Operation Tubetop

As I proclaimed loudly in another post, I do love balls. Mind out of the gutter, perverts. I believe I have probably attended about 11 balls in the last few years but I am still not tired of going to them. While every ball is different, there are generally a few aspects that remain the same. You wear fancy clothes, you pre-drink, your feet will be incredibly sore by the end of the night and if you are me, you will exclaim throughout the night "THIS IS SO PRETTY! THIS IS SO AMAZING!" It never gets old. I do, but Viennese balls don't. There is something incredibly surreal about watching the midnight quadrille, surrounded by people dressed to the nines while you sip bubbly and of course film it all with your smartphone. So glamorous. I do have to say that the Science Ball has become one of my favourite balls. Last year I attended it for the first time and I had a complete blast... well, the parts that I remember were amazing. This year was also fun. I was also lucky enou...

WHAT A FUN TITLE FOR THIS POST! As promised before, I wanted to focus a little on feminism in this post. And everything I wanted to say has been summed up by so many incredible writers and bloggers these past few days. I have always been a feminist and I was also lucky enough to not experience much prejudice growing up. A funny thing happened when I became a mother, though. Suddenly I was asked "Is your husband babysitting tonight?" and "Aren't you lucky to have a man who lets you go out so much!" I suddenly went from independent woman to apparently sole provider of my child even though there was another competent person in my child's life who had just as little experience and skills as I did when it came to raising a child. Heh. But to be honest, this was a mild annoyance, nothing compared to what other people go through. I know that I am privileged (had a hard time spelling that one): I am white, I grew up in a lavish lifestyle, and I sometimes feel so...

Hello Sunday! Apologies for not writing sooner: it has been a wild week and I still haven't completely recovered. I went to brunch this morning for a friend's birthday and since I am on day 27 of my 30 day vegan challenge... I ate a lot of bread and I really really want to lie down. The brunch was at Yamm and for years I thought Yamm was an Asian restaurant. It's not. You learn something new everyday. That's all my mind can process right now. Ugh, so many carbs. So much happened this week so I guess I will start at the beginning. On Monday I went to work and tried to focus. In the afternoon I picked up some more raffle prizes and then in the evening, a couple of friends came by to help set up gift bags and paint a sign. I took the day off on Tuesday and spent most of the morning watching Columbo and trying to nap. In the afternoon I brought a ton of prizes to Beaver Brewing Company, then took myself out for lunch, picked up another raffle prize and then met a friend...

That title sounds absolutely horrific. Sorry. But yes, right now I am about a little self love. For what seems like a year (actually probably really over a year), I feel like I have been running on a combination of caffeine and endorphins and sheer vengeance (I'm not a saint. I have a lot of people to prove wrong.) trying to get things done. On Wednesday is the big fundraiser and while I am incredibly excited, I am also incredibly nervous. People who really know me well, know that I am actually a bit of an introvert. I am comfortable in crowds but not comfortable in front of crowds. I am loud, I am out going, but I get twitchy when I have to be the center of attention. Now... I love attention, but not a lot of attention. But definitely some. I am a difficult person, this I know. I wrote about this a long long time ago but I will rehash it here. I only want to get attention for something I feel like I have earned. This is why I stay up until 2 a.m. making marzipan covered cakes ...

Well hello there Wednesday! It is the evening, the Kid is in bed. I made dinner, did some Yoga and soon I will do some jewelry making because ZOMG only a week to go until the Beacon Beach House fundraiser. I have a lot to do still and for the past 2 days I have been working on something at work that makes my head spin but by tomorrow afternoon it should be off my desk and then I can breathe again.. for ten minutes until I tackle a bazillion other things. Tomorrow evening I am picking up another raffle prize and then meeting some friends at the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks. I am looking forward to an evening out amongst the living after a few quiet nights in. Last night the Husband was out and after the Kid was in bed, I put on a DVD of Burn Notice and made some more jewelry for the fundraiser. I have mentioned it before but I do absolutely adore Burn Notice : it's not bloody or gory or sad and it is like a James Bond film without the revolving door of women. Fiona is one of the ...

As I posted yesterday, the Kid was no bueno in the morning. I had hoped that would be it for the day but after a fabulous dinner experience (he sat again at the dining room table with us for more than 10 minutes and actually ate a ton of rice with a spoon) he had another meltdown. But, to be honest, this meltdown actually made me a little happy. Now hear me out before you ask me out for drinks and hug me, thinking I have gone off the deep end (by the way, you can always ask me out for drinks and hug me). Usually the Kid enjoys going to bed. I think he likes the warmth of his blankets, the darkness and the quiet. But last night he was having none.of.it. When we told him it was time for bed, he completely freaked out and refused to go to bed. There was screaming and yelling and hitting us but as soon as we sat down on the sofa with him, he calmed down. Now this is where I realized something very key: he was not having a meltdown but having a temper tantrum. There was actually cause and e...

Hola! I am officially back to work! Today is an Austrian holiday but not at work so walking to the Ubahn station on a cold and windy winter morning is very very crappy. Generally I would be in a better mood (I have a great winter hat) but the Kid had an unprovoked freak out at 4:30 a.m. The good news is that it only lasted a minute, the bad news is that this is the second one this week. On Monday he had a terrible one that lasted over 45 minutes and ended with both of us in tears. It is always difficult to figure out what provokes them but most of the time it is due to him being in some sort of pain. We have introduced probiotics recently and after spending a couple of hours on the Interwebs this morning, I feel like we can try something in addition to changing his diet. When he has a freak out, he attacks us and it is difficult: physically and emotionally. I have talked about them before because I think it is very very important for me to be very transparent about my life regarding au...

Well! Happy New Year to you all! I hope that you are not feeling delicate this morning. And if so, I hope that you have easy access to greasy food. For the first time in a long time, I did not over imbibe on New Year's Eve. In fact, I actually just consumed half a glass of champagne. Yes, I know, what is happening?!? But truth be told, I had had a late night out the night before so that may or may not have been why I did not knock back the champagne like a yacht girl. On Friday night, a couple of friends came over for a quick drink. I knew one of them from school but had been friends with his younger brother. He wrote me the other week and asked if I wanted to meet up and I said "Yes! And do you want to meet the Kid? Have you had your shots?" He replied yes to both questions and just shortly after six on Friday night, two lovely gentlemen came by. Unfortunately the Kid was in meltdown mode. His stomach had been bothering him in the afternoon and by 6, thar she blows. ...