Happy (belated) New Year!

Hmm, so let's just pretend I'm not a week late with the New Year wishes, mkay?

I thought I'd mark the fabulousness that is 2011 with a little thank you tribute to my 35 amazing followers. I think there are probably a few lurkers out there too... if you wanna be mentioned in future posts, feel free to follow!

2011 is the year of HAPPY for me. I've wasted enough time in my life doing things that I don't love - so enough of that, let's have fun! This year I plan to spend more time with great friends, have some amazing new experiences including some exciting travel, and generally just have fun. Oh, and watch a couple of movies that may or may not include Elephants and Vampires (in chronological, not preference order, btw!)

So, here begins the picspam that is this tribute post. (I stole this idea from Robzsinger!)

Thank you ALL for all the love and support over these past few months. Cheers, and here's to another year of twi-bloggy fun. Hugs to you all.

*Many of these people have awesome blogs/tumblrs/FFn profiles. Please click on the links to support them*

Firstly, my RL turned twi-BFFs:

SparklyJul

My best friend, confidante, support person, fic enabler...need I go on? Of course I should. As you may know, Jul's also written an amazing fic. If you haven't already checked out Baggage Claim, what are you waiting for?

Negligent Mummy

Back when I started this blog, I said I'd never post a picture of the *ahem* K9 contingent. Today I break this rule for NM, another RL bestie who has recently fallen into the twisphere. Only for you, sweetie.

Eds_piano

Eds_piano is my third and final RL twi-friend. She was a lurker for a long while and is now working on her first guest post for TwiKiwi. Here's looking at you, sunshine!

Twitter/bloggy besties:

17foreverLisa

Lisa and I first met on twitter and bonded (she said that) over Mr Fifty Shades himself. She has been so helpful to me, creating the amazing banner and button for this blog, as well as encouraging me and answering my bloggy questions. Sorry the pic's not B&W sweetie!

TwiredJen

Jen was one of my first twi-friends and has also been really encouraging to me as I ventured into the world of blogging. I'm super excited to be meeting Jen in a few months time when I visit San Diego. She's team Robsten - all the way.

DangrDafne

DD is a regular commenter and always has something lovely and supportive to say. Thanks love!

Rena

The amazingly talented Rena sent me an amazing Christmas card which I received this afternoon. I heart snail mail.

Mrs XKR / MyAfterCar

MyAfterCar is currently set stalking - thought a BD pic was appropriate here! Good luck in Baton Rouge, bb!

kiTT / TongueTwied

kiTT has just joined our twitter family, but her blog has long been admired. Thanks for your kind words, kiTT!

LivingwEdward

LwE has given me lots of advice about dealing with my new 'friend', Kiwi-Ed. He's much better behaved these days thanks to LwE's advice. I know you're waiting on Dr Cullen, LwE, so this pic's for you.

Smitten

Also a regular commenter, Smitten has a hilarious blog I've just discovered! Check it out!

Starlit Violets

My namesake, SV, is a fantastic twitter friend who keeps me smiling. Last night she came back to us after a wee absence. Welcome back!


Chloe Cougar

Chloe's my regular late-night twitter buddy. Based in the UK, she's usually getting up when I'm winding down!
  

Demanda

 

Jaymes805

Amanda and Jamie have a little blog called Borderline Phenominal. They're roommates who keep me entertained tweeting each other from within the same house. Hope you like the pic of your bf, Jaymes ;)

MuffinTopped

MuffinTopped was one of my earliest twitter buddies. This pic just had to be included for it's pure smexiness!

RobAddict / Jen

Robzsinger

Jen / RobAddict (she of the great identity crisis!) recently joined Robzsinger's blog and together they make a great team. Love your blog and your twitter antics, laideees. Mmmm, hoodie Rob :)

Twi_Lin

Twi_Lin also sent me an amzing Christmas card this year, which is staying on the fridge all year! Thanks so much!

AllTwiedUp / Charla

Charla is another twifriend I'm looking forward to meeting in California. Rob's waiting on the sheepskin for you to tie him up, sweetie.

Uber_Vamp

Uber_Vamp keeps me supplied with awesome Robp0rn via her tumblr account. In fact, pretty sure a good number of these pics came from her. Thanks hun!

UtterlyAbsurdBella

MrsKassieCullen

UtterlyAbsurdBella and MrsKassieCullen run Twilight Junkies Anonymous - who profiled me not long after I started TwiKiwi. Thanks for your support ladies!

Laura

Laura answered my call when I wanted to read The Office and needed a pdf copy. This pic reminds me of the Beautiful Bastard.

Purple Cupcake


Purple Cupcake's name makes me think of Clipped Wings & Inked Armour - and this pic reminds me of Tattward.


Belladuluk

 Belladuluk is a fellow fan of Emancipation Proclamation - this pic makes me think of MPW.

And here a few wonderful followers that I don't know, but are very pleased to have aboard! Enjoy your pics.


TwitardedMom

TheRugbyMom

Kelly / MydiscomROBulation

Jayla

Cul-de-sac-ed

Cathy / DailyTwimes

Carolamex

Andrea Palmer

Andrea Carey

So thanks to all of you for reading and supporting TwiKiwi. Love you all!

A whole bunch of excuses

Howdy blogger friends! Happy New Year! Yeah... I'm a little late.

I am planning a big 'Happy New Year and thanks to my followers' post.... and it WILL happen. But first I need to fill this post with excuses about why it hasn't happened yet.

1. My 'new' laptop that I bought not three months ago has gone to 'the man' to get fixed. This may or may not have something to do with me dropping it from the coffee table. Oh noes. Needless to say, the crusty old one I borrowed from work does NOT have the same abilities, like, to have more than one window open at once. Nor does it have a Robp0rn folder. Eeek! I really hope mine comes back soon and doesn't cost the earth to fix. Fingers crossed.

2. Summer holidays! I don't have to go back to work until next Monday and I am SO making the most of it! I'm saving my A/L at the moment so this is the last leave I'll have until August. Yesterday I took a day trip to a beautiful island out in the Hauraki Gulf (just off Auckland, you can Google it) called Motuihe. The day was amazing, the sunburn on my back is not. Can't resist sharing this gorgeous pic!

3. The Hunger Games. OMFG! This is the first ACTUAL BOOK I've read since Water for Elephants and I am SO addicted to it. How did it take me this long? Will be finished all three books by the end of the week and I may/will definitely need to debrief with some of you h00rs who got me into reading this in the first place. If you haven't read it - go. Do it. Amazing.

So yeah, there are some excuses for by bloggy tardiness. But hey, no one said it had to be regular, right? Here's a few little tidbits to keep you going. I have to keep telling myself it's not healthy to lick my iPhone screen when I see these... but sheesh, how can ya not??

Hey Rosie, how many trunk jokes are those dirty twih00rs gonna
come up with when they see this?



I'm watching you. Hope you've got your
sham-wow panties on.



I know. I'm beautiful.

That last one is my current favourite. *thud*.

See ya back here real soon, lovelies. Hope all is well in your worlds.

A Very Kiwi Christmas

Merry Christmas twitards!

On this occasion I thought it appropriate to show you my Christmas, kiwi style. I've had two winter Christmases in my life, both in the north of England, one of which was white - and magical. Although I've grown up with summer Christmases, I must say it felt 'right' to have Christmas in winter, all the traditions I'd had growing up just seemed to 'fit'. Nonetheless, I love a good kiwi summer Christmas and I'm gonna try and recreate it as best I can for you now.

Firstly, picture this. It's warm (about 25oC today, which is about 77oF, I believe). We're wearing shorts, t-shirts and jandals (I know, you call them flip flops or thongs) and just about melting running around the shops and sorting out last minute presents and groceries. We finish work on Christmas Eve eve, and start the long, hot car journey down to Mum & Dad's place. Usually it takes about 2.5 hours, this time it takes almost an hour longer thanks to heavy Christmas traffic. The A/C is blasting, as is the Eclipse soundtrack.



I live in Auckland. My parents live in Tauranga. It's about 220km.

We pull into their suburb and are greeted by this sign. Who wouldn't feel at home?

Hmm, the sun was shining in my eyes when I took this.

Mum's had the decorations up for a while now, so we're greeted by this:

Come on in!

This is the view as we arrive at 6.30pm. I never get tired of it.
 

Mt Mauganui and Tauranga harbour

 Inside, the tree is up and this year, for the first time, it's raised up on the coffee table, so that Caesar doesn't eat the decorations. Or, the presents. We've learned this from experience. He's only 11 months old.

Tomorrow, Christmas morning, we'll have a leisurely breakfast that'll probably involve pastries and bacon, with all the trimmings, before sitting down to open presents, with glasses of champagne & strawberries.

If the weather's fine, we'll mostly likely move the dining table under the tree for some decent shade, and have lunch out there. Lunch usually consists of cold ham (or turkey) and salads, and (of course) lasts all afternoon. There's nothing different about that particular tradition.

Hoping for fine weather tomorrow - it quite often rains. J/S.

Early evening, when we're so stuffed we're uncomfortable, there's usually a vote. Half of us tend to go to sleep, the other half (and the dog) will go for a walk. You can probably guess which half I'm usually in, especially now that a 'nap' usually involves reading fic on my phone...

The walk will probably involve the beach. I went down there this morning to take some shots for this post - unfortunately it was overcast. Just picture this, with blue skies:

Mt Maunganui beach

And that's about as energentic as Christmas is around here. There are massive sales on Boxing Day, so if we've recovered from Christmas, we'll likely hit the shops with the other kazillion people trying to spend their vouchers. Refer to my earlier comment about the intense heat and stress of shopping at this time of year.

Just as a bonus (because it's pretty) this is a view from a rest stop on the road back to Auckland. I can't help but stop and take it in, it's so lovely.

Waikato plains from the Kaimai Hill Rd

So, there you have it. Your (probably) first kiwi Christmas. Did you enjoy yourselves?

It wouldn't be a proper TwiKiwi post without some mention of something Twi-lated. I stole this via a google image search and I am still wiping the drool from my keyboard. RC+S, people.

Let me take a wee moment to get a little sentimental. Thank you all SO FUCKING MUCH for everything you do for me. I laugh out loud on a daily basis at some of the conversations we have on twitter, I drool over Robp0rn that you feed me (she said that) and mostly, I just really really appreciate the amazing women I've met down this rabbit hole - more than you can know.

I still hold out hope that a FOOOOORRKKSS trip just MIGHT happen during the month-ish that I'm in the USA next year - AUGUST, please! - but hey, even if not, I hope to meet as many of you as possible. It's time for some hardcore trip planning, methinks. But hey, I've got a Christmas to get through first. It's pretty stressful, you see.

Have an absolutely amazing Christmas ladies - eat, drink, be merry, and most importantly........Be Safe. ILYSFM.

Oh Cullen jarmies, how I want thee!

Ok so hopefully now you must know that I_heart_Fifty (IhF) and I live in New Zealand, Godzone, the land of the long white cloud, that place where The Lord of the Rings was filmed, Aotearoa.... And while I love it here, we are miles away from everything and everyone else. It's true, we did get the Eclipse DVD 4 days before the rest of the world, but when it comes to Twilight that is our only claim to fame. We had to wait ages for the DVD release of New Moon, it was so hard not to be a total spoiler h00r and ruin all the excitement around it.


As you know from my last post, IhF and I are permanently on the lookout for OKP. While my twidar is permanently switched on, it does get tricky if OKP are actually OKP and don't publicly show their love for all things Twilight.

In fact I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that those who wear obvious Twi merch out in public might actually not be OKP....... *audible gasps*............. yes, yes I said it.

I actually own very little merchandise, in fact the only thing I own was a 30th birthday present from IhF, it is an apple charm for my Pandora bracelet and I love it, understated yet to someone in the know - it is perfect for me.


While I am not one to have my bedroom decked out in an Edward duvet cover…


...or wear a replica of Bella's ring (which in my opinion is truly hideous), I would seriously LOVE some Cullen jarmies. Not sure how my husband would feel about them but i guess i can keep them for post-nightshift sleeps, or if push comes to shove, I can always just distract him with sex!!


We don't have Hot Topic here, which from what I can tell is the mecca of all Twilight merch. You could buy Cullen jarmies online when they actually were for sale - but sadly they don’t ship internationally and by the time I pay for shipping and take the exchange rate into account, not gonna happen.

I mean, I want some Cullen jarmies badly, but not badly enough to pay $130 for them.


I did see some Cullen crest socks at the Eclipse midnight screening triple feature premiere - maybe they will have to do.

So, how much Twi-merch do you have??

Note from I_heart_Fifty:
I recently became the proud guardian of Kiwi-Ed. I’ve been wanting him to make his debut on the blog for a while now, but he’s a fussy bastard and refuses to be photographed or interviewed until I buy him a new outfit. There’s a specific shirt he has in mind and we’ve not been able to find it in the shops. So, until then, this pic is the best I can do.


I’ve been fortunate to receive loads of tips from LivingwEdward about how to manage delinquent mini-E’s, for which I am extremely grateful!

You're kidding me, right?

Note: Before I start I need to preface this post with a disclaimer. If anyone reading this has a large, not-coverable, Twilight-related tattoo, please don't take offense. I'm simply making an observation, here.

So, I recently read TexasKatherine's kick arse post at Twitarded about bad Twilight art.... and, it got me thinking. There's some fuckawful Twilight tattoos out there.

Now, I'm not anti-tatt (ooh I just had a fangirl moment thinking about Tattward and Inkella in CW&IA...) by any means. I don't have ink myself, but would very much like something, some day. I'm keen on subtle, able to be hidden, tatts with personal meaning.

I love Twilight as much as the next fangirl, but I don't think I would EVER go to the extend that some of the following people have. Good on you if you have, each to their own and all that, I just realise that one day, for me, this bubble's gonna burst and I'm not sure I want permanent, extensive (&expensive) leftovers!

I am in a position where I employ people. First impressions are important, people. I will notice an obvious tatt, piercing scar (especially on lips or eyebrows) and it will make a difference of what I think of you, in a professional capacity.

You've possibly seen these before, indulge me in our shared horror!

Firstly, we have back/chest 'art':

Let's hope your significant other is cool with your obsession, or methinks you'll be forever *ahem* missionary styles. J/S.

So, she doesn't want to wear tank tops? Or, she lives in the North Pole. Hey, I'm allowed an opinion.

Then, we have limbs:

I have no words for this one, except I hope you're a KStew fan.

Wowsers, that's a large crest you've got there.

Now, I've always thought I'd like a 'Be Safe' momento. But probably on a keyring or on my wall, not my wrist.

Then there's the downright ugly:

Shiver. I've heard of being a cutter, but displaying your intentions to the world? No thanks.

Now, it might just be me, but if I was gonna get a sleeve, I'd make sure that the Edward I chose actually resembled Rob. Just a tiny bit.

And last but not least, there's this diehard fan who got Rob's autograph tattooed. I know we all talk about how much we lust after him, wanna have his babies, yadda yadda... but would you do this? Seriously? For the rest of your life? Wowsers.

So, do you have a Twilight tatt? Details in the comments please! (and please, refer to the disclaimer above!)

Are you OKP?

Hi all! Long time no see!

I grew up in a small town. And by small, I mean 1200 people small. If you come from a small town you will know that this does not really produce any amount of openmindness. The town where I grew up is 40km from the nearest big city, and really only exists because of the ability to grow good grapes for wine and other fruit for export, plus a very large number of cows for milking. Yep I grew up surrounded by farmers but that's not really what I'm here to tell you about...

Due to the large range of seasonal work in the area in prime picking season, we would have loads of travellers coming through, looking to make a bit of extra money. This is how my sister and I picked up our favourite phrase. No, not from the (usually foreign) workers but from my grandmother. God bless her, she is - to put it bluntly - a racist. It was not uncommon for us to hear in our childhood that "they're not our kind of people....." always said in a loud whisper, with an accompanying hand gesture.

As we got older my sister and I would jokingly apply it to people we met in our lives. "Oh, you aren't going to the A&P show? Not our kind of people." "You can't make biscuits from scratch? Oh, not our kind of people." Just lately it has crept into my work life too. "Who's working in the room next door to you? Oh, Stef, she's our kinda people."

When I_heart_Fifty and I first became ensnared in the twitrap, I must admit out twidar (like gaydar but for twitards) was a little rocky. We would sometimes think we had found a fellow twitard, only to be bitterly disappointed. We needed to know - were they as into this as we were?

The question we needed answered was - were they our kind of people??

Just because someone had read the books, didn't mean they had a love. Just because they loved the books didn't mean they liked to oggle paparazzi shots of Rob. Just because they liked to drool over Rob, didn't mean they were into blogs or fanfic. We needed to know if they were as far down this rabbit hole as we were.

I_heart_Fifty and I frequently tell each other about newbies we have embraced into the fold and the first question out of our mouths is always "are they OKP?" The answer is usually "yes, but not into fanfic" or "yes, but not into blogs."

I work with a few girls who are into Twilight in a big way. We went to the midnight screenings together, we counted down the days 'til Eclipse came out on DVD, and we frequently email each other hot pics of Rob to get us through the night shifts - but are they are not really all the way OKP.

I have only told two of them I write fic, and the same two have read this blog but I just don't think the rest would understand...

[Note from I_heart_Fifty: watch this space. I think we have ensnared an OKP who may become a TwiKiwi contributor! Squee! She is reading this right now, thinking - oh shit, what have I gotten myself in for... tee hee hee]

he he how some people feel about fan fic....

The question I ask you is - are you our kinda people?