Don't fight the flow, bro.

It is usual that, late in the year, we start to think about setting our intentions for the new year. Some people call them new years' resolutions, but that sounds a bit inflexible. I like the idea of changing the way I approach whatever curve balls life throws at me, rather than doing the same thing every day. Flexible control.

My mate was talking about healthy eating in her blog. As it happens, I have just finished a 6-week challenge with my Crossfit box. We tested a workout at the beginning and retested the workout at the end. I slashed 2 minutes 22 seconds off it. This was me afterwards

Actually not me. I know. We are practically twins. It's actually Annie Thorisdottir, crossfit champ.

I am never one for deprivation, but I did clean up my act. Specifically, I have cut out diet drinks, eaten a whole lot more vegies, eaten less crap generally and started pushing harder in workouts.

It's far easier to eat lots of veg if they are tasty, or configured in an interesting manner. Enter the microplane.

This is the best thing ever, and it makes short work of fennel and red onion to make a really fancy salad. The microplane is not cheap (like $70 bucks) but it is the bomb dot com. Neither is the baby fennel, $2 each at coles. To borrow the parlance from Faux Fuchsia, I mean it's fennel, not gold bullion.

In terms of cost per use, the microplane is a great investment. The veg don't get stuck in there. And we all know that thin food makes us thin.

Physically, I am going for gold. Mentally and spiritually, well, lots of work has been required to keep this on an even keel. I have made no secret of my ambivalence towards Christmas, yet have done my best to embrace the season. However this year has bought a particular set of challenges with it.

I would have thought that, like everything else, the pain of a miscarriage would dissipate with time. Not actually true. The tears that come on quite out of the blue some days have taken me by surprise. Hearing of each new pregnancy in a friend or acquaintance, or seeing a fellow crossfitter with a baby bump will easily precipitate this. I had not expected this to happen, yet there it is. A wise friend told me that this was a particularly hard time of the year for those sorts of feelings. Maybe.

Having finished my PhD, I am now in the market for extra sessions of gainful employment, and these proving hard to come by, for various reasons not appropriate to write here. This, plus the post-goal bottoming out, has been hard too. I have learned, though, that when something is looking too hard to come by, sometimes it is best to back away and change tack. Plan A works better when you have a plan B. I am now making arrangements for plans D and E, and I am feeling good about them.

The extra $$ are very much needed, as home renovation plans are afoot. I know! Exciting and scary! We have engaged the services of an architectural firm to design and project manage the extension. He took us through the concept drawings and 3D render, and it was really exciting to see. Then we talked costs, and bank loans, and that was somewhat less exciting. Unfortunately the design brief "please make us a palatial home at minimal cost" got lost in translation.

So 2016 looks to be a year full of challenges, some of them actually exciting. I was considering my watchword for the year, and I think it will be "patience". The second one will be "flexibility".

To make hay while the sun shines.

To manage, day by day, when things are tough, and get through as best I can.

To not be tired by waiting.

The weekend / festival of Cilla.

It's Friyay, people. A quick'un, today.

I am quite pooped, and am taking it easy tonight. Home delivered food on the couch in trakky daks drinking wine out of a tumbler kind of easy.

Dr. Blake's Mysteries is on soon. I love Craig McLachlan. He is a bit of a spunk and like a fine wine, he has improved with age.

I have a big weekend coming up. Tomorrow morning is the monthly WODfest at Crossfit. WOD stands for Workout of the Day. What I love is that they mix things up. Anyway, the WODfest is a 2 hour workout, followed by a BBQ.

Then I need to attend to scheduled bodily maintenance (pedi/eyebrow lopping etc). Then it is the belated 40th bday party of a friend.

Sunday is my birthday. I am having a quiet early dinner at a local gastropub with a few friends. Perhaps brunch with my family.

It is going to be a big foodie weekend. I shall report back on the eats.

I have something from the "annoying" file that I wish to share. I may be alone in this.

I it bugs me when people (shop assistants, often) describe garments as "flattering" or "slimming" on me.
I find it a bit patronising.
I am sure it is coming from a nice place, but still.

Oh yeah. And my fella has announced a sell-off of some of his boy toys, to make room for an ultimate boy-toy (a vintage car of some description).

What are you up to this weekend?
What strange things annoy you?
What boy toy does a man in your life have?
 

NZ Holiday. Things I like about NZ.

Howdy ladybugs!

I have just come back from NZ. I really wish I were still on holiday. We had a delightful time.

We started out in Christchurch, where my Fella's family live, for his special "zero" birthday. We headed up to Hanmer Springs, an alpine spa town, much like Daylesford in Victoria. We spent NYE there (the town pub was going off like a frog in a sock). We then headed up to Picton, the gateway to the Marlborough sounds. We spent 5 nights there, doing a hike, a kayak, a wine tour and a trip to Blenheim. We saw birds, seals, the hills, the sea, sunshine. We ate, drank, talked, laughed and generally reconnected.

It was great for the soul.

NYE. Scallops, Pork belly and Tamarind - OH MY.

Off from Picton, Into the Sounds we go!

If you look closely....you'll see the seal posse!

oooh, look!

And these little birdies are called Oyster Catchers

 

Worth climbing that steep hill.

A hard earned thirst was watered here, after the walk

You know the Savvy B? This is where it comes from!

The savvy b went down very well with this.

Some things I love about NZ

• The food. No really. They make good food, especially in Christchurch. Not so much in Picton. 
• The coffee. Most places. A flattie comes with two shots as a norm. 
• The vino.
• The People. Very friendly, very chilled.
• The public toilets. They are always clean, and they are never without toilet paper or hand soap.
• Tui Beer. Yes. Tui is to NZ like VB is to Victoria - a bit of a bogan beer. But it is a beer I like. And I don't like much beer.
• Whittaker's chocolate.
• Fush and Chups. Particularly in Kaikoura. Check out Tiki Takeaways if you are passing through. Best Fush and Chups ever.
• The rivers. You can see right to the bottom, they are so clear. 
• The difference between mince pies and steak pies, and that they are both meat pies!

 Am now back at work and acutely feeling the post-holiday blues. Today, Monday has come with a few "thwacks" from left field. It gives me good practice to keep my focus on completing the PhD, rather than sweating the "thwacks". It's also practice in having faith that things will work out as they are meant to.

Next trip will likely be to Boston. For the conferences.

There is a bit going on between then and now, so hard to focus on that. Un giorno per tempo, I was told.

I am really enjoying being home with the woofer, though. No matter what thwacks the day has bought, she always makes me smile.

Goody 2 shooz.

Greetings, interweb friends!

I've been rather slackola on the bloggy front of late, but I've been very good in other aspects of my life....

Lately, if a day goes by where I don't run, I crave it. The thing I like doing at the moment, run wise, is going to Prinny park and doing a Fartlek session (it has nothing to do with botty toots). And, as with everything, there is an app for that. I am also actually enjoying my group sessions and look forward to them.

Must be the time of the year, with the weather improving.

I have performed a hardcore declutter (to borrow from FF) of my wardrobe and drawers. I can actually find stuff now.

I have been eating my veggies.

I expanded my cooking repertoire into Fillo Pastry.

Behold my spanakopita, full of green goodness.

I have taken the advice of a professorly type and been doing the "small amounts frequently" thing on the thesis. I have put a fixed time goal on the first chapters of the thesis (Dec 3). Might have to tee myself up a special reward for it.

I have even cut back on the wine. Quite substantially. And feeling better for it.

I have been loving the guts off this stuff:

image from coles online. No artificial sweetener.

I have been appreciating the abundance of spring.

However the goodness went out the window today - we went to Taste of Melbourne for some good food and drink, and plenty in the way of champers.

At the back was the dish of the day- the soft shell crab souvlaki from the Gazi stand. I have never been able to get into Gazi, so it was great to try some of their food. In front is a braised wallaby bun!

We saw a whole lamb being butchered ("oh, so that's where those chops come from").
It's good to have a feel for the provenance of the produce, is it not?

Ok so there was also good food had last night. I have been a bit obsessed with all things mozzarella/ bocconcini at the moment. But the king of them all is burrata. Like a sac of creamy milky goodness.

Here is a gnocchi dish I ate last night, with Burrata.

The sac was cut open and all the runny cheesy goodness leached out into the tomato sauce. Very simple and very good!

But it's back on the straight and narrow tomorrow....

Meanwhile, we have been in full spin mode with the state election in Victoria. Pretty much all of the ads have been focussed on lambasting other parties rather than what the party can offer. It's just a race to the bottom, mostly. Though the Greens look like they might nab a few lower house seats in the inner city, unless the dirty preference deals between the major parties scupper them.

ugh...
off to beddy-byes....


What about you? What have you been obsessed with lately? 
And what good habits have you adopted?

Singapore. Segue to thoughts about weddings.

It's been a little while.
It's mainly that I hate typing on my iPad. I am home, with a proper keyboard, so here it is.

Heyyyyyy!

We just got back this morning. I can definitively say that a night flight (and the time traipsing around town awaiting said night flight) is far less stressful when one has had an upgrade to business class. Emirates do it well; they chuck in a transfer to and from the airport. Noice.

The purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of one of my fella's colleagues. With the added benefits of being in Singapore. Which means good food, great shopping, great people watching, staying in a nice hotel with a pool and jacuzzi and oh, good food. It was nice to get warmed up after a cold winter and a halting start to spring.

I have been to Singapore a few times. It has a few memories, including some bittersweet ones. It was great to create some new memories of Singapore with my fella.

Memories of lounging by the pool, partaking of the pool bar (can still not abide drinks in plastic cups). Reading books on a banana lounge (thanks for the Burial Rites rec K!) Books are far more enjoyable when read by a pool, while drinking a drink from a plastic cup and being caressed by a warm breeze.

Memories of looking at ALL THE SHOPS and ALL THE THINGS! I find the window shopping both exciting and overwhelming. So much choice! I didn't buy a lot, just jumped on the "shooties" (half boot half peeptoe shoe) bandwagon finally. I was quite restrained. I am finally getting into a "don't buy it unless you love it" frame of mind.

Memories of doing a bus tour of Singapore. The fella loves those city bus tours. I am a convert. The cheesier, the better. Plus good to learn trivia.

Gustatory memories of the Food! Chilli crab. Black pepper crab! Salted egg yolk crab! Working hard to get all the sweet crab flesh and getting your fingers sticky in the process.

The Assam Laksa. The curry!

The yummy brekkies. Gotta love a brekky buffet. This one had fried chicken in it. This may be a controversial call, but I like fried chicken better than I like bacon, unless said bacon is very good bacon.

And there seems to be a bit of a trend toward Fries with Truffle aioli. I can taste it now. The culinary equivalent of world peace.

The peking duck pancakes, at Fatty Weng restaurant. Washed down with Tiger Beer. Singapore has great beer weather and Tiger Beer with Singaporean food is a great match.

Anyway enough about food, I'm getting hungry and I am on a post holiday detox.

Most holidays involve a touch of the local culture (as I am a classy sheila). We went to the Peranakan Museum. You can learn more about the Peranakan culture here. They gave the world Laksa. So said one of my Peranakan friends when I first met him.

The Arts and Sciences museum  near Marina Bay Sands was hosting an Annie Leibovitz photography exhibition. One of the most iconic photography "voices" of our time. She took the famous pic of a nude, pregnant Demi Moore.

And the wedding. As per Singaporean tradition, the wedding took place over several days and events, with multiple bridal costume changes. It was a lovely wedding, in the way all weddings are lovely. The bride looked beautiful.  I really was honoured to be included. The food was amazing, and the view was even better.

That sounded all a bit...trite.

Weddings are a bit of a bittersweet thing for me. First there is the thing about marriage being forever, how that stings when you have had a marriage fail.

The inevitable memories of your own wedding.

I also wonder whether the true emotion, love and joy behind a wedding gets lost in all the pomp and ceremony. Or is that just me? I hope the bride and groom had those great emotions in amongst the mandatory busy-ness of the period leading up to the wedding. I am sure they did.

The fella and I have talked about getting married. Both of us have been married before. Both of us have a little ambivalence about it. It's not off the cards, just not officially on them. We have committed in the second strongest way one can (the buying of real estate) and are planning an even bigger commitment.

We have agreed that, if we do get married, there will be no white wedding. No minister. There will be great music, with lots of dancing. Probably a Mariachi band and a Salsa instructor. There will be good wine and lots of meat, on a spit. Kids will be invited, as watching kids dance is wonderful. Minimal speeches, as we both do enough talking in our jobs.

Or equally we could just bugger off to Las Vegas and do it in a Klassy way.

Having said all this, I am not averse to diamonds. Some of the fella's colleagues (he works with a few wonderful women) have taken it upon themselves to see that one is forthcoming for me. So they told me over dinner and a few wines at the hen's night.

God love them.

Anyway that is enough ramblings.

What about you...
Fried chicken for breakfast? Yay or nay?
Bacon? Crispy or not?
Where do you stand on the topic of weddings? 
Favourite Asian country? 
Do you like Laksa.