1. Study. Study hard. As clichéd as it sounds, your education is important. It may sound silly now, but trust me. In ten years time, when your working in a call centre, you’re going to wish you listened to your parents so that you could have a respectable job, a decent pay, and feel like you’re actually doing something mentally stimulating.

2. Choose your friends wisely. The people who may seem like your closest friends now, may not be in a few years. Be aware that the people who you meet up with every weekend and get drunk with currently, may not even be part of your life next year, let alone in five years. With this in mind, think about the priority you place on these people. On the flip side make sure that the friends you are confident are in for the long haul are given the time and respect that they deserve.

3. Choose your battles against me wisely. We are going to disagree, that is inevitable, and most of the time I will probably lay down the law and make you conform to my way of doing things. Naturally you may rebel and refuse to conform, forcing me to bend my ways, but make sure you only do this when you are sure that you are in the right. Don’t do it just when you think your way is probably the better way to do things, but only when you have analysed the situation, looked at it from all possible perspectives, and then are still certain that your way is the right way. If you choose to fight me on every issue, chances are that I will never bend, even when the issue is one that you truly believe in. So choose your battles wisely.

4. Don’t drink and drive. Ever. Don’t ever get in a car with a drunk driver. Ever. It doesn’t matter what time it is, or where you are, I will ALWAYS come and pick you up without giving you a lecture, or even asking any questions. Safety is paramount, don’t ever forget this.

5. Learn some life skills. Learn to cook, learn to do dishes, learn to do your own washing, hell, even learn to mow the lawn and change a tyre. Your parents aren’t going to be around for ever to do these things for you, and even if they are they won’t want to.

6. You are beautiful. It doesn’t matter what you think, or how you think you compare to the girl you believe to be the prettiest person in your class, the truth is that you are beautiful. You have to believe this. Nothing makes you more beautiful than self confidence (without showing arrogance), so love yourself, walk tall, head held high, and watch everything fall into place.

7. If a boy doesn’t want you, don’t beg. Maintain that self confidence I just told you about and walk away with dignity. There will always be someone that wants you, and you will want them back, and you will be perfect for each other. Begging for the boy who doesn’t want you will not achieve anything. You should never think that you can change their mind. They are entitled to their opinion and it is your duty to walk away.

Change is scary.
Change is unknown.
Change is unnerving.
Change may set you backwards.
Change is exciting.
Change is stimulating.
Change allows you to move forward.
Change is necessary.
And above all, change must be embraced for it to be successful.

Traditional holidays have always been something I dread. OK, maybe dread is a bit over dramatic, but I definitely I haven’t looked forward to them. As a brown family, with no extended family here, we never did anything special or traditional and I always felt left out. Instead I usually rang a random friend, who I anticipated might be in the same situation as me, and hoped that they would accept my invitation of a coffee date, or breakfast or something.
This year was different. I was part of a different family, and so my Easter was filled with family gatherings, with food, hot cross buns, fun, laughter, children and easter egg hunts. It really was special. It made me feel like I had a real Easter.
But just to keep the balance, when I got a text from a friend asking me if I was keen to do brunch on Monday morning, I took her up on the offer. Afterall, that was me last year and all the years previous to that.

So one Sunday morning we decided to do the crazy thing and run 15km along with about another 35,000 people in Melbourne. It's called Run For The Kids :-) I'm proud to say that I ran the entire distance, albeit with a rubbish time, but I blame my short frame for that. Damn my parents for passing on their genes to me.
So as a reward we decided to head to Red Door Corner Store Cafe in Northcote. Urbanspoon rated it super highly and I wanted to try somewhere new in the northern suburbs so the decision was made.
15km makes you super hungry, so the settled on the grilled semolina, portobello mushrooms, lemon thyme, wilted spinach, tallegio, poached egg and parmesan curls. It hit the spot perfectly. Just what I needed :-) Oh and the coffee was good.