~2013~

Am I the only one or has 2013 whizzed by? I can almost remember sitting down this time last year to write about the things I was thankful for in 2012. 

There have definitely been some trying times over this past year. Having my career up in the air was one, but I am now in a role that I love for a company that I can see myself staying with for a while. In the last 12 months, I've changed jobs twice and careers once (*ahem* once more since my last change. Ja.). This is going to sound cheesy, but I never thought I could actually enjoy what I do, and now that I do, I'm so thankful (and so scared that I'm going to jinx it!). I'm looking forward to learning a lot more and for once giving myself the chance to exceed at something. Of course this doesn't come without the doubts I instil in my mind, but it's a learning curve to trust that I have the ability to excel rather than inadvertently stand in my own way.

2013 saw an abundance of parties and various road trips, where we met so many interesting people. Living as an expat of course does mean that many of them have moved to other corners of the world, but a lot of memories were made and it's nice to look forward to seeing these friends in new and exciting cities. It's always refreshing to meet people who you know you'll want to keep in touch with long after your travels. 

Travelling was pretty fantastic in 2013. Cape Town in February, Sharm El Sheikh in August, Dubai in October and then Yemen in November! Phew! A couple of those trips were done alone, so hopefully in 2014 all my travels will be with Louis! There are plans for travels to South East Asia and the UK in the next year, but I hope that we'll find the time and money to go on some city breaks in between as well, since I'd love to go to Istanbul and Beirut. 

I am also really happy that this year I managed to get my act together and go home to Yemen for a few days. To say it was an overdue visit would be the understatement of the year. My soul was undernourished in the family department for sure, and though three days was a little bit too short, it's better than nothing. Seeing (and, embarrassingly, meeting for the first time) two of my nephews was beyond exciting. I made friends with  the 3 year old one (the other one is only 5 months!) and I miss them both so much.  

And that pretty much sums up my 2013!

-| In 2014 |-

1. Be more considerate. I have a habit of putting myself before anyone / anything. I think that this has come on as a result of trying to care for myself, but taken too far. I've yet to find a balance between making sure that I don't compromise on my well-being and making sure that I think of how my actions and words affect those around me. So that's something for me to work on in the new year.

2. Save up for a camera and take more photos! 

Good Bye 2013!

Sx 

 

Seed Mix

I am no domestic goddess. I normally do more eating than cooking. My brothers lovingly commented that I'd probably starve in university due to my inability to cook. It's a miracle I have a husband of 4 years. 

Anyway. I was inadvertently once introduced to a seed mix by The Food Doctor while I was in the UK. I bought it and started sprinkling seeds on my salads and muffins, and anything else really as a nice source of some healthy oils. Then my local Tesco stopped stocking this particular product. So I looked at the ingredients and decided to start making my own mix. I would buy Tesco's 4-seed mix and top it up with some poppy seeds since they have some nice health benefits too.

Since coming to Jordan, I've been too lazy to recreate the mix. Until now! I got my act together, bought some linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and poppy seeds and I thought I'd do a little post and spread the joy of seed mixes :) Now I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure you can use different seeds to the ones I've used here ;)

Sx

The stars of our show.

Brown linseeds & sunflower seeds.

Pumpkin & sesame seeds.

Couldn't find these in a bigger container.

Put in as much / little of each seed kind as you like into a dry container. I tried to keep them equal.

Shake it [like a polaroid picture] and enjoy!

Christmas Wishlist

I know it's been a long time since I've done one of these posts, but, as Christmas is around the corner, it's a perfect excuse to make a wishlist! I always claim that I'm super duper easy to buy gifts for. A simple gift card from the right shop is enough to raise my spirits. 

So, here's my last (and pretty massive, I know) wishlist of 2013!

Sx

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Speaking of gift cards, you can't go wrong with an Amazon gift card. I would personally use it for Kindle books, stationary and some other pretty random things for the house.

I've had my Kindle for 2 years now and I can't go anywhere without it. My model is the one with the keyboard, so finding decent yet fun covers is a real struggle. I'm loving the idea of putting your Kindle in a chic envelope, or using this colourful birds cover to help spot it among the mess in my purse!

Envelope//Birds

I'm still vying for one of these CSC babies. Gorgeous colour.

From here.

Travelling in style is, unfortunately, not my style but I'm hoping to change that in 2014. Can't go wrong with a bright, leather travel wallet, to store all your essentials. I always carry my passport, itinerary, travel insurance details, important numbers and a few passport photos when I travel. They'd look a lot nicer in a wallet like this! 

Asos Premium.

It's winter again and Amman is getting cold. I've managed with staying warm by throwing on a coat until now but I'll soon need some heavy duties earmuffs and mittens to brave the weather. And who said earmuffs are only cool until the age of 4?!

Earmuffs//Mittens

Though it's the beginning of winter, I am a believer in looking ahead. Looking ahead in these oh so fetch Ray-Bans [I just watched Mean Girls, can't help it].

Fetch, non?

Last, but by no means least, a girl can dream in a little Tiffany bling :D

In case you're wondering, here & here.

 

Where's the imposter?

I was at my work desk. Typing away. "Planning" an event. 

When the paranoia hit. 

I was freaking out (inside of course, outside I was eating chocolate cake, obvi). You see, I'd never planned an event before. Wedding? Puh-lease. I just had to show up and not fall over. And even then it's pretty difficult to ruin a wedding. And this? A 4 hour seminar with 30 guests that compelled me to believe I'd get found out.

So, there I was, creating tables on Excel, Skyping with a colleague on how to work our CRM system, frantically looking through my notes to make sure I haven't missed anything. And I thought to myself, what if my colleagues suddenly realise that I am incompetent and that they've somehow hired this fraud?! 

I get this feeling a lot. Like, not for a prolonged period, really, but just filling emails and BOOM - I look around and think...."they know".

This, apparently, is a common phenomenon that many suffer, especially women. We feel that we don't deserve to be in the position we are in. That somehow, a mistake was made and we've ended up where we are by some mistake. A lot of articles have been written about this (like this one), and Sheryl Sandberg wrote and spoke at length on the topic. 

Eventually the feeling passed and I told myself that I'd be fine, amazing even, arranging this event. The problem with having these feelings hit you is, for me anyway, it's a vicious cycle. When I think these thoughts, I'm more likely to make silly mistakes, which then make me panic even more, leading to slightly more noticeable mistakes, and telling myself that I'm just not cut out for whatever it is that I was doing, that other people do it better, and I just wind myself up in this manner.

Didn't I tell you before I was crazy?

Anyway, just to let you know, the even went fabulously and here's a photo of me manning the registration desk.

Sx