Thursday.

Say what you will about Rimmel's Hot Pink lipstick it matches quite nicely with Chanel's Splendeur polish. Speaking of which Niece FF was reading a story where the Mum took the kids swimming. The illustrations showed that the kids had wet hair and the Mum's hair was dry. Niece FF noted that maybe the Mummy hadn't wanted to get her lipstick wet. I know. The level of observant and adorable! Now I have to introduce a sad note.

See this beautiful cake:

It's from The Welsh Lady cake shop at Rosalie. Today I phoned them to see if I could order a cake and whether they'd been flood affected. A recorded message told me they were shut due to flood damage and didn't know when they'd be open again. This made me incredibly sad. There are so many stories like this one.

This cake I'm cutting is from The Welsh lady too. It was a delicious lemon curd cake. I hope they can reopen soon.
One of the few good things about the Old Testament Rain is that the garden isn't dead. Small Mercies.

So anyway today to the Coalface I embraced French Fashion wore this frock from Brittany purchased in November 2010 and some sensible ballet flats.

And I met my girlfriends for a pub grub lunch and actioned a steak

Willow wore my favourite necklace. Isn't it nice?

And I watched Ole Joan on Fashion Police. Her hair looked amazing.

Does anyone else use this stuff? It smells divine and it's allegedly magically meant to prevent the unmitigated horror of stretch marks. Fingers and Toes!

Speaking of Baby ("The New Black") Related Issues, Miranda Kerr's also hopped on the Bandwagon and had one too. She released this photo today:

Don't forget to watch Oprah's 2nd Australian episode tonight on channel 10.

xxxxx

Prepare Yourselves Emotionally

Hello. Living in Brisbane right now is a bit like being in an episode of MASH (minus the Korean War but with the Witty One Liners and general chaos) because the sound of choppers is constant and you hear them flying over all the time. It is just so weird. Today was called "Salvation Saturday" and over 20000 volunteers turned up to help flood victims. It makes you just love Australians and their Generosity. Who knew so many people owned gum boots? If I wasn't Hardcore Pregnant I would've volunteered myself. I'd have been a natural what with my love of cleaning, ability to action revolting things at the speed of lightning and loathing of filth. Plus I own a bunch of shovels.

My Saturday began with brunch with my posse
And you had better prepare yourselves emotionally because you are now going to see something on this blog that you have never ever seen before, and probably never thought you would and it could Shock You.
People.
I am wearing what can only be described as....

A Maxi Frock.
I know. I don't don't know who I am anymore either.
Usually right about now I'd make a quip about the 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse riding into town or something but I'm not going to because let's face it, that's already happened this week for real.
It was $14 from Target.
I tizzed it's nylon charms up with these arrangements:
Say what you will about it, this frock is Long. Wore these. You already know my sister gave them to me for my birthday in 2008 when I was in Honky Town.
and I pulled out these old Prada sunnies that I never wear. But should. Because they are Nice. And I like sparkly things that glitter.

Can't wait to read Tatler. It was $20! I know. 'Spensive.

And I had to restock the candle cupboard

There was a time not so long ago when I bought things like Prada ballet flats and YSL bags.

Let's take a brief moment to think of those happy and soothing memories..

Ok, Those days Are Over People.

Target has a baby paraphernalia sale on. I found myself purchasing the following products:

I know.

What the maxi frock and the the baby stuff I don't know who I am anymore either.

And may I introduce another purchase that makes me 11/10 happy?

Behold the magnificence of my new fridge!

It doesn't leak, it was on sale, the seal does what it's meant to and it doesn't have to be defrosted every 20 minutes. Hooray.

So anyway the Universe and I have been a bit out of sync lately what with the Natural Disaster and all but today, It Spoke to Me and told me to action a cake. Which was lucky because I was expecting visitors.

I did what I was told

and Caked it the Hell Up

I haven't seen the Hungarian to the Stars since she returned from Europe so tomorrow we'll action a coffee. I never like to leave my suburb anyway but my friends and I have decided to only do stuff locally to help all the businesses we love get back on their feet. Apparently it could take 2 years to get back to normal after the Flood. As well as the flood the news showed Princess Mary with her twins. Her voice is no longer Australian. She sounds like Elle Macpherson. I don't know how to describe that accent. But you know what I mean.

The last 5 days have passed in such a blur. What a crazy start to 2011.

xxxxx

Friday

These arun lilies are cheery. They were $4 from Coles at Petrie Terrace.
Everyone is cleaning up their homes now that some of the water has receded. These are some photos taken by A-M at West End today. She is a regular commenter on this blog and has her own blog The House that A-M Built. Her unit was 2cm from being flooded but luckily the water stopped! The Universe cut her a break. Talk about a stroke of much needed luck. But her underground car park is filled with filthy water and her complex will be without power for at least 2 weeks.
The damage is incredible. She took this photo too:
You can imagine the smell- the sewers in her street exploded.
Coles was, like other supermarkets in my suburb- fairly bare. Look:

Milton Road and Coronation Drive are closed so all the traffic has been detouring through Paddington and heading down Caxton St, Given Tce and Latrobe Tce. You can imagine the traffic jams. And don't even get me started on the carpark that Enoggera Tce has become. And the traffic lights are still out at various points too.

There are so many stories that show the absolute generosity of spirit and goodwill of Australians. Hundreds of volunteers turned up at flooded areas to offer whatever help they could, bringing shovels, gurneys, hoses and manpower. The people at the Evacuation Centres are amazing too- they are even catering to special dietary requirements and providing Halal and vegan meals!

Are the rest of your emotional and exhausted from watching the devastation on tv? Feeling a bit teary? Me too. Let's focus instead of some cheery miscellaneous orange stuff. Like these oranges:

and these el cheapo cushions from Target

Carolyne Roehm embraces orange flowers and blue and white china. We should too. What's not to love?

and Queen Rania looks amazing in orange. Good for her.

I'm still committed to Never Ever Undercushioning. Routine is important during these Difficult Times.

I strive for a cottage garden but with non stop rain and no sun and dreadful soil I have to accept that it's really kind of tropical. Or as my friend Mark says "tropage"- a mixture of the two. People often ask why I don't grow vegetables. I'd like to but I get nil sun and myOld Testament garden varmints (possums, fruit bats, grasshoppers, bush turkeys, rats, a plague of locusts) eat everything in sight. Even rose buds. I know. Selfish.

I am so grateful that this is not covered in filthy brown river silt.

I've sort of adopted a low GI diet. So white flour is out and spelt and semolina are in. I am dying to make a flood victim an orange and semolina and almond cake. Maybe with a syrup. A-M are you reading this???

I worked from home today and wore this:

It was the dress I'd ordered online from queenbee.com that Australia Post had delivered on Wednesday when we were nervously waiting for the river to peak. It was on sale for $59. Seemed appropriate to wear it today. As you can see I am what can only be described as Huge. Like a potato on legs.

Looks killer with those Prada flats.

xxxx

Cabin Fever

The water is receding and I've got a bit of Cabin Fever. The last few days have been a bit of a blur. I've been anxious, worried, emotional, glued to the tv. It's been very weird.

I went to Kangaroo Point today-tonnes of flooding and filthy silt everywhere. I cannot describe the smell. I feel so sad for people whose homes and businesses are going to be covered in this revolting stuff. The clean up is going to be a nightmare.
The river was running so fast and had got into a lot of the buildings
Because so many people are without homes I have become more obsessed with looking after mine. I actioned some pruning (always soothing). These Rommel channeling gingers look Guilty to me.
and this stag horn thingamy has loved the rain and grown a new leaf
this rose looked a bit hopeful and promising
I've had Cabin Fever and so have lots of my friends. So I took a reader's advice and cleaned out my pantry. I found this mini-declutter very comforting. You can see lots of tinned food from my emergency shopping expedition with Mr FF the other day

Sometimes it gets almost too much to watch all the horror stories on tv. There are so many dreadful stories. Especially the ones involving Grantham.

Everyone has pulled together and really helped each other out. Those stories really do warm the heart and renew your faith in human nature. And in a spirit of wanting life to return to some semblance of Normality here's what I wore to work on Tuesday when everything came unstuck and panic set in. It's a dress I'm borrowing from Amber by Camilla and Marc. Probably not the best choice for a really rainy day, a nightmare commute and a surreal grocery shop surrounded by panicked shoppers....it seems like about 3 weeks ago now.

The next phase will be Flood Recovery. So many flood victims are uninsured which is really sad. And apparently some looters are being caught. Can you believe it?

There's a long journey ahead.

xxxx