I woke up this morning and I was 1 year older.

Birthdays are such odd days. You go to bed one age and wake up another. Such an odd transformation. One nights' sleep and them Boom! I'm a whole year older.

I've been reminiscing about the year just past. All the triumphs and pitfalls and everything in between. In terms of highlights, the past year has been the year MP and I moved into our own place, the year we set up our own home. It's the year we became mortgage owners, the year I met Anthony Robbins (and did the Fire Walk!) and the year I moved into management.

The pitfalls have been few. The only one which has left a scar was the sudden death of my auntie. But her death has served a reminder to treasure the good times and give the ones I love an extra tight hug, every time.

But highlights and lowlights aside, it's the "in-betweens" that make up life. The day to day, habitual acts that are often deemed boring and monotonous. Life on a plotted graph would look like a sine curve and the "in-betweens" is just that - everything in between the crests and troughs.

Looking back, my sine curve over the last year looks different to other years. It's like the whole graph shifted up a notch on the y-axis.

I gained independence. I gained financial freedom. My relationship with MP has moved onto a whole new playing field. My relationship with my parents has morphed into one of mutual respect. My little sister is all grown up.

I learnt to marinate authentic Chinese pork ribs. I am more cautious about energy consumption. I learned to sew. I learned to bind books. I crocheted a couch throw.

I met Matthew, the homeless guy outside work and I buy him a coffee every time I see him. I learnt that not all people are motivated by pleasure and opportunities, as some are motivated by pain and the fear of loss. (That was a big lesson for me.)

I say "yes" more. I remind myself to thank God every day.

I wake up smiling.

The past year has been a great year. I feel like I woke up this year. I became more conscious of life. I've become more present.

This shift out of auto-pilot has changed everything and I can honestly say that it's been the best year of my life...

(...but I say that every birthday.)

Happy Birthday me.

Crappy Day... AWESOME dinner

It was a crappy work day. So MP and I decided to spontaneously celebrate the end of the week with a play date at Gastro Park...

Starting with a Puttanesca wafer and a glass of French Pinot Gris




Roast Morton Bay Bug Tail, warm spanner crab, coconut, kaffir lime and coriander...



The truffle special, with slow cooked egg...



The Crispy scaled Snapper, smoked potato puree, calamari crackling and squid ink sauce



The Saddle of lamb, textures of cauliflower and mushrooms



Nitro pavlova...



And to top of it off, An amazing chocolate dessert comprised of a chocolate mandarin sphere which you crack open with your spoon, oozing melted chocolate, caramel and honeycomb. With miniature macaroons and honeycomb clusters on the sides, this dish was the winner of the night...

A great night at Gastro Park.

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A fabulous party for a fabulous girl

Fabulous table settings...

Fabulous dinner...

Fabulous dessert...

Fabulous company...

A Fabulous night.

Delicious New project

I'm a little behind the eight ball with mobile apps... Just found out that I have blogpress on my iPhone!

So here's to the start of more Instagram piccies!

It was pay week this week (yippee!) and I decided to reward myself with a trip to the uber delicious (but rather exy) Morris & Sons Tapestry Crafts shop on Sydney's Clarence Street. There has been a beautiful crochet blanket on display there which I had been eyeing for aaaggeeeesss but haven't been able to afford making, as the beauty of the blanket lies in the beautifully soft Morris & Son's own branded bamboo & Merino "Paddington" wool, which is $11.50 a ball.

This week I succumbed...





I only bought half the wool required to make the blanket (which already wiped my whole week's budget... Eek!), but after just one evening crocheting the soft tinselly wool into granny squares, I was in crafting bliss.

(Blanket progress reports to come.)

Monday Ramblings

So the outcome of yesterday's reframing exercise?

It worked maybe 90% of the night which was a good result. I still thought about the incident. But I knew the instant I started thinking about it so I consciously stopped... Maybe a few more trials before I give my final verdict.

The start of another working week today. I had all these grand plans for this evening's affair including a last minute date night plan to go catch a movie. But alas, the cold weather and Masterchef got the better of us and we ended up eating dinner on the couch in front of the tele.

But guess what I did after?

Yes dear reader, the lace is back! Progress report shortly.

Book 1 - Ready to go!

I finished the first book! I was hoping to get all three done today but I only had 2 hours at the bindery and I had to redo one book twice because I kept botching up the alignment. Luckily, I was able to get all three books glued together but I only had time to block press one. Here it is!

I will be back at the bindery in a fortnight so will be finishing the remaining 2 then. (Sorry JW! Had to get Soph's done first as her farewell is next week.) There are still seven up for grabs so let me know if you want one.
(Gentle reminder peoples... they're FREE!)

Ok, now I need to get something off my chest. Like a lot of people, my mind indulges in a lot of negative self talk. Over the past two days, I have been replaying a situation that happened at work, over and over again, and it's been really getting me down. I've been beating myself up about how crappily I handled the situation, what I could have said or done instead, and what can I do to make things better? This situation has been dominating my head space and it's left me dreading the week before me... I am literally letting the past destroy my present and my future,

...

Ok, as a last resort, as nothing I have done this weekend (as great and fun as the activities have been) has been able to distract me from dwelling on this negative experience, I just tried a NLP reframing exercise. I.e, changing the context and content of a past experience in my mind. (Exercise courtesy of Tony Robbins.)

... And it's worked. The video isn't dominating my headspace anymore.

A miracle? Hmm... Ok, maybe not. The cynic within me is wondering how long this will last.

Let me blog again in a few hours and i'll let you know how it goes.

Just another magical Sunday...

I love Sundays. It's the magical day where anything can happen and the opportunities seem boundless.

It's the one day where my body clock adjusts to sleeping in. The day where the forgotten laundry gets done, where tea gets time to seep and where breakfasts is a more relaxed affair. Already, the washing has been done and hung, dried dishes have been packed away, breakfast is right next to me and in 20mins, I'm off to the bindery. 3 books gone... 7 to go! The offer is still on the table dear reader. (Please refer to my previous post if you are a new reader... And thanks for stumbling across my blog!)

It's also been exactly 8 days since I had my eyes lasered and I can SEE! I am officially goggle free!

Have a great Sunday!

Dear Reader... this is my gift to you.

Two posts ago, I mentioned my book project. Ten hand bound red books which will be individually customized to their owners. Their name block pressed in gold on the front.

I had planned to sell them on Etsy. As a test to see whether anyone would buy my wares. But as I was sewing the books this afternoon, I came to a realization... I don't want to sell them. I don't need to. (well, not at this point anyways.)

What I mean is that I already have a job that pays the bills. True, I've been trying to escape from the corporate world but until I do, I want to make things to give, not to sell.

So this is my gift to you dear reader. Leave me a message or email me or sms me (for those of you who have my number) and I will post you a customized book. I am going to make 10 books to give away. As I can only go to the bindery every fortnight, it may take me a while to finish them. But I promise that it will get to you wherever you are in the world. And no, you will not have to pay for postage.

For those of you who receive my gift, all I ask is that you go out and give to a stranger today. Give or help someone who can't give back. Hopefully, like me, you'll realize that the rewards of giving are much better than trading.

In a heartbeat... That's how quickly life can change

I had a death in the family last weekend. It was sudden and unexpected. In a heartbeat, everything changed. Life ground to a halt.

The last week has been a blur of funeral planning, consoling and cooking for the family. I hand bound a memorial book for the funeral which was a good distraction. But it's in those moments when I'm alone, in the shower or just before falling asleep, where the shocking reality of what's happened sinks in.

She's gone. And the world has lost a beautiful, kind soul.

We will love you always Auntie Sue. You will never be forgotten.