Kiwi population....

Looking at the paper this morning I saw that we're heading towards a population milestone: 4,444,444. I guess it's supposed to happen by tomorrow. Crazy, huh?? :)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7887106/New-Zealands-population-to-hit-milestone-of-sorts

Book love.....

The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Book love....

I just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and am currently working on Guns, Germs and Steel. What are you reading??

Orcas....

Today a pod of orcas was spotted in Wellington Harbor (see link below). In Bozeman we were used to seeing deer in town and the occasional black bear. But whales just a few blocks from our house?! I'm struggling to comprehend the reality of this situation and I hope we'll be able to see some this weekend when we're out strolling on the waterfront. :)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington-central/7861137/Orcas-seals-in-Wellington-Harbour

American muscle.....

This past weekend we heard that the Wellington venue, TSB Bank Arena, would be hosting the 33rd Annual NZ Mustang Convention. In my opinion NZ is the land of non-aesthetically pleasing cars. Sigh. No end of hatchbacks and station wagons, it's ugs-ville when it comes to Kiwi vehicles. It goes without saying that we jumped at the chance to see some classic, clean lines. :)

Immediately inside the door we were not disappointed because they started off with this beauty, a Shelby GT500. :)

  

While I was smitten with the Shelby I couldn't resist this sky blue gem (whose name neither Tim nor I can remember). :)

 

As we walked around we saw the evolution of the body styles throughout the years. Paint colors ranged from dark neutrals to bright warm colors and Easter-like pastels. A Mustang for every taste!

 

Some of the owners documented the journey from 'in need of TLC' to pristine!!

There were more cars outside some of which were for sale. Why, yes, I'd drive that home. :)

Personalization....

Australia recently started a campaign where you can "Share a Coke with a Mate". They selected 150 names and had them printed on Coke cans and bottles. Soon after a 'Kiwi' campaign was launched with names specific to NZ.

 

Ha! I couldn't believe that one of the 150 (Kiwi) was none other than my older brother's name, Jess. Not to be confused with Jessie or Jeff. It's just Jess! We consulted the list and saw some other family names: Ben, Brad, James, Nick, Sarah, Tim and Victoria.

Upon reading about this promotion Tim noticed that teams are traveling around NZ to give away personalized Cokes for all those people whose names didn't make it onto the list. So this past weekend we ventured out to the suburbs to visit a team stationed at one of malls. They'd enter your name via iPad then you'd see it appear on a screen on the front of the counter where you'd collect your customized Coke!! :)

Comida mexicana.....

We spotted this at the grocery store. Um, yeah. I hate to say it but there's no real Mexican food in NZ. :( We've tried a few restaurants and sadly they cannot compare to the amazing eats I experienced when I lived in Mexico or the places we frequent when we visit our family in CA. I know, we've been spoiled!!

Theodor Seuss Geisel....

Just last week, as I was glancing at the paper in our break room, I saw the familiar brilliant colors and quirky designs of Dr. Seuss. I smiled to myself as so many evenings from my childhood were brought to mind. Now I can blame, or more aptly thank, my mom for continuously taking us to the library. While I didn't remember the rules at the time, later in life I learned that she would take us every week and we would each be allowed to check out five books. So that meant that mom had to keep track of fifteen books for the three of us plus any that she checked out for herself. She'll tell you that this wasn't a difficult task but I think she deserves to be commended. :) She helped foster this 'habit' that served as the seed for what has become an obsession for me. Books. I love books. Even if I have a stack to read, and I always do, I still look at other books. I browse Amazon and add books to my wishlist. While I miss Barnes & Noble terribly I still visit the bookstores here to see what gems they have in store even though the price tags keep me from buying anything 99% of the time. When mass market paperbacks, the smallest, cheapest ones you can find, cost $30 NZD ($24 USD) it's tough to justify such a purchase. Sigh.

Bringing the tangent back around. So when those Seussian figures caught my eye I was delighted to learn that the "Art of Dr. Seuss" was coming to a gallery in Wellington. Yes!

After discussing my love of Dr. Seuss with a friend and colleague from uni (Victoria), Sarah, we decided to make a date to take in the exhibit. See our favorite prints below. The first is titled A Prayer for a Child and the second is Venetian Cat Singing Oh Solo Meow. Seeing the vibrant colors firsthand was simply amazing!!

Now I want to go out and buy my favorite Dr. Seuss book of all time: The Sleep Book. I cannot believe that it's not in my library!! :)

Impromptu fun...

After spending a week in Fresno with our CA family Tim left for a research conference in England and I flew to Minneapolis. A week later we both flew back to LA, and without cell phones, managed to find each other at the airport. :) We stayed the night there as our flight to NZ didn't leave until the following evening at 9pm. The day we were to leave LA we had to check out of the hotel by noon but what were we going to do until 9pm that night? Leave it to Timmy to have a brilliant idea! He suggested we rent a car and venture out to Universal Studios, The Hollywood sign, The Getty or any number of other places that were relatively close. I mean, why not, right? Luckily Hertz was just down the street so we, very reasonably, rented a white Ford Mustang convertible that we drove directly to In N Out burger!! After lunching on grilled cheese and a Neapolitan shake we put on sunscreen, put the top down on the car and set off for the Hollywood sign!! Thanks to the GPS we were able to navigate our way up a steep and winding road that got us pretty close to the sign I had only ever seen in movies. :) Sweet!

Afterwards we decided to take a stroll through Universal Studios City Walk. I'd love to go back when we have more time. I'm even psyching myself up for the back lot tour complete with a shark from Jaws. :) (For those of you who don't know, I have galeophobia (fear of sharks).)

Despite the fact that, according to the sensors in the Mustang, it was 114 F (46 C) outside we had a great day exploring a tiny portion of LA. :)