Friday 23 May 2008

Whatever takes your fancy

late

I am back from my self imposed exile ....just. I feel like I have definitely been flattened by a bus. Five days of hell trying to write something in the kind of style that big corporations like it to be - unintelligible corporate speak also known as gobbledy gook. I love talking to people, love having ideas but I hate writing it all down in a report. It was 38 pages and it took me hours and hours. Grammar, punctuation and spell checker. I am not so good at the detail. It doesn't come easily to me at all.

But I don't obsess about it like I used to, I just ride it out until it's done. It's like childbirth or a 24 hour plane trip to London. Once it starts, you can't just say I have had enough now, over it, can we please just stop. You have to see it through. Anyway, its done..at least until the draft comes back.

I have learnt one important thing about myself over the last few days. I probably could do camping after all. For the last week I didn't brush my hair, never wore my usual warpaint, wore the most comfortable clothes I could find (ok, ok, it was mainly my PJs if I must tell the complete truth) and ate anything I could find that was in a can or that was raw. I think I can do without the hairdryer after all. I was not an attractive sight though when I eventually did come out of hibernation.

After 13 hour days I just couldn't wait to have a long luxurious bath and crawl into bed. I love my bed. I love beautiful, luxurious linen (I did a post ages ago that will tell you just how much I love linen). I have started to design my own now. I like monochramatic, and texture fabrics and plain colours. I do not do patterns on anything, ever. I am kind of very particular about colour and like things to match - hence my hair colour in the profile pic is now red just to show you how pedantic I can be.

We have to have some luxuries in life and spoil ourselves. Being loved is a basic. Being fed and clothed is a basic. Having a voice is a basic. And unfortunately, these basics are luxuries for many and that is truly horrific.

So, I do appreciate my luxuries. Along with the high thread-count sheets - I also have a few others that make my life a bit more pleasant.

1. Sunshine, blue skies and beaches - watching the sea always makes me feel that things are ok in the world. It's the best place to think, dream and consider life. When I lived out of Australia, this was 'the' thing that I missed the most. I realised that I took our way of life for granted. Even when its colder we have sunshine and blue skies. Nothing can compare to our coastline and it is a luxury that I would never like to have to give up ever. Plus its free...

2. Good red wine - well, ok, I will settle for any red wine, I am really not that fussy.

3. Fresh flowers - lillies, funnily enough, are my favourite flower - white ones at that. I would rather spend money on flowers than buy food in fact.

4. Chanel No 5 perfume - this was my very first 'grown up' perfume given to me years and years (and years) ago by my older sister. I have tried many perfumes since and I always come back to this one. Every time I spray it on I think of London for many and varied reasons. Perfume to me is like music, the smell of it always brings me to another time and place....

5. A passport - travelling is truly 'the' most wonderful thing that anyone can do. Many of my most bizarre and precious experiences have happened while I have been travelling (and I have had a few of those). Australians travel from a young age just because we are so far away from the rest of the world. It also helps that we have four weeks holiday a year - I know other countries like the USA aren't that lucky. (And if you are reading this over there in WA - I think France and Italy via the FB's grassy plains is the go).

6. Music - I have music on as much as I can and never watch TV anymore. I like all sorts of music but age has mellowed my tastes and now I can even handle some classical music. It all depends on what mood I am in. It could be ACDC, INXS, Pavlov's Dog, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks (music I grew up with), Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin (have a fascination for the Rat Pack and the Sands Casino), Eva Cassidy, (for my mellow and reflective times), Keith Urban, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Rait (I was born in the country music capital of Oz - can't take the country out of a girl), Andrea Bocelli, Pavarotti (I have to turn up Nessun Dorma X LOUD) gosh there are so many...

7. Jewellery - well, for me its only about earrings. I kind of have a bit of a thing for earrings and don't really like wearing too much else - jewellery that is. I have been collecting earrings for years - I like ones that are antique looking, mainly Italian and they must be a drop earring. Stones, pearls but always gold. Maybe one day I will have a go at making some myself because I have very definite ideas.

8. Fluffy white towels - I love beautiful fluffy towels. White ones. I am always kind of in trouble because I like using lots of towels and I know that all that washing is no good for the environment either...

9. Baths - Nothing like it! But you have got to do it right. Candles, music, every kind of lotion and potion that Estee Lauder invented, glass of champagne and whatever else takes your fancy.

10. A good hairdresser - If I were to be honest I would probably say that I would rather get my hair done then eat as well. Good hairdressers are hard to come by and when you find one you never want to let them go. As a rule I have always preferred male hairdressers. I used to have a good arrangement with one hairdresser, who was a Creative Director for Schwarzkopf. I would do the makeup for his hair shows and he would cut my hair. Then I moved away. I found another one again. I instantly feel fantastic when I have had my hair done. In fact if I was a millionaire I would get my hair done every day.

11. A Backberry - There is something about being able to talk or email your girlfriends anytime, any place, anywhere in the world. Like today I had a friend ring me from Scotland at 7am my time and late at night for her and another ring me from the other side of Australia a bit later in the day. Come to think of it, I think if I had to choose between a good lover and a good girlfriend mmm not so sure. There is nothing better than sharing your troubles, having a laugh and solving the world's problems (usually men problems) with a friend. Throw in a cocktail in the mix and life couldn't be better. I know men find the whole 'girlfriend thing' hard to understand. For a while I was organising (with another great girlfriend), Girls' Nights Out in a club in the UK. I would still like to do this again because it was so much fun. We had great music, chick flicks, cocktails, new and unusual food, clairvoyants, massages, chocolate fountain and cupcakes. However, I could swear I could have sold more tickets to males just to stand outside the windows and look in then females to get in the club. Men were intrigued about what was going to go on - I think they thought it was all about male strippers or something. See, they just don't get that we females are not the same as them.....but I have never seen so many women dancing on tables by the end of the night .... of all ages...

Anyway, there is my little list and I am sure there are a few other things to add to it like live concerts, books, art AND GELATAI ITALIA LEMON & LIME SORBET but hey, that's enough for one day.

12 comments:

  1. Well, I'm not sure if I should comment or not, being male (and a source for most of the world's problems) lol - I had to take a shot at you - but, anyway, that was a very interesting post. First, I'm happy for you that you got through the 5 days of hell with your sanity intact.

    But you do seem to have some definite tastes in all sorts of things. I think the "plain", instead of patterned, linens and the white only towels says a lot about you. It says "simply stated elegance" without the distractions. I can't comment on the earrings (not my thing, you understand) but a lot of the music, and definitely the beach and the waves I can relate to. I finally decided recently to give in to the MP3 craze and I got a Sony Walkman phone with FM radio, mp3, walking and running and calorie burning features and every darn thing you can think of. I even bought an additional 8MB chip to load more music on, to which I had to buy an internet subscription to Limewire so I could download all the music I wanted on it. What can I say - when I finally give in to something I go all the way. Sounds like you do too. Great post!

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  2. Matt, we women wouldn't be without men (well most men). Its just we like to talk alot and guys dont get that (you have sisters you know). I do like understated things, classic tastes and even my food I like plain. I hate sauces and ornate food. Without the distractions. A phone with calorie burning features - my gosh. I am telling you hedonism is a healthy thing. I am trying to be kinder ot myself. Sounds like you are going to have fun with the walkman. Are you into IT, I am going to get a new laptop but dont know where to start, they all look the same, except the MAC, and as much as I crave for that kind
    of simple elegance and sheer beauty again there is NO WAY in Hell I will do it. Thanks for stopping by.

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  3. wow. what a post. i feel like i know you better now. i had a thought while reading it. if you were stranded on an island like tom hanks in castaway, and a big wooden crate floated onto your shore, what 3 things would you hope were inside it? (assume your basic survival and food needs are being met already)

    after just a week, i'd be hoping for a toaster and a loaf of bread. (somehow i could plug the toaster in on my island. i freakin' love toast!)

    and for item # 3, i'll take catch-22, cuz it's a book i can read to the end and then start at the beginning and do it again...

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  4. Wow that's great! Good for you for hanging in there and getting it done.I guess you kinda had to huh? Those big papers are hard to suffer through sometimes. Isn't it funny how when we have to write, it just isn't as much fun as blogging!

    btw it sounds as if you would make a perfect camper. :)

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  5. Horatio Salt - oh gosh you figured out I am a shallow piece of work he he. Well that is a great question. If I was stranded on a desert island and could take 3 things they would be 1. Sunblock - being an Aussie, the need for sun protection is ingrained, I put it on everyday regardless of the weather - I guess I would 'cook' on an island so it would be an essential for me. 2. A great big chunky lead pencil 3. A great big pad of unlined white creamy gorgeous paper. I could draw, write, journal and send notes in bottles (or your toaster when you work out there isnt any electricity on the island). But I would hide my mascara somewhere too - then again I kind of know how the Egyptians made their makeup so would be able to improvise on an island!I know what you mean about toast - I hate bread but love toast - people look twice when I say I want a toasted salad sandwich - I like crunch in my life don't even ask me about lettuce...literally my favourite thing to eat with everything.. thats a whole other story.. Thanks for stopping by - love your kind of brain!

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  6. Pixiemadison - thanks for stopping by. I find it hard to get into detail because I always have to see the big picture in everything before I can get to the detail. Frustrating when time is of the essence. Yep, I kinda had to hang in there to get paid. And you are so right about the blogging bit I could just go on and on and on. love it!!!!!

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  7. Lilly - i'm a terrible procrastinator so i know how hard it is to do things that don't come so easy for you. I love the things you love, the simpler the better sometimes. I really like this post.

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  8. Horotio salt - Oops, I just realised that I can't live without my electric toothbrush either I forgot that little luxury) so I guess I'll jsut always carry a lead pencil with me in case I get stranded on a desert island and the toothbrush can be part of the three that turn up in the crate...see when my house nearly burnt down in bush fires I saved my linen and Shakespeare prints first...not the most logical of folks but know what I like,

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  9. Oh yes Lilly I love the best quality linen and towels ..feels sooo luxurious. Even if not a millionaire I insist on these luxuries.
    Fendi is my everyday perfume but Oscar de la renta transports me to beautiful France.
    Handbags! Lilly you made no mention of them? I just looove quality leather handbags ...big and usually expensive!

    Yep the Passport is well overdue for a few exotic stamps ... I wonder if its possible to get stamps from the grassy knoll??

    Tulip

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  10. Tulip - interesting bunch of flowers we would make he he. Handbags - no strangely enough, I dont have a thing for handbags, a certain gift I once got turned me off bags and I got rid of a lot of them. But yes when I buy them I like them to be the real deal. I favour the Aussie brand Oroton for bags and wallets etc. I do have some lovely leather ones made by Filfax (strangely enough they make the kind of smooth leather ones I like) but I never use them because I never seem to have the time to take everything out of one bag and put it in another one. My beautiful Jordan gave me one for my birthday and I always use it. Good job she knows exactly my tates to a T. Well made and quality - bit like us he he. So glad you finally left me a message. Actually I am unsure if it will be you leaving the stamp on the grassy knoll or the other way around. I am relying on your horticulture skills, Tulip!! Big Time. Take Care and France and your photos, just unreal!!!

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  11. i wish i was so together. (but then i'm a man)

    really enjoyed the post

    henry

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  12. Hello Henry

    Thanks for stopping by. Together?Oh, if you only knew.....I will drop by and see you soon. Lilly

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Thanks for your comments.