Boxing day madness and xmas fever

Every year, a madness hits the city of Melbourne where people act like they've never shopped before in their lives. And yes, that includes me.

I wait patiently for the year to pass on slowly, just waiting for that one day where I can act like a shopaholic lunatic going even more mad, yet still look normal amongst all the other shopaholic lunatics that come out on that day. It's like Halloween for shopaholics... it's when they all come out to play lols.

I still can't believe that Myer Melbourne opened its doors at 5am, and people had actually been lining up since 3:30am (sounds insane, yet the thought had crossed my mind...). It was crazy. I mean, it was still packed full when I got to Myer a few hours later.

The thought crossing through my mind was how the hell do I get inside.

Well, I somehow made it through the entrance only to find myself queuing for the fitting rooms, and then queuing again for the cash registers. I spent more than 30 minutes lining up to pay for my bras and stuff (lols). Was it worth the $40 saved? Well yes, every penny saved is a penny towards my trip to Japan. So bring on those queues!

Funny story:

So I went to line up behind this man right, let me set the scene for you:

So I went up to this man who looked like he was lining up and was busy texting on his phone, right. And I go to him, excuse me are you in the line? And he goes, yeh of course I am. So I lined up behind him. A few minutes later I notice that people are cutting in ahead of him where the mannequins were. I looked at the girl that cut in, and she defended herself by saying, I don't think that guy's lining up. So I turned to the man and asked him again for the second time, excuse me, but are you lining up? And he says, yeah I am. And then it clicked. Suddenly it all made sense, and it was all I could do to stop myself from bursting out into laughter and embarassing him in front of the entire store. The guy was lining up behind the mannequins. He thought they were people. How dense can you be! And how dense am I for lining up behind this idiot lols.

All in all, my first solo shopping trip in years was a success. I should do this solo thing more often, seeing as I never find anything when I go with another person. But then again, it's like with alcohol.. once you find yourself doing it alone most of the time, you know you've got a problem lols. Purchases of the day were:

• 2 x Elle Mcpherson intimates
• 1 x Kookai singlet
• 1 x Kookai skirt
• 1 x Bardot cami
• 1 x Pilgrim top
• Hosiery

The aim was to find shoes but of course, we all know that you never come home with what you were looking for, but instead you come home with plenty of other crap haha.

After that it was off to Springvale for the annual family xmas party complete with xmas games such as a team battle of 'rock paper scissors', robot controlled soccer, and pictionary. Very lame games but I love it all the same. My 'prize' for being in the winning team was a pack of waffle cones. Lovely.. now all I need is the ice cream.
Oh, we also had the annual $10 KK present tradition where everyone brings a $10 gift and then we take turns picking a number out of a hat to determine which present we get =)
It's always pretty amusing the variety of things you can get for 10 bux. Who knew, eh?

Waffle cones.. yum. Guess I need to go buy some icecream.

Awesome remote-controlled robot soccer

Me and my cousin Amy being all christmassy

My KK present - a set of glasses from Ikea

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Some early xmas shopping has been done this year (surprisingly), and my mother's xmas present has been taken care of. No worrying or last minute stress about what to get. Phew. This is why I like people to just tell me what they want. That way you don't wind up with some lame present that's going to be stashed away in the back of some cupboard, and then somehow becomes recycled as someone elses present (yes it happens!).

I heart Steve Madden shoes.. they're so nice. If only I could find some for myself... Here are the cute shoes I bought mother dearest:
Nice, right? Now on top of that, we went shopping again today and she bought two more pairs of shoes for herself from Zu! I'm too too jealous. I would seriously love a new pair of shoes (plus white shoes for Sensation as well). I have a feeling that come stocktake sale time, I am going to be very very poor.

I am totally eyeing a pair of shoes from Wittner.. they're gorgeous but they're $160 - more than what I should be spending seeing how I'm supposed to be saving up for my upcoming trip! Although, that's not to say that I wouldn't buy them if by some chance they were marked down some time in the upcoming week (*cough*boxingdaysales*cough). Now that would be one helluva christmas =)

It's time to get down to it..

The changeover is complete! With everything thats been going on in my
life lately, I feel like I need a fresh start, and with it, a brand
new blog.

Goodbye Xanga (not that I've even blogged there in the past year),
goodbye facebook blog - you were really crap to begin with, so that in
the end I couldn't even be bothered blogging anymore.

After reading Marlene's blog (scatteredrecollections.blogspot.com),
I've decided to get back into it. You'd think that being overseas
would equal less time on the net, but no, I'm actually on more than
ever. I'm going to have major Internet withdrawal on the plane heading
back to melb.

So let's see.. how has my trip been so far? Well it was my fourth (or
is it fifth) time going to france - jealous? But really, you can only
visit the same monuments so many times before you end up having photos
looking eerily similar. Believe me, I'm even wearing the same jacket I
was wearing in the photos I took the last time I was there - minus the
scarf.

Same with Vietnam. This is my fourth time now, but luckily for me I
never took pictures the previous times so there's no doubling up here.
phew. Although I think that once you've been to a place too many
times, you end up spending more time in the hotel than doing anything
else.

Also, shopping is hard here. Sure, it may be cheap, but my perfectly
average AUS sz 7 feet are considered to be enormous elephant feet in
the world of size 5 feet. I've heard the sentence "I'm sorry but that
was the largest size" more than I'd care to hear. And I haven't had
the guts to try the clothes on yet.. imagine what I'd hear then. sigh.

And besides the size factor, there's also the issue with everyone
being obsessed with fake brands and tacky jewels stuck on everything
you could imagine - shoes, bags, belts, you name it. Its like a sea of
bling shining up at you every time you step into a store. Its also
impossible to find a bag without the words Gucci, Prada, LV, Chanel or
Chloe imprinted on the side in an obviously fake way.

AND. What is with those sale assistants that follow you around the
store?? They are 2 steps behind you the whole time, I kid you not.

Ok, ok, I know it seems like I'm complaining a whole lot, but I've had
a good time. Really. I love the insane traffic, the skill you need to
cross the street, the fact that it's possible to buy a meal for 4
people for only 15 dollars, going to the market, riding around the
city with no particular destination on the back of a motorbike (albeit
without the wind blowing in my hair anymore since these new rules
requiring you to wear a helmet). I just love the general atmosphere of
a bustling city. Melbourne, as much as I love it, has more of a
laidback attitude, and isn't quite the same...

Well, that's all from me for my first post. Time for me to go lie in
my hotel room and watch some tv.