Has anybody been to the Easter Show yet? I’m desperate to know whether my stuff’s been displayed. I’ve looked through the relevant Flickr photos but there doesn’t seem to be much knitting in there.

It’s snowing here. SNOW. Greatest vacation ever.

Such. A. Bonehead.
It was like a scene from a movie. It was Monday morning and we hopped in the taxi to go to the airport. “You want to check and make extra-special sure we have the tickets?” I joked to the Snook. He got them out and had a look. “Uh, something’s wrong,” he said. He handed the itinerary up to me. I looked at our flight time, nope, all good there. Then the day: SUNDAY. As in: 24 hours previously. “WHAT? This has to be a mistake.” No, my friends, we friggin’ got the date wrong. I wish I were making this up. I hyperventilated all the way to the airport where we frantically called our travel agent Nick. I also found an Internet terminal and was able to trace down the mistake. We’d originally planned to go on the Monday and Nick had e-mailed through the itinerary. Then when we’d actually gone in to pay for the tickets, we discovered availability to leave the previous day. So we switched it. When I made my super-duper anal Google spreadsheet of all the trip details, though, I unthinkingly based it off the original e-mail. Hence, we ended up at the airport 24 hours after our flight had left.

I’ve got nothing but great things to say about Nick at Flight Centre and David at Qantas, though. The two of them were able to switch around our tickets (at, yeah, a not inconsiderable cost) and get us on the Monday flight. We also had to spend about seven hours hanging around San Francisco airport yesterday. But we’re here and everything’s okay. We made it.

Be sure to always check your paper tickets, kids.

The bags are packed and the taxi’s been ordered. We’re off! America, here we come…

Heh. I totally fell for it.

April Fools
Happy anniversary to my best friend and co-conspirator. It’s been seven years since that fateful night at the Leopard Lounge, and it’s nice to be reminded of how lucky I’ve been ever since.

Of course, I nearly forgot. Yesterday afternoon I suggested to the Snook that we go out to dinner on Stanley Street, simply because we still had to pick up a Hard Rock Café shot glass for my Mom. (Don’t ask.) “Shall we go someplace special since it’s our anniversary?” *blank stare* “Oh, hey, yeah! Let’s do that.” So we ended up at Voiaj, a place we’d been meaning to try for a while. The decor is very eclectic and, frankly, kinda wanky. But in a good way. I mean, the menus are actually pasted inside old hardcover books, and the wine glasses are silver goblets. The walls are all painted red and none of the chairs match. You get the picture. It was very cozy though, and I give them mega-props for really carrying through on the theme. The menu items were incredibly varied and everything was tasty. I had the dukka-encrusted goat’s cheese to start, and then the kangaroo fillet for the main. The Snook had the salt-and-pepper scallops and the Tunisian duck breast. I also had an “Inca Fire” cocktail, but it was a bit medicinal for my taste. We shared the cheese plate for dessert, but it wasn’t anything lifechanging. Overall I’d say it’s a great concept and I’m glad we gave it a go, but it’s a little over-priced for what it is. They should move it to Newtown and reduce the prices by a third; I can see it really taking off.

Oh! And since the restaurant was taking part in Earth Hour, most of our meal was eaten by candlelight. Very romantic.

I knew you could cut up grocery bags and knit with them… but I’d never have guessed someone would make an entire 1950’s outfit. Wow.

Who’s that? Oh, it’s me and friggin’ Kim and Kelly Deal, that’s who!

So I was in the knitting shop, and this American-sounding chick came in looking for wool. So I helped her pick out some stuff, and she was soon joined by another chick… who looked just like her. “Are you guys–?” I asked. “Yep, twins,” they said. They were here for more than an hour – in fact, they’re still here – and I chatted to them off-and-on, completely oblivious. “Where are you guys from? Oh, Ohio? Yeah, I’m a Hoosier. I hope you’re not Ohio State fans.” “Go Buckeyes!” they said. After a while, I headed in to the office to call our warehouse guy. As I was on the phone with him, Lissa came in with a wild look in her eyes. She grabbed a pen and proceeded to write “KIM DEAL” in front of me. “NO F**KING WAY.” I can’t believe I missed it. I went back out and proceeded to be the lamest fangirl ever, and they kindly submitted to this ultra-crappy mobile phone picture for me. (Why I didn’t take the megapixel shop camera on my desk, I have no idea.) They’re making OSU signs, in case you’re wondering. So yeah, today I got to meet my 16-year-old alternateen heroes. What a day, huh?

For the clueless, the Deal sisters were in two of the seminal alternative rock bands of the late 80’s and early 90’s: the Pixies and the Breeders. The Pixies have reformed and are currently touring, and apparently they’re doing a show in Sydney tomorrow night. I was more of a Breeders fan, ever since I caught the video for “Cannonball” on an episode of 120 Minutes. “Last Splash” was on constant rotation in my car from the day I got it. I have a prized-but-ratty Breeders T-shirt at home that I bought at Tower Records when I was 16 and have worn ever since. How cool is that?

No Ribbon For Me
Hey, it looks like the Easter Show winners have been posted! And I didn’t win anything. Judging by my level of disappointment, apparently I secretly cared a lot more than I told everyone I did. 🙁

Update: Holy crap! Veronica got a first place! Way to go, Veronica! At least somebody I know won something.

It appears that our washing machine has been fixed. Phew! I was really dreading having to carry a backpack of dirty clothes home, like some lazyass college student.