Thinking In Circles

I got my overdraft in the first year of uni - in fact for a long while it was the only source of money I had (thank you Student Finance, you were SO good), but as it's almost 10 years old this year I feel like it's time for us to go our separate ways. As of August 2019 - I AM OVERDRAFT FREE It was actually a little weird seeing my account have positive numbers in them, but it is nice overall. Can someone get me this badge now? Number 8/30: COMPLETE 

I discovered Treasure Trails last year, and found that they're a really great way to explore an area, whether that's one you know or not. I've done several more since that first one, including on my hen do and my honeymoon and genuinely really enjoy them. I'm going to to try and do at least 10 more before I'm 30:  Belfast  - 18/04/19  Wentworth - 22/04/19  Stratford upon Avon- 04/06/19  Bishop Auckland - 09/07/19  Ilkley - 21/09/19  Matlock Bath - 29/12/19  Greenwich - 06/01/20  Ashford in the Water - 08/07/20 Filey - 01/09/20 Hartington - 21/04/21 Although the pesky pandemic got in the way of me getting all 10 Treasure Trails completed before my 30th I did   complete all 10 - and many more besides! We still really enjoy them as a way of exploring a new place and tend to do at least one whenever we go away somewhere in the UK - they're a lot of fun!

In Jan 2019 I finally started my 30 Before 30 list - something I'd been thinking about and planning for a while. I managed to pin down the list to only 30 things (plus a few secret goals just for myself). I've started ticking a few things off my list, although nothing big yet, just a few of the smaller things. Here's what I got up to (all posts are linked if you want to know more): Cooked something from 3 of my recipe books Went to one new (exceptionally fancy) restaurant and had an AMAZING 7 course meal Baked a pavlova for the first time  (Yes, in January!) Read 4 books from 4 different years  that I've been alive Donated to 2 different charities I also wrote a letter to a family friend, painted my nails (for a fancy awards ceremony!) and did some exercise, to help me meet those goals too. So that's my first month down, only 17 to go! Best pick up the pace a little I think. Bring on February!

Sheffield's food scene is getting better all the time and there are so many tasty places that I want to eat. Me and my husband are both proper foodies and love nothing better than a good meal out. Also trying new restaurants is fun so I thought I'd aim to go to some new places in my lovely city. 1. The Old Vicarage -  https://theoldvicarage.co.uk/index.php We treated ourselves to this amazing meal with some of our wedding gifts from our friends and family. It was a 7 course tasting menu in an old 19th century stone house and the food was both stunning to look at and amazing to eat. We've never been anywhere quite this fancy, and we are definitely  going back again to try their summer menu as well. It was one of the best eating out experiences we've had - the servers were really knowledgeable about the menu and they try and source as much of the food locally as they can, and it was all cooked to absolute perfection! I can sometimes be a fussy eater but I ate caviar an...

I love baking but I tend to make the same things again and again, so I want to try something new this year. I've set myself the challenge of 6 new things before my 30th. 1. Pavlova (/meringue in general!) This was a special request by my husband for his birthday instead of a cake - he grew up having his birthday in the middle of Aussie summer so always had a pav covered in tasty summery fruits. Slightly more odd in the middle of British winter but it was tasty and most importantly he loved it!

I have a fair collection of recipe books and it's an ever expanding collection (I got 2 more for Christmas!) and there's some I've never used! So to change that, I'm going to make at least one dish from ALL of my recipe books before my 30th birthday. 1. Pavlova - The Dairy Cook Book I've grown up with this book around as it's a fairly good cover-all recipe book for a lot of basic cooking recipes. We've always had a copy in our house (although we've gone through several) and my copy was bought for me by my Dad when I moved out to live with my other half, so it's fairly nostalgic and sentimental for me. 2. Creamy Chicken Hash - 150 Chicken recipes 3. Mediterranean Vegetable & Tomato Soup - New Covent Garden Co's Soup for All Seasons We use this as a pasta sauce when we have meatballs sometimes, and it's delicious!

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm a massive reader, it's something that I've always enjoyed and has always bought me peace and a sense of calm that nothing else does. I learned to read precociously early and have read voraciously ever since. I wanted to challenge myself to something a little different  than the usual reading challenges- one book from every year I've been alive. I want to celebrate 30 years of sneaking out of bed to read by the landing light, of reading through every car journey, of queuing up at midnight to get the new Harry Potter book, of coping with insomnia with a good story, of falling in love with so many fictional characters and worlds, of curling up on the sofa with a book, oblivious to everything else. Here's the list so far: 1990 - Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman 1991 - Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett 1992 - Songs of the Humpback Whale - Jodie Picoult 1993 - Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk 1994 - Good Bones & Simple...