| Running away |
 There are times when I have to get away - when family, work and home just becomes overwhelming and I have to say "that's enough. I have to get out of here."
I wish I could be more spontaneous with these declarations, but, since I'm a responsible, practical person, I plan for the weekends that I "run away." This weekend was one of those long planned-for weekends, and I decided that the Blue Mountains were calling me.
Dan and I spent our honeymoon (all three days of it) in the Blue Mountains, and I fell in love with the area at first sight. While the flora and fauna are uniquely Australian, the culture is mainly United Kingdom-ish. Spending a weekend at Mt Victoria was like a quick trip overseas, even though it's only two hours or so from Sydney.
 We divided our time between taking in the natural beauty of the area, and taking in the quaintness of the towns along the railway line. Dan loves digging into the local history, as he was a part of it as a train driver back in the 1980's when there was the last well-known snow storm. He was delighted to see a photo taken of the trains, all snowed in, on the fourth of July, 1984. He was there that night.
As for me, I loved browsing through the area shops. I bought several tin toys, reminiscent of my childhood, to add to my toy collection. I am going through my second childhood, and I think I actually giggled when I found a wind-up robot that I used to play with, as a kid. The robot shot sparks through its eyes as it precariously walked across the counter in the shop. I had to take a tin robot home with me.
We shared Yulefest dinner with other guests at the old guest house where we were lodged for the weekend. The guest house is the kind of place that rattles with ghosts of a bygone era. Its Arts and Crafts décor reminds me in ways of my grandparents' house and I feel a bit lost that I don't own anything that once belonged to my grandparents.
Mulled wine flowed at dinner, which was populated mainly by retired and elderly women. There were a few token men (Dan loved being surrounded by noisy, bubbly women) and a token child, and the conversation was free and funny. I felt like the baby of the group, if it hadn't been for the presence of an eight year old girl. (It's usually the opposite in most social settings.)
 Several of us seated together were immigrants to Australia, and we laughed over how we misunderstood several Aussie expressions while getting used to the country.
"As far as I know, a schooner is a kind of ship - not a type of beer glass."
"From where I come from, a stubby is something obscene."
 "He told me to 'hang on', and I kept looking for a coat hanger and asking where I should hang it," (this misunderstanding from a Parisian woman who regaled the evening with tales of her marriage to her 'uncouth' Aussie ex-husband.)
Dan and I were half frozen for most of the weekend - but loved every minute of it. Sometimes you just have to run away and forget about responsibility for a while. The best part of this? I came back home to positive family news. Maybe I should run away more often. |
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| Red lipstick |
 I wore red lipstick to work yesterday. I don't normally wear red for every day situations - I normally save it for those special nights out, but after watching Jeanne Crain in State Fair the other night, I decided I wanted a little bit of 1940's glamor in my life.
I noticed that red lipstick gets a lot of looks - from men and from women. I think that there must be something tantalizingly sexual and juicy about red lips. Red lipstick makes young women look older and more sophisticated, and older women look younger and more sultry. The shade of red is important, though. Orangey reds only look good on redheads. Red lipstick also tends to bleed more, so you can't apply it to the edges of your lips unless you want to look like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Despite the risks, I wore red Dior lip gloss all day. It feathered a little, but overall, I liked the change. I got looks. I felt vibrant. Men did a double-take, and so did some women. I'm going to make this more of a habit.
So, what do you think? Is red lipstick IN?
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Name: Melanie O.
Home: Durham, North Carolina, United States
About Me: Female, American health and beauty-conscious professional who has rekindled a childhood love of dolls.
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posted by Melanie O. at 
