that time I travelled alone.

Wow.

It’s almost been a full year since I wrote on this blog and about 3 months since I wrote on the other one.

2015 was a pretty tough year.

Due to a lot of external pressures, I felt like I lost a lot of my soul last year.

I was stressed, worn out and didn’t really feel myself.

Some days I didn’t even want to get up in the morning.

So, I decided to do something for myself at the start of 2016.  I planned a holiday just for me; a time for replenishment and reflection; a time to refresh my soul.

A lot of people told me I was very brave to go on a trip by myself.  Won’t you get bored?  

It made sense to me.  I knew I was an introvert and in order to recharge I need to have alone time.  It was going to be great.

two big life events

Opps, so much for blogging regularly haha.

I only ever seem to find time to blog when there is a public holiday or I’m on an extended break… not good.

After having a quick skim through Fat Mum Slim’s blog post on blogging I recall the simple truth that if you want to do anything, you’ve got to schedule it in.  And not get distracted by shiny things (that’s my own observation – there are too many good blogs/resources out there).

Hoping to get back into a blogging rhythm in the next week or so but in the meantime, here are the two big life events that have happened since I’ve last blogged here:

1. Law Admission Ceremony

Challenging and rewarding

So who else thought September was a busy month??

Somehow once you pass July, the days just excelerate and we find ourselves already counting down the days to Christmas (75 days as of today) and then it will be New Years soon after and in February 2014 (if there are no hiccups), guess who will be admitted as a lawyer in Victoria?? ;)

I know it’s a bit premature to be saying this given that there are still 3 months to go, but I think 2013 has been both the most challenging and most rewarding year I’ve had so far.

There’s nothing quite like saying good bye to exams for good (at least for the next little while) and starting a new chapter of life. My body has adjusted to the 9-5:30 rhythm but getting the right balance of work/rest/play is something that has to be evaluated on a regular basis.

However, one of the challenges I’ve met this year has actually occurred outside of the workplace.

much to do about nothing

As much as I love to be productive and make the most of the
weekends, sometimes all you need is a selah
[pause/break] type afternoon.  One where you just rest the body, rest the mind, rest the spirit. That’s what I had this afternoon and boy, I needed it. It has been busy, busy, busy.  

And perhaps it has been self-imposed – which has meant that sometimes, I just need to self-impose some time to chill.  To just break away from the constant doing and just do nothing.  Learning to just leave some things for tomorrow has been a tough lesson to learn. And learning to just do things you love as well sans the guilt for all the things you are leaving for tomorrow is another lesson I’m still learning. Anyhow, though there are a few more ‘serious’ topics I’ve been meaning to write about, those can be left for ‘tomorrow’.

Tonight, I wanted to share a cafe I found by accident on another
day where my body decided enough was enough and it was time to
declare a R&R day… BUT, technology fails me at the moment. All the photos taken at this quaint cafe were captured on my old phone, the cable of which I have left at work. Hmm. Perhaps this will have to be left to tomorrow too haha.

This has been a pointless post from an Ames who needs to go and do
nothing.

♥ Ames

Diversification

Hi all! It has been a while hasn’t it? I had left my blog for so long that when I tried to log in, there were issues with one of the plug-ins that completely drove me up the wall!  Thanks for shedding some light Libby after my cry for help on Facebook haha. Anyway, I’m sure whatever readership I have left has had enough of my apologies and excuses so I’ll just skip all that and instead give you an update of where things are since I last blogged here…

Special Announcements!!

Hey lovely people!  How are you doing? :)

What?!  Two posts in a week?!  Do my eyes deceive me??

No, you saw correctly!  It is the 2nd post that I’ve put up this week XD.

Why, Ames?  Why?

I thought you’d never ask ;).

Well, firstly the one and only Choc Chip Uru (hi, CCU!! *waves) graciously allowed me to guest post over at her lovely blog, Go Bake Yourself so go over and check it out here!

I’ll give you a hint of the yumminess that is happening over there:

Intriguing right?? Scoot on over there :D.

To CCU’s readers, welcome and hope you enjoy poking your head around this little space of mine :).  Thanks for all the lovely comments you’ve left already, I’ll be working my way through them soon!

Another thing to announce… *drumroll*… I’m making a call for guest posts as well!!  If you’ve been around these parts before, you’ll know that my life as a student often means I have to put my blogging on hold and with my final semester almost over, I thought I would take a feather from CCU’s cap and ask for submissions to be made as well!  At the moment, I’m looking for 5 bloggers who blog around similar topics as I (e.g. cooking exploits, cafe/restaurant reviews or photography prettiness) who would like to help me out while I make the last dash to the finish line of my degree!

So if that’s you, please drop a line via the email form on the About Page :).  Please put in an expression of interest by 18th September and I’ll get back to you by 20th September!

I plan to spread them over the next few months as I interject with a blog or two that I’ll have ready to go as well :).  So what’s coming up?  Have a look ;).

1st attempt at Compost Cookies !

My first review on artisan chocolate!

Dinner at Marquee

Cheesy Mushroomy Quiche Recipe!

Another Donna Hay Recipe :)

I better stop now or else I’ll give it all away hehe.

Hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am and remember, if you would like to help me out by guest posting in the next few months, please flick an email my way via the About Page!  It will be a bit on a ‘first come, first served’ basis but also on relevance to the virtual community developed here :).

Have a great rest of the week everyone and I’ll see you soon!

♥ Ames

I AM ALIVE!

Blogging friends, I AM ALIVE!  It’s been a crazy few days since submitting my last paper!  With nothing to hold me back, there was a lot of ‘real life’ to catch up on :).  I haven’t fully caught up on my sleep though having started full-time work as of Monday and before that, organising info sessions with CLS for International Justice Mission (they do some AMAZING work fighting against social injustice – check them out here).

Tonight has been the first night that I’ve actually had a chance to sit down for a proper dinner at a reasonable time.  I even got to watch MasterChef lol.

Though I would love to jump straight back into blogging, I realise what I need to do is rest and recuperate for the time being.  I anticipate a mega post on Saturday since it is a special day (bet you can’t guess what it is hehe) so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for all your awesome support and encouragement while I’ve been away and I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things :).

Have a great week!

♥ Ames

Back for reals… no joke!

Happy April Fools!  

Funny how I would choose today to make my blog comeback (funny – see what I did there?!)… hehe obviously, my jokes have not improved in my absence from this blog :P

So much has happened in the space of a month – well 37 days to be exact, but who’s been counting right? – that it’s hard to know where to start.  I began my final year of uni, went up to Sydney for a spell (Bourke St Bakery ♥), decided to grow my hair out again (that was a big blog-worthy decision!), English tutored for the first/last time (story for another day/blog), helped launched a new service at my church, took advantage of a MFW Express Lunch for the first time(!), started my 2nd Project365 challenge (woot!), met up with my coffee-lovin’ blog buddie again plus put my virtual hand up to write some foodie reviews for the “wikileaks of law school”!

Day 1: The day I wore my new necklace created by an amazingly talented Melbourne artist – click on the photo to visit her website.

It has taken every ounce of self-control (ok, maybe that is a bit melodramatic!) to keep myself from sneaking back on during the self-imposed blog fast for Lent however, in retrospect, the month away did give me some time to think (amongst other things) about why I blog, who I’m writing for and where this blog is headed.

*cue contemplative, reflective music*

First, I blog because I enjoy it.  Read this for a refresher.  I enjoy stringing words together to paint a picture of the experiences I’ve had and I enjoy sharing those experiences with others. As Rudyard Kipling said, ‘I am by nature a dealer in words, and words are the most powerful drug known to humanity.’ However, I have to remember that I’m still a full-time law student and not a full-time blogger – have to get those priorities straight!

Day 3. The day we finally made it to Bourke St Bakery, Sydney! Loved every bite of it ;-)

The second piece of revelation relates to the first: Above all else, I’m writing for myself.  While being off the blog (sounds like a drug, doesn’t it? lol), I’ve had more of a chance to (re)discover lots of blogs and bloggers whom I admire and deeply respect.  There are sooooo many amazing blogs out there and sometimes I’ve felt like I should do more of this or that, I should try to keep more on top of the trends (read: be more active on Twitter) etc.  I’m going to be a bit vulnerable here and say that in the past, I’ve caught myself trying to imitate other people’s writing styles/formats, hoping to generate the kind of readership that they have no doubt built up over years of blogging.  This type of approach is never beneficial; I can never be a better version of someone else.  All I can be is the best ‘me’ that there is.  From now on, no more trying to be more witty, knowledgeable, savvy, creative, well-versed than who I really am.  My voice doesn’t need to be like anyone else’s or else it would just be redundant.  Selah.

Day 7: My first meal in Melbourne after Sydney – Persimmon (yum!).

The last point that I’d like to make (this is like essay practice for the 8,000 word paper I have coming up, eeekk!) is where this blog is headed.  This blog is almost 1 year old (so quick!) and I think after 11 months, I can see a clear pattern of food and photography (plus some miscellaneous moments thrown in the mix) being the focus of this writing space.  So that’s the kind of blog that it’ll continue to be :).

*end contemplative and reflective music*

Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, hope you’ll stick around for some delectable blog posts to come ;).  Still haven’t written a word about the tastes of QLD so we’ll mix it up with some Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne flavours, shall we?

For now, I leave you with my favourite Project365 photo so far:

Day 14. Part of Blue Week – Delicious Violet and Blueberry Macaron from an old friend ;).

And we’ve back in business… for reals :).  Hoping my blogging muscles aren’t too rusty!

♥ Ames

P.S. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of the Photo a day April challenge by Fat Mum Slim so you can check out my progress in this album :).

Merry Christmas!

As promised…

Not the greatest quality and I’ve yet to get used to adjusting the volume on the high notes for recording purposes but hope you enjoyed it nonetheless :).

Be safe wherever you are in the world and may you have a chance to experience the true joy, peace and hope that is celebrated at Christmas time :).

Off to go carolling!  See you on the flip side!

♥ Ames

not tonight

Hey little blog (and readers as well)! 

Apologies for abandoning you this past week… I feel especially guilty since I said “be prepared for some exciting foodie adventures” and haven’t posted since >.<.  It’s been a week of replacing uni work with full-time work (though it’s mainly been training and inductions this week, the long days have been tiring) and catching up with friends/shopping after business hours :).  However, by the end of each day, I feel like I’ve used up my word quota = no impulse/desire to blog.  I’m sorry.  That will change.  Soon.  But not tonight. 

Thanks and welcome to the followers that I’ve seemed to have gained in my blogging absence.  I hope to be back in action sometime next week :).

Have a great weekend!

♥ Ames