Quote of the Month

"Life is a wave, catch it"

I read this quote a few months ago and thought that it was beautiful, though only now I realize why. 

Sometimes an opportunity comes into your life and if you don't paddle like mad to catch the ride it's going to take you on, you are going to miss out. 

I also realized that this quote means something entirely different too. 

Waves come and go. They are aggressive, immense, scary and beautiful... 

Sometimes you get dunked. 

Lately, I've paddled out into sets of waves that just keep churning me around under their unworldly strength. Things haven't really been going well and I always feel awful for saying that because compared to others I have it pretty damn good. 

But everyone has issues. Everyone gets overwhelmed with the crap going on in their lives at some point. 

From things with my dad, romance, friends, work, religion... every last thing has pummeled me down into the depths of the sea, far deeper than I have ever been thrown before. 

It's sink or swim; and I am trying really hard to stay afloat.

I'm cheating here by putting in another quote, but I just can't resist:

 

"Just Keep Swimming." - Dori, Finding Nemo.

So I conclude with this: everyone is going through their own tough time. No matter if you're starving and dirty in the streets of Bombay or otherwise. 

As a wise friend told me just yesterday, 'people adapt'.

So everyone's problems are relevant and important.

You just need to find the courage to find that wave and ride it with the passion and strength you know you have inside of you. 

50 Shades Of Grey - Book Review

I have finally completed the first book in the latest trilogy, 50 Shades of Grey and let me just say that it took me a shameful amount of time to work my way through it. 

Nothing much really intrigued me about the book, but there was so much hype going on that I had to delve deeper into the mystery. 

The book was... interesting? 

No. 

No, it wasn't really. 

After hearing about the brutal sex scenes and heated paragraphs of course I was excited to read something uncommon and unspoken of! 

Yet I turned page after page just waiting for something, anything, to happen!!! 

I'm not sure how, but I pushed through the slow paced, repetitive chapters and wording - fighting back the urge to throw the damn book against my wall half the time with the uncountable amount of times E. L. James describes the glorious Christian Grey 'cocking his head to one side.' 

The, 'Oh My's!' and 'Holy Shit's!' also tended to add to my annoyance; but blanketed beneath the awful writing there was actually quite a beautifully sad storyline about a tortured soul and his 'unique' sex life fetishes. 

In the beginning, the story is almost unbelievable with private jets and this poor, unsuspecting girl being absolutely lavished with extravagant gifts such as cars and Blackberries, the latest laptop and a brand new wardrobe. But as you go on and unravel the story behind the man who whips and chains his women, making them sign contracts and use safe-words, you realize just how realistic it could be.

I am definitely intrigued to see what happens next, as the first book ends with a major cliffhanger... but I need a break from 'that world' right now. 

I am however, extremely excited for the film! I hear a few heartthrobs are lining up to play this dark and mysterious sex addict . . . if I had my way I think I would choose Chris Hemsworth! 

Yes, I would recommend you read it. If you don't you'll always be left wondering what all the fuss is about and it does seem to be a great conversation starter. It opens you up to a whole new world although to be fair,  I did expect the sex scenes to be slightly more graphic and gruesome than what I discovered. 

I know that reason is because Christian Grey has what he likes to call, 'Vanilla Sex,' a lot with Anastasia Steele. You couldn't possibly rope a virgin right in with all these overwhelming sex toys and positions! He eases her into it in this novel... and I have heard that the story gets much more gripping and satisfying in the follow up: Fifty Shades of Darker.

The book is writing about the unspoken for woman in an acceptable form away from pornography and demeaning sex-sites. 

Enjoy the read - or try to at least!

Christmas Wish List

  As Christmas is but a few weeks away, I have decided to write my Wish List post. 

 

Little kids sit, feet dangling from the wooden chairs around the dining room table at night as they write their letters to Santa Clause as its dawns closer to Christmas Eve. 

I remember one Christmas when I wrote a letter to Santa, asking for Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls, the characters from Toy Story; and that Christmas it was exactly what I got. 

As kids, it is so easy. When you get older, you seem to want less but the price triples. 

Every year, I like to make sandwiches and buy big packs of wrapped chocolate, I put a care-package together and go around my small town handing the shoe-boxes out to street children and car-guards. 

I’d really love to start up a community for it, a bunch of people who donate old blankets and buy small gifts such as candy and toys to fill the boxes with. It would be incredibly humbling to see people reach out and go beyond their usual Christmas Day of lavish dinners and abundant gifts that lets face it, these street kids will never experience.

As you age, Christmas stops becoming so much about the gifts and more about family. 

I remember being a girl of ten, prodding at gifts with my name on under the tree for days in advance; jumping up and down on my parents Queen sized bed in overwhelming excitement on Christmas morning. 

At the same time though, my favourite part all the way through my life was and still is watching my friends and family unwrap their gifts from me; watching their faces. To me, it was the best feeling in the world, far better than accepting a gift from someone else. 

The reason I am doing this post is because I’d like to start documenting year by year, the wants and the needs and desires I have. I would like to see how the things I desire change as I age. Already, I know a few things I will list below are things I would have never asked for if I was still in school or living with my parents! Things I would have thought my parents would have just gotten for me anyway, things I took completely for granted. Things that should really have been gifts that I should have appreciated but instead overlooked! I’ve had a wakeup call lately, a big one. 

Now, living away from my parents for the first time, buying my own food and paying for my own room and board… my whole lifestyle has had to change! 

Getting something as simple as a foodie magazine or a sweet doesn’t come often to me anymore. 

With that all being said, below is my short and sweet list of wants and needs, non of which I expect from another person. I think of it as an indefinite shopping list:

My Christmas Wish List

1)      The Paula Coehlo Book Set

2)      A Yoga DVD Set

3)      A Ticket to Italy in May (for my birthday)

4)      A New Suitcase (a feminine one – my current one is bland and boring not to mention falling apart)

5)      10 Art Lessons Voucher

6)      10 Yoga Sessions Voucher

7)      A Weekend Away At A Yoga Retreat Somewhere In Africa

8)      A New Duvet Set

9)      A Jane Austen Mug

10)   The Vow DVD

11)   Any Donations Towards My Travel Dreams

12)   And While We’re Out There… A Camper Van Would Be Pretty World Class Too!

13) A Ticket Around The World!

14) Happiness 

Pan-Seared Fillet Steak with Blueberries, Spring Onion and Red Wine

Ingredients you will need to make this dish:

• A handful of fresh thyme
• One tin of blueberries 
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fillet Steak
• One parcel of broccoli
• Six spring onion's finely diced
• One green chilli  finely diced
• Two cloves of garlic finely diced
• A sack of potato's, peeled and halved
• A bottle of red wine
• Two large knobs of butter
• Salt & pepper

First, prepare your mix to coat your steak with. As you can see you pick a handful of thyme leaves and spoon about three teaspoons of blueberries over them.

 

Mush these two ingredients together as well as you can before adding three good lugs of extra virgin olive oil to loosen.

 Now get your steak from the fridge and unwrap.








Brush your mix onto both sides of the steak and set aside to soak up the flavors for an hour or so:
 

 

Then cut your steak into medallions. They are now ready to be fried. 

  Fry the medallions to your particular liking, turning only once from one side to another. Avoid pressing on the steaks as it releases those beautiful juices that you want to keep. When finished, set aside wrapped in tin foil or in the oven while you complete the other elements in your dish.

 

 Dice up spring onions, garlic and the green chilli as well as separating your broccoli.

Peel your potatoes, halve them and boil them until soft. 

Mush up the mash with a hearty lug of milk, adding in spring onion, salt and pepper as you see fit.

Put the broccoli into a pot of boiling water and steam.

 Now, using the pan from frying the steak medallions in, cook spring onions, garlic and chilli for about three minutes before adding in a glass of robust, red wine.

Add in the blueberries and two large knobs of butter, shaking the pan until fully melted.

 Plate up your food and pour this gorgeous sauce over the steak and mash... this recipe is absolutely delicious and my dinner guests were blown away by the results! This is a great dinner party recipe.

I also made a really nice two-cheese and strawberry salad as a starter, which actually really complimented the whole dish. 

I'm not great at the whole presentation thing just yet but I'll get there eventually.

Have a fantastic weekend bloggers and foodies!

Signing out,

Jade