The SIMPLE art of cooking

There truly is nothing better than ending a long work day or week with a beautifully home cooked meal, glass of red wine in hand, the sweet aromas wafting from the pot filling your nostrils, and the simmering sounds filling the kitchen with soft notes. It’s almost a therapeutic and methodical relaxation from, well for me that is, which I fear is almost a dying art.

With our chaotic lives and schedules we may have lost the most simplest yet gratifying form of just being and enjoying the most sacred area in the house. It’s an area which brings couples and families together but we have moved ourselves away from it. We’ve taken away the essence of cooking and all that came with it – growing our own herbs, fetching eggs from the coop . . . it all makes me yearn for the farm life, one very special farm in particular, with modern conveniences but the aromas of a meal cooked with love . . . completed with country honey and peanut butter.

A fellow workmate recently returned from a family vacation in Poland and shared fond stories of home cooked meals, made from scratch, which they all enjoyed and prepared each day . . . even the pasta and tortillas! What I loved is how it seemed to bring them all together and made for fond memories. And all she wanted to do this weekend was cook. I loved that! Which inspired me to make a healthy pizza from scratch (which I have to anyhow, silly food allergies). 

It's a simple act, but it was just what I needed. What my soul needed.

BBB Project: UPDATE #2

I'm not going to lie . . . I've been dreading writing this update as it's not good. I've been in a very challenging headspace and have found that it seems to be translating to my progress. So I have refused to stand on the scale and know that there has not been any significant changes in my weight - when you know, you know. I'm bitterly disappointed but know I've just got to keep going.

Being so competitive and never wanting to give up, this is no longer just a weight-loss challenge but so much more.

However, I have introduced a new component to my workout which will hopefully be reeling in some results as I keep at it. It's an INSANE bootcamp my trainer put together every Friday morning from 5:30am to 6:15am which is almost 3 training sessions smashed into one . . . and the past 2 have left me reaching throw-up status! Even the fittest of the fittest look like they need a side-line of puke pales! And it's fun, and refreshing, and motivating. What a way to start a Friday! BHAM!
Last weekend I also started the process of going blonde . . . as of now it's looking like Florance-and-the-machine-meets-crazy-cat-lady kind orange hue but hey, it's one step closer!

So here's to keeping positive, keeping on track, and keeping it all in perspective!

Old T-Shirts. FRESH Memories

I seem to have a vast collection of stolen T-Shirts . . . ok, I didn’t literally steal them, it was more on the lines of – 

I love this T-Shirt, wear it often? 

Not really. 

Can I can “steal” it. 

Sure. 

Thanks.

They stay neatly folded (and yes, even my casuals are colour coded) and the days I pull them out to wear, I smile as the soft cotton touches and rests on my skin. Because they all have memories and remind me of someone special in my life and the silly (including embarrassing) moment I asked them for their clothing – what a darn cheek!

Isn’t it funny how clothing can bring such memories and even more so, attachments. It’s a simple piece of cloth yet it holds so much more than it’s fine woven fibres . . . within in these are layers of beautiful moments.

MONDAY Music

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed (ok, perhaps a little dehydrated #champagne #vodkaredbull) but incredibly special, incredibly lucky, and incredibly motivated! My low-key Birthday weekend filled with precious family and friend time was exactly what I had hoped for and needed.

So it's a beautiful Monday and here's a super fun video and song to get it moving in the right direction. TGIM

BBB Project: UPDATE #1

The BBB Project was full steam ahead - my workouts were extreme, I was eating healthy - and avoiding all peanut butter temptations - and more motivated than a bear to honey (which I still think might be a fabrication from Pooh bear). And then BHAM, I got drowned with a nasty cough and could not workout for 5 days - 5 DAYS! Not the most appropriate when you've started a weight-loss challenge.

But after some recovery over the weekend I returned on Tuesday with my trainer kicking my royal behind and without loosing my lungs. As the week has progressed, I have transitioned slowly back into my training. . . but no weight loss!

BB Project: 0 Yukky Winter Flu: 1

But, I've had small triumphs with resisting said yummy temptations and being able to un-expectantly fit in SMALL leather leggings! BOYA!

SEARCHING

I wonder if we ever stop searching. Searching for the truth of what we truly want from life or a magnitude of endless dreams we keep putting aside or trying to achieve. Or having secret hopes that we keep safe when others are met but impede the ones we really want from coming to life. Maybe it’s the things,people,hopes,dream that keep us apart are what keep us alive.

As I watch those around me move in directions different to mine, I find we all seem to feel there is something missing. We have so much, have satisfied so many areas in our lives, yet there is always a want and need for something or someone other than what’s already there. With the need for this something greater, will the search ever end? Perhaps what’s truly important is to discover inside yourself the kind of contentment that others can only dream of.  Or to make that contentment a reality. There’s real magic in that.

You only live once.