More of the Butterfly

Yawn. Morning folks. Shew how much did I want to just roll over and keep sleeping when the final alarm went off at 5:20am this morning. A LOT.

The problem with 2 late nights in a row, and so early in the week! Monday was very normal, boot camp, dinner at home. You know, a typical OMG-The-Week-Has-Started-Again Monday evening spent in shock and recovering from the surprise (you'd think we'd all be used to it by now?).

Anyhoo, on Tuesday we had a special birthday SCM. We headed to the Birthday Girl's house and made dinner there. I contributed a very nice green salad (if I do say so myself, although many people skipped it entirely o_0 oh well, their loss!). And then @samanthaperry made us some pasta from scratch while @clairam made the bolognaise sauce to go with it. The idea was sound, the execution wasn't.

The pasta took ages to make and then the spaghetti setting being used didn't exactly play along ... somehow the strips just didn't separate. And do you know how much pasta you need to actually make for 10 people? It felt never-ending. And we ended up quick-drying the pasta with a hair dryer (?) and then having to manually re-cut it up again ... it ended up a little strange.

And we only ate after 9pm! We were all starving. I left pretty much immediately after dinner. Already having felt exhausted since lunch time.

I had one of those overwhelming days. I don't know why, you'd think by this (I'd guess, my 4th Bond Application), I'd be an old pro. But I still get completely panic-y and overwhelmed when filling in those forms. What is the magic formula that makes them stamp "Approved" and gives you an awesome interest rate? I wish I knew ... I should feel more confident than I do, the bond and levies will be covered by our current rental. But I still get terrified to the point of avoidance with those 5 page forms. Ah, Ostrich! Best way to deal with these sort of adult things o_0 pfft.

Anyway, luckily that has been done and signed and all the supporting documents are off to the Bond Originator sometime today (I hope ... have left that in the capable hands of my darling Trucker).

Do you know there is absolutely NO benefit in applying for a bond directly with the bank? How ridiculous is that? We considered applying directly to both our banks (Standard & FNB) but since there is no gain, it seems easier filling in this damned paperwork once and letting someone else apply to all of them instead. Not that I think I'd take a bond with either Absa or Nedbank ... I know it's about as close to brand loyalty as I get ... and it's less about who I do bank with than the perception I have of the other 2 banks that I don't want to bank with. Plus who needs more than 2 banks anyway ?!?

Anyway, so yeah, that was just Tuesday! Yesterday I headed to the Girl Geek 2nd Birthday Dinner at The Griffin with @bronwyngale.

Okay, so first off: while I adore Good Luck Club and know that there are some other lovely little restaurants on that little corner in Illovo (of which, The Griffin is definitely one and I'd like to go back and try it properly one night), I don't know if you've noticed, but: There. Is. No. Parking.

I hate going there. It is always a nightmare that involves an average of 2.5 turn around the block. And then, to boot, they are on a corner you can't actually turn onto if you go up Corlett towards Oxford in the hopes of finding an open on-road parking spot either. And don't get me started on that deceptive little permanently-full parking area right on the corner? Has anyone EVER managed to park in there before? No, I didn't think so. Plus I could not imagine how one would even manage to get out of there once you were in, it definitely looks to be one of those parking areas that needs one of those fancy rotators you see at the houses in Camps Bay o_0 Urgh, it definitely ruins my initial delight of any of those venues.



Okay, but that said, once we arrived we ticked our names off the guest list, collected our lanyards and got a welcome cosmopolitan (mmmm) and headed straight upstairs. Shew, I have no idea what it's like on a regular night, but it was packed to the brim. Thumbs up to the waitrons for managed to wiggle thru all those tables all night! The decor was festive and delightful and there was a non-stop buzz in the place all night. Although it could've done with a little better air-flow. On such a hot night in Joburg, it was sweltering in there when I first arrived. But they have a great (much cooler) little deck area too.

The menu was great (damn, I left the print out at home ...). I started with the Goats Cheese on melon balls. Superb flavours! And then had the Chicken main, which was quite nice too. There was wine and water on the tables and all the soft drinks were sponsored too. I was also super impressed (although I didn't need to use it) that they partnered with Uber to offer discounted drivers.

Cell C is now apparently the primary sponsor for 2014 and were the sponsors last night (some wicked prizes, although far less than last year). I didn't want to point out, since they were sponsoring, just how erratic my Cell C signal there actually was o_0 Ah I do so hope they come right with that. But in case you were wondering, while I don't exactly "regret" my move to Cell C, I very much doubt I will be sticking with them when my contract comes up for renewal. Unless their general signal thruout improves significantly.

In typical fashion, @bronwyngale won something. This time, a case of wine. Which she very kindly shared with me. Wheee! And I won't lie, I'm really looking forward to seeing the pics from the Photo Booth.

It was a lovely evening. It had some great speakers (Barbara Mallinson from Obami and Joanne Doyle from BrandsEye) and ended earlier than the last one (before 9pm!). And I got to see some familiar faces (that's you, @Rubyletters, @MeeAParkins and @mylifescape) and meet some new ones (@kat_kupcake and @MissStaceyVee)!

Shew, I'm tired.