The Friday Feeling - the last of September

If ever there was a time when I longed for a time travelling machine, it is now. This time last week I was dropping my friends off at the airport, after several days relaxing in this pool. What a difference a week makes. On the plus side, the first week back at work, renowned for its obstacles and emotional upheaval, has flown by. Work, post holiday cleaning and the excitement of picking up my bridesmaid dress from the tailor, have all contributed to the fact I know find myself tapping away on a Friday night. 

And with a public holiday on Monday, I am welcoming the weekend with open arms!

men & style

With the impending nuptials of our closets friends in Cyprus, I have been thinking of outfits for months and months. And now mine is coming together, it is time to turn our efforts towards the boyfriend.

When it comes to style, my boyfriend has oodles. Well, its kind of a prerequisite when your a visual merchandiser for Adidas. Even before that, when we were living in London, he would always bring home these obscure and cool underground street style brands; it is just one of his passions. 

However when it comes to formal attire it's a bit more of a minefield. I mean, he has worn the same Zara suit to every wedding, christening and semi formal occasion for the past 4 years. So its about time to invest in an update. 

And where better to seek inspiration than the internet. 

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The 2 sides of holiday depression

Its fair to say I have been consumed with post holiday depression since about Friday night when we dropped our friends at the airport and uttered a bye through tears and a scratchy throat. And while you may not feel sorry for me for what I am about to write, it is nevertheless, painful. 

Living in Cyprus means we are lucky enough to spend the majority of weekends, all summer long, at the beach, soaking up the sun and enjoying the sea. Even so, after a spending a week relaxing, it still takes time to get back into the swing of real life and brush off the holiday blues. 

The other side of  the depression stems from the goodbyes. One of the sacrifices we make for living in Cyprus is not having our friends around. So come holiday time, its an opportunity to get guests over from England and catch up. But having that "its like nothing ever changed feeling" makes it even harder to say goodbye.

But either you have to get on with it and seek out the positives (we are still on the sunshine island) or pack up and go back to England.

finding comfort in carbs

Last week I was eating fresh fish, this week its Shepherds Pie. That post holiday feeling has been hitting home today and eating is my therapy. Cue a nice home-made English dish like Shepherds Pie. Packed with pork mince, onions, carrots and peas and topped with mashed potato and sprinkle of good old cathedral city mature cheddar cheese, it's the perfect comfort food for a cold and rainy day, or a Monday back at work. 

I don't really follow a recipe because I used to watch my mum make this all the time, so I just throw a load of ingredients together until it tastes like my brain remembers. 

First step is to fry the onions until they have the shiny almost see through thing happening and then throw in the pork mince. Once the its a light brown colour add tomatos (the easiest thing to do is grate them), boiled carrots parsely. I also add a bit of marmite, something my mum always did. Then add the peas.

Once its all mixed together and has a golden brown creamy texture, pour into a baking dish and top with a nice thick layer of mash potato. 

Finally add cheddar cheese on top of the potato and put in a preheated oven for around 30 minutes of until the cheese is golden brown. Great on its own or I love with broccoli. 

Carbs and comfort food make everything better don't they!

the obligatory post holiday photo post.

Over the past week, I have been more relaxed than I ever thought possible. Spending 4 days at a luxury hill top villa in Latchi (the quietest place in Cyprus) really did the job. And spending much needed time with friends from England did my mental health a world of good. We ate fresh fish and bbq'd pork, we drank ice cold corona's and home made mojitos and we read, swam, sunbathed and played cards.

The friends left on Friday night and tomorrow, the dreaded Monday back to work after holidays, rears it's ugly head! 

Hello reality, I guess we can resume our friendship now.

wish you were here

I have waited all summer long for this week in mid September to arrive and here we are. While everyone in the office was coming and going on their holidays and I was stuck at my desk, I felt regular pangs of jealously, but I think I get the last laugh as everyone's holiday blues sets in; I AM GOING ON HOLIDAY HA!

My friends arrived on Friday night and we have been hauled up in a luxurious villa with panoramic views, on the other side of the island - in a place called Latchi. A teeny tiny fishing village with nothing but sea, forests and fish restaurants. 

For the last four days I have been parked on a sunlouner, switched off from internet with nothing but mojitos, fresh fish and barbecues. I has been a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Now we are back in the city and reality is kinda hitting home - however we still have a few adventures left of our holiday.

Kindly note the lack of blog silence and please return shortly when  I am back to reality.

the taste of Cyprus

Whenever the [potential] future mother-in-law visits there are certain activities which are factored into our agenda - which mostly revolve around food. One of those activities  is cooking. And usually it is something that I need to learn how to make; you see trying to learn Cypriot cuisine either comes from a Cypriot women (however there is a language barrier which may hinder any learning) or a cookbook (which usually means complicated looking recipes with 24 steps and anything past 5 steps just baffles me).

So when the [potential] future mother-in-law visits, I take the opportunity to soak up some of her wisdom - in English!

This time it was my all time favourite Cypriot dish - macaronia tou fournou. Its like a better version of lasagne, with long pasta tubes all mixed together with mince (a combination of pork and beef which is very important) and lots of parsley, with a great huge layer of bechamel sauce and hallumi on top. 

The best recipe I have found is from a traditional Cypriot cooking book - however this recipe is pretty awesome too and while it sounds like a lot of effort, the result is totally worth it.

wardrobe wishlist via pinterest

Thanks to pinterest I have boards with inspirations, which I recently realised equates to lists of wishes. Especially when it comes to clothes. Whether its a Burberry bag, a beautiful dress or a stunning pair of shoes, pinterest is playing with my purse strings and my emotions. The problem: it's so addictive I cant not log in!

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keep your thoughts to yourself

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When I was younger I was always consumed with what other people thought of me; I guess it's natural as you grow up, mature, develop and discover the real world and all the ups and downs that go with it. 

Since moving to Cyprus my thought process, my attitude and my conduct have all changed. Maybe its because the amount of people I know here is limited, maybe it's because I have a small but extremly supportive group of girlfriends, or maybe it's because women here seem to seek out acceptance and I am rebelling against that notion. 

And then again it could be my age. A year older and maybe a year wiser? I'm not so sure about that. But I guess as you get older you find yourself a bit more and realise there are more important things in life than worrying about what other people think of you. 

Maybe I'll do a series called thought provoking Tuesdays. Or maybe I should lay off pinterest for a while. 

B is for blog silence

Blog silence; kind of reminds me of the white and black fuzz you get on the TV when its not working. I'm not really sure what happened in August, but somewhere along the way a kind of fuzz entered my brain and now it seems to be leaving. 

Whether it was visitors, work, or the general mid year/mid summer blimp, something made me temporarily fall out of love with my blog. The temperatures have been relentless and my mood has been this hazy, lack lustre, sweaty mess for what feels like years but in actual fact it's weeks. 

When I am feeling like that, I think it's better to take a step back and re-focus your thoughts. I think the summer season taken the life out of me and while I am a sun worshipper, the heat has just knocked my senses and my focus has been lost. 

So it is great timing then that I have my first proper visitor arriving on Friday. We lived together through our university years and she is the welcome break that I need. Which means no work for a week. And a quiet little luxury villa nestled on the side of hill overlooking the teeny tiny fishing town of Latchi awaits us. I am going to read books, drink mojitos and eat bbq'd chicken until im stress free.What more could a girl want. And by the time I am back, fingers crossed I will have found my blogging buzz.