breakfast (Fresh). Fresh is totally organic, and has a lot of vegetarian options (otherwise known as hippy food). It was tasty, it was funky, it was just fantabulous.

Fresh

Armchairs on the pavement outside Fresh

Chai latte *nom nom nom*

From there we went vintage clothes shopping, and I finally got to visit Nanna's. I've been wanting to visit Nanna's ever since I first saw Bianca from Goodnight Little Spoon talk about it, and it's everything that I thought it would be. Awesome clothes, chicks wearing kerchiefs serving up old-school milkshakes, laminate tables and vintage teacups - I didn't want to leave. And once they played The Smiths on their stereo, neither did D. Really, if you go to Launceston, go to Nanna's. Do it.

Drawer of fabulousness at Nanna's

Awesome decor

One of the few moments where I stopped squealing

We spent the afternoon wandering. I finally cracked under the pressure and got an i-Phone. We had a picnic in the park, and visited the monkeys. We went to the Queen Victoria Museum. We walked until my tootsies requested that we stop. We managed to fit in so much goodness, it was amazing that neither one of us imploded from a happiness overload.

My favourite portrait at the museum

On Saturday night, we made our way into town to grab some dinner from an Indian restaurant, and avail ourselves to a few beverages from a local barkeep. While we were sitting at the pub, Bianca rode past on her pink bike. I'll admit to being a bit excited. D missed the whole thing, because he was facing away from the window, and all he knew was that one moment I was sitting on the seat next to him, and then I was suddenly standing with my face smooshed against the window, talking about how cute her bike is.

And THEN (this story will end really soon, I promise) we drove down the Evandale and checked out the markets. Another thing that I can highly recommend. We didn't have much time, so we kind of just did a sweep of the area, and had very targeted browses (D - records, me - craft stuff) and then reconvened for more wandering.

Rusty old Vespa at Evandale

So, by and large, a radtacular time was had by all. All two of us. Just goes to show that you can't accurately judge a place from the drivers seat.

Girl + Boy

Chicks Dig Scars

Shiny bits in my head

I dig piercings. Piercings lead to scars. Maybe one day chicks will dig me.

I’ve always been into piercings. My Mum has been less enthralled with my passion, but every now and then I’ll feel the need to go get something new pierced through my skin. I figure that due to my unfortunate un-coordinated nature, and occasionally ill-advised decision making (I put my foot in a heater when I was a little tyke), I’ll end up with plenty of scars anyway. What’s a few more?

My latest piercing acquisition is in fact not a new one, but a change to an old one. When I was 16 I stretched out my ear, and over the years have gone up a couple of millimeters. For ages I was at 10mm, but the last time I was Sydney I decided to go the next step, taking me up to 12mm.  So I bought me a 12mm tunnel*, and thought I was all set.

The last time I went up a size, I just pushed the bigger tunnel through without too much difficulty. This time was not to be as easy. But that’s cool, I can deal with that. I thought that I’d buy a stretcher^ for my ear, and do it gradually.

Initial thoughts: I’ll buy a stretcher as inconspicuous as possible, so that if I’m wearing it at work it’s not noticeable.

Process: Ok, so I’ll just have a look-see on E-Bay, and see if I can get something clear and not too obvious…. OH MY GOD THERE’S ONE WITH BLING!! I WANT THE BLING! IWANTITIWANTITIWANTIT!!!

Result: I received the stretcher. I put it in. I looked like what The Offspring were talking about with Pretty Fly For A White Guy, if the guy was in fact a chick, and if that chick were hoping to be gangster and hardcore. It was 12mm of bling, right there in my earlobe, with a tapered end long enough to be used as some sort of eye-gouging device.

You only wish that you could be this cool

In hindsight, I can spot my mistake. I was on E-Bay – at night time. Time plays a major factor in regretful online purchases. I’m normally very aware of the time, and try to limit any purchasing after certain times, but this one slipped by me. It also reinforced my rule – no shopping after 9pm.

Needless to say, I rocked the gangster look for about one day, shocked the hell out of somebody with it, and then swapped over to the tunnel. I’ve learnt my lesson – the hard way.

How about you? Have you participated in any late-night shopping that you regret?

*A flesh tunnel, also known as a spacer, is a type of body piercing jewellery. It is also sometimes referred to as a spool, fleshy, earlet, expander or eyelet. Wearers generally use them to show off the process of stretching that they have gone through.

^An ear stretcher is a round spike with a tapered end. Pushing the spike gradually through the ear stretches the piercing to the desired size.

I'm In Lust

Last night I was doing a bit of blog-hopping, and came across a blog talking about some very cute items on Etsy. I hadn’t looked on Etsy for quite some time, so decided to just have a quick look before I went to bed. Two hours later and I was convinced that I’d found some items that I MUST OWN. My life would be severely lacking without them.

These badges from beanforest appeal to my inner nerd. And make it giggle.

Comic headbands from Janine Basil. Do I even need to tell you how cool this is? And how many times I would say "Zap!" and pull superhero poses if I was wearing it?

These cards from Vixen's Empire are awesome. I love that they're pretty much pointless, but I still really want to buy one to give to... somebody. Also, check out Vixen's shop for the rest of her range. There are some naughty cards in there that made me laugh so hard that I snorted. Although, if you are one of my family members reading this blog post - the things I saw on that site were not amusing. In fact, I didn't even understand what they were referring to. There's just no accounting for taste *tsk, tsk*. To everybody else - check them out. I think I want one of everything on there.

More badges! These are by Button Empire. I don't normally have this sort of attraction to badges, but I just kept coming across things that made me lol. Yes, I went there - I lol'd in public. Anyway, now that I know where to buy these cool badges, where can I buy a nerdy husband?

I've been lusting over this Old Lady Swearwords poster from sianuska for some time now. One of my friends has it hanging in their lounge room, and it's just so damned cool. One day I might get it. Oh, by the way, my birthday is coming up in February...

The Little Things

Things that bug me:

• Loud eaters
• Small unidentified insects that crash land in my coffee before I’ve even had a chance to take a sip
• People who say “medium” strip instead of “median” strip
• Pretty much anything that happens within the first hour of me waking up

Things that don’t bug me:

• The orgiastic feast of vintage and awesomeness that is Mod Cloth. I spent quite some time browsing on their site last night, and really want… well, pretty much everything. I think you will too.

• Triumphant purchases from local markets – I bought this from a guy who told me not to pay attention to the prices on items. He’d beat his own price.

• Free dress patterns online – like this cute-as-a-button skirt from BurdaStyle.

PS. A big belated congratulations to my very talented friend Gill Lester, whose layout made the FRONT COVER of Scrapbook Creations this month! She’s one very clever girl.

Mustard?! Don’t Let’s Be Silly

I am positively lusting over all things mustard coloured at the moment. It has that hint of vintage, with a twist of summer. I’ve been relatively restrained considering all of the awesome mustard things I’ve found – like a sugar bowl that matches a sugar bowl that I already have. Except it was, of course, mustard instead of blue. But I withheld, conscientious shopper that I am. Ahem.

Among the great mustard articles I’ve found, these are a couple of my favourites. This cute-as-a-button bag from Etsy. I always carry a tote bag, and manage to fill it most times. This bag is both big enough for all of the detritus that life seems to collect, and still completely awesome.

And of course, this collar from Hand Hook Yarn. I originally came across a picture of it in Frankie magazine (which happens to be the best magazine in the world), and did some internet sleuthing until I found where I could purchase such a rad item. I love these collars – they’re so unusual! But definitely cool.