It has been an interesting week - some great highs and a few little lows, but generally a week to remember.

I..

- bought a divine new piece of furniture - one that transcends economic crisis to be invaluable

- decided that a move to the suburbs would be preferable - enough city

- the school got through registration - a horrific soul-destroying process which is complete

- had my hair cut and coloured in a very flattering manner

- had thai and coffee and cake and great conversation with my old friend

- finished the gorgeous 'Baking Cakes in Kigali'

- read 'If I Stay' - a beautiful life-affirming read

- started my Masters essay

One of the main things, of course, is we have decided to leave the main part of the city and buy a place in the suburbs. My partner is in the process of getting his license which will allow us to adventure down the coast on the weekend. Not only that, the suburbs are infinitely cheaper and I am sick of struggling to afford the inner west of Sydney. I sometimes long for open spaces and greenery, and while I know I will miss living so close to all the action, people need to move on.

I suppose one of the advantages of being in a certain amount of personal economic uncertainty is that you think of new ways to enjoy time that doesn't involve shopping or spending money. Today we are going to read in the Borders cafe and to the World Press Photography Exhibition, which I am very much looking forward to and should be rather cheap.

I also find I have always been a heavy library user, but now I am getting almost everything I read from there. I am not buying clothes nearly as often and wearing some of my older clothes to work. We are trying to cut down on our grocery shopping by making lasagnes, which I am sick of but are so inexpensive per piece. We are saving more in preparation for the unknown future.

Not only that, my partner is beginning a university degree by correspondence, sorting out his Australian citizenship and learning to drive. It feels like despite the setback, we are getting some elements of our lives together that you tend to ignore when both have secure careers. I can't help but feel like our dreams have crumbled or at least taken a setback, but I want to look to the future and be positive.

Having said that, I was absolutely delighted to see that Sydney Film Festival is showing so many great films this year. I really wanted to see Food Inc and $9.99 and No Impact Man, but we settled with tickets to Coraline (in 3D!) and 500 Days of Summer.

I am also reading a fantastic book in the style of 'The Ladie's Number 1 Detective Agency', called 'Baking Cakes in Kigali'. It's really sweet and cute and quite lovely.

Weekend mornings before the world wakes up are probably my favourite time. With my tea and toast with peanut butter, I spend an hour or so researching books to read and then usually amble back to bed to read, before falling back to sleep. It is a ritual that brings me nothing but pleasure.

I was looking at buying a second-hand wedding dress. There was an article in the SMH this morning about cheaper weddings and second-hand dresses. I don't want to spend much and it seems like a good option. But what if the couple got divorced - does it bode badly? At the same time, I also think it is a special day and I would also feel slightly bad wearing someone else's dream dress. At this rate, we may never get around to organising our wedding.

In other news, I can't wait until the line-up at the Sydney Film Festival is announced. Coraline!

After a long break in the blogging world, I have decided to join on a whim once again. Who knows if it will be beneficial or if I will stick with it, but I have vowed it to be more honest, more confessional, and less concerned with readership than my blogs past.

I feel as if I am resurfacing from a deep dark five month hole. I have been crazily busy at work which is for the most part finished. I feel like I have been living under a big dark cloud and now it has nearly lifted enough for me to refocus on myself and the goals I want to achieve in life.

In particular, I would like to lose weight. I am by no mores hugely overweight and am a long way from my heaviest, but I can't help but wish to be carrying less weight. I think about how much, say, 15kgs, actually weighs and I feel bad for my body. Despite my vegetarianism, my love of all things healthy and green and natural, I still carry unnecessary weight. I feel as if I am ready to shed the remaining weight and baggage of that weight in the remainder of the year.

I know I need to move, to walk and I will start again tomorrow. I suffer from terrible stress and bouts of feeling blue. Exercise is so important for lifting that sadness. As is masses of reading, fruit and vegetables, hot tea, new movies, long sleeps and laughing with my fiance.

Like that bookmark I once loved said, 'Hold tightly to that which you cherish.'

In other news, I am reading the new Australian dark comedy 'The Bookshop on Jacaranda Street' by Marlish Glorie. Not so comic yet, but certainly quite engrossing.