Hopeful, holidays, super short

The old Safe Deposit Building on Queen Street

I'm still alive, in case you were wondering! It's been about 10 days since I had the vein abnormality in my head fixed. The procedure went well, although my recovery was a little rough and I'm still experiencing some pain from it. But! I don't think I've had a "normal" migraine since. It's early days, but I'm hopeful. 

I finished work for the year yesterday (although I popped in for an hour today to finish something). It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm on holidays. No doubt it will when I board a flight up to Mum's tomorrow afternoon. I'll be there until next Friday. 

I had my haircut shorter today than it's ever been before (apart from the top, which is still relatively long). The back and sides were clipper cut all over and I can't stop patting it - with the grain and against.  It feels so nice. I love the way it looks too. (I haven't taken a photo of it.)

I probably won't blog while I'm away, but I will be posting photos to Instagram as Frisky_Librarian. 

NaBloPoMo: day 19

One of the GPO clocks from the 7th floor of Myer

I looked in the mirror this morning and thought, "Geez, Jayne, you look old and tired," but then I went off out into the sunshiney world and got my hair cut and coloured (bye, greys!) and my nails painted and then I looked a bit better and was pleased. 

I had a gluten-free blueberry muffin from the cafe I used to stop at sometimes often back when I walked to work. It was very good. A little crunchy around the muffin top

We're off down the peninsula tomorrow for Luke's sister's surprise 40th birthday party. I've only been to one surprise party before. It should be fun. 

New hair, gourmet deliciousness, sausages again

Ouch

I got my hair cut and coloured. It took four hours because the top bit needed to be bleached again, so I was happy to get out of there. It was very cold when I emerged. I bought a hot chocolate on the way home and have rarely enjoyed one so much before. 

Luke and I went to MaxiFoods in Hartwell to stock up on a few things (sauerkraut, mustard, dill pickles). I never thought I would say it, but I love that supermarket (and its sister stores, including Leo's in Kew). If I were there on my own I would wander around for hours looking at all the fancy gourmet deliciousness...and trying not to blow a month's food budget in one go.  

It's Sausage Saturday again! Mmmm-mmmm.    

Drizzly Friday

On my way to catch the tram into the city today I saw a woman throwing a ball to her dog. The dog took off after it so excitedly that it overshot the ball, lots its footing and then slid along the wet grass on its back for a few metres. 

In the city I saw a woman put a hand of bananas and a bag of bread rolls into the coin collection of a homeless person as they slept. 

I'm looking forward to getting my scruffy hair cut and coloured tomorrow. 
 

Cool cat, new hair, berry delight

How you doin?

I have been without my sunglasses for a week while new lenses are being fitted. As much as I'm enjoying our unseasonally warm weather, the sunshine is killing my eyes. I'm a giant walking squint.  My face is one big crow's foot. So today I bought some cheap sunglasses to tide me over.  Of course I can't see properly, but look at me! I'm so cool! *laugh* 

I got my hair cut and coloured today. It was looking pretty faded and shabby before. It's like I have a brand new head now. 

I had strawberries and raspberries with whipped cream for dessert tonight. Yum. Raspberries are my favourite berry. They creep me out a bit with those tiny hairs and that hole, but looks aren't everything. 

JBPM: day 26

I had a gluten free raspberry muffin from the place in the city where I go for my almost daily gluten free muffin fix on week days. I'm so regular that I don't have to ask for what I want. Today's muffin was still warm from the oven. Scrrrr-umptious.  

I got my hair cut and coloured today. Just the usual, but I love that "just left the salon" feeling. I almost didn't get into the salon because the section of street it's on was blocked off by the police and fire brigade. The firemen were cleaning up an oil spill and no one was allowed to pass because it was slippery. I loitered around waiting for 45 minutes and then my hairdresser managed to sneak me in the back way. Phew. I really needed that hair cut. 

We had take-away kebabs for dinner. I put them inside my jacket and zipped it up to keep them warm on the drive home, which made me look pregnant...pregnant with a kebaby.  

Weekend of glee

Luke and I had lunch at Booktalk Cafe in Richmond yesterday. As the name suggests, it's a café and a bookshop rolled into one. Although I've been there numerous times, I only just noticed that there is a little brass plaque on the back of each chair with an author's name on it. Mine said 'Anita'. Dunno who that is, but I like the idea.  I also liked their collection of games, though we didn't have time to play.

'Please enjoy of puzzles and games and fish' 

(written before the fish went to fish heaven)

After lunch I bought supplies to make another terrarium - a much bigger one this time. I can only just get my arms around the bowl when I hold it in front of me. I got a ladder fern and some moss to go in it, but will get another fern as well. The moss came from a damp spot on the ground at the nursery; the nursery lady slid a knife under it to loosen it and wrapped it in cellophane for me. 

I'm going to plant this one myself, but haven't had time so far. The moss has a temporary home on top of a pile of potting mix. I've been misting it with water to keep it moist and happy. 

On Friday one of my workmates told me she was going to the Studley Park Boathouse for lunch on Sunday and I decided I wanted to go too. I haven't been for more than 10 years, even though it's a short drive away. Luke and I went on Saturday afternoon.

The Studley Park Boathouse opened in 1864 and is Melbourne's oldest operating boathouse. It's set in extensive bushy parklands along the Yarra - if it weren't for the hum of traffic, you could easily forget you're so close to the centre of a big city. 

You can hire kayaks and canoes, as well as the row boats for a punt on the Yarra, but we only took photos of them. Here's an old sign of a different kind: 

Not sure how many swamp hens the boats can carry

Fungus

Skeleton

Kane's Bridge. It was rebuilt in the 1930s after being 

 washed away in a massive flood 

Crossing over

Swirly tree

Red gums

The Yarra is brown because of the highly erosive soil in the

 catchment area. It's extra brown after rain.

 The boathouse's resident geese

No Gleeful post would be complete without a duck

Boat garden

On Saturday night we had dinner on Chapel Street. For dessert I had stewed rhubarb with meringue, and rosewater sorbet, served in a glass with a woolly ball of pistachio Persian fairy floss on top (as was Luke's pistachio icecream). I've seen the fairy floss in shops before, but never tasted it. It was yummy, but weird, like eating air (like normal fairy floss, I suppose!). 

Then we headed to the Astor Theatre to see The Avengers.  I love The Astor. It's the last single screen cinema of its kind still operating in Melbourne and stepping inside is like travelling back to the art deco splendour of 1930s, when the cinema opened. 

The ladies powder room

Marzipan, The Astor's calico cat, was in attendance and enjoying the comfort of a moviegoer's lap in the foyer when we arrived. As we were leaving she was sitting on a comfy lounge chair being fussed over by people. I love that the cinema has a resident moggy. There was a cat in residence when I first went to The Astor in my uni days, so Marzipan is obviously not the first feline to fill the role. 

Oh, the movie was good, but I knew it would be since Joss Whedon wrote and directed it. 

Sunday 

I got my hair cut and coloured today. I've added some blue highlights to the top of my usual blue/black hair. As you might have guessed, I have no plans to start acting/looking my age despite my impending 40th birthday. (I'll post a photo another time). 

It was rather chilly and raining lightly when I left the hairdresser, so I got a hot chocolate to warm me up. I don't think I've clutched a hot beverage so enthusiastically before. 

Surprise bread

For the past three weeks I've been making yet another attempt at completing the RPAH elimination diet to work out what foods are making me feel crappy. I haven't had bread in all that time because there's almost no gluten-free breads on the market that meet the very strict requirements of the diet. I love bread and I miss it - and the quick, convenient light meals bread can make - so I decided to buy a breadmaker and make my own.

I got in on sale (yay!) at Target and lugged it home in the rain this afternoon. I whacked my first lot of mix in the machine without high hopes of success. I'd used gluten-free and yeast-free bread mix, but the gluten-free cycle on the machine assumes you're using yeast in your gluten-free bread. I expected it to turn out a heavy housebrick of a loaf, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Yeah, it doesn't look great, and it didn't smell as good as 'real' bread, but the texture is almost as soft and light as real bread. It's certainly much better than commercial gluten-free, yeast-free brands. The crust is quite chewy, which I like. Pretty good for a first attempt, I reckon, and definitely good enough to satisfy my need for toast. Now I just have to try not to eat it all at once...

I got my eyebrows waxed and tinted today - the first time I've had the tint done. I wasn't sure about the darker colour at first - I thought they overpowered my face - but Luke noticed my haircut, not my brows, so they can't be too heavy. I think I'm used to them now.

It was nice having my hair cut after a couple of weeks of really needing a trim, but not managing to get around to visiting the salon.

Tidy, blue, pale, pretty

Photo taken on my new phone with a vintagey look. Wish my eyes were really that green.

Oh, those are my new specs. Forgot to post a pic before.

I had my eyebrows professionally seen to this afternoon for the first time. They didn't need to be shaped because nature kindly did a fine job of shaping them for me, so the brow girl only tidied them up. It really makes a difference. I can't stop looking at them.

I also got my hair cut and coloured - not quite as short as usual and a little more blue in my blue/black (hey, hold those blue rinse jokes!)

The two women who work in the salon are both from Asian countries (one from Indonesia, not sure about the other). They love my pale skin. It's a pleasant change from being surrounded by women with fake tans who probably look at me and think I could do with a bit of colour.

I walked to a polling booth to vote in the State election this morning. My neighbourhood is staid and lacking cultural diversity, but  damn it's pretty.

(I stayed in this place for a couple of weeks when it was a grungy boarding house.

Now it seems to be a big posh residence.)

And I spotted an old sign. Anyone know what it says? It backs onto Park Street, South Yarra. There's also a P, so it's ....PLES. Do you think it could be Maples, like the old piano store on Swan Street, Richmond? Perhaps this was their factory?

Blue pizza pie and new hair

When I came in the door tonight after the movies, the huge yellow full moon hit me in the eye like a big pizza pie. Does anyone else sing that song in their head when they first see the full moon?

Apparently it's a blue moon - the second full moon within a month, the last being on 31 December. There's a moonshadow moving slowly across my lounge room (or there was until my flatmate turned the light on).

I got my hair cut and coloured today. I'm like brand new, even though it's the same cut and colour as always. Feels good.

The hairdresser, who only cut my hair a few times before she left to have a baby over a year ago, remembered my name immediately. I was impressed and pleased.

Hair, green, more Angel

I got my hair cut and coloured today. Same colour (blue/black) and same style (super short). It always gives me a little boost having my hair done.

More rain today. I'm really happy to see that the grass on the banks of the river and the hill at Birrarung Marr has greened up again after our spring heatwave, even if it's only a matter of time before it dies off again.

I'm looking forward to another quite night in with Angel tonight. Still going on season one.

A mini make-over

I got my hair cut into a new style yesterday. I got bored with the way it was and decided it was time for a change. Happily I'm pleased with the results. It's nice to have a little make-over, isn't it?

Here would be a sensible juncture at which to provide you with a picture of said new 'do, but I haven't taken any photos of it yet and I'm not going to whip out my camera now because my make-up has worn off and I have a big pimple on my jaw that you can do without seeing.

But, I will show you a picture of how it used to look.

And here's how the new 'do looks on someone else's head.

Not hugely different - even shorter and sticky-uppy in front rather than the back - but I have strayed further into boy hair territory (hers actually looks a bit softer and girlier than mine). When I first got my hair cut short, I was concerned people - well, single guys, mainly - would assume I like girls because of the combination of short, spiky hair and my preference for T-shirts, jeans and sneakers, but obviously I'm over that now. It feels good not to care what people think.

I went to a party with my new hair last night and came home with a guy's number in my phone, so maybe I never needed to worry (but in the interests of full disclosure, I should add there was some cleavage on show).

Good things about short hair

* It can be lower maintenance (depending on style). This morning I towel dried my hair, and voila! Pretty much good to go. Ace! I might get a few extra minutes of sleep.

* The wind can't blow it in your face.

* It doesn't hang in your face and tickle and annoy you (or *coughs* anyone else's face).

* You can't get trapped when you try to roll over in bed but find you are lying on your hair.

* It's less prone to fluff and frizz and fly-aways.

* You never get split ends.

* It doesn't stick to your lipgloss.

* It doesn't need to be tied back at the gym/doesn't leave sweaty hair streaks on your glasses.

* It dries super quickly.

* It's cooler in summer

* It's cheaper to get it coloured.

* There seems to be an instant bond with other short haired women (or that could be my imagination)

* It's nice not looking like everyone else (obviously not an advantage if you like to blend in).

* There's less hair collecting in the corners of your bathroom and sticking to your carpet.

Of course there are some downsides, but I don't do downsides here at Gleeful.

Philavery, hideous goodness and Coco Pops

I bought Foyle's Philavery on my way home from work tonight. It's cold and wet and I am tired and headachey, and very much looking foward to curling up on the couch under a blanket and losing myself among the collection of uncommon and pleasing words. No doubt I will share my favourites with you soon.

While at the bookshop, I saw quite a few titles that are on my list of must-read books. I was a tiny bit tempted to grab them all and buy the lot, but fiscal reason reigned.

The joy of mastery

As I approached the steps at Federation Square on the way to work this morning, a toddler with a mop of curls was tentatively walking down them holding on to her mother's hand. She smiled at me, clearly thrilled with her efforts. I smiled back and thought about the pleasure and pride that come from attempting and mastering a new skill.

It's been quite a while since I learnt to do something new. I think it's time I put my pupil hat on...

Glam tram driver

I caught the tram home tonight because of the cold snap. The driver appeared to be sporting a wig modelled on a 70s glam rocker 'do, but I think it was actually his own hair. It was so appalling that it was glorious.

Does anyone else delight in things that are so bad they are good? The Go Fug Yourself girls often do - they had an amusing entry today on Sarah Brightman's whackjob stage costume. I want to memorise the line "This is so much no, yet it all adds up to YES" for the next time I see some hideous goodness.

Cocoloco

I had a craving for Coco Pops the other day and have had a big bowl of the chocolatey cereal for breakfast the past two mornings. Mmmm....just like a chocolate milkshake...only crunchy. I had a bowl of them this afternoon too, and my boss disagreed when I insisted cereal is "anytime food". Pah!

I brought the half-full box of Coco Pops home with me tonight which means I carried it around the book shop in a clear shopping bag. Normally I have a calico carry bag or similar with me, but I had to scrounge up a plastic bag in the kitchen at work to avoid having to just tuck the box under my arm and go. I felt a little self-conscious about carting around a box of kiddy cereal - it doesn't really go with Foyle's Philavery - but the incongruousness of it still pleased me.

Bubbly, new hair and glowing greenery

We finished work at 3.00 pm today and sat in the boardroom all afternoon sipping champers and nibbling nibblies. Yum. It was partly to mark Oaks Day (another big day on the Spring Racing Carnival calendar) and partly to celebrate the arrival of a partner's second child.

I got my hair cut and coloured tonight. Aaaah.

I love the way the trees and grass seem to glow in the early evening sun. I love that there is sunshine in the evenings, now that it's daylight savings.