Friday High Five

It's been a couple of weeks since my last Friday faves list, and I've had a birthday in between, so here's a catch up.

1. Sparkly, sequined mini-dresses - I wore a black and gold one to my party. Lots of fun, and made me feel like a teenager again...critical when you're approaching 30, I say.



Thanks Intheircloset.com for the pics of this dress by Balmain.


2. Bobbi Brown Extra Balm Rinse - this is the best cleanser I've ever used. It makes your skin feel like you've had a facial before bed. One of my favourite birthday presents.



3. 'Long Road (Tribute to Heroes)' by Eddie Vedder and Neil Young - a song they performed after the 9/11 tragedy. It's old now, but it's still beautiful.




4. The Codfather in Morningside - I had a belated birthday dinner with my Dad in JHB on Monday night. We had a great evening, and delicious fish (you pick your cut and pay per weight) at this cosy spot in the Codfather Village off Rivonia Road. Amazingly, their stock seems to be as fresh as it is at its coastal sister restaurant in Camps Bay.



5. Handwritten letters and long messages in birthday cards - this is the part I love most about birthdays. Better than an sms or Facebook message any day. I really appreciate the effort that goes into writing a birthday wish that will be sent via snail mail - it feels more personal somehow, and a reminder to me that I should do it more often for my loved ones.




Enjoy your weekend, and if it's your birthday, have a great one!

Honey Child

Birthday reflection

It’s my birthday this weekend and I feel like reflecting a little on the first half of the year. I sense that things have turned a corner for me in the last two weeks, and that the rest of the year is going to be gentler, somehow. I’ve been frantically busy but happy with new challenges at work, and still have other career opportunities on the horizon. Stangely, I picked up a book of 2010 horoscopes in Exclusive Books the other day and it forecast the last week as the busiest and most stressful of my year! While I’m feeling good about work, I want to address salary issues and get my finances in better order. I’ve risen to the challenge of continuing with my second degree, and have passed more subjects part-time. So I’m feeling great about that, and motivated to carry on.

I’m happy about my growing social circle – for the first time since I moved back to Cape Town I suddenly feel that I have an established and large group of friends again. I’m looking forward to my party tomorrow night.

Things with R are generally good – but I need to be aware of taking my tiredness and scratchiness out on him. I’m concerned about him – career and health-wise – and I want to support him as much as possible for the next little while.

I am missing my sister overseas and would like to go home for a holiday to see my parents before the end of the year if possible, just to connect and see how they really are. The phone doesn’t always do the trick. Death and illness in the extended family has been a sad theme in recent months, and I’m sending all of my energy and love to my mom’s cousin in KZN, battling with cancer.

My health has been good, and my immune system feels particularly strong at the moment. I think my cutting back on alcohol has helped my system enormously. I’ve lost a little weight without any effort and I’m feeling comfortable in my body again. I need to work on my fitness in the next part of the year. Once the days start lengthening again I hope to have more time to run after work in the evenings.

I’ve also been more in tune with myself spiritually this month, and remembered how much more powerful I am when I’m operating using my intuition and powers of visualisation.

So overall I’m feeling more balanced than I have in a long time, and I’m happy and excited about the year ahead.

Have a good weekend – I hope to be back with a Friday High Five next week.

HoneyChild

Eighteen again

Phew, nice and busy this week. World Cup fever certainly hasn't slowed down the work demands. Feeling neutral about the job situation - I'll know more by Friday, and will just have to take things from there.

In other news, I'm planning my birthday - I feel like a proper party this year, having had smaller celebrations for my last four birthdays. I can't wait to be 18 again! (Read: 28).

HoneyChild

A call for guidance

Wow, I’m feeling strained. While the focus of last year was deepening my relationship with R and plannning a wedding, so far 2010 seems to have been all about career tension and the back and forth of ‘should I stay or should I go?’. It seems silly to complain because I have great opportunities available to me in whichever direction I choose to move. But I’m finding the whole process - weighing up intense loyalty and the comfort of familiarity with ambition and the need for change - emotionally very draining. I want to be able to satisfy all of those desires in one place.

Looking for some guidance and certainty here, Universe. Please.

HoneyChild