Day 1 – my view: very messy living room (it’s still messy but the coffee table is different!).

Day 2 – words: ‘Bokung Collection’ on my most favourite bag.

Day 3 – hands: my fingers (close enough…) after my manicure. Black with gold tips!

Day 4 – a stranger: I had to get…inventive…here. I didn’t leave the house that day and as such, saw no strangers. I resorted to taking a snap of a random woman on TV, instead. It was a show about her and this guy meeting in Ibiza and getting it on in the toilet of a club, then going back to England after their respective holidays and ‘losing touch’. They both wanted to get ‘back in touch’ and so I guess resorted to going on television in order to do so? I am not sure how their story ended. Probably with more sex in bathrooms.

Day 5 – 10am: This was 10:16am on Sunday just as I sat down to eat breakfast (scrambled – non-green – eggs and ham. Sam I am.).

Day 6 – dinner: Is missing because I forgot to take a photo of my dinner after I had remembered, while cooking it, that I needed to. Then I was going to take a photo of Josh’s plate of dinner when he got home from karate, but I forgot again. Then I was going to take a photo of the dirty dishes from dinner but thought ‘Nah’.

Day 7 – button: two buttons from my fuzzy grey cardigan.

So, that is this week, in photos, somewhat. They are pretty shite, and by that I mean I don’t put much thought into taking them. I read the brief and find the nearest thing that fits and voila. I’m glad I’m not doing that photo challenge where you work on photography techniques (I am too lazy to find that link, but just about everyone on my Twitter is doing it). Maybe I should be doing that one though.

Tomorrow, it better be sunny.

I have just gone live with my new blog design. I’ve literally been trying to redesign the blog for about 3 months but every time I came up with something I thought I liked, I changed my mind. A few weeks ago this design was born and I have been tweaking it ever since. I just wanted something very simple, light, and clean. I suppose much of my inspiration has been Scandanavian interiors that are based on whites and other neutrals. Um, and peaches.

I’ve actually totally widgetized the template too, which I’d never done before. Thank god it was relatively easy (in the end…). Now I’m using widgets, I wish I had started years ago. So much easier.

The other thing is that I’m going to write up a page that’s a central starting point for all the features, past and present. I know I can be super-inconsistent with regular features so hopefully this will make those themed posts a bit easier to find.

Okie-dokie, that’s it! xo

fox ring & antler necklace, Elizabeth and James | gold bow ring, Mallarino

gold geometric skeleton ring & square spinner ring, Solange Azagury-Partridge | gold plated leather cuff, Gucci

I’ve decided to participate in a photo challenge this month. I know, everyone and their dog is doing it, but whatever. It means I take more photos and I get to have a little record of this month! Actually, wouldn’t it be cool to do a photos challenge each month and then collect up all the pictures to make a scrapbook of your year? Nice keepsake, I think.

Here is Day 1, my view:

Horrifyingly messy living room that is driving me nuts.

I think a posting round-up of photos once a week would probably work out better, so in the mean time, follow my Flickr or Twitter for daily updates.

After my last post and experiencing lots of thoughts and feelings on what I want to do with my life, the following reads have been helpful for gaining a bit of much-needed perspective.

• This article by author Justine Musk on developing a creative practice is fantastic. I like her explanation of how repeated actions become easier for neurons to transmit and how these habits can be used for the better in our creative work.
• After finding the above article I browsed Justine’s blog some more and found this article on embracing some of our flaws because they can actually be used positively. Just because someone may think something we do is weird/bad/wrong/too much, doesn’t mean that thing is always negative! Embrace your ‘too muchness’ and use it to your advantage.
• I found this website yesterday about living minimally and I found it pretty interesting. I admit I am materialistic in that I am very much affected by my surroundings and have always preferred to surround myself with aesthetically pleasing things (I’ve also discovered since having my own flat that I am neat/clean freak and mess drives me insane). As I’ve grown, I also like those things to have a function, but, generally, whatever it is is not always a necessity. I would like to simplify my living spaces and life a bit.
• Food for thought: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin

To end, this isn’t so much as a read as a Do. This recipe sounds pretty amazing!

• Coconut & Lime Rice Pudding

This week I have been feeling off. I wouldn’t say depressed because I don’t think it’s reached that level yet, but I’ve been feeling blue and a bit anxious. I don’t want to do very much, I feel tired, and I sort of want to either hide away by myself or surround myself with the most comforting people I know (i.e. my mother and sisters). I’ve also been rather tearful. I would say that I am ‘a crier’ anyway. I’ll sob over a WISPA ad on TV, for example, or shed a few drops when Ellen Degeneres gives stuff away to deserving people. This is much more likely if it’s around the time I have PMS. These all seem fairly valid reasons to cry though. This week, waves of deep sadness have come over me at random moments, no commercials or menstruation necessary.

I do know that I am not feeling great about university. I find it extremely difficult to care enough about the topics, the outcome of getting my degree, etc. to care about the work involved. As the years have gone by, I have come to realise that I don’t particularly enjoy academic work. I often find research tedious and writing assignments is more like a nasty chore. I know that these things are about attitude. Somehow I have developed this attitude of just not liking it and therefore fighting it the whole time. More often lately I have been daydreaming about the things I would rather be doing: designing bags and stationery, and selling them to make a living. I no longer daydream about being a clinical psychologist. The thought of it actually causes the physical sensation of being strangled a little, or stuck in a very small box. I don’t think I want to listen to peoples’ problems, not because I don’t care, but because I am not sure I want my work-life to be based around others’ probably negative problems and having to confront that every day while maintaining my own positive head space.

I don’t know what all of this means right now. It’s like a big puzzle with only some of the pieces and absolutely no image to reference. I have no idea what the picture is or how many of the pieces fit together. It’s confusing and frustrating. Is this a quarter-life crisis? I’m 24 in a few months and I feel like I’m partially on the wrong path. My interest in psychology is there but I just don’t know if I actually want to be a psychologist any more. When I think of who I am and what I love, being creative is the most prominent thing. It is what has always been my strongest, most consistent love. From playdough sculptures and wooden cars made with milk bottle lids for wheels to painting ceramics to drawing and painting to needlework and sewing to website design and beyond. All of my most-loved hobbies have been artistic and over the last year and half I have been coming to the conclusion that, actually, I think I would rather make a living from doing something creative.

When I think of me, I don’t think any other career makes as much sense as one based in art. Which is basically what my dad has been saying to me since I was about 14. So, now what?

Via

One thing I know for sure is that if I don’t eat breakfast I will either a) be a raging bitch all morning, or b) vomit. Another thing I know for sure is that eating the same breakfast all the time is boring. I know people (ahem, grandma) who eat the same cereal every day and have done for years. I get tired of the same cereal by the time the box is three-quarters empty.

The last couple of days I’ve been delving into the world of porridge (aka oatmeal). I have a love-hate relationship with this grainy mush. If it’s too thick I won’t touch it, if it’s too runny I may as well drink an oat smoothie. Also, it’s capacity to sustain a person has seemed pathetic at best. I don’t want to eat at 7am and find myself hungry by 8:30. I know this sounds like a Rag on Porridge post, but it’s not, I assure you.

I’ve always found that if porridge is made with some fruit and spices it will sustain me for longer. Those quick-cook oats and instant porridge packets tend to use ground or small flaked (rolled) oats but I prefer to use wholegrain, large rolled oats because they’re more substantial (to me, anyway).

Here’s what I do!

Ingredients
2/3 cup wholegrain rolled oats
pinch of salt
cinnamon to taste (1/4 tsp for me)
6 peach slices, canned in juice
2-3 Tbsp peach juice
1/3 cup (79ml) of boiling water
1/3 + 1/6 cup (120ml) milk

Method
1. Put the oats, salt, cinnamon, peach slices and peach juice in a saucepan then add the water and milk.
2. Bring to a boil over med-high heat then simmer on a low-med heat, stirring occasionally, until porridge is the desired thickness. For me, it’s about 5-7 minutes.
3. Let porridge cool a bit before eating. Trust me.

Simmering porridge.

And we’re done! For variation you can use any kind of fruits you like, and your favourite spices. I used to use banana quite a bit with cinnamon, and grated apple with cinnamon too. Danielle uses blueberries in her baked oatmeal! I’ve also heard of people using fruit juice as the main liquid rather than milk and/or water.

Peach + cinnamon porridge with coffee.

What did you have for breakfast today?

This week I’ve enjoyed a number of awesome articles from around the web and wanted to share them with you. You’re welcome.

• Gala wrote a great article on how couples can bring some spark back to their relationship. I reckon this is great for long-term couples of any duration; it’s easy to get into a routine and forget to mix it up sometimes.
• I found Danielle’s Hello Giggles column on making girlfriends as an adult particularly helpful; I lack in the close female friend department and as I get older I find myself desiring such relationships more and more. I think a close group of girlfriends is an amazing thing to have.
• I’ve never been to a desert. New Zealand doesn’t have any and while we have a stretch of road called the Desert Road, it is not at all desert-like. It’s disappointing, quite frankly, especially as a child. Anyway, the lovely Nubby was in Arizona last month and has shared some seriously gorgeous desert photos over on her blog here and here. It makes me want to move there immediately.
• Design*Sponge featured a house that I fell in love with. Such a great space and so many awesome storage ideas.
• And finally, just for your viewing pleasure, a really cool Lady Gaga cover by Ithacacapella a cappella group and P22 Chorus. Love it when kids sing!
  

‘kay, now go and have a brilliant weekend!

]]> http://wrongdecade.net/2012/01/2269/feed 2 http://wrongdecade.net/2012/01/2266 http://wrongdecade.net/2012/01/2266#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:32:17 +0000 Sam http://wrongdecade.net/?p=2266 Blogging and I are just not happening much. I think I freak myself out by pressuring myself to have interesting photos every time I blog, but I don’t tend to chronicle much of my life in photos at the moment. Something I endeavour to do in 2012 is just blog more, even if I don’t have pretty pictures to share all the time. The point is to have a record for me to read and enjoy, rather than blogging in ways which I think might appeal to readers. I care about those who do read (thank you!) but what and how I write should be first based on what suits me.

Anyway, I had a lovely but busy Christmas with my family. Christmas has been changing for us over the last few years. My parents, siblings and I used to spend the morning together before going to my maternal grandmother’s for lunch and then to my paternal grandparents’ for dinner. A couple of years ago my nanna had a stroke so we haven’t been having Christmas dinners there any more and my other grandma also finds putting on a big lunch for the huge number of people in my mum’s family way more work than she’s interested in (don’t blame her!). Now we tend to spend Christmas morning as we used to and breakfast at my eldest sister’s house, but without my brother because his little family does stuff with his partner’s family. Then both sides of my family gather for lunch at my parent’s home. While not every aunt, uncle, cousin, etc. can attend, most do and it’s a fairly large occasion to say the least! I’m personally more of a fan of the smaller, micro-gatherings that we used to have and I do hope that we can do that again some time in the future. With so many people I don’t feel like I can really spend any time with them all properly. To me, Christmas is all about family (and food) and it seems a little bit weird to me that I don’t get to really hang out with the various parts of my family properly. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy Christmas – I really do, and I will take the gathering any way I can get it.

Post-Christmas was chilled out. We had the most horrible weather though! It’s summer right now and so far we’ve only been getting glimmers of it, between storms, floods, rain, and even some sweater temperatures. Mostly it’s been humid and wet, basically. New Year’s Eve was still rainy and then finally yesterday it cleared a little in time to move Josh into our flat, and so far today it’s actually not rained at all (fingers crossed because I have a clothes line full of laundry).

Speaking of laundry, on New Year’s Day I was washing a load of laundry and our washing machine had a fit and flooded our garage. I was in the shower when it happened so when I went into the garage to see how the load was doing, I stepped into a small ocean! Fortunately the water didn’t get inside the flat and hasn’t damaged anything. The washing machine motor is broken though so now we’re without one until a replacement is acquired. My grandma lives in the house above us and is very kindly letting us use hers for the time being.

So, a busy, somewhat eventful, year so far. Summer school starts for me on Thursday and over the next few weeks I really hope to have the majority of the flat sorted and in order. I’m feeling incredibly blessed, happy, and calm with this new chapter of my life.

How is your 2012 going? Anything interesting happen yet?

]]> http://wrongdecade.net/2012/01/2266/feed 1 http://wrongdecade.net/2011/12/2263 http://wrongdecade.net/2011/12/2263#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:58:35 +0000 Sam http://wrongdecade.net/?p=2263





This week is crazy. It’s usually crazy this time of year anyway but this year in particular! It’s all very exciting though so it’s okay.

Today I finished most of the packing I have left and moved one trailer load of stuff to the flat. Mostly boxes because we’ll move the furniture tomorrow. I even managed to unpack some stuff – um, cutlery (except teaspoons), but it’s a start!

Now I’m enjoying my second-to-last night in my parent’s house. I’m going to miss them. Have just finished a Christmas gift for my darling nephew, Tyler. I’m so excited to see his face when he opens it on Christmas!

Have a beautiful night! xx

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