Reading Resolutions

Every year I set a reading goal, usually with an aim of reading a certain amount of books. This year I decided to do things a little different and dedicate a whole blog post to it.

This year I have a set amount of things I want to read, some classic novels I’ve never read, some iconic authors I’ve never read and some that I just want to read.

1. Read To Kill A Mockingbird

I know, it’s shameful I’ve never read it. It wasn’t on my list for secondary school so I never was interested in it. My brother and sister give out to me over how I haven’t yet read it. I even own the book! Then again, owning something doesn’t mean I’ll get around any time soon to actually reading it!

2. Reread The Great Gatsby

The main reason I want to do this is because of the film that’s due to come out!

3. Read a Stephen King novel

Yes, I’ve never ever read a Stephen King novel before. This shocked my friend Krissy so much that she went ahead and bought me Dolores Claiborne on the spot! I might read Carrie as well, seeing as there is a new Carrie film coming out.

4. Read Rebecca

I loved the Hitchcock film so I want to read the book too.

5. Read a James Joyce

A toughie I think but if my Yank friend Keith can read them then so can I!  

6. Read Postcards From the Edge

I don’t know how many times I have tried to read this and stopped. And not because I didn’t like it but just because I got side tracked or began to read another book and forgot about it. I am determined to finish it!

7. Read a Marian Keyes book

I’ve never read any Marian Keyes, except Saved By Cake, but I find her Twitters funny so I wanted to put her on the list. I will probably try Watermelon, as if I like it I got Rachel’s Holiday free on iTunes the other day and will continue on the series then.

8. Read The Secret History

I think I tried to read this, but it could have been another Donna Tartt book that belonged to my aunt. Regardless I still want to give it a try!

9. Read Coraline

I’ve never read any Neil Gaiman either so I think Coraline might be a good place for me start as I adore the film of it (not sure if that’s a good or bad reason for picking it!).

10. Read Middlesex

Another one that pops up often on ‘To Read’ lists, it was a toss up on this or Lolita and I based it on what my friends on Goodreads had read and rated and this won out. I do like The Virgin Suicides as well so that was another reason I chose this one.

11. Read one book on the first page of Goodreads Popular Classic Novel books

The link is here, I want to read one of the books or authors that I have not listed above. I own several of these actually (mainly Austen and Dickens) and as I’m not sure if the books move places due to rankings or ratings, I’ll pick the book from the front page the day I decide to start it.

12. Read a Terry Pratchett book

Again, I’ve never read Pratchett, I’ve always been hesitant that he won’t be my cup of tea but I want to stop literally judging a book by it’s cover and give one a go.

So, that’s it, 12 challenges, roughly one a month. I could have gone on but I thought I’d better stop! And now that I’ve got as far as here I think I will have a number aim as well, I’ll stick to 30 this year!

If you have any suggestions for me or just want to give out that I haven’t read XYZ, then feel free to leave a comment!

25 Before 25: Host a Tea Party/Host a Fundraiser

I knew from the beginning of my 25 Before 25 that these two entries would be together. I’ve wanted to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness Month for a while now, it’s something close to my heart after seeing my Nana die from it and seeing other family members battle it. I had seen the Get The Girls ‘Round campaign last year and thought it was the perfect idea. Straight away I knew I wanted to do a tea party, it was perfect for all ages and I could bake away to my hearts content! Here’s some of the pictures from the event.

Those adorable bun cases above (and in the 3rd photo) were very kindly sent to me by Orla from Irish Girl in London.

As you can see I went with the pink theme. I made the bunting above in the second photo, as well as a skirt for the occasion (which I will do another post about!). We had some jazzy tunes playing and I had collected tea cups from charity shops all through the summer. Local businesses kindly donated gifts towards a raffle and since people brought along a load of other baked goods (we had another table covered in goodies!), we had an impromptu bake sale the next day after Mass. I have yet to finish counting the money raised, as I keep getting donations in, but so far we’ve raised in around the 500 Euro mark! Very happy with that, I was hoping to get around 200 Euro so I’m delighted.

And here’s a shot of the aftermath!

That doughnut looking cake in the background was delicious and I will have a separate post with the recipe for that!

New Year’s Resolutions Update!

Sorry I’ve been absent for a while. Despite having loads of ideas in my head I have a bad case of writers block! So I thought I’d try a post like this to try get the flow going again!

My last New Year’s Resolutions update was at the end of March so I’m due my ‘half way there’ post.

1. Be more healthy and exercise more

I wish I could say this has happened but not really! Well, since doing the Vegetarian for a Month challenge I’ve been eating more vegetables (still not huge fruit fan, despite having a major sweet tooth).

2. Get a job

Not yet but still trying!

3. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner

I’ve made 8 so far (as well as making old recipes as slow cooker versions).

4. Make 12 new sweet dishes

11! One more and I’m finished. All have worked out except one, my Coca Cola cake.

5. Finish reading all the books I’ve started (There’s about 20-30 of them).

Overall I’ve read 22 books, though four of those are cookbooks which I don’t tend to count so 18 books so far. Out of the 18,only 4 are books that had to be finished from 2011 or 2010. I’m so bad at that, I hear and want to read of so many awesome books so I tend to finish them before the books I’m reading. Here's my Goodbooks list for 2012 so far.

6. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen (while completing the A-Z list I started last year)

23 so far, so almost half way there. Which is good, as I find I slack the most with the film list. I haven’t finished the A-Z yet but that’s because I’m trying to knock off some of the IMDb Top 250 for my 25 Before 25.

7. Learn a new skill (as of yet I have not decided).

Still haven’t decided! Well, I’m leaning towards crochet, I’m just hoping to find someone who can show me it in person as I get super confused with videos and books!

25 Before 25: 1 month as a Vegetarian

I think I can pin point my reasoning for wanting to try this. When I was 12/13, I read The Teenage Vegetarian Survival Guide and it was just something I wanted to do. Vegetarianism wasn’t new to me. While no one in my immediate family was vegetarian, an older cousin of mine was. Though now that I think about it, I can’t remember if I ever asked her why she became vegetarian. My aunt was also vegetarian at one stage as well as an uncle in America also at one time being vegetarian. So nothing entirely new for me.

It’s taken me over 10 years to actually try this challenge. And I don’t know why. But I’m glad I did. Eating fruit and veg isn’t my strong point but it was interesting to try new dishes as well as to jazz up some old favourites. I enjoyed the challenge of going out and having to eat the vegetarian option. I am grateful that whenever I went to one friend’s house, her aunt (who’s a vegetarian) always made some extra veggie dinner if I was eating there. And I’m proud my boyfriend stuck to the challenge too (except for once when he ate a hot dog after a 4am charity walk. Apparently it doesn’t count if it’s for charity!).

Plus, it was all worth it in the end, to achieve something. To stick something out and not lapse. It proves that I do have will power and it’s something I aim to remember every time I think I don’t. And while I can’t see myself turning veg any time soon, I do try to have one or two meat-free dinners a week (and it sometimes turns out to be even more than that). I just need to now focus on eating more fruit and veg in general!

Meatless May: Half Way Check Point!

As I mentioned briefly at the end of my 30 Days of Pinterest Look Back, I was doing a Meatless May. It’s part of my 25 Before 25 challenge and today marks the half way point. I thought I’d do a quick blog post about it.

So far it hasn’t been too hard, I’ve barely missed meat, except for maybe the familiarity of it and the meals I’d make using it. I haven’t tried a whole lot of new recipes, just tried to adapt favourite meals by removing the meat. I’ve made the Yaki Soba without the chicken, a delicious Spinach, Broccoli and Corn Pasta Bake (seriously yummy, I just changed my Spinach Gnocchi recipe to pasta instead of gnocchi and added more vegetables), Vegetable, Rice and Cheese Wraps, Chickpea Burgers and Veggie Burgers.

I’ve also tried some Quorn and Linda McCartney products. With the Quorn mince, I made a Bolognese sauce and also had Chilli Con Carne made for me at a friends house. I’ve tried the Linda McCartney Sausage Rolls (nice hot, not so good cool, which I how I prefer my sausage rolls!) and the Italian Sausages (tried them yesterday with mashed potatoes and mixed veg), they were delicious! Different in texture than normal sausages, not as oily as there’s not a lot of fat in them (not a bad thing!) but the flavours were so yummy! I bought more today, I could see them becoming a bit of a staple.

So for the next 2 weeks or so, I’m hoping to try out a few new recipes I haven’t tried before, have you any suggestions for me? Please leave a comment if you do! Also, I just discovered a few hours ago that next week is National Vegetarian Week in UK so that’s tied in nicely for me!

25 Before 25

It only hit me a few weeks ago that I turn 25 this year. TWENTY FIVE. That’s a quarter of a century. And then it hit me that there’s probably loads of things I’d like to do before then. I’ve briefly touched on goals before and I like to do my resolutions for the past 3 years but there’s just something different about hitting a landmark birthday.
So I thought I’d write a 25 before 25 list. I’m sure I’ll make these lists for 30, 40, 50 etc. as there’s always so much to aim for. However, seeing as money is a bit of a problem at the moment, this list won’t be very ambitious so things like ‘See the Northern Lights’ and ‘Go to Galapagos Islands’ will have to wait. This will be more of a realistic, if slight more boring, list.
I started making this list a few weeks ago, so there’s already one thing I’ve done but I’ll reveal that in a later post!

25 Before 25

1. Crochet a granny square
2. Visit an unvisited country
3. Host a cocktail party
4. Sew an item of clothing from scratch
5. Become a vegetarian for a month
6. Host a fundraiser
7. Go to a rugby match
8. Learn to play poker
9. Take photo booth photos
10. Take a random road trip
11. Learn how to play a new instrument
12. Put a wild colour in my hair
13. Go to the Aran Islands
14. Try surfing
15. Enter a Craftster challenge
16. Plant some herbs and vegetables
17. Host an afternoon tea
18. Watch 100 films from IMDb 250 list
19. Learn to say ‘Hello’ and ‘I Love You’ in 25 languages
20. Write a short story
21. Get a manicure
22. Learn all the words to the National Anthem
23. Make a sock monkey
24. Fund a Kiva loan
25. Make a korma from scratch

New Year’s Resolutions

It's that time of year again, the time where we pledge to change something. I posted last year what my resolutions were, so before I go on to post this year’s, let’s take a look at how I did with last year.

1. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner dishes

Well, I made 8 new dishes, I just wasn’t motivated last year, mainly as I was still leaving at home and cooking for my family.

2. Make 12 new sweet dishes

I got 9, which is surprising as I love baking. I’ll definitely make up for it this year though!

3. Read 25 books

2010 I pledged 50 books and failed epically, so I went for a lower target in 2011. And read 31 books overall!

4. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen before

Got to 36. Again, I wasn’t hugely motivated but I’ll give it a go this year.

5. Eat more fruit and veg

Yes and no. My veg intake is better but I’m just not a huge fan of fruit. I want to like it more though.

6. Lose weight and exercise more

*tumbleweeds*

7. Write more on the blog

Ya, didn’t do so great really but hopefully I can improve this year.

8. Get a job

I got two in fact but as of 31st Dec, I’m unemployed again. So this is another one.

I also listed that I wanted to learn a new skill and in April’s update last year, I revealed I was learning how to sew. I’m still working on that but I want to learn another skill this year.

My resolutions for 2011 will be much the same. They are

1. Be more healthy and exercise more (I really need to lose weight too but I think if I concentrate more on being healthy instead of obsessing over losing weight, I’ll succeed better)

2. Get a job

3. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner dishes

4. Make 12 new sweet dishes

5. Finish reading all the books I’ve started (There’s about 20-30 of them).

6. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen (while completing the A-Z list I started last year)

7. Learn a new skill (as of yet I have not decided)

I’d also like to travel more but realize this will probably have to wait a bit longer (or unless I win the lotto). And I want to be a bit more organized and more frugal too.

So wish me luck! What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

2011 Recap

2011 has been a very strange year for me. I’ve had two jobs but spent half the year searching for work. I got my first car but a month later ended up crashing it. The first 5 months of the year I dealt with a long distance relationship, with my boyfriend out in Australia but made up for that in the last 2 months, as we finally moved in together. Didn’t get to travel as much as my heart desires but went to London twice, got to go to Beaut.ie meet ups in Dublin and had a sunny holiday in Waterford.

Overall, a year of ups and downs. Like any year really. This is one I’m truly happy to have behind me. While it definitely ended well (moving in with the boyfriend, sandwiched with the trips to London), the year will forever be tainted with the memory of the car crash. At the end of 2010, I was in such a bad place mentally that I was convinced I wouldn’t see the end of 2011, I had this niggling feeling that I was going to die. I can’t explain it and I don’t think I ever will, but every time I tried to think beyond 2011, I had a mental block. I’m happy that I’m in a much better place mentally now and hope to follow this by being in a better physical health.

So here’s to 2012 being full of happy, healthy times with friends and family!

New Year’s Resolutions!

So until last year, I never really ‘did’ New Year’s Resolutions. I thought they were lame. Why promise to change something just at the being of the year? Why not make resolutions throughout the year, try better yourself all the time? I used to bite my fingernails and one day just decided to stop. And it worked. I think if I had made it a resolution though, I would have failed.

I don’t know what changed last year, but I decided to make some resolutions. I supposed I needed some focus, something to work towards. And that’s important more this year than ever before. I suppose they were more goals that resolutions, I was trying to achieve something instead of just change something. These are the ones I did manage to achieve:

1. Cook 12 new meal dishes

2. Make 12 new dessert dishes

3. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen before

4. Start a blog!

The other stuff I didn’t get around to completing, like read 50 books (I got as far as finishing 14, plus starting another 10. I like to have several books on the go), my weight loss goal (though I gave it a good try) and visit 3 new countries (money restrictions prevented this unfortunately, otherwise I would have).

For this year, I think I’ll stick to similar enough goals, but I might modify them a bit. So here they are!

1. Cook 12 new savoury/dinner dishes

2. Make 12 new sweet dishes

3. Read 25 books

4. Watch 50 films I’ve never seen before

5. Eat more fruit and veg

6. Lose weight and exercise more (I do have a more specific goal than this, but I don’t want to talk about it just yet)

7. Write more on the blog

8. Get a job

I also want to learn a new skill, I haven’t decided what yet but I might start that a few months later, I don’t want to load too much on at one time.

Hope 2011 and is going well for all of you so far. What are your resolutions? Do you make them? Do you stick to them? Let me know!