My Ode to Winter

In the shower, I love to stand under running water that is far too hot to be safe. It feels like a blanket wrapped around me and if I could postpone turning the water off for hours, I would. Then clothes that have been warmed over the radiator. Dress up so warm that the cold cannot get to me when it wraps around me as I step out of the house - save for my cheeks, turning rosy in the cold - a feeling that wakes me up and makes me feel so alive that even if it's just for one moment, everything is just perfectly... perfect ♥

perfectly,

Today's Thoughts

When I used to hear people say The last thing I feel like doing when I get home after a day of work is sit back down in front of a computer, I was always baffled by it. Being a 'computer person' myself, it never bothered me. Work was work, at home I'd be doing stuff that helps me relax.

Yet as much as I try to fight it, I'm becoming one of those people I could never understand. There is so much more to do in the few free hours I now have after work than sit down again and look at a screen. These last few weeks, I've watched DVDs, painted walls, met friends, spent time reading, so many things that don't involve a computer.

It's a little bit scary to realise that I'm not quite the person I once was. To see that my priorities are slowly shifting. I feel bad though when I remember that the pc is one of my strongest remaining ties to my closest friends in Malta. I miss them, but maybe I've been overdoing it.

I'm enjoying being able to relax and totally switch off. Change isn't a bad thing, as long as it's for the better, and I believe this is. I have no intentions of closing down this blog, but you've already noticed the gaping breaks between posts (although of course my twitter stream is still quite healthy - thanks to twitter on my phone!). This is also not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose. As the Maltese saying goes, Min hu sidi? (which roughly means that no one is telling me what to do so I can make my own rules up as I go...!)

Off to watch The Women now! Some me time :) x

differently,

Remember, Remember

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

It's tonight! Fireworks have already been going off randomly throughout the afternoon. I hope we get a good display tonight. I love watching the fireworks.

Although, I'd have to admit that fireworks are more of a summer thing for me than winter. I guess it roots from Maltese festi, watching the pretty fireworks by the sea in flip flops and a thin cotton dress, eating candy floss.

Note: a really good film to watch, if you fancy a themed evening, is V for Vendetta

I can't quite believe it's November. Sure I know it is, but it just doesn't seem to make sense! 2009, almost over? Impossible!

[I say this despite the fact that I've already ordered some Christmas decorations which arrived yesterday and I had to stop myself from hanging them up...]

excitedly,

Rediscovery

When I worked in London, I was first based in Victoria, then in Piccadilly - both meant that venturing out on my lunch break had me on the doorsteps of a few too many shops. My lunch breaks were generally spent window shopping (most times without the 'window' bit), which led to many impulse buys, lots of money being spent randomly and not much unwinding happening during my break from work.

Now however, although I do actually work close to a shopping centre, I'd need to take the car to get there - and then attempt to find a parking slot which would probably take up half my break anyway. So instead, I use it the way I've always wanted to: as a break. I sometimes retreat to the warmth of the car and read for an hour. Or I walk a while and enjoy the scenery. Recently I've discovered my very own Secret Garden just across the road from work. I sit on a bench there and read. Sometimes it's far too cold to just be sitting there but I do anyway because it's so beautiful and so wonderfully relaxing. I return to work completely refreshed. (My mother has taken to calling me Mary Lennox...)

So since the weekday-shopping has ceased, our trip to Lakeside yesterday was quite the event for me. I refer once again to a previous post, Comfort Shopping... that really was how it was yesterday... I was just awed at the perfectly aligned rows of beautiful, colourful things. I didn't want to buy everything, just stand there and take it all in. The fact that all the shops were done up for Halloween and some Christmas creeping in too made it all the more magical. I felt like a child on Christmas morning!


Thank you once again for the birthday greetings that are still rolling in! ♥

Tomorrow is a tough day for David and myself. I might write about it when it's all over x

[img cred: Lakeland]

PS

PS: Thank you all for your warm birthday wishes.

My birthday celebrations this year were the simplest they've been in a long time, but being in Malta around family and having David spend the day with me made it perfect.

We had planned a birthday dinner but I cancelled it, opting for a cozy night in with some wine and a DVD instead. It put a smile on my face.

But my favourite part of the day was the 15 minutes we spent sitting by the sea at Ghajn Tuffieha, dreaming about the future. ♥

The Case of the Missing Keys

Good evening lovelies. This is my 6th (SIXTH!!!!) post for October. What has happened to me?! I miss being glued to my blog 24/7 but at the same time I am enjoying having a life outside of the blogosphere! The novelty will wear off eventually and you'll find yourselves wishing I'm only around a handful of times a month again, you'll see!

Despite the holidays, my mind is having a rough time getting back into work-mode. What with all the new things I've learnt (and I've very genuinely learnt them - got back from 10 days in Malta and hadn't forgotten a single thing!!! *proud*), I'm suffering with the little everyday things.

...............What did I walk into this room for?
....Why do I have this book in my hand?
.........What was I about to say?
.........................Where are my keys?

The answer to that last one, my dears, is MALTA! I forgot my UK house keys in Malta!

A few hours into the flight - we were already somewhere over France - I suddenly realised that I hadn't heard them jingling about in my bag recently. Cue mad search through the bag on the plane. Nothing. David tried too (while I sat there thinking 'I may be forgetting things but I'm not going blind too and if you dare find them in that bag, I'm going to lose it!' - He didn't)

Once we landed, I called home. Sure enough - they were hanging with the rest of the keys in my parents' house in Malta. Luckily, my sister is currently on holiday there and she'll be bringing them back for me for a hopeful handover at the weekend. Until then, I've claimed hubby's keys as my own which means I get to greet him at the door every evening :)

forgetfully,

[img cred: eastbrookhomes]

Twenty Seven Candles

I can't believe how little I've updated this month. I don't think I've ever slacked so much! Then again, it's difficult to keep up the updates when I'm away most of the month. I can't say I'm complaining - it's good to have a break from everything sometimes.

This week in Malta has been good to me. I've done lots of relaxing, bonding with my siblings and parents, just generally chilling out with them, some friends, some reading, lots of sleeping, a massage, barely any photos! I miss hubby but some time apart won't do us any harm either. I can't wait to see him!

And with a great week, 26 comes to an end. My birthday this year promises to be entirely different from last year. I deserve a good birthday, if I do say so myself!

It may be childlike, but I am very excited for 27...!

positively,

[img cred: Cards Unlimited]

Special Message

Happy Birthday, my wonderful Daddy ♥

Thank you
for making me smile,
for being young at heart,
for always being someone I can rely on x

[img cred: Steffe]

Monday Magic

So, for anyone interested, I started my new job this week* and so far, so good. I woke up yesterday morning feeling panicked because I hate feeling like I don't know my work inside out but then a lot of things suddenly fell into place and I'm currently quite pleased with my progress... it has only been two days! :) I'm too hard on myself.

In other news, the lovely melina over at owl and peacock, a blog I came across lately and utterly love, tagged me for a survey thingy... and I loooove surveys, so here it is. I tag anyone who fancies being tagged :D


1. What books are on your favorite shelf?
- I am currently indulging the part of me that still wishes I were a teenager and reading the Twilight series. What I'll do once I'm done reading Breaking Dawn is beyond me. But other than that, to mention a handful of books that are my all-time favourites are Paulo Coelho's Veronica Decides to Die, The Zahir, Eleven Minutes; I also love several books by Jodi Picoult, Cecilia Ahern, Marian Keyes, Tess Gerritsen, Jeffrey Archer. This question will never, ever have a brief reply.

2. What DVDs are on your favorite shelf?
- Love Actually (always gives me a Christmassy feel); Run Fat Boy Run; Kate & Leopold; Bride & Prejudice; DeLovely; Grease; In Her Shoes; Sweet Home Alabama

3. What are your two favorite cookbooks?
- Express Lane Cookbook will be right up there. Both my mother and sister have this one too! My other favourite is The Newlyweds' Cookbook - it's great for cooking for two. However, I mostly use websites like All Recipes or Love Food Hate Waste.

4. Select 1-3 recipes you will cook for your special guests:
- My sweet chilli chicken stir fry is usually a winner, and my risottos also... they're dead easy but rather impressive-looking and -tasting! *licks lips*

5. What will we be drinking that's available?
- Martini Rosso, Pimm's or Baileys

And 5 Random Facts:
1. I was a Girl Guide and absolutely loved it.
2. I still think of myself as the girl with the frizzy, curly hair :-/
3. I could never own a digital book reader - as much as I love technology, I am far too old fashioned and love the feeling of a book in my hands far too much to give that up.
4. My alarm clock has to be set at an irregular time. If I need to get up at 0630, I'll set it for 0627. *shrug*
5. No matter how old I am, that puddle on the ground and those crunchy-looking leaves can never quite escape my footsteps... ;)


...I think I'll go make myself a Martini...

---------
* I wrote that on Friday evening, intending to post the update on Saturday. There was no Martini on the cards for me that night. What was, however, was a rather violent tummy bug which had me bed-ridden all weekend (not to mention vomiting and other unmentionables). I spent today in a zombified state, with a splitting headache and an aching back and stomach from muscle spasms due to the vomiting (I'm guessing).

I am much better now, just a few stomach cramps and a much lower-key headache, although my appetite still hasn't returned at all, and for someone who is constantly stuffing her face, that is a strange feeling indeed!

[img cred: endforward]

uncritically,

Roman Holiday

Oh my lovelies, it feels like I've been gone forever! I promise I haven't forgotten you - it's just that there's so much to write about our trip, I can't quite work out where to begin!

It was fabulous, totally. Rome has stolen my 'Favourite European City' title from Paris, and that's saying a lot - I love Paris! Treasures around every corner, fountains in every piazza at the very least, history aplenty. But I'm not your average tourist, so technically, these aren't important. I judge a place by its atmosphere and soul. And Rome has soul.

Piazza Navona and Piazza di Spagna stole my heart. I could have spent the entire holiday sat in those two squares and come back happy and raving about Rome for years to come.

And when I say 'not your average tourist', what I actually mean is that I am the worst tourist ever. The fact that I am not after typical tourist sights coupled with the fact that I have a huge aversion to crowds means that the Fontana di Trevi left me hugely unimpressed. Sure, it's a huge - beautiful! - fountain... but was it really necessary to build something as big as that in what has to be the smallest piazza in Rome?! And then have every single tourist in Rome be in that piazza at one go? (or so it seemed).

I didn't even get close enough to throw a coin into the water. [I'll admit that I did consider throwing one in from the street, and was secretly amused at the mental image of it hitting someone on the head by mistake, but thought it would be ideal to behave myself.] Coin-in-fountain or not, I have no doubt that I'll be back one day.

Roman driving made Mumbai driving seem almost sane. There was one taxi driver whose cab we got into for a quick trip to Trastevere... and quick it was! But if I say he looked at the road for a tenth of the way, I'd probably be being generous. He wasn't sure where the restaurant was, so he had a map laid out across the steering wheel and was closely inspecting it for most of the way there. We did find the restaurant - mostly by coincidence - and only almost crashed once. I have to admit, I was impressed (and not a little bit terrified).

There are other thoughts I have on Rome that I will go into separately, on another day. To conclude, it was a wonderful holiday. We relaxed, even if we walked far too much, overdressed in weather that was far too hot! We spent quality time together in a timeless city, and that alone would have been wonderful enough to make our first anniversary perfect.

[[Full album of pictures of the trip]]

touristically,