Christmas 2012 wrap-up: sobriety, shopping and suprises!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is always over so fast! I suppose it’s over a lot faster most years when I’m drinking but having a sober season is definitely interesting! I have ADD so I get distracted very easily, I don’t get bored because I think boredom is a weakness of the mind (for myself, I won’t judge anyone else who gets bored) but I get edgy if I’m idle for too long. Hence this flurry of blog activity over the break and why I work so much!

Christmas is always over so fast! I suppose it’s over a lot faster most years when I’m drinking but having a sober season is definitely interesting! I have ADD so I get distracted very easily, I don’t get bored because I think boredom is a weakness of the mind (for myself, I won’t judge anyone else who gets brored) but I get edgy if I’m idle for too long. Hence this flurry of blog activity over the break and why I work so much!

I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
For Christmas I did indulge myself a little this year because I have been working so hard, and since one of my New Year’s resolutions was to be more vain take more pride in my appearance, this has led to an increase in online shopping. More motive and more money for purchasing new things! How tragic. I’ve really loved The Iconic for clothes & accessories, StyleTread for accessories and Etsy for a myriad of hand made and designer clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts.

I bought myself this great selection of tops from the Love Infinitely store on Etsy, which supports the Love Infinitely Project that I completely adore, including it’s founder Brenda, who is the sunniest, loveliest woman I’ve found on the internet – and she likes beer too, win! In fact, I’m wearing the pink striped tank right now, it is so soft! I love tank tops for summer and soft cotton tees for casual wear. This plain white one is nice enough to wear with skinny jeans, flats and a cardigan for work.

I also bought a new tank top to wear to pole dancing class, which is merchandise from a well-known instructor & performer, Cleo the Hurricane. I actually worked with her and was her student at my first pole studio before she moved to Sydney, found her stage persona and won Miss Pole Dance Australia and worldwide fame! The tank has lace across the back of the shoulders and is super-flattering. There’s also Napoleon Perdis liquid eyeliner duo in black/silver glitter, two glitter eyeshadow gel duos in Salvador and Port Alegre and a lip shine in Honolulu. Gotta have eyeliner and glitter if you’re going to rock n pole, right?

Whilst I’m not one to advocate racism or even the cultural stereotype of the racist bogan that some Australians have brought upon us all, I do enjoy a giggle at the “‘Straya” ongoing joke and found this cute bikini at Big W for just $15 when I was waiting for my photos to get printed. Yes, this is me… after months off from training and particularly pasty. Let’s call this the “before” pic shall we? Perfect for my Australia Day trip to see my beau in Queensland, where I shall fit in wonderfully, I’m sure.

My wifey bought me the Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb EDP from my wishlist, and I am extremely grateful. So I’m a very lucky girl. I might even have to get a couple of those mini-atomizers so I can carry the scent around with me instead of carrying the huge bottle around. It’s 100mL so it’s not cheap. Does anyone know where I can get a mini atomizer or whether it’s possible to refill those little sample atomizers that you get from magazines and gift bags?

A new nameplate necklace with my full first name on it to replace the one I bought for myself years ago that kept breaking in between the D and the W. Funnily enough, I scored this via one of those horribly annoying group-buying coupon websites, that I have since unsubscribed from. It took a really long time to arrive but I like it and I haven’t taken it off since I opened it. My name is Welsh, even though my family isn’t, and it’s from a really beautiful Welsh fairytale. Ceridwen is a goddess of change and rebirth and transformation, and her cauldron symbolises knowledge and inspiration.

My brother, Brendan, bought me a bottle of Ron de Jeremy rum. I joked to our parents that we “discussed at length” what to get each other for Christmas this year but in reality the conversation went something like this, via text message: Me: What do you want for Christmas this year? Him: Scotch, you? Me: Yeah, Scotch… <long pause> Both of us: Cool. <longer pause> Him: You drink rum too, yeah? Which resulted in this gift. I can’t wait until New Year to try it. I bought him a bottle of Monkey Shoulder single malt whisky.

Not strictly a Christmas present, more a recent acquisition in prime time for the holidays, mainly for work purposes and writing, is my new MacBook Pro 13″. Super stoked with it, the hand-me-down Dell laptop I’ve been using until now – and still for movies because the screen is huge – has been christened The Behemoth, and is ludicrously heavy and impractical to carry around. I can put this in my handbag without a drama, it’s fast, easy-to-use and let’s face it, it’s pretty. Thrilled!

Christmas post-jaw surgery: Liquid lunching.

Onto more edible things! Obviously still on my post-surgery diet, Christmas Day breakfast consisted of a soy latte; a nudie chia, banana, apple & cinnamon juice; a V8 vegetable juice and a whole avocado seasoned with salt and pepper. Honestly. I’m completely fine with that, it was super tasty!

Trying to decide what to have for Christmas lunch was probably  a fairly daunting task for my parents, who had to figure out how to festively feed someone who can’t open their mouth for any utensil bigger than a teaspoon or chew at all. I think they did a pretty good job actually! For entree we had a very festive beetroot soup that my Mum made, then whilst everyone else had two kinds of meat, asparagus and mashed potatoes, I stuck to the mash and followed it up with a lovely peach semolina from a Nordic recipe that I would love to have again. I also had some custard with a little pudding mixed in and a carrot and ginger juice. A strange kind of Christmas dinner indeed!

Afterward, I visited my brother Ryan and his boyfriend, with my Mum and Brendan, and my wifey came too. We were talking and watching 666 Park Royal and MTV when a huge domestic argument involving a whole family broke out across the street. We couldn’t resist watching some of it, it was like a bad soap opera! A lot of police turned up including two detectives and also an ambulance. It was full-on and tired us all out a little. Once I got home I had a long chat with my beau on the phone and went to bed.

This morning I woke up after a great sleep and realised that we had made last minute plans for me to join him and his family on the NSW coast for New Year’s Eve and that I’m leaving on Monday morning. Which means basically locking myself down and doing everything I can to try and heal quickly before I go. The bruising and swelling has gone down a lot but it still has a little way to go. So onward with the liquid diet, lots of nutrients and water, ibuprofen and ice-packs for me. Breakfast/brunch this morning was a soy mocha, a green juice, a smoothie, the last of my banana and chia juice and a V8 vegetable juice. Mashed vegies and yoghurt for lunch, with a chocolate soy milk and a little brandy custard. It’s all back to normal. I had a couple of different juices and some soy milk last night at my brother’s house but really there’s nothing really festive about my diet in general. I’m hoping there will still be some Pannettone left at the shops when I’m able to eat again!

I’m thrilled with all the good stuff I got for Christmas this year, including some things obviously not mentioned, and that I was able to see my parents and the two brothers I have in Melbourne, see at least one of my best friends, all the cats and dogs, speak to my boy and make amazing New Year plans whilst enjoying the beautiful weather and not feeling miserable about my present state of recovery. Now I need to study and do some kind of loungeroom workout or stretch session so I don’t feel like a total sloth. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas Day and are all safe, happy and healthy! HPG xoxo

26. December 2012 by HPG
Categories: fashion, food, fun | Tags: Christmas, fashion, food photos, holidays, surgery | Comments