A Little Bit Taboo

So... I was thinking about whether or not I was going to write a post about this... because the subject may be a little bit taboo..?? But it's my blog and I'm supposed to blog about my life and the big and small things about my life so I thought why not... and it would be interesting to get other people's thoughts on the matter... if anyone is willing to say anything that is... Anywhos... the topic for this post is WAXING! Namely Bikini Waxing! - The faint hearted and easily offended may want to stop reading.. but if not... let's carry on!!

So... I know plenty of ladies who wax and have a standing appointment with beauticians to keep themselves neat & tidy... From simple bikini waxes to "brazilians" to "hollywoods", I'm sure some of my lady friends have been through them all! I for one have always kept the trimming of the lady hedge a private, in home affair...

But, I have always wondered... being just a bit curious... if the grass is really greener on the other side and maybe waxing was really the way forward.....??  So when a voucher came up on one of my daily deal sites to "get me Summer and bikini ready" with a brazilian/hollywood and an eyebrow shape/tidy... I decided to take the plunge...

How bad could it be!?! I've plucked the occasional stray hair "down there"... I've survived tattoos... pain is really just a temporary thing... and as a female... we all suffer slightly in some form or other in the name of vanity... don't we??

Anyways, aside from the fact that there would be a stranger looking at and touching my privates... how bad could it really be!?!?! The payoff of up to 4/6 weeks of maintenance free was high on my priority...

I had booked an appointment last week because the voucher was due to run out at the end of last week... I showed up slightly early... slightly nervous... it's like going on an overly intimate first date... without the benefit of alcoholic lubrication for dutch courage!  I was shown to a room, told to take everything off from the waist down and to lay on the bed with a towel to cover up.... She left me in the room for what seemed like an eternity... (probably about 5 mins - now I don't know about you.. but it definitely does not take me 5 mins to get my kit off and lay down on a bed!! if there was any other formality I was supposed to go through, I a) was not told about it and b) did not see anything in the room to partake in any "freshening up".... ) She came back and instructed me to pop my knees out to the sides... and after a quick inspection declared... "too short! the hair is too short, maybe in a couple of days I could do it, but if I do it now, in two or three days you'll be hairy again.."  GAH!! *how embarassament!*

She kindly offered to extend my voucher and booked me an appointment for a week later.... and with that I was sent packing... so I went back yesterday for my appointment... probably a lot less nervous than the week before.. considering she'd already seen all there was to see, so to speak... Again she left me in the room for a good 5 minutes (I kept checking my watch, well, because, there's not much else to do when you're lying half naked in an almost empty room!)...

Upon her return, she got straight down to business... the wax went on... more wax went on... and the wax came off... YEOWCH!! Yet more wax went on.. and it felt really hot this time... more wax came off, more went on.. and so forth... then the tweezers made an appearance... and that was really really uncomfortable! There were times when it felt like she was pulling out entire bunches of hair... tho surely not!?! One assumes the wax got most of it!?!  She slathered on some sort of oil and declared "that's your bikini done"....

She then did a quick tidy of my eyebrows... which was great for cleaning up the finer hairs and also my mini monobrow (all the little stray hairs between the brows..)...  I checked my brows when I got home and there were quite a few little hair that I ended up tweezing...

As for my "hollywood" - it really wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be... it wasn't the clean and smooth result I was expecting or hoping for... there seem to be quite a few (albeit short) hairs that the wax left behind and there were a couple of bloody spots from where the wax or the tweezing had damaged the skin...

Now, I don't know if that is purely because it was my first go?? I have heard if you go regularly the results get better and the pain lessens?? Maybe it depends on the coarseness of the hair?? Maybe my beautician was just a bit on the violent side?? It also went quite red and was  tender to the touch.. so maybe my skin doesn't really like the wax too much??  Whatever the reason... I can't say I'm overly taken with the results... so unless I get a full 6 weeks off from grooming the beaver... I don't think it's something I was partake in again...

Do you wax?? Have you waxed?? What are your thoughts??

Also, has anyone heard of/tried "Vajazzling"??? I've seen a few salons offering it it... so far as I understand, you stick little crystals on yourself after a wax or shave... now a) isn't the whole point to be smooth? rather than have strange sparkly gems which I assume are a bit scratchy if you are the "other part" of a horizontal tango... and b) how long do these stickies last once you hop in the shower??  And really... as if waxing your sensitive area isn't enough trauma, you add insult to injury by putting glue on it!?!?  I'm curious to know if anyone's tried it and what the outcome was... I, for one, can think of better things to spend my pennies on than to jazzle my vajayjay (as Oprah calls it)...

-Wow, this post is wordy! I just previewed it.. good job if you're still reading!! *gold star for you!*

Lo-Fi London from This is Naive

{picture from This is Naive}

Found this page today and it's making me excited to go to London... not that I will have time for any of these things this weekend.. but that is beside the point...

Oh! They have a Beard Papa on Oxford St.. it might be a priority... I love Beard Papa!!

I want to go to Salt Yard... I wonder if W1T is anywhere near Sok's house??
Or Ikeda at W1K???
Or macaroons from Laduree in W1J??  I think Sok has a W1 postcode..??

ps. I need to find a facinator for KV's wedding in August... Would it be bad taste to wear a black hat to a wedding?? Thoughts on a postcard please!

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!!

Tell Me More Tuesday

I was relatively new to the Wee Bit Wednesday bandwagon at Leigh Ashley's.. and just as I was getting into the idea, she decided to take a break.. but Crystal over at Crafty Crystal decided to have a go and these are her questions from last week..

1. Can you whistle?

Barely... at one stage I taught myself to wolf whistle using my fingers, but I can't do it anymore.. 

2. Do you sleep with the light on?

Nope, I stopped having a night light pretty early on.. tho I can sleep with a light on if I have to..

3. Can you touch your nose with your tongue.

Nope.. and quite frankly.. ewwwwww...

4. Can you open your eyes under water?

If I absolutely have to.. but I prefer not to.. it hurts my eyes and I always think my contacts will fall out...  I haven't tried since school to be honest.. when they make you do it as part of some swimming test...

5. Do you like thunderstorms?

Only if I'm indoors and not having to drive anywhere!

I love watching & listening to storms from the warmth and comfort of home!

6. Do you shower daily?

Mostly? :D I shower daily for work.. but I'm quite happy to skip a day on weekends or if I'm not working.. especially in winter.. 

7. Do you sing in the shower?

Not often..

8. What kind of car do you drive?

None! I haven't had a car since I left NZ.. :)

9. How many keys are on your key ring?

Three. Outside front door, then deadbolt and lock for the apartment.

10. What do you do for a living?

I am an executive assistant.

Kampung Ali, Fountainbridge, Edinburgh

This restaurant has recently opened up not far from my work. Based on the lettering and colour schemes, I am hazarding a guess that it is the sister restaurant to Kampong Ah Lee down on Clerk St, by the university.

I have been curious to try it out and when we needed somewhere close by to eat before we went to the airport on Friday night I thought we'd give it a shot.. I'm pleased to say we weren't disappointed... We were there super early (5.45/6pm) so the staff were still eating when we walked in, but they showed us to a table and let us have a peruse of the menu...

 I had the original flavoured bubble tea!! Fairly authentic, tapioca could've been cooked a little tiny bit more but I'm just being picky! The mister had a mango one which was yummy too..

 We started with roti.. it was really yum.. hot off the stove and the curry sauce was good too.. I wanted more roti to dip in it.. or wish I had ordered a rice dish to pour it over... mmmmm

The mister had duck fried noodle.. the duck was a bit boney, tho to be expected..

It was well cooked and the noodles were well seasoned...

 I had the nasi goreng (?) with shrimp and chicken.. bit light on the protein but well spiced and I ate it all up in a hurry...

 There is still reminiscence of the previous Italian restaurant on the ceilings!!

Aside from the strange decor.. the service was good, polite but not overbearing.. the food was pretty reasonable for the price, we spent £25 in total for 3 drinks, 2 mains and a starter including a tiny tip..

All in all: I would definitely go back and might even get lunch from there one day this week!

 At lunchtime I had spotted these Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream 'Wiches at Tesco.. so we picked some up for dessert!!  The mister's never had an ice cream sandwich before!! Well only ones that used wafer rather than cookie... Not as good as the ones in NZ with the super doughy chocolate biscuit outside.. but not too bad...

 YUM!!

So there you have it.. our Friday night food outing!!

Well, it's now 7.20pm and I'm still sat at work... so I'm going to get going to meet the mister for dinner! I have a voucher that expires tomorrow (oops! I thought I had until the end of the month) and I called and they said I could have a table at 6pm or at 8pm, I said ok for 6, then rang the mister but he said he had to stay late at work, so I called back and changed it to 8pm... hence why I'm still at work at this time.. the cleaners have even come and gone!! :D

But lucky for you it means I had some time to write some posts!! Rather than my usual.. go home and veg on crackbook!!

Hope you all have a fantastic Monday evening!! Look out for a post in the near future about our dinner adventure tonight!!

Weekend in Bristol

Hello!! Have you missed me?? Probably not.. well I've missed you!! I have had an internet free weekend.. the mister came to meet me at work on Friday and we went down the road for some dinner.. (that's another post!) then we made our way to the airport to catch a flight to Bristol for the weekend.. It was the mister's mum's 60th b'day party on Saturday night you see...  We got in late on Friday night and the mister's lil brother came and picked us up, we had a bit of a chat but were all pretty tired so it was early to bed!

Saturday Mr N came to pick us up to go to lunch.. he had brought Ms S with him, whom I hadn't met before.. we couldn't really decide where to go, and it was a super sunny day, so we decided to have a BBQ at Mr N's house as none of us had seen his new pad yet... off we went to the super market... there was much monkeying around on Mr N's part.. but we managed to fill up the trolley and off we went!! I am a doofus for not taking lots of photos.. but I was too busy enjoying the sun!!

 FOOD! & Brother's Tutti Fruitti Pear Cider.. YUMMY!! Perfection on a sunny day!!

 A JUG of Pimm's... coz that's how I roll~ Pimm's is best drunk from a jug.. trust me on that one.. 

It's only fitting to have giant tools to cut up a giant steak!!

Saturday night was the mister's mum's party, which was held at a Skittles Alley.. I'd never played skittles before! It's kinda like 10 pin bowling without the mechanical stuff!! kinda... I have never been to 5 pin bowling, but would imagine it's fairly similar to that...  there are 9 pins down a wooden lane and you get 3 balls/bowls a "turn" if you manage to knock all 9 down before your 3 bowls, they get set up again for your remaining tries... my highest was 8.. though the highest of the evening was 12!!

 See those gaps?? Yea.. they're bigger than you think!! So easy to get a ball through the gaps and not hit anything!!!

 The mister in action!

That's his dad's cousins and his brudder in law standing behind him..

And the mister's liddle brother at the side there... see?? *points*

He says the "pap" put him off but he's totally playing to the camera.. LOVES it I tell you! ; )

 Here is Mr N with his LOOOVERLY fiance Ms B!! They are awesome.. we like them!! We also hung out with them on Sunday afternoon and partook in the fastest meal EVER at Pizza Hut.. haha.. they took us to the airport and we stopped to eat on the way but we only had about 30mins.. - Good Job Team!! and to Pizza Hut for getting us fed in record time... I think the guy serving us was more worried than we were about getting us there on time!! HAHAHA :D

 Mr N, sporting the latest headwear trend... puts Princess B to shame!! 

He also let us cover him with glitter... :D :D He's a good sport Mr N!!

And you didn't think there wouldn't be a picture of yours truly now did you??

Sunday we spent some more time with the mister's family at his parent's house... mostly being entertained by his nephew.. he's super cute... then we hung out with Mr N & Ms B before aforementioned fastest meal at Pizza Hut then on the plane home again!! All in all a fabulous weekend...

Might even have gotten a little bit sunburnt!! The mister definitely got a burnt.. he of the fair skinned.. muaahahaha.. mine has just settled into a slight tan.. a few more days like that and my skin might just be ready for a Canadian Summer!!

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Happy Monday!!

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!!