Oscars 2011 Fashion Round Up

Where was all the crazy this year? I have to hand it to the ladies of Hollywood - they mostly pulled it off this year in the fashion stakes. But there were a few WTF moments on the red carpet, so let's take a look.

"Uh, Anne.....Annie, my leeeetle principessa! I am filled with amore for you too, darrrrrlink, but stop trying to kiss my cheek. My tan will smudge. SMUDGE I TEEEEELL YOU! Step away from me, PRONTO! Look, look over there is Mary Hart - can you believe she's 60? Please, go. Go and ask her what de secret is, please darlink."

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Boredom Abounds By Julia - Giveaway time - Winner!

As mentioned, it was my birthday last week and I ate a bunch of yummy stuff. So, to celebrate all the food I stuffed in my mouth, I decided to give away some cute things from Lantern Studios to jazz up your kitchen and inspire your culinary side!

Check it:

From back left we have:

- Notecards (pack of 10)

- Recipe box holder with starter pack of recipe cards

- Magnetic shopping list with pencil

- Pair of oven mitts

Just head over to the Boredom Abounds By Julia Facebook page and do the following TWO things:

1) Hit the "Like" button on the Boredom Abounds Facebook page to receive all the latest Boredom Abounds blog posts and updates.

2) Go to the "Discussions" tab on the Boredom Abounds Facebook page and reply to the discussion topic I've started by telling me what the best meal you've ever eaten was and where. If you have already "Liked" the Facebook page previously, then all you have to do it reply to the discussion topic and your entry in the competition is complete!

Et Voila! Once you've done both of those things, you're eligble to go into the draw to win the books!

T's & C's:

The competition will be open until midnight on Friday, 4th March, 2011 (Melbourne, Australia time). 

The winner will be selected at random and announced on Saturday, 5th March, 2011. 

I will ship the prize to any destination in the world, so no matter where you are, you're eligible to enter (as long as you have a home address or PO box I can send them to, of course!) and if you spread the word amongst your friends, they can head over to the Facebook page and enter as well. It's too easy!

I'm pleased to announce the winner  of this giveaway is Genevieve! Congratulations! Please email me at boredomabounds at gmail.com and I will send the goodies out to you this week!

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Gadding About - Birthday Edition

It was my birthday last Saturday. I don't want this to turn into a photo heavy blog post of five billion different photo angles of the same ingredients/meals/etc, so I'll keep it brief (but delicious).

Here is everything I ate.

Enjoy.

Cupcakes from Cupcake Central in Hawthorn. They were the baby cakes and were $2 each. So light and moist and perfect for a bite sized dessert. We got a variety of raspberry and white chocolate, chocolate devils food cake, vanilla vanilla, cookies 'n' cream (each shown above) and chocolate malted milkshake (not pictured). I will definitely be going back there to sample the rest of the flavours, and I highly recommend you stop in to stuff your face with cupcakes ASAP.

On my actual birthday evening we dined at Hellenic Republic, where I've been wanting to go for a while now because I love Greek food (and NOT because it's one of the Masterchef judges' restaurants, I promise you). 

Entree was Tyri saganaki (Kefalograviera with peppered figs - left) and warm pita bread with Taramosalata (white cod roe dip right). These three things were some of the most delicious entrees I have ever eaten. EVER. The salty cheese with the sweetness of the figs was delicious, and the pita bread and dip were so fresh and perfectly prepared they were delightful to eat.

Main meal was grilled calamari (tasted like it had dill and another herb I couldn't identify), Arni sto fourno (slow roasted lamb, garlic, oregano) and Fasolakia (green beans with feta and pine nuts). The calamari was nice and tasty, but holy cow - that lamb? Incredible. So tender and the spices were flavoursome without tasting too salty or garlicky). The green bean salad was small, but the flavours went well with the mains.

Then we saw Black Swan and feasted on Ben & Jerry's ice cream for dessert. No pics because I HAD TO EAT IT ALL REALLY FAST. I had the mint choc chip flavour and the chocolate pudding flavour, which went nicely together.

And that's how I began the last year of my twenties. It better be a good one, universe (shakes tiny fist at the skies)!!

The end.


Actually, wait. Not the end.

I will be announcing a new giveaway on the weekend, so check back for your chance to win some fun prizes! Pin It

Glee Highlights: Season 2, Episode 11 - The Sue Sylvester Shuffle

Overall, I thought this was a fun episode - I mean, forcing groups of people together who have a mutual loathing of each other always makes for fun TV, so it was nice to see Coach Bieste and Mr Schue jam the glee club and the football team into the choir room and watch them behave like three hundred drunk women waiting to use the only toilet in a nightclub (feigned pleasantries that barely conceals their hatred of everyone in the line ahead of them. Especially that one girl who goes in, vomits everywhere, uses all the toilet paper to "wipe" it up, then leaves giggling with her friends).

First off though, the return of Sue's journaling  was awesome, but the back tattoo??

Perfection.


Rachel and Puck duet

These two have such great chemistry and they sound great together, but WHY did they choose such a generic, boring song? I find music like that Lady Antebellum song just so, so blah.What a wasted opportunity. But did anyone else love that Coach Bieste knew all the words? Can you imagine her rocking out to it while she irons all her shorts and waits for America's Next Top Model to start? Because I totally can.


Rumble in the choir room

An all-out melee! Even the girls jumped in - Rachel had to be picked up and held back. She may be a diva, but she's scrappy. I like that.

Figgins

Whenever this show is lacking in funny moments, I always wish Figgins is featured to liven things up with his shouting and saliva spraying and arm waving. And this time he was! FIGGINS! Oh, and Sue lost half her budget. SUCK IT.


Sue's Rampage

Obviously any teacher who went on a violent rampage in the school would be fired in a heartbeat, but I adored the fact that during Sue's tantrum in the gym, she couldn't pick up a medicine ball to throw it. Kind of puts a dampener on the whole destruction thing, huh?


The girls' bathroom

I need to make the term "ninja poop" a part of my vocabulary ASAP.


She's Not There

I really liked this number. The zombie make up and dance moves added a weird element to it, but I think it was kind of cool since the song is by The Zombies after all.


Co-ed football team

I loved that the girls stepped up to the challenge. The little football helmet head-butt between Rachel and Puck was too cute.


Michael Jackson / Yeah Yeah Yeahs number

So awesome. Make up, costumes, dancing, just everything. Fantastic.

Loser of the Year

Nice touch with Katie Couric doing the interview. Sue's world has been turned upside down. I'm interested to see how crazy this makes her.

Aaaaannddd.......

Karofsky is still a closeted gay man masquerading as a giant homophobe. I like that the footballers suddenly enjoying themselves while singing and dancing didn't magic the homophobe out of Karofsky. I wonder how they're going to make things come to head between him and Kurt. It has to happen soon, I think. Pin It

2011 Grammy Awards Fashion Round Up

I can't really call this a "highlights" post because the Grammys fashion was CRACKED OUT.  Like, a million times more than last year, where people attempted to maintain some level of normalcy. So, without further ado, let's check out what people "wore" on the night.

Ricky Martin and his tight, satin pants encourage you to "VEN EN AMANTES!"

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Glee Highlights: Season 2, Episode 10 - A Very Glee Christmas

It was a little disconcerting watching a Christmas episode in February (thanks a lot CHANNEL 10), and I did have a few issues with some of the plot, but overall it was an okay episode. So, here are my highlights!

Ugly Sweater Count

Oh man. So many ugly sweaters. And they're all worn by Artie. I love it. Even Rachel got on board the ugly sweater train:

Although her is kind of cute. I would totally consider wearing it if I didn't live in a place where Christmas is in the Summer.

Brittany and Santa

Somewhat unsurprisingly,  Brittany is still a firm believer in Santa, which is sweet. I did love her whispered discussion with the elf at the mall - "Elves have rights too!"

Christmas Carols in the Classroom

Okay, if I was a student and a glee club as awesome as New Directions interrupted one of my classes to sing Christmas Carols I would love it so much. And yet, these kids get booed and a TEACHER throws her SHOE at them. WTF? This isn't a George Bush press conference or ABC's Q & A. Those people are clearly morons.

Blaine and Kurt's Duet

So good. And they are so into each other - they were totally having duet eye-sex with each other. Get a room guys.

Rachel and Finn

Ugh. Rachel needs to stop pushing herself on Finn. She messed up and she needs to live with the consequences.  I mean, God, Rachel. Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

Sue the Grinch

I feel like they're really struggling to find ways for Sue to sabotage the Glee Club lately. She does make a cool Grinch, but some parts of this storyline felt a little stale to me.

Rachel's outfit

I NEED this white, diamante beret, red coat, white scarf and white gloves ASAP, people. So adorable.

Sue and Will

Aw, Sue found her Christmas spirit. It's a Christmas miracle!

Will's outfit

Ewww, Will decided to channel Jason Priestly's Beverly Hills, 90210 days. It's a Christmas tragedy. Pin It

Looking for a Valentine's Day card?

Why not use something from someecards to say all the things you just can't put on a hallmark card.....

For the technologically inclined dude (and dudette):

For the happily married / relationshipped:

For the sentimental, mushy lovers:



For the superficial:

For those in love in the digital age:

For the singles:

For the romantic:

And finally, for my husband:

....but only if you join me in witty banter and the occasional (okay, frequent) shouting at the screen. Otherwise, all bets are off.

P.S. Apologies for the use of the word "dudette" in the early stages of this post. I do, in fact, realise it's not 1992 and yet strangely I want to leave it in here.

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Retail therapy - silver things

There is a shop I drive past every day on my way to and from work that has enticing luxury items that are totally useless but insanely expensive. Just before Christmas they had a huge sign up on the window saying "Closing Down" so I pulled over and went in to have a look. I came home with a necklace that was originally $59.95 but I got it for twenty bucks. I visited the shop several more times before it closed down and each time I came away with some really cute jewelry, all reduced down to twenty bucks.

 

This was my last purchase before they closed their doors. So cute and delicate, and the little diamantes give it a little sparkle. Also, who would pay more than twenty dollars for either of these? Crazy people, that's who.

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Glee Highlights: Season 2, Episode 9: Special Education

This was a nice return to form for Glee. The storyline was snappy, the characters actually developed somewhat and there were nice, big musical numbers throughout the episode. So, without further ado, here are my highlights!

Miss Pilsbury tells is like it is

I love that as soon as Will mentioned Sectionals, she totally nailed his set list plan without even having to hear it. His bewildered "Have you been going through my desk?" was so innocent and confused that I couldn't help but giggle. It's a shame that Mr Schue doesn't realise what talent the entire glee club has until someone else reminds him of it. And I love that Ms. Pilsbury is able to have a conversation with him now without batting her eyelids or being all nervous and girly. She's all grown up!

Warblers

Interesting that Kurt doesn't automatically get to be the star of the Warblers as soon as he walks in the doors of Dalton Academy. You can tell he was sort of expecting it to be that way, and it's nice to see a glee club run by students in a fair way. Oh, and his joke about bringing the canary with him to work at the stray cat shelter at the bottom of a coal mine? Gold.

Brittany S. Pierce

Did you know she's more talented than everyone else in New Directions? Because she does. Britney Spears taught her that. Just like she knows that the cricket that reads to her at night is totally stealing her jewelry.

Puck: The Official New Directions AmBADASSeror

I love that Mr. Schue knew how to appeal to Puck's ego to get him to recruit a new member.

Rachel's star shines too bright....apparently

Wow, Mr. Schue totally yelled at her. And with good reason. It's good for Rachel to be brought back down to earth from her self-appointed pedestal, but it's also good to see Mr. Schue act like a real teacher for once. Look who suddenly grew a spine!

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

Fuck I love that song.

The Warblers make an annoying song sound awesome

Seriously, who knew a Train song could sound so good? But then you know how much I adore a cappella performances. Although my husband and I both noticed that Kurt looked very unsteady during the performance - did he feel out of place? Was he going to throw up? Or did he just forget to poo before he went on stage? Who knows, but it was interesting to see him not feeling completely at home on the stage.

The Santana of it all

Ugh. Thank God Finn also grew a spine and told Rachel what I had been shouting at the television every time she opened her mouth. She and Finn WEREN'T EVEN GOING OUT when he slept with Santana, so GET OVER IT already. Also, Mr. Schue came in and shouted at them all again. I'm really enjoying Mr. Schue with a spine. I hope he doesn't misplace it in future episodes.

The Time of Our Lives

You all know how I feel about Quinn and Sam singing this number: bland. Why they didn't get Mercedes and Puck or some of the stronger singers I don't know (oh, wait I do - because it wouldn't have worked with their storyline), and even my husband who (apparently) doesn't like Glee observed (complained) that Quinn and Sam entering from the rear of the theatre had been done before. It was an okay number, but not my favourite. Although I was happy they paid homage to Patrick Swayze's pelvis thrust from the movie (2 minutes 39 seconds if you click on that link. You're welcome).

Brittany and Mike Chang's dancing

So awesome. I'm so glad they featured it at Sectionals. They need to feature them more often. Valerie was an awesome number - Santana sounded fantastic and it was just perfect.

FINALLY

Unsung heros is nice. But how about completely UNDERUSED, Glee producers? You sort of made it up to me by getting them to sing a Florence and the Machine cover, but don't let this happen AGAIN. Are we clear?

Whew. There were heaps of highlights this episode. Even my husband proclaimed it "a bloody rollercoaster ride", so you know it must have been intense. Next week - the Christmas episode that we are seeing in February because channel ten sucks.

Wait. How could I finish without mentioning the calendar Rachel took down from her locker.

Of course she would be the kind of girl to create a cat calendar.

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