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KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

A personal blog by Jade Pham


Since moving house I’ve been working to walk, and walking to work. Everyone thinks that’s great, but most of my friendship circle live in cooler climates where a 15-minute morning walk is not a stuffy, sweaty, burny form of self-torture. I suppose I could drive the 2 minutes to work, but because a colleague remarked that I probably wouldn’t keep up the walks during peak summer heat, I am of course going to keep walking all summer long to spite them.

I’ve been trying to find ways to make it work and a $32 UPF 50 umbrella is the best investment I’ve made towards proving my work colleague wrong. It not only blocks 98% of ultraviolet rays, it also provides shade with its blackout fabric and stops my skin from feeling like it’s burning under my SPF50+ sunscreens. Also, it looks bloody awesome with its silver top, black underside and rose gold frame. I love it.

I still arrive at work a sweaty mess because of the humidity, but I leave a folding fan on my desk to help evaporate the sweat. And I haven’t resorted to this yet, because peak summer heat hasn't hit, but a neighbour and colleague who also walks to work recommends getting an iced coffee to make it better. I will take him up on the icy drink, though mine will likely be iced water in my trusty insulated Contigo travel mug.

Wish me luck with keeping up the walks to work despite my colleague of little faith.

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I spent the first day of 2021 visiting some of Boyfriend Pham's family. They moved just a couple hours outside Brisbane at the end of last year, so we went for an overnight stay on New Year's Day. It was Day 8 of my 11-day holiday, but felt like the first day I fully relaxed and enjoyed myself. Ecommerce life, hey?

We spent the day making and eating woodfired pizza, then got walked by their dog, before a night of playing board games all with lots of fun conversation. Seeing friends and hearing stories from outside my little Brisbane bubble is what I missed most from 2020. That, plus the amazing food at the now permanently closed Maria's Caribbean kitchen in Toowong - devastating. 

Being out of my house/Brisbane/regular surrounds let me properly chill out after being in high functioning mode for a lot of last year. It made me nostalgic for travel that we all took for granted, and planted the seed that I need to get out of my regular routine this year. Of course, it's easier said than done. As I write, a friend in Tassie and I were waiting for today's announcement as to whether Brisbane has been removed from Tasmania's naughty list so our Gold Coast getaway can go ahead as planned. And the update was that there'll be another update in 48-hours. But then the convention she was coming up for got canned so we cancelled our catch up. I still kept my annual leave days though, because I need the break.

Making travel plans is a bigger gamble than it used to be, but I'm going to jump at any opportunities that arise year. That, plus we have a $400 flight voucher that expires in October so we should probably use it. Unfortunately, everyone we're close with is a city-dweller and either their city is a hotspot, or their city thinks we're a hotspot. 


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Single life had me used to blasting audio books on loud speaker wherever I pleased. Then I went and shacked up with Boyfriend Pham, and it cramped my style. I’m not one of those people who can fall asleep wearing headphones. Actually, I’m not even one of those people who has wireless headphones so I rarely listen to my stories while cooking or before bed, which were my favourite story times.

Boyfriend Pham reads paperback books. Those heavy, chunky, dusty piles of paper and ink bound together that, when mishandled, is about as painful as dropping your phone on your face. I read maybe 1-2 paperbacks a year for the decade before I met Boyfriend Pham. When we first met, I told him I preferred audiobooks because books are too expensive if you churn through them to which he gawked at me like I was a damn fool.

Turns out this lucky country that I live in has many books that they offer on loan for FREE! I totally forgot that public libraries exist. And it feels like a lot of my generation has also. Whenever we go to the library, there are elderly people and parents with young kids. and nobody my age. The 20s & 30s folk must be like me with their digital devices - either that or they don't mind spending hundreds of dollars on stacks of books they'll read once and never pick up again. 

I've started reading books before bed like Boyfriend Pham, and when we're on holiday or lockdown I read books on the couch or floor too. There's something soothing about being still and letting your mind get carried away to another world. Audiobooks could do that too, I suppose, but I only ever listened to them while my hands were busy cooking, cleaning or grooming. With paperbacks, you have to focus on just reading. I still listen to audio books these days as I get ready for work in the mornings or on my walk to work, but these too are now borrowed from the Brisbane library via the BorrowBox app. 

If you want to get back into reading, head to your local library. I can't believe there's a service that gives you books for free! Australia rules.

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