Reverse Bucket List

I read an awesome article on the Mamamia website today about a Reverse Bucket List.  The article is fantastic so I encourage you to head over and read it, but in a nutshell instead of having a list of things you want to do, the reverse bucket list is having a list of all the fantastic experiences you have had.

I love the idea particularly because some of the best experiences in life are not the planned ones.  Seeing U2 would have been on my bucket list (and it makes the reverse list) but a Midnight Oil concert wouldn't have - and it still rates as the best concert I've ever been to.

So here, in no particular order and probably missing all sorts of things out, is my Reverse Bucket List.  A celebration of many of the wonderful experiences I have had and a list that I hope will continue to grow in shape and size because I'm sure life has a whole heap of fantastic experiences still to come.

Seeing Midnight Oil play one of their last concerts during a massive thunderstorm.

Seeing U2 (twice!)

Learning to dance

Turning around from looking at an Art Nouveau Metro sign to find myself in front of Notre Dame Cathedral

Eating at Tetsyuas

Buying my house

All the summers I spent as a child running wild in the bush, making cubby houses in gardens and living in such a wonderful bubble of security and safety

Visiting Machu Picchu - and managing the hike through the Andes with asthma, plus despite my fear of heights climbing Huayna Picchu (the mountain directly behind me in the photo).

 

Getting my first watch when I was 7.  It made me feel like such a grown up.

Graduating from university - and knowing that my formal education was finally over!

My 30th birthday party - an amazing night of pure fun with my awesome friends and that is still talked about years later (and that I couldn't find a single dignified photo from to post here).

Winning my first argument with my Dad (by argument I mean conversation of ideas, we don't fight) when I was about 19.

Being a bridesmaid for my sister and my best friend

Having my nose "done"

Seeing the sun rise over Ankor Watt (and the sun set - this photo)

Eating - frog, snail, rat, piranha, guinea pig, lama, alpaca, sea urchin, lobster, pho, and so many other unusual and delicious things.

Buying my first "little black dress" and having an ah-ha moment of this is how I want to look and dress.

I'm sure there are so many more - this list will continue to grow and change, but it does make me realise what an amazing life I've managed to have at just 32.

Eleven, Eleven, Eleven

No it is not a date, it is a quiz which I was tagged in by the gorgeous Famously Frocked.

I love answering these, but hate tagging other people, so if you like the quiz, feel free to tag yourself in the comments and then join in, otherwise just read on!

The Rules:

• You must post the rules
• Post 11 fun facts about yourself in the blog post
• Answer the 11 questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create 11 new questions to ask the people you tagged
• Tag 11 new people and link them on your post (Ok, I'm letting the side down by not doing this bit)
• Let them know you've tagged them.

11 Fun Facts About Me!

1. I drink on average 6-8 cups of tea a day.  This is probably too much, but I love tea!  However I do not drink coffee.
2. I can't sleep if the cupboard doors are open.  I would like to say it is because I'm tidy, in reality it is so that the cupboard monsters can't get out.
3. I have a fear of velvet.  I love how it looks but how it feels - ugghhh!
4. I am insanely proud of home grown produce.  I think there will be an entire blog about my tomato plants soon.
5. If given the chance I will eat the entire bag of salt and vinegar chips.  No matter how big.  I just can't stop once I've opened the packet - which often results in a sore tummy.  I think I have a chip addiction.
6. My mother can make me laugh anywhere, anytime by doing her impression of the Queen smiling.  I swear it is much more hilarious than that sounds.
7. I iron pillowcases.  And doona covers.  And sheets.  And tea towels.  Yes I am that person.
8. I am one half of "that couple".  You know the ones who are always sneaking kisses and canoodling in public.  I know it erks some people, but honestly I can't help it, S is just the light of my life.
9. I once performed in a burlesque show.  True it was just end of term show when I had done a burlesque class, but it was burlesque and it was in public.
10. The flower in my avatar is from a painting I did.
11. I am somewhat addicted to the sky (such an air sign).  I love it in all its shades and moods.  If I'm trapped inside all day the first thing I do when I go it is look up.

11 Questions I was Asked

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
   Is everywhere a good answer?  No seriously, I want to go everywhere.  But I would say India or China are very high on my list at the moment, although Europe looks to be more imminent.
2. Do you have a goal you aspire to at the moment?
   Finding time to do some painting.  I suspect that it won't be happening in the next couple of months though.
3. What is the food you eat most frequently?
   Weet-bix - nearly every morning although I have been flirting with muesli recently.
4. What is the best meal you ever ate?
   So many!!!  But it is probably a tie between my 25th birthday at Tetsuya's in Sydney and an amazing dinner I had in Siem Reap in Cambodia at a restaurant called Nest last year.  That was definitely the best steak I've ever eaten and it started me eating pork again.
5. Favorite type of chocolate?
   Dark - somewhere in the 60% range is usually my favourite.
6. Who did you last talk on the phone with?
   A random wrong number.  I don't know what it is about our office number but we seem to get a disproportionately large number of those.
   
7. What is the last book you read?
   "The Imperfectionists" by Tom Rachman.  It is a novel disguised as short stories.  Quite fantastic.
8. Open- or closed-toe shoes in the summer?
   Normally open, but owing to a bad knee and a distinct lack of summer like weather, this year my enclosed ballet flats have seen far more wear than my huge collection of peep toe shoes.
9. Have you ever won a prize?
   Yes, a couple of small things, I'm manic at entering competitions.  Although I'm determined that I'm destined to win a car at some point because both my grandmother and mother have won cars.  Surely that means I'm destined to someday doesn't it?
10. Do you consider yourself to be shy or outgoing?
    I'm pretty sure everyone considers me to be outgoing, but I used to be quite painfully shy.  Drama classes gave me the skill to "fake it" until the outgoingness became natural.
    
11. Do you live near or far from family?
    Very close.  I'm currently a whole 4 minutes away from my parents and 10 from my sister.

11 Questions for You

As I said I'm never any good at picking people to respond to these things, so I'm not going to tag anyone. Instead feel free to volunteer yourself in the comments section below.  You just post 11 random facts about yourself and then answer the following 11 questions.

1. Beatles or the Stones
2. Did you have a pet growing up?
3. When was the first moment you felt "grown up"?
4. Who is your hero?
5. Are you a green thumb?
6. If you could have any skill in the world, what would it be?
7. When did you last watch the sun come up?
8. What is your go-to recipe when having people over?
9. What is your dream job?
10. How do you get to work?
11. What is your favourite movie?

Please do tag yourself, it is such an interesting way to learn about fellow bloggers!

Unplugged

Kari over at Bite-Sized Thoughts has tagged me in the Food Bloggers Unplugged concept started by Susan.

There are 10 questions to let you know a little bit more about me.  It is meant to be a food blogger quiz, hence the foodie nature and while I may not identify as a food blogger, I do love food so they are quite appropriate questions really.  So here goes:

1. What, or who inspired you to start a blog?
I started a travel blog in 2009 when I was heading off around South America to keep my family and friends (but mainly my Mum who is a worrier) in the loop of what we were doing.  I really enjoyed the experience, it was a long time since I'd done much non-work related writing, but when I got back I didn't think of turning into an every day blog.

Then one day I had one of those great days where I was in a super awesome mood for no reason at all. As I drove home that night there was a story on the radio about depressive thought cycles and it occurred to me, if you can have a depressive thought cycle, can you have a happy thought cycle?  Was there a way that I could focus on positive things and continue this great mood.  So I decided to start a blog where I would post happy things every day.  I did the every day post thing for a year and proved that you can do it, even on really bad days there is some positive to be found.  I don't post every day now but I love that I pay attention to happy stuff because it occurs to me that I can blog about it.  I think it has made me happier and it has definitely made me pay more attention to the good stuff that can go unnoticed.

2. Who is your foodie inspiration?
This one is all about context.  In the world view, I think Jamie Oliver is completely inspirational about how he believes everyone should be able to cook and eat well.  Also about how much he believes in food and family, very much my thoughts too.  I also love Maggie Beer and how cooking for her is about creating great flavours to give people enjoyment.  Cooking to feed people and make them happy is what I enjoy.

In real life my inspiration would be Mum and S.  Mum taught me to cook (more on that in a minute) and I think I cook my best when we are working together.  S comes up with the amazing combos and ideas that I then try to turn into a meal.  He makes me think outside the box and best of all will try my weird and wonderful experiments quite happily.

3. Your greasiest, batter-splattered food/drink book is?

My recipe folder.  Full of copied out recipes from other people or the internet, or cut outs from magazines etc.  It is pulled out and used more than anything else. (and you can even see that it is slightly starting to fall apart.

4.Tell us all about the best thing you have ever eaten in another country, where was it, what was it?

Such a tricky one because I love food and travel and so have eaten some amazing things in amazing places.  I'm going to say guinea pig in Peru, because it was an all round great day/night.  We had just returned from our trek to Machu Picchu.  I was still on a high from the achievement of seeing a place I had been longing to visit since I was a little kid, but had also had a proper night's sleep in a real bed, a hot shower and a lazy day wandering Cuzco, a city I love.  We decided that we wanted to try guinea pig, but we also wanted something fancy after our days of camping.  So we headed to a posh restaurant, drank pisco sours (national cocktail of Peru) and ate massive, delicious guinea pig with roast potatoes.  It is slightly gamey, I would probably compare the flavour to quail although it was much more meaty.  They had marinated it in garlic and rosemary and it was so flavourful and juicy that we ended up with grease covered hands to the wrists.  Adding to the experience was sitting in the fancy restaurant, with starched white napkins, in our backpacking clothes while eating our meal with our hands (as is customary).  It was a great night.

I should add that photo is just one person's serve, we each had the same!  Luckily we were hungry after all that hiking.  And by that stage of the night we were on to pisco-politans - a cosmopolitan made with pisco.

5. Another food blogger's table you'd like to eat at is?
I am so inspired by all the food bloggers I read, really if you love food enough to discuss it, photograph it and blog it then I would totally love to eat at your table.

6. What is the one kitchen gadget you would ask Santa for this year (money no object of course)?
Easy one - a thermomix!  At first I thought they sounded too good to be true and as a fan of slow cooking from scratch I doubted the quality that would result.  But with chef after fussy chef reporting the wonder that is a thermomix, I think I would love one.

7. Who taught you how to cook?
Mum.  From the time I was tiny I would sit at the kitchen bench and "help".  I learned as much by doing as by watching.  We were always given sharp knives and proper food so learned how to be careful as well as how to construct a recipe.  Mum and I also talk food all the time, working out what flavours go together and how we can make new dishes.  I love cooking with and for Mum.

However, Dad deserves an honourable mention for teaching me how to make apple turnovers which became a Saturday night ritual for most of my teenage and early 20's years.  Dad was also the instigator of other such delights as ridiculously indulgent french toast (which I will do a post on over Christmas) and the full breakfast fry up.

8. I'm coming to you for dinner, what's your signature dish?
My fail safe recipe is a Donna Hay recipe where you top a thick slice of eggplant with basil, slices of tomato and a chicken breast then sprinkle with mozzarella.  It gets baked for 20 minutes, works perfectly every time and requires no effort or unsociable cooking activity.  But I like to experiment and create a menu that reflects the season and those eating while also letting me socialise and not be tied to the kitchen all night.  So dinner would probably be an antipasto entree, a nice main with several sides for choice and a decadent dessert.

Somehow along the way though I've become known as the jelly shot queen.  I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with my culinary legacy being in alcoholic jelly, but oh well, at least it is memorable.

9. What is your guilty food pleasure?

Oh, so many.  Hot chips with vinegar.  Melted dark chocolate.  Cheese.  Red wine and chocolate.  Coke.  Cake for breakfast (I should be specific here, only the family secret recipe chocolate cake or guglhupf). And of course there is my desk drawer of chocolate.  Hmmm, I did mention chocolate didn't I?

10. Reveal something about yourself that others would be surprised to learn?
I am not perpetually happy!  I'm a bit of a stress head at times, am usually way over-committed and trying to figure out how to fit everything into my life.  This blog is really my "Little Book of Calm" (Black Books reference for anyone who knows it).

Now I have to tag 5 other bloggers.  This is tricky.  It is a foodie questionnaire, but I'm tagging some non-foodie bloggers, hope you guys enjoy!

Hannah @ Wayfaring Chocolate

Leaf @ The Indolent Cook

Shellie @ Iron Chef Shellie

Heidi @ Applies Under My Bed

Z @ Lovely Jublies

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one thing I would be perfectly happy to adopt from the US.  I'm not talking about the big meal, the football, the holiday stress, I'm talking about having a day where you actually give thanks for the good things in life.  It is something we don't often take the time to consider.  I'm thankful for so much, I truly feel blessed in the life I lead, but here is the list of things that are really making me thankful today:

I'm thankful for the love in my life.  From my amazing family, my fabulous friends and my absolutely gorgeous boyfriend. 

I'm thankful for my health.  It is easy to take for granted but good health is of unquantifiable worth. 

I'm thankful for my education.  Education is everything in my book.  With education the world is your oyster, without it, the paths are closed.  I'm so grateful to my parents for ensuring I got it and the wonderful teachers who gave it to me. 

I'm thankful for my upbringing.  For growing up in a house where I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was loved and safe.  Where I was taught everything from manners to critical thinking.  Where I was (and am) loved and supported in all my efforts.  Where I was taught to respect money but not revere it.  And where laughter was a part of every day. 

I'm thankful for being born in Australia.  I live in a country where I am free to express my views and elect my leaders.  I am not denied opportunities because of sex, marital status, age, religion or ethnicity.  I go about my everyday activities without fear for my safety.  I have enough to eat, a warm comfortable home, a well paid job.  I know that not everyone in Australia has access to all these things, but vastly more people here do than in other parts of the world.

And last but not least: Today I'm thankful that it is almost Christmas and the German gingerbread is in store!

What are you thankful for today?

Listography - Top 5 Random Things I Like

This week's listography on Kate Takes 5 is the "Top 5 Random Things I Like".  And not random like the first random things I thought of, random as in, other people probably think it is weird to like them.  So here goes:

1. The smell of tomato leaves warm from the sun.  I have no idea why I like this, I also like the smell of geranium leaves. 

2. Salt on chocolate.  Ok, I know I'm late to this bandwagon, but I've just discovered it and it is extraordinary what it does to the flavour. 

3. A cup of hot water.  Yup, just hot water in a cup, no additives, just hot water.  I discovered this when I was trying to cut down the inordinate amount of tea I drink each day, particularly in the freezing Canberra winters and I've found that I really do like hot water.

4. Reading my horoscope.  I particularly like to read multiple horoscopes in different publications and decide which one sounds the best so I can believe it over the others.

5. Pate.  This one divides the masses, you probably love or hate it.  All I can say is that all the haters are lucky for me because on more than one occassion I've got to eat several people's hors d'oeuvre.

Listography - Guilty Pleasures

Kate Takes 5's listography this week is all about guilty pleasures.  You know, the things you love but are slightly embarrassed to admit.  Ok, deep breath, here is my list:

1. Melting chocolate in the microwave and eating it with a spoon
Yeah, I really do sometimes do this.  My sister and I used to do it when we were kids, I still do, I bet she does too.  Add a cup of tea or a glass of red wine - bliss.

2. And on the topic, anything containing melted cheese
I adore cheese, but it is so much better melted.  For parties I make this thing where I basically cook a brie in the oven so it is melted on the inside.  I recently saw an episode of "Cheese Slices" (it is a travel show about cheese - I kid you not) where they cut a massive wheel of cheese in half, then had a special gadget that melted the cut side which they scrapped it off onto bread to eat, then they put it back under the element, remelted it, etc.  S and I turned to each other and unanimously agreed we needed that device.

3. Pop Music
If I'm asked what kind of music I like I will talk about jazz, 60's rock, opera, etc.  But you know, I really love a bit of pop every now and then.  It is even better if it is from the 80's.  Kylie, George Michael, the Bangles, boy bands, god help me, I will even sing along to the Spice Girls.

4. Shoes
I refuse to count my shoes for fear that it will incriminate me.  Lets just put it this way, I have to do a seasonal rotation as they won't all fit in the cupboard and the special going out shoes are in a whole other storage space.  And now I've decided I want to wear flats more, so I guess I will have to buy a whole lot of new ones!

5. Long Hot Showers
I don't feel quite so guilty about this one as we are having reasonable rainfall at the moment, but particularly when the drought was bad I felt guilty about using so much water.  But I love a long shower, not only does it wake me up, it relaxes me and definitely improves my mood - just ask the colleagues who had to put up with me the other day when the temperature hit -8 overnight and my hot water pipe froze so I couldn't have my wake up shower.

So what are your guilty pleasures?

5 most important things my parents taught me

Another list as inspired by Kate Takes 5's weekly listography.  As you will know, my family is very important to me and of course at the centre are my parents.  It has been extremely hard narrowing down the multitude of things they have taught me to just 5, but I think these are pretty key.

(Mum I have to say, I really considered putting here teaching me to ride a bike because I think you deserve some serious kudos for running up and down the street holding me upright for so long, but I thought these were more significant).

How to cook
Food is big in our family.  We love experimenting, eating, talking about it.  In fact my father coined the now famous family phrase "if there isn't someone talking about, preparing or eating food in the room you know you are alone".  Our gatherings center on food and I have so many special memories that relate to it.

Mum primarily taught me to cook, although Dad has been instrumental along the way, just read about him teaching me to cook apple turnovers to understand.  I spent countless happy hours sitting at the kitchen bench helping, or chatting or watching.  As a result I'm fully equipped to keep myself nourished but more importantly I can feed others and I love the joy it brings when I produce something yummy.

Manners
I don't think I even noticed being taught manners, it was just a part of life, but as I've grown older, boy have I noticed how many people don't know the common courtesies or how to behave in a particular situation and even more I've noticed how uncomfortable it makes people.  Over the years I've had various friends quietly quiz me about how to deal with the array of cutlery, or how they should respond to a social situation.  They have always been extremely embarrassed to be asking, but if no one has taught you, how are you supposed to know what to do?

As well as all the usual table manners, saying please and thankyou as a matter of course and the like, Mum also taught us to be thank you note writers.  The thank you note seems to be a dying art, but I love it and after all, it is another excuse to buy nice stationery!

Money is to be enjoyed not hoarded
We were never a rich family.  We were definitely comfortable, with a lovely home, private school education and plenty of treats, but compared to a lot of the girls at my school, Mum and Dad didn't have the same kind of disposable income.

But what they did have they spent well and they taught me that living a comfortable, enjoyable life is much better than dying with a large bank account.  I've learnt how to budget, but also how to spend.  How to make priorities and that a life full of experience is better than a bank account full of money.  Looking at that gorgeous painting on the wall certainly gives me a lot more joy than looking at a balance on a screen and living in Canberra, having a well heated home is much better than shivering all the way to the bank.

I won't be leaving a fortune behind when I go, but I will have lived a life where I enjoyed what I earned!

Don't have an entire meal of champagne and fairy bread
This was just one of many truisims my parents taught me particularly during my teenage years.  Most of these lessons follow the same pattern, a story along the lines of - don't do X, because when I did it such and such happened.

Some of them are brilliantly funny stories but I think the thing that made these lessons so powerful was that they were real.  It wasn't my parents trying to stop me having fun, they were letting me know real consequences.  My parents have never pretended to be saints with no lives, rather they have let us into the complexity of their experiences so that we could learn from them and in doing so, they helped us make our own decisions with a real understanding of the consequences. 

Oh and yes Mum really did wipe herself out on champagne and fairy bread at my Aunt's birthday party and her description of multicoloured vomit is both disgusting and memorable. 

That they will love me no matter what
Growing up surrounded by truly unconditional love is an amazing thing.  The confidence and security it gives you I think is pretty much unparallelled.  There was never a question about how much my sister and I were loved and even more than that, I always knew there was nothing so bad that I couldn't tell my parents and that they wouldn't still love me.


So thanks Mum and Dad, you have given me the strength and skills to cope with whatever life throws at me and more importantly thanks for always being there when life is doing its best to test that!

My Top 5 Decisions

Inspired by Katetakes5 I’ve compiled a list of my best 5 decisions.  Writing them has been quite an interesting introspection exercise.  I've thought deeply about what things have changed my life and of those, which were because of decisions I've made, versus circumstance.  After composing them I realised that they all have one very important thing in common, each one involved taking a chance, a step into the unknown.  There were other options, safer, more conventional routes but each of these decisions has enriched my life.

The thing I’ve realised over recent years is that you can’t live your life in fear of failure.  Some things work great, some things are a big massive flop but to try nothing for fear of things going wrong is to only half live a life.  I have faith in myself that I can survive failure, that if it happens I will grow and become stronger from it.  So when I make a decision, start something new, give something a try, I jump in boots and all. 

So here in no particular order is my list of top decisions, what are yours?

1. Learn to Dance
Isn’t it funny how sometimes you really want something, but manage to give yourself all sorts of reasons why you can’t do it?  I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to learn to dance, but I always found a reason not to do it.  In high school it was that I was too unco and not cool enough to try out for Rock Eisteddfod.  Later it was that it was expensive, or you needed a partner, or that I was too unco (a reoccurring theme, I really am very unco). 

In reality, I was just too scared!  As I now know, it doesn’t have to be expensive, you definitely don’t need a partner and if I can learn, no one is too unco to learn to dance.

It took till I was 24, but taking the plunge and learning to dance has absolutely changed my life for the better in so many ways.  I’m fitter than I’ve ever been with better posture and actual stomach muscles.  I have a hobby that makes me smile and laugh and fills me with joy.  And it has led me to the most amazingly wonderful people, my brilliant friends and of course S.

2. Working for my Dad
I know lots of people think this was probably an easy decision, it wasn’t, it was really hard.  Working for my Dad has made it harder to develop an independent professional identity.  I’ve had to prove myself over and over that I’m in my position based on merit not family ties.  I care, worry and feel more responsible for the business than I ever would in similar positions working for others and my Dad is a hard task master.

But you know, every one of those hard things, is actually what makes it so rewarding.  I care, I work hard, I want to achieve my best.  And I get to work with my Dad who I love.  He might be a hard task master but he is great fun and I love our working relationship.  He is an amazing and inspiring mentor and I’ve developed a range of skills that I would never have in any other position.

3. Going to South America in 2009
In early 2009 my (now) great friend A asked if I would go with her to South America.  There were lots of reasons I could have said no.  She was a friend but I didn’t know her that well, it used up all my savings and leave in the middle of a massive year from a professional point of view.   I had never backpacked or been away from home for longer than 2 weeks.  But I said yes and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

Not only did I achieve my life ambition of visiting Machu Picchu, I saw the most magnificent things and it reignited my love of travel.  The other great thing about that decision was that we chose to do independent travel.  I’m sure our families would have been much happier to have us on an organised tour but the things we did and got to see would just not have been possible if it wasn’t for that decision.

4. Staying at home and saving for a house deposit rather than renting
When I was in my early 20’s all my friends started moving out into their cool little apartments and group houses.  By my mid 20’s even my little sister had moved out with her boyfriend.  My parents are fabulous and didn’t impinge on my life at all, but still there were times when I felt like my life was never going to move on.  I felt like a little girl locked in her childhood bedroom.  I felt so stuck that I even instructed my mother to kick me out of home if I was still there when I was 30.

But all that saving and an inheritance meant that when I did move out, I moved into my own place.  Every day I come home I feel proud that I achieved and that much as it is a struggle at times to pay the mortgage, I’m doing it.

5. Deciding I’m responsible for my own happiness
I think like many girls, Disney had me fooled.  For a long time there I was waiting for my knight in shining armour to come and make my life perfect.  Without ever consciously thinking it, I assumed that other people would point me in the right directions and I kind of floated along like that till I was in my 20’s.

It might sound ridiculous, it certainly does to me now, but it took me an awfully long time to work out that if I wanted something, I had to make it happen, I couldn’t just hope that it would work all by itself.  I’m almost blushing as I type this to think of how many years I daydreamed away waiting for something to happen, without doing anything to make it happen.

I’m not sure when I started to consciously realise that I was in charge of my destiny, it was a sort of gradual awakening.  I’m not sure that I’m even really there yet, but I feel it is almost as if I’ve stepped out from a fog, into a clear blue day, where there are paths before me and I choose which ones I take.

This blog is one of those paths.  It is a conscious step on into the Pollyanna Syndrome.  Focusing on happy things has made me happier.

I’m still working on it and I think I will my whole life, but I think this decision, this realisation, has made everything I’ve achieved in recent years possible.