Everybody knows money woes

 

My friends: Blacky, Nick, Narelle and Landon enjoying a day out with sparkling nashi wine at the Berry Farm, Margaret River.

Two weeks ago, I was living the high life, splashing money all over the place.

Going to the beach? Let’s pick up a six-pack of ciders, I’d say.

Hungry? It was a choice of fresh, ready-made meals from IGA, the pub or takeaway Indian/pizza/Chow.

I drove my fuel-guzzling car from house to beach to winery to town non-stop, and I shouted my visiting friends to whatever indulgence I could.

I love living that way.

However, it caught up with me and this week life decided to teach me a lesson.

On Monday, I was driving home from the beach when I was pulled over by the police for a broken headlight (care of roo incident two weeks prior).

I did well in hiding the fact that I’d just shared a whole bottle of sparkling passionfruit with Nick  and they didn’t breathalyze me, thank goodness (ps. I will never drive post-drinking again).

But I got what WA calls a “yellow sticker” which means my baby Merc is under strict order to visit “the pits” where it will be scrutinised from bonnet to tail light and slapped with many bills for fixing whatever they find. Gah.

That same night, my Mum sent me a worried message on Facebook. “Zann, Jaz is sick. I don’t know what’s wrong. She has a large lump on her leg and she seems listless and sad.”

I took Jaz to the vet the following day and discovered she had cancer.

Luckily, the kind vet told me that it won’t harm her and can’t spread, but it will eventually irritate her enough that it will have to be removed before it grows back within the following 12 months.

$200 for that was definitely worth it, but with $0 savings I was suddenly worried about affording everything I needed to pay for – phone bill, rent, flights to and from Adelaide next week, my car. 

Wow!

Adults are faced with so much responsibility which can be lurking in the subconscious for so long, until life goes, ‘Wait! You cannot have this much fun!”

So everyone has to learn how to behave and save for that famed rainy day we’re all warned about.

Have you learnt to save by whatever age you are now? Was there a particular event that taught you a lesson?

xZ

Something Old & Something New

Hi guys!

I wanted to share two brilliant new things that have entered my life recently.

I know what you're thinking - "TWO new things? Your post title led us to believe there was something old as well! False advertising, I feel ripped off, two new things in combination is just way too much shiny-ness for me to handle."*

But wait, I can explain! 

One of the 'new' things is actually an old Mercedes, but it's been given a breath of fresh life in my little hands!

Until now I've been rocking around in either of Mum and Ondy's two work vans, but I decided it was time for my own vehicle when we came across this beauty sitting on the roadside. It was test driven two nights in a row, and evaluated by my mechanic-minded relative, before I allowed myself to fall in love with it. 

I handed over $1500 and a bottle of boysenberry port to the lovely English guy [who wished to sell it for traveling funds] and here we are!

I'm actually a sucker for old cars - they have so much more character than the masses of cheaply-made cars of today.

This one has all kinds of quirky little things to love about it:  a sweet retro brown interior; a start up key switch on the left of the wheel; a windscreen wiper that darts all over the place like it's on steroids... oh and a little first-aid kit on the back dash! If I ever crash, I'll be reaching for those band-aids right away. :D

Secondly, dun dun dun dahhh!! My brand new dress from Modcloth arrived today.

See, I'm flailing my arms. I tend to do that in moments of excitement.

It came with a hat and some sweet teal tights, as pictured below. All amazing quality, so I'm feeling very successful for my first-ever internet purchase. My bank account could cross into dangerous waters from here.

Amazing green-yellow lace

Anyway that's all in terms of updates from my life for now.

Sorry I haven't really written much lately... just working on some big changes! 

Will fill you in as soon as I can.

You stay classy, San Diego. 

xZ

*Note: I know 'shininess' is a real and appropriate word, but somehow this spelling looks so wrong!

On a down day

The other day, I was feeling glum, so I quickly scoured the internet looking for uplifting photos.
These are a few I saved to my desktop.

I'm a little annoyed with myself because I deleted the two that meant the most to me on the day, and I can't find them again! I'll try and explain them in brief...

#1 - Picture a grandma in a wheelchair, and she is holding up a frail arm whilst looking at her shadow on the wall... her shadow resembles a beautiful and limber ballerina. The quote alongside it says something like - 'What other people think of you doesn't matter. What you think of yourself is everything.'

#2 - Picture a bunch of crayons - a close-up photograph - with words over the top: "Use what you have, where you are."
This one reminded me that I have everything I need to be happy; there's no point looking for it elsewhere. I just have to work out how to put all I have to good use.
Also, more specifically, I was looking for something to do so that I would have a satisfying day, and this image simply inspired me to go and find my art stuff.
I also think this is a good quote for making a difference in life. It really reminds me of a story my friend Jess was telling me, about a man who recently visited an underdeveloped country and had enough imagination to fix a big problem with a simple solution - he used Coca-Cola bottles to bring light into the roofs of houses that lacked electricity! Amazing. Something that we regard as trash became a hugely valuable thing to others.
Basically, the quote is saying, you don't have to look too far for what you want and need. Just open your eyes and take action any way you can.


xZ




Ps. I do not take credit for any of the above images. They are simply the results of Google searches.

When 'bad events' are actually just road signs for something great...

A little blue wren inviting itself to the leftovers of our 1 year anniversary lunch - 27.1.12

Yesterday afternoon, Mum came home from lunch at The Berry Farm, and told me they might be looking for workers. She'd spoken to a waitress who had retired from the Farm but was serving as a fill-in that day. So, on a whim, I printed out my resumé this morning and went to give it a go. Never mind that I've been waiting for a call from the last three places I applied for in the past three weeks...

Wow. I'm so glad I went, and I think I can pretty much say I've got the job right away!
The application just went incredibly well, and I wasn't nervous at all while talking to the manager. He's a cruisey, funny guy, who is obviously very connected with the type of atmosphere he wants his business to convey everyday. In fact we spent half the time chatting amicably about little things (eg. the amusing history of both our surnames) and the other half was spent by me asking all the right questions or giving all the right answers, in my opinion.

It just felt right, and as I literally adore The Berry Farm and its peaceful, romantic set up, I could well and truly indicate that I'd enjoy working there and be exactly the burst of joy and enthusiasm that any employer is looking for.

The cottage in which the café/kitchen is set up

I have to say, this makes me feel so much better about the past three job applications that haven't worked out. It's almost as if they were meant to fail so that I'd end up here. Driving ten minutes to a beautiful place that I already know and get excited about... where I don't need to feel pressured to act elegant and refine my language to suit the surroundings. Yep, I'm pretty pleased with myself.

So I just wanted to point out; sometimes bad things happen because they're meant to... disappointing letdowns can be leading you onwards to something better. You have to keep up your hopes - whether you're looking for a job, a relationship, a house... Anything that doesn't work out, just tell yourself, it probably wasn't meant to be. And look forward to the awesome things to come.

I'll leave you with some pics of The Berry Farm from my visits in the past... enjoy!

Family lunch in Feb when my Nanna was down from SA <3

Passionfruit bubbles - I know you'd all love it! Yum.

 Nanna in the beautiful little garden

xZ