221. Buy a secondhand going out dress

I found the dress at a local vintage market that comes once a month. Now that I've put on so much weight it's much harder to find things that not only fit but suit me. However, this shift dress somehow sits perfectly in my opinion, slipping gently over my protruding stomach and highlighting my best feature; my legs whilst simultaneously keeping the modesty that is often lost with a somewhat bustier chest.

And as it's second hand I feel even better knowing I got it for only a few euros. I think it was €15 but I liked it so much it may even have been €30.

88. Paint a Picture

 

Sometime last year I decided to participate in the local market here. After my first market I realised people were on the lookout for original and handmade work at a good price. I'd always wanted to get into painting so I created 3 pieces from gouache based on still lifes. The paintings were actually quite successful, as I sold reprints of them. The only problem is that I've stoppped painting. I suppose I'm not sure what to paint now.

40. Buy or receive a polaroid camera

 

This was actually a Christmas present from the year before last. After some research I found an adaptable, good enough starter Polaroid for myself. I still haven't mastered it but I'm trying when I can. The success though has been in selecting a colour that is so stylish that at times I wear the case as a bag. The lilac tone makes me happy simply on it's own. The model is an instax mini 11. So far I've managed to take one good photo of myself and a few good ones of my friends. Disappointingly my landscapes and cityscapes have been pretty poor. I've been a bit torn away by the arrival of my Mum's old film camera but this post is a good reminder to try and take some decent Polaroids again. 

164. Make a Recipe Book

 

I made my Mum, my sister and my brother a digital and printed version of our family recipes. The aim was to preserve and learn the knowledge that is Mozambican cooking. So far I've been able to make the peanut chicken, the tomato mussels and the matapa (although this needs to be added). And there is so much to add!

I feel this will be an ongoing project and I like that. 

189. Read 1 book for each month for 6 months

 

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

In my late twenties I feel I've worked harder to connect with the side of me that is foreign, and like the main character (and author) of this book, I want to really engage and live within this side. Like Michelle, I don't speak my Mother's tongue fluently but also like Michelle, I try hard to connect to the food and people.

I've never been to Korea but growing up in Romania we were introduced to bimbap and kimchi from the Korean students at the American school. The book has made me want to travel to Korea and warm my heart and stomach with it's broths, meats and rices. 

I also enjoyed the way it was written. It wasn't particularly overly poetic but rather straight forward which makes sense given the subject matter of death. And if anything it'll make you appreciate your mother.

189. Read 1 book for each month for 6 months

The Book of Dust: Volume 2; The Secret Commonwealth - By Phillip Pullman

His Dark Materials are my favorite book series which I imagine is true of many twenty somethings who grew up in England. I fell in love with the world of daemons, the travel across the globe to familiar yet magical places and I loved even more in the second and third books when the adventure spanned worlds based on the beautiful idea of the subtle knife and it's bearer the secretive Will.

The new book of series surprised me initially. Volume one of the book of dust felt more like spy novel, and Phillip Pullman is quick to point this out in the intro of his new book. That's not to say it was a bad thing, it just felt texturelly different from the original series.

Volume 2 however returns us to Lyra, the alethiometer and more importantly to travel in distant lands. There's talk of witches, dalliances with gyptians and my new favorite addition, the hidden world of alchemists and card readers. I loved this book dearly and I'm so sad it's over. The world is rich and delicious and even exciting. A bit like Harry Potter you feel almost like the chance to experience it would be wonderful, but the story is so grown up that the reality is Lyra's world is just as corrupt and terrifying as ours.

Which actually brings up the point that Pullman brings up a lot of our world in the books. There's migrants finding themselves turned into slaves, refugees from the middle east travelling on tiny boats, and sadly perishing. There's also conglomerates so powerful that their hidden tendrils extend in unlikely ways, and there's religion allowing people to make terrible decisions in the name of their faith. It feels very familiar and for that reason I'm even more interested in how it all ends.

215. Do a no trash grocery shop for 1 week

A week of no plastic is obviously only a good thing but there have been some difficulties along the way. For starters replacing tea with loose leaf tea and swapping biscuits with dried apples has been great but the weigh shops where I purchase them are 40 mins away and this can make it seem like a big ask. The solution has been to go the shops at the beginning of the week and swap dried apple for home made sweet potato chips (so good by the way!).

From doing this task I've found some alternatives. For instance I now know I love local honey and will keep buying it as a treat. Moreover the local green grocers where everything comes outside of plastic is so much cheaper than the super market and being 2 mins away from my house is super easy!

One hiccup this week, the guy I'm seeing gifted me some alheira in plastic packaging. Yes it was recyclable but given I'm going to keep buying fruit and veg without packaging and loose leaf tea I'll let it go.

Here's my typical weekly shop (I'm on a diet so don't judge)

1 head of lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
2 carrots
2 celery sticks

pot of cinamon

pot of cumin

300g lentils

100g earl grey tea
100 g roibos tea

1 jar honey

3 tomatoes

1 jar chickpeas

2 boxes chicken nuggets

4 tins sardines

2 lemons

1 lime

2 red onions

1 bottle vinegar

1 bottle olive oil

7 croissants

1 jar berry jam

5 prawn rissoles

7 cups of coffee
1 jar olives
3 sweet potatoes