New Years Eve-in

Get the pun? Eve in, evening? No? Just me? Alright then, moving on.

Unfortunately, all of the terribly organised plans I had arranged in order to have an 'incredibly fun, incredibly eventful' New Years have collapsed, leaving me on my own with my slightly frantic family, their barmy friends and my supersize mug of tea. 

On the plus side, the alone time has left me with some time to reflect, not so much on the year that's almost over (thank goody gumdrops) but on the year that's coming. 

There are probably a million and one blog posts on the hundreds of New Years resolutions people are planning to 'completely, under any circumstances' going to keep, but with the knowledge of how unlikely this is for me I have come up with just two to keep my mind occupied:

1. Eat healthily and stay fit. I know, incredibly original right? However, the way I feel is really important to me and my self-esteem is always a lot higher if I have been healthy. I'm not really a big believer of diet plans after everything that has happened with my best friend's anorexia, but I have made a workout regime that I plan to do at least four times a week (I might do a post on this a bit later).

2. Say yes to more things. My mum has a saying that goes, 'Do something you feel uncomfortable with and there will always be a reward.' While this is just a long-winded way of saying 'Step out of your comfort zone', I can't help but agree with her. Every time I have returned back from somewhere lightheaded and happy with the world, it is usually from a place where I would have arrived with a churning stomach and incredibly negative mindset. Conclusion: this year I am going to be more open to doing things I don't always feel like doing, and am going to stop staying at home as much watching TV shows.

Both these resolutions are pretty ironic seeing as I am currently sitting on my bed, munching Lindor chocolates and watching Downton Abbey. However, as soon as I wake up tomorrow morning I am enthusiastic they will be put into action.

Next year will be good, I can feel it. 

Bonne année!

A X

Christmas and Camping

Salut mes amis et joyeux Noel!

Well, happy belated Christmas, that is. I hope you all had the most amazing day and got everything you could have asked for.

A festive shot of a Christmas tree in a desperate attempt to make this post more Christmassy.

While there is not really much to report on the Christmas front (although I did get an iPhone so expect to see better quality pictures from now on!) we did go off on a camping trip on boxing day with about six other families. I was initially slightly apprehensive about the trip as we were going with some of the more...notorious girls in my year, let's just say, but I actually had a really great time and am so glad I went.

Sunset at our campsite

For those of you that don't know, it is Summer in New Zealand at this time of year, so we spent a lot time at the beach and even more time sunbathing. If there's one thing I've come away with on this trip, it is definitely a good tan!

The one downside was probably waking up on the third night and finding myself absolutely soaked from the where the rain had flooded our tent. And then spending the rest of the day stuck inside said tent because it wouldn't stop.

We were damp and slightly miserable but it did give me time to bond with the four other girls in my tent and I quickly learnt that the old saying, 'Never judge a book by it's cover',  might actually hold more truth than I've ever given it credit for. Girls I had previously found rather intimidating quickly became a great laugh and I felt bad that I had ever been so prejudiced beforehand.

I'm a bookish type and always will be but it was fun to sip on very very slightly alcoholic raspberry lemonade as we danced around to terrible rap music and waited around for one of my friends to stop snogging her life-long crush in a bush. I know, hard core rebellion right. It was still a blast of fresh air though and it will be the kind of thing we are bound to look back on when we're older and say, "Remember that one time when we were camping..."

Enjoy the rest of your holidays before whatever lies ahead mes cheries.

A X

Inspiring quotes and late night thoughts

“& only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!

Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?” 

- David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas (One of my all time favourite books).

Alright, I understand this is a bit of an intense topic to be writing about on a Monday morning. However, one must consider that this is 12:50 am on a Monday morning and practicality is not exactly the main thing on my mind. 

Recently I have been thinking a lot about my future and my significance to the world as a person. There are more than seven billion people on this planet and I am willing to bet that the majority, like me, want to make a difference - to change the world for the better and have our names go down in history books.

In my opinion, a person does not actually die so long as their memory still stands; that though their heart may have stopped pumping and lungs stopped inhaling, they can still live on if people can remember them.  It scares me to think of all the moss-stained coffins that stand only to display an empty name with no recallable story.  Not all of us can be Albert Einsteins, Marylin Monroes. 

However, every time someone remarks on our insignificance, I usually have to disagree. We might be tiny in comparison to the universe - our actions might mean nothing in the scheme of things - but that does not mean they actually mean nothing. Very few people will change the world, but many can change the bit around them if they try. 

We are one in seven billion on the planet, but the probability of us coming to exist here is infinitely smaller. Think about it: what were the chances of both your parents finding each other, of the exact 'bird' and exact 'bee' combining so that in the end you could stand here? Not a lot. And yet, here you are.

Please never believe you are insignificant or inconsequential. Whatever you do will cause ripples in the lives of others, in the places around you. Never, ever believe you mean nothing.

A X

A trip to the city

On the last day of school, my good friend and I managed to ditch our interminable prize giving early and catch the train over to the city for some much-needed shopping. Unfortunately, most of our money was actually spent on food - but that's not to say it wasn't good food!

We found the cutest little bakery called 'The Store'. Of course it took me a lifetime to decide what I wanted.

In the end I decided on some freshly squeezed orange juice and salmon chickpea salad...yum.

I made my friend promise that we would come back here. Coffee and donuts...what more could anyone want?

I've always been slightly skeptical of Auckland and its modern buildings and large tourism culture, but today, with both the sun and school year on our backs, the whole city seemed to illuminate in my eyes and for the first time in four years I actually felt that this city had become my city; it might not be the largest or have the most going on, but it has definitely become beautiful to me in a fond, familiar sort of way.

 Tucked off on a street corner we found the most gorgeous little frozen yoghurt place. It was expensive but well worth it. 

Salted caramel frozen yoghurt with strawberry chocolate buttons and fudge topping.

My friend spent a lot of the time cringing at my terrible and obvious photo taking as if I was some sort of obsessive tourist but I really wanted to capture the little delights of the city - if not for me then for other people from other cities to see. Auckland has the sky tower and its marina and everything but I think what really makes it are the tiny beautiful cafes; the op-shops and music stores tucked away on subtle street corners. 

A X