I have discovered some articles in the boy’s closet which I like to categorize as “pre-metro.” To put it politely, they don’t fit with his man-ture (man couture) wardrobe or his love of NPR, The Economist, The Daily Show, et al., blah blah.

These pre-metro wardrobe items consist of: sports team shirts (as in, he actually played team sports and has shirts with his name and number printed on them), a pair of early-90s ‘Simple’ brand shoes, a Colorado School of Mines sweatshirt, and the like. I am used to seeing them in the closet, but they never see the light of day.

Imagine my surprise, however, when I came across this* last night.

I mean, how fantastic is that?! Waaaay better than some Mines sweat shirt. Obvi, I chose to put it on straightaway, and then walk around the apartment until he noticed.**

*The boy claims this does not belong to him, but was left by a friend after an “80s party.” Riiiight. Because having an 80s party is so much better than being a Pantera fan.

**Let’s just keep it our little secret that I totally loved rock hair bands in 9th grade. Although not, obviously, Pantera, because none of its members were (or are, presumably) attractive.

I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. I just stumbled across (in a friend of a friend’s blog) a website called Flirt to Convert, which “has been created to serve the needs of the people involved in ‘Missionary Dating’ and those looking to being converted.” Shut up. Looking to be converted? And they need help, in the form of a date, to accomplish that?!

The best part of my “visit” to the site (I could only stomach it long enough to copy these gems for you, my dear readers), was the featured profile, which stated:

Hello,  my  name  is  Tamara!  As  you  can  probably  tell,  I’m  a  Christian  woman  who  loves  Jesus  Christ  and  cares  for  all  humans,  even  the  wicked.  What  you  probably  don’t  know  is  that  I’m  hot.  My  picture  below  isn’t  really  that  good.  I  want  to  use  my  beauty  for  GOD,  and  want  to  encourage  Christian  women  (my  sisters  in  Christ)  to  do  the  same,  according  to  the  Great  Commission.

1.

America is totally missing the boat by not relying on hot water bottles. They are genius!

2. Decaf Earl Grey from Lupicia. The only decaf Earl Grey I can find here. Because, you know, variety is a product of rampant consumerism and there’s not any … ahem ack ack … sorry, just a little something in my throat … and there’s not any … ack achkelslack … any of that here. No, not here. Or here. Or here. The vigilance of the Aussies has prevented greedy consumers from accessing unnecessary luxuries like this, this, and this. And while Americans might see this as essential to the consumption of coffee, the Aussies don’t sell it anywhere because they know that a truly good cup of coffee is a $4 8 oz. — sorry, make that 225 g — flat white. Whew.

I’m fine, I’m fine. Just a bit annoyed today. The incomprehensible oven destroyed another cake last night.

… in a place where none of the shops have signs on the doors that say “It’s warm inside!”

The word of the day is brrrrrrrrrrrr.

The list of items I’m currently stalking is exhorbitantly long at the moment (and unusually out of reach). But that is what happens when you are staring prospective unemployment in the face.

These Chloe sandals are a recent find, and would be a perfect subsitute for the green ones I ended up returning (and regretting) last summer.

More appropriate (and much needed) for my current weather are these boots:

Of course, I’m still after these beauties as well.

I found this ultimate laptop bag while trying to help a friend find a laptop bag. Figures. Even when trying not to look, I end up looking.

And of course, I am still searching for the holy grail Chanel bag.

I had to get up at 2 a.m. this morning to take a call from the East Coast. When I went back to bed, the boy was steaming. Literally. Heat was radiating off of him in greater degrees than it radiates from our little space heater. At first it was kind’ve nice, because I was so cold from exposing myself to the non-centrally-heated elements of our apartment, but then it was just … ewwww. I felt like I was lying next to a pile of steaming hot, damp towels.

I had to “forge” documents to get this, and I thrust my fist triumphantly into the air as I exited the building with it in my bag. MG: Bringing nerd-dom to new levels.

This weekend was the boy’s thirty-something-and-a-half birthday. I made him this lemon cheesecake with this gingersnap crust. It turned out pretty well for not having, you know, a mixer.  There was some cracking on the top, sadly, but the cake had really good lemon flavor, and the gingersnap crust was amazing. I haven’t made full-fat cheesecake in a while, and this reminded me why–it’s just too rich. I think I will try one fat free block and two 1/3 fat blocks next time. Sadly, the only candle available at the store was the number 7.

And while the boy was aging, MG was getting lip injections, apparently. Heh. I guess it is the angle of the photo, the gloss, and my naturally plumptious lips that are creating this effect. Niiiiiice.

Or something. That means “Yay, I won it!” in pirate talk. Now I just have to wait for it to fly over the sea and travel by express pony to central Melbourne. There’s been a lot of eBaying in Casa Mad Grammariana lately, and all I can say is that Auction Stealer is my best friend.

Either I’ve been living under a rock, or this hasn’t come to the U.S. yet. When it came on last night at the gym, I was so entranced/amused/hysterical with suppressed laughter that I did like 50 extra sit-ups so I could keep watching.