THE '30' COUNTDOWN

Monday 30 April 2012

Monday 30th April - This is the little lolly pop man I pass every morning on my way to work. I've named him Percy!


Sunday 29th April - Meeting baby Thomas xx


Saturday 28th April - Dee's baby shower.........who needs present wrapping when you have a green tub!


Friday 27th April - Taking me back to 18.........

Thursday 26 April 2012

Thursday 26th April - This should be my number plate!


Wednesday 25th April - A photo of my first '30th' Birthday card - that means it's getting close now!!!

8. Write a fan letter

Something I never did as a kid and therefore, it was on the list!

Writing a fan letter at the age of 29, a little bit embarrassing?? Perhaps I should of written to One Direction and it would have just gotten caught up with all the other crazies! I could have told them how much I admire their preppy outfits!

However my celebrity loving heart drew me elsewhere and I could not go past the super AMAZING Lance Armstrong!


Ever since reading his books, I have been a HUUUUUGE fan, and it was time to send him a letter and tell him just that - not awkward at all!


After some Internet stalking, I found a contact address and was ready to go. Who knows if it will actually ever make it through to the man himself, if not, I'm sure it will give some receptionist a reason to giggle! I then put pen to paper and told Lance just what I thought!


What did I say?? Well that's between Lance and I....................and the receptionist!



Another list item complete with just over a month to go! With a Lleyton Hewitt hand to the head, COMMMMMME ONNNNNNN!

28. Make my own signature scent / fragrance

I have been researching this one for a while.

Most of my research resulted in options that required quite a lot of money to be outlaid - something that was not ideal for me 7 weeks out from my European Vacation! If I was going to spend $100 on a fragrance, it was going to be by someone like Marc Jacobs, not moi (that's french, does that count as list item No. 1 complete??)!

My lovely friend Alicia helped me think outside the box and come up with the idea of other types of fragrances - and then I had it, I was going to make my own 'room fragrance' to use around the house! LOVE IT!!

I found this little 'recipe' online and decided to put it into practice. Here is what I did:

Purchased these two little satchels to use for the 'smell' component.........

Added them to a bowl of warm water

left to 'infuse' overnight........

The next day

Strain the mixture so that you have just the (beautifully smelling) water remaining

Put the mixture into an saucepan and simmered on the stove gently. Reduced until there are only a few tablespoons left. As you can see, the colour is really pretty!

And VOILA, I have my very own Signature 'Room' Fragrance!

It smells delightful and will last about a month! I have named my Signature Fragrance:

'GETTING FIGGY WITH IT'

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Tuesday 24th April - The photo says it all!


Monday 23rd April - This CD was a gift from my lovely friend 'Moose' to help me achieve number one on the list! Thanks so much xx

16. Try Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga...........................wow!

Last night my friend Hillers and I decided it was time to find our inner chi and get in touch with our downward dogs...................in a room that was basically a sauna!

What an adventure! We set off after work to find the studio, but our little friend the GPS had some struggles locating the address which meant we had to ditch our cars and run through the streets to try and make the class on time. As I am not a runner, I was already huffing and puffing by the time we made it which was prob not the best start! However I was so relieved when the instructor let us in the room that my lack of breath went relatively unnoticed! We had made it just in the nick of time..............

The next 90mins was quite the experience. Here are some key moments / observations from our time in the volcano:
  • You basically melt! The sweat is just drip, drip, dripping off you (delightful!)
  • It is extremely hard to hold the poses being so slippery!
  • At the first water break, Hillers and I quickly exchanged out thoughts on the first half hour, only to be greeted with 'would my new friends please keep the debrief till after the class' over the microphone - oops! Once again, in trouble for talking!!
  • Some of the people in these classes are amazing - what they can do with their bodies is inspiring!
  • Your heart pumps like crazy - at one point I thought it was going to burst out of my chest.
  • After holding one pose, the instructor even praised us from the stage! I cant remember his exact words but I am pretty sure he said 'the two new girls are the best I've ever seen'! Hillers will back me up on this!
  • The room smelt like dirty socks......
  • We learnt that a Yogi is someone who practices Yoga, so from now on I shall be known as Yogi Bear!
Now, only to prove that this challenge was completed and keep the blogs 'honesty' in check, I will include a photo of myself after the class. Please look away if you become nauseous when looking at disturbing images........................


Will I do it again, probably not! But you never know, things are often remembered as 'so much fun' once the pain is gone!

Namaste!

Monday 23 April 2012

27. Go Parasailing

It's a bird, it's a plane.................

When putting together the list, there was always going to have to be something that took me out of my comfort zone and was an adrenalin rush. For those of you that know me, I'm a massive scaredy cat so Parasailing is as dare-devilish as it was going to get!

In saying that, to Little Miss 'Wuss', Parasailing was no easy feat, and certainly no 'get out of it easy' option!

I WAS PACKING IT!!

My method to calm the nerves and not freak out about it was basically not thinking about the adventure ahead at all, until it was smack bang right in front of me!

Thanks to work I had won a 'Red Balloon' voucher and one of the activities you could choose was tandem Parasailing at the Gold Coast - score! Double score that I didn't have to go up there alone!!



Mule was brave enough to take on the journey with me (brave because there was a good chance he could be stuck up in the air with someone screaming for 10 mins straight). When we first got on the boat we received a little lesson on how it all worked, and then it was time to fly! We would be the third 'sail' to go up, which gave me a good 20mins of nothing to do but watch the parachute, and work the nervousness level up very high!



Then it was our turn...........eeak, and very quickly I was up on the ledge at the back of the boat, getting strapped in and one, two, three we were away!!!



My heart was racing like crazy for the first couple of minutes, absolute adrenalin rush to me!!!! Goal achieved! Thanks to Sam's chatter I calmed down, sat back in my little swing and enjoyed the views - it was a stunning day and the views of the GC were awesome!





So I did it!!! My comfort zone was left behind and I lived to tell the tale. Well, a few days later anyway as I was actually quite shaky afterwards- such a wuss!!

Most importantly, there was no screaming!


22. Watch the sunrise over the east coast of Australia

Originally I set out to achieve this one on New Years Day! Not only would I see the start to a new day, but a new year also, how perfect................BUT, I didn't make it down to the beach in time, and also picked a beach in the wrong spot, with no clear view of the east.

Location, location people!!

........and what better location for attempt number two than Nudgee Beach (for those Brisbanites, note the sarcasm)! Delightful location, shame about all the mosquito's from the mangroves - gross, but beggars cant be choosers at 5am in the morning - I was NOT missing it again and this was the closest location to home.

Mule and I set off on our little adventure all rugged up, with croissants and coffee ready to rock, and besides the mosquito's, it was actually quite a delightful thing to watch! I can see why people do this!

There was a hairy moment there when some big scary dogs chased us from our prime viewing point, but who am I to deny them a key viewing spot of their own!!

I left with blurry eyes from staring at the sun too long, The Beatles song 'Here Comes the Sun' stuck in my head due to Mules delightful singing and a camera full of fabulous shots - check them out below!

Thanks Mule for helping me knock this one off the list, and not complaining once about getting up so early xx

First shot of the sky, just to show how early we got up!

Supplies!





Peek-a-Boo, here comes the sun!


Mule is loving it!



Sunday 22nd April - First (of many) wedding hair trials! I am assisting my friend Mel with her 'do' for the big day!


Saturday 21st April - Yummmm!


Friday 20th April - My alarm for the following morning - WAY too early for a weekend!

Friday 20 April 2012

Thursday 19th April - Just over two months and i'll be here! Cinque Terre, i feel it will be love at first sight x


Wednesday 18th April - Salads from Subway are huuuuuuge! SO much lettuce!


Tuesday 17th April - 2 x money boxes on my desk with a total of $0 saved! Oh well, the intention was there!


Monday 16th April - Countdown to '30 FEST'!

Monday 16 April 2012

29. Sell my first Bagel

I want to eat a Bagel, I want to drink some Chocolate Milk...............

One of the most common question about my list is 'what's number 29 all about'??

Well, it all started 10 years ago when I first started working at Summer Camp in New York - I developed a very strong love for Bagels (smothered in Cream Cheese) and this is a love that has remained strong!

Once returning to Australia, I noticed how we were lacking in the joy that is a bagel shop, and how successful they could be!! For years I have talked about how I would love to open my own bagel store!

When compiling the list, I tried to think hard about things I've always wanted to do, or things I talk about a lot, and so naturally, one of my list items just had to be about Bagels!

I decided to complete this task, I really needed to bake my own Bagels to try to sell them, as purchasing them and on-selling would feel like I was cheating! I have since decided that if the Bagel shop ever becomes a reality, I will hire a baker!!

So, it's baking time!

Kneading (you can do it, put your back in to it!)


Boiling (who knew?!)

Rise my pretties!

Not the prettiest Bagels in the world, but toast them up and they aren't too bad!

And so it came time to package these little (attempts at) Bagels and try to sell them at work! I included a little cream cheese container with every purchased and asked for a 'gold coin donation'. My drive to work was very nerve racking - It would be quite awkward to sit around with everyone pretending to like my cooking if they were awful!

Setting up my little shop!


Here it is - my first Bagel sale!! Thanks so much Amy for giving them a whirl!!

Looking back, I was pretty impressed that the end result didn't taste too bad - Ive never baked bread, cooked with yeast or anything like that so the fact that they were edible was a plus!! However, like I said, if my shop ever opens, I will be hiring a baker!

Thanks so much to everyone who purchased a Bagel - hope you enjoyed them!!