shine bright like a diamond

christmas decorations are up, home is transformed into a sparklier, brighter, prettier version itself
excitment abounds, countdowns are on, friends returning from afar, nights out to keep track of, dinner with friends, christmas drinks, lunch dates, meeting for coffee, ordering christmas provisions. lovely

I'm following  movie a day policy at the moment...its great really....l was going to pick them in advance, but now lm going with how l feel on the day and decided on the movie to suit my mood....sometimes you get a really good laugh when you need it, other times it keeps you enthralled and passes a few hours when the hours might have been dreagging out in front of you...then their are days when you could do with a relief of tension and you could do with a good cry.so you just pop on your favourite tearjerker and off you go...you end up with runny nose and puffy eyes ubt ultimately feeling relief and not as stressed...

The movie for today is 27 dresses, a bit of laughter and a bit of romance.nice and easy.  Yesterday was The Holiday- Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz..l am hoping get through Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women over the next few days

Saying no to NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS THIS YEAR

This year l have decided to liberate myself from the pressure of making a New Year's Resolution and then spending January trying to stick with it, and February berating myself for not sticking with it.

So l had a period of reflection of late, as the dark evenings, and gloomy days have taken hold as winter advances. I have thought about what l want to change in my life and am making small changes now to begin changing things.

I like the chance to have a good think about cleaning out the cobwebs and making my life happier for me.
So maybe it is something we can all do together.
lets think of small changes that will make our own lives better  :)

helllllooooo ~December

Hello December. welcome to you.  It instantly makes people think of Christmas, some people no doubt, as we speak, are in the attic getting out the decorations.  Others are not launched into a blind panic about present while others are feeling festive and thinking about stocking up on cinnamon and candles..
Coca Cola and Budweiser Christmas Adverts will dominate our tv screens, those and toy commercials.
The party invites come in, plans are made to meet friends and family.  Tv will start playing Christmas movies every day on lots of channels and the best of .....2012 will start hitting our screens.
"Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."

keep it positive

it sounds sooo cheesy l know but having a positive outlook really does help...sometimes we feel like the world is against us and it is so simple to slip into that defeated and defensive frame of mind. its hard to see the good things then, or to enjoy the simple things or see the beauty in the world.

So keep thinking that things will get better, that a bad cycle will pass over you and the flip side of that is positive. That when you really feel like giving up, it will get better, and sometimes you will realise that..oh yes, things arent so bad now and l didnt even realise they were better...but they are..

the other thing is that we are never really alone. we might feel like it but there is always somebody to turn to, always, sometimes they are the most unlikely sources of comfort or kindness but somebody will always step up to the plate so DONT GIVE UP

make christmas more about you ..and less pressure

I start my Christmas preparations in January of each year...may sound mad to you but this is what l do

In the first week or so of January every year stores sell the excess Christmas cards off at a fraction of there cost.  you can pick up all your Christmas cards for the cost of one standard greeting card.  you put them in a box in attic, or top shelf out of harms way.  This is also a good time to pick up Christmas Crackers and serviettes and napkins..
If your budget allows its also a time the stores sell off toys cheaply and clothes. So if you have any kids/relatives with a birthday over Jan - March its a good time to pick up winter clothes for them.  Or also if you want to buy xmas/winter clothes for kids for the following Christmas  just get next size up.  It works a charm.

I bought a beautiful wooden chest that l keep upstairs in my house...Its the present box.  Throughout the year stores will do sales, discount offers etc. I~ might buy one gift a month and box it in the present box.  If there are particulary good offers l stock up on them and they go in the box.  THis box serves me for birthdays throughout the year also.

I keep wrapping paper, sellotape, scissors, ribbon and gift bags in the box too.  if l need a gift in a hurry l am ready to go.

Now, you might be reading this thinking l am a control freak or super thrifty or whatever.  but..l am just a girl who finds Christmas expensive. I am not rich, l do not have the credit card capacity or salary that can take the expense that shopping at the last minute requires.

So take a tip from me, l didnt always do it this way, but over time l came around to this way and no it means l just keep my eyes open all year around.
So get yourself a big box and start in January :)

Christmas looms but it shouldnt mean gloom

Christmas has become very commercial, yes we all know this and yes we have all listenend to so many debates about the true meaning of Christmas and trying to bring it back. WEll times have changed and people are invested in Christmas and Halloween and Valentines Day and Easter and all these holidays that traditionally were linked to religious celebrations and times of significance but now are tied in with cards and gifts and rituals and routines that are not related to the church. However, we can all work towards keeping them family celebrations, times of coming together, times of remembering each other, being kind to each other, and yes...buying each other presents but hey, it need not cost the earth.
Come together, laugh, eat, tell stories, watch movies together, share gifts.
Its all about love xx

My baking adventure

I grew up in a house where my mum cooked and baked wonderfully daily. fresh casseroles, fresh brown and white bread, home made biscuit cakes, pizza, apple tarts and scones...truly amazing.
l think l was afraid that l would not be able to do it so l dabbled and left it...
Then when l had my own kids l decided that baking and cooking with the kids.  the cooking is great but we have been taking a slow and steady approach to baking.
So far we have nailed cupcakes....maybe not so much the icing but definitely the cakes and lovely toppings.
We have nailed bread and butter pudding, chocolate cake and banoffi pie.
And the most recent thing...banana bread, its easy, its tasty AND people who arent related to me have complimented me on it so that is encouraging.

our next experiment happens this week. We are going to try shortbread biscuits..My task for tomorrow is to buy us a rolling pin each and some nice cookie cutters...
I will let you know how we get on,....
ba

Autumn/fall is rolling in now, the evenings are getting darker and colder, it makes me head straight for the pjs in the evening upon coming home from work. it makes me think about evening classes and improving myself, it makes me think of improving my health and taking up yoga or pilates.
it also makes me think of a winter of hibernation ahead. I dream every year of retreating into my shell, and emerging a better, shinier, healthier version of myself in the new year- like a beautiful butterfly emerging from a chrysallis..

Isnt  life crazy busy, it really is all go.... It really does need all of us to take stock of our lives and prioritise. that is where l am at right now. it was like a bolt today. trim the drama, reduce the stress, increase positivity, acceptance of the things l cannot change and courage and commitment to change the things l can , and really really want to change.
so i said, right, put it down in words and look at it and absorb it and then put it into action. how many times a day, a week a month a year, do we make these promises to ourselves and let them fall by the wayside...then we feel bad about ourselves for our lack of follow through.....l should say l feel bad about my lack of follow through, but it seems many of us are in the same boat, so it is comfort maybe to actually feel like we are not alone in our inconsistency. it is just the human condition.
today l just feel like making one change and am hoping that by being positive and kind to myself and making small changes in my life, they will in turn eventually have a combined effect and will improve the overall quality of my life.
so i just wanted to say lets be kind to ourselves, lets take small steps and change what we can, in ways we can. lets learn to be our own biggest fan, be kind to ourselves and try to bring something positive to our interaction with those we come in contact with.
namaste x

isnt it absolutely amazing the difference some sunshine can bring to our lives...picture getting up out of bed on cold dark and wet winters morning...gettting out of house, into car, in the traffic driving to work, leaking shoe, forgot your gloves. for got your lunch. smell of wet coats in the office, people hugging their cups of tea for comfort, dark office, even with the lights on..everybody seems miserable, colleagues, clients, family.

now scroll forward a few months...an unseasonably warm end to MArch...sun is shining, people are smiling, drivers are more courteous, contact with people is easier, things dont seem so stressful, kids are getting fresh air, we are all getting vitamin D, we can open the windows of our homes and leave in fresh air, we can chat to our neighbours, and stroll around the park, we can leave the house without hats scarves gloves and spares just in case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah, bliss....dear god please let this not be our summer!!!!

when do we pause to breathe and be satisified with the woman we are

As a young woman my  main focus is on getting through school and getting into college.  Then at college  focus moves to studies and getting the best degree possible.
Then when you are at college your realise that you should be doing voluntary work and building up your work experience so that when you leave college you have some practical experience to go with your academic qualifications.

Then graduation comes and the push is on to find employment..If lucky this follows and we trundle along, finding our professional feet and learning the day to day realities and skills of our chosen profession.

Not to rest on our laurels, it would seem that travel is the way to broaden your mind, broaden your experience and learn about yourself...Adults taking Gap Years and off we go with our backpacks to FIND OURSELVEs.
Then , coming back back from our amazing travels, albeit a reluctant return, because you have realise that you love the liberation of travel, of being away from home and of re-inventing ourselves.

Then you return home, thinking that you are more at peace within yourself and realise that now, being laid back is not on the cards..its all about getting a job again and getting a decent credit rating with which we can hope in time to secure a mortgage and buy our own home....or if we are Lucky, we will find a partner with whom we can buy a house...

after years of saving and searching at last  with our beloved, we find a house, buy it, decorate and move in, thinking that we can nest a bit and enjoy the fruits of our labour...but no....onwards it goes again.  ITs all about getting engaged and getting married, because in spite of thinking times have changed and that its acceptable for people to live together under the one roof, in fact no...its seems that getting married is still expected of us.

so onto the next treadmill we go and before we know what has happened there are engagements and weddings and honeymoons and finally back to the marital home, let the nesting and resting begin.........

no indeed, dont be ridiculous, now its already open season and people are asking asking asking about the patter of tiny feet, in spite of the fact that the duty free purchases from your honeymoon are still in the kitchen..

on we go and pregnancy looms which is wonderful.  your new baby arrives and your are absolutely besotted and then your realise, that all your hard work at college to secure a profession has now gone up in the air because you cant imagine leaving your new baby and going back to work..

then the reality of a return to work comes and childcare arrangements are made and off we go back to work with a little pain in the heart for leaving the baby with childcare........
we try to re immerse ourselves in our professional world as best we can and try and steady ourselves out again...but no sooner do we do so when we have to answer questions about when baby number two will be on the cards....mother of god.....

and then baby number two is on the cards, because we dont want to leave too long a gap between our kids...and we have to face our boss again to tell them our news....

and off we go again on mat leave, baby number two arrives and while we feared we mightnt be able to love any child as much as our first, we find ourselves totally besotted with our new arrival.

then the back to work comes, and while we are lonely to leave our angels, a guilty part of us realises we are happy to go back to work because we enjoy it, we enjoy the company and we cant imagine ourselves at home full time with small children....Guilt at every level!!!!

so here we are, back at work, a bit shell shocked after maternity leave and be
wildered as to how a professional dresses, i.e..not in a tracksuit and with a constant supply of baby wipes...

Then when back at work we realise, everybody is on a health kick, working out and training..eating salad and low carbs and entering competitions...holy god, how things move forward and leave us behind. 

going for a simple walk does not seem to matter, we must jog, and then when we have a handle on that concept, we realise absolutely everybody is running, 5k, then 10k then bloody marathons, triathlons and iron man competitions.

people are doing races at the weekend for fun, husband and wives vying with each other over who will mind the kids while they participate in triathlons every other weekend....


l say bring on the next stage....acceptance, peace and the hope that the goal posts will finally stop moving.....