Fashion emergency! Help required!

Guess what? I have a job interview coming up!

I have so far applied for five different librarian/library assistant jobs since completing my uni study. I have one confirmed interview, and I expect to have others also.

I have written a little bit about preparing for job interviews on my "other blog". If you want, you can read it here. On this blog, we're going to think about what I should wear to the interview.

Put your "fashion caps" on girls (and boys) and help me decide what look says "capable", "professional" and "all round fabulous" to you.

From Country Road, we have a nice conservative pant suit:

Perhaps worn with a colourful top so I don't look too serious?

Or how about a nice dress? I love the shape of the dress below, but it's from a shop called "MrandMrsTallClothes" which I certainly am not!

I love this skirt and top combo from Jacqui E. Does it look right for a librarian? Or too dressy and not professional enough?

Also from Jacqui E is this dress which looks really comfy. Would it be too colourful for an interview?

I looooove this dress from Portmans.

A nice simple top like this one from Katies would be easy to wear with pants or a skirt...

Ok, so I've discovered that I'm not too good at this internet window shopping thing. Please send me pictures or links or opinions or anything else that might be helpful. Here are some guidelines:

1. I'm not skinny. I can't wear stuff that's designed for six foot tall models!

2. I'm not rich. I can't afford designer brands.

3. Whatever I get for the interview, I need to be able to wear again. I can't have anything that makes me look like I the CEO of a company. Then it will be too dressy and serious to wear to work. A skirt or pants and jacket combo might be the way to go because they don't have to be worn together and different tops can create different looks.

Get working fashionistas! Looking forward to your fashion tips :)

Southern Feast (or "What I cooked from Ree Drummond's cookbook")

Saturday night I cooked a Southern feast for my family from Ree Drummond's fabulous cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Readers of my blog will remember that my beautiful sister bought me the book after I waxed lyrical about Ree's blog and wonderful recipes. You can read all about it here.

So, what was on the menu?

I didn't do any starters because I had a feeling that the meal itself would be filling enough!

For main course we had Chicken-Fried Steak with Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy, served with Green Salad. Here's what it looked like on my plate:

How did it taste?

Well, I found the biscuits a bit challenging! They turned out a little crispier and less light and fluffy than I would have liked, but what do I know? Everyone tried some, but no-one went back for seconds. I'm not sure whether it was because the Aussie taste-buds are not accustomed to them or if it was because I just didn't do a very good job of making them! Oh well. Here's a batch of them straight out of the oven. Do they look right to you?

The chicken-fried steak was much more of a success. We all enjoyed the tasty coating and the meat came out tender and juicy, so I must have done something right!

But dessert...well dessert was a triumph!

For the kids I made chocolate brownies. I didn't have time to attempt two of Ree's dessert recipes so for the brownies I used a nice reliable packet mix. Here they are:

(There were more, but I decided that two brownies per child was ample and put the rest in the freezer for later. I'm mean like that.)

For the adults, however, I decided to have a crack at Ree's Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce. I'm so glad that I did. Here are some photos of the crisp in progress:

And here's what it looked like after it had been baked and (mostly) eaten:

It was absolutely, deliciously scrumptious! And the maple cream sauce that went with it (which I shamefully neglected to photograph) was heavenly. Mmmm mmmm!

So all in all, a very enjoyable meal for all concerned! I'll definitely make the Peach Crisp again and I think also the Chicken-Fried Steak.

As for other recipes in the book, I'm keen to try the Red Velvet Cake and the Fried Chicken next.

So what do you think? Do I make it as an honorary Southern gal?



Murder in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

Title: Murder in Plain Sight

Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: HQN
Pub Date: 11/30/2010
ISBN: 9780373774722
Author: Marta Perry
Category: FICTION - ADULT: Other: Religious

"There are secrets buried in Amish country...

Did a sweet-faced Amish teenager brutally murder a young woman? To save her career, big-city lawyer Jessica Langdon is determined to defend him—against the community’s bitter and even violent outrage. Yet without an understanding of Amish culture, Jessica must rely on arrogant businessman Trey Morgan, who has ties to the Amish community...and believes in the boy’s guilt.

Jessica has threats coming from all sides: a local fanatic, stirred up by the biased publicity of the case; the dead girl’s boyfriend; even from the person she’s learned to trust the most, Trey Morgan. But just when Jessica fears she’s placed her trust in the wrong man, Trey saves her life. And now they must both reach into a dangerous past to protect everyone’s future—including their own."

Once again I have been fortunate enough to receive a pre-publication galley to read and review via netGalley, however I have no obligation to either netGalley or the publisher to produce a favourable review of the book. The following opinions are my own.

Murder in Plain Sight is an enjoyable read.

Jessica Langdon travels to a quiet Pennsylvanian farming community with instructions from her boss to secure a quick and clean plea bargain for a teen accused of murder in what appears to be a straightforward open and shut case. Quickly, however, Jessica becomes convinced that there is more to the case than first appears, and becomes determined to investigate and provide her client with the best possible defence.

A mysterious suicide, a Pennsylvania Dutch hex symbol, death threats and the complicated love-life of the victim combine to make Jessica's job difficult and dangerous. Not to mention the fact that she is finding herself attracted to the infuriatingly bossy Trey Morgan.

This book is not a nail-bitingly suspenseful thriller, or a complex legal drama. It is, however, a pleasant read with a little bit of mystery and a little bit of romance.

I was drawn to Murder in Plain Sight because I thought I would enjoy reading a novel set in and around an Amish community. The setting  did contribute to the story, and I learned some things about the Amish that I did not previously know. I would have enjoyed a more demanding mystery or a more heartfelt romance, or both! I felt that the author treated both the mystery and the romance too superficially for my liking. Certainly I prefer my reading material to be a bit deeper and more thought-provoking than this novel.

Murder in Plain Sight is a light, quick read that will appeal to readers of cozy mysteries.

You can be my friend on the "book of faces"!

So, what have you been up to? I joined Facebook.

Feel free to send me a friend request :)

I've been trying to resist for a long time, worried that I will fritter away hours every day foofing around online (which I already do, reading blogs, Twittering, etc). But then a fellow student from uni suggested that we use Facebook's new group pages to set up a networking group for those of us who are graduating from our Master of Education. It provides us with a free platform on which to share links and information and maintain discussions. So I decided to join up.

Here's my profile picture.

I got Chris to take some "arty" head shots of me in the backyard, but now I'm thinking that I look a bit old and wrinkly! I think a bit of photoshopping might be in order for the next one!

In other news, this Saturday I am cooking an American "Pioneer Woman" meal for the family when my sister comes over for dinner. Check this post to see how excited I am about cooking some traditional American fare.

I've decided on the menu - I'm going to cook Chicken-Fried Steak with Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy - mmm mmmm.

Biscuits and gravy a la Pioneer Woman.

I'll take lots of pictures and let you know how it all goes. I think we might need something from the vegetable food group to go with all the fried steak and gravy goodness. Would a green salad go with it do you think? Let me know your suggestions...

The Gathering Storm by Bodie and Brock Thoene

The Gathering Storm by Bodie & Brock Thoene.

****

Borrowed from my sister.

"As Nazi forces tighten the noose, American-born Loralei Kepler, daughter of a missionary family, flees Brussels ahead of the Blitzkrieg. But is anywhere safe from Adolf Hitler's evil grasp? Loralei's harrowing flight leads her into the arms of needy child refugees, who have sacrificed everything in exchange for their lives, and toward a mysterious figure, who closely guards an age-old secret."

I really enjoyed this work of historical fiction. It's written from a Christian perspective, but does not preach at all, and also introduces a mystical element that is unusual, in my experience, in Christian fiction.

The book opens and closes with the author, Bodie Thoene, writing in the first person as herself. She describes meeting Loralei and being entrusted with her personal diary of wartime experiences in the hope that she could help Loralei to have it published.

As Loralei's story unfolds, we experience a first hand account of the horror and desperation of ordinary people fleeing their homes as the bombs drop and the tanks roll in. The courage required to continue despite the physical deprivation and the devastating losses is monumental. It makes me wonder how I would find the strength to carry on, were I in a similar situation. The resilience and endurance shown by people the world over in times of war truly amazes me.

The Gathering Storm focuses on Loralei's work with men, women and children displaced by the war and needing refuge, and the descriptions of her work with the refugees is inspirational. There is also a romantic element to the story, which I don't want to give away here.

The Thoenes introduce a story from Jewish mysticism - The Thirty Six Righteous Ones. I had never heard of it, but found it intriguing. As for the end of the story...well in some ways it raises more questions than it answers.

I recommend giving this book a look if you like historical fiction set in World War II.