I just bought a beautiful set of books from GoodBooksNZ. They are an awesome online bookstore, where all profits go to OXFAM! Seriously!
It's a new idea and NZ is the pilot project. If it takes off then it will go global. It wasn't thought of by Oxfam, it was thought of, started up and is currently being run by Dr Jane Cherrington.
The search engine on the site is kinda funky so you really want to already know what book it is that you are looking for. This isn't really that big a problem, just use Amazon or fishpond to search and then buy it from GoodBooks. At the same time you can do a price compare, just remember at GoodBooksNZ the postage is free!
Now, my purchase with them wasn't perfect. My book arrived damaged (had a dent in it, probable due to handling), so I called up and Dr Jane answered the phone and talked to me. She was great and offered to send me a replacement. However, the pain of waiting for a new one and sending off the old one was too much for me so we negotiated a partial refund instead.
While I would have loved to have a problem free time and had a perfect copy arrive, I might actually be extra pleased by the way it worked out 'cause I got to talk to someone who really wants to help people and make it easy for others to join in.
So buy yourself something great and do charity at the same time!
Point of Fashion: Baby and School visiting
Current Obsession: BOOKS!!
Chicago Tickets
So, those who know, know that I'm in the chorus for the PLT production of Chicago and may want to watch me in it!
Ok, almost half the tickets for the whole season have already been sold. Last year the big musical that the theatre did (Les Mis) sold out before opening night!
So, if you'd like to see me, you can book now! It is every Wed, Thur, Fri and Sat from Wednesday 21st of March (already can't book for that!) to Sat 14th of April. The show runs from 8pm to... some time?
Tickets will be $26 each when they move to ticketing at Toyworld, but you can currently get them at $25 each from Leigh Krall (the.kralls@actrix.co.nz) , who is in charge of ticketing.
The cheaper offer is only on until next Wednesday.
The seating is cafe/caberet style, with groups of (I think?) 6 seated around a table and you can bring food and drink in with you to enjoy during the show.
I'm hoping I get a crowd of supporters in for the 24th of March, since it is the day before my birthday and it'd be cool to have ppl yelling my name on that night. I'll organise a group if ppl get back to me before wed.
:)
(this is entry 361, we've completed a whole circle already!)
Ok, so one of the things my mother would *not* compromise on was that on the day of the wedding Beau and I both had to go to the temple and do Dana, giving food to the monks so that we can start our wedding/marriage/new life with an act of merit making... did I mention that we had to be at the temple at 6.30AM to do this?
I tried to sleep as late as possible, but ended up waking at 5.15am (15 min before my alarm clock) and had my shower and got changed into a thai style outfit I got when Beau and I were in Thailand and which I've never worn. I need to get it tailored before I wear it again.
Dad came and picked us (muggle, bambi and I, pirip sensibly stayed in bed) up about 6. We met Beau and his family there. I was so happy to see him. Hadn't seen him for a couple of days and it was just so nice to have that opportunity to see him. I didn't feel any "no seeing each other on wedding day" stuff, 'cause we weren't dolled up or anything. It was another opportunity to have his family see the temple, which was all to the good I thought.
We were dressed in different levels of formality with Beau and I in thai-style outfits, MC Huggins (our wedding MC/photographer and Beau's sisters fiance) was in a formal suit (same thing he wore for the rest of the wedding) and then we also had ppl like my dad in jersey, kargos and jandals and another of Beau's brothers in shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops. (Have I mentioned at all that Beau is one of 7 children and has 3 brothers and 3 sisters, so sorry if that's been confusing for you!)
Some of my thai family also made it to this part of the wedding stuff, and it was just a really nice quiet and calm time. However, we spent so much nice, quiet time there that we didn't get back home until almost 9, so there wasn't much nap-time before the actual wedding prep had to start. I don't think Beau got a nap at all!
My fantabulous make-up artiste (aka the Gasian -ginger asian- from Mikado days) arrive on time at 10, but in no way were my sisters ready for her. They were both to go before me and both were still in bed and had to shower before she could work on them. Ah, well.
Miss Scarlett turned up while they were getting made-up. She got to see me wandering around in my wedding underwear and it is sooo cute that I *need* to do a pin-up style photo shoot with me in it! I'd tried my wedding dress top without the corset on as soon as we got back from the temple and it fit perfectly, but I was wearing the corset while wandering around the house 'cause I wanted to be wearing it and since I wouldn't be wearing it for the rest of the day... yeah.
My hairdresser (and parents) were supposed to arrive at 12, neither materialised, but I did not freak out unduly. Instead I wandered around aimlessly (remember the lack of sleep) and then about 12.30 took off corset and went to make a sandwich. As I was sitting down to eat it, the hairdresser was summoned.
She got to work, but timing was all crazy now, by the time she started on me, I should really have been starting on make-up. I think Bambi was still getting the finishing touches done at that stage. Mum and Dad (and brother!) Showed up sometime after 1.30pm with burger king. Mum somehow snuck into the make-up chair (this was *not* prearranged) while my hair was still being done.
I got into my proper top and got the make-up put on me, while mum got her hair done by the hairdresser (also not pre-arranged) and it all gets a bit fuzzy for me. It was very crowded, with make-up and hair implements, bride and bridesmaids, documenter and annoying *Boys* in the way (my brother, dad, muggle's pirip, hair dresser's son/driver).
I had wanted to leave the house by 2 (soooo not happening) and Miss Scarlett's hubby came to pick her up then adding a further person to the mix. On the plus side, he handily offered to take my suitcases to the reception venue, something my dad hadn't considered when loading the van.
Anyway, it was all a huge mess, but we all managed to get out of the house by 2.30pm and headed off to the temple. It was a bit stressy in the van, but workable, when my mother started demanding to know where "the coins" were. Just a roll of $2 she'd asked muggle about the night before, but hadn't explained why. Apparently we *needed* them. Noone was sure where they were (we had other things on our minds) and Mum was seriously talking about turning around on the motorway (Dad tried to explain the impossibility of this) and going back home to look for them. This is the point where I may have exploded. As it was, we were only just going to be at the temple in time for the challenges. Luckily, the coins were found in the back of the van and we made it to the temple on time.
Point of Fashion: Loose and light
Current Obsession: heat
It's also muggle's birthday *today*!! Happy Birthday my lovle. :)