Tell me what you don't like about yourself...

sw4y @ 2008-10-29T16:17:00

2008-10-29T05:28:31Z

see more puppies

see more puppies

see more puppies

see more puppies

sw4y @ 2008-10-27T16:45:00

2008-10-27T05:50:19Z

We finally got around to replacing the screens on the back sliding doors. I decided to just go all out and buy the most expensive alluminium pet mesh thinking that it would be dog proof.

Poor ziggy spent almost an hour fitting the screen as the alluminium made it tedious to fit.

15 minutes later this was all that was left of his effort (and the guilty party):

we ended up pop rivoting perspex to the lower half of the door, its the only way to make it well and truly "bullie proof".

*sigh*

sw4y @ 2008-10-14T12:44:00

2008-10-14T04:20:24Z

Yesterday morning on the way to work i looked out the window at car alongside us...the woman driving it was eating a bowl of cereal, and texting WHILST DRIVING. I couldnt believe it..... im sure glad she had her seatbelt on!

Some new pictures of the children :-)

sw4y @ 2008-09-24T20:58:00

2008-09-24T10:58:57Z

the new baby, he is a rescue. Deaf, but i will love him anyway. Ive called him franklin.

sw4y @ 2008-09-14T20:36:00

2008-09-14T11:27:49Z

Millie has a little bulldog friend at obedience school, a delightful little girl "Reggie". I snapped some shots today.... so much snorting & bum sniffing!!!!!

Vote for my dog!

2008-09-10T05:06:19Z

Ok Newcastle people!

Millicent is a finalist in the Newcastle Herald, Dress up your Dog competition. They have chosen 6 finalists out of 500+ entrants!

Finalists are in the paper Monday 15th, readers are to vote for their favorite dog. Winner is announced at the Doggy day out 21st september.

So - all you ppl who have entered kids in competitions and i have dutifully voted for YOU OWE ME!

A not so gentleman caller

2008-09-08T22:00:09Z

Early this morning I received a text message from an unknown number. The conversation went as follows:
Gc: So I hear u like tying ppl up and having ur way with them.
Me: who is this?
Gc: ben frm work.
Me: wrong number.
Gc: is this tanya?
Me: no, but have fun with her I hear she likes kinky shit.
Gc: do u want to tie me up?
Me: no thanks. Im busy tying up my husband.

Lol... interesting way to start the day nonetheless.

sw4y @ 2008-09-05T16:44:00

2008-09-05T06:53:11Z

I cant believe the weather... certainly not the start to spring that i was hoping for. Im off to stay at mum and dads tonight, they are going away for the weekend so i have to take them to the airport at an indecent time. Im more then happy too with all the help they have given us settling into the new house.

Millicent starts obedience training on sunday. I hope she goes well, listens to me and doesnt make me look silly!

In any case, she has a new collar and leash set to wear :D

sw4y @ 2008-07-25T01:52:00

2008-07-25T01:52:33Z

Im so excited, we leave on our honeymoon 2 thailand on monday morning. Most of the weekend will be spent tracking down last minute things and packing.
Its so cold here at the moment I just can't wait to get away, hopefully it will be warm in thailand....
I have a feeling 2day is going 2 b a long day....

sw4y @ 2008-07-10T19:43:00

2008-07-10T10:13:25Z

Ok, so i am ashamed to admit it but i am currently watching big brother cos Pammy A has gone into the house for a few days.....she is funny though ill give her that.

i was off work yesterday cos i was sick, it was freezing so i got to spend the day snuggling with Millicent on the lounge

feeling better mum?

Honeymoon planning!

2008-07-06T21:53:41Z

Last night Ziggy and i booked our honeymoon accomodation! IM SO EXCITED! in exactly 3 weeks today we jet of to thailand for 12 days. We booked and payed for our flights several months before but hadnt done anything about our accomodation till now.

Due to it being the low season and waiting till so close to book we have got 4 star accommodation for an insanely cheap price. I cant wait. It will actually be the first time that we have gone on a holiday together the whole 5 years we have been together!

we havent booked our accomodation for the whole stay, just the first week - we will see what its like and hopefully be able to conn them for an upgrade for the rest of our stay.

looking forward to horseriding, snorkelling, tennis, walks and most of all time with my gorgeous husband.

new toy!

2008-07-04T03:56:14Z

Im posting from my new sidekick phone! This is the coolest toy ever!

sw4y @ 2008-07-01T12:10:00

2008-07-01T02:23:49Z

Wow, I cant believe how fast the last few weeks have gone. I keep reminding myself to update about random things but then I get distracted with something else and forget.

It was exactly four weeks yesterday until Ziggy and I leave for our honeymoon in Thailand. I have started to make lists of things that I will need to pack, I am so terrified of forgetting something essential and being delayed or without and “essential” item for the 2 weeks we are away. Feel free to leave a comment with any tips for O.S. travelling that may help us. We are staying in a resort and wont be “roughing it” if that helps any.

I was on Sasa.com earlier and I purchased a spf90+ sunscreen and my usual everyday spf 30+ to take over with me. Im going to stock up on sunscreens over there as they have an amazing range in Asia as they are super obsessed with whitening their skin and preventing melanin (freckles) and sun spots from forming.

In any case I am getting super excited for our trip!

Things have been pretty quiet since the wedding, the only exciting thing I can think of is that K asked me to be her bridesmaid in her wedding next year – which I am looking forward to doing in a major way! Its going to be the most gorgeous wedding ever, and being bridesmaid for her will make it even better.

We got back the last of our professional wedding pictures from the second photographer and there is some gorgeous ones amongst them, here are a few of my favorites:

This was taken from the loft of the cathedral, shows the magnificance of the old church

my very handsome husband! ziggy in a suit = me weak at the knees :D

Ganked from Pink_bullets

2008-06-14T00:36:10Z

in5omniac and i paid for our wedding ourselves, but my most extravagent single purchase would have to be my Chanel J12 Watch
http://www.chanel.com/wfj-global/en-gb/index.php?fullscreen=1&x=0&y=79&width=1420&height=769

Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers.</font>
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sw4y @ 2008-06-13T12:53:00

2008-06-13T05:54:24Z

Wow, its hard to believe that it has been 1 week since the wedding, i cant remember a whole lot of it, its such a blur - a warm fuzzy feeling. We have been back at work since tuesday which wasnt that big a deal surprisingly!
Mum and dad are going to Europe over xmas this year, so it will just be us going to Ziggy's mums on christmas eve. Im so happy that they have this opportunity, it will be the first time my whole life i havent spent xmas with them.

Wedding pictures

2008-06-09T10:25:52Z

Ok LJ friends here are some pics.... most of these i have ganked from facebook so if your on my facebook you will have already seen these few! My uncle is a professional photographer so i was able to get the pictures back super quick :)

Enjoy!

Ok, so this is right before my 30+ yr old veil of my mothers flew into the harbour. I was saying to ziggy "have you got my veil" and he was saying yes.....

Horror!

Assessing the situation

Hero!

sw4y @ 2008-06-05T08:42:00

2008-06-04T22:48:49Z

The rain is affecting EVERYTHING. My cake lady called me this morning, apologising profusely - because of rain the design of my cake has to be altered. *sigh* gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggrrr! I LOVED MY CAKE!

Please stop raining!

2008-06-04T00:25:08Z

So wedding is three days out and its been raining torrentially for almost 24 hours....

I cannot belive this weather...! It was exactly like this 12 months ago when the Pasha Bulka ran aground on our local beach in the June storms.

I thought it was hilarious at the time and took comfort that we couldnt have weather like that two years in a row! Apparently we can....

Anyone wants more info click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasha_bulka

sw4y @ 2008-06-01T12:24:00

2008-06-01T02:30:06Z

with less then 1 week to go now im starting to feel like i cant do any more organising and checking and worrying. My eyes are gritty, blurry and sore and i feel like i need to sleep for the rest of the week before i can feel human. Ziggy is in sydney today picking up his father from the airport, i wish he wasnt because i really could do with his help and motivation.

Its grey and rainy today, which doesnt help the feel of things either.

Millie was desexed earlier in the week without any of the emergency procedures and stress that we had with Coco. She is such a good little bulldog, i dont know what i would do without her! I bought her the cutest little red and white knit jumper - she looks adorable.

Wedding countdown...

2008-05-22T12:06:43Z

Well i think i am finally starting to get excited about the wedding... its kind of shocking that in a little over two weeks Ziggy and i will finally be married! So much money, planning and organisation all for one little day....im sure ive forgotten something since i havent really been stressed yet, weve had two years to organise this thing so maybe thats why.

There are still a few more things to be done but everything i can think of seems to be coming together nicely. Today i got the revised order of service changes back from the parish office, so tomorrow ill get some of the inside paper and they can be printed off over the weekend.

I need to get my veil steamed but i cant get that done just yet.

We have had a bit of a problem with the dogs the last few weeks, Millie has been super aggressive to tinsley and it breaks my heart. Just last week they were the best of friends! I have organised a dog "whisperer" to come and consult with them, and millie is getting spayed next tuesday. For now the dogs have to be kept seperate at ALL times otherwise they seriously injure each other, both Ziggy and i have been bitten trying to break up the fights!

Other exciting news is that Ziggy and i are looking at houses! We are heading to an open house on saturday for a look... exciting times.....

sw4y @ 2008-05-19T07:17:00

2008-05-18T21:24:26Z

Yesterday ziggy and wondered around and did a bit of shopping. He bought some Blue-ray DVD discs one of them was James Bond, Die another day. Yesterday i lost my James bond Virginity and saw a JB movie for th first time and i really enjoyed it! I wish i we had more to watch!

sw4y @ 2008-05-18T14:45:00

2008-05-18T05:08:15Z

Im desperate for this perfume. Im typically a Chanel girl when it comes to fragrance but this fragrance is devine....I WANT!

Last night, Laura bought my veil over. Its all finished! Its Cathedral length, which is very, very long so i think ill be taking it off after the ceremony. Its 30 years old, it was mums when she got married so i dont want to destroy it or have it ripped out of my hair by a unaware ziggy....

less then 3 weeks.... it still feels so far away.

sw4y @ 2008-05-14T15:25:00

2008-05-14T05:28:47Z

I went to the Dry Cleaners this afternoon to pick up my Furr jacket (for the wedding) I saw the randomest thing. Three or four guys sitting in folding deck chairs drinking beer, on the roof of a house at the corner of a busy intersection. It was a normal pitched (triangle type) roof so the whole thing was mind bogglingly dangerous, of course they werent wearing any type of safety restraints..... i guess thats what we call natural selection....

An update, of sorts....

2008-05-08T11:09:11Z

I had the day off work today for a few necessary appts which i wasn't able to schedule on weekends, i also took the opportunity to go into the Newcastle Parish office and pay for the Church. Its hard to believe that in a less then a month Ziggy and i will finally be married! All the little things are falling into place without to much stress and concern... soon all that will be left to do will be get married!

News Article!

2008-04-24T04:03:09Z

Faking It! How Counterfeiting Affects Fashion.

Chanel's Gisa Straith
We’ve all seen it - people crowding over tables at night markets, digging through piles of Louis Vuitton monogrammed wallets, striving to find a good fake. From local malls, to alleys in Chinatown; counterfeits are everywhere in Vancouver. The problem is vast, but will it ever end?

It was a Monday afternoon when I arrived at West Hastings and Hornby Street. I walked up the steps and pushed open the heavy glass door. Right in front of me was a showcase displaying a white quilted lambskin purse, and satin silk camellia corsages. “She’ll be right with you Justin.” said Patty, a sales associate at the downtown Chanel Boutique. I put down my bag and began to prepare for the interview.

Gisa Straith, Manager of Chanel Boutique Vancouver, came out from her office in her sleek, black tweed suit. Gisa' s job isn’t easy; she just returned from Paris for Fashion Week, and she' s leaving again the following week. “Sorry, I just had to reply a few emails back there.” She said, while greeting me. Starting my digital recorder, I addressed the issue at hand. “It really comes down to whether or not the buyer cares.” She lamented, “and these people don’t care, that’s why it’s so frustrating.” Dealing with knock-offs on a day to day basis, Gisa explained how knock-offs are ruining our society, and our appreciation for quality and originality, but this is only the underlying issue.
When a consumer purchases a counterfeit, for instance, a Prada handbag, she may think that she is getting a good deal. She is getting more or less the same thing, without having to pay for the exorbitant price tag. What she doesn’t know is that the $50 she paid for her Prada bag goes into money laundering and funding underground businesses.

The majority of counterfeited goods originate from Asia, mostly from China and Korea. People who make them are slave laborers. In fact, most of them are young children, a startling number of these kids are as young as 6, who are taken away from their homes to work in poor conditions, and for as little as a dollar an hour. The counterfeiting industry makes up to $650 billion a year. That $650 billion is going somewhere, and you can bet it’s not feeding the poor kids in China that make these purses. According to Straith, the money goes into supporting the drug business, arms business and funding international terrorism. Basically, they are using a shortcut to make big money, to support illegitimate businesses.

For most people, it doesn’t seem to be worth it to pay $2,000 for, say a Chanel bag. If one can find a knock-off out there that is ten times cheaper, why pay so much for the real thing? Why is a CC-logoed bag or a Fendi Baguette so expensive? “It’s mostly made by hand. Each bag takes between six to eighteen hours to make.” Involving a multitude of steps, each bag is of very high quality and immense craftsmanship. “When you think about the cost of a specialized artisan who makes those bags, it’s very much worth the price. We use the finest skins, and each of them go through quality control.” Gisa explained. Chanel also has six specialized ateliers, for shoes, hats, embroideries and other ornamentations. “That is what produces the expensive, but fine quality merchandise that we make.”

Counterfeits on the other hand, are of very bad quality, in fact inferior quality. Instead of using fine lambskins or calfskins, counterfeiters use plastic or man-made leather. They are not long lasting to begin with; most of them fall apart very easily. The designs are usually off. “People don’t know how silly they look in counterfeits.” Says Gisa. Counterfeits are blatantly infringing on a trademark, and that is illegal. From a fashion house’s perspective, it is a very serious issue. It ruins the brand image, it cheapens the brand, and eventually they lose business.

The issue here though, is not about how much business they lose anymore, because in most cases, consumers who resort to purchasing a counterfeit probably won’t buy the real thing anyway. “The real issue comes in what does it stand for and how far back you trace it as to the slave labor that happened in the beginning.” It’s an intellectual property and a human rights issue, and that is what’s serious. Chanel will still be making lots of money, as will Hermès, Louis Vuitton and all the other fashion houses. “That’s because luxury goods are a hot commodity,” Gisa explained, “which is also why there are counterfeits out there.”

In the last few years there has been resurgence in the popularity of luxury good and designer labels. Canada’s luxury goods retailer Holt Renfrew recently expanded its Downtown Vancouver store; Louis Vuitton will be expanding its Fairmont Hotel boutique in the coming year, which will also be carrying their Prêt-à-Porter collections. When there is a high demand for luxury goods, there will be counterfeits. “We have a lot of clients who simply will not wear specific designers, because there are too many knock-offs out there.” Gisa explains.

Canada is somewhat behind some other European countries, when it comes to laws implemented to target the counterfeiting industry. “If you enter France with a fraudulent item, you will be fined very heavily, and your item will be confiscated. That is what they’re doing to protect their national industry.” Gisa thinks that Canada should do more to protect the fashion and luxury goods business. “All the luxury goods retailers are working together to deal with this problem.”

Ultimately, it is really up to us- the consumers. When consumers boycott counterfeits, there will be no need for it. If that doesn’t happen, it will continue to be there; it will continue to be successful. Gisa hopes that they can catch enough of the counterfeiters to make an impact on that market, and stop what’s happening on the source ends of counterfeits. But in the end we as consumers control the situation, and if we value originality, freedom, and creativity, this issue will cease.