6 Unknown and somewhat interesting facts about me: 1) I have eaten all manner of strange foods including but not limited to; dragonflies, snake, horse, donkey, dog, brains, intestine, live prawns, kangaroo, ostrich. I'm gastronomically daring! 2) My favourite flavour of chocolate is rose. 3) I read about three books a week. About 90% of these are from my own boocase and have been read several times. 4) I lived in China for one year. this is where I ate most of the foods mentioned in fact 1... Read Full Story

This weekend I have been loving these two happy Kinks songs. Enjoy and smile X X : ) Read Full Story

I recently re-read Oscar Wilde’s play Salome. I have a beautiful edition with the original Beardsley illustrations and I love to read it. It is so languorous and beautiful in its language, themes and action that whenever I read it I wish I were lying on a chaise, a minion feeding me peeled grapes. The plot is based around the biblical story: Princess Salome, stepdaughter of Herod, wishes to see John the Baptist who Herod fears and has thrown in prison. She teasingly persuades a young guard... Read Full Story

Im loving the looks on this site. Tokyo is one of my top 3places I want to visit; possibly number one and has been for a long time. This site shows photos of people walking the Tokyo streets, attired in beautiful, layered and totally unique outfits. The site is broken up into districts of the city and updated weekly. Under each section you can browse weeks and weeks of cool outfits. In the current week there are loads I love. The girls seem to be mainly layering skirts or dresses with... Read Full Story

This has been a huge life goal for me recently. A few weeks ago I was in pretty low spirits. I felt stressed, tired and bored. But when we were on holidays I knew that I needed to change, that this was not the person I wanted to be Basically, I took a long hard look at myself and realised how tedious and miserable I had become! Over the last 2 weeks I’ve really changed the way I approach life and it has made a massive difference. I’ve come to realise that happiness is a choice. It's not... Read Full Story

I read this for the second time during the holidays. It is one of those books that you have to read twice; you have to search for the story through twisted vines of description that cling, ensnare and distract. It is written from the perspective of Janey, a thirteen year old girl whose family are spending a summer by the lake. Ignored by their alcoholic parents, Janey and her young brother are left to their own devices. Reading this book is like dreaming; Gunn captures the languor of summer... Read Full Story

Since the discovery of the fabulous Zen Habits website I have cleaned and feng shuied (yes I know that’s not a verb) our flat. It is now very tidy, very uncluttered and supposedly beneficial to our lifestyles. It was really easy to do as well. (At least it was after I had spent 2 days cleaning and tidying) All it really involved was moving around some items that we already had in the flat so that they were more ‘beneficially placed’. when arranging your feng shui room it is important to be... Read Full Story

Eat chocolate fudge brownie Ben&Jerry;'s Watch a full series of Sex and the City. Wear underwear, heels, jewelery and full party make-up. Phone a friend and laugh loudly enough to disturb everyone in your house. Play strip twister. Organise a drawer or cupboard (I know I'm sad but you feel clean afterwards). Have a long, hot, scented bath... ...or a shower with someone. Have or give a massage. Listen to relaxing music, like Ray Lamontagne, Jeff Buckley's Grace, Frank Sinatra..etc.. Buy... Read Full Story

Buddhist monastery – China-Eating with monks in a temple in Chonqing I had the closest thing I have ever had to a ‘spiritual moment’. Everyone was really quiet and the atmosphere was so peaceful. I really felt moved. I spent a year in China and in that time visited many temples but this was the smallest one and the one that affected me the most. I think that because it was small it was more intimate; my friend and I were accepted and given lunch without any questions (or Chinese skills!) It... Read Full Story

Click title for link Zen Habits is my new favourite website. It is a collection of articles on ways to clear out the clutter from your life, de-stress and enjoy being. Before the holidays both of us had been getting really stressed out by work and felt like we were barely even existing; just coming home, lying on the sofa, watching TV, barely even talking to each other, we were just so exhausted! Zen habits has loads of simple ideas to help such as only setting yourself three tasks for the... Read Full Story