Coffee & Catch-Up

 

I think this will be the first coffee & catch up post this year that I will actually post within a month of the last coffee & catch up (#happydance). Perhaps it’s a sign of the change in season, or perhaps it’s just that we are now well and truly heading in for the whirlwind that is the last half of the year, but I’m starting to feel a renewed sense of energy to get things going and end the year on a high note.

 I tried really hard this year not to fall into the slump that is winter, but alas I did. I’ve been skimping on exercise, my eating habits haven’t quite recovered from the spoils of Paris and I’ve mentally just been in sort of a hibernation phase. As is customary (and I think the whole healthy living community cashes in on this the world over) I’m starting to get going again just as we move into spring. It’s at this time of year gym’s flood with new members, everyone is searching for an eating plan that promises they can have their daily chocolate but still lose 10kg and we start running around trying to wrap up everything before December holidays roll around. In going through this process again this year, I’m still searching for that elusive trick to getting through winter with the same vigour as I seem to sustain during the summer months so that I’m not sitting wondering how to get going once winter has chewed me up and spat me out the other side… any tips?

This month’s self-portrait is an interesting one: it’s of moi at a food photography course I attended this past weekend (spoiler alert I didn’t take the photo one of the cleaver photographers on the course did and as soon as I find out her name its going in instead of this silly sentence on this post!). I will share more about the whole day but suffice to say this goes hand in hand with re-thinking what Clean Living Chronicles is all about. I started this blog to pour all the things I love into one place. One of those things is taking pretty pictures and I decided to get a little professional help from the ever fabulous Tasha Seccombe. In addition to the workshop I’ve also recently built a little studio in Jozi so now there are really no more excuses – I need to invest more time here writing and sharing about what makes my heart sing.

Getting out this month: I’ve spent two weeks pottering around the Cape working, learning and travelling. It’s been three months since I was down at our home in Cape Town last and when I arrived here I realized I have missed so much of the beautiful winter in Cape Town. Cape Town has a winter rainfall region so the area is really at its most glamorous in the winter months. Luckily I have a cleaver hubby and he arranged for us to drive up to Clanwilliam over the weekend to see the seasonal wild flower show. I loved every minute of spending time enjoying the wide open spaces and spectacular colours of the show and I’m really glad we took the opportunity to drive up and visit this year.  

Movies from this month: Given I’ve been down at our home in Cape Town I’ve been pulling movies to watch from our awesome movie library so there are lots of oldies. First up is How to lose a guy in 10 Days which let’s face it I watched for Matthew McConaughey! But seriously it’s actually a wonderful feel good movie about how often when we least expect it we find love it comes to find us. Then next up is Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes which I love just for the quirkiness of how this version of the movie is portrayed. Robert Downey Jr. plays the crazy hero so well (think Iron Man) and I love how he does eccentricity so well.  

On my bookshelf: I’ve been trying to find time to sit down and start Will Write for Food a new book about food writing… maybe Spring? Have you read it yet – any opinions?? New banting kids books:  The Real Meal Revolution: Raising Superheroes – The Kids Book and Real Food, Healthy, Happy Children – The Low Carb Solution for the Whole Family. They are not only for kids, I think families as a whole would benefit from owning these books. In fact I think our home will benefit tremendously from having these in our arsenal and right now our home consists of two busy execs with little time for elaborate weeknight meals.