2015, you big weirdo

So it’s July. And I haven’t been around these parts much. Last week, Selina reminded me that I actually had a blog and that I should do something with it. But as my love F Scott Fitzgerald once said; You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say.

This year has been a funny one and I haven’t made up mind about whether I like it yet. I mean, I always love life. But have I liked it lately? I’m not sure.

January was terrifying. One of the most important people in my world had a health scare that made me feel like the tectonic plates were shifting beneath my feet. I experienced what it was like to feel real fear. Fear that made me dread getting out of bed every day because outside my door lay the potential horror of bad news I wouldn’t be able to unhear. By some miracle, everything in the end, was sort of ok. Not perfect, but ok. And as always, these kind of experiences teach us that all we can really do in life is to make what we have matter.

I’ve started studying again this year and have fallen straight back into my old habit of putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself. As a result though, I’ve got good results. I also feel mentally nourished for the first time in ages. In four years time I’ll be a Social Worker and will hopefully feel more proud of what I put out into the world each day. I must say though, the combination of working full time and studying part time kills your social life and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Some of our closest friends have been dealing with heavy stuff this year. Jay lost his Dad in March and my heart broke for him. I wanted to physically take his grief away so that he didn’t have to find his own way through it. Another best friend has recently learnt that her beloved brother has an ugly tumour in his brain that means he might not live to be a wise old man. And someone else finally found the courage to leave an abusive relationship.

At work, I’ve been dealing with the kind of madness that makes dogs howl and bananas turn black in the bowl and causes smart men to run for the hills. Madness. You know the kind.

But above all, 2015 seems to be a year of tremendous, ongoing growth. A year of developing precious friendships. A year of change. So do I like it? Yes, actually. I think I really do.

Anatomy of a perfect Sunday

Today started with an early morning swim in the ocean baths at Freshwater, followed by some serious lazing on the beach. Then there was some further lazing in the Paddington Reservoir Gardens. Afterwards we had a look through the Brett Whiteley Studio in Surry Hills.

It was a rejuvenating day. The way all Sundays should be, don’t you think?

 

Podcasts I love

I have a number of favourite podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis. These are they:

• The Joe Rogan Experience
  This podcast and its followers has become like a cult movement! It’s hosted by stand-up comedian Joe Rogan.  I think the reason it’s so popular is because people are really seeking authenticity right now and Joe is about as authentic as you can get. He’s one of those people who seem to easily be able to explain the world to you.  His interviews range from thought provoking to hilarious. He has all sorts of different guests who have exposed me to ideas that have mentally taken me to interesting, esoteric places. I love him.
• London Real
  Inspired by the Joe Rogan Experience, London Real is hosted by Brian Rose who quit his job as a banker in London to create this weekly talk show. The topics each week vary from politics to fitness to contemporary debates. The interviews are always really interesting and eye opening. After listening to this podcast I feel less distracted by prosaic day-to-day concerns and can feel myself thinking bigger, deeper and for longer!  
• Bullet proof radio
  This show run by Dave Asprey who created The Bullet Proof Diet. His interviews are all about the latest in innovative thinking geared toward how to perform better. The science is fascinating to me.
• The Mike Dolce Show
  Mike is a UFC trainer who is all about ‘earth grown nutrients’ and he’s very anti processed food. He’s one of those people who I consider to be a gold medallist in the ‘Winning At Life’ category. He is passionate, has strong, happy relationships and is successful in many ways.
• Warrior Poet
  Aubrey Marcus who runs this podcast seems to be a gorgeous individual. He explores topics that I would never have thought I was interested in but that I now find fascinating. He talks about psychedelics, shamanic therapy and enlightenment. Note that the thoughts and opinions expressed in his podcasts do not necessarily mimic the views the linker! :)
• Q&A
  I love this show but it’s on late and I often fall asleep. So now I listen to it while I go to work on Tuesday mornings. Q&A is all about the hot political and social issues in Australia each week. I learn lots from this show!
• Insight
  This is an SBS show that I love but never seem to be home to watch on Tuesday nights. They bring together all sorts of guests, experts, people with strong opinions and often people with remarkable tales. An opinion is one thing I’ve always got on hand and I like listening to other peoples as well!
• The Book Club
  Skewing heavily towards literary fiction, this show has a gorgeous, gregarious panel that discuss new and classic books. If I could be anyone other than myself I would struggle to choose between Marieke Hardy and Jennifer Byrne. I love the literary debates on this show! It’s like the Margaret and David of the book world.
• ABC Big Ideas TV
  As I’m sure you’re gathering if you’ve read this far, I love ‘thinky’ videos and podcasts so I love this one. The show and podcast curate interesting, challenging and diverse talks from events everywhere, including writers festivals, unis and other places around Australia.
• TEDTalks
  No podcast ‘best of’ list would be complete without mentioning these renowned talks. TED always provide some of the most fascinating, insightful, and intriguing discussions from people around the world. Each talk is condensed into a short audio segment which I devour.
• NPR: TED radio hour
  This podcast is based on TED Talks but Guy Raz curates a few different talks on one particular topic into an hour long talk. He interviews the people who gives the talks and then injects parts of the talks into the segment. These podcasts address everything from happiness to crowd-sourcing innovation. Love ’em.
• The Moth
  This is sort of similar to TED but I actually like it better. It’s a recording of storytellerd who are standing in a crowded room with no notes or slides and just telling stories. They are often very moving and I’ve had big cries, many times listening to this.
• This American Life
  Apparently this is the most downloaded podcast in America. Each week,  the host Ira Glass delves into first-person stories and short fiction pieces from around the world. It will make you laugh just as often as it will make you cry.
• TOFOP
  This is a comedy podcast hosted by Wil Anderson and Charlie Clausen. They discuss bizarre hypothetical situations and talk a lot about movies that I have never seen nor will see! I can’t listen to this on the train because it makes me laugh too much and Ian wants to disown me!
• Wilosophy
  This is my favourite podcast of all and I wish Wil Anderson would record more! He has conversations with people about what their life philosophy is. I think the reason I love it so much is because it’s allowing me to hear the conversations I want to have.
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry
  I mean, the name alone! Lee Tran Lam’s blog was the first blog I ever read. And her podcast was the first I ever listened to! She has a very engaging style and interviews Sydney restaurateurs and food personalities. I’ve never listened to one of her podcasts and NOT wanted to go to the restaurant she’s just featured. Essential for all Sydney foodies!
• The Joy the Baker podcast
  This blogger and her bestie Tracy from the Shutterbean blog talk about ‘totally important unimportant things’. Their conversations remind me of all the silly conversations I have with my best friends. And it helps me to miss my besties a little less. Joy also has another podcast that’s been on hiatus called ‘We’re about to be friends’ but it’s about to start up again.
• Slumber Party with Georgie and Alie
  Alie and Georgia put on their pjs and podcast from a pillow fort. They are obsessed with science and cooking and ghosts and have the most preposterous
  conversations. I want to be friends with them. I know they’d like me.
• The Art of Simple
  This one is hosted by Tsh from The Art of Simple blog. I love Tsh because she’s all about living a simple, clutter free life. She wants to get in touch with her inner tortoise and do one thing with awareness rather than ten things mindlessly. So do I. I’m particularly loving her podcast at the moment because Tsh has taken a year off to travel the world with her family and I like hearing about the places she’s exploring.
• I seem fun: The diary of Jen Kirkman
  This American comedian has a podcast that I find to be absurd, random, delightful. When Ian’s overheard it, he’s described it as absurd, random and painful. Jen’s style takes a little getting used to. It’s the only podcast I listen to where someone just monologues. I really prefer two people podcasting together or a host interviewing people but I’ve got used to, and like this one. If you hear a whole lot of silence and think something’s gone wrong, don’t worry. She’s just texting someone mid podcast. Like I said. Random. I love her.
• After the jump
  Grace Bonney from Design Sponge hosts this podcast. She has lots of inspiring interviews with people from arty/crafty/designery communities. It’s a world I like to hear about. And if you’re a small business owner or professional blogger then you’d find all the tips useful.
• The Lively Show
  So this one is hosted by Jess Lively who also hosts what sounds like a popular blog. I don’t follow it and I only listen to this every now and again. Jess lives up to her name, she’s very high spirited and fun. She talks about living in the present and living with intention. Both are concepts that I recognise are a little trite but are still topics that interest me. 
  
• Over the back fence
  This one is two country neighbours chatting about life, the universe and everything else. It makes me want to move to the country and join the Country Women’s Association.
• Five to Eight
  This is a silly podcast but it really makes me laugh. A group of friends start recording it when they’ve had five drinks and they stop after they’ve had eight. It’s kind of like eavesdropping on a funny group of people at a bar!

Do you have any others you can let me know about? I’ve recently heard about The Table Set but haven’t listened to it yet. Add a comment if you know another you think I’d like.

Link juice

I thought I’d pass you some link juice. Here’s a few great things I’ve had bookmarked for awhile.

>>>> These AWESOME travel guides give you little itineraries for when you have only 12 or less hours in a particular city.

>>>> An ode to Turkish tea. I have been addicted to Turkish Apple tea ever since I went to Turkey.

>>>> Have a look at this stunning home. There’s so much visual loveliness that it sent me into a tizzy! Kara Rosenlund is certainly the cat’s meow in styling! I want to live there please.

>>>> This blog post and also the one that Stacey links to within it are  good reminder that we as woman need to stop comparing ourselves with each other all the time and learn from each other instead. I think we need to start saying ‘you do you and I’ll do ME!’.

>>>> I love this kind of life hack post. It’s a list of 20 signs you’re succeeding at life even when you feel like you’re not.

>>>> This post about things that morning people do better than night owls has decided me! I’m going to work on being an early bird again. Somehow I’ve stopped being an early riser. But I know that exercising in the morning boots your metabolism and gets your digestion going for the day. And according to this post, morning birds are happier, nicer and more conscientious too.

>>>> I love this recipe for immunity soup. Not because the soup itself is great but I really love the way the blogger describes it. Such good writing!

This soup is built on a monster white pepper broth. White pepper with jolts of ginger, and stabs of garlic. I like it just shy of scalding, racing down my throat, sweeping through my sinuses in one boisterous, fragrant swoop.

For me, this soup is all about the clear strong broth, the invigorating way it makes me feel, and the way it lights up my insides. This is a soup for the coldest days, the runniest noses, and the shortest days of winter.

Any link juice you can pass back to me?

Why I (mostly) love Instagram

I have a bit of a love/hate relationships with Instagram. There are some days when I am loathe to open it because I don’t want to see one more cup of someone else’s coffee.

Most days though, I love it. Why? Because to me, life is made up of small moments and small words and small things. And it is on these small moments and small words and small things that Instagram is built. People post photos of their still and uneventful moments. They post photos of their big and crazy moments. It’s wonderful to experience these moments with them.

And it’s for this reason that most of my favourite instagrammers are my friends and family. I love looking into their moments. Their every day moments.

Follow these peeps! 

Currently crushing on…

…..quirky ceramics from Gail C Ceramics

….enormous picnic sandwiches

….the easiest of easy DIY activities

….the discarded children’s spades that Ken Done collects from the beach and uses to mix paint

…..gorgeous quotes printed onto ceramics from MB art studio

…pretty vintage style brooches from Firuzan Goker

….cute pocket lockets from Jen Booth Lockets

….house pendants from Karolin Felix Dreams 

….French bull dog phone cases from The Storybook Rabbit

…fun pot plant holders from The Sill

…love heart mugs from Ross Lab

What are you crushing on right now? 

Put your drink on it

I’m quite obsessed with coasters. I have way more than I’ll ever need but I like to buy them when I travel. That way, when I’m back at home, every time I have a glass of water I am reminded of places I’ve been.

While travelling around etsy lately, I realised that I loved all of the coasters in this beautiful store.

There’s something for everyone.

For the social media queen: 

For the bibliophile:
 

For lovers of sculls: 

For those who love retro: 

For those who love nature: 

And for people who love birds: 

I think that MeadowTea is my new favourite etsy shop!

DIY craft projects.

When I’m scrolling through Feedly or Pinterest and I see the word ‘DIY’ I usually just keep on scrolling. Crafty minx I am not.

However I’ve recently come across a few thumb pausing projects that look easy even for me. And they’d all be such pretty gifts or lovely additions to your home.

>>>>>Tying cinnamon sticks around your candles would take no more than a few minutes. Once heated, the cinnamon would make your house smell amazing!

>>>>>Similarly, putting tea lights next to coffee beans would create an amazing scent as the warmth of the candles heats up the beans.

>>>>>These little candle holders look very easy to make. You just need a good gold texta! There’s some simple instructions on Creature Comforts.

>>>>>Make some dotty, spotty vases by following the instructions on The Crafted Life. You are meant to buy a special paint but I think I could do this with nail polish!

>>>>>Moving away from candles and to the cake sphere, this looks like a beautiful but easy way to decorate. Just some fresh flowers, berries and mint. Oh and lots of pink sprinkles.

>>>>>And to make pretty gift wrap accessories all you need is some gold spray paint.

Maybe I’m on my way to being a crafty minx after all?

A whole book for lists

For my birthday earlier this year, my gorgeous, gregarious, girl Mel made me the most delightful present. It’s a scrap book of sorts. But not just ANY scrap book. It’s a personally designed book for list lovers that she created especially for me. Mel made 52 headings, then themed up every page, leaving me to fill in the blanks each week for a year.

As you’ll see in the pages revealed below, the book is a lot of fun! The time and thought that went into this blew my mind.

You rock Melissa!

Here’s a bunch of lists for your perusal :) Excuse my hideous hand writing and also the quality of some of these pics.

My old friend Carrie

I watched the original version of Footloose this week. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it and I loved the crap out of it! But then I pretty much love anything that has dancing slash singing in it.

I was most pleased to discover that Sarah-Jessica Parker had a part. I’ve missed her. Carrie from Sex in the City is one of my favourite characters of all time. That show was nothing short of brilliant.

After finishing the movie, down the rabbit hole I fell into online Sarah-Jessica research. What’s she been doing since SITC? How are her kids? Does she have any good films coming up? Will there be any further movies?

I stumbled across this video that Vogue made earlier this year. Have you seen it? They give her five minutes to answer 73 questions. It’s clearly very rehearsed but I like what they did. She’s a cutie.

And now let’s look back at Marie Claire’s best Carrie Bradshaw quotes of all time. I wanted to pull out a few of my favourites and post them here, but then I realised that I was copying the entire list.

I miss you Carrie!