A grand day out

Learned purveyor of good sounds and witty blogmeister, DJ, raised a good point today - what nufty-head would plan their wedding on the day of the AFL Grand Final?

Well, Stu and I will become Mr. and Mrs. Nufty-Head on September 29th, 2007.
That's right, we dedicated Melbournians are saying our vows on the most holy of days on the football calendar.

This was a much considered decision, driven by one notion - good old-fashioned romance. Both Stu and myself had been privately considering the idea of marrying on the same date as our current 'anniversary'. So when we mentioned it to each other, we couldn't help but want to continue the tradition. We don't much subscribe to the commercialism of Valentine's Day, and have always put a lot more effort into celebrating our togetherness on a day more unique to us.
It was only later that we realised that this date might have some significance to more than just ourselves!

We thought about the people that are to be invited, and with the exception of my Saints-devoted brother, we're sure that most of them would be delighted to spend that day with us. Well, my brother will still be happy to come along, but you know what it's like for a sports mad teenager!

We will hopefully come up with a way to quench the thirst of our friends and family for news of the game, but don't want it to dissolve into thirty men gazing at a widescreen TV while I cut the cake with my girlfriends. Really, we would give our guests more credit than that - but we are so spoilt with the media giving us news 'as it happens', we couldn't deprive them of some kind of update!

But how, without ruining the elegance of our much anticipated event?

We can work it out...

I think most people would agree that running around the streets at night isn't the safest activity. Despite millions of combat classes and a feisty attitude towards attackers, it's easy to worry that someone might want to steal my jumper, or something...

Alas, thought I, I'll have to stop running. I have a stationary bike at home, for wet weather days, but it's just not as challenging as pounding the pavement.

But then my knight in shining armour came to the rescue, and offered to ride his bike as I run. How delightful!
So if you see a curvy brunette running at an easy pace, with some cute, tall guy following on a bike, he's probably just helping her to get in shape - please don't run him over in a bid to protect her!

Could you NOT leave me with a scar?

Another feature I would like to fix still concerns my face… scars. During the summer holiday between the first and second years of uni, I was unlucky enough to get chicken pox. I actually had these already, when I was eight, so when my brother and sister got them, I didn’t keep away… in fact, I probably teased them, as would any sibling! So the powers that be decided that my retribution would be a double dose of the dreaded pox. It was AWFUL. Adult pox are particularly aggressive, and I was not spared. I was fainting and itching and feverish and scabby – add the prickly January heat, and I was in agony. Some of the scars on my face never healed perfectly, unfortunately, and the crevices that remain are an endless source of frustration, in particular, the small dent in the front of my nose, which simply can’t be disguised.

At the very top of my forehead, where a widow’s peak might reside, I also have another scar, in the shape of a cross (or aeroplane, as I used to say!). This was acquired when I fell out of the car window, as a three year old. Don’t worry, my parents took good care of me! I was just a mischievous girl, with agile fingers, and freed myself from the car seat, only to land head first on the asphalt. In later years, as I was sliding down the banister rail leading from our front door to the garden, it broke, and one of the nails found its way into my head, at the same point as the aeroplane scar. A couple of stitches sorted that out, and I was too young to know whether that contributed to the overall appearance of the scar, but I’m sure it didn’t help. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes I forget it’s there, but I would like if it wasn’t there at all, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask about that one as well.

So that's the last episode in the series of 'Janet's Imperfections'. Tune in next week for more of our romantic frivolity...

Planning a Party

The first event that any soon-to-be-married couple must organise is, of course, an engagement party. We had been talking about a possible engagement party months before the actual engagement, not long after we moved into our current residence. This is mainly due to the fact that we now live somewhere that is suitable for hosting a cocktail-type party due to its open plan layout and courtyard.

Once we became engaged, the party hit the backburner as we looked at wedding venues and talked about all manner of "big day" things. But we soon began to realise that a party needed to be had, and that unfortunately, our place was not big enough to fit all those we wanted to share our celebration with.

Over the last couple of weeks the search has been on to find a venue to host our engagement party. We had already semi-committed ourselves to a wedding venue one hours drive from many of the invitees, so a venue closer was a preferable choice. We brainstormed a few ideas and Janet suggested a local art gallery which, after a recent renovation, was sporting a modern cafe and was perfectly suited to our tastes and passions - Janet being an art and design enthusiast.

To be continued... :)
- Stuart

Face value

A few weeks ago I had a little rant about weight loss, in particular, my own goals.

Well, the next physical attribute worth assessing would be my complexion.
Growing up, I had a smooth, fair face, as yet unmarked by adolescent years. And then, along came the terrible teens, and a mass of pimples, just to give me something new to be angsty about. Luckily now, I have them under control, but they left plenty of open pores in their wake, which will not succumb to any toner, mask or exfoliation treatment I try. However, I’ve heard that dermabrasion may be the answer to my prayers, and the girls at work are full of praise for extraction facials.
Combined, these powerful treatments may just give me back the dewy, smooth complexion of my primary school years. Though, I’m yet to investigate how much one can expect to pay for such attention… gulp!

Despite the fact that we are still very young bunnies, I've also noticed that I have some tiny little wrinkles under my eyes. I've been slathering them with Revlon under-eye cream, but I'm yet to see them disappear. I don't know if it's stress or diet related, maybe tiredness - surely a 22 year old shouldn't be battling wrinkles yet! I've had dark circles under my eyes for as long as I can remember, and I know that regular sleep and perhaps more iron in my diet would probably fix those - maybe I need to escape to a health camp! Oh, but then I would miss Stu!