So recently I started a bucket list… Yup, I jumped on the band wagon and blogged it out. But I do actually have a personal reason for doing this. I just hope I don’t start tearing up while typing. This year the world lost an amazing person. This is no different to every other year, the world looses far too many amazing people far too often. What makes this one different is that I knew this amazing person. Carla Graham was a family friend and I always looked up to her. Ten years older than me, she was like the big sister I never had. Her and my dad were good friends because they trained together for Ironman and because of this, she called him her Other Dad. I guess I was her other sister.

Carla was 35 when cancer took her away. This was far too young. But in those 35 years she really lived! She decided to do Ironman before ever having even run a marathon. She got an idea in her head and she went for it. Once again, I want to be just like her and go out and do these things.

So I dedicate my bucket list to a friend and to really living.

Every now and then it happens that you get a last minute invite to a party or big event. What normally happens to me in these moments is I spin into a flat panic. You see, I need at least a week to plan an outfit for something big (actually I like to think ahead and plan outfits almost all the time!)

This weekend I was thrown into exactly this situation. On Friday night I got a phone call from my friend, Robyn, she had just got two tickets to the SA Blog Awards. The awards were the following night! I was quite excited to get the opportunity to go. How cool to meet some of the best bloggers in the country and to schmooze at one of the best venues in Cape Town?!

Then I realised what this meant… I would have to look the part for all this schmoozing! And from my feed on twitter, I knew that it was an event to dress up for. Some bloggers had been planning their outfits for weeks even. I hit panic stations. (more…)

It has now been 8 weeks since I started my new regime… Previously I wrote about changing my frame of mind and hoping that it would all stick. I was only one week into the program and I had no idea if I would really keep at it. But I did And I couldn’t be happier!

In two months I have seen such a dramatic change in so much:

• I broke half an hour at my running club’s 5km time trial. I haven’t done this in years I don’t think.
• I can run at a good pace for an hour without much discomfort or much stern talking to myself to keep myself motivated.
• I can do all the roll ups in a pilates class without my feet coming off the ground.
• I can touch my toes!!!!! (I have short hamstrings so that for me is a big deal)
• My waist has come back
• I can fit into clothes I haven’t worn in ages! Seriously, by the time summer rolls around properly I will have a whole new wardrobe without buying a thing!

Sorry if you don’t want to read all this “hooray for wonderful me” stuff… but right now I am taking a moment to enjoy what I have achieved There are not that many times in life when you really can feel proud of yourself so I urge you all to take a moment too and acknowledge something you have done that is good and worthy of a moment of self-congratulating. It feels pretty good!

Right, patting myself on the back is done, now the real challenge starts… I can’t afford to keep the trainer right now so I will be going it alone. I have a feeling that I will keep it up though, the visible rewards are just too good Wish me luck!

For years I never had accounts at shops. First of all I was too young to get and then I kept telling myself that it would be dangerous and then eventually I caved and got my first account so I could get credit rating… Boy oh boy was this an eye opener, but in a good way

For most people an account is completely safe and logical. There are people out there who should avoid accounts and credit cards like the plague – “Danger Will Robinson, Danger!!!” – because of a complete lack of thinking things through. I did worry that I would be one of those people, but apparently I can control my impulse shopping to a certain degree! In fact, having accounts has opened me up to whole new world and made my shopping experiences even better!

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When I was at school we had what we referred to as Physical Torture. It was actually Physical Training and the schools then renamed it as Physical Education to change the abbreviation. Unfortunately for the schools, we were children so the name that made us laugh and the teachers sigh stuck. And this is how I remember being introduced to exercise, a period at school that was nicknamed Physical Torture. It was not considered a fun period (and if you thought it was fun you were uncool). (more…)