The Perfect Potion Christmas Party

Last night I went to the Perfect Potion Christmas Party / VIP Night. Perfect Potion is an Australian small business specialising in essential oil blends and skincare products. All products are strictly certified organic and environmental concerns are at the core of their ethos. The founder is very passionate about quality and the therapeutic effects of essential oils; this was immediately apparent when listening to him speak about the products.

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Unlike some other VIP Nights I have been to recently (*looks sideways at a certain tea shop*), the whole atmosphere was very relaxing and welcoming. The space was not overcrowded, there were plenty of drinks and nibblies for everyone, and the ratio of staff to customers was low enough to allow us to ask questions and have a chat.

I went there intending to purchase one or two things for myself, and for Husband to give me for Christmas, but I ended up buying all this:

The Noel essential oil was definitely already on my shopping list. I miss the smell of real Christmas trees from when I was a child and I have a feeling this will be the perfect substitute. I'd considered getting the book and perhaps one or two other items as well, but the atmosphere was just so lovely and fun that I couldn't help myself. I might review some of the products later on, especially the hair serum, as I want to embark on a mission to take better care of my hair in future.

As well as champagne and really good vege-chips and dip, there were door prizes -- and my number was drawn first! I won the Noel-scented candle. I was very chuffed. Along with the essential oil blend and soap, I now have the full Noel-scented set.

I regretted having to leave before the speeches ended, as it was very interesting listening to the stories behind the products. The whole experience was really lovely, and made me eager to return in future and secure myself many more of the beautiful products. I've been to several VIP Nights in the last few years, and if they're well-done, they can give a huge boost to the reputation of a small business. If the customer has a good experience, then he/she will remember it for a long time to come. I know I will!

I've had my doughnut oil diffuser for a few months now,
but this is its debut on the blog. =)

NaNoWriMo -- An Almost Unmitigated Failure

Well, perhaps 'failure' is a bit harsh. I did write 4 pages, plus a few haiku. And a couple of blog posts, but I would have written those anyway. These days, not blogging seems as unthinkable as not eating.

In the last few days, as blog posts have popped up in my reader bringing news of NaNoWriMo successes, I've been genuinely happy for the winners, but became more and more depressed for myself. I wasn't going to post anything about my NaNoWriMo experience, my failure, but I haven't seen anyone else writing about it, so I thought it was important. (Though having said that, googling "I failed NaNoWriMo" comes up with quite a few hits and some good advice.)

During the month, I read back through some stories I wrote earlier in the year and thought, "I wish I could write more like that. I'm not able do that anymore, why is that?" It went downhill from there with darker thoughts that I won't elaborate on here. All this led to a downward spiral where I convinced myself that playing computer games was much easier and relaxing than writing, not to mention easier to concentrate on while the TV is on. Before I knew it, it was December and I had not written a single word in 3 weeks. Or drawn a single stroke, or crocheted a single stitch, for that matter.

An article I happened to come across during the month made me think. It was about a ceramics teacher who decided to do a little experiment with his students one semester. At the beginning of the first class, he divided the students into two groups. He told one group that they would be graded purely by the quantity of pots they produced: an A for 20kg or more, a B for 15 to 20kg, etc. He told the other group that they were only required to produce one pot -- the most aesthetically pleasing, perfect pot that they could possibly create.

Can you guess what happened?

The students in the first group churned out as many pots as they possibly could, and most of them achieved top marks. The students in the second group became so bogged down in research and philosophical questions about beauty and perfection, that many of them didn't have even one pot to submit at the end of the semester.

These are not the actual pots, just
random pretty pots from the internet. =)The other big surprise?
Many of the pots considered to be the most beautiful and innovative designs were created by the first group, those who spent the most time creating rather than those who created the most carefully.

So many books and articles have been written about how important it is to practice your art or craft every day, pointing out that even the great Renaissance artists practiced drawing every day of their lives. I've known that message for a long time, but for some reason it didn't really sink in for me until I read that story about the pots.

I titled this blog post an Almost Unmitigated Failure, because at the end of it all, I'm much more motivated to write now than when NaNoWriMo began. Now ... after my complete failure to write for just 10 minutes a day. My brain is a strange beast. A blog post I read yesterday mentioned Figment, and I signed up. It seems to be a lively writing community which may hopefully provide some inspiration. I feel an urge to write a grand closing statement about exciting new things coming up soon, but, eh, no promises.

My November

This month has been quite difficult. Work has been very stressful. I've had to say goodbye to two colleagues that I considered friends, so it's been a sad time too. Consequently, I haven't had much time or motivation for making things, however, I made sure to take care of myself by buying some relaxing essential oils and getting another massage. It sounds so decadent, but I get a 65% discount on massages with my health insurance, so the indulgence is more in taking the time for myself rather than the cost.

What I've been playing ...
At the start of the month I went to PAX AUS, a huge computer-gaming and tabletop-gaming expo. I've never been to anything like it before, and it was a real eye-opener. I was amazed by all the people, games, cosplayers and things to do. I was too dazzled to take any photos at the time, but I did buy some games. Most of them were from an Australian indie game design company called Make and Rule. I'm already working on a review!

What I've been watching ...
Towards the end of the month, I started watching a series called British Gardens Through Time. The first episode focussed on Great Dixter. This eclectic garden surrounds a Mediaeval hall renovated in Arts and Crafts style, and was shaped by the diverse tastes of its owners. Roses are juxtaposed with semi-tropical palms, and strictly-shaped topiaries are dotted about an unmowed meadow filled with wild flowers. When the narrator was talking about the meadow section of the garden, I said to Husband, "our lawn is like a meadow!". And the orchard: "we have an orchard, too!". And the section that was designed to look like nothing had been done to it: "our garden looks like nothing has been done to it, too!" I enjoyed it very much and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the series. It's renewed my desire to visit some of the open gardens in Melbourne, and to start making some plans for my own.

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What I've been reading ...
A strange set of coincidences has led me back to a hobby that I haven't practiced for over 10 years. I started reading a new blog a few weeks ago, and the writer mentioned that she does BookCrossing. Last week, I was Christmas shopping at Melbourne Central and came across the Little Library, which I'd heard of about a year ago and forgotten about. It's a small shop front set aside as a book exchange space. A few days ago, I went op-shopping and found that the shop nearest my work now has a flat rate of $1 for all books.
These discoveries solved all of the issues I'd had with BookCrossing originally, and the reasons why I'd given it up. I was worried that the books would be damaged or discarded -- the Little Library is a safe place to put them for fellow book-minded people. I thought that the books might be discovered by people who didn't understand or weren't interested in trackable books, and their journey wouldn't be logged. The BookCrossing website shows that books are dropped off at the Little Library regularly, so there must be people who are interested in it. And my concerns about not wanting to part with books for financial reasons are solved too -- $1 per item is vastly cheaper than many other hobbies I've looked into!
So, it looks like I'm doing BookCrossing again. Well, as long as I have time to finish reading the books I bought.....

What else I've been doing ...
As I mentioned before, I haven't done very much noteworthy this month, and forgot to write a few things down too, I'm sure. In the end, my list consisted mostly of new computer games (Neko Atsume, SimCity, The Sims) that I started playing after I bought my new ipad mini. I furthered my 101 Things in 1,001 Days List by bathing in rose petals, and experimenting with eating gluten-free.

No. 15: Bathe in Rose Petals

When I was drawing up my 101 Things List a couple of months ago, I looked through my 1,001 Things to Do Before I Die list for inspiration. One of the items listed there was "bathe in rose petals". It was one of those things I added just on a whim, thinking I'd probably never get around to it. But when I saw it again, my thinking on it had changed completely. It went from:

How ridiculously decadent! Where am I going to get enough roses for that? From a florist?! I'd need at least a dozen, that's got to be at least $80. Madness!

to:

Aha! That's a good way to get rid of the glut of roses in my garden every Spring! All I need to do is wait until they bloom, and Bob's your uncle!

Now that a source for the roses is taken care of, my only concern was the timing. The roses bloom in late Spring and Summer, and the weather might be too warm for a bath at this time of year. But then I remembered that I live in Melbourne, where it's equally likely to be 18oC in the middle of Summer as to be 35oC. As it turned out, after blooming began I only had to wait a week for the right climatic conditions. Yesterday I selected some nice fully-open specimens and collected them in my basket. Later in the evening, I plucked them and dropped the petals into the running bathwater. I didn't add anything else because I was curious to see what effect the roses alone would have.

Unfortunately I have to report that bathing in rose petals didn't quite live up to my expectations. I was expecting a strong rose scent, but it was actually very faint, and began to dissipate before long. I didn't step out of the tub decadently smelling of roses, with silky skin from absorbing the oils, or any of those romantic notions that I'd imagined. When I gathered up the petals and used them to scrub myself, more scent was released, but it didn't last, and the petals were left looking worse for wear. I guess roses are bred more for their appearance than their scent these days.

Having said that, the visual effect of the rose petals in the bath was beautiful and made me feel very special. Harvesting them and plucking them was a fun activity, so I wouldn't mind doing that again. I would definitely repeat the experience, but with some essential oils or other scents added next time. And it wasn't until I was editing the photos for this post that I thought to myself, why didn't I light some candles??

I feel a little guilty writing about this, as for such a long time, I thought it was an activity out of my reach. Dear readers, I hope that one day you can try this too. Perhaps you have a relative or neighbour with a rose garden who could spare a dozen or so? I hope so.

NaNoWriMo -- The Halfway Point

I have a confession to make. I've been failing miserably at NaNoWriMo so far.

If you remember, I decided to do a variant where I spent some time writing outside each day. I was very motivated and did well in the first few days, however, I started to drop off, and not for the reason I thought I would. It wasn't lack of motivation that stopped me, it was the fact that the first week was very rainy, and any time I had some free time, it was pouring rain outside!

However, on the first Sunday it was a lovely day, and I ended up spending a whole hour writing some reflections on an art journalling course I'm doing at the moment. Since then, I've lost motivation completely. I'm not even in the mood to write blog posts. Yes, I'm writing one today, but I'm in that mood where every sentenced is forced and it just seems so mediocre.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not the kind of person that can write every day. When I get home from work, I'm tired and just want to relax with a project that's fun and easy. (My granny square blanket is the perfect candidate -- the stitches are easy and repetitive.) When I'm inspired though, I just can't stop myself. If I've had an interesting dream, I'll type it out into my ipod on the train in the morning. If I've seen an interesting person, I'll write a few words about them in my notebook as I'm heading back from my lunchbreak.

If I have anything to report at the end of NaNoWriMo, then I will. Don't expect the next Harry Potter series, though.

In the Kitchen : Japanese Pasta Naporitan

A few weeks ago, I had a craving for pasta, so I decided to make Pasta Naporitan. I was inspired by one of my favourite YouTube Channels: Cooking With Dog. The recipe can be found here, and a history of the dish in this video.

In case the video is too TL;DR for you, in a nutshell: Pasta Naporitan was created by a Japanese chef just after World War II. The hotel he worked in was full of American officers, and he wanted to cook dishes that they were used to. Unfortunately, tomatoes weren't grown in Japan at that time, and proper pasta sauce (passata) was unobtainable, so he used ketchup from U.S. Army rations to create the dish.

I'd heard in the past of making a tomato pasta dish using tomato sauce (ketchup), but I have to admit, I just thought this was something made up by University students with no money and even less cooking skills. Once I saw the video and learned the history behind the dish, I was eager to try it, and I was pleasantly surprised!

I made a few substitutions as I didn't have half of the ingredients from the recipe. This is quite common in my household, but it always seems to turn out well in the end! Firstly, as per the history video, I cooked the pasta, tossed it in oil and put it in the fridge for an hour. This gives the pasta a chewier texture.

I tried to do that thing you always see on cooking shows where the spaghetti is fanned out as it goes into the water. I think I did an OK job!

While the pasta was in the fridge, I gathered together the rest of the ingredients: ham, onion, olives, pickled vegetables, rocket leaves, garlic, and dried herbs.

Frying the onion, ham and garlic:

Adding the pickled vegetables and rocket leaves:

Adding the pasta. The fridge trick really seemed to work in giving the pasta an al dente texture. I'll remember that one in future.

Adding the tomato sauce. This really felt quite wrong, like I was breaking all the rules of 'good' cooking. But I ploughed on.

Adding an unhealthy sumptuous amount of butter and Parmesan cheese:

The end result. I sprinkled on some fried onion as a garnish, to enhance the East-West theme.

I was very pleasantly surprised with how this dish turned out. I don't like strong tomato taste in food, and using the tomato sauce/ketchup rather than passata or tomato paste gave it a more subtle flavour. The butter and cheese added a satisfying richness, too. I will definitely make it again.

A final note:
While I was cooking, Husband chose a Bluray to watch while we ate. He just happened to choose Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. A Japanese anime set in a vaguely Italian Duchy, complete with kitschy Italian restaurant scene? The perfect accompaniment.

My October

It's Spring!
This time of year is when the garden really starts to come to life again. There's something new and different to observe every single day, and I'm learning so much. Plum saplings don't take well to being dug up and put in a pot. The Christmas cactus looks wilted just after it finishes flowering, but it soon recovers.

The warmer weather also gets me excited for another reason -- the festive season is just around the corner. I don't officially celebrate Christmas, but in the last few years I haven't been able to resist the things I used to love as a child. The Christmas tree, pastries and sweets, and special meals with friends. Then of course it seems like just a millisecond until New Year, which is an important occasion for me.

I've also been motivated to get a good head-start in my 101 Things in 1,001 Days list by watching lots of movies, pampering myself, and eating a lot.

What I've been cooking ...
My interest in cooking different things has surfaced again. I wanted to make a salad from a recipe I found in a magazine, but by the time I got home from the supermarket, I realised I'd only bought 2 of the ingredients I needed! So I just threw in whatever I had in the house, Husband made the dressing (he's good at mixing flavours) and it turned out very well. I made it at the start of the month, so I can't remember now what's in it aside from what can be seen in the photo.

A few weeks later, I had a craving for pesto, so I made this fettucine with bacon, mushrooms and basil pesto. Very satisfying.

Last but not least, it was Husband's birthday towards the end of the month. Making him a decorated cake for his birthday every year is on my list of Thing, so I asked him what he wanted. He said, "a doughnut cake with mini cupcakes in the hole!" He was joking, but what my man wants, he gets, so here it is:

What I've been working on ...
I've started crocheting a little bit again. I lost my crocheting mojo for quite a few months. I've been having issues with my eczema, which is on my hand and makes it uncomfortable to work with fibre, but it's clearing up now. I finished off one square for my Grannyland blanket and started another one:

What I've been sorting ...
I finally got around to making a space for my special things. Many of my treasures are still packed, but at least there's a nice place now to put the ones I have found so far. I've been having fun thinking of ways to improve it. This shelf is right next to my bed, so I can see it every morning and every night.

What else I've been doing ...

celebrated the Marimo festival ~ wrote some haiku ~ chose a puzzle book to work on ~ wrote a doll clothes review ~ watched 3 movies on Asian Pop Weekend ~ bought more pathtags ~ did some practice drawings ~ took some photos ~ worked on my conscript ~ wrote a reflective piece ~ bought watercolour paper and more canvases ~ gardened (not much) ~ posted my Exploding Kittens review ~ subscribed to some new blogs ~ picked oranges ~ dyed my hair ~ went to the Big Bang concert ~ went to a new restaurant ~ napped (several times!) ~ created some new Pinterest boards ~ got a massage ~ decided on my NaNoWriMo theme ~ went to PAX; bought 5 games