Currently... October
I am currently enjoying my very last “day off” before I return to the world of full time work. I am definitely not looking forward to this, but luckily I will only have six weeks of full time before we break for the summer holidays. I’ve decided to take it easy today. I usually try to cram as many chores into my day off as possible, however today I’ve spent the morning reading and going on a leisurely bike ride to run a few easy errands. Errands complete, I’m now enjoying some lunch on my own at the café Industry Beans in Ftizroy. It’s the type of place I wouldn’t dare coming to on a weekend with Ella, far to hipster and is not at all child friendly. So it’s a pleasure to be able to come here on my own and enjoy a peaceful lunch. Did I mention I am going to miss my day off? Sigh.
Here’s a little of what I’ve been up to this month:
Reading a book called The Crow Girl by Erik Axl Sund. It’s a Swedish crime novel, and reminds me a little of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy. The Crow Girl was originally published as a three separate books as well, but the version I have is one huuuuuge book (800 pages) with three parts. I’m on part two, and it has kept me pretty engaged, although the subject matter is sometimes hard to read about (it deals with cases of child sexual abuse).
I also read Bossypants by Tina Fey and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I liked Bossypants: I’m a fan of Tina Fey, and enjoyed reading about her time on Saturday Night Live, especially when she was playing Sarah Palin. I LOVED Big Magic, way more than I thought I would. Elizabeth Gilbert’s philosophy on creativity is delightful and inspirational, if a bit cheesy at times. I enjoyed the conversational tone of the book and the anecdotes she includes about her own life. I am one of those people who always thinks “I’m not a very creative person”, Gilbert believes we are all creative, and you don’t have to be an expert at something in order to enjoy it. This book has encouraged me to be more open to creative endevours and to not take creativity so seriously, and to remember that I should engage in creativity for myself, and not for the approval of, or to impress, others.
Listening to the podcast Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel. Esther is a couples therapist, and each episode is a recording of a one-off therapy session where she is counselling a couple. It is fascinating!
Watching Ozark on Netflix. Andy and I just finished the series, which we both enjoyed. The episodes are pretty intense and there are a lot of shocking events and twists. The season finale was SO stressful to watch (which obviously means it was good). I recently watched the first episode of Mindhunter and it has excellent reviews so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into that next. Andy is really into Designated Survivor but I am a bit “meh” about that one.
Loving our new Koala mattress. We have been sleeping on cheap IKEA mattresses since we moved to Australia and over the last few months I’ve been waking up feeling very sore and creaky. After doing a bit of internet research I came across this brand of mattress, which offer a 120 night trial, after which you can send the mattress back for a full refund if you don’t like it. Well, we definitely won’t be sending it back, the mattress is awesome. I feel heaps better getting out of bed in the morning, my back especially feels a lot better. I bought one of their memory foam pillows which I also highly recommend. It’s the most I’ve ever spent on a pillow but totally worth it. No more cheap IKEA mattresses and pillows for me!
Trying to cultivate and keep to a morning routine. My ideal morning goes like this:
- Wake at 5:50am and do 10-15 minutes of meditation (using Headspace app).
- Quickly wash face, put on make-up and get dressed (I shower at night). By the time I have done the meditation/yoga/breakfast routine I have about five minutes left to do this before it is time to wake up Ella and get her dressed.
For the last month or two I’ve been pretty consistent with this, although I don’t always manage to do the yoga. I find I’m most successful with getting this in when I set up my yoga mat and choose a Yoga with Adriene video the night before, eliminating the need to think in the morning.
Looking forward to a visit from by Canadian bestie, Cheryl, in a week! Yay! I can’t wait to see her and show her Melbourne.
Pic of the Month: My little yoga baby! What a good downward dog!
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