Thank DOG it's Friday...

...because every dog should have its day!!

Every Friday at my work is dog friendly day... Fergus is fast becoming a regular!!

I think he's just the cutest!! (and what's better than a cute puppy to kick off the weekend?!)

{from}

Happy Weekend Lovelies!!!

Greetings from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada!

Howdie from the Land of Moose and Beavers!

I hope you've all had a good weekend and start to the week.. while I have been busy packing, toddler proofing my flat and travelling! I am well behind on my blog reading... but hoping to remedy that today!

Can't believe it was less than a week ago that I finished up at work.. I was there till 7pm on my last day (as in everyone else left and I was still there!) making sure everything was done and leaving a note for the temp coming to take my place.. coz I hate arriving at jobs feeling like I just don't know anything.. it's always nice to arrive to some cliff notes to ease into a new workplace.. (for me anyways)

Then the weekend was spent running some errands and doing some last minute shopping and Monday and Tuesday were spent tidying up the flat and packing.. the mister's sister and brudder in law are visiting with their toddler in a few weeks.. so I had to pack away any potential health and safety hazards.. (of which there were LOADS!)..

Yesterday we left at quarter past a sparrow's fart to drive to Glasgow... the plane was delayed by an HOUR.. because a) they somehow managed to double book some seats.... b) there was a guy who's seat was broken - a guy came on with a hammer to fix it... eep!? and c) they were having "minor technical difficulties" - which they seemed to fix with the age old... "turn it off then on again" trick!

I moved seats to help remedy the double booked seats problem as they were a family with young children who couldn't be separated.. but ended up sitting next to an arm rest hogging man.. which is fine.. apart from he seemed to think the armrest extended halfway across my seat and spent the majority of the 8.5hrs flight time with his elbow either in my ribs or in my arm... g.r.e.a.t... not so much..  I started watching Love and other Drugs but somehow managed to break my headphones.. I think I must have caught the plug when I stood up and bent it or something.. then was told that if I wanted crappy airline headphones I would have to pay £2.50 for the privilege, so decided that my sudoku book would have to do to pass the time.. Thanks for nothing Thomas Cook!

At least the food was erring on the side of edible!

Tales of my adventure to continue in the next post!

Naked on a Calorific Friday!

So, along with the aforementioned bacon & egg roll this morning... We have also been treated to sweet treats because one of my colleagues is going on holiday for two weeks... (we seriously take/make any excuse to get people to bring/buy cakes/sweet at any opportunity!) birthdays - cakes!, going on holiday - cakes!, just because the bossmans feels like it - CAKES! or one time we had ice lollies... It's no wonder I don't fit any of my old trousers anymore!!!

Anywhos... I was running late this morning and in my rush to get to work on time.. I left ALL my jewellery AT HOME!!! GAHHHHHH!! I had even packed a necklace and some earrings in little ziplock bags ready to go in my toiletries bag.. but I have a feeling I left them on my dresser... along with the rings I always wear and the earrings I'd planned on wearing... the nakedness really stems from not having my rings on... and it's making me not feel very well to know that I won't have them all weekend.. as I'm leaving early from work straight to the train station... gah... am I being a big weirdo??  I think I'm going to go to the charity shop at lunchtime to see if I can at least pick up a necklace and maybe some cheapo rings.. because my hands seriously feel so N.A.K.E.D and just... n.o.t... r.i.g.h.t.

Do you get this?? Do you have jewellery you feel naked without?? At least I have my watch on I suppose...I think I'd really feel out of sorts if I had no watch AND no jewellery!

Some days I dress...

like I work in an office... 

other days I don't... 

below is one of those days... 

My go-to outfit for work is definitely a dress of some description over leggings/stockings with a belt...
That's actually what I'm wearing today.. though not this particular dress.. tho I am wearing the same belt!

 Dress: ASDA; Stockings: Internacionale; Belt: Thrifted; Boots: Department Store, Taiwan; Necklace: Old..

 I love these boots because they actually FIT me!! And I didn't need to get them stretched or anything!! (small miracle!) Tho... the buckles have a tendency to attack my stockings and many a pair of stockings have been ruined by them... *sigh*... I took them to get re-heeled a while ago and the lovely folk at Timpsons also filled in all the gauges I'd managed to take out of it and put a new coat of something on them to make them look fabulous again.. (tho you can see I've managed to dent them already.. don't ask me how I manage to take a chunk of of the side of my heel... I'm talented like that... - I blame escalators - )

Happy Hump Day!!

fill in the blank friday on a non bacon & egg roll day...

(Skip to the picture to find my FITBs... keep reading if you think you're having a bad day at the office...)

Well, those of you who read my FITBs regularly will know that Friday = bacon roll day at my work!

But there are only 4 of us here today and my colleague who normally instigates bacon rolls had a breakfast meeting where he had a bacon roll and thus left me high and dry when I got to work...

I then had the downstairs receptionist calling to say one of our guys had parked somewhere they shouldn't have and needed to move his car.. but he was waiting for the bossman to leave to park in his space..

The bossman then came out of a conference call swearing like a sailor... and rushing around like a mad person to get to his son's sports day.. and this was all before I even booted up my machine!!

NOT a good start to Friday in my books..

Things proceeded to get worse... one of the printers has blown its fuse and now doesn't work.. *sigh*

Of course Ms K who is usually in charge of these things is off on holiday.. so... 

I called our IT people because I wasn't sure if they covered our printers as well but got stuck talking to the ONE guy who speaks no english... *sigh* after taking 5 minutes trying to tell him my name and which office I worked in, I finally had to ask to speak to someone else.. he was all "but I'm a member of the support staff as well" and while I would normally just grin and bear it.. I really just didn't have the time OR the patience for it this morning.. I was like.. "I know, but can I just speak to X because I'm used to dealing with him?".. 

ANYYYYwhos, X took about two minutes and checked a few things and was pretty much "can't fix it, you need a new fuser"... GRRREAT.. 

our stationary people don't sell it and are now trying to track it down as a "special request"...

Meanwhile as I'm on the phone, we had people arriving wayyyy early for a meeting and mr X was "eating his toast" and therefore unable to get off his backside to let people in (for HIS OWN meeting) so another colleague had to go get the door.. *RAGE*

We also then had a fire drill, literally in the middle of the meeting...

Then after the meeting mr X is all "I just need you go do these two things for me today" to which I replied "well, if you want to field the bossman's phone calls and do all his bidding for him, then sure!" *MORE RAGE*

And it's only just lunch time!! *sigh*

/end rant

(Congrats if you're still reading!!) How's your Friday going so far?? Better than mine??!!

Here's some FITBs!!

1.   The best news I ever received was       that my parents had bought me a car!   .

2.  Something I'm looking forward to is    CANADA!! and an epic road trip across the States with one of my fave peeps!! I fly in 20 days!! Woohooo!!   .

3.  Something I would never do is     say that I'd never do something.. "Never say never".. coz you just never know... I think we would all be surprised by what we each would do in order to survive something...  .

4.  If I could choose someone to be my life coach (famous or not, living or dead), I'd choose   I dunno.. someone who knows how to have fun and not take life too seriously..  .

5.  If I had to put a label on my style it would be    chameleon. Some days I go for preppy, some days urban, sometimes bohemian...just depends on my mood that day (haha Lauren said chameleon.. I was thinking more schizophrenia.. -me, not Lauren!) Funny how we imply the same idea.. but each word has such a different connotation!!  .

6.  One should always       be true to oneself   .

7.  I want to       be in my bikini sipping on a cocktail floating around a pool... alas.. I will have to resign myself to work... *sigh*   . 

I just need to survive this work day, then we are headed to Bristol for the weekend, for the mister's mum's 60th.. joy! (yes that is sarcasm you sense dripping all over that joy!) 

Happy Friday!!

Head on over to Lauren's to link up or to read other people's potentially much more upbeat blanks than mine!!

Jog Scotland 5k Challenge - Inverleith Park & Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh

The Jog Scotland Mascot!

SUPER cute!! :) 

(whoever was inside must have been melting in the heat tho!)

So as I mentioned in my previous posts we took part in the Jog Scotland 5k last night as part of our work Summer Party... yea.. they really make you work for it at my work eh??!!
It was a sunny and warm evening which was a welcome change from the rain we had over the weekend and on Monday, the course was quite picturesque as it looped through part of the Botanic Gardens then down around the pond at Inverleith Park..

I decided to try and run/jog as much as I comfortably could, I walk about 3k home after work most nights, so the distance seemed a bit daunting.. in so much as it was like a walk home and then almost all the way back to work again.. I wasn't worried about it as I often do full days of walking when I'm travelling, but it's just the thought of it being a "competition".. and not being able to stop and take a break! I took part in the Times Colonist 10k in Victoria, BC - also because of work.. (are you sensing a trend here?) but I walked most of it and it took me I think around about 2 hours to finish it.

One thing you need to understand (so you don't think I'm a big baby/drama queen!) is that I actually physically can't run very well... I have very flat feet, which results in me rolling my ankles and also my knees.. which has altered my gait over the years to the point where my knees don't track properly in the joint.. I have orthotic insoles from podiatrists, exercises from physios and all sorts.. I'm not just making this up! So running is not something I do often, or for enjoyment or even for fitness because it just causes PAIN! And not in the good way like after a hard workout...

Anyways.. here's some photos from the evening..

 

These photos were taken as I approached the finish line..

Team Photo Before

Running under a hedge "doorway".. Not sure if you can tell but after the doorway is like a tunnel made from bamboo plants where it  was nice and shady.. Very pretty!

By this stage of the race I had no idea if that 3k marker meant I had completed 3k or if I still had 3k to go... it really wasn't very reassuring either way!!!

The Scotty Dog greets you at the finish line.. 

I gave him a High 5 (yea, I'm cool like that)

YEAY!! You get a medal for taking part/finishing!!

Team Photo After

Noone looking too much worse for wear! Everyone still smiling! ; )

My time in case you were wondering was 38mins 15sec

Not exactly a world record but I'm pretty chuffed!!

ps. The random pictures on people's shirts are just to cover up numbers & logos.. in case you were thinking I'm a total weirdo that just puts random pictures on my photos!! :D

Bell's Diner, Stockbridge, Edinburgh

Last night we had our work Summer Party... which started with us all taking part in the Jog Scotland 5k Challenge at Inverleith Park.. (My picasa is going a bit nuts at the mo and won't let me edit my pictures, so I shall share the run bit in another post.. hopefully when my picasa isn't going mental...)  Afterwards we had dinner at Bell's Diner... The restaurant is tiny... we took over a third of the restaurant with our party of 10. The atmosphere is super relaxed, the decor rustic, the service is pretty good considering there was only one server on her own.. The food was fantastic and it was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Here's what I ate:

Fried Onion & Garlic Bread Starter
No battered onion rings but the onions at the top were nice and crispy
Little bit greasy near the bottom but so delicious!!

Chocolate Milkshake

Proper diner milkshake with a scoop of ice cream at the bottom...

DEEEEELICIOUS!!

Condiments tray, from top:
Sweet corn, sweet onion, bbq, ketchup, chutney & something mexican (?) it was spicy..
With salad dressing in the middle.. I didn't taste any of these apart from the ketchup.. :(

I had a lemon pepper steak.. cooked to PERfection!
With a mountain of fries and salad.. (I have to admit I was defeated and didn't finish my meal..)

I ended up walking home.. (Yea I know, after doing a 5k.. Crazy lady!)

But I was so full I needed a walk and it was a very pleasant evening out..

Not sure if you can see the orangey/dusky colours still in the sky??

This was taken on my street about 11.30pm... with no flash & only about a 1/20 shutter speed..

Because we're so far North, we only get about 3 or 4 hours of proper darkness in the Summer time!! :) *love*

Well, there you have it my lovelies.. my feast from last night!! It was so delicious and made me super duper excited for some proper American Diner food on my roady this summer!!

Prices were beyond reasonable with the damage being around £320 for 10 of us including 4 bottles of wine, 1 beer, 2 milkshakes, a starter and main for everyone, a few sides with mains and a couple of desserts and 5 teas and coffees...

I would definitely venture back to try a burger and devour another milkshake.. they even have lime flavour! YUM!!


Happy Eating!



ps. is anyone else's blogger and picasa doing all sorts of weirdness?? or is it just me??

From the Touch Rugby World Cup to the Kings of Leon...

So, it should be fairly apparent that I'm the biggest nana in town.. Monday - Friday I get up, I work, I go home, I cook dinner (most nights), eat dinner, potter around fb with the tv on, shower, then bed... Thursday nights I go to yoga if I am feeling inspired, tho recently late night shopping and the high street sales have proved much more seductive than yoga! Saturdays & Sundays, unless the weather is really good, or we have a reason to go out (ie. we need groceries), I'm more than happy to potter around home in my pj's and not leave the apartment..

I think I got my major partying days under my belt in my late teens/early 20's and now I'm just jaded.. and potentially also spoilt because due to various jobs I was very well looked after when I was out and about in Auckland.. and to be honest.. last trip I was home.. I was still very well looked after when I went out.. yes that means I mostly only go places where I know someone on staff.. but for the most part, they are places I would probably go regardless.. I digress..

So, in recent years I've chosen to lead a much more sedentary lifestyle and that's been totally fine with me.. when you've spent as many years behind the bar serving the belligerently inebriated, it's a good reminder as to why it's probably not so great being "that" person too often in your life... don't get me wrong.. I've done my fair share of dancing on tables and what have you.. gah.. I digress again..

What I'm trying to say is.. as with most things in my life.. when it rains it pours... and I'll go for weeks without anything on the social radar, then all of a sudden everything will happen all at the same time... last week was one of those weeks..

Wednesday - I caught up with Sarah, whom I went to high school with for a few years and pretty much haven't seen since.. so a little over a decade.. (don't do the maths!) as she was in town with her partner who plays on the Welsh Touch Rugby team, the Touch Rugby World Cup was on in Edinburgh this past week.. So Wednesday night she picked me up from work and we went to watch Wales vs. Austria (14-5 respectively), then I went back to their apartment and had dinner with them and some of the other boys they were sharing the apartment with..  tho it wasn't a heavy drinking night, it was a late night...

Thursday - I needed to return some stuff to a store and ended up going shopping as instructed by mother..

Friday - I had intentions to try and catch up with Sarah again but was just wiped when I got home and I think I was in bed before midnight... (nana!)

Saturday - Formula 1 qualifying, then food before heading out to an album launch.. then it was Shaun's leaving do, as well as Scotty's b'day (which I had to miss).. and as with any evening out involving Shaun.... there were many many jager bombs involved.. I pulled a houdini at 1am and skipped going to the "clubs"...

Sunday - nursing a sore head while I watched the Formula 1 race.. there wasn't much time to feel sorry for myself before having to get ready to head to the Kings of Leon concert... (whilst missing catching up with friends Steph & Phil who are over from Canada - will have to catch up with them when I'm over in the Summer..)

Which all = Monday - a very tired Caz at work who is very slowly losing the will to live... luckily, the bossman sounds like he had an even harder weekend and so I'm at least in good company..

I will hopefully get around to sharing some photos of these various events.. but considering I still haven't posted about my holiday to Ireland last month.. I probably wouldn't hold my breath... *sigh* but you never know!!

Just got a text from another friend from NZ "Montreal".. he's in town and wants to meet up tonight...

Tomorrow is our work "Summer Party" - ahem.. we are somehow signed up to take part in Jog Scotland and are running/walking 5km.. before going to dinner at some burger joint and a few drinks... - WHO has ever had a staff party that involved running 5km!?!?!?! WHAT!?!?! True story of my life...

Dressing "Corporate"

So, you may have gathered that we're not the most corporate looking office in all the land! (Thank Gawds!)
But one of the big higher-ups was here from London yesterday and we had Bank people coming for presentations, so I thought I would actually dress the part rather than schlep in just in anything that's vaguely passable for office attire..

Here's the result:

 Shirt - TM Lewin (on sale); Skirt - Next (Outlet); Shoes - Primark

Earrings - Violet Reaction; Nails - Shellac (I shoulda taken note of the name of the colour.. oops!)

 The mister arrived home just after I did, so silly photo taking ensued!!

That's our front door.. I kinda like having a black door...

 I love the little "fishtail" detail on the back of the skirt.. can you see it??

Below is what it looks like close up.. but you can kinda see how it kicks out in the photo above..

 Buttons and a W-I-D-E waistband to keep the post lunch tum in check!

 I adore the print on this shirt!! 

The bossman thinks it's pretty snazzy too... he told me!! ; )

(Tho he might not have said "snazzy".. but in my mind he did and that's what counts.. right?)

Well there you have it!! I clean up pretty nice eh?? :D It's past my home time and I think it's stopped raining finally, so I'm going to run the gauntlet and try to get home without getting rained on!! Wish me luck!!

The Monday Greens~

The trouble with Mondays... apart from the whole having to be at work thing... is that it's a whole FIVE days until the weekend... bah!! At least each day brings up closer to the weekEND... it's only Monday and I'm longing for the weekend.. oh dear... anywhos... X's filing is seriously making me lose my will to live.. I've done some of it.. but I'm leaving the rest of it till tomorrow.. can I just say it seriously does my head in when he sends me things to print.. which are ONE page... ONE PAGE!!! Surely it can't be so difficult to hit the print button!?!?! Or walk across the office to collect it from the colour printer.. seriously.. it's 10 steps (I just counted) with my 5'5.5" legs.. so it's probably like 6 steps for him!! GAH!! /rant

Anyyyywhos... so.. I got to work... couldn't find my swipe card... must have left it in the pocket of my jeans which I wore Friday... oops... super annoying as our bathroom is outside the office, so you need your swipe to get in after you go to the loo... GAH!!  I also left my phone at home... not such a huge deal seeing as I don't get many calls/texts anyways.. but still.. majorly annoying!! I also somehow forgot to put my rings on, so all day my hands have felt kinda naked.. do you get that?? It's the same feeling as forgetting my watch.. tho I usually put my watch and rings on at the same time.. so I really don't know how I managed to put on my watch and not my rings...??? *le sigh*

At least I have yummy ribs to look forward to when I get home tonight... they have been cooking in the juices which also cooked our yummy pulled pork last night... I think I will pick up some coleslaw and bake some cornbread and that'll be dinner!!

To counter all this ranting & gloominess... I had a fun convo with the bossman as I was nipping out to pick up some more herbal tea..

bossman: nice tights today caz! they're the brightest things I've seen all day! (he gets to be pink because it's his favourite colour - no joke!)

(yup, I still had my trianers on.. I don't bother changing out of them unless we have visitors to the office..)

me: what about my nails?

they look much brighter IRL! like almost fluro green..

bossman: holy geezuz! are those all your own or are they fakies? (grabbing my hand to have a look)
me: they're mine..
bossman: they're nice, you have nice nails.. 

Yup.. those are seriously the type of conversation I have with my bossman.. weird much?? I love it tho.. I've always been lucky and had super cool bosses & managers that I've gotten along well with and have had super casual laidback relationships with.. I've been lucky to have higher ups that I've never been afraid to approach with problems I'm having at work or questions, for fear of them thinking less of me or whatever... And I think that's why I don't really tend to have problems at work.. yea, I have a rant and a moan about things like when X is doing my head in.. but for the most part, they are just trivial things, and once I get it off my chest, I'm ok with it.. but I've never been afraid to ask questions when I don't know or have been unclear about something.. but I also have just normal everyday conversations with my higher ups..

I once had a bosslady say to/ask me "Isn't my husband a hottie?".. Luckily her hubby was indeed a hottie so there was no debate whether I should to lie or not! Though looking back, it probably coulda been a super awkward situation, ie. does it seem like I've been checking out her hubby if I say yes?!?! will she be flattered or offended by that??!! :D but it wasn't at all, it really just felt more like if a bestie had asked me, and I was quick to reply "yup huh"..

So I guess I really shouldn't complain about work.. I work in a pretty relaxed environment (which is perfect for me) with some pretty awesome people (most of the time! ;] ), everyone has a great sense of humour and some days it doesn't feel like work at all!!  Anywhos.. speaking of work.. I should probably get back to it!!

How goes your Monday??

Mary Celeste~

That's what it's felt like at work all day.. two of the girls don't work Fridays anyways,  two more left at lunch time to head up North to tackle the Caledonian Challenge this weekend.. (crazy people!).. another left at lunchtime to go to meetings, one arrived well after lunchtime after a day down South yesterday, Ms K is in Paris.. so there's pretty much been about 3 or 4 of us here for most of the day!!  I've typed up two emails, gone to get bacon rolls, gone to get sweet treats for afternoon tea.. and that's about as much work as I've accomplished today.. I have been reading reviews on scanners to scan my films from my lomo cameras as taking the film to Boots is producing horrendous results!!  Oh, I've also spent the day googling random information, such as the Mary Celeste & Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.. to answer ridiculous questions posed by the bossman...

Anywhos.. I have some time to kill before leaving to go meet the mister for dinner.. so I thought I would do my outfit post whilst at work.. (everyone else has gone home, so I have the entire office to myself as a backdrop!) Thought you might like something that's not my super messy cluttered living room, for a change!!

As you know from here and here, I usually wear funny shirts to amuse the boss man on Fridays, but seeing as we're out for dinner, I thought I'd try to dress a little fancy.. tho it wasn't warm enough to get me outta my jeans! Here's what I'm wearing...

Top - Glassons; Jacket - Nikita; Jeans - thrifted (Marks & Spencer); Shoes - Fitflop

Oh hai!! That's my bootie... 

I love the tie up at the back of the top.. and the funky print on the back of my jacket...

Necklace - Violet Reaction; Earrings - gift

I apparently lack the skill to take photos of earrings while I'm wearing them.. but they're cute hanging on my wallet! 

We had a yummy dinner.. I'll post about it soon!!