Donate to a food bank

We rearranged the kitchen cupboards the other night. Make no mistake: this is a big job. Some of the items in this kitchen arrived on the scene well before I did and, considering that my sweetie's mantra is "It would be a shame to waste it", not so easy to remove. There were a few casualties along the way: expired food items (ie with 'best before' dates 1-4 years old) were swiftly disposed of; others went after a bit of a struggle. There were a few pleasant surprises (eg sauce sachets we'd forgotten we'd bought), and a few items which have survived repeated culls, namely some soup which we'd stocked up on before discovering that neither of us liked the flavour, even though it's still fine to eat. This time, though, I was determined that this soup wouldn't find its way back to the black hole inside the cupboard; it was going to be put to good use.

One of my 101 in 1001 activities is #72 - Donate to a food bank. I sometimes donate when food banks hold their annual appeals at supermarkets but, admittedly, it's only because their collection points at the supermarket entrance serve as a reminder for me. Food banks need donations all year round, not just at Christmas or on special occasions. I decided that today would be the day that I removed our unwanted cans to the food bank donation box at the supermarket and top it up by adding a few other non-perishable items to my grocery list. Although money has not been particularly forthcoming for me lately, it was easy to do and not particularly exorbitant on my part. I'm guessing that every little bit helps.

So that was my day of mini-philanthropy. It sure feels good!

Sevens madness

People are strange, weird, wonderful, and fascinating creatures. I love people watching. What are those people doing? Where are they from? What do they do for a job? Where are they going? What are they thinking? What made them dress like that today? (What were they thinking, lol?) As part of my 101 in 1001, I wanted to find a busy street corner or centrally located café and achieve #66 - Spend an hour people watching. Instead, we spent the weekend at the 2010 Wellington Sevens, the ultimate people watching experience.

The international rugby sevens tournament hits Wellington in the first weekend of February (although Auckland and Dunedin think they might have a shot for themselves - whatever!). Of all legs of this international tournament, the focus for Wellington is throwing the year's biggest costume party, and maybe watching the occasional game in the background. Anyone not dressed up sticks out like a sore thumb. Spending copious amounts of money on greasy stadium food and watery beer in plastic cups is par for the cause, especially on Saturday (Waitangi Day) when patrons were slapped with an additional 15% surcharge on top of the existing outrageous prices.

Think about a costume party you have been to, then multiply it by at least one thousand times. Ply those 35 000 people with copious amounts of alcohol, body paint, wigs, accessories, whistles and loud horns, then let them loose for two sunny days within a radius of just a few kilometres ... it is nothing short of madness. We saw costumes of every variety, including groups of Buzz Lightyears, Twister boards, traffic lights, Cookie Monsters, various members of the Munch Bunch, packets of Raro and Juicy Fruit ... check out some of the costumes here. Our theme was Jem and the Holograms. For everyone of a certain generation (ie aged 28-35), this should hopefully sound familiar. The 23-year-old in our group had to watch some episodes on You Tube to know what we were talking about - she quickly got the idea.

Jem and the Holograms hit the town! "Truly outrageous!"

These friendly lions knew our theme song!

These Hannibal Lecters seemed quite taken by Jem and the Holograms

Some of the crowd along the waterfront

There were a couple dozen oompa loompas running around. They were taller than I imagined. ;-)

iPods

As a non-drinker, the sevens makes for the ultimate in extreme people watching. Here's what I observed during my weekend of people watching at the sevens:

• Cross-dressing is par for the course; at the sevens, it barely raises an eyebrow. This is probably the biggest event where you can expect to see hundreds of men dressed in women's lingerie and clothing. ;-)
• What may seem like an outrageous idea at home will fit in perfectly (or possibly even look understated) amongst a crowd of 35 000 people.
• Extreme is the name of the game: most people will either show lots of skin or none.
• Beware walking past anyone covered in body paint; it will quickly become part of your costume if you get too close.
• Costumes with a tail, fur, body paint, big masks, or big items to carry might seem like a good idea at the time, but think about doing it for two full days in the sun ...
• The simplest costume ideas are sometimes the most effective, especially if there are a group of people following the same theme.
• Anything goes. Just don't expect to be congratulated (or noticed) if you turn up in a Hawaiian shirt and lei.
• At the sevens you can be anything or anyone you want to be, just as long as you're not yourself.

Perfectly Imperfect - Lee Woodruff

Lee Woodruff is a bestselling author and lifestyle television presenter. Perfectly Imperfect (2009) is a collection of essays written by Woodruff about her home life: being a daughter, a wife, a mother, a friend. Her themes range from jewellery, kids' sports, being the mother of a deaf child, and protecting your marriage by using GPS. Everyday stuff, but with honesty, humour, and, at times, raw emotion. In his foreword, Lee's husband Bob Woodruff says that she writes as she speaks; her warmth and humanity are certainly evident in the tales she tells as she welcomes us into her home.

This is an easy, enjoyable read, perfect for the afternoons when I can hang up my hammock and indulge in reading in the sun.

15 things worth knowing about coffee

This is simply gorgeous. It was tweeted by @laffare this morning and I just had to share. For coffee lovers, here are 15(ish) things worth knowing about coffee. I love the way it is presented visually.

Today has started well. I have just had confirmation of a short-term contract I'd applied for, starting in February. It's only for a few weeks but I'm told it could lead to other things, and hopefully will fit in well with the timing for starting my own business. Also, we are going to see the opening concert for AC/DC's Black Ice tour at Westpac Stadium in Wellington tonight. Time to celebrate a great day with a good coffee, methinks!

There Was A Time - Dorothy Butler

There Was A Time (1999) is the first volume of an autobiography by New Zealand children's book author Dorothy Butler. It chronicles her childhood, growing up in various parts of Auckland, until her days at Auckland University College.

Butler seems like an old friend, an aunt, or a kindly neighbour; she paints a picture of her childhood in such a way that it seems like you would fit in perfectly with her memories. They are warm, humorous, comfortable, and familiar. I learned several new words: lorgnette, peroration, grandiloquence, and exigencies, but the text is still very readable.

The family moved many times during Butler's 'typical Kiwi' childhood, yet the children's ability to make new friends, as well as her mother's incredible resilience towards whatever circumstances they faced, meant that new 'adventures' occurred and life continued happily. The descriptions of her schooling at Auckland Girls' Grammar School in the 1940s are incredibly entertaining. The recurring theme throughout is Butler's love of reading which, alongside a very active childhood outdoors, took up every other spare moment. This ultimately led to her becoming an award-winning international children's author and owning her own bookshop.

There Was A Time is a delightful summer read. I now look forward to reading the second installment of Butler's autobiography, All This and a Bookshop Too (2009).

Mad Hatter's Tea Party

My sweetie and I have a knack for throwing parties that are at the mercy of the weather gods. We have had phenomenal bad luck during the past couple of years. We've hosted barbeques in the middle of summer which have been rained, nay poured, out and ended up with everybody sitting inside, sometimes around the heater! We have learned to always be prepared to have guests inside "just in case", but it doesn't stop us planning ahead and hoping for the best. We have had absolutely dreadful weather in Wellington recently; it's barely summer here at all. (We went to a picnic yesterday - the weather was so bad that we needed to a hire a hall and have it inside instead!)

It's no secret that I love to bake. I also wanted to chance the weather and achieve goal #20 - Throw a party for friends. We made it a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, featuring high tea and tasty treats in the sun. I planned a menu of club sandwiches, mini-savouries, pikelets with jam and cream, chocolate chip cookies, lemon cupcakes, chocolate eclairs, and a friend made chocolate-dipped strawberries. This would all be served with punch, tea, coffee, and bubbly. Yum!

We left it almost until the very last minute to decide whether to migrate the furniture outside and have the party in the garden, or play it safe in the lounge. A few drops of light rain almost saw us change our mind, but what is life for if not for living on the edge? The afternoon slowly but surely warmed up and the sun even peeped out for a while - whew! 14 of us ate and drank our way through a relaxing Wellington Anniversary Day.

Here are the cupcakes I made. They are lemon flavoured with lemon buttercream frosting. I used white chocolate melts to make the daisy petals and topped each one off with a pebble. So cute - and tasty!