Friday frock: The very beautiful Gilly

There is a photo in the official photos, which I have yet to see, but got a sneak peek of on the day, in which my friend Gilly looks like a bridal magazine model. I can not wait to see those photos, but in the mean time, you will have to put up with my awfully amateurish ones.

Gilly is my friend, that I always say I forget how pretty she is. I will go to her house, and she’ll open the door, and I think “oh, that’s right, you’re quite lovely.” Not that when I’m not with her I’m thinking, ‘gosh my friend Gilly is unfortunate’, but she always takes me by surprise.

I said something like this in my speech on the day, but the one thing I could wish for my friends Gillian and Thom is that they always take each other by surprise like that.

When the three of us were leaving the hotel, in all our finery, ready to head to the church, Gillian looked at her two maids, and said “Why am I not more nervous?” To which we replied, “well, it’s great that you are not, etc etc.”

And she said “I’m just really excited to see Thom.”

I mean really? Could you ask for anything more than that?

Especially for Amy

Recipe for relaxation

Take some weather like this

Add a liberal serving of this

You’ll want quite a lot of this

Stir in some horrifyingly un-pc jokes, the knowledge you won’t be judged for them, the best $2 you’ve ever spent, some couch time, a fire, and some walking in the scenery, and a couple of goats.

And finally, add the key ingredients…some people like this (choose your own according to taste)

Mix and enjoy. I haven’t been this relaxed in months.

How to have a lovely weekend without drinking.

You should make sure your weekend ‘unofficially’ starts on Thursday. You should enlist a friend to come over, and help you sew (or just actually sew) handbags for presents. And while you are at it, make one for yourself, especially if you can line it in what is affectionately termed ‘transvestite swimsuit’ fabric. You should make Mexican food, and feast, for dessert on cupcakes, plum chocolates and pate and crackers.

On Friday you should work – to make money for shopping. And after work, you should go to another friends house, where they will feed you laksa, and for dessert, you should have Peanut Slab ice cream and mini chocolate eclairs. If they are good friends, they will show you a classic movie you should really have seen, and you will love it, and giggle over all the popular culture quotes. You should play with their cat, and generally have a lovely time, and stay way too late.

On Saturday, you should wake up, and lie in bed listening to the rain and the birds, and if at all possible stare out your window, at the weather. You will have had plans that necessitated a nice day, but never mind. Instead, go do some shopping, (shoes, top,), while you wait to meet another friend for brunch. Mmmm, eggs. Then some more shopping, including a very cute pair of earrings (you might like to get some like mine, that have red strawberries on them). After that, you should got to Te Papa, where you should take in the earthquake house, the scary bird-filled room, and of course, the Rita Angus exhibition. You should be astounded by her talent, and amused by the inane comments of the people around you.

You should stop off and have some cake. It won’t be nearly as good as it looks, and the coffee will actually be pretty awful, but hey the company is good, and the view pretty impressive.

Now that you’ve had your dose of culture for the day (week, month), you can feel free to head to the Warehouse, and do some guilt free crap buying. Purchase some new sheets, and watch your friend buy awesome pink measuring cups and utensils. Then you can go to the #1 shoe warehouse, safe in the knowledge there’ll be no bargain as good as the $10 shoes you already bought.

Then, you should go home, straighten your hair, and gather your things for the party you are going to. And I’ll tell you something, sparkling grape juice is a terrible substitute for wine. But clothes swaps, party packs, nice people, and cupcakes are excellent ones!

On your way home, you should chat to your taxi driver, and resist the urge to punch him when he tells you the score of the rugby game you were about to go and watch. Instead, go to bed, so as to be half-fresh when you go to work at 5am.

After work, head home, nap, tidy, and mooch about. Then go to yet another friend’s house, and eat pasta, make up a quiz, and have steamed pudding.

See, it can be done – fun without alcohol!

Of course, all of this is contingent on you having a) money (easy without a cocktail habit to support) and b) friends. That second one is the most important – without them, you’d just stay in bed all day, listening to the rain, and the radio, being sad and alone. So there.

How to win friends….

Knit them tremendously cute hats for their sister’s baby. And let them take the credit for it. I haven’t done much knitting lately, for some reason – possibly because I haven’t been home a lot, but this hat is pretty fast, once it gets going. Of course, my Mum knitted a hat in a night last week, so possibly I should shut up.

Get a little carried away with the baking, necessitating bringing 2 bags of biscuits (happy Caroline??) to work. Excellent chocolate chip biscuit recipe. Which I forgot makes heaps, and stupidly decided to double.

These photos were taken on my phone, because there is something wrong with my camera. Grrr.

Also, if you were someone who was due to head to England, and were visiting one of your friends, you might want to take a look at this list:

• watties baked beans.
• Rashuns
• Pineapple lumps
• caramel tim tams

I’m just saying.

[Update: Apparently, when you knit people things, they bring you presents! Despite the fact that you do it because you like them, and don't want payment at all! (Except sometimes, when you knit for wine.) Nadi brought me more tempt cupcakes. Yay! Thanks! ]

Beauty Tips

Not to toot my own horn, claim that I am particularly beautiful (if at all), or to stomp all over Amy and Jo’s territory, but I thought I would share some things that make my morning routine a little easier, and .

• Brush your teeth in the shower. It’s faster, you use less water, and it’s an excuse to stay in the shower that little bit longer.
• Always take your makeup off before bed, and before you exercise – or just once you don’t need it. I don’t actually do much to my skin – i moisturise when I remember, I cleanse if I notice my cleanser in the shower, I always wear sunscreen, and I always take my makeup off. No matter how drunk I am.
• Instead of expensive cleansing wipes, use baby wipes – fewer perfumes, soft cloth, and about 1/3 the price. They also make taking off nail polish much easier (and you use less remover) for some reason- even bright red.
• Get your clothes ready the night before. Saves time in the morning, and means you don’t run the risk of looking like you got dressed in the dark because of morning clothing-related rushing mishaps.
• Wear clothes that fit.
• Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, Kerastase heat protecting cream stuff, Origins Never a Dull Moment scrub, and Have a Nice Day mousturiser and Paul Sebastian (i think) curl stuff, MAC concealer, and Napoleon “Dallas” lip shine are my go-to products
• Headbands hide a multitude of hair sins, and have the added bonus of being cute. Or make you look like a ballerina, as I was told the other day. Which made me laugh loudly.
• Wear whatever the hell you want. Seriously. Someone once told me that hoop earrings bigger than a 50c piece make you look like a slut. The earrings I’m wearing right now – much bigger than that. Because who cares – if you like it, and you like how you look in it, wear it.
• Which leads me to my only real hint. When it comes to cosmetics and makeup – use whatever you like. I’m not sure that expensive cosmetics are any better than cheaper ones. But, for me, I love the ritual that goes with buying my make up from MAC and Napoleon (and I do believe that Viva la Glam is the best lipstick). I love the smells and the packaging, and the haughty staff. And thus, putting my makeup on makes me feel good. And what makes you feel good and confident, will make you look good. If that’s supermarket cleanser, vaseline and Maybelline Great Lash, fantastic. If it’s Clinique, and Estee Lauder and gold flecked eyeshadow, and you can afford it, more power to you. Beauty magazines only exist to sell you things, and if they make you feel bad about yourself, what’s the point. Experiment, practice, find what works for you, and remember – makeup and hairstyles are meant to be fun. Makeup is basically painting on your own face. How can that not be fun?

And because my friends are ever so pretty (even if they do disagree with me on some things), I canvassed them for their tips:

From Em:

Wear sunscreen. If nothing else, wear sunscreen because it stops you getting wrinkles. If only I could take my own advice.

Also, don’t listen to people who tell you not to wash your hair everyday. If you need to, then do it. Better than looking greasy.

From Nadi:

ummmmm get lots of sleep? no so likely in this job. I dunno how well it works, but i put bio oil on my face at night, and my skin always feels very soft in the morning….yeah, i got sucked in by their low-rent ads, clearly.

From Carla:

My beauty tip is to invest in good skincare products rather than make up, but that may be because I can never be bothered faffing around with foundation or whatever. Ooh, and cleanse, tone and moisturise twice daily (sorry that was 2 tips. Choose your favourite!)

Laura says:

well, I cleanse, tone and moisturise every day and i wear an spf moisturiser during the day and an eye cream.

i also exfoliate once or twice a week and i mask, depending on how my skin feels i either use a clensing, hydrating or exfoliating mask.

in winter i sometimes add a bit of rosehip oil on dryer areas.

bodywise i use a sugar/salt scrub once or twice a week and use bodyoil.

Claire filled up my inbox with the following:

My beauty tip was passed to me by my Mum: do not scrimp on the quality of the make-up you use, no matter if it’s pricey. Good make up makes a difference – it looks, feels and lasts better.

.. and can I add, my Mum always looks awesome!

oh and Mum also recommends wearing make-up in general (when it’s appropriate) even if you can’t be bothered applying it, because it’s good when people make an effort to look nice.

And then Gilly and Caroline carried on a whole conversation:

Gilly: Oh dear…I don’t think I’m the best person to ask!

I guess my tip would be trilogy rosehip oil – it’s a cheap night
‘cream’, seems to do what it says, and smells real nice

Caroline: My two faves are

Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour cream. I have had my tube for about 3 years and it still hasn’t run out. Cures everything from dry lips to flaky cuticles to dry heels

and

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. Gets rid of oily build up, blackheads and tired skin, leaving me feeling polished and fresh.

Gilly: oh yeah that microfoliant is awesome!

I also love my l’occitane shea butter hand cream (cute travel size good for handbag) and trilogy everything balm (which is kinda like 8 hour cream )

Caza: i love balms

Thanks you guys!

And while are on things pretty, I thought I would share some cupcake porn. Gilly and I gave Carla a dark Chocolate and raspberry cupcake from tempt. So pretty (sorry about the photos, I had to take them from my phone). I love that they come individually boxed, and are just so pretty! Carla’s reaction: “cupcake is off the heezy”

And then, for her birthday, Clare and I sent Gilly a dozen cupcakes from the cupcake parlour. Around $65 to send a dozen cupcakes from the South to the North Island. I’d give you an exact price, but I’d have to check my credit card statement, and that’s something I studiously avoid doing. Anyway, so pretty, and so many! Gilly reports they were really good.

Right, I’m done pimping bakers now. Go buy someone (preferably me) a cupcake and tell them they are beautiful.

Oh, and one last beauty tip: Smile. That’s it, just smile.