Twenty Candles

Just sitting here eating some chocolate love hearts. And listening to Christmas songs.

I got the chocolate from my best friend in Norway. Because today is my birthday. Or, well, technically it isn’t yet, because of the fact that I was born in Norway, which is about 12 hours behind New Zealand, but I only see this as an excuse to celebrate for 2-3 days straight, to make sure I cover my birthday in all the different time zones.

Holy cow. There was just a delivery for me. A basket full of flowers and stuff. From my family in Norway – thank you, I love you so much!! You just made my day.

I started celebrating my birthday last night, with a few close friends. I had an amazing night, and despite the fact that half a bottle of malibu and half a bottle of vodka was consumed, I woke up this morning feeling fine.

I’m still undecided about what I’m doing today. So far I haven’t made any specific plans, other than to tidy up my room (there are empty alcohol bottles and cans, dirty plates, cups, etc, general rubbish, and clothes lying around…), eat a fair amount of unhealthy food, listen to some good music, and reply to messages on Facebook. Tonight? No idea.

I prayed for some nice, sunny weather today, having celebrated my birthday in dark, cold and usually wet conditions for most of my life, but the weather gods didn’t really listen to me. It’s overcast and about 13C outside.

Whatever, I’ve got chocolate.

A Fruity Obsession

I just woke up one day and wanted some fruit…

Lately I’ve been buying quite a bit of fruit every time I do my grocery shopping. And it keeps getting worse (or better, either way you like it). Earlier this year I attempted to become healthier by buying less chocolate, chips, and so on, but I soon went back to buying it (in larger quantities), mainly because I didn’t buy any substitutes to nibble on every time I felt peckish. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I went completely overboard and bought so much chocolate I won’t say just how much it was, and subsequently ate it all over a period of 4 days. So I felt bad about it. And started buying fruit instead. Now I have a constant supply of apples, pears, mandarins, oranges, bananas; last week I even came home with two eggplants (squash), an onion, a lemon, capsicum, salad – to use in cooking/lunches. I mean, come on – onions?! Since when did I start eating onions? I’ve hated them all my life! But I used it in a meal, and it tasted delicious.

I also keep making epic (and healthy) lunches:

This looked so good it was almost a shame to eat it, but I couldn’t not eat it, because it looked so good. And it was.

It’s been a very rainy day here today, and I feel all moist, but in a good way. I think it’s finally easing now, and it’s supposedly going to be sunny and warm for the next week or so.

Also, a quick newsflash: I don’t know how much the rest of the world is actually hearing about the Hobbit and PJ vs. actors drama currently unfolding here in NZ, but down here it’s on the front page basically every day now (today’s headline reads: ‘Nats [Nationals, ed.] take up arms for [Peter] Jackson’). A fantastic blog entry by up-and-coming Wellington film maker Chaz Harris sums up the main points of the dispute so far, and thankfully he shares my exact view on the situation, so please have a read of it if you like. PJ is not the villain in this scenario.

That is all. (For now.)

Chocomania

 

Every woman knows that it’s her very own best friend and worst enemy – the chocolate bar.

I confess that I’m a huge fan of these blocks of divine goodness, and I don’t care how “bad” they are for you – I eat my fair share of chocolate, and as long as it’s just every now and then, and I don’t indulge in every other unhealthy food that money can buy, I don’t see a problem with that. I’m also very active, so a bit of chocolate just keeps me from becoming too skinny (although my clothes are telling me that that has already happened – either that, or all my clothes have suddenly expanded two sizes).

 

If you ask me, the best accompaniment to chocolate is, first and foremost, coffee. As I have recently purchased an espresso machine, I can now make those delicious coffees you normally get at cafès in the comfort of my own kitchen, which has infinitely improved my daily life. A good book and some instrumental background music really tops it off. For however long those “ingredients” last, I’m in my own personal heaven.

I’m all set to write an(other) A+ essay, with these things at hand. (There will be no dinner tonight, by the way.)