Post Modern Jukebox

I just love old music from the 1930's all the way to the 1960's and this band makes my heart sing.
They are a cover band that bring in different singers and musicians for the songs.
Their name is Post Modern JukeBox and they are the kings (and queens) of swing.

I love it! I hope you do too.

Post Modern Jukebox


It would be my dream to sing in a band like this...I might have to start bugging people out here in Korea to give it a go.

So long 27!

Today I am 28. It seems crazy to me that it's been a year since I wrote a post on my 27th birthday. I had just arrived here in Korea and it was all new and crazy. Its been a whirlwind of a year that some how has become normal. I've traveled lots and met many people I now call close friends.
I am not scared of 28. I find there are certain ages that don't scare you. You are just in them as if you are prepared. 22 and 24 were like this and they were some good years so hopefully 28 will be the same. I like being in my late twenties. You aren't old enough to be expected to have responsibilities but you aren't young enough to feel lost. Obviously its scary as 30 is fast approaching but I am happy and surrounded by fantastic people so I am just enjoying the moments as they come.
I do have to slap 27th year old Tania on the wrists as the normality of life has let me become lazy with the blog so I will get back into writing.
But here are some of the things I got up to as a Travelling 27 year old:

. Experienced one of the hottest Summers I've ever known
. Met even more fantastic people
. Made lasting friendships
. Visited Busan
. Wrote for 3 different magazines
. Had Photo's published
. Went to a rave
. Visited Pohang
. Went to a mud festival
. Lost all our money in Bangkok
. Washed and played with Elephants
. Trekked through the jungle.
. Visited Koh Samui
. Ate the worlds best Pad Thai
. Tried PatBingSu (Korean Dessert)
. Visted three of the best temples in Korea
. Visted Tokyo
. Ate the worlds best Mando
.Stood on the busiest traffic crossing in the world
. Visited Tokyo Disney
. Tried Sake for the first time
. Ate Ox Tail for the first time
. Got to use my camera A LOT
. Learnt a lot more Korean
. Went on 14 planes
. Met the worlds smartest robot
. Went to a Sumo tournament.
. Visited Scotland.
. My brother got Engaged.
. My sister passed her music exam and wrote some incredible music
. Had my first Wendy's
. Went to my first baseball match
. Had a lot of girl's nights
. Ate bugs
. Ate fried arsehole (?)
. Had a food weekend in Seoul
. Taught elementary students
. Had my best friend visit me in Korea
. Made Clamato Juice and tried a Ceaser
. Learnt some of the best recipes I've ever tasted.
. Climbed 30 feet off the ground in the tree tops
. Had my first Christmas with Lee
. Had my first Christmas with friends
. Had a house party.
. Tried Yoga for the first time.
. Ran a 10k
. Spent a weekend in London with my girls
. Visited Wales
. Tried Snowboarding
. Walked on a frozen lake
. Went to the DMZ
. Made a human pyramid.
. Said a lot of hard goodbyes
. Went Blonde
. Moved house
. Owned 4 mac lipsticks
. Started teaching Art
. Celebrated my first Saint Paddy's day
. Celebrated Holi Hai
. Shot a gun
. Watched my best friend get married.

These lists feel silly and self indulgent but when you write the things you have achieved down like this. You realise how many first you can still have at 28 , it does make you smile. The world has been kind to me this year and I have made friends I will treasure for a lifetime, I miss my family every minute of the day but I've also found my own little family and my own home.
I can't imagine what the next year will bring.

La Vie En Rose

Today I watched the 16th episode of 'How I met your Mother' and at the end of the episode they played the song my boyfriend and  I have danced and listened to many times.
Years ago it was featured in Wall.e and I worried it would be taken by everyone so my instant thought when I heard it start in this TV show was OH NO OUR SONG! I invisioned thousands of couples grabbing it and it losing all meaning but then I listened to the ukulele version and I fell in love. Its silly really to hold a song dear. Surely there are thousands of people ,even millions who share it with us but I think sometimes a song can capture such a special feeling that to share it feels wrong. I've realised that this is crazy talk.Lee and I have known each other for a long time and had bumps along the way where we have both gone off and found ourselves and amazing other people but we somehow always find each other and this song will always be ours.
Its always a song i've wanted to sing to my kids so it was a lovely thing to watch. It might mean its more mainstream but if anything it just means i'll now here one of my favourite songs over and over.

So for those of you having a down day and in need of some cheering up...here is:
La Vie En Rose on Ukulele

19 years ago (aged 7)

Us 12 years ago (15)

Us 7 years ago (aged 21) Somwhere Inbetween these two bottom pics it became our song.

By the light of the silvery moon

After a night of watching my favourite film in the world, It's a Wonderful Life, i'm full of smiles and I will be listening to this on repeat today.
(click the picture for some lovely tunes)

Just delete it!

It's about the little things

Before I write this blog post I want anyone reading this to know that this is just my personal feelings on a subject and there are a thousand different approaches to life but this is just how I’ve been feeling.

So today I made a very important and big step. I deleted my ‘future’ folder on Pinterest. I love Pinterest with a passion but I think it may have been rotting my brain. When I started on pinterest I quickly started to see a trend. This trend is the future brides, now this isn’t a problem and its nice to play pretend but I think it also gets people staring into their futures instead of enjoying the moment.
I never made one and resisted the urge to look at pretty images of dresses but then secret folders were invented so I thought, whats the harm?
This folder started out almost ironic, just a dress here and some flowers there but it slowly became way too important for me to imagine my future.
I started to upset myself for no reason, I started putting lots of stress onto situations that don’t matter and worst of all I started to already be disappointed with an imaginary ideal I knew I couldn't achieve.

A few years ago, maybe as little as two, if you’d asked me if I’d ever get married I’d have scoffed at you and told you how stupid marriage was. I didn’t have much of a marriage role model growing up and I didn’t know too many happy couples around me so I didn’t see the point. I worried about what that paper and ring does to people. I never wanted to be some ones problem and I thought that marriage was a silly tradition. Then one thing happened:
 1. I changed my mind

Now this doesn’t sound like a well rounded argument I agree with you but suddenly one day I was with someone who I realised I wanted to be a ‘team’ with. I wanted to be part of something more than just I and most importantly I realised that marriage is more about  waking up every day and still deciding that you are committed to this. Yes you can do this without marriage but I finally started to understand.

I read a book called ‘Commitment’ but Elizabeth Gilbert which tells you the history of marriage as well as the different cultural reasons to do it. Its made me realise that marriage isn’t a religious thing (which is a huge discovery)  and also it’s not something that’s trying to trap you. It’s a choice.

So although all of this sounds crazy and like a pointless post I had a horrible realisation today that all of these Disney school ideas had suddenly become an issue to me. Not something I understood but something I was worried I wouldn’t achieve (talk about a 180) 
So today I deleted the secret folder and I said to myself, enjoy now. Stop wishing you were someone in other people pretty photos and look at all of the fantastic ones you have now.
I think woman can sometimes be indignant. They can sometimes (and please remember I’m not talking about all woman) think that its their right to have a big and beautiful wedding but I think the real fear is that the person you are with doesn’t love you.
A few months ago my friend got engaged and when I met up with her to celebrate she was a different person. I’d never seen a person so happy or content. It was if she was transformed and I think that’s what the real problem is. We want to be loved and we want to feel that the person we love picked us. I think I weigh too much pressure on that moment when in fact people choose us every day. They choose to wake up with us every morning and they choose to laugh and be around us.
So ladies, if you are dwelling on a day instead of today….just delete that folder and enjoy the moment.

In a grump

This week has been a bad one. Probably the worst since I moved to this place. I hate ranty blog post and I try as hard as possible not to do it but with all of this social media it's sometimes easier to rant than sit on your fingers.

So instead of ranting at you at this beautiful time of year I thought i'd write some of the things that make me happy to cheer myself  up and force myself to remember how many great things there are.

.Yoga


Yoga is something I am completly new to. I tried it for the first time last week and I instantly signed up for a three times a week course. I love the peace and quiet, the potential of flexability and the way it makes me feel instantly fit (even if I'm not). I love aching in the morning because it means I worked hard. I would go 5 times a week if I could. I feel i've turned a fitness corner. I'm hoping to keep it up for a long time.


.Christmas


Of course this makes the list. Its the best time of year and I love the lights, happy faces and excuse to be happy. Baileys, hugs and christmas films are always a great way to cheer people up. I can't explain how sad I am that I can't go home for it but I have my little new Korean family with me so thats all that matters.


.Cameras

My new camera is almost a year old and I love it. I love every day with it and I love all the things i've seen through it. I hope that I can master it even more and  become a better photographer.


.Asti

I can't explain it but I can't wait for a glass of fizziness this christmas. The lack of money and lack of home means it will be the one indulgence this season and I can't wait to enjoy a single glass of Tesco's asti. Thats right, theres even a tesco brand sold in Korea. I might even indulge in a 2000\ champagne glass to enjoy it in.


.These people

Lady in need of cake

*Note to all of those abroad*
Never, ever, ever watch 'The Great British Bake Off' if you do not have access to :
. An oven
. Butter cream
. Real cake!

I'm so hungry and missing baking.

Welcome little man.

ITS A BOY! Unless you have been under a extremley large rock you will know that Britain has a brand new prince.
The little bundle of joy was met with a very happy London and a lot of well wishers.
I miss London so much when something like this happens. I can just feel how lovely it must be there, everyone smiling, union jacks everywhere and people being very proud to celebrate together.
I understand that someone people are sick of this news and that they see no point in celebrating a random event but I like to think about it like we are celebrating all of the babies born this year in Britain. The royal family use to cost us 15p each a year in Britain but in the last 3 years with the wedding, baby and jubiliee they have made the country so much money that they now only cost us 5p a year. This is a very small price to pay in my eyes.
Any excuse to celebrate can't be bad can it. All we are doing is being happy. Thats all. We are celebrating together that good things happen. I'd rather have a story like this on the news than see the bad in the world. So everyone just enjoy this time. We have a prince. A couple love each other and its a brilliant summer.

Congratulations to the happy family.
I have put a bet on the name George so fingers crossed. Also I realise that there is a bit time difference here but I wrote my last post about the baby at the exact minute he was born in Britain. Thank you for making us all smile little fella.

Romantic mood

I don't know why but I'm in a very romantic mood today so I thought i'd send some lovely tunes out into the Ether.

Tony has to be mention of course:
The way you look tonight

Then we have to include the silk voice himself:
Mr Nat King Cole

And lastly I found this fantastic choir today that do a many covers but have really made this song stand out:
Wouldn't it be nice

Lastly I think I am going to go home and watch one of the greatest love stories of all time (Thats right I said it)
Wall.e with features the talented Louis Armstrong