Still a bit of Magic Left

I spent this weekend with my best friend. Mainly we just ate a lot, and drank a bit (mostly coffee and cider, but a bit of bad wine and vodka worked its way in there too.) We talked a lot too. We talked like only people who really KNOW each other can talk. It felt good to do some spring cleaning in my heart as I told him what scared me, what hurt me and what inspired me. Its really nice to have a guy friend where there are no games involved. The dating world is so full of calculations and I get sick of it. There are usually so many rules. If i want to call this friend 7 times in a day just to tell him what I ate (One croissant, a coffee, some sushi, a cup cake and a Greek lamb strew followed by strawberry cider), I will feel no remorse at all. That's the kind of terms we are on, and I love it.

So now he has left life feels a little bit sad and empty. Its nice to have someone around to buy you flowers just because they know no other boy is doing it at the moment. Its nice to have someone to share your secrets with. Its nice to have someone to kiss your cheek in a bar and enquire "do you need another drink beautiful?" Its nice to have someone who will pretend to be your date at a restaurant that just happens to be next to the workplace of a stupid Italian boy who didn't call you back after the sixth date (I don't care how old or mature you are but a little bit of friendly revenge is always kind of fun). Its nice to have someone to explore the city with.

He played the perfect wing man for me. One time sitting in a cafe I commented that one of the staff was very charming. He wrote my number down on a piece of paper, walked in to pay and said "see that blond girl sitting at the table? She is gorgeous isn't she? She thinks your pretty cute, and if you ever wanted to call her, this would be her number." And with that he turns around and walks away. Very smooth.

However having him here also reminded me of how much i value my spare time and own space. As much as a love having continual company this little chef/writer is nowhere near being ready for a committed relationship where I have to share every single aspect of my life with someone. I like that no one knows how much I spent this week on clothes, or how many cupcakes I ate at work. I love not having to clean up after a stinky man who cant remember to hang up his clothes, and put his dirty plates in the sink. It was a good reality check for my sometimes lonely heart.

While he was here ate at some amazing restaurants. Soul Mama is one of my favourites in Melbourne. It is right on the water at saint kilder and serves all organic and vegetarian food. Its very reminiscent of the food I was brought up on. Everything is served with brown rice, and the curries, salads, and chutneys are amazingly good. We also went to another one of my favourites called Vege Bar in Brunswick street. It serves all vegetarian food and caters for gluten free and vegan people. The serves are huge and its really cheap. They also do some really interesting cocktails with honey and ginger. All the staff are pretty funky and the vibe is great.

I worked today selling cakes as usual. On the train home I felt a little low. Like some of the magic had left and I had to go back to soldiering on by myself. As I waited for my connecting bus I started a conversation with a musician sitting next to me. He was a sweet guy who was studying art therapy and had just moved here from Byron. We talked about cooking and people and music. I gave him a box of cakes I had left over from work. He was a charmer. By the time I got off the bus where I rode the whole time sitting next to him and chatting I had a big smile on my face. There is always beauty in life. Its never time to give up and feel alone.

Another lovely thing is that olives are in season at the moment. There are big boxes of them for sale at the Victoria markets. I'm thinking of buying some to cure and marinate. I have to research it and see how it goes. If it works out I'll give you a recipe. I'm still not happy with the yogurt yet so I'll wait till I have it perfect before I give you that recipe too. Its much too runny and a little too lumpy (ok i hated it and threw it down the sink) but i think I will get it after a few goes.

I promised myself that this week I would pull everything together (do all my homework, wash my clothes, concentrate on work, go to the gym, not drink too much wine at night while writing my blog, stop thinking about boys and dates, be healthy) Hopefully I'll do it all. If not I'll probably eat croissants all week, drink too much coffee, meet some charming lad to flutter my eyelashes at, and forget my socks to go with my chefs shoes on cooking day at school. Either way life is beautiful and I'm sure it will be a good week.

Have a lovely night.