Dove :: Onslaught

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Autumn has well and truly arrived here in Sydney! Not only has daylight savings ended, which means the dark nights are descending earlier, but the weather has that nice chill to it, and right now, it's pouring outside.

I've got to say, I don't mind this time of year - there's none of that exhausting heat, there's not too many bugs around (or hayfever) and there's generally not too much rain.

This time of year also sees me pull out my big lovely pots again and head to the kitchen to make yummy soups, pastas, bakes, risottos and such. Tonight's menu: pumpkin, mushroom & spinach risotto. And anyone that knows me will know that despite living on my own for a while over the past 10 years, and cooking for myself in share houses during that time as well, I struggle to cook for one. Absolutely.

How to cook for 1
Good news? Now that my friends are starting to have babies, I am dropping over ready made, home cooked meals for them : ) So not strictly cooking for 1, but definitely not allowing all that food to go to waste!

I've also tee'd up a deal with a girlfriend at work where one week I'll bring lunch in for both of us on the Monday, the next week it's her turn. That means at least one healthy, homemade meal for lunch each week (and for a take-out loving girl like myself, this is a good deal!). We've been going for a couple weeks and each week there has been at least 4 of us going in this so it's working out well.

Anyway, I'm off now to start the cooking, and look forward to having leftovers tomorrow : )
Happy Easter friends xx

PS - made it (FINALLY) to yoga today, a vinyasa class at Body Mind Life. LOVED IT!

Cupcakes, Eggs & Chocolate, O My!

I love Easter. More obviously, I love the CHOCOLATE of Easter. And in the post-Easter glow, I love the idea of new beginnings that Easter is really all about.

I've been struggling to get into any sort of fitness routine for the last couple of months. Between teaching yoga and working a very full on full-time job, doing anything above and beyond the duties of those things rarely gets a look in. Hence why I needed to stay at home this past holiday - to just BE STILL and BE.

But the joys of getting older means that those jiggy bits are a bit more obvious and also take a bit more work to shift. And heck, I had to buy a pair of new jeans for Winter yesterday and being in a change room under horrid flourescent lights is enough to slap your senses into moving your butt!

So today I'm off to the gym. I think.

I actually really want to get to a yoga class but I really do need to do the simple treadmill and bike thing. Perhaps both? (Yes, I tend to want to do everything, all at once!) We'll see. But at least one bit of exercise today, for sure. I've also started assisting in 2 x Tuesday morning yoga classes which in itself is a little bit of work - pulling and (gently) pushing people into the right adjustments! It's heaps of fun but more importantly for me right now it's proved I can get out of bed early. A new habit for me to keep ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter, friends.

xo

Hoorah for mini breaks!

Well I must say I did get pretty excited to have a big fat yoga payment come through into my bank account, but how quickly reality sets in! Ok, so I did get the flyscreens from Hire-A-Hubby (boy, who would have thought those things are so expensive?!) and I'm really glad they're being installed on Wednesday because I'm sitting here itching and scratching from all the bug bits I've got!).

And I got a bunch of photo frames, which I spent a couple of hours last night block mounting and then hanging up on the wall. They're actually not that expensive at all (god bless Ikea) but what is expensive is my yoga teacher insurance. So there goes the rest of my $$$. Ahhh it was fun being rich for a day!

Ok, I should tell you as well that today I'm getting a massage, hoorah! I love to get massages - and they're not always a luxury. Take today for example - well rather, last night. I didn't sleep well at all as everytime I turned I woke up with a sore neck & shoulder. Perhaps it's sitting at a desk all day looooong hunched over a computer in a stressful job. Perhaps it's then going to twist and bend for many hours each week in yoga. Me, I think the yoga cancels out the tight hunching... but regardless, I often get a horrible tight neck and shoulders.

I have actually twice been in the situation where I physically could not turn my neck at all it was just locked so tight! Ouch!

Maybe it's just my 'thing' - but so be it. And off to the masseur I go. Not a bad deal... although i have been known to cry on the massage table because I have such big knots it HURTS when she gets them out. ;( Anyway, so today it's off to get a massage and if you're in Sydney and need a good one - head to the Buddah Bar in Newtown (Amal and Elaine are the best).

I've spent the last couple of days resting and being 'housey' - dropping off a meal (complete with dessert) for my gorgeous friend who has a new baby, cooking myself some meals, unpacking those final few boxes from the move... and tomorrow mum + sis + niece are coming up to see my new home. I've watched the "Twilight" movie 3 times (I definitely need to go to the dvd store, but hey, R Patz is YUM so it's not all bad), and I've got a day ahead of not much - it sounds perfect.

Oh, and I've also caught up with some different friends for coffee and breakky. It's been a wonderful mini-break and I can't wait to enjoy the final 2 days.

Much love,
me x

ps - why is it I struggle getting up during the work week but come holidays, I'm up bright & cheery before 8 every day?!

Mmmm Hot Cross Buns

I love Easter time, for lots of reasons. A predominant one is because it's the season for hot cross buns, yum!! And another, because it means holidays! Here I am, day 1 of a 5 day break, and I set my alarm for 9am - instead, I'm up bright and early and WIDE AWAKE at 8am.

I have trouble getting out of bed at 8:30 on a normal 'school day' - so why is it that I'm up so early today? Go figure, I must be excited or something haha! Or maybe it's the fact I know I'll be having afternoon naps every day till next tuesday, woohoo! Whatever the reason, I'm running with it : )

I'm glad I did get up though, because I checked my bank balance and my yoga pay has come through - and hoorah, I have a little more cash than I thought I would be getting, which means a couple of things:
a) I can get a massage and get out the soreness in my neck at long last!
b) I can afford to fully purchase the new jeans (see earlier post) that I need to get for winter
c) I can get the handyman in no problemo!
d) I can get the photo frames happening and sorted this very weekend
e) and I can enjoy the long weekend with a few coffees out, hoorah!

Great start to the day : )

So now I'm off to enjoy it all - and get started on the BB Awakening too. Big weekend!
Oh, and btw - have you seen this FABULOUS site? I Found Yr Camera. I love it!

Happy Easter dear friends xx

MORE Wants

I want to get fit and to lose about 8 kgs.. I've got some jiggy bits I'm not altogether happy about.

But I guess eating twisties for breakky isn't really helping me achieve that goal.

Hahaa!!

I thought about joining weight watchers or something like that but in all honesty, I don't want to waste my money. I know what to eat. And I know I have to move my butt.. so this holiday, here I come! I've got 5 days off work over easter and I intend to get moving!!!

Me Want! Me Want! Me Want!

Yes, this is all about wants! There's a lot floating around inside my head so I'm putting it down here to create some more space 'up there'. hehee!

A Hubby - well, a hire-a-hubby to be exact. None of this permanent biz, just someone to come by, fix things and leave. Ha!
Fly screens for my new home! (seriously, why aren't there any?!)
Washing Machine - that fits into my little washing machine spot. And that doesn't leak.
New showerhead! That has really strong pressure. Is that a showerhead thing? Or water pressue? Hmm...
Photo frames - ikea, here I come.
Hair Straightner - Hair cut & Colour
Massage
Physio
PT sessions
New jeans
New winter clothes & a pair of shoes

But mostly, I want to be debt free.
Let me tell you, a lot of this stuff is actually pretty necessary - well, stuff that I deem necessary. It's interesting putting it down in writing though because you see just what you don't really need. The bolded items are the ones I'm getting first up, the rest will have to wait a little.

Here we go! x