This year... and the next!

Hello, hello! Well, look at that! It's almost Christmas... Can I use that as an excuse for not having blogged in three weeks? No? How about my engagement? No? Surely, if I tell you that the wedding planning has started you'll understand why I haven't had much time...

I know, all lame excuses! But I'm here now. I'm here to stay. How could I not when there are so many friends reading and congratulating us in our engagement! Thank you so much to everyone who commented in my post. It's amazing to think about this bloggy community of ours, where we make new friends that then share with us so many important moments.

Yes, I'm in a reflective mood, as always at the end of a year.  I've been thinking back to what this 2009 has been like. I keep referring to 2009 as a "bad year", but that actually couldn't be further from the truth. It didn't start well, it's true. We came back from our amazing trip in South America at the end of 2008, and so 2009 was the year we came back to rainy England, the year we went back to work, the year Jon and I missed the freedom of traveling, spending time together, visiting amazing places, making new friends and doing something for others...

But of course, 2009 was also the year I turned 30 and had an amazing party, started to take blogging more seriously, made new friends and participated in the very first Blog Camp (as well as the version 2.1 in England, and we're planning the third one for January 2010). This was the year I bought my first property with my boyfriend (now fiance!), the year I got a new, much better job, and of course, the year I got engaged. Not bad, right?


So what's left for 2010? First of all, a wedding! We are planing to get married next summer. It's going to be exciting! And stressful! How do you plan a wedding in a little over six months and in a country different to the one you live in? We're about to find out! I'll try not to make this blog a wedding blog but I'll be showing you some of our ideas from time to time, if  you don't mind.

And a honeymoon! We're not planning anything extravagant, just a beautiful place where we can relax and be together. For the first time when planning a trip, our priority is not to see and do as much as we can, but to spend time doing nothing together. Any ideas for wonderful locations in Europe? Not Spain or England, please!

12 months of being 30

As you all know (because I've been talking about it endlessly!), I turned 30 last month, on 17th June. I do think that turning 30 is an important milestone, and a perfect chance to reevaluate your life, think about what you've done and achieved and how close you are to where you want to be. I was trying to find a way to document my year when I found  365 days of being 30. Erin is doing a piece of art every day during the year she's 30 and posting them here. I've decided to copy get inspiration from her project and start recording my own year of being 30. So, every month, on the 17th, I'll post art journaling pages, writing, photos or whatever reflects what I've been doing and feeling during that month. 

In this month's pages I can definitely see a theme of doors opening, and the feeling that I'm walking somewhere, taking small steps towards a better place. My pages are surprisingly calm, which defintely doesn't reflect the month I've had (busy, busy), but maybe the place where I want to get.

PS. I've scheduled this for the 17th, so by the time you read this, I'll be at Latitude Festival! I'll tell you all about it when I come back and I'll try to twitter from there. Check my tweets here!

I'm officially 30!!!!

I'm officially 30!!!! I was born at 11.20 on a Sunday, 17th of June in 1979. If you follow me on Twitter, you'd know that birthday celebrations started on Saturday, with a fabulous party that boyfriend organized for me (as if I needed any more proof that he's the best boyfriend in the world!). Lots of people came, including some surprise visits from Spain. There was a BBQ, a masseur, cupcakes, chocolate fountains, good weather, and lots and lots of presents! I had a fantastic time, but I'm still recovering, so today will be spent lazying around, walking around the river in Oxford and if it doesn't rain, we'll have a nice picnic outside. I was organized enough to get the week off from work and am having a great staycation at home!



I'm expecting maturity to kick in any moment now. I'll be all grown up, I'll know what I'm doing with my life and I'll suddenly discover what I want and how to get it! That's how it works, right? RIGHT?

In the meantime, I'm worrying because I haven't finished the book for the Hermit Book Club yet, and I have to pack for Blog Camp! I'm incredibly excited!!!!!!!!! So I won't be here much until next week, but I'll be over at those blogs. Come and visit us there!

Is this a big moment?

This is what the narrator of Encounters at the End of the World (the most random and surreal account of life in Antarctic you'll ever see) asks in the film at one point: "Is this a big moment?".
He was referring to a moment when a group of scientists had just discovered three new species. Everybody laughed, but the question seems an important one to me. We can never be sure whether the moment we're living is a big moment or not. What we think of as life changing may not be and small decisions to which we don't give a second thought could change our lives for ever.
So stopping and asking "Is this a big moment?" could be a good idea. And so I ask myself, I'm turning 30 (twenty ten!!!!) in three weeks, is this a big moment? Age has never bothered me, most of my friends are my age or older than me, and so I never "feel old" around them. However, this big birthday has thrown me a bit off course. Am I being silly for feeling like this? Or turning 30 is actually a big moment, an opportunity to reevaluate where I'm going with my life?
This may have to do with where I thought I'd be at 30. Married, with a mortgage and kids. Is it so bad that I'm not there yet? I'm on the right track to get all those things soon, so does it matter that it'd happen when I'm older? Would I change the past couple of years to be there NOW, at 30? No, most definitely not. Then, why is it that all of a sudden, I feel is if I'm late for things, as if I should start rushing.
Feeling like this has made me fall into some bad habits, the worse one, my compulsive buying. Yes, I confess (in true Polly style) that I haven't been doing very well on my Think before you buy challenge lately. Once I started using the "It's my birthday soon and I deserve a threat" excuse, I couldn't stop.
If you've been following my comments around the blogosphere (which I realize it's a lot to ask, but you never know), you'd have notice that I have just bought a camera (Nikon D40, LOVE IT!) and that I've been buying the books for our Hermit Book Club (Did you visit us last Friday? We had the first discussion and it was brilliant. There is still time if you want to participate!). I went to town on Saturday and before I got to my final destination (the park) I had a couple of things from Zara and a new pair of sunglasses.
I feel guilty, yes, and at bit disappointed, but I've decided to be good to myself. I'll give myself sometime to indulge, and then after my birthday, try to get back on track. There is no point in berating myself. As I said here, it's time we are all a bit more loving towards ourselves, even when we make a mistake, and stop trying to continuosly improve ouselves.
Because if turning 30 is after all a big moment, then I may as well celebrate, right?