bookshoplaura

As vegetarians go, I am not exactly doing us justice in my representation. By that I mean I eat a reasonably limited amount of vegetables. I might have expanded my tastes somewhat since childhood but I have the terrible tendency to mostly eat the same meals on a loop and if anything I am in danger of dying of boredom from this bland repetition. I have frequently over the last few years said I must change up my diet but whenever I go looking for different things I might eat I struggle to find anything or else I save a recipe into some unknown part of my computer and then never look at it again. My fall back food is always spelt or sourdough bread which is delicious but its also making me sick (because of the gluten) and fat. Back when I worked in the bookshop I would waste a lot of time when I was supposed to be working perusing the healthy section of the cookery books in case I'd find a cookbook full of stuff I could eat. Everything was either full of meat, sugar or gluten and it...

This was one of my very treasured weekends off so naturally I had all the lie ins. Oh no wait I was very busy Saturday and then sleep deprived and even busier Sunday, oh well. My sister had asked me a few weeks back if I could take my nieces for a few hours over the weekend as they had an event on and then I heard like two million ads on Beat fm for an event on in Rathwood the same weekend it seemed like fate. Little Bo peep has lost her sheep and you have to help her find him. You go around on the Rathwood train stopping to feed geese and see baby lambs plus you get a free cupcake and cuddly lamb (well the kids do). It all sounded totally adorable and my nieces were all for it so I booked us in for Sunday and then went about my busy week. Come Sunday morning when my alarm went off I did briefly regret my offer to go gallivanting with two young children as I had a pretty terrible nights sleep. Not because I was out making new friends and drinking water but because my other half...

Last Saturday night I found myself out for the night with a group of women I had never met before. It was my first proper outing with Girlcrew aside from the two occasions last year I had met people for coffee. If you are not already familiar with Girlcrew then let me give you a brief introduction. Girlcrew is a hub for women who are looking to make new friends. Sometimes its because they have moved/ changed jobs/ gotten married or divorced and find their social group has drifted. I have been living in Waterford a long time now and yet I find I don't really know anyone down here so when I first heard about Girlcrew South East I was really excited. I joined immediately and met up with people twice and then nothing. I work pretty mad hours and I am also taking a bit of break from alcohol so I found the get togethers that were happening either clashed with my work schedule or were too daunting a prospect for me. So I mostly just looked on in envy at the happenings being posted on th...

I am currently sporting a rather impressive bruise which was acquired in a rather banal way and as it turns out this is not a new experience for me. I have begun to notice a pattern in my distinctly Lauraish mishaps that go beyond my usual being a klutz. Its somewhat amusing that considering I crossfit , using heavyish weights and swing from bars that its not from here my injuries stem but instead ordinary life activities that others complete unscathed. My most recent bruise was acquired just this weekend at my sisters house. I was minding my nieces all weekend and on Saturday we had arrived back from an outing to a cold dark house. We had gotten back later than planned and I was trying to do all the things at once. I had settled them inside and my next task was to light the fire, as I went to do so I realised it needed to be cleaned out so off I went outside with a torch in search of a bucket. I found it on the deck at the back of the house but because of the darkness I did not...

There was a time not too long ago when I had a lot more to write about but now my posts are less frequent. The reason for this is that I seem to have a lot less to say without paraphrasing older blog posts and hoping no one has read back that far. The truth of the matter is for now my life is mostly eat, work , sleep, repeat with the odd Crossfit class thrown in for variety. Even if I could write about work , it wouldnt make for the most exciting reading. I could always tell you about my attempts to get healthier but there's not a whole lot to say that I haven't written about on my many other failed attempts over the last few years. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook's on this day I have been been able to identify a pattern of where I am super enthusiastic about getting healthier/dropping a dress size/ having a flat stomach and then 'accidentally' eating sugar and undoing all my progress. It might be time to accept I will always be squidgy around the middle and the...

I know it's the New Year and everyone is resolving to get themselves back in shape or just become a shape that's not round and I am not any different in that respect. I am not trying to be anything special really but I have failed badly at my quit sugar and lose my belly resolution. I lasted a whole day before going to town on chocolate and I cant say my moon face is giving me good feelings. I recently read something in a women's magazine, which are well known for their pandering to women's insecurities, saying that if you are hung up on your body image (and what woman isn't) then a good way to feel better about how your body looks is to spend a few moments looking at yourself in the mirror before getting into the shower. I am assuming the idea behind this is that it normalises your flaws or something like that. I did take the opportunity to try this myself because it certainly seemed easier than reining in my sugar binge. So upon stepping into the shower, I pau...

They say you never forget your first car. I really wouldn't know because its the only car I have ever had so I have no basis for comparison. Well until today that is. A very emotional day all round where I handed over my car which has served me faithfully the last four years to an unknown fate and then drove away (very slowly) in a new shinier car. See above for said new car. This is Stella, aka the car I learned to drive in. Its pretty battered but its been through a lot and it has stood me well. My mum drove it for 15 years before passing it on to me. It was a great car to learn to drive in, despite how battered it looks its actually held together fairly well and I was used its little quirks. How the key was a bit bent (my mum once got rather impatient while opening it so you had to turn it carefully to open the car or start the engine), how the whole thing shook when you went above a certain speed, the fact that I was able to leave it unlocked accidentally in the most pu...