January review and February preview

Can you believe it’s February already? I’ve no idea where January went! It’s been a busy month and in summary this is what I have done:

• Read 3 books (including Me Before You which I highly recommend, it’s my new favourite)
• Finished the first book in the Gilmore Girls book club
• Learnt 30 new words thanks to the word a day challenge with Alice
• Read 30 poems thanks to the poem a day challenge with Mel
• Created 30 pieces of postcard art, and I can’t wait to see what Lizi has created
• Found 30 new positive quotes
• Had salads everyday for 30 days
• Started volunteering (more on this soon)

And this is what I hope to achieve in rainy February (and one day in March!)

• Contact 30 facebook friends I haven’t spoken to either at all or in over 2 years
• Contact 30 neighbours
• Create a bucket list in 30 days
• Write a letter a day for 30 days
• Keep a laughter journal for 30 days

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be reviewing the previous challenges I have completed as well.
Here’s to February, I hope it’s a great one for you.

Minimalism challenge update: Priorities, stress, habits and skills

This post is about goal setting and evaluating. So if this isn't your cup of tea, go make that cup of tea and come back tomorrow where you can read about something else.
For part of the challenge I had to ‘dig deep’ and identify 3-6 priorities of what matters in my life and how to add more of that to my daily life.
Here are my 5 priorities of life, I'm not sure how I can add them to my daily life, so any suggestions, let me know.
1. My friends happiness.
2. Continually working on relations with immediate family and relatives.
3. The constant battle of having too many things (in short keep sorting out my crap and don’t buy anything.)
4. Finding a boyfriend who doesn't need fixing.
5. Not be the one that always makes mistakes in the family.

I always had to examine my daily habits, and I came up with a few things that could be improved. I'm going to try and plan my outfits and make my packed lunch the night before to save time. I need to make more of a routine, rather then ad hoc the recycling and cleaning. I’ll read a book when I wake up as this is a relaxing start to the day. And I’ll try and not use the living room as a dumping ground!
I had to examine my stress triggers as well. Now I don’t get stressed, I think life is too short to let anything get to you. I only start showing signs of stress when systems in place don’t work, when something isn't communicated fully and when plans organised by others don’t go to plan.

As part of the challenge also I had to not buy anything for 24 hours and considering I'm constantly trying to save money, this wasn't that hard.

Single tasking was a tricky one for me. It meant doing one task at a time, and in the office where I work this is not so easy as I get interrupted by other emails and phone calls with more urgent things. However I did try and stay focused on one thing at a time.

I had to evaluate my last 5 purchases and at the time in the challenge I think they were great things. Who wouldn’t want to download One Direction’s History song?! It’s great and I downloaded it because I needed cheering up. I bought salad ingredients for my salad challenge, sweet potatoes for dinner, the Bend It Like Beckham musical soundtrack because I couldn't get the songs out of my head and I found it very uplifting. My last purchase leads me onto two more parts of the challenge.

The first is take a step towards learning a new skill; and I want to learn to juggle this year, so I bought some juggling balls. Which a few days in are still in their packet! Come on guys, we’re only 28 days into the year, give me a chance!

And this leads me onto the last part of the challenge I’ll be covering today, define your goals for this year. Now I've sort of combined new years resolutions with goals, and yes I know I’ve put down a lot of things to do, but why not? If I don’t achieve them all then that’s that, but what if I did achieve them, that would be pretty great.

So here they are:
• See all my relatives at least once before Christmas and get a photo with them
• Learn to fence
• Learn to juggle
• Don’t go to the cinema
• Unlock people’s potential
• Enter a screenwriting competition
• Do something to do with; earth, wind, fire and water
• Visit new places that spell out my full name

It’s going to be a busy 2016!

Challenge within a challenge: A song a day playlist; Tracks 16-21

For me today dragged a bit. If it dragged for you, then have a listen to these songs, it might make time go a bit faster.

Day 16- A song that holds a lot of meaning to you
Linsey- Meeting place, The Last Shadow Puppets
Me- I Believe, Christina Perri
I discovered this song on a film trailer for the film Pan a couple of years ago, and I listened to the song a lot when going through tough times.

Day 17- A song that annoys you
Linsey- Whistle- Flo Rida
Me- Baby baby, Justin Bieber
I hate Justin Bieber. I’m not a belieber and I refuse to listen to any of his songs, even if they are now apparently good.

Day 18-A song you have as your ringtone/want to be your ringtone
Linsey- She Wants Me Now, Slaves
Me-I am the one and only, Chesney Hawkes
How good would it be to have this as  your ringtone. It would be an instant ego boost straight away!

Day 19- A song your currently obsessed with
Linsey- You're a Germ, Wolf Alice
Me- Get the Party Started, Shirley Bassey
This song isn't a new one; neither this cover version or the original, but from time to time it gets used on montage sequences on TV. I downloaded it before in December and couldn't stop listening to it for most of the month!

Day 20- A song that sums up 2015
Linsey- R U Mine? Arctic Monkeys
Me- Love Me Like You Do, Ellie Goulding
I’m afraid 2015 for me was mostly about being in love and then going through a breakup. This song reminded me of my ex and we both heard it one time walking through a park after we split and we both agreed it reminded us of our time together.

Day 21: A song you want to dance to at your wedding
Linsey- Everlong, Foo Fighters
Me- Rockin All Over the World- Status Quo

It’s going to be a while before I get married, mainly because I need to have a boyfriend first, and also my wedding coordinating days has put me off for quite a while. My mind changes of what I want to walk down the aisle to, and you can’t really think of the first dance song until you meet the guy, so I've gone with the father daughter dance. And for this it isn't going to be a cheesy cliché song like Dance with my Father by Luther Vandross. Instead I've gone for the song that we do the washing and drying up when I'm round at my mum and dad’s.

Minimalism challenge: Routines and complaints

As part of my minimalism challenge I had to meditate, have a day of no complaining, create a morning routine and a relaxing bedtime routine.

A day of no complaining was pretty easy to do, as the only thing I complain about these days are either Outlook not working properly at work, or my landlord not issuing new parking permits.

I’d already tried meditating in my routine of success challenge, and I didn't get much from it. But as the challenge said to meditate for 15 minutes, I did exactly that.

I had to create a morning ritual and for this the website suggested to either meditate, yoga or read. So I read when I woke up, and I still read for 15 minutes as soon as I wake up. It actually helps me wake up more quickly and makes me more alert.

On the other end of things part of the challenge was to create a bedtime routine. So I got my favourite PJ’s my bed nicely arranged with cushions, my letter writing folder, my ipod to play relaxing music, my diary to write challenge updates and the book I was reading at the time. All of these were my favourite things to do to relax. Where I can I now try to do at least one of these things before going to bed.

Challenge within a challenge: A song a day playlist; Tracks 11-15

It's time for another lot of songs from the 30 day song challenge. So if you're bored this Sunday night, try listening to some of the songs we picked. Enjoy!

Day 11- A song that reminds you of summer
Linsey- Sun is shining, Bob Marley vs Funkstar De Luxe
Me- Summertime in the city, Scouting for Girls
I haven’t got any specific memories with this song, it’s just a great summertime feeling song.

Day 12- A song that reminds you of your best friend
Linsey- Numb, Linkin Park
Me- Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Marvin and Tammi
This song reminds me of being at uni and dancing on the landing with a few of my housemates, and then being told off by another one who’s bedroom was downstairs as she said we were too loud.

Day 13- A song you song you sing in the shower
Linsey- The Only Exception, Paramore
Me- Cry Me a River, Michael Buble
So I don’t sing in the shower. Instead I chose Cry Me a River because when arrived back in the UK from the second time of going on holiday to Sydney, I went on the whole Picadilly line from Heathrow to Cockfosters. It was a Sunday morning around 8 am and there was nobody on the train. My favourite album at the time was Michael Buble’s Crazy Love album, and I listened to it non stop when I was on holiday. And with not a soul in sight I belted out the whole album while on the train. This was my favourite song to sing.

Day 14- A song you like hearing live
Linsey- Plug In Baby, Muse
Me- Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
I go to concerts but there aren’t any songs that sound out being performed loud. I have randomly got a live Peter Gabriel album, and Sledgehammer is great live. I love how the song builds before the singing starts, and when the crowd roars it gets even better.

Day 15- A song people wouldn't expect you to like
Linsey-Extract from Don Quixote (Bolshoi Ballet)
Me- Get Back, Ludacris
I first heard this song on Tropic Thunder. It’s the one that Tom Cruise dances to during the credits, and for some reason I love it. It’s a great song to run to as well as it’s got a nice steady beat. Just to warn you there is a bit of swearing in the rap.

Challenge within a challenge: Postcard art

The last 30 day challenge I’m doing in January is postcard art. My friend Lizi and I are creating a postcard sized piece of art everyday, to have a display at the end of the month.

I've known Lizi since uni and we lived in halls together for the first year and then in a student house for second and third year. She’s currently living in Spain and was pretty excited to start the challenge.
Now Lizi did Fine Art at uni, and the last time I did some art was probably when I was 13 or 14, so it’s been a long time. Needless to say I’m pretty rusty, but hopefully I'm improving throughout the challenge.

Here are my first few attempts! I've gone for random things that I saw in Stylist magazines that I thought would be good to draw. I'll hopefully try some different styles and textures as well.

Challenge within a challenge: Minimalism challenge: Cleaning out my closet

The minimalism challenge finished last Friday so it’s time to go over what I did for the challenge. One of them was cleaning out your closet or as the brits would say wardrobe.

So before Christmas my friend Laura came round to help me out. If I’m sorting out things, once I get going I can chuck out quite a bit, but it’s good to have someone to nudge you and question all your decisions.

The last time I sorted my wardrobe was over a year ago and my sister Lucy went through my wardrobe last time. On many of the clothes she asked in what age was this fashionable, and the honest view, you’re nearing 30 start dressing like it!

Laura was pretty much the same as Lucy and we got rid of a lot of clothes in a short space of time.
So here’s what I gave to charity out:
6 pairs of shoes
1 pair of flip flops
2 pair of boots
9 work tops
5 going out tops
1 shirt
6 casual tops
1 jumpsuit
5 cardigans
1 jumper
3 skirts
3 trousers
1 work jacket
1 tunic
1 jacket
2 pairs of shorts

I reorganised my drawers as well, so everything is a lot tidier. Now to replenish some of the stock!

Challenge within a challenge: Watchlist update

With award season in full swing, it means it is also a time when I add lots of films to my IMDB watchlist. Adding to my original total, it now totals 119 films to watch. However I have been watching some of the films on the list….at last!

Since announcing the challenge I have seen 9 of the films, and unfortunately the large majority of them fell flat. I'm so glad I didn't pay good money to see them on the cinema, or pay full price for them on DVD.

I really wanted to like The Secret Life of Walter Mitty but there was just something missing to make it great. I thought it was a great idea, but it didn't deliver. I did record the original the other day, so I’ll give that a watch to see if it’s any different.

The Rewrite with Hugh Grant was one of his weaker films, it just felt like he’d given up on finding good roles. None of the characters in The Romantics had any depth to care about them.
Personal Effects was in essence a TV movie I think with an A-List cast and I thought like Michelle Phiffer and Ashton Kutcher did the best they could with the script they had, which was only just off the mark of well rounded character.

August: Osage County had an all star cast, but it dragged for the first hour and although it stepped up a gear in the second hour, by that point I didn't care for the characters or what happened to them.
There were a few films that were better than I thought. Last Vegas was pretty funny in places and New Year’s Eve wasn't as bad as I heard it would be. And Soul Surfer was a good solid film that had a good pace and didn't flag at all.

But the best film of the bunch so far is a documentary called A Place at the Table. It investigates America and the millions who experience hunger on a daily basis. For a country so big and rich, you wouldn't think there would be such a problem, but there is.

This is one of the main problems, the cost of fruit and veg over the years has increased, while the cost of processed foods has decreased.

$3.00 is how much is spent on a child's school dinner everyday, although after admin, transportation of food and other things, it's more like $1.00.

Here are some other facts which you probably didn't know about the situation. 1 out of every 2 kids in America will be on food assistance (food stamps) at some point. In 1980 there were 200 food banks and or equivalent. Now there are 40,000. And there are 50 million American’s who don’t have enough to eat everyday.

It was a real eye opener and I highly recommend seeing it if you can.

Thoughtful presents: A hug in a bag

Before I go on with this post, I've written it not to big myself up in anyway of what I do for my friends; but this one is a good example of doing something when you don’t know what to do, but want to show you’re there for your friends all the same.

I've known my friend Charmaine (nicknamed Meryl) since 2012 as we used to work with each other in my wedding coordinating days. We try to meet up as often as we can but it can be difficult. Over the past couple of years her dad hasn't been in great health and has been in hospital a few times. I recall the first time this happening, and knowing that when she’s stressed she just has coffee and cigarettes at work, I knew I had to do something.

So I got one of those stacking boxes supermarkets use to display vegetables in and filled it with Covent Garden Soups, cereal, fruit juice, anything to provide her with the energy she needed and also to remind her to eat in the tough times.

I was watching a Meryl Streep film over the weekend and because Charmaine is nicknamed Meryl I thought I should text her. She text back saying that she’s been by her dad’s side at hospital for the past couple of weeks sleep on a Z-bed and when your friend is going through something tough, you have to do something.

She’s one of those people that doesn't really accept help or support, she’s very strong. So I made her a little care package for her and her dad. I've never met her dad so I had no idea of his likes and dislikes.

In the care package I put in a couple of quick to cook pasta meals for her strength, cereal bars for breakfast, Robinsons squash shots so she could drink something other than coffee or water, a colouring book as they are the trend for adults at the mo. I also got a magazine which I thought she could read with her dad or she could read articles out loud to him. I bought a pack of cards as there are games you can play on your own and if her dad is up to it, they could play together. I bought some nail varnish as she always likes to look her best, and even if you’re not feeling your best, the nail varnish might be a little boost that Charmaine needs. And I bought a cheap CD of 1950s hits as I thought her dad might like music from that era. Or if he hates music from that era then it would spur him on to make a speedy recovery.

Earlier this evening I popped by the hospital to give her the bag which was pretty much a hug in a bag. She’d had a tough day and the timing couldn't have been better. What was more surprising was with the CD, it was her dad’s favourite type of music! So I was really pleased that the bag of goodies helped put a smile on her face for a short time and gave her and her dad something else to talk about as well. I hope they find a CD player in the hospital to play the music.

Challenge within a challenge: Brightening up a dull January

In the penultimate 30 day challenge I set myself for January I'm writing a positive thought everyday. Reading positive thoughts isn't a new thing to me as I love a good quote. And I kept a folder of things I had up on my bedroom walls at uni, and as you can see my quote game was strong then!

Originally I was to do this challenge with my friend Humaira, but I think life got in the way and I haven’t received any quotes from her. What I'm going to do with all of my quotes I gather is put them in a little book and send it to her. You never know when you need a bit of inspiration.

We both love quotes and our friendship is determined by one that Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City said: ‘Friendships don’t magically last forty years; you have to invest in them.’

I’ll put all the positive thoughts I have on the blog at the end of the month, which will hopefully keep you positive through February.

Challenge within a challenge: Homemade is the only way

I pride myself on being the body that salad did not create. I hate salad; I find it boring and feel it tastes like soil. There was a time I didn't hate salad; I remember when I was five I made a face out of salad ingredients at school and ate the whole thing.

So I thought it would be a challenge doing something that you hate for 30 days. I'm eating salads for 30 days as either at lunch or at dinner time and I'm over halfway through and I haven’t missed a single day so far!

My first salad of the challenge

What I've learnt so far is that shop bought prepared salads aren't so great. The ones that I've made myself are way better, and are from recipe books I already have which means I'm doing things for another challenge as well (cooking from all my recipe books.)

A salad my mum made for me when I went over to my parents one Sunday.

The roasted sweet potato salad was yummy, as was the soft boiled egg and bacon salad, with an olive oil, lemon juice and Dijon mustard dressing. I think that’s the key to a good salad, have a good dressing.

Roasted sweet potato salad with a dressing made from: chilli, garlic, yogurt, lemon juice honey and extra virgin olive oil

The problem I have with recipes is I rarely cook just one portion, I ‘ll cook the full recipe and then cook to freeze. However you can’t freeze a salad so I just eat the same salad for a few days, and actually it’s not that bad to do.

With 13 days left I’m going to make all the salads myself. I was a bit lazy at the start of the month and shop bought them, so I’m going to cook more of a variety of different salads and who knows a few may become regular things I make to eat at lunch.

Challenge within a challenge: First film missed, first autobiography read

On Friday my friend Alice text me asking if I wanted to go and see The Danish Girl, and she hadn't heard I wasn’t going to the cinema this year so I had to say no. She went with her fiancé and another friend so she didn’t miss out.

I will get round to reading the book of The Danish Girl but last week I’d finished reading an autobiography, well sort of autobiography. The definition of an autobiography is an account of a person’s life written by that person. Late Fragments is by Kate Gross who in her twenties worked for two prime ministers and at 30 was the CEO of a charity working with fragile democracies in Africa (so says the blurb of the book.) A few years later she was diagnosed with colon cancer and passed away two years after that. So I'm pretty sure her account of life counts.

When I went on a book borrowing spree at Hitchin library, this was one of the books I came across and I recognised the story and realised I read about it in an article. She blogged while she had cancer and the book didn’t candy coat any of her feelings. She was an ambitious woman, but also her family was at the heart of everything. I like how she said that when people visited her they always wanted to talk about how she was feeling and then asked the reader; wouldn’t you get bored if you talk about yourself all day everyday. So she urged friends and family to tell her about their successes and what was going in their lives without any guilt.

It was a good read, and there was one part of the book that I want to share which was very insightful:
‘How I ended up spending my working life in this way is really a series of fortuitous accidents. As Steve Jobs said, the difficult thing about careers is that you can’t connect up the dots of your future in advance, only with the benefit of hindsight. My selection of dots – part choice, part chance, part a product of that mental landscape created in my early years – led me to a career in public service. But if I have learned anything in my working life, it’s that virtues and vices are not conferred on you by your job title. The dots that really matter aren’t the ones where you decide what you want to do, but how you want to be.’

That passage gave me a lot to think about.

Challenge within a challenge: Flying solo in dress number 8 and an animated face

A couple of weeks ago I went to my friend Jas’s wedding reception. I’ve known Jas for just over ten years and we met at uni and were on the same course. We’re complete opposites; she’s a northerner, I'm a southerner, she’s quite loud and daring and I’m a little quieter. Somehow the friendship worked and we’d sit with each other in lectures, hang out on nights out and on Wednesday afternoons go to clothes shopping. Or rather I’d voice opinions and she’d get me the most embarrassing thing in the shop for me to try on and try and make it look good. One of my favourite memories was in first year when we were having dinner at the uni canteen and her laugh was so loud that quite a few people started moving away from where we were sitting. And how when we saw the Borat film within 30 seconds she had started laughing and the cinema was quiet. I can’t help but laugh when thinking of Jas.

The wedding reception took place on the 2^nd at Manley Mere which was a bit of a trek, but it was worth the journey. I've been to over 30 weddings for work when I was a wedding coordinator, but this is the first I was flying solo at as a guest. There were supposed to be a couple of other people from uni attending but they dropped out last minute. I only knew Jas and had met her now husband Dave only once before. So arriving I didn't know anyone and I even asked one of the guests whether I was at the right place. Then Jas’s mum came over and asked whether I knew Jas or Dave and I ended up sitting with Jas’s family for the night.

It was a great night, and I even got my caricature done for the first time. I had a portrait done when I went to Prague a few years ago but with caricatures you don’t know whether they are going to bring out your bad features or not. And as you can see I don’t think it turned out too badly, I look pretty glamourous. The only annoying thing was while I was having my caricature done they brought out the evening buffet and so lots of people were walking past me with great food making me hungry.  

With every dress I wear for the dress challenge I make a donation to charity and I asked Jas whether she had a favourite charity. She said dog charities are ones that are important to, so I donated £10 to BlueCross. £10 could pay for a health check for an unwanted pet. Blue Cross helps unwanted pets find new homes and help sick and injured pets get better.The dress I wore was a green one, although it always comes out blue in pictures; and was from Dave as usual, but was originally from Warehouse. 

Jas’s wedding was the first of 3 weddings I’m going to this year. So keep a lookout later in the year for other dresses I wear.

Challenge within a challenge: Minimalism update- A mindful bare faced walk

I started my minimalism challenge around mid December and with Christmas happening it took a bit of a backseat. So with the final day of the challenge being the 15th January, I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.

This weekend I didn't have anything to do so I thought I’d get a few of the things ticked off the list. The first was to have a day unplanned and so I started this by watching what was on TV while having breakfast, instead of watching something I recorded. I ended up watching a bit of Saturday Kitchen and then some of Red Carpet Confessions on E! where I got an idea for something to learn this year. I then did another part of the challenge where I learnt to enjoy solitude by being alone and away from background and chatter from TV and social media for a few hours. To do this I did another part of the challenge which was to go for a walk and practice mindfulness. I took a few pictures of my walk which add a filter came out pretty well.

With enjoying solitude and switching off from everything this meant not listening to my ipod. I'm one of those people that love listening to music and preferably like there to always be some noise. So having nothing to listen to for a few hours meant I only had my thoughts to listen to which was quite daunting.

And I did another thing off the minimalism challenge in going bare faced. This wasn't a huge challenge for me as I don’t wear a lot of make up to begin with.

The site I got the challenge from said to do this by picking a familiar route and taking in all the surroundings. So I picked the Garden City Greenway which was a route that I used when training for my 50km walk a couple of years ago. I picked a pretty bad day for it as it rained quite a bit and the route was pretty muddy as a result. I didn't do all of the route and it’s nearly 14 miles, and I veered off it a few times, went through a wood which I hadn't done before, and went off to explore Willian a bit also. I then ended up in Letchworth and had a look in Letchworth library and I saw quite a few books I want to read. 2016 is definitely going to be the year of reading!

I only intended to walk for 3 hours tops, but I left the flat at 11 and returned just before 4.30. The rest of the day I spent watching Dinner Date with Charlotte and her boyfriend Dan and a few other programmes as well.

Your senses do open when you switch off, but a tip if you’re going to go for a walk to practice mindfulness….don’t go before lunch. There’s a fish and chip shop on my road and walking pass that place I got a nice smell that made me crave it for a fair chunk of the walk.

Challenge within a challenge: New poems

It’s time for another one of my 30 day challenges and today it’s all about poems. At school my favourite part of English lessons was reading and annotating poetry. I definitely found poetry easier to understand then Shakespeare and my marks always fared better.

I haven’t read a lot of poetry since those English lessons and although I read a poetry book as part of my 29 challenge, it didn't leaving a great need to read anymore poetry books. However a poem a day might be worthwhile and that is what I'm doing for 30 days.

With all my challenges I try to get a friend to do them with me, as it’s more fun that way and you keep each other going. And for the poem challenge I’m doing it with my friend Mel. So each day since the 1st January we've been sending each other a poem a day.

I’ve known Mel less than a year and we met on the National Trust working holiday I did in the Breacon Beacons back in September. She was one of the first people that I spoke to and for most of the week we worked next to each other on the hillside. She’s great fun and very positive and is currently at uni training to be a teacher. In Germany you have to take a six year course! Her English is very impressive and this challenge whovknows maybe I’ll learn some German as well.

We’re ten days into the challenge and I’m not going to put every poem in full, as it would be a very long blog post. But I’ll list the first five poems and expand on a couple of favourite ones. Some of them don’t have who the poet is, and some don’t have a title so with them I put the first line as the title in the hope it’s easier to find on google. So sit back and relax for some nice Sunday reading.

Day 1
My poem- If by Anonymous (I am aware there is a poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, but this is along the same lines but in shorter form.)
The poem was up on my Grandma’s bathroom wall and when she passed away it was one of the things I kept, and it’s in a nice frame in my bedroom.

If
If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you'd like to win, but think you can't
It's almost certain you won't
If you think you'll lose, you've lost
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will-
It's all in the state of mind
If you think you're outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who think he can
Anonymous

Mel’s poem- Burning the old Year by Naomi Shihab Nye

Day 2
My poem- The Wedding Poem by Carrie Bradshaw
I went to my friend Jas’s wedding reception on day 2, so I thought a wedding poem was very apt.

Day 3
My poem- Don’t Quit, author unknown
I liked the determination shown throughout this poem.
Mel’s poem- Together we are strong, author unknown

Day 4
My poem- How not to have to dry the dishes, author unknown
I was trying to find a poem about journeys, but somehow found this random funny poem instead!
Mel’s poem- The Snow Man, Wallace Shawn

Day 5
My poem- You tell her that she’s beautiful, e.h
I was giving Mel some advice on guys on day 5, so I thought this was a good poem in what all guys should think when they have found the right girl.

Mel’s poem- I run to you, Lisa Sturge
I run to you
You're all I need
I need to feel your gentleness next to me
You caress my skin and I know everything is alright
Your complexion so pure an white
I love you like none else
I will never be with another for you are the kindest and gentlest
Every time we touch
I feel clean again
Like an ocean wave has washed over me

When we are apart
I feel dirty
Like my best friend has been torn from me
I ache to hold you, to scrunch you
I need to have more of you
Don’t run out on me
I cant live without you
You're my morning and my evening
I love you from the bottom of my heart
my beloved 3 ply toilet paper roll!!

Thoughtful presents: Pot of luck

My friend Linsey and I talk a lot, or rather we message a lot on Whatsapp most days, and every once in a while we realise we haven’t seen each other face to face, even though it feels like we see each other all the time.

So yesterday I went round hers for a good catch up and we got to exchange Christmas presents. Linsey got me a book called #Girlboss which looks great and I can’t wait to read.

For her present I found inspiration from you guessed it Pinterest! I gave Linsey a pot of luck as I thought it would be good start to what I'm hoping is a successful 2016 for us both.

The pot of luck was filled with chocolate coins and 8 scratch cards. It was the first time I bought scratch cards, so there was a new experience in doing the present as well. I picked 8 as it’s a lucky number in China and I just wanted there to be an even number also!

Linsey liked the present, we ate our way through most of the chocolate coins and as for the scratch cards, the total winnings was £3. Onwards and upwards to a successful 2016.

Challenge within a challenge: New words

January is usually quite a dull month; money is tight, people drag themselves back to work after Christmas and this isn't much in sight to look forward to. So I thought I’d start a few new challenges to brighten things up!

One of these challenges is with my friend Alice and it’s to learn a new word everyday.

I’ve known Alice since school and we’ve been to lots of places together; Lille, Prague and Edinburgh to name a few. We always like learning and discovering new things, so when I showed Alice the list of potential 30 day challenges, she picked the word one.

So here are the first five words I sent to Alice:
Kinesics
Annus mirabilis
Alacrity
Uxorial
Bogart

And Alice has sent me these five words:
First-foot
Annuannus horribilis
Pernicious
Cornucopia
Benthos

I’ll try and use the new words I learn in future blog posts, so keep a look out.

Challenge within a challenge: Too many cooks

Any friends or family of mine will know that Aussie Masterchef is my favourite show. I talk about it so much I reckon I’d do a good job of doing their PR in the UK. But this post isn’t about the show.

I was in Milton Keynes before Christmas and bought the Covent Garden Soup cookbook for a bargain price of £5 (the original price was £25.) It had 365 soup recipes and looking through all of them some were just bizarre. Talking with my friends Ann Marie and Kayleigh about recipe books we agreed that there aren’t that many that you cook a lot of recipes from. One or two from each and there are a few when it’s several more. For me I've got two recipe books where I've made multiple recipes; the famous orange covered student cookbook and Jamie Oliver’s money saving cookbook.

So I thought about setting myself a challenge, to cook all the recipes I have in my cookbooks. It took quite a while to record exactly how many recipes and cookbooks I have. There are 5733 recipes spread over 30 recipe books. I'm sure there are many duplicate recipes for the same dish, but it will be interesting to see what recipe is the best in those cases. Before the ‘challenge’ begun I had cooked 57 of the recipes.

I'm not going to put a deadline on this challenge. It’s not going to be like the film Julie & Julia where I have to cook a recipe book in a year. I just hope I won’t have any cooking disasters like below, when I burnt a cake after not turning the oven down after pre heating it.

Thoughtful presents: Memory jar

Okay so I did this one for myself, but I'm sharing it as it’s a great simple idea to have at any birthday celebrations.

So for anyone that isn't my friends or family I turned 30 a few months ago, and I celebrated by hiring out a local indoor adventure playground Activity World for my friends and family to play, which was the most fun I've had at a party. And the day afterwards I had lunch with other family and friends that couldn't make Activity World.

For both I decided to make a memory jar for people to contribute to. As you know by now I love an idea from Pinterest and this is another one from the site.

It’s really simple to do; get a clear glass jar, stick a label stating memory jar or whatever birthday you are celebrating, and leave pens and paper for people to write memories of you. That’s it!

I read them after my birthday weekend and there was a great variety of memories, some I have no recollection of, like my dad saying how I was as a baby, to uni memories and nights out.

And some that didn't happen at all like these ones from family friend Mark!

Give it a go at your next birthday, it’s a great keepsake.

Challenge within a challenge: A song a day playlist; Tracks 6-10

Here are the second lot of the songs in the song a day challenge! If you want to do something to brighten up your January, definitely try this challenge.

Day 6- A song you can always relate to
Linsey- Peter, Jamie T
Me- Lift, Shannon Noll
I’d just started my first job hunt and this was on an album I bought the first time I went to Australia. I bought it as it had the song they used for The Ashes highlights (ironically by an Australian.) I’d had quite a few job rejections at this point when I heard the song and as corny as it sounds, the song spoke to me. When I heard the lyrics I was thinking, this guy is talking about me, has he written the song just for me? Obviously not as apparently it’s one of the songs Roger Federer listens to before matches!

Day 7- A song that is your guilty pleasure
Linsey- Love is an Open Door, Frozen
Me- Steal my Girl, One Direction
I’m not going to lie, I love a bit of 1D! Although this is the most recent song of theirs that I actually like, recently none of their songs have been catchy enough. This however is a great pop song, I spent many a commute into a job that was an hour drive belting out this song. Not an hour on repeat mind you, I’d get sick of it if I did that.

Day 8- A song you liked when you were younger
Linsey- 2 Become 1, Spice Girls
Me- I Sing the Body Electric, Fame soundtrack
My sisters and I, maybe not Lucy but definitely Lisa would dance around the living room the Fame soundtrack. Fame, Hot Lunch Jam and I Sing the Body Electric songs. I hadn’t heard it in a long time and when I was listening to it on the way to work I forgot how catchy it was. I also forgot that the lyrics make no sense whatsoever!

Day 9- A song that makes you want to dance
Linsey- The Lovecats, The Cure
Me- All Alone at Christmas, Darlene Love
Linsey wanted to have a Christmas song as part of the challenge, and this not only is my favourite Christmas song, but also a song you can’t help but dance to.

Day 10- A song that makes you cry
Linsey- A Faust Travesty Final Trio, Jenny Williams and Thomas Burns
Me- Who Am I, Will Young
There’s quite a few songs that make me cry, an old Adele song recently made me cry on the way to work, but I thought it would be too predictable. So on the way to visiting my sister I was looking for another song and listened to a few Will Young songs, and came across this song. When it came out it didn’t make me cry, but listening the lyrics this time made me blub like a baby. Will Young’s music videos are always very good and this one is him being a Blue Peter presenter. It’s well worth a watch.

Challenge within a challenge and new food: New Year’s Eve, dress number 7 and oysters

On New Year’s Eve I went to The Hermitage which is very local to me. Originally I was bought a ticket on my own and was going to see it as a new challenge to spend New Year’s Eve at a party where I knew nobody. But my friend Rachel, her sister Kate, her fiancé Dan, his friend Lewis, and his friend Charlotte bought tickets at a later date and I spent the evening with them which was good fun.

Thanks to Kate for getting someone to get this picture.

It was a great night, the buffet food was really good and I tried oysters for the first time. I didn't get a picture, but remembering the rule to swallow and not chew, they were okay. Just a bit of a sea water after taste really!

The dress I wore was the one I bought a few weeks ago from Traid and I really liked it as it fit perfectly. My friend Rachel suggested a while back that I should donate to Amnesty International, and so that’s what I did for wearing a dress.

Challenge within a challenge: Dresses 4-6: Festive fun

Happy New Year! I hope you had a good Christmas and enjoyed New Year’s Eve. Christmas is always a time when you dress up a little and this year was no exception.

On Christmas day my sisters and I dressed up a little and I wore this lovely brown dress which you’ve guessed it was from Dave’s market stall, so it was £5 or under. I tried to curl my hair as well, but quite often if I curl my hair, the curls fall out within an hour or so. As usual my Grandad came over, and I decided to make a donation to Age UK as there are quite a few elderly people who are usually alone at Christmas, and haven’t got family like my Grandad has.

For Boxing Day I wore a dress that was a birthday present years ago from my friend Alice. It’s from H&M and has a bit of stretch to it, which was good for Boxing Day as there was lots of nice food my mum and auntie prepared. I spent a fair bit of time talking to my cousin Steven and he is always up to lots of different things over the year. He said to me that I should say yes to every opportunity that comes my way, as I could always say no later. I decided to donate to the Make a Wish Foundation, as it grants magical wishes for ill children and young people. So I thought if they had opportunities given to them, they would be the sort of people which would say yes to everything and make the most of life. Originally when I thought about donating to charities I asked people on Facebook who I should donate to, and Donna who I went to school with suggested the Make a Wish Foundation, so thanks for the idea!

On the 28th my relatives from my dad’s side came round and there were a lot of us. One of the main things we did was a photo scavenger hunt in the afternoon. We had 30 minutes to get pictures of the following: a scene from the nativity, a star, snow and one of the 12 days of Christmas. Here’s me and my Auntie Jean and Katy who is married to my cousin James with 3 French hens (see what we did there.)

The dress I wore was a nice loose dress, again great for eating lots of food. It was from the limited edition collection from New Look and I got it years ago in the sale for £5. I like the dress, but I'm in two minds of keeping it, it’s a great shape but the little sleeves make me look even younger then I am, so not sure whether to keep it or not.

In the morning and at lunch I spent a fair amount of time chatting to my Uncle Tony who I hadn’t seen since last Christmas. He’s really into his cycling, so in view of that I donated to CTC, which is a cycling charity that encourages people to build their skills and confidence on a bike.

I hope you had fun spending time with your family.