Posts Tagged ‘NZ Blogger’

July in Review

July wrap up instagram myfoxycorner

August has arrived and slapped us all in the face with its warmer temperatures and proximity to Christmas (I know I am not the only one counting down the days guys). July was a month that flew by, and it was a weird month with some memories that I will hold forever (99% of it was probably pretty forgettable and spent watching countless Bachelorette episodes).

 The best thing: Getting out and exploring, trying new places and doing new things. It doesn’t happen often but when it does I always have so much fun.

The hardest thing: Being on a Jury for the first time (and hopefully the last).

One thing I learned: I’m a stronger person when I trust in myself and stop worrying about everyone else. Also learnt a bunch of facts about space because I got bored one day and decided to read up.

On the blog: I had a really cathartic experience writing this recent post on why growing up is so hard and confusing, it’s not often that I just let my thoughts out and worry about whether it makes sense later.

Goals for August: Improve my gym attendance and find a new flat mate (if you know anyone who loves cats, isn’t a dick and needs a room let me know..).

July on Instagram
10249307_1494822134142906_141577406_n_Fotor_Collage

  1. I crocheted my first scarf and Merlin was my model. It accidentally ended up looking like I belong in Gryffindor but to be honest I don’t even mind (despite being a Ravenclaw at heart).
  2. I also baked these salted caramel cupcakes and they continue to be a favourite. I still have a heap of left over caramel sauce in the fridge so throw me some ideas for what to do with it (other that eat some every time I go to get a vegetable, very dangerous).
  3. Edd and I went out to try and explore our back yard a little more, doing an incredible bush walk out in the Waitakeres. Well it was incredible until we had to climb up the side of a dam, luckily my many fears don’t include heights otherwise I might have been frozen half way up and never returned.
  4. After a great mums and bubs brunch club event I took Mr 7 to Butterfly Creek. This was about 1 second before I decided the butterfly was too close to my eyes and began to panic. Fun times.
  5. Slipping in a photo from Paris last year, because I don’t understand how a year has passed and why has no one invented a time machine yet.
  6. New favourite cafe spot located at Cosset in Mt Albert, a vegan/vegetarian heaven with pancakes that were delicious and coffee that was strong. Win.
  7. It wouldn’t be winter without a tree silhouette and an early sunset. Beautiful city.
  8. 90s party vibes, I even sourced a mood ring guys.
  9. Ended July by getting super sick in a very quick timeframe. So this is me celebrating the fact that at 5pm I finally dragged myself out of bed, mainly so that I could be closer to the heat pump.

What’s coming up?

August is a busy month, every one is having birthdays and get togethers, people are moving and changing jobs. Me; I’m staying in the same place, in the same job and just trying to enjoy each day. I have tickets to see Dylan Moran at the end of this month so that will be something I will look forward to each time I reach for the red wine!

And on that note… xxx

 

Friday’s Letters: We were young souls

Friday's Letters myfoxycorner

Dear Self: We’ve done a surprisingly awesome job for getting through a chunk of Winter without any signs of serious sickness, so how about when you do get sick and stay up all night coughing your little wheezy heart out you don’t then be a stupid martyr and try and go into work anyway. There are far too many episodes of The Bachelorette and I’m not sure how we will get through them if we don’t take some time out every now and again.

Dear Milky Chance: Why I waited until now to listen to your full album I have no idea. I have now amended this lack of judgement and can’t stop listening to every song, especially this one.

Dear Turmeric Latte: You were one of those things that sounded weird enough to be awesome. And I’m still a little undecided. Not sure I’m quite cool enough to pull off the yellow teeth and chunks of turmeric but I appreciate the effort. Might just stick with my caffeine.

Dear Friends: How did I get so lucky to be surrounded by such an amazing bunch of people, all over the world. Thanks for letting me be sick/whingey/self-indulgent, I promise to return the favour, whenever.

Dear Auckland Food Show: I’m coming for you and all of your delicious offerings tomorrow so prepare yourself (I’m already choosing my best stretch pants).

Dear Edd: Happy birthday for Sunday. I couldn’t be more glad that you made your way into this world and then crossed my path at just the right time (I can’t believe it’s almost been a decade, what?!). Sorry for always leaving tissues everywhere, I would blame Merlin but we all know that with him the tissues would be shredded.

Dear 90s: You were a cool decade and I’m glad that this weekend I got the chance to remember all the awesome things you were host to (mainly Stargate SG-1 but there were other highlights too). I was pretty impressed I managed to find a mood ring, even if it kept insisting I was angry (I swear I just have a resting frown face!).

Dear Merlin: I forgive you for spending all day outside when I was sick in bed. It’s not like I feed you or anything, and so have some weird sense that maybe I’m entitled to a cuddle every now and again.

Friday's Letters myfoxycorner

On Growing Up (and how confusing that can be)

myfoxycorner

This week I’ve been pondering what it means to “grow up” and whether my life is at the same stage I would have expected as a child looking forward. I know, weird stuff for a Wednesday, but these hopefully mildly coherent ramblings are swilling around in my head like some kind of intensely brewing tea, so I’m keen to get it down and maybe give my brain a little space.

I’m going to try and arrange my haphazard thoughts under some misguided or hopeful thoughts I had as a young version of myself, with bushier hair and the same love of foxes. These “myths” may turn out to be 100% true for some, I have no idea, but I just know (now) that they don’t hold up for me and my journey into the terrifying world of pretending to be an adult.myfoxycorner

Myth #1: “You will know once you are suddenly an adult.”

There’s that weird transition where at some point you become an adult. It’s not like a light switch that turns on and suddenly you fear no one and lose your love for ridiculously sweet lollies.

I guess I am an adult now, I guess I am grown up, but things still seem so unclear. It’s so unlike the impression I had as a child that adulthood was a concrete stage that you would know you had achieved (probably by the fact that suddenly you ironed all your clothes, ate only salads and other totally weird and untrue ideas).

“I am convinced that most people do not grow up… We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.” – Mary Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Myth #2: “I’ll be grown up in my 20’s”

Evidence I am not yet a grown up:

  • I still don’t know how to tie my shoelaces
  • Bike riding is something I never quite learnt well enough to remember as an adult (you apparently do forget how to ride a bike if you were pretty crap to begin with)
  • I wear unmatched socks 90% of the time (that other 10% of the time though is all adult)
  • I would eat twisties for dinner each night if Edd didn’t detest them
  • I still shove stuff under my bed instead of tidying it up, and then get into a state weeks later when I can’t find my favourite notebook/yarn/nail polish/drink bottle/fox
  • I order pancakes for breakfast and regret it every single time.
  • I still have never ironed a piece of clothing. Never. You can berate me for it, I don’t even care.
  • I eat enough lollies to make myself sick. Wait an hour or so and then repeat the whole process until I run out of sugar.

Myth #3: “Growing up means you have everything figured out and know exactly what you want from life (and how to get it).”

This illusion that somehow everyone has everything worked out starts to fall apart with each passing year, and it is both a relief (thank god I’m not the only one who doesn’t know how to go to bed before 10.30pm”) and a little scary.

Am I where I thought I would be at 24? No, but then my ideas of what my life would be like were along the lines of crazy cat lady, studying for a undefined PhD (like mum), writing novel after novel and drinking endless cups of tea.).

Instead I am working in a job that I definitely don’t hate but is nothing like what I thought I would be doing, married at 24 (I don’t think I ever thought someone would be stupid enough to marry me), still living in Auckland, scribbling away on a tiny little minuscule piece of the internet and still not really sure of what the future holds.

I’ve reached a stage where I realise that growing up doesn’t mean figuring it all out. Growing up means learning from each experience you have, good and bad, and using every mistake you make as a chance to grow.

myfoxycorner - on growing up

Me at 2 and me at 24. Not much has changed.

Myth #4: “My childhood fears and insecurities will disappear as I mature, leaving me confident, organized and pretty much just awesome at everything/loved by everyone.”

One thing I have learnt is that certain characteristics I have, which I had assumed were childhood fears that would leave me when I matured into a bad-ass, has-her-shit-together adult woman, will never leave me. I will always be that 5 year old child who’s terrified of losing her family. I will always be the 13 year old insecure teenager who wants everyone to like her but simultaneously just wants to be alone by herself a lot of the time. I will always be the 24 year old who will never know 100% what she wants, but will give life a good go in spite of the debilitating fear that she is somehow screwing everything up. Me and my fears/insecurities/bizarre paranoias are good friends now, and I wouldn’t be the weird individual I am today without them.

What I am discovering is that instead of trying to get rid of these inner monologues I have (“oh wow, so and so just ignored your message for like 2 days straight. That definitely means they hate you.”), it’s more useful to try and understand where this is coming from. Acknowledging that it’s okay to feel insecure but at the same time remind myself that these emotions are based on very little and so shouldn’t be taken so seriously.

Myth #5: “One day I’ll be awesome as ‘X’”/ “If I’m as organized as ‘Y’ then my life will be just as incredible and fulfilling as theirs obviously is.”

Another thing I have gathered (thanks to the help of incredible friends) is to stop with comparing my own adulting with other’s adulting. We are all figuring it out, struggling along and learning in different ways and at different paces. The only thing that is useful to compare with is myself, to keep growing and developing. Turns out that I’m not the only one who is sitting here, sipping on a latte pretending I have shit all worked out whilst on the inside I’m having a mini melt down.

We all have to make this journey alone. That’s not to say we don’t need support from friends, family, amazing tv shows and TLC songs, but I guess I’m learning that I can’t base my path on someone else’s. I have to take my own risks, make my own mistakes and wrong turns, and try each day to do things that make me happy, be around people I love.

Where does this leave me?

I may never learn the proper way to tie my shoelaces (my way is better anyway). I may never lose the insecurity that plagues my every social interaction, and instead prefer to stay home with my cat/s. I may never stop asking for advice from my parents, imagining that they are the ones with the answers., what I will do is focus on growing, little by little. Being open to new things and new relationships. Acknowledging that I know next to nothing, and lapping up any chance to learn that I can. Trying to not make the same mistake more than once (or twice). Focusing on finding out what makes me happy and then figuring out ways to do that more.

There’s not “aha” moment where suddenly the clouds of childhood clear and suddenly this screwed up, beautiful adult world makes sense. This means I’ll never lose the opportunity to view the world with the wonder of a child, but I’ll also be able to make the decisions with the experience of my years, may they be seemingly random and inappropriate where necessary.

This post was spurred by a linkup done by the lovely Lisa from allinthedaze, all about writing from the heart (make sure you take part!). Her question was about whether we are at the stage we thought we would be as a “grown up” (but as you can tell I kind of took that and then flew rather off course).

What about you? Are you where you wanted to be?

Tropical Gogi Smoothie

Coconut Tropical Smoothie

I hope every one has had a beautiful weekend, mine was pretty amazing. Yesterday, Edd and I made the brave decision to leave the warmth of our bed and go for a bushwalk out in the Waitakeres. There’s something a little spectacular about walking across the top of a dam, surrounded by bush.

Looking out across the dam and pondering whether my phone camera can handle how spectacular it is.

Looking out across the dam and pondering whether my phone camera can handle how spectacular it is.

Today is part two of the smoothie posts, and this one is a little more creative then the last (both are equally as delicious and satisfying however). This tropical gogi smoothie features a whole bunch of delicious stuff; pineapple, limes, banana, gogi berries, coconut water and some almond/coconut milk.

Together this combination is sweet and sour from the pineapple and lime, creamy from the bananas and refreshing with the coconut flavours. The gogi berries are added because I haven’t played around with them, and they added a delicious tartness. Tropical goodness, because winter is the perfect time to pretend your chilling in a pacific paradise, right?

Bonus points to this for being healthy and vegan as well as straight up delicious.

Tropical Gogi Smoothie

Tropical Gogi Smoothie

Ingredients

  • Approx 1 C of chopped fresh/tinned pineapple
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 banana
  • small handful of dried gogi berries
  • 1 C of unsweetened almond/coconut milk or alternative
  • 1/2 C coconut water
  • Ice if desired (if not, make sure the liquids are kept in the fridge beforehand)

Method – Again, not much of a method, more of a chuck it all in and blend until smooth. This will serve two people. The gogi berries do add a bit of texture, so if you don’t like the “bittiness” of them, feel free to soak the berries for approx 2 hours in a little hot water before blending.

This is my favourite smoothie to make when we have a bit of extra time or want something with more of a flavour punch. It’s like the deliciousness of a pina colada but appropriate to be drinking at 8am. The best thing about this is that you can leave out/change up the ingredients to suit your tastes, I love the zing of the lime but you could cut down if you prefer (although if you don’t love limes and add them to everything I don’t know if we can be friends).Tropical Gogi Smoothie

The coconut water may not be the miracle drink it’s hyped up to be, but it does include a bunch of electrolytes and nutrients with a low calorie impact. Gogi berries are a bit of a popular nutrient gold-mine but like any fruit should be eaten in moderation.The almond and coconut milk is incredibly tasty and is my current non-dairy favourite, with a delicious nutty flavour and not too much sweetness.

This is as close to Tank smoothies as I get without leaving the house, and it makes me wish I had a pineapple tree as well as a constant supply of limes. Also, it’s not green, and we all know how much I love smoothies that aren’t packed with sneaky spinach (one day I will come up with a successful recipe, until then the leaves will stay in the salads).

Do you have any smoothie suggestions for me to try out? 

Friday’s Letters: every city was a gift

Friday's Letters

0Dear Job Interviews: It’s so strange to sit on the other side of the table and I’m so grateful for the chance to learn and grow in this way (even if I do sometimes feel just as nervous as if it was me sitting there trying to hide how terrified I am).

Dear Florence: Thanks for releasing another ridiculously great album for me to belt out in the car. Sorry that my vocal range is 1/100th of yours and therefore your songs don’t even sound a little bit similar when they are coming out of my mouth (well sorrybutnotsorry).

Dear Incredibly Impressive Crocheted Scarf: I am way more proud of you than I should be (sorry to everyone else who I keep raving on to about it). What can I say except I normally screw things up in some way and yet you turned out great (accidently channelling Gryffindor but I’m not complaining). And just in time for some freezing weather, all in all, a pretty good effort.

Dear Friends: I don’t know how I got so lucky and ended up surrounded by so many different people and groups of friends. Even though you keep me busy, you also keep me sane (and very well-fed). I’m so appreciative of the different ways that each and every one of you make me a better person, and make life a more enjoyable place to exist within.

Dear Anah: I miss you and your chubby cheeks so damn much. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face everytime I see your adorable face. Here’s to many more playground dates where I try not to let you hurt yourself or eat dirt (also if your mum ever decides to move to Auckland so that I can see you more often that would be swell, just saying.)

Dear Chocolate: If you could just stop coming out in new and delicious flavours that I have to try (at least a few times to ensure reliability of the product) that would be great because at the moment my cupboard is full of different blocks to try and it’s driving me crazy.

Dear Auckland: Its been a year since I came home from Europe, and in that time I think I have been so preoccupied with missing those far-off cities that I had ignored the one at my front door. Thank you for being so amazing, even if sometimes I forget how lucky I am. I promise to put some more effort into our relationship and into discovering a few more of your hidden secrets.

Dear Self: Sometimes I think its important to just remind you that I forgive you. Everything we did wrong, everything we fucked up, every time we made a wrong decision or turn, hurt someone else without meaning to or hurt ourselves in ways that weren’t deserved. I forgive you for all this, and for all the mistakes we will make in the future. Go have some chocolate.

Friday’s Letters: and they call it coffee love

Friday's Letters myfoxycorner

Dear Merlin: I know this cold weather makes you extra cuddly, I’m just going to go ahead and pretend its because you just love me so darn much that we have to hold hands all night (well, hold paw? I dunno, but it’s cute). Thanks for the snuggles. Thanks for coming home each night. Love you.

Dear Organisation: Welcome back to my world, here’s to a less stressed, more productive life. Going to give bullet journalling a go and see how long it lasts before I lost my notebook/pen/marbles.

Dear Banana Muffins: I forgot how ridiculously easy yet delicious you are. Welcome back into the baking repertoire. You’re welcome flatmates who are blessed with free baking (in return for a stolen/borrowed egg or two).

Dear Family: Even if you stress me out something chronic, my love for each and every one of you is strangely unlimited.

Dear Auckland: I know people joke about how Aucklanders can’t handle the weather. I am here, hands in the air, admitting I am a weather wimp from Auckland who would prefer to wake up to sunshine and warmth. These cold days have been beautiful and still, but rather uncomfortable for someone who is unable to remember items of clothing e.g. jackets/jumpers/scarves.

Dear Italy: I miss you. Oh, how I miss you. Your neighbourhood pizzerias, your little weird cafe/bars with freshly squeezed orange juice, your loud and wonderful people. We’ll be back to wander lost through your streets again one day, until then we will find the best damn pizza in town.

Dear Edd: You’re the short black to my long black (take that how you will). Thank you for being my shoulder where I can cry makeup all over without ruining my own clothes (I kid, I don’t do that on purpose). Sometimes we may stubbornly refuse to be the first person to apologise, but it’s such an indescribable feeling to know that i have you by my side when I find myself struggling. Here’s to many more brunch dates and so much more coffee drunk together in the sunshine (lol in the rain, who am I kidding).Friday's Letters myfoxycorner

 

Friday’s Letters: Beers, Boxes and Bottomless Coffee

Friday's Letters

Dear Gym: Somehow you have transformed yourself from a place of torture, to a sanctuary of personal reflection. Every time I get to take an hour our of my day to focus on something completely separate to whatever’s going on in reality it’s like a total (painful and often humiliating) treat. Thanks.

Dear Federal Delicatessen: Your bottomless coffee has my heart, nervous palpitations and all. See you Sunday.

Dear Merlin: I know you love cardboard and boxes and ripping shit up. I love that about you (well, kind of). But 3am is not optimal box shredding time so please save this rather noisy activity for times of the day when I am not trying to sleep and can control my violent urges better (you’ve been very lucky so far…I kid, you’re too cute, do whatever you want).

Dear Weekend: How did you manage to get so busy without me realising. Whoever accepted all of these commitments obviously didn’t take into account the 6 hour period I need for crocheting in bed with The Bachelor playing off a precariously balanced laptop. We’ll make it work.

Dear Junk Free June: I gave it a good try. I promise. It was up until I realised that I can’t physically survive without emergency use of chocolate that our short-lived challenge came to a very delicious end.

Dear Self: Stop apologising when you have nothing to be sorry for. Please try to stop stressing over things that are outside of your control. It’s okay to do things for yourself, set boundaries and to put yourself first. More than that, its necessary every once in a while. Let’s not go over every conversation 10 times because in the end it doesn’t make it any easier, let go, move on and who cares if other people do the same.

Dear Edd: Thank you for turning a shitty week on its head. You know the way to my heart; beer, burgers, chocolate and 90s dino movies. I knew we married for a reason. Thanks for being there when my ridiculously insecure and crazy mind runs havoc.

Friday's Letters

 

Why I went vegetarian (and then decided to start a blog series about it)

Becoming Vegetarian

Ready for a new series on the blog? One that will hopefully last a little longer than 2 posts and a few tweets? Well before my boss realizes I am supposed to be working (kidding, I would never blog at work), lets get into it.

Being vegetarian is now a pretty big part of my life, and my personal identity (which I’m sure annoys a lot of my meat-loving friends, I would apologise but I’m not that sorry). Eating is another big part of my life, and getting healthy is something I am trying to make more of a focus. With those three things in mind, I want to start sharing more on being a vegetarian in a meat-eating world, and how I am attempting to develop healthy vegetarian habits.

To start,I figured it was only fair to briefly explain my vegetarian journey thus far. Not as a tool to guilt others or try and unsuccessfully seem morally superior to those who are partial to some bacon, but more just as a bit of context and background.

Why I Went Vegetarian

There are heaps of different reasons why people decide to cut out meat, for me it was a combination of two factors. Firstly, I was never a huge meat eater. Chicken and mince (and bacon) were semi-regular in my diet but that was about it. Secondly, and more importantly, Edd and I both started to realise that we felt like there was a lack in congruence between our ridiculous love of animals, and our eating habits. We condemned hunters, we lamented the deaths of certain species of animals and questioned why others would eat things like horse or dog, without realising/avoiding the point that this seemed hypocritical. We decided that for us, there was no arbitrary line in the sand where certain animals deserved to bred and killed for consumption, whilst others did not. And so it only made sense to cut out all meat (obviously dairy and eggs are a whole other part of this industry that I am uncomfortable with, but one step at a time for now :)).

This was our New Years resolution for 2014, and it was a decision I expected to be far harder than it was, although I’m not saying it was extremely easy. Within a short few months, I suddenly couldn’t even force myself to eat chicken (which was the one meat I thought would be missed). We also felt a newfound satisfaction with not being a part of an industry that we had previously ignored or naively set aside as to big of an issue for us to make a difference. Our diet suffered at first, without adequate knowledge about how to eat healthy on a vegetarian diet (okay, so part lack of knowledge but a bigger part of just pure laziness). This year is when we have finally found our stride and figured out how to make it work.

Do I have any spinach in my teeth?

There are so many other reasons to become vegetarian, and I know that it’s different for each individual, but these were our core motivations. Would it have been different if we were eating steak 4 times a week and dining on every variety of meat available? Maybe, but I would hope that we would still have arrived at this decision, even if it took a little longer.

And so here we are, a year and a half later, finally figuring out how to be healthy vegetarians and not just replace McDonalds with BK Salad Burgers (they are delicious though…). I now have a fair few delicious vegetarian recipes up my sleeve, and I can’t wait to share and learn more with those who are also vegetarian or who just want some easy, healthy meal ideas.

Starving in Italy.

Starving in Italy.

I envisage the series including a variety of posts, like the best burger joints in Auckland for vege lovers, nutritious and easy dinner ideas, and general healthy eating habits (like the variety of delicious smoothies we have been experimenting with to increase protein and reduce snacking). If there are any other ideas for what you would like to see as part of this, please let me know! All inspiration is welcome.

Starving at #brunchclub

Starving at #brunchclub

If you’re vegetarian, I would love to know! Let me know what your journey has been like, and why you went vegetarian in the first place :) If you’re not vegetarian, but want to share any delicious vegetarian meals you make, or ask for any clarification as to why we went vegetarian, please feel free to comment. I don’t bite, promise.

For those of you who have no interest in this whatsoever, I promise that for now my blog will remain its usual mismash of topics, and this will only be one of them. Having said that, I not-so secretly hope to convert the entire world, one bacon-lover at a time.

Edit: Below are a couple of vegetarian/vegan recipes I have posted since this little intro.

 

My Foxy Book Challenge #6-10

Goodreads Challenge

Welcome to June! That means we are one month closer to Christmas, which makes me pretty excited at the same time as being terrified about the passing of time, just like everybody else. So in my rather feeble attempt to read 30 books by the end of this year, I have been making my way through a variety of fiction and non-fiction, albeit rather slowly. Luckily we have just had queen’s birthday in New Zealand so I was able to finish off a book, as well as devote some time to getting better at crochet (it’s an exciting life I lead, obviously).

Here is the next instalment of mini-reviews for what I have read over the last few months (you can read about the first five over here).

Goodreads Challenge

 

1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

This thriller was one I had wanted to read for ages, and once I picked it up it was highly unlikely that it would be put down. Written from the point of view of the three main female characters (all of which are rather flawed and unlikeable) who live separate lives which are becoming increasingly tangled. The stories were set at slightly different time points and so this had the potential to get confusing, but thanks to simple yet gripping writing the suspense never lost me. Fast paced, mysterious and unsettling, this was an awesome book for the people watcher in me who likes to come up with ridiculously farfetched back stories for random people. This is often compared to Gone Girl, and it is similar in some respects, the character development was just as fascinating as more and more is revealed about our narrators. I enjoyed this immensely, even though it wasn’t a very pleasant read at times, and gave a glimpse into lives that others may wish to not be a part of. 5 starts (I love a good thriller)

2. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Another rather excellent book to start off this post, Eleanor & Park is a young adult romance (a la John Green style) with two characters who couldn’t seem more different, and yet fall for each other. What has the potential to be just another romance novel becomes something stand out for me. The 80s setting, the engaging characters and their imperfections, the amazing dialogue from each of them (another split narration, letting you see into both sides of this relationship). This was a beautiful book, one of those where I would reread certain passages, just to soak up the depth in their words. There was so much emotion, and anyone who remembers their first love (that one that made you whole and then broke you in two) will relate to the intensity that Rainbow Rowell has captured so incredibly well. Another easy 5 stars, I couldn’t give it anything less.

“You saved me life, she tried to tell him. Not forever, not for good. Probably just temporarily. But you saved my life, and now I’m yours. The me that’s me right now is yours. Always.” Eleanor & Park

3. The Biology of Belief by Bruce H Lipton

Just to break up all the fiction, I did venture into reading a book by this New Biology scientist about how it is not our DNA that controls our life but rather the expression of our genes, which he argues is primarily governed by our environment (meaning that our environment has a bigger effect on our body than our DNA). I don’t know how easy this would be to enjoy without some background in science, but in general I found this engaging thanks to Lipton’s enthusiasm for what he has studied. A lot of it was interesting, and the implications thought-provoking, but some of it was also just a little hard to make the logical leap for. 3.5 stars

4. The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George*

I did a whole review on this book a while ago, but I’ll briefly recap. This story about a book apothecary on the seine, healing a long broken heart, and travelling throughout France captured my heart in the same way France itself did. I am a little biased (I will read anything that will make me feel like I am back in Paris or Provence) but this was easy to read and very easy to enjoy. The characters were likeable, the landscape was indescribable (but George did a good job trying), and the story was engaging. 4 stars.

5. One Summer in Venice by Nicky Pellegrino*

Another book that did a great job of taking me back to this time last year, when it was me getting lost in tiny side streets of Venice, instead of Addolorata, a mother and wife from London who escapes to Venice to find herself and decipher what makes her happy. This book has a sort of Eat, Pray, Love vibe, but I don’t think I engaged with the narrator as much as I should have. The setting was incredible, and the details that went into this along with all of the food descriptions/food porn (which I loved) was amazing. The only set back for me was a plot that at times lost its vitality and overcomplicated itself; and a character who I just didn’t quite connect with. It makes for an ideal holiday read, or just something to escape into for a bit. 3.5 stars

Anything that takes me back to my brief but unforgettable time in Venice is worth a read.

Anything that takes me back to my brief but unforgettable time in Venice is worth a read.

Connect with me on Goodreads and don’t forget to like myfoxycorner’s Facebook page!

What have you been reading lately? Let me know if there’s something I should add to my ever-burdened bookshelf.

 

 

*These two books were sent to me to read however I was not paid or sponsored for my opinions, and all thoughts are my own.

Friday’s Letters: Wanderer

Dear Crochet: Nice to meet you. Welcome to my list of hobbies that I start with the hope that I don’t fail and give up within a couple of months.

Dear Balance: You elusive, difficult thing you. I’m trying to find a way to manage all of the different aspects of my life, whilst also trying to focus on myself more. There’s a lot of trying going on, and its almost working.

Dear Twitter: Thanks for showing me that I’m not the only person who lets social anxiety convince my brain that everyone hates me. Its nice to get reassurance from others, and then set aside my worries in the “not important”pile in my brain.

Dear Bagels: You make life a better place to be. Thanks for having such a great relationship with tomatoes and cream cheese. Together, we can face mornings with a smile!

Dear Merlin: I love how you support my hobbies my trying to eat my crochet work. I love how you support my attempt to be more organised by eating my to-do lists. I also love your possum tail.

Dear Gym: Its nice to be getting back into a routine with you.

Dear Europe: One year ago exactly, my feet has just started wandering through your cities. This year has flown by faster than I could imagine, and yet my memories of the beautiful places and amazing sights Edd and I saw are ingrained into my mind as clear as they day I experienced them. Thank you for enriching my life and teaching me a few lessons along the way. One day, we’ll be back.

1 2 3