I think the best lesson my parents have taught me is that age is merely a number. You are not old until you feel old or think you are old. My parents are not old. They are in their 60s and they are more active than me most of the time! And I think they have a better social life.

Insanity is hereditary... You get it from your kids

Growing up I never thought of my parents as old. I remember in my teens I realised that my parents were easily 10 years older then most of my friends’ parents. Mine were in their 30s when they had me and my brother. But my parents so often seemed younger than the other parents. Being very close to my mom, I was always happy that my friends thought my parents was really cool.

So all I can hope is to keep living as they do. Stay young by refusing to grow old and to just keep exercising. And remember to be a little bit immature at least once a day

And it also helps to know that my parents aren’t the only people who are not growing old. Someone sent me this video with Ginger Rogers salsa dancing at age 92. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!

Be different

While I was still in university my mother and I spotted this pair of purple boots. I fell in love with them instantly! But I didn’t buy them… What would I do with a pair of purple boots? Where would I wear them? What would I wear them with? It just seemed a little too much and too over the top. My mom wanted me to have them so badly she ended up buying them for me. Basically she decided that these were “me” boots and my life wouldn’t be OK without them. She was right… (Always listen to your mother, she really does know best.)

So what made these boots so life altering? I’m not a hundred percent sure actually. They are just cute boots, little kitten heels, mid-calf height, round toe… Oh and they are purple.

The Purple Boots

Up until this point, I’d always had a slightly off-beat sense of style but never really shown it. I was a shy kid, and still can be very shy, and I grew up going to school that had a uniform, so fashion and style was never really something I had much opportunity for. I knew what I liked but didn’t really buy much of it. At university was the first time in my life I could explore this notion and I really had started slowly. I sought constant approval from those around me and always looked at what other people were wearing so I didn’t get it wrong. I guess always being surrounded by people wearing the same uniform as you kinda rubbed off.

These boots to me were a bold thing. They weren’t a basic colour that would go with everything and they were fun and a little different. This was life changing for me. I always got comments when I wore them, good comments. It slowly dawned on me that the reason they were different and not what I saw other people wearing was because everyone else thought the way I had originally: I love things that are different but I don’t have the guts to wear them, people don’t wear things like this, only the risk takers do. Will I get approval from those around me if I take a risk?

Now I know I’m only talking about a pair of purple boots, it’s hardly Lady Gaga level of out there-ness, but for me it was a big deal. I suddenly had flashbacks to when I was little and I had begged my mom to buy this pair of shorts that I LOVED. They were yellow with pink polka dots and pink bows on the sides (I was about 6 here so that was cute, OK). I wore them once. I am actually still berating myself for that. I loved the shorts but they were so “look at me” I couldn’t wear them. So all my life I’ve wanted to be a risk taker and enjoy fashion, but I’d never been able to.

So now I had my purple boots and I wore them all the time I’ll never forget rocking up to a friend’s place in my purple boots and my red trench coat (other clothes were worn underneath, I promise) and my friend saying “Only Fae would wear a red trench and purple boots! And only Fae could pull it off!” I had arrived and I had found my style… And I approved of it first, I didn’t wait and get approval from others. That came after I had accepted it.

So I have to say thank you to my mom, for knowing me better than I know myself some times. And thank you to the purple boots for igniting my style. And even a thank you to those poor yellow shorts that only got worn once, you remind me to give myself and my choices approval, because no one else will do it for me.

So here it is… The obligatory 2010 in a nutshell post. The post where I look back on the year that has been and say some stuff about it… It’s been a year like most others, some good stuff happened, some bad stuff happened, some really crappy stuff happened. Most importantly I think I actually learned some really important lessons about life and friendship this year. I’ll probably relearn the lessons again next year because that’s how people are, but right now, I’m kinda happy about it all

So what happened in 2010? Deep breath… Here we go:

• I discovered blogging and created this lovely little home for myself! It’s been great fun and I can’t wait to build up my blogs even more next year.
• I worked very hard, at one point I think I was working about 4 jobs at once (freelancing, part time job, plays, voice overs!!!)
• I did two very successful plays this year: Rumours and Gigi. SO MUCH FUN!!! I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard in my life before than I did backstage during Gigi.
• I made some awesome new friends this year! Truly awesome people
• I also cemented two friendships that I will treasure for the rest of my life, and the best part is that they are as close friends with each other now as they are with me. We are all three quite different but somehow that just works. And I take it has a huge complement to me that they took the time to get to know each other and become friends!

Oh. Em. Gee. BFFs

• So on the down side, I lost some friends, which sucks. Not sure exactly what happened and I don’t want to dwell on it. I’m glad the worst of the nastiness is over and I’m actually past the emotional part of it.
• On the losing side still, we lost a family friend to the Son of a Bitch that is cancer. The less said about that the better. RIP Carla.
• So what else happened… My family had some ups and downs but we’re still together with all our animals too.
• I got a new phone! Yeahness! And a new laptop… which switches itself off for no reason and is still doing it after being “repaired”
• I discovered Google Calender! Life changing! Facebook events you can eat your heart out!
• I started a bucket list. And I’m filling it slowly with things that I really want to do or try or accomplish and hopefully, one day, I will.
• I had a personal trainer for 2 months, trying to give myself a kick up the arse and get fit. It worked! I fell off the wagon a bit but I definitely think it was worth the money.
• Oh yeah, there was that World Cup that happened How much fun?!?
• There was also a lot of giggling, cocktails, drinking games… Well the drinking games was just that one time and NEVER AGAIN, EVER! Until next time…
• I also re-found my direction. After a lot of hesitation and messing up (well I think I’ve been messing up), I think I may have actually found something that will work and I can be happy with

And I think that was most of the highlights…

Well, not much happened after that. I was still extremely shy and couldn’t tell anyone other than my parents that I wanted to be an actor. Of course I was twelve then and they assumed I would grow out of it (they’re still hoping that). I didn’t grow out of the idea but I also didn’t succeed in pursuing my dreams very much.

So let’s start with the road that I have been on so far… This could take a while so bear with me.

Growing up I was on my own a lot. I didn’t have many friends and I was actually the class joke for a brief section of time during primary school. I have always had a brain in my head but I had zero confidence. The only thing that kept me going was my dancing.