Not. Happy. Jan.

I had intended to come home and write up a happy post about a nice day out shopping at a childrens market and the sustainable living expo with good company - and that part did happen...

I did have a lovely day out with Sif and the adorable Ari at the childrens market. I've been hanging for this since Dec as I knew I could get a lot of very nice stuff at far less than it'd normally cost which being a frugal bargain queen I loves! My haul - 29 pieces (onesies, shirts, pants, dresses, jackets, sleepsuits etc) in brands which retail $30-60 ea (Absorba, Jack and Milley, Seed, Paradise Baby, Purebaby Organics, Minihaha) for avg $1.75 ea. We then rode the train in to the city for the Sustainable Living festival and met up with Jayne, Liam and Sienna.

At the very end, we stopped in Fed Square at one of the cafes. I'd sent Nic out to a different place to get La some food. When Nic got back and handed me the change, I discovered my wallet had been stolen!

I was NOT being careless either - I had my arm looped through the handles, so that it couldn't be snatched and was pushed behind me with my hands/arm resting on the side of the purse with the 'bulk' of the bag wedged between my back and the (solid wood, no gaps) bench to keep it out of peoples sight and reach. I did not leave it and was in physical contact with it the whole time. My wallet was out long enough to hand Nic enough to get Laurent something to eat (while telling him to get something smallish and inexpensive because we're on a tight budget atm - which the thief would have heard me say...) and then put right back in. Sif and Jayne were both directly facing me from across the table, less than a few feet away and under a security camera, in the cafe's "Safety Zone" just outside their doors - which according to the security guard who reviewed the footage missed the thief by a few centimeters due to angle. So whoever did this was an absolute pro to be able to get into my purse to pinch the wallet without me feeling anything or anyone else seeing them and had cased the area and security very carefully to know to avoid how to be in the shot. Absolute SCUM...

And the only reason they were able to get the money is because the bank decided to change our cards without asking us from standard bankcard that requires a PIN to one which accepts the easier to fake (esp if the cashier is lazy) signature. So we make our police report and get home to cancel the cards but it seems around 10 mins after they pinched it they drained the account and left us with about $2. Generally I try to tell myself if someone steals maybe they have some really desperate reason but right now I've had a very stressful, crappy week and am not feeling very charitable so I hope karma drop kicks them into the next millenium!