My nails are too long

Anyone who knows me is aware that I bite my nails. In an attempt to cut down (get it?), I clip them often, which has turned into its own habit. Since I've been away from home, a couple of my fingernails have started growing and somehow avoided being attacked by my teeth. You would think this is a good thing, but in reality I HATE having longish nails. You see, when they're long, they have a greater chance of getting wet and pliable, and then, ergh, bending BACKWARD. Ewwww... just the image itself elicits a physical reaction in me. I cringe, my arm hair stands straight up and I salivate in a horrible way.

Having just spent 15 minutes scraping off what I could from the stovetop after last night's overflowing pasta water fiasco (Aaron said that I'm the reason that people hate renters), I'm quite fearful for the nails that managed to grow the millimeter past the nail bed. What I'm trying to say is that in my day of mundane activities (mundanity?), cutting my nails is next. So is plucking my eyebrows. It's amazing how the little things slip to the wayside when you're not in your own home.

So my day of mundanity has been quite pleasant. I finally ventured out of the apartment, despite the whistling winds outside. It would be one thing if we were overlooking the moors. Winds are welcome to whistle in moors, but not in the dead center of a city.

I managed to make it around the block, picked up a map of Wellington, and booked a bus tour for tomorrow. I tried to rent a cell phone but was informed by the sole man in the office, who looked a little bit like a toothy badger, that he was the only one "holding down the fort" and he didn't know how to rent a phone. But that the guy who did would be back in an hour. I went back a couple of hours later and the badger said something in a thick accent that may have meant that the renter guy was sick and not coming in at all. I'm not sure, but I was mesmerized by his teeth.

I hate when my errands are thwarted, especially when it took me 15 minutes to find the place- it was on a street, The Terrace, that runs almost parallel to the one that our apartment is on, Lambdon Quay, but at a higher level and there's no perpendicular street connecting the two. You have to go through a building or shopping center and take the elevator up to get to this street. Trust me, figuring that out was no easy task.

The whole time I was outside, I wasn't feeling right. The wind made my face feel dry and it was blowing my hair in a way that I could feel two day's worth of hair products cake on. And I felt fat, which wasn't being helped by wearing three layers of clothing and just-washed jeans. It was one of those moments when you wish you could go home and start all over again...well, guess what? I'm on vacation so I can!

I finally came home, and started my day all over again. I washed my hair, ate a salad, read my book. It was bliss. Then I headed back out with the goal of finding a trash bin for the bathroom. Along the way I had two cups of ridiculously strong trim flat whites (what was "skinny" in Australia is "trim" here) and wandered in many circles.

The weather in Wellington is nuts. One moment it's windy and cloudy, then it's calm and sunny, then windy and sunny, then windy and rainy, then just windy. The sun blinks in and out of existance like a, erm...well, similes were never my strong point.

Anyhoo, I did manage to find a teensy trash bin and... get this, a faux mink blanket. In dark blue! Guess what darling purchase is coming home to Los Angeles to live with Sarika?? The design in the apartment is all very minimalist, complete with white leather furniture. White leather is not a very cushy material, so Aaron has been throwing the bedroom blanket onto the sofa. But I figured dark blue (faux) mink throw is a much classier way to dress up the couch. I may get a second one just for the white leather armchair because it's So. Damned. Cute.

And that's my day thus far. I haven't figured out dinner, but I'm seriously considering talking Aaron into picking up Subway to bring home. I know, so American of me, but I haven't had a good Subway sandwich in forever, and they do make a fine meal. In my day of mundanity, why not?