me, kris, josey, alex @ world bar
moves
jager bomb pants
about to LUGE
skyline snooze
i kicked off friday with a 10am sleep in and no work til 2. my down time consisted of 3 major laundry sessions and cleaning cookie batter from every inch of the kitchen.
*background: jess and i attempted to make rice crispy treats for our fellow workers. turns out neither rice crispies nor marshmallows are anything like back home and the batch came out a pink gluey disaster. attempt number two was chocolate chip cookies and as you may have predicted, something went terribly terribly wrong. either i messed up the conversions or i wasn't paying attention (most likely the latter, possibly both) but i apparently shorted the flour by a LOT. i thought it was odd that once in the oven the balls of batter were melting like ice cubes, but opted to ignore the problem. next time i checked a soupy sheet of buttery chocolate chips was spread across the cookie tray and dripping alllll over the oven. remedying the meltdown meant dirtying dish towels, oven mits, stove top, counter top, sink, and self. the girls are skeptical about the crescent cookies i plan to bake for thanksgiving, yee of little faith.
onward with friday... i was scheduled to waitress a wedding at northburn, but they called and asked me to babysit the vineyard owner's kids instead. pretty much the best news ever. after polishing wine and champagne glasses for an hour (that's a fancy way of saying drying wet dishes while desperately trying not to break them) thora and i made our way up to the beautiful old farm house where olivia (10), nick (9), sammy (6), dog willie (15), and cats simba and krisy live. the land is incredible and the house is no eyesore either. a little fenced courtyard boarders the front of the house. inside everything is wood and cozy. the antique rug lining the main hallway is exquisite and i would give my right arm for that kitchen when i grow up. outside the kids are stacked with a trampoline, swing set, pool, and 5 baby lambs!! amazingly adorable. when olivia and i went to feed them she made a little sheep baah and they all came running and crying to fight over the milk. we pushed the big bullies out of the way so the 2 runts could get their share. next time i must remember my camera! the kids were great, some of the best i've babysat for. olivia is obsessed with animal planet and mature way beyond her years. she hardly takes notice of her brothers who fart and burp at any opportunity up until sammy politely inquires if it is yet his bedtime.
after a successful/needed night of animal and children company i met up with the others, fresh off a seafood dinner, and we headed to the gate. the vic and the gate are the two main bars in town. my loyalties lie with the vic for many reasons, one of which being that 70 dollars has never been stolen out of my wallet 15 minutes after arriving while dancing right in front of my bag as was the unfortunate case on halloween at the gate. sigh. maybe it was all the whiskey, but this night actually turned out well despite the location. it started with lots of dancing and drinks and ended with cory and johnny in the middle of the bar wrapped in tinsel singing 'o christmas tree' with their arms around one another not knowing all the words. when i got home i found cory still ornamented in tinsel and now lit christmas lights as well (recently purchased for our fake tree). that kid is never a bore.
saturday after an early wake up from our enormous sleepover gang we got organized and trucked it into queenstown. we took the skyline gondola up to the top of a mountain where they have a buffet lunch. i definitely did not eat my money's worth, but did enjoy 2 mimosas and a nap in the lounge until a woman approached the other girls: "is she sleeping? she can't sleep there. you need to tell her she really can't sleep there blah blah blah i'm really uptight" or something along those lines. hardly refreshed and a little offended, i brushed my shame off and we set out for the LUGE. for some reason before seeing it i thought it was an ice luge, maybe too many cool runnings viewings? it's wheels and concrete and awesome. if only we had known how good it would be. we paid for 2 rides option, but 5 would have been smarter.
sushi and a nap at the hostel followed. then the pub crawl. 6 girls, 6 bars, 5 dance floors, and so many jager bombs. in new zealand if you spill your beer on the table you have to do a "table suck" which is just as it sounds- sucking your spilt beer off the table. i made the silly mistake of being seated with my legs beneath 4 others while we threw back jager bombs and spilt them all over my lap. i remember hearing "lap suck" and next thing i knew the girls were sucking jager and red bull off my jeans. some idiot next to me decided he should do a lap suck too and BIT my leg. i slapped him.
sunday morning we checked out early and were customers 4 through 11 of the day at fergburger. i dropped my numbered ticket in the toilet, but they took pity and gave me my tofu burger anyways. when we got home it was so hot and sunny there was really only one thing to do, take a nap.
we capped the weekend with a bbq at chris and johnny's house in banockburn. the views and the food are always so good there. the company's not bad either, although my favorite house residents are tobey, the golden retriever, and colin, the baby possum. colin got nervous and tried to burrow in my messy mane, but other than that we got along great. pictures to come when johnny sends them my way. the only down part of the evening was when josey and alex took a spill on the dirt bike. alex's gorgeous behind broke the fall, but the fall broke her behind a little bit too. she's got a MASSIVE bruise and some scrapes. i offered to help clean her up (she declined) and then to document the wounds via camera (she readily agreed).
it's starting to feel like summer is on the way, finally. and i only have 4 days of work this week because friday is devoted to cooking our saturday thanksgiving feast for 20+.
