Sarah Wilson

julia: a few talking points for the weekend.

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Yesterday was surreal. I was caught between two worlds. And, in fact, yesterday was a classic example of the professional balancing act I walk most days. On the one hand I was absorbed by what was going down. I was totally stunned by the fact WE HAVE A NEW PM! And listened to commentary all day on radio (my favourite medium).

enough with the red hair/Strine accent/dress sense/hairdresser boyfriend references already?
enough with the red hair/Strine accent/dress sense/hairdresser boyfriend references already? (Today’s cover of the Illawarra Mercury)

I was doing this while getting ready for the ASTRA awards, held last night. I presented one of the awards (alongside Selling Houses’ Andrew Winter who cleaned up the awards last night) and had to slide into my other “role”, the one that involves getting dressed up and donning a certain public persona. Not that this persona is false, it’s just that it contrasts so starkly with the everyday me. So much so, most of the world doesn’t recognise me from one role to the other. Which I rather like.

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Anyway, as I was getting my hair and makeup done yesterday, I listened to ABC radio and was online, checking out commentary. So, a few thoughts and links I came upon that you might want to bone up on for some engaged discussion over the weekend.

* How can a “spill” like this happen? Julia Cowdroy wrote a helpful rundown on the anatomy of a “spill” on Mia Freedman’s blog yesterday.

* Do you know if you’re properly enrolled to vote?  Do it now in, like, 2 minutes here. DO IT NOW BECAUSE YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW DAYS TO DO IT ONCE THE ELECTION IS CALLED. This is an election we must all have a say in!!!

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stuff I’m not paid to endorse: my best stomach fixes

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I think I’m going to start a series of posts of recommendations. Stuff that works for me, that I use/eat/refer to/get inspired by. I’ve had a number of emails asking me to share this kind of thing. Let’s make it a Thursday thing for a while. Yes.

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Just as a note, if you’re looking for this stuff later, it will be filed on the “recommendations” page.

So, this week: what I use when my gut is playing up. I have a litany of stomach issues, many stemming from my auto-immune issues, some from just being an over-eater. It’s been called IBS over the years. I just don’t buy the IBS thing. Nobody just has a cranky gut. As in, it’s just cranky for the fun of it. There’s always something else behind it – a stress issue, an adrenal issue, a sugar addiction, an overly acidic system. Or, in my case, all of the above.

Now, I was going to apologise to anyone who’s eating. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably in my same boat – more interested in finding fixes for your pain than dancing around polite euphemisms. So…. shit, poo, week, diarrhea, squirts, farts… let’s get it out there.

Here’s my arsenal for my various crappy stomach states. Of course, I’m not prescribing anything here. I’m just saying, after much experimenting, the below tricks have come to work for me:

1. For when you’re bloated and gassy like Michelin Man: Mintec. These are capsules filled with peppermint oil that you can buy over the counter at all pharmacies and health food shops.

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my challenge this week: not getting lost in my busyness

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Busyness. It’s a persistent theme in my life, tapping me on the shoulder, demanding to be dealt with in a new way. With some freshness. Some softness. Sigh… some softness.  I like being busy. But too busy and I ricochet off away from myself. Away from my heart.

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Problem is, I’m so used to being busy that sometimes I manufacture “too busy”, because that’s what I’m used to. I’m used to responding, reacting, coping with busyness. It’s my default position. Or it was.

In the past few days I’ve been really aware of how often I freak out about being too busy…I take a breath, return to my heart and, watching my frenzied self flinging off into outer space to attend to all my crazy crap, I realise this doesn’t have to be “too busy”. It can be just busy enough. And I can smile at it. And stay close to my heart.

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some good Monday reads (for those finding their start to the week a little slippery)

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How was your weekend? Mine was great. I finished my detox and celebrated by going for a morning sand run on Bondi and then heading to Longrain and eating a meal cooked with much love by Marty Boetz. As an FYI…Marty recently changed his entire menu to reflect his organic/locivore values. He changed chicken suppliers, his oils and uses biodynamic brown rice.

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Then I went to The Commons in Darlinghurst. Such a cute place:

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sunday life: the beauty of queuing in New York

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This week I queue in New York*


(You might want to play this while you read!)

My Friday went like this: ensconced in a blunt, jet-lagged haze I wound my way through Manhattan’s Central Park to the Museum of Modern Art on 53rd. , whereupon I queued for five hours to sit opposite performance artist Marina Abramović. And stare at her.

This Friday marked Abramović’s 72nd full day of sitting and staring at strangers, one at a time, not moving even to eat or wee. In total, 1500 New Yorkers have queued – most of them from 4am – for this peculiar experience. Including, yes, Bjork. Marina is the one in white, below. Stacks of people cried, by the way. It was a big, beautiful experience to be in the room.

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thinking of spring: this week I’ve been cleaning my guts

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A while back I did a juice detox…and this week I was invited to take part in another one. Disclaimer: I didn’t pay for this detox, but my comments are freely my own. So, the Lucky You Cleanse, is a five-day deal where you consume nothing but freshly pressed organic juices and coconut water, and a whole stack of water.

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The deal: 6 x juices, plus a shot of aloe vera, are delivered to your door each morning for 5 days. It begins with an aloe vera elixir followed by a green smoothie (banana and chia and kale…not so good on the page, but amazing in the gob).  Then comes a range of  fruit/veg juices that use high-nutrient ingredients only, plus a “spicy lemonade” made of lemons, cayenne pepper, apple, stevia and celtic sea salt. 

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nicole richie + me + the new midcity centre

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Yesterday, there I was, on a stage in the MidCity Centre in Sydney, with Nicole Richie (she was out to launch the new shopping centre and wear lots of their clothes). You can’t miss me. I take up twice as much room on the page. I’m HUGE. To be exact, I’m 9.5 inches (whatever that is in cms…I always do height in old-school terms) taller than Nicole.

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As it turns out I wore mid heels to her skyscrapers. But stooped a little. When you’re tall, you do that. My back is out from standing off-kilter all my life, one hip thrust to the right to shorten myself.

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the comfort of people from your past

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While I was in New York last week, I hooked up with my Year 8 English teacher Mrs Cochrane. Fun-weird. We connected via a few degrees of separation on Facebook, and via the same network, she worked out I was coming to New York (which is where she’s now based) and so we had dinner at Bread in Soho, which is one of my favourite joints, despite the preponderance of bread (which I can’t eat). So I ate braised beef with polenta.

Mrs Cochrane

And, OK, after dinner we might’ve popped in to Rice to Riches across the road. You been? Crikey, what an experience. Rice. With riches, such as nuts and chocolate and coconut cream and lots of chunky, sugary bits and…well, dieting is optional.

The funny thing about the night was that it felt like I was catching up with an old mate. Even though I was 14 when we last sat opposite in a classroom. And she was the teacher.

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famous people vote too (cough)

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Just to be clear, I DON’T think I’m famous (I put that in because I have brothers out there who will give me grief about this when I see them). That said, I’m pumped to be part of the Australian Electoral Commission’s Famous People Vote gee-up to get everyone enrolled to vote for the upcoming Federal election (likely to be around September).

862b1a2c19677ff88af89cabb955cc30This is how excited I am (I’m almost falling off my chair):

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guest post: healing auto immune #9 (by a reader)

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Another installment in the series. This time, it’s by a reader with CFS – Natalie, who writes a very sweet blog, lemon butter. I really do believe that AI is something that’s going to become more prevalent…I think it’s a symptom of our stressful, A-type and toxic times.

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Which is not to say I’m totally dark on life and all it sends my way. No fear. Having an AI is a great wake-up call. I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. And I’m in a great position to issue warnings and advice and love to others who push their bodies a little too hard…(yes, do as I say, not as I did).

Enjoy Nat’s e-share. I totally get the peanut butter thing and the vegemite thing. I do both when my body is craving instant energy hits….

I’m Natalie, also known as the girl on reception, Max’s girlfriend and the girl that had that sickness where you’re always tired.  I prefer to call it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Mylagic Encpehalomyelitis, or for practicalities sake; CFS/ME, which is an autoimmune disease that has ruled my life for the past 5 years and although always tired, gave me chronic insomnia, too.  Other symptoms like paralysis and loss of speech got me too.  A quick Google search will show you more.

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