Hey!

Just a note to say how wonderful it is to see things like this in the news http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26260978

An Indian gentleman (in every sense of the word!) who was shunned by family and society for investigating sanitary pads an a machine to make them in the most impoverished regions of india where women may use ash when menstruating. After winning a prize for international innovation these invention have gone viral, allowing women more health and freedom and the inventor hasn't chosen to make millions by patenting these designs, but has instead declared he wants to take the invention to other deprived nations of the world. What a human! This sort of ingenuity and care is so lovely to see, paticularly when Ukraine and Venezuela tensions have demonstrated some deeply alarming societal tendencies.

Just wow.

We came hungry and left drunk

H i   a g a i n 

Welcome back. Happy to say had a great night with bf last  night even if I need a good coronary artery intervention now!
We took it upon ourselves to go to Meatliquor, one of the trendy and queuedeadly american restaurants off Oxford St in central London. I went prepared for a feast and wow did we get one. Despite the name there was a veggie offering; houloumi and mushroom burger which was...dense but delicious, battered pickles and chips with 'hippie' sauce essentially sour cream/chive, and grilled onion. We were stuffed but went ahead to order a peanut crisp sundae, coke float (and ambulance!) and we drank our bottle of wine from jam jars. Great night, worth the money, great atmosphere. Was best to go earlier before the tight space got too crammed though! Decided day-to-day eats matter more than weekend blow outs, so almost best to eat clean and pristine 6 days a week, then enjoy a decadent meal out with loved ones. Here's to that!

Prepping rest of my week's lunches now (lentil, ginger, aubergine and quorn sausage) and trying to figure out how to concoct a roast with bf later. Having a lot of laughs and fun, but aware first exam this week, eep.

Stay smiling!

Thoughts

W e l c o m e

I think we all owe a little part of ourselves to the people around us; we reflect their traits and are reflected in their eyes. Sometimes, like a mirror, it takes that feedback to illuminate something perhaps we couldn't see. I'm grateful for that. I'm lucky to be surrounded by very incredible people!

I am in the run up to some serious exams after a seriously long Uni degree and that has been getting me down. Starting to blog will hopefully be cathartic and enable me to focus on things other than 'can you make it??' stress. Particularly fitness, which is something I'm getting into more and more seriously, reading into the science and experimenting more with my own body. Here are 3 things I'm keen to do more of:

1) Holiday; when I can afford it :p no but seriously, whether it's a weekend home with my parents in the country or a day out on a boat watching dolphins in portugal (if you've never seen dolphins I must urge you to do this, it's truly special), time off just to play and indulge in time with people that often get nudged aside by work.

2) enjoy better food. I'm vegetarian and have sometimes struggled to find sources of protein but I'm quickly realising all these apparent 80 ingredient bean recipes are actually pretty easy to whip up and lentils are yummy. Cooking is a great source of achievement because it directly underpins human survival, and as a species i think we elicit a lot of satisfaction from being creative. We don't have big frontal lobes for nothing!! I think food is an age old source of socialising and fun, so I'm aiming to go out more and enjoy great meals, with friends.

A current quick and yummy favourite is lentil and aubergine moussaka. I'll post the recipe for this once I've nailed it exactly...some things you didnt know about lentils; found in the tombs of ancient egyptians at least 2400 BC, high in protein, folate and iron, great for fullness, great for blood, they also help regulate cholesterol and blood sugar and keep you full longer than rice. Unlike my hated enemy beans, they don't need soaking for several decades before use hurrah!

3) lift more weights. I have never been particularly interested in weights or bulking or muscly woman, that's not my fitness goal! However...I lift light weights/bodyweight exercises 3x a week and it has honestly made a huge difference to my body. I am reluctantly impressed and can now see why personal trainers are always espousing it's benefits. They know their stuff after personal trainer school who knew! Here is a great video of some "rag bodyweight" exercises I find exhausting! if you don't have a wooden floor, hardback books seem to work well on carpet also...

Credit to momtastic.com but you don't need to be a mom, think they just readily have dishclothes http://www.momtastic.com/health/167187-the-washcloth-workout/

Something else I've been wanting to work on but perhaps don't have time for right now, is culture. A little bit more art, a little bit more reading, a little bit more politics and a little bit more fashion. Culture is defined as "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively." by google (that reknowned dictionary :p) but this was the most striking definition for me. Humans can be both sad and wonderful, let's all take time to learn something about those successes and failures, because we can't live every experience for ourselves. I live in a huge capital city and luckily access to a lot of collections and exhibitions is free and easy, I will take advantage of that.

When you're younger you want to set the world on fire, but life gets in the way and you stop burning so bright. I think take stock every so often to reignite the passions that really make you happy, and stop scrubbing so furiously at relationships, or insecurities, or projects, that are never going to make you shine :)