Money, Money, Money

I almost had another bad day today - well it seemed to be on it's way there again this morning. I started off working on some data that needed to be submitted latest today. So as I was almost finished, the PC suddenly switched-off. We had a power-cut. I should have:

• Guessed this was coming when I noticed the air-con had switched off a few minutes earlier (later I discovered from "laukong" that normally when there's power-cut, all PC's had a lag time of 10 mins so people have time to save their work. Apparently not this idiot.).
• Saved the work I was doing every 2 mins like every other paranoid office Dilbert (trust me when I say I normally do this, but somehow today, by means of sod's law, I didn't).

The power-cut lasted over an hour. By which time not only had I got to know one of my colleagues better, it was time to run off to catch the lunchtime bus. And so my work for the afternoon was all cut out for me. As I suspected, the so-called auto-recovery system did not work. I had to re-do everything that I did in the morning.

After work we had a security briefing in camp. It was the usual dreary story about how they don't foresee the security situation improving anytime soon, possibly until after elections. Not to be outdone, the Q&A session as usual was inundated with "concerns" raised by the (non-working - I realise I'm treading on thin ice here) spouse community. I shall not diverge into the details, but the kind of "issues" that were brought up just puts me to shame.

A notable mention goes to this one lady who should have come with a disclaimer as her views were soooooo not representative of us ladies. Of course, I could be accused of being bias, because she's in my K.I.V. file for being a real cow (uncannily she resembles one too). I'm not normally this mean about people, but she managed to piss me off during one of the rare occasions I was able to do the school runs. I was sitting around with all the other mums waiting for the school door to open. She started introducing herslf to literally ALL the mums except for yours truly. I must have had a tickertape on my forehead to warn her not to come near me. Or perchance I was not white enough for her fat arse? Which would be very strange indeed as she's not exactly white either. Come to think of it, what the hell is she? She reminds me so much of people in Dubai - but that's another story.

Anyway, to tie in to the title du jor with today's events - in recogntion of the drastic change in lifestyle that us poor, little EXPATs have had to endure for the past few months and many, many more months (possibly a year) to come, our allowance has been increased! Hooray! But euphoria aside, let's not also forget that no money in the world can ever be in place of security and safety. So let's also count our blessings as well as pray for the safety of our future.

"I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay

Ain't it sad

And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me

That's too bad

In my dreams I have a plan

If I got me a wealthy man

I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a ball..."

~ Money, Money, Money

The Sun Always Shines on TV

I had such a bad, bad, bad day today.

1) It started off with heavy rain. One of the heaviest I've seen since arriving here. The full blown thunder and lightening effect included.

2) Almost missed the bus because my driver was late. So "laukong" had to send me to the bus pick-up point.

3) Onboarded another EXPAT first thing in the morning. After he left, our manager asked who he was. Then I told him that so far so good, except for one issue (boy, did I pay handsomely for opening my mouth). The guy is currently staying at the company guest house in 2 separate rooms from his family. So I told him this was not practical for a family with very young children. So the manager asked what salary group he is in. And by this time his voice had raised by a few decibels enough to wake the dead in Ghana and Gabon. Then almost shouting (or maybe he already was, but I was too paralysed and mortified to notice at this point), he said well he's not entitled for a small temporary house since those houses are meant for managers and others of immortal status. Me as an HR person should know about this "policy"!? WTF!?

4) In the bus on the way home for lunch, a fellow EXPAT colleague asked me if I was going to this HR workshop that is scheduled next week. Obviously I've not heard. So he offered to come to his office to check for more details after lunch. Turns out from the particpants list, that ALL my immediate colleagues have been nominated to go except for...yours truly.

Well, I'm inclined to think that there must be some reasonable expalnation to this. Or perchance I've been forgotten? Since I had a meeting almost immediately after lunch, I only managed to e-mail my boss about the possibility of him nominating me. By the time I came back from my meeting, no response of my e-mail. By now it was already late in the day for me to start a conversation. Also as you will see below, this would be the least of my worries. TRUST ME.

5) With the promotion process almost coming to a close for those in managerial positions, I handed over my portfolio's submission to my colleague who collates all forms. Then she told me that it's ok for me to go to our manager (yes, this is the same manager in item 1) direct for him to sign the papers off.

Naively (again - I have to be more vigilant than this next time. My memory seems to have failed me.) I went to his office thinking all would be a breeze. Another hard lesson awaits me:
First thing he said was that my submission was late (he might possibly have been shouting already - again my memory has failed me).

> The deadline was closed last week! (Oh no, here we go again.)

> Why was it late? (The trap has been set.)

> Did your boss not tell you when the deadline was? (I'm falling.)

> Where is he? (So close yet so far away.)

> Let's go and see him now! (I can start to see my life flash before me.)

> He should be advising his staff and coaching them! (Are you there, God?)

Suddenly the penny dropped and I decided, "No, today is not a good day to die." So I told him that it was not necessary to go outside and confront my boss (I'd like to think that Mr. Manager here had enough feeding for the day to tide him over until after winter and hibernation). I knew the deadline and it was the customers that were late with their submissions. Absolutely nothing to do with my boss.

Managed to calm him down somewhat and (at great risk- and foolishness, now that I think about it) told him that I am now beginning to dread coming in to see him(!!). (I must say - there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity). Much to my surprise (and quite possibly the Grim Reaper's), he told me that I should not feel that way. I should know that I am always welcome to come and speak to him. The more I see him, the less I should be dreading him. SAYS HE. I imagined in my head (had to bite my tongue while thinking this) the perfect retort would have been, "That's alll!"

6) Just before logging-off, I saw an e-mail from Russia about one of their staff coming to work here. By the amount of BOLD fonts in her e-mail it was really the icing on the cake that I needed to end my day. Unfortunately it far too late for me to retaliate lest I missed the bus home. I forgot (must get my memory upgraded soon) how rather "brusque" (to put it nicely) the Russians can be. I should have known better and this shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. 2 years working in Dubai supporting them virtually in Russia has done nothing for me apparently. But I was certainly caught off-guard. So spent the entire bus journey home mentally drafting my response (while being poked at the ribs by this super horizontally-challenged American lady who didn't even have the courtesy to acknowledge my presence - I certainly "felt" hers. I didn't realised that such people are capable of having such bony elbows). Of course as my luck would have it, the traffic jam was worse than usual. So by the time we reached the housing camp I was almost ready to jump out the window from claustrophobia.

Item 6 I expect will...to be continued...after I send my response tomorrow.

Alas, positivity and humour (+ tons of nicotine) remains my anchors to get me through another day in paradise.

"I reached inside myself and found
Nothing there to ease the
Pressure of
my ever worrying mind
All my powers waste away
I fear the crazed and
lonely
Looks the mirror's sending me these days...

...Please don't
ask me to defend
The shameful lowlands of the way I'm drifting
Gloomily
through time
I reached inside myself today
Thinking there's got to be
some way
To keep my troubles distant..."

~ The Sun Always Shines on TV

Buffalo Stance

For lunch the cook served me rice and some beef stew. For once the beef was as per the standard texture that I've been used to before coming to Nigeria. The last time she served beef, my jaw ached for days. She may as well have served the beef with the cow's teeth, so I can use them once all my teeth have fallen off as a result. I've got a feeling that people just don't eat cow or cattle meat here. They probably eat buffalo.

Speaking of buffalo (ox to connect to where I'm gettng at), I just saw in someone's blog a really cute cartoon that has the following quote: "I am not stubborn. I am merely correct". That is just so true. If only you can convince the whole world that. It's like I have this saying when the whole world seems to piss me off, "Aku saja yang pandai di dunia ani" (I am the only smart person in this world).

Anyway, I digress.

"That's the girls on the block with their nasty curls,
Wearing padded bras,
Sucking beer through straws,
Dropping down the draws,
Where did you
get yours?"

~ Buffalo Stance

Introspective

I've decided that this week's entries will have titles of 80's hits/albums that reflect my day. Unfortunately I have missed yesterday. So this will be in place of Monday.

I was having a discussion the other day with "laukong" dearest about how people here in Nigeria seem to use big words in everyday life. Example: "genesis" in place of background; "harmonise" = synergise; you get my drift. It gives me great pride to say that I have just sent an e-mail to someone using one of these "big" words. Another point for me for assimilating into the community. The word in question is "retrospective". You shall be paid your new salary in the November payroll in retrospective. Wow! viz-a-viz (another "big" word!)... this blog entry is written in retrospective of yesterday's. Hah! I'm so on a roll here!

Sesame Street was brought to you by the word "retrospective". I rest my case.

TGIF

Highlights:

• Got the onboarding checklist approved and ready to be implemented.
• Onboarded my first EXPAT.
• Ricardo got thrown out in Kept - beats TGIF.
• TGIF celebration in the office.
• The cook managed to cycle all the way to the grocers. AND back!

The truth about Roni...

...she's a sweet little girl - except she's not so little anymore.
Her mommy wonders where she went wrong.
Now that Roni is a little girl no more.
Now that Roni is a mommy herself.
Her children wonders why mommy is so sad.
Her mommy does not want her anymore.

The truth about Roni...
...she's a sweet little girl - except her chilren are not so little anymore.
She wonders where she went wrong.
Now that Roni finds a man.
Now that Roni has a family to herself.
But her children wonder who their daddy is.
But his family does not want them anymore.

The truth about Roni...
...she's a sweet little girl - except she wants to be that little girl.
She knows where she went wrong.
Now that Roni is a little girl no more.
Now that Roni finds herself alone.
Her children know why mommy is so sad.
Nobody wants their mommy anymore.

The truth about Roni...she is that sweet little girl.

Inspired by Roni (Bobby Brown) and life ~ puteribelibelah

Whatever happened to...?

Alison Moyet
Bros
Chesney Hawkes
Dead or Alive
Edie Brickell and New Bohemians
Fergal Sharkey
Go West
Halo James
Indecent Obsession
Jets (The)
Kool and the Gang
Limahl
Modern Talking
Nelsons (The)
OMD
Pebbles
Queensryche
Richard Clayderman
Sabrina
Toto
UB40
Vixen
Wendy James - Transvision Vamp
(e)Xtreme
Yazz
ZZ Top

Me, inside and out

Me on the outside

When I look in the mirror I see someone who is in desperate need of a haircut (and quite probably make-over).

To look at me you'd never know I've kite-surfed, and sang in a band.

At first sight, people assume I'm a bitch and unfriendly. Truth is, I'm a pretty shy person and don't usually make the first move to say "hello" to people at parties. Big groups freak me out.

My giveaway gesture is I slouch. I've been dong this for as long as I can remember. I wish could tell you it was because of my height. Unfortunately, I do this to hide my boobs. Minimiser bras still have along way to go.

I'm glad no one can see me when I get all dressed up for nothing. It's my way of de-stressing.


Me on the inside

I'm truly myself when I'm at home with my family and with my close friends. I'm a classic introvert. But when I'm with my loved ones, I can be pretty goofy, funny and entertaining - much to my husband's amusement, I'd like to think.

I knew it was love when I saw myself growing old with that person.

If they made one, I would like an off-button to stop me thinking about things that bother me during the day. I have this habit of carrying the world's burden on my shoulders.

My secret insecurity is laziness. I'm scared of being complacent in everything I do. Conformity scares me too.

I get myself out of a low by having some "me" time.

I hide the fact that I admire Victoria Beckham. Deep down, I am superficial.

I believe in karma because what goes around, comes round. Don't really want to go into details. But patience is a virtue, and don't be mean to people.

If I've learned one thing it would be to not care too much about what others think of you. I wish I had realise this so much earlier on in my life. Don't look to others to endorse your actions. Be true to and love yourself.

Template stolen from eve magazine, September edition.

Talam dua muka gone Scarlett

We got our driver to buy us a local Nigerian CD. The singer is called 2 Face. It's quite a good CD actually. One song actually featured Beenie Man (!). So that's our cultural assimiliation done for the day. No "wahala".

Just flipped through the October edition of British Vogue with Scarlett Johansson on the cover. What's the big deal about her anyway? It just occured to me that she is highly over-rated. Have you noticed that apart from the red-carpet, her dress sense is really nothing to write home about? Of course I could be biased. Afterall her current beau, Josh Hartnett, comes from a backlog of "future husbands" carried over from my days as a singleton

(Brad Pitt, you're still top of the list. I forgive you for Angelina. Never was in Team Aniston anyway).

Hopefully darling "laukong" will not be reading this blog. But since I know how "kaypoh" he is, I'm sure I will have some explaning to do (*sheepish*). But no worries, Babe, you shall be paid handsomely.


Scene+Heard:
Feeling a little bit nostalgic. So am currently listening to Belinda Carlisle. Just realised that she actually has a good repertoire. Why did it take me almost 20 years to realise that? Has it really been that long since "Heaven is a Place on Earth"? Am I really that old? I rest my case.

Random rumblings

Got a call from a dear friend who lives in Gabon. It was so nice to hear from her. It always is. She was calling from The Hague and she has shopping plans for the weekend (wish I could join her). We managed to swap blogs. Saw a lot of elephant photos. I guess people weren't kidding when they say you can have tea with elephants in the garden. The elephants were so cute! Must make a point of visiting her in Gabon. Sadly, I have yet to experience any elephant sightings here in Nigeria.

Random happenings:

1) Our bus got left behind and had to play catch-up with the rest of the convoy. Apparently the driver was a "Graduate Development Trainee".
2) Saw a vulture on the office roof top while on a fag break.
3) Had a meeting with the Legal Director and noticed that the corridor to his office had fancy carpets.
4) Found out one of the blogs I've been "kaypoh-ing" (admittedly) belongs to a friend's ex-husband's current wife.

It's just another manic Tuesday

Work, work, work after a nice long weekend. And so the story goes. Had to skip lunch because my meeting lasted until about 2:30 p.m. Lost my appetite by then. But soooooo needed the fag.

The office suffered black-out for about 30 mins. I was told that it was NOT a common occurence. What a disappointment!



Key words today: Aperture; exposure; wide angle; shutter.

Kodak Moments

It was unusually sunny this morning, and I had a sudden burst of inspiration when I saw a red flower in the garden. So I decided to take some photograhs.

All these photo takings have brought me back in time to Dubai where I first got bitten by the photography bug (of course it didn't hurt that I got my first camera there either).

To date I am still using the same camera which is the Sony Cyber Shot. So next on the Christmas list shall be a camera upgrade. Heh-heh.

So darling husband, if you are reading this, you should get the oh-not-so-subtle-hint. Does Leica V-Lux I sound good to you? You shall be paid handsomely. Heh-heh.

Happy Birthday Nigeria

Got a sungkai invitation last night at another one of our Malaysian colleagues' house. Am starting to feel pressured and obliged now to reciprocate somehow. The curse of not having the ability to cook means we might never get to return the favour. Oh well. At least we - well husband actually - contributed teh-tarek last night.

Today is a public holiday. 1st October is Nigeria's Independence Day. There will be a big party planned next weekend at the Thisday Music Festival. Check out the article below to find out who will be there:

Beyonce To Play Nigeria’s Independence Day
by Andrew Tijs

September 27 2006

Superstar Beyonce has agreed to headline Nigeria’s first annual Thisday Music Festival.

The inaugural festival is a celebration of the West African nation’s independence from the British in 1960. The two-day event will take place in Lagos on October 7. And Beyonce isn’t the only high-profile US star to play the show. Hip-hop and R&B royalty will fill out the bill, which includes Jay-Z, Ciara, En Vogue, Snoop Dogg, Mary J Blige, Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes.

In a press release, Beyonce said "It's a great thrill to come to West Africa for the first time to celebrate Nigeria's independence. I feel blessed for this opportunity for my all-female band and me to appear on stage with some of the world's most talented artists and share the universal message of peace, hope and beauty that music brings to all of us."

The name of the festival comes from Thisday, one of the largest African-owned media groups on the continent, publishes newspapers, magazines and online.

Source: www.undercover.com.au

Not quite 24 hours

Not quite an eventful Saturday but I do need the rest. Started a 24 Season 5 marathon - well, almost. Watched it until disc 3. Will have to continue tomorrow. Other than that, nothing much to update today.

Home is where you make it

Hooray!! My trip to Lagos was cut short by a day!! Actually, before we even get there...it's a long story. Let me summarise:

1) Wednesday
- Left Port Harcourt at 6:45 a.m. to Owerri Airport. It was a 2-hour bus ride through Aba Town.



- Arrived about 9 a.m. Flight's supposed to depart at 9:15 a.m. but couldn't find locate my ticket!



- Finally managed to get a ticket. Flight departs at 9:45 a.m.



- Landing delayed by 30 mins due to bad weather. Landed in Lagos around 11 a.m. and it was supposed to be a 45 min flight.

- Decided to follow my colleague to the Lagos office. BIG mistake!! The journey took almost 2 hours!! Arrrgh!! Traffice jam was at a grid lock due to some political rally.

- Arrived at Freeman's House around 2 p.m. Another BIG mistake!! Couldn't find an empty desk to work on. Couldn't find transport to send me straight to the hotel. So had to wait for the 4:15 p.m. bus.

- Bus only leaves at 5:15 p.m. Grrrrrr!! More traffic jam - grid-lock more like. So had to walk half way to the hotel. Took about 30 mins. to arrive at the hotel - and I haven't even eaten all day!! May as well have fasted.

- Within the 30 mins. managed to avoid being run over by 2 transit buses, and at least 10 ocassions by the okadas (motorcycle taxis). Who needs "Survivor Africa"??

- Too tired to notice hotel room. Seems comfy enough. At least the bed doesn't smell of B.O. and bathroom clean enough without risk of getting Hepatitis.



2) Thursday
- No transport to send to Eko Hotel where the workshop is. Found a colleague (bless him) who kindly gave us (me, the facilitator & another participant from Gabon) a lift.

- Turned out that the workshop will be compressed to 1 day. Hooray!!

- But now have to forward flight to Friday instead of Saturday. Arrrrgh!!

- Colleague (bless him again) managed to get me a seat on Virgin Nigeria at 9 a.m. on Friday.

- Workshop turned out to be a brainstorming session instead to discuss issues directed by the SNEPCO Leadership Team. So wtf are we SPDC and Gabon staff doing here????!!!! Grrrrr!!

- Had dinner with the facilitator.

- Managed to confirm transportation to bring me to the airport after countless of "pass the phone" game.

3) Friday
- Luckily traffic to Lagos Airport was not too bad. But the whole journey was a heated political argument amongst the Nigerian passengers. Arrrg!! I thought I was going to be caught in some "friendly fire".

- Flight to Owerri was delayed by almost 45 mins. because the refueller was late. Grrrr!!

- Got chatted up by some Filipino Paray at Lagos airport, who turned out to be quite useful. Helped me with my luggage - from putting it in the overhead compartment to carrying it all the way to the arrival hall at Owerri Airport. "Salamat, paray!!"

- Arrived in Owerri Airport today at 10:30 a.m. However the bus only departed at 12 noon because we had to wait for passengers from Warri. Arrrgh!! So close yet so far away from home.

- Got into another grid-lock somewhere in Aba. Arrrg!! So had to u-turn and go through another town. Can't even remember what it was called. Arpapo or something or other.

- Finally reached the R.A. at 3 something, and home at last at 3:30 p.m.

- Soooooooooo glad to be home-sweet-home. I love Port Harcourt!

- Missed the kids so much. It was so good to see them.

- Am off to sleep now. The end.

I'm leaving on a jet plane - well kind of

Have just finished packing. I hope I remember to pack everything I need. I'm fliying to Lagos tomorrow for a 2-day workshop on Performance Management. Unfortunately, because of the security restrictions, there is only one flight to Lagos - and that's in the morning. So you add 2 extra days to travel back and forth. All in all, will only return on Saturday. Ho-hum. Such is life, I guess. Will definitely miss the babies. This will be my first time away from my second-born since the day he was born. So am kind of nervous about that.

Oh. Did I also mention that Port Harcourt Airport is closed? Well that means I have to fly out via the airport in the next town which is in Owerri. Which "conviniently" is 2 hours away by road. "Never a dull moment!" as they always say here.

Apparently, there's a public holiday on Monday. Not sure what it is for yet. But nobody seems to be able to confirm it for me at the office today. But I could really use the day off since I expect I will only be arriving home in the afternoon on Saturday. It'd be great to have an extra day to catch up with the kids.

Saw an advert last night that 24 season 5 will be airing on Tuesday at 9:30pm. Well this is Tuesday and it now now 10:15pm. Have been sitting in front of the tv since 8:30pm and no sign of Jack Bauer. So I ended up watching CSI since it's on anyway - and typing this blog at the same.

Got to concentrate on CSI now, and catch up some sleep later.

Ramadhan Mubarak

It was an uneventful Sunday yesterday. But in a nice way. Spent most on the day in and out of sleep. It just goes to show what a hectic week I had. Still uncertain whether or not I will be flying to Lagos on Wednesday. Just realised today that I have been booked at a different hotel. The hotel I was supposed to stay in is fully booked. Let's hope I will get some news tomorrow. Otherwise will cancel the trip. Just not worth the effort or risk, partciularly in view of the current security situation.

Fasting month started on Saturday, which is a day earlier than Brunei - but then again year-in, year-out Brunei is always a day later than everybody else. We got some home-made donuts yesterday from a Malaysian friend in the camp. We practically stuffed ourselves while watching tv. It just goes to show what desperation and deprivation can do to you.

We've been calculating our monthly grocery expenditure, and it turns out that we're spending more than we ever did back home. You'd never have guessed this, considering the condition of this place. But groceries really are that much more expensive. I guess, the scarcity and uncertainty of goods are the main determining factor. On top of that, we are having to pay the EXPAT rate. And this is not including diapers and formula milk for the kids, which we bring over from Brunei by the crate-load...

...Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for my airfreight. It's almost 2 months now since I arrived. How long does it take for the airfreight to arrive???? We're definitely running out of diapers and milk. Also, need my clothes amongst other things. I'm not even going to start on my seafreight. Haven't even bothered to inquire about the whereabouts for the moment.

I am superficial

After such a depressing last entry...thought it's time to chill-out a bit. Afterall it's the weekend. Ramadhan starts today in Nigeria. Of course did not participate. My excuse for this week will be "ladies problem". As for next week? Who knows.

Invited a couple of friends over for dinner - well, my husband's to be honest. So glad I got dressed up for it, eventhough it felt a bit weird at first, since we're only going to be in our own house(!). The wife of one of the friends came dressed for a gala night. So getting dressed definitely paid off.

Forgot to update - I managed to fulfill one of my wishlist last month. I know. How could I miss such an important event? If you recall one of my previous entries entitled "Downtime", I wanted a Dior Gaucho bag. Well, it's mine now. I bought it while on transit in KL onroute to Amsterdam. Of course, my husband (as is his usual self) had his doubts when I'm on a bag spree. So I convinced him under the false pretense that it was a "baby bag". SOLD!!

Here's the evidence:

Another day in paradise

Work's really picking up now. Yesterday did interviews all day and I couldn't believe how tired I was at the end. It's hard work, and to think you're just sitting there asking questions.

Had an argument with a colleague on Tuesday afternoon. He accused me of "causing him stress" because I have not submitted enough information. Unfortunately for him, I submitted the data early last week. So he had a whole week to realise that and tell me, so I could provide him with the extra information. And who told him to start doing things minutes to the deadline. So sorry, but I will take non of that crap and told him so. Tried to be funny with me today - but somehow the humour was lost on me. Too little, too late, I guess.

Another moron came my way today. It's unbelievable the issues that people seem to "suffer" from. Sometimes I wonder how people get to be so high up in the organisation and yet be so STOOOOOPID. It's such a curse being in HR, I'll have you know. At the end of the day, you can only do so much. You can't please everybody and you get all sorts, including tw*ts (unfortunately more often than not).

Will have more interviews to do tomorrow. But managed to talk my way out of the afternoon session. But I know it'll still be a long day. So much to do, yet so little time....and to think I signed up for a 4 year assignment. Wonder what I will write then? Even weekend has become a dread - not because I don't need it...but...must...do...work...will...not...rest...until...it's...done...

...what am I turning into?

....after almost 3 months of silence

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. I've moved on since. Am now finally in Africa. Nigeria to be precise. There's never a dull moment here, I tell you. My supposed first day at work was spent at home. A few expats got kidnapped over the weekend, so as safety precaution, nobody was allowed to go out of the residential camp.

Today we were told to "work from home" as the Industrial Union decided to go on a three day strike. Just got an e-mail telling us to do the same tomorrow. Oh! The joys of working from home!! Thank you, Unions!

Starting to have withdrawal symptoms...desperately need my dose of handbags...of course, this is the ONE territory that the male species will never understand. Have been caught spening too much time on the Purse Forum, much to my "better half's" dismay. So...must...try...to...hold...urges...so...husband...will...not...notice...

Watched "Brownies" today. The amout of handbag product placement in the movie was more than enough to keep me glued to the screen. I was more than willing to forego and ignore the crappy storyline and really annoying lead character (who is she?). And why does the "hero" (I am using this term LOOSELY)...look like...get this...Barry Prima?? Does anyone remember him? Like??

The highlight has to be the white Bottega Veneta bag. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the exact bag that is on my wishlist. Sigh....And the amount of Anya Hindmarch bags on parade! And a Be a Bag to boot! Darn! Drool...drool...drool.