Bangle Madness

I was thrilled to see that the Uber-Young & Stylish & Edgy blog Facehunter has been visiting Australia. We Aussies just love International Attention.

Last week Facehunter posted lots of snaps from the streets of Sydney & Melbourne. Go have a look & see how we look exactly the same as all the other Style-Obsessed People in the Western World. But in a good way.

I just loved the whole armful of bangles that the YinYang Lady snapped in Sydney is wearing.

So I had to load up my arm with a few of my own. 

The D Word

After thinking Long & Hard for a good ten minutes, I still haven't thought up an alternative title to 'Being Dumped'.

But I have got an Update on The State of Play. 

After not hearing a thing from Mr Ex-Middleaged for nigh on eleven weeks, I finally got a text from him asking for a meeting. We met & I was surprised at how Fabulously Charming I could be. Being Dumped had clearly agreed with me.

 It was as if I was being operated by Remote Control by a Higher Power. Funny, sexy, cool, kittenish & wise with just a tinge of sadness. How could he resist me?

He, on the other hand was channelling Woody Allen - all nervous tics & tie straightening. 

We've agreed to see each other every week or two in a kind of Friendly Dating Scenario.

 We went out to dinner last saturday night. I must say it definitely feels weird to go out on a Real Date with someone you've been with for fourteen years & to wonder at the end of the night whether or not you should invite him up to your place for coffee even though it's really his place too. 

When I was telling my daughter about this I apologised & hoped I wasn't giving her too much information. She said, 'It's all right Mum. I got used to the idea of parents behaving like adolescents from watching  'The O.C.'  

Television can often be Educational.

After the Dumping

Last week, my friend Maud from Melbourne said, 'Now you're approaching the end of your first trimester of "being dumped", it's time to come up with an alternative name for it'. I immediately protested that I Loved the Label & had no intention of changing it. 

After all, wasn't that what really happened to me? 

And I absolutely loved the feeling of freedom that comes with not having to hide behind a whole Sea of Crap. 

Maud wasn't the only friend who didn't like the 'Dumped' moniker. Neither did Marge.  Other people clearly didn't like it either, but were either too scared or polite to say anything.

But the truth is that I WAS getting a little tired of 'Being Dumped'. 

So now I want to come up with a New Heading. It's got to be something vaguely positive & life-affirming but with a Slightly Sneery edge. 

I'll let you know when I've thought of it.

PS. Just thought you'd like to know that my Post-Dumping Painting is the wonderful singer, Miss Peggy Lee as Eve, you know like in the Garden with Adam & the Snake.

Dressed for Resentment

 Tuesday  was Melbourne Cup Day. It's a Big Yawn of a Horse Race that the whole nation is supposed to stop for each year. Every office has a Melbourne Cup Sweep & people flock to  Melbourne Cup Lunches. It's all supposed to be a Big Celebration of the Great Aussie Larrikin Spirit of getting Fall down Drunk & Really Boring whilst wearing a Bad Outfit.

In some parts of Australia like Melbourne where the race is held, it's a public holiday. But not in Sydney. And quite frankly, I'm glad. 

As you can see, I was at my usual post at the whiteboard. But I'm Dressed for The Cup anyway. If you enlarge the photo you may see that I'm wearing a necklace that I made myself featuring a painting of a horse.

I'm Nothing if Not Appropriately Themed.

The expensive shoe shop that every Wannabe Fashionista flocks to on the weekend that I  mentioned in my last post had cute little racehorses in the window in front of Hugely Overpriced & Impossible to Wear Follow Me Home Stilettos. They're the kind of shoes that Avid Racegoers totter down the street in after a few bottles of champers desperately holding on to their Precariously Perched Floral Fascinators & freezing their tits off because they're wearing dresses up to their arses & it's not that warm yet. 

God, can't you feel the Resentment just Dripping off the Blog?

Purple for Victory

My best friend Marge in Thousand Oaks California just emailed me & exclaimed, 'What, no Della?' 

Marge doesn't like it when Della is Silent because it COuLD mean that I'm lying on the floor of my apartment in a foetal ball after drinking some Weed Killer or maybe some Bleach.

So, I just had to Crank Up the Computer & get Ol'Della talking. 

And I've got lots to say.

I just couldn't do anything much yesterday except sit at the computer & later at the TV screen & cry. I can't remember the last time I cried at a World Event. Probably the death of Princess Diana, although I do occasionally cry when I see all the old Aussie Soldiers marching on our Annual ANZAC Day march. 

By mid-afternoon I was exhausted from waiting so I trudged home from school & lay down for a little nap, only to be woken up by a text from my daughter saying, 'Obama won!'

 I went out into the street & I could hear people talking Obama Obama.

 I stood at the supermarket checkout & heard the woman next to me say to the cashier - 'Say, have you heard the news? Obama won!' 

I would have given anything to have been crushed in that crowd in Grant Park & to have heard his wonderful speech & to marvel at the amazing outfit that Michele had on.

Speaking of outfits, I wore my newly-thrifted real satin purple shirt just for the occasion, as I believe that purple is the colour of Victory & Royalty. 

And I also want to draw attention to my shoes.  Please note that they are v. similar to the new ones that are in a stylish local shop that I walk past about ten times a day.  The price tag is $270. Except that mine were bought from the 'Beatniks & Bohemians' thrift shop which is about ten metres away. For $15. 

I'm Nothing if not Smug. The only Snag is that because I have a flexible attitude about shoe size if it's thrifted, mine are a little Snug. But I can still walk in them.

In these challenging times, I'm taking the advice of one of my heroes Simon Doonan, Uber-Window Dresser & author of 'Beautiful People' & 'Eccentric Glamour' who says, 'Dress up rather than down in tough times. You owe it to your pals, family & colleagues to present yourself in an optimistic and fabulous way'
I'm with Simon.
Expect More Dressing Up.

Broken Vases & Honest Blogs

I just love this image. It was an Complete Unfortunate Accident. These wonderful little vases have been mine for years. But in one fell swoop they were Over. A large plate crashed on it. Just like me.

The Honest Blog Award.                                                                                                   

 

More than a week ago, Jane, from workthatwardrobe

kindly awarded me an Honest Blog award. All I have to do is pass it on to another seven blogs. 

I still haven't done it. 

It's not that I'm Ungrateful. I'm thrilled.

But But But But But..........

No excuses. I'm doing it this week.  Oh, & I've found an Australian blog to award. Maybe I'm a patriot after all.

My Belated Contribution to Halloween

We don't celebrate Halloween in Australia. There's a kind of half-arsed attempt by kids & teenagers to pretend that we celebrate it, but it never works. For instance, two charming kids in my apartment building, one six & one twelve trawled the floors trick or treating. By the time they reached my place their little basket had a couple of Chupa Chups & two packets of v. bland looking Shortbread Biscuits in it. I, of course had nothing to give them as it didn't occur to me that it was Halloween. I felt a bit mean particularly as the six year old was wearing a v. large witches hat. So I overcompensated by handing over part of my prized collection of Mexican skeletons so that they could at least decorate their room while they ate the lousy shortbread & sucked the Chupa Chups.
Sadly, I think they thought I was Giving Them the skeletons while I only intended them to be ON LOAN. And I realise that if I knock on their door asking for them back I'm going to look a bit like Larry David in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' - you know, incredibly petty & lousy & Scrooge-like particularly to children. So I'm just going to Let it Go or as my daughter says, 'Suck It Up Mum'.

The photo of shoe lets & feet is my contribution to Halloween. God knows, it's Ghoulish Enough. 

Let me explain. Shoe Lets have become a Small Theme in our Staffroom as Trixie keeps buying them from Ye Olde Wares Shoppe in a Remote Pastoral Location.  She's been giving them out as gifts to her V. Special Pals, like me. I couldn't help but include them with my own feet that are sporting a Disgusting Failure of a Pedicure. I found an ad in a magazine for O.P.I nail polish which suggested having a french manicure using black & white nail polish. 

What an intriguing idea, I thought. So I rushed off to 'USA Nails' & had it done. From a distance, my toes just look chipped. Up close, you can barely make out it's done on purpose but it doesn't make it look any better. They may as well be chipped.

And take a look at the little toe on my right foot. Enlarge the photo if you like. It's worth it to see that the toe is purple. No, I haven't got gangrene & it's Not Dirt. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe it's the reflection of the black polish.