Beautiful Waitakere

Out in West Auckland is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Lush and green, the Waitakere Ranges always make me feel more alive. On Monday we did a relatively easy walk close to the Arataki visitors centre that took about an hour.

Weekend

A long one to celebrate the Queen's birthday. I enjoyed my friend's birthday dinner, a night out clubbing after, a lazy brunch and a walk in the Waitakere's. Not pictured was some study (nowhere as much as I should of but oh well), some cider's in the sun on Saturday afternoon with a mate who I hadn't caught up with in ages, reading my novel and some dvds. Have you seen The Hours? I thought it was fantastic! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

A Birthday Celebration

Doing post-grad study this year means that I'm living on a severely limited income. So nice gifts are a bit out of my budget and when my best friend had her 24th birthday weekend I offered to throw her a dinner party as my gift to her. I then found myself cooking for ten people this Friday, the biggest group I have ever cooked for on my own! I tried to keep it simple and did a roast which everyone seemed to enjoy and a chocolate almond cake that was very nearly a disaster but was thankfully saved just in time. The preparation was almost as fun as the party so I though I would share some photos from before everyone arrived.

Autumn Walk

Dusk

Weekend

Saturday night dvd's and chinese food. I hadn't seen The Full Monty before and I absolutely loved it! So funny and a great soundtrack.

Flowers for the dining room. Its amazing how a cheap bunch of flowers brightens up the whole house!

Not pictured: On Saturday I made a very quick roadtrip to Hamilton to spend the day with my sister. We did some window shopping and had lunch at a nice cafe. I was having such a good time I forgot to take some photos. Sunday was filled with a trip to the markets, some study and a coffee date at a great cafe called The Library in Onehunga. I think it may well become my new local!

Also my little rant:

I have really rediscovered my love of blogging and reading blogs as of late. In doing so though I have noticed and have read some posts about blogs and the potential pitfalls of recording life in the public domain in this way. Firstly, there is the pressure that some may feel to constantly have new and interesting content on their blogs and keep building up followers. I certainly felt some of that pressure when I wrote my last blog the beat my heart skips. 

I think that pressure may have been part of the reason I wanted to have a fresh start with this blog. If I don't put anything on here for a month should it be a problem? I really don't want it to be and I don't want to feel like I have to update my blog ever again. I want it to be something I enjoy and continue to enjoy! Honestly with my study and work I have so many pressures and deadlines and I don't want something else adding to that. This blog is a space for me to appreciate the little things that a lovely about day to day life not add to the stress of it. So no pressure, okay.

The other thing I've noticed is a little bit of judgement about what some choose to blog about, what their photos may look like etc. Hey we are all human right? We judge. But I want to post the details of my life that may seem mundane to others. I want to put up the crappy photos of my chinese food and dvds because it was a good night. I want to choose what goes on here without fear of negative judgement. 

Wow that was a bit ranty. But as I start to post more and get back into the blogging thing I really wanted to put that out in the open. I'm really glad to be blogging again.

Thursday Afternoon

A clear, crisp afternoon at home. Absolutely no school work, just drinking green tea with mandarin and watching the world of my backyard. Definitely a homey nesting kind of afternoon.