By Mari Andrew
I think it’s fair to say I’ve lost all motivation to blog. It pains me to admit this. I’m not giving up yet though! What have you been up to lately? Here’s what I’ve been doing:
Watching The Handmaid’s Tale. Or I was until some bright spark decided to pause it while men run around and play soccer for a few weeks (also referred to as the FIFA World Cup). How are you finding season two? Harrowing? Devastating? Nauseating? All of the above? That’s how I feel but I still can’t tear myself away. I have to know what happens. Watching episode 10 around the time families were being separated at the US border had me in tears. It was too real. Andy and I watched Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette on Netflix the other night, which is also devastating. How can stand-up comedy be devastating? I can’t explain, you must watch it. To balance all this out we’ve started Brooklyn 99 from season one episode one.
Reading Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycka. I first picked this up while we were in the States in 2015! Then I lost the book?! And found it, or found another one at Andy’s parents’ place in Tasmania. I’m seriously confused as to what happened. But anyway, it’s a half depressing half amusing novel about a group of mostly eastern Europeans who travel to England for a better life and end up working in horrible conditions on farms. It’s better than it sounds! What are you reading? Give me your recommendations!
Dreaming about our holiday in a month! One week on beaches in New Caledonia, one week in the snow in New Zealand. Quite the packing nightmare but I’m up to the challenge.
Musing about meeting Mari Andrew a couple of weeks ago. She did the illustration above and has written an excellent book on the journey to adulthood. Mari was smart and funny and utterly charming, speaking candidly about mental health and her recovery from a disease that left her essentially paralysed for a month.
Eating my weight in hummus. I went off it for a while but now I’m back baby. I think it makes a huge difference where you buy it (if you’re not going to make it at home). I love Aldi but their hummus leaves a lot to be desired.
Reflecting on a really tough week at work. One that has really emphasised the importance of kindness to me. And how nonconstructive bitterness, anger and spite are.
Wondering why the farmer’s market flowers never seem to last as long as the $5 ones from the supermarket.
Buying not much since today I splurged on what I call a ‘grown up’ handbag that is pretty yet practical and will fit everything I need for work. It’s black with gold hardware and has my initials monogrammed on the side (!!!). It’s this one, if you’re interested.
Enjoying the feeling of getting stronger. I’ve been doing small group personal training sessions for about 4 months now. I’ve never really done weights other than the odd pump class or workout that left me too sore to go back to it quickly. I’m really starting to see and feel the difference now and it’s really rewarding.
Wishing it wasn’t so cold and that there weren’t still two months of winter left! Running the freezing gauntlet between the heated living room and my warm bed is a serious struggle for me these days.
Worrying about hosting a 30th birthday party and everyone having a great time (including me!). Such a silly, first world problem. I’ve always had host anxiety! I am so blown away and honoured that I have friends flying over from Western Australia for it. I can’t wait for them to meet all my Melbourne people and see where I live.
That’s about it for now. I’d better start dinner. Have a wonderful weekend x
My Bloggable Day 
Glad to see you back blogging! Hope you have a great time in New Zealand. I was there around this time last year, it was incredible!
Thanks Kiera! Glad to be back. Where did you go? We are going to Queenstown. Any recommendations?
I did a roadtrip around the South Island. I’ve never said wow so many times, everything just looks like a postcard! In queenstown: Wet jacket wines is amazing. Fergburger is a must do, also fergbakery which is right next door. Honestly the whole place is gorgeous, you can’t really go wrong 😃
What a lovely post! Sorry to hear you have been struggling on the blogging front, keep going though if you can. In my limited experience, it seems like this does happen to a lot of people! It sounds like you have some fantastic things to look forward to though – happy holidays and have a great weekend!!
Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Maybe it’s the 7 year itch?! I do have a lot to look forward to, I’m very fortunate. Hope you have a great weekend too!
7 years is a long time to keep up the enthusiasm! It must be hard and there are bound to be bumps along the way I suppose – I’ve only been doing this since last year and I’ve already had some 🙂 Hope you get your blogging mojo back soon x
We all sweat the small stuff or “first world problems” that’s what makes us human! I seriously stress about everything and I’m trying to work hard on working out what I can and can’t control. It’s not working yet, but let’s see. I just read the messenger by Markus Zusak and it was super interesting. I’ve been watching Westworld and loving it. ❤️
Andy is also loving Westworld! I’m too much of a scaredy cat though… xx
Totally love this!
I think I need to watch that series. I must be the only one who hasn’t yet!
Handmaid’s Tale? Or Brooklyn 99? Both are excellent! And completely different!
Hi Bec,
In the above post, you asked for book recommendations. With that in mind, would you be interested in joining mine and my friend’s facebook book group? It is a group where people can share recommendations, post what they like, didn’t like about a book etc.
The official description says: A place where friends can discuss books! What are you reading? What would you recommend, or not recommend? What did you like or dislike about a particular book? Is there something that you are looking forward to reading (maybe someone has it and can lend it to you!)? Feel free to add photos and links to books.
It is called The Plot Thickens:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/142432216428950/ …
Anyway, no pressure, just thought you might be interested. And if you are, please feel free to share with any other book loving friends!
Thank you so much for this Emily! I’ve requested to join 🙂