it's that time of the year again

No. I'm not talking about company performance appraisals although my form is supposed to be submitted by the 30th of this month. I'm talking about that wonderful time of online Christmas holiday deals!

And I made my first purchase of the season. My Europe trip is over and though I am a lil bit in debt (to my sis, not the banks), I am no longer on my self-imposed book ban so I am treating myself to this great deal from my favoured online book e-tailer, Barnes and Noble!

Four. Read that...FOUR gorgeous leatherbound classics for the absolute deal price of $53.95! I love books! I love deals! I love leather! I love bookstores that give me great deals on leatherbound books!


I'll be getting a lil bit of Lewis Carroll's Alice, some gruesome tales from the Brothers Grimm, beautiful stories by Hans Christian Andersen and the epic adventures in C. S. Lewis's immortal prose revolving around Narnia.


I can't wait to get this round of books. I guess I'm in that phase where I'm becoming a collector aside from just reading the books. I love how these books look on book shelves, they lend an air of....seriousness. Ok, I don't know if I have a thing about being taken seriously but my real intent is to own these classics that I read when I was young. The stories that developed and fueled my love of the written word. I'm the last of my generation who grew up on these stories. My nephew and nieces are in that time where they are learning to read about Dora the Explorer, Bob The Builder and Ben 10. They'd rather see the movie than read the words that inspired the celluloid version. They basically have no interest in the fairy tales of yore.

So I thought I'd buy myself these classics as a keepsake for myself.....and I hope for my nephew and nieces to get the chance to read one day.

needs to be recorded for posterity

I figured since an announcement has been made, rather than follow my gut and ignore the news, I'd record it for posterity's sake.

I came home from work and after showering and whatnot, settled in front of my PC. After going through the motions of checking my work emails, I did what I always do, go to the Kimi Raikkonen support thread on the Planet F1 forum to find out the latest in the ongoing will he/won't he sign for McLaren debacle of 2009.

I'm feeling rather numb right now. And when I mean numb, I mean I don't feel anything. Not panic, not despair, nothing. I'm not convinced I'm in shock but I could be. My reaction has me confused. I'll be honest, Kimi IS the be all and end all of F1 for me. I said I would likely still follow the sport after he leaves but in hindsight, I may not have gotten into the sport because of him but I have a strong feeling it's pretty much guaranteed I'll stop following it fervantly because of him.

So apparently Kimi's decided to take a sabbatical ala Mika. I know Mika certainly didn't come back to F1 so does the fact that Kimi is taking one actually is just a precursor to an unfortunate early retirement? I was 97% convinced he would still be in F1 next season driving alongside Hamilton in the McLaren but to have quite reliable news reports stating otherwise is supposed to feel disheartening I guess.

Is this it for Kimi? Are you leaving me Kimi Raikkonen? Have I just been dumped? I guess I can't believe it. Looks like I'll be waiting till the 2010 drivers lineup is fully realized before it completely sinks in.

when i say "I never...."

I stand by the saying "Never say never". Unfortunately, I don't always live by it so there have been a coupla times, ok, more than a couple, where I've been caught out by myself. I try to avoid saying "I'll never....." but there are just those moments in life where I'm just so high up on my moral high horse that life is just setting me up to fall and hit the ground hard.

Anyways, the "I never....." moment in this post that has come to bite me in the ass concerns handbags and paying more than 500 hundred dollars for one. I remember the moment I had uttered the words I have been forced to take back now. It was just after I watched my eldest sis hand over her credit card at the Gucci store. The till rung in at a price of 1500 dollars. I'm pretty sure I had the most incredulous look on my face as I watched this transaction go through. In my head, and later out loud to friends, I was tsk, tsk-ing and thinking what a dope my sister was to be spending that much cash on a bag. I mean I loved bags and all but hellooooo? You don't have to spend more than 50 bucks and you can get a nice bag. 20/20 vision is useless in hindsight. I should have really kept my mouth shut and perhaps I wouldn't find myself in this predicament years on.

I love me some handbags, I completely do. I own a lot of 'em and most are within the 100 bucks and less range. I use to flip thorugh magazines and look at the designer bags and think who in their right mind would spend that much money on a piece of leather. All I can say now is that I must not be in my right mind because here I am, at the cusp of thirty, and I'm in posession of not just one, but THREE, handbags that retail at a price of over 500 dollars each. *Sob*

Where has that idealistic gal gone to? How did I manage to slip through the cracks and fall into the pool of women who own luxury handbags? I have to admit, I AM disappointed with myself. I never thought I would become one of these girls but here I am. It gives me guilt when I think that I spend that much money for a pretty trinket and there are people out there who don't have money to even buy food for themselves.

Then I think about the flip side. I work hard, there's nothing wrong with giving myself a treat. At the very least I'm not spending more obscene amounts of money. I still can't bring myself to push through the 1K barrier. I'm not saying never but I'm not saying I will either. I'll leave it up to the Fates.

Okay, I've let my buyers' guilt to have it's say. Now I can start to enjoy ownership of my new LV Speedy and Mulberry sling :)

interlude

I'm still on (mental) leave. The European trip has thrown my whole life a bit out of whack and I can't seem to find my bearings as yet. Oh, I sooo want to blog but can't figure out left from right and up from down so my posts would basically be nonsensical. When I've gotten myself in order, I'll be back to jotting down my thoughts. Cheerio!

veni, vidi, vici

Well, I've returned from conquering Europe. Ok, just London, Lancaster, Liverpool and Paris. And it's the cities that conquered me since I returned home half dead, completely dehydrated and sick with viral fever. Spent the last week in bed moving as minimally as possible. Had to even go get a fluid line straight to the veins, THAT'S how badly Paris and London chewed me up and spat me out.

Ok, dramatics aside, now that I'm not delirious from fever I can look back on my European sojourn with fond memories :) The trip was delayed a bit due to our plane not getting in on time and we lost a night at Hilton Euston London because of it but then we just rerouted ourselves to the St Pancras train station after landing in Stanstad and that's when our trip truly began.

Taking the Eurostar across the channel was interesting. It's fast, it's smooth and I would definitely use it again. Our apartment in Paris was a wee bit teeny in the Marais but we made do. It was fully equipped with everything including high speed internet access which I promptly took advantage of by downloading anything and everything to my hearts content. Paris in a nutshell? THE place to purchase luxury items. I ended up getting my LV epi leather Speedy 30 in noir and even managed to get my initials tastefully embossed on the strap. I saw the Mona Lisa up close and personal and Van Gogh's starry night. I went up the Eiffel Tower and watched an authentic cabaret show.

The trip to the UK was equally as great. Very nostalgic. I spent my childhood in England and visiting the old house and the farmhouse we first stayed in was a real trip down memory lane. EVen got to stand right outside the school I attended when I was there. Also, West End was awesome. Les Mis was truly a wonderful show and the guy who plays Enjolras was so devastatingy good-looking! What can I say about the production of Lion King except thatit's such a visual spectacle and truly makes use of the theatre space. The actors were all over the place, coming in from the back of the theatre and even from above. It's a shame that both my sis and I did fall asleep at certain parts due to extreme tiredness - our schedule was just so tight! Aside from one racist incident, London was fabulous!

The question remains though. Did I or did I not get something from the Mulberry outlet in Bicester Village. Short reply: YES :p Clarks also took my money. Shopped quite a bit in Paris at H&M and when we were in London I totally went a bit nuts at Topshop and Dorothy Perkins. Even got some stuff from Asda not to mention this really cute tunic from John Lewis. And a total impulse purchase from this shoe shop I kept walking pass coming from the Avenue Montaigne LV store - Eden. I got a pair of open-toed leather booties, they are gorgeous but not completely comfy, lol. A woman suffers for fashion, no?