Treasure Hunting in Kelburn

This past weekend was the annual fundraising market at the local church down in Kelburn (suburb in Wellington). I prefer to think of it more of a couple hours of blissful madness. I had been last year when I first arrived in Wellington and was pleasantly surprised at the great finds I managed to pick up even though I quickly realized I had arrived late (it opened at 10 am and I had gotten there around 11 am). The hoards of people left me needing to stop and take a few deep breaths to calm my nerves before diving back in.

This time around I knew better. I had seen the massive sign advertising the event for weeks and had kept the date of March 15 in my head as though I was chanting some mantra that was going to change my life if I just believed it hard enough. My heart was set on trying to find some wooden frames I could get at a good price in order to then upcycle into jewellery frames to sell through Paper Kite Creations. My fingers, toes and everything in between were crossed in hopes that my simple wish would become a reality.

And so Saturday finally rolled around. I popped out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning and raced to get everything done I needed to before walking my way in a state of giddy down to Kelburn for the market. Heaven knows where the excitement came from – maybe because I felt as though I was the only one that knew of this hidden shopping gem (though I did invite my friend Jess along as well) or maybe it was because there was something in the air last year that made the tight spaces crammed of people fingering their way over goods something worth coming back to.

I took out some cash and then found my way to the church. It became apparent that the event organisers were very serious about the start time of 10 am. There were volunteers posed at the entrance with a big rope blocking any early shoppers from entering. I was there only a few minutes before the big opening and already there were people crammed up against the entrance rope craning their necks to see how they could strategize to get to the best finds first.

The countdown began – yes, there was a countdown over a microphone – and then a bell signalled it was time to shop. I wove my way through the bodies of people and scoured the entire market with no success at finding frames. 

My eyes started to blur as I tried to process all the frantic activity going on around me. People squeezing into spaces I never thought possible to go. Feelings of claustrophobia as I'd head in a direction only to come to a gridlock with someone in front and someone behind and no way out. Scanning book titles was an art when peering through a wavering sliver of a gap between two individuals set on hoarding the book table viewing space. I was about on my third loop around and losing all hope when my friend Jess arrived all excited that she’d bought some art for her place. It was then that things changed for me.

My awesome fabric bag for $3

While Jess bought some sheets – I found a massive overnight bag for $3 that was perfect for all my fabric I’ve been hoarding for my sewing machine. On route back to pick up Jess’s art, it was then that I saw them – the most beautiful wooden frames I could ever hope to upcycle sitting there. Waiting. Begging me to purchase them. And so I did.

And now my beautiful frames sit proudly in my bedroom awaiting their transformation into something that will one day hang on a woman’s wall (perhaps mine if they sit here too long) displaying all her beautiful jewellery. 

Can’t wait to see what next year will bring!

It's Official - I Broke Up with Sugar

I've given up - my relationship with the sugary sweet syrups, crystals and powders has come to an end. And I'm okay with that. I've realized that what started as a romantic thrill of ups and downs has turned into a cycle of negativity to which I feel as though I lost control and even a bit of myself in the process. And so it is over.

It's taken me a long time to get to this point - much of it to do with my fear of what my life might look like without sugar in it. How would I possibly cope? But over the last year I have come to terms with my denial on sugar and have finally admitted that not only am I addicted to it - I have a serious problem. It's not just the fact that I could eat a whole family-sized chocolate bar in one sitting and not think twice about it. Or the fact that many times I have had to turn down friends' invites to do something fun and exciting because I've spent all my spare money on lollies at the corner store. Or even the fact that I have had not one, but MANY occasions to which I had enough willpower to throw away the remaining bits of a chocolate bar or bag of lollies only to dig them out of the rubbish bin hours and sometimes days later to finish eating them. It's more that I have realized that many people closest to me don't even have a clue of how deep my problem runs.

I suppose that I have had my love for being physically active to thank for that. I have always been able to hide my problem with sugar for the simple fact that I could push myself to burn off enough of it to make me look relatively slim and fit. But inside the problems have started to have a voice of their own.

The headaches. The sleepless nights. The emotional ups and downs. The binges and then the withdraws. The funny heart beats, energy slumps and intense cravings so bad I can't focus on anything until I get my next sugar fix. That and no matter how much I exercise, my skin never quite feels right. And there's always lumps and bumps in areas that shouldn't be given how active I am on a regular basis.

But every time I have thought on quitting sugar, it seemed like such a daunting task that I couldn't fathom how to do it and not feel like I was missing out on half a life in doing so. I've tried cutting back. I've tried even going a week without buying a bag of lollies. I've tried to overcompensate with exercise in order to tell myself that the activity will balance out the sugar addiction. But none of it has quite worked out.

Until I found Sarah Wilson's book on her journey to quit sugar. And then it clicked. Everything she said felt like it spoke to me directly - her journey - her struggles - her very logical approach to cutting sugar out of her life. For good. It all sounded too good to be true. But it isn't.

I am now halfway through my 4th week of quitting sugar and I honestly don't miss it. Sure, the first week or so was a bit of torture - I couldn't believe how many times during the day my brain told me that I "needed" to get some sugar. But as time went on, my body started to adjust and now I find I eat food simply because I am hungry. I don't get the afternoon slumps or the restless nights of sleep. My headaches have stopped and I am finding new ways to cook in order to get the sweetness without the sugar.

The part I didn't quite believe in all of this is that life still goes on even without sugar. That I am okay without it and, no - I don't feel as though I am missing out. This is definitely something that I needed to do for me, and does not in any way mean that everyone in the world needs to follow suit. I am not saying that sugar is 100% evil - but I do know that until recently, it was very nearly controlling a lot of my life - a life that I want to live to the full, but haven't been able to because of sugar's hold on me. But now I am finally free.

If you want more information on Sarah Wilson or how to quit sugar, visit www.iquitsugar.com.