fave things of the week

xx

raindrops

Today is one of those amazing days when the rain is really set in, the kind of set in where you know it's here for a good few days, making its drizzly presence felt, pooling in gutters and tinkling down drainpipes.

I like the rain. I like the way it kind of forces everyone to slow down a bit. You can't hustle and bustle around. You need to be a bit more thought-out and deliberate. And I kind of like the way it forces everyone indoors, which normally means hanging out and spending time with your favourites, making something warm and comforting for dinner, cuddling up, wearing woolly socks, huddling under blankets, enjoying the peace the grey skies bring.

I've been huddled indoors all day, working a long all-day shift at work, but the beauty of our practice is that it has these big, unobstructed windows at the front, which means I have the best vantage point for watching the weather roll on in, changing the tempo (and the temp!). I still managed to get out at lunch, winter boots and thick coat on, brolley in hand for a bit of cockle-warming italian food at lunch. It was yum. It made me sleepy.

Grey days do that though. And that's ok in my book.

xx

the winter bucketlist

1. Head out to the market one Saturday afternoon and buy enough food to make a special homemade breakfast, lunch and dinner and bunker in all day Sunday. Like, I'm talking freshly baked something for breakfast, a super hearty warm lunch and some extra special trimmings to enjoy the left overs for dinner. Yep. Only allowed out of the house to pick up papers.

2. See a theatre show one night or even a matinee - followed by a stroll through the city, maybe even with a hot chocolate in hand and a beanie on head. There are too many amazing things on in Melbourne at the moment - King Kong, The Graduate with Jerry Hall!, Jesus Christ Superstar with Mel C (yep, Spice Girl Mel C) - not to mention the awesome yet teenier MTC shows I'm sure will also be popping up.

3. Go to the Winter Solstice Celebrations in Fed Square. Hold a candle. Rejoice in the fact that the nights will get shorter from here on in. Wintery bliss.

4. See the Monet's Garden exhibit at the NGV and then walk home through the Botanic Gardens.

5. Make a girly day out of going to see the ACMI Costume exhibit and then heading out for a wine-y lunch and a mani-pedi. Or head out of town for the day and sit in the Peninsula Hot Springs. Preferably when it's a little bit rainy and drizzley.

6. Start... and this time I mean really start and maybe even get close to finishing a crochet project. It's a big deal.

7. Or a little wintery walk along the bay at Dromana. Every weekend in Winter. Yep. It really looks like this:

Tell me your wintery to-do lists?! xx

every beginning has an ending...

... and my new beginning is I think starting to come to its end. And kind of, just be happy existance. How amazing is that?!

Evidence that this must be so:

1. Last weekend was my SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY in Melbourne. Yep. I knew something was shifting because I'd spent way more money on warm, winter woollies than I think I ever had in my twenty-six and a bit years thus far. Not that I mind though. And gorman probably doesn't really mind either, considering I've probably bumped up their profits this season. Eep! 

And you know the best way to celebrate six months in your new town? Yep, you guessed it! Go to the Melbourne version of one of your favourite Sydney places. This time, I picked Mamak. And it was as stinkin delicious as I remembered. Maybe even more so. Something in the Melbourne air maybe :) And look! The roti was so delicious the sun was shining out of it...

2. I just submitted my last assessment piece for my first semester back at school. I know, right?! Not entirely sure it has sunk in for me yet either... One semester down, seven to go. Wowsers! I'm looking forward to doing a little bit of city exploring in the next few weeks now that I have some wondrous spare time between working. 

My list of things to do in Melbourne during winter grows by the day and it seems that there are never-ending theatre shows, art collections and special exhibitions that have my name written all over them. Really really excited to button up my coat, slip on my boots and take in the city in its stark and grey wintery beauty.

Six months in and its getting pretty serious. I heart it here.

xx

lady's best friend

New friends, if you're going to get to know me, there's one certain little lady I need you to meet.

Penny May, my little black cat. My little mate who greets me when I arrive home, demanding a cuddle and smooch, who sits by my side, sometimes on my notes when I'm trying to get some school work done, who is always very inquisitive around dinner time, keeping close to my feet (secretly I think to try her luck at scoring some treats).

She's my little ray of sunshine and I adore her. I've even picked out her gift for her birthday. Which isn't til September. Yes, I buy my cat presents for her birthday, judge away if you must! ANYWAY, I found the perfect thing for her from this cool lot and I think I'm going to get the one that looks like this:

(Oh my sweet lord I hear you say, that looks exactly like Penny, how did this happen? Well, I got this picture from here and it turns out this world has TWO gorgeous little midnight kitties named Penny. What an amazing coincidence!)

If you have a pet, give them a smooch from me, the crazy cat lady!

xx

walk a mile

Tuesday's are my sleepy morning day. Most days during the week I'm up in the dark hours, before the birds, before the world wakes, in the peace and the still. I'm already working away before some people's iPhone alarms have greeted them good morning. I think GASP I'm becoming a morning person.

Tuesday mornings are my favourite though. It's my one morning of the week where there's not much of a schedule, I can lay in the warm, wrinkled sheets (body clock doesn't always remember I don't have to be awake at 5am) and read, or look at beautiful things and blogs on the internet, or study. I can make myself a long lazy breakfast, dawdle down the road for a glorious coffee. Just... take my time.

This morning I pottered. Watched the clouds draw nearer with Penny Cat by my side. Washed towels. Packed away clean dishes. Felt the morning drag along, which is such a beautiful feeling. By the time it came to leave for my afternoon at work, I was looking forward to the stroll. My walk takes me past Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, which seem so fiery and alive during these cooler, crisper months. My walk was slow and deliberate, my milky hot coffee keeping my hands warm, taking in the greens, oranges and rusty, deep reds of the garden. Admiring and breathing it in.

Tuesday mornings remind me life is good and quiet is wonderful. As frantic and fast-paced as life can be, this time is mine to savour.

Enjoy your Tuesday darlings.

xx

aloha

Hello there! Don't you look lovely today. You really do!

This is what I look like today. From the tummy down anyway!

It is Monday today, where I am, in increasingly chilly Melbourne, slowly lurching towards a pinched-cheek winter. I'm a little bit worried to be honest. This is my first Winter in my new home town. I'm used to milder Winters in Sydney, the ones where the weather forecast rarely dips into the single digits and your coats only get an airing for a few weeks before they're packed away again. But I'm here now! Here where the mornings are already frosty in May, and where you can see your breath in the icy pre-dawn air.

Believe it or not, I didn't really move to Melbourne for the weather (!!). I moved to make my life brilliant again.

2012 wasn't a particularly lovely year for me. I went through a tremendous amount of change in my personal relationships, that were heartbreaking and horrible at the time but now, having taken a step back and a few (hundred) deep breaths and cried a few oceans of tears, I know what these were trying to teach me. What they were trying to teach me about myself and my life. How to make it fuller. How to make me the happiest I can be. How to recognise love. That's a fairly nice feeling, I am now able to say.

And in case that wasn't enough, I hated my stinkin' job and was really not in a nice place about my career and what I wanted to do with my working life. After building what looked like a pretty successful career in a normal, power-bitch outfit wearing job, I knew it wasn't me and was actually progressively making me unwell and super unhappy. So like the other things that had changed in my life, I broke the wrist and walked away. Walked so far in fact that I found myself as a 26 year old Uni student again, learning how to be a Naturopath. That is exciting and I love it. I love it I love it I love it. Stick around kid, and I might teach you a few little things along the way!

So here I am! Sitting in my flat in Melbourne with my laptop on my knees, with my little black cat next to me, with ABC News on the telly, with homemade pizza in my belly, writing to you! Telling you my story! Introducing myself! Beginning my little space on this big ginormous internet.

I do hope you hang around, I like having you here.

Bel xx