My stilettos are dusty and neglected now I’m a stay-at-home mum. Not much call for them in the supermarket, park or school playground (although certain school mums would beg, and totter, to differ). Actually, there’s not much call for most of my wardrobe these days. I rotate the same three pairs of cargo pants and two pairs of leggings each week. The rest of my stuff is either too fancy or no longer fits. So, when I scored an invite to a Melbourne Cup gathering in a nearby street, I decided to seriously over-dress. Sky-high heels, fascinator, frock, cardie … hauling out a matching handbag for the heels provided the unexpected bonus of my missing credit card, yay! I even applied mascara and lippie, sprayed on perfume and put my hair into a side ponytail. Wearing the frock also nescessitated a last-minute leg shaving. Such attention to personal grooming hasn’t been paid for months. I felt like a new woman. Except for my feet, which felt like an old woman’s, aching in their crippling high heels. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the actual race because of school pick-up (very poor planning on the part of the Melbourne horsey fraternity to schedule the race for 3pm, I still don’t know who won) but I managed to cram in a few sausage rolls, potato chips and a spot of socialising before I dashed off. I was going to switch to thongs and ditch the fascinator for the school playground, but decided to keep my finery to show I can glam it up with the best of them. Sadly, the flash pack had tasked others with collecting their kids while they partied in style at their fancy Melbourne Cup functions. The remaining mums who’d missed the race were probably just wondering why I had all those silly feathers on my head.
TONIGHT’S DINNER: Husband is out, so I’m making contraband sticky pork ribs and beans (Husband doesn’t eat pork, big old bore).
PS The zucchini salad we had last night is quite yummy with the lamb rack and roast potatoes (decided to economise and only give the Sprogs two lamb cutlets each, you should have heard the moaning). Here’s the recipe:
8 zucchinis, halved; couple of slurps of extra-virgin olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon; handful of mint leaves, shredded; 100 grams crumbled goat’s fetta.
Method: You’re supposed to chargrill the zucchinis, but I just put them in my George Foreman. While they’re cooking, combine all the other ingredients, then pour them over the cooked zucchinis. Yum. (a bit of crushed garlic can be nice in the dressing too, if you don’t mind woofy breath the next day).
housegoeshome 
Ever since motherhood, I have found Melbourne Cup Day to be very uneventful and frankly depressing. And, yes, since the school pick up began 3 years ago, I don’t even get to see the race!
My victorian based sister tells me that A: It’s a public holiday in Vic, so everyone can celebrate and B: their school pick up is at 3.30pm.
I still have your blue cup hat!!