How far would you walk for a bowl of cereal?

Cereal…Killer…Cafe

…sounds horrifying right?

Some people think it's a huge gimmic, others a tourist attraction, but for some it's their daily breakfast spot with a hint of nostalgia!

Here are the owners/creators; identical twins Alan and Gary Keery. These cool guys claim to be "obsessed with everything cereal" and it shows.

The cafe my girl and I hit up is in Brick Lane. If you do not pay attention you WILL miss it (as I have done on several occasions)

When you enter you'll see hundreds of different types of cereal from around the world displayed on the walls!

Oh, side note…I didn't intentionally miss breakfast so I could have my cereal in the afternoon. Let's be real, cereal is that meal you can have at any hour and every hour.

When I picked up the menu, I remember putting it down and taking another because I thought it was dirty lol!! (it's the design)

You then choose your bowl size.

• Small = 1 cereal
• Medium = 2 cereals
• Large = 3 cereals

(If you're frugal like me, go for a medium lol)

To create the perfect bowl of cereal you have to be brave enough to choose from at least 30 different varieties of milk and 20 different toppings….trust me it's tough.

Erhumu and I made sure we checked the menu beforehand because we are two of the most indecisive people out there 😂

I'm gonna be honest with you. In the hopes of choosing the best cereal I ended up on YouTube, comparing tastes, textures and consistency 😂

After we found our table in the basement we went back upstairs to order. Overall, it only took us two days prior, 15 mins in store and a few free samples to finally choose!

We were then given a Lion King VCR as the table reference (clever). The party continued as we waited for our cereals whilst bumping to old school songs from the 80s/90s.

Cereal's here ladies! Yes, time to eat! I ordered Marhsmallow Mateys and Cinnabons, with bubblegum flavoured coconut milk.
#TeamNoDairy 🍼
#SweetTooth 🍭
#SugarRush 😝

And my gorgeous girl here ordered a Cinnabon and Chocapic duo, with Oreo pieces…topped with salted caramel milk!

Time for the TASTE TEST!

Ok so I forgot to save the footage of me tasting my food. But I put on my best "wow-this-tastes-so-good-after-the-first-spoonful" face

Here's my sister Ehumu looking cute for the gram 😘

Right, if you're smart you'll pace yourself, this is a £5 bowl of cereal after all!!

When our bowls were empty, we took some more pictures of the venue and had a catch up ❤️

This isn't a review post but I'll give the experience a 5 out of 10. It was fun, and a nice little chill spot but I sensibly spent £5.30 and left hungry (irrelevant because I'm always hungry)

Realistically, I will never spend more than £5 on ONE bowl of cereal again. Coming from someone who is careful with her money…I'd rather get some wings from Nando's mate. 😂

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After breakfast comes lunch! I decided to take Erhumu on a trip to the best Chinese place I know. It's called "My Old Place", and they serve the most authentic Chinese food my tastebuds have ever…tasted!

(You know it's legit when there are only Chinese people in there)

The food was fab, I went for a cheeky Low Mein with shrimp, whelks, squid and some greens.

That ain't math!?

Good food, good people, good vibes ✊🏾❤️

If you want to know more about Cereal Killer Cafe their website is:

http://www.cerealkillercafe.co.uk

It all kicked off at the Leyton Orient game ⚽️

We love you arsenal we do! Ohhh Arsenal we love you 👏🏾📢

(That's the only one I know)

As you can tell, I'm not a huge footie fan lol. But I'll conform to a cheer if the atmospheres right haha!

As the title states, I put my hooligan hat on and went to the Leyton Orient VS Colchester match.

I'd like to reintroduce my bestie, Shae. We call her "the plug" because she's a woman of action, she gets things done and she is the Bring-in-Queen.

Bring In: To include your friends in motives/plans they would not usually have the opportunity to be involved in.

We were given box seat tickets which included a free meal and drinks from the bar 🤗

Next step was fill our bellies! I can't remember what the other options were but I can't say no to spring rolls 😍

I'm a fish lover, so any opportunity to indulge in some salmon, I'll take!

For those who are like me, and not a huge footie fan, a match is basically a series of claps and cheers, anticipation and beers 🍻

Randomly, some fans would throw flares out. This would put the game at a stand still whilst stewards would run on and throw them in a bucket.

*strike one*

(I could already tell this was going to be a disruptive match lol).

Yay, it was half time time AKA dessert time!

I had a gorgeous salted caramel cheesecake, then sampled the chocolate and orange tart with clotted cream.

(I'm not meant to have cream, but I couldn't resist!)

We eventually made our way back out. As you can see, Shae and Ayla's bother we're having a blast!

Suddenly, at the 85th minute the tables completely turned!!!

After a red flare was thrown, Leyton Orient fans slowly began to pour onto the pitch.

This steward really tried…

…within a blink of an eye the pitch was filled with kids, OAPs, fans, friends and foes.

"Crowd control crowd control!"
😂

Can you believe, the match was postponed for nearly two hours because hundreds of fans occupied the pitch protesting against the Orient owner Francesco Becchetti.

During this time people started to play their own mini games of football.

Some even sat in the middle of the pitch sharing drinks and singing songs.

Others ran around, took selfies and helped each other climb onto the pitch.

At this point, stewards simply didn't have enough man power to get everyone off. Instead, they stood and almost acted as a barricade to the Colchester fans (who were pretty outnumbered).

After the first hour you could see it was actually a bit of a peaceful protest lol. Nobody fighting, all smiles and chants.

After several failed attempted to clear the pitch, the police decided to announce that the game had been abandoned. They felt this would help clear the pitch, which proved correct.

"Despite requests for the fans to clear the pitch, there wasn't sufficient movement to allow the game to restart following a pitch invasion."

What fans didn't know is that we got word that the match would carry on.

The police and stewards slowly cleared the pitch. Luckily, we were allowed to stay however nobody could take any footage or post on social media, in case people got light of the secret match lol.

Eventually, the police and stadium security staff were happy for the match to restart at around 6.40pm.

After a near 2 hour wait, the players came back onto the pitch and played the final eight minutes without a crowd.

By this point the players had probably admitted defeat or didn't really care because everyone was just kicking the ball around nonchalantly. Or maybe it was hard for them to warm up again and get back into the speed of the game.
🤷🏾‍♀️

A Football League statement said
the game was concluded 'to maintain the integrity of the competition'.

"The decision to play the match to a conclusion was agreed with both managers and with the support of the match officials.

"However, it was deemed appropriate that the game needed to be played to a conclusion in order to maintain the integrity of the competition and in respect of Colchester United's position of being able to qualify for the League Two play-offs."

Oh, by the way, Colchester had already won the match 3-1.

Overall, it was a really fun day! Full of banter and good vibes and free food!

Shout out to Alya and Auntie Laxmi, you gave Shae and I the special treatment and we appreciate you!

I'll let you know if I suddenly become passionate about football like the majority of my peers 🤷🏾‍♀️

😘⚽️

Easter trip to Bristol

Over Easter, I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting my amazing mentor and former Youth Pastor in Bristol during the bank holiday!

What made it special was…they had no idea I was coming!

A few week prior to our trip, Jihan asked if I wanted to go on a road trip to visit the McEwens – I said yes straight away.

ROAD TRIPPPP…

…well if I'm honest, Janae and I slept most of the journey lol.

We arrived just in time to make the Easter service. Their new church is called E5!

This Easter Sunday, Anoushca was putting on 'The Passion' play that we had done at City Gates a few years back.

It was so cool to see other people play the characters you acted as and how they interpreted their role (sorry that's the inner performing arts student within me talking lol)

I found myself getting really emotional when I saw Pastor Steve on stage giving an alter call (call for salvation).

It was a bit surreal seeing him on stage. I mean this is a man who has imparted so much love, wisdom and guidance into my life. A man who has always seen the best in me, prayed for me and encouraged me during my lowest times as a teen!!

And don't get me started with Anoushca! This gorgeous lady mentored me through my teens. She has and always been a great example to me and because of her I'm able to flourish in ministry and serve others to the best of my ability!

The show was over and the cast were thanked and applauded. Steve then gave his beautiful wife Anoushca a special shout out for putting on the show.

At this point Anoushca spotted me and shouted 'Shivy! I'm coming down'! Honestly I was so happy to see her!

It had been roughly 7 months since I'd seen Steve, Anoushca and Anastasia so we were ready to catch up and take a trip around the town.

It's not a reunion without a cheeky nandos lol! We spent the afternoon catching up and filling each other in with what's new at our respective churches.

As we walked around Bristol, I honestly thought I was in a different country! The atmosphere was just so different

Pastor Steve gave a proper tour of the town and explained that Bristol is the home of Banksy! I captured many of his original pieces painted on walls and buildings 😍🎨

"Break dancing Jesus" guys I cannot 😂

Steve and Anoushca then had to get back to their church for the evening service so Ian, Jihan, Janae and I made our way to our hotel!

When we arrived Janae and I found our room and it was playtime – it's always playtime with Auntie Shivy 😁

It's not an Auntie Shivy occasion without Peppa Pig. I must say this is one of THE funniest episodes I've seen #PeppaCanNotWhistle (see below)

The night ended with a few bed stories and then we were counting sheep😴

"GOOD MORNING SHIVY!"

Janae and I were up and ready nice and early so we had a little photoshoot 📸

The next day we said our goodbyes to Steve Anoushca and Anastasia and went to be tourists for a few hours until it was time to drive back!

A huge thank you to the McEwen's! Thank you for taking the time out to be our tour guides 😁

I seriously thought that I was back in Germany, the area was so clean and I could enjoy being a tourist for a few hours at the aquarium and outdoor cinema.

It was a great end to an amazing Easter weekend. We went one one more adventure and got ready to travel back to London!

When I was finally dropped home, I bid the Greaves family adieu and ran indoors!

To top of the amazing Easter weekend I was blessed enough to enjoy an Easter feast with my family!

Thank you Ian and Jihan for taking me! Honestly you continue to be a blessing to me and I appreciate all you do!

I'll see you soon Bristol x

 

Zippos Circus

Never have I ever… been to a circus!

One thing I love about these #25For25 challenges is that every time I ask someone if they want to join me… they say yes duh

But not only that, the majority of them haven’t done the challenges either! So it makes things even more exciting

Meet Liz, singer-song writer-natural hair extraordinaire, did I forget to mention she’s also my twin 🤥☺️

This gorgeous girl decided to put up with me for a few hours and join me at the circus.

When we arrived we were welcomed by your standard large red circus tent and these circus workers in penguin suits.

​​Liz and I waked in and the first thing my Scooby-doo nose picked up was candy floss and popcorn 😂

“Do you think it’s free?” Liz and I said simultaneously as we watched the workers offer sugary snacks to other attendees.

“It’s not free.” Said Liz and I, once again in true twin fashion.

Then came the plate spinners… they make it look so easy… sorry Liz, Sorry Shiv.

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​​The clocks ticked and a ‘clown’ came out to do a bit of a crowd warmer. I don’t even know if you can call him a clown though…

SHIV’S CLOWN CHECKLIST:

Big red wig – nope

Over-sized floppy shoes – nope

Rainbow coloured overalls – nope

…but he did have a goofy sense of humour so we’ll give him that.

The show began with the African gymnasts who made me want to jump in and be part of the human pyramid.

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Then came the legend himself, Mr Norman Barret, MBE. Another audience member was so happy to see him she mentioned how Norman looks good for his age and that he’s been doing the show since she was a kid.
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Guys, the next act was crazy. This lady Kim who was a boss of an acrobat, but honestly if i was her age I’d prefer to be sipping on pina coladas in my mansion with my grand-kids running around lol!

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You need to clock, she has the thing around her neck folks….Liz and I DID NOT want to witness any fatalities today.

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​I don’t really need to go into much detail about the show, the proof is in the footage – it was lively!

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All the performers are incredibly talented but i reckon the one that had me on the edge of my seat the most were the knife throwers. WHAT ON EARTH!?

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The shows finale involved ‘The Globe of Death’ with about 4 motor cyclists riding around leaving all audience member thinking ‘I could do that.’ lol
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Overall, the show was great, not too long and not too short. I couldn’t say that I had a favourite act. The end drew closer and all performers came out to receive a roar of applause and a standing ovation.

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Liz and I decided to join them on the road so look at for us when they’re next in town. We’ll be the two clowns, attempting to juggle and dropping plates everywhere…

​​Thank you Zippos Circus!

X

 

Escape Rooms 👽🕵🏾‍♀️

Challenge numero Quattro – Escape London 🕵🏾‍♀️
So here’s something I’ve never done before; purposely get locked in a room for fun and try to escape – casual.
I got some of my girls together and thought that this would be the perfect team building exercise…plus we all love a challenge!
These are girls that I mentor, Bridget, Leanne, Mary and Esther…as well as the lovely Ore; they’re actually good friends of mine too. 

When we finally agreed on an evening we could all do we literally counted down the days.

The website doesn’t say much about the experience itself, I guess they don’t want to give too much away. And not only that – it adds to the mystery.

The first task of the day was to get everyone to the venue on time…head count:
Shiv check ✔️

Bridget: check ✔️

Leanne: check ✔️

Esther: check ✔️

Mary? uh oh…

Things were going so well but we couldn’t start without all our team present…

Eventually we all made it to the venue and realised Mary was there all along – panic over  we were finally  ready to start 😃 

…Well we couldn’t proceed without snapchatting the entrance, the door, the sign, each other…our entire surroundings 

*rolls eyes* 

​​…heck I think we even snapped our feet walking into the building haha

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Once we were finished playing the over excited “I need to film everything in my path like a millennial” game, we were ready for our slot.

Our guide explained the task in the most cryptic way possible. He gave us a safety briefing and explained that there is no video footage aloud. 

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​​My only concern was that nothing or nobody would drag me to some basement

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Our escape room theme was ‘Area 51’, so that’s all things space, extra terrestrials, government conspiracies, UFOs you name it!

Once you get in, things are intense. We’re naturally competitive and brainy women so we all got into role from the get go. 

When you’re in there and the clock is ticking, you find yourself thinking into things way too much. You literally try to decode everything in sight until you realise ITS NOT THAT DEEP lol.

Honestly it’s so fun, I really wish you could film inside because you could see how serious we all took it. 

I think when it came to the half an hour mark (when we managed to get into the second room) we all split up and looked for clues.

The majority of the time was spent running around shouting and trying to decipher hieroglyphic type writings on the wall.

You guys will really have to use your imagination because without footage it’s difficult to paint a picture…

It’s not escape rooms without cool costumes! Man I really got into it 😂

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We finished with about a minute to spare (with a little help lol) and were greeted with an open door and our guide saying CONGRATS!  

We were all given a certificate…you can tell how excited the team was…
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Photo op.

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We did so well but the real challenge was finding somewhere to eat afterwards… ​
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The gang and I ended up at Westfield White City. I really really wanted to eat Chinese; and everything that began with the letter C looked like CH-CH-CH Chinese to me…​

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We eventually ate and made our way home. But of course we had to have an eventful commute back East…

Meet this lady here below. 

She proceeded to tell us how she had just met her favourite celebratory crush, and how she wiped the sweat off his body…all the while her BOYFRIEND was stood there shaking his head.

She was super drunk but so entertaining…well until she tickled me!? (Yes, she actually tickled me) Saints it took every inch of restraint to not react 😂 #ImmaStaySaved

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All in all, I would recommend going to an Escape Room activity. Great team building and generally so jokes because you see everyone’s competitive side in a light hearted but ever so serious setting!

Here’s the contact info of the place we visited ⤵️
👽

Did someone say, adult BALL PIT!?

Best friend + Birthday = Adult Ball Pit!

What better way to celebrate CHALLENGE 3…

Whoever came up with the idea to make one of my childhood favourites into a bar is an absolute genius.

I remember searching aimlessly on wowcher for deals (you know Shivy loves a bargain).

And I came across the Adult Ball Pit; I thought why not?

Now the whole idea of #25For25 is to do things I’ve never done before, go to places I’ve never visited etc and do these challenges with different people each time.

Because it was March and my bestie Shae was celebrating her 27th birthday I knew she would be perfect to go with.

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So I found this cool place in Dalston called Ballie Ballerson and as the title suggests…it’s a bar filled with hundreds of thousands of balls  *relives childhood*

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Upon arrival we were greeted by hipsters, neon lights and Aztec prints all over the walls.

When we finally got to the pit I almost forgot what you have to do…like when you’re a kid life doesn’t come with an instruction manual you just go wild.

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So Shae and I decided to be less reserved and release our inner 5 year old lol

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Of course….I was a little less graceful (see below footage)

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The slots are only meant to be an hour, but please believe Shae and I stayed longer. After being in the office for hours this was the perfect way to unwind and celebrate a birthday 🎉
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But in typical Shiv fashion something had to go ‘wrong’ lol. If you read the rules as you enter it says “belongings are taken into the pit at your own risk. Be wary of dropping phones…’

But when you’re Shivy, you always have your phone out #SnapChatQueen. In the following snap, a girl says in the background “what if your lose your phone in here” 👀

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…and surprise surprise I lost my phone 😂😫

I can laugh about it now because of course my phone was retrieved. But at the time boy was I shook.
I made a stupid split second error trying to save my battery. I put my phone on flight mode and popped it in my top pocket and then boom – it dropped.
Ironically I NEVER lose things 🙄

So Shae, myself and these three lovely Irish girls spent the next 45 mins diving into thousands of neon plastic balls…aimlessly searching for my iPhone 6s #TheScreenAintCracked

Honestly…I wasn’t worried. You’d think that I was but all I could think of was… “damn, I hope no one steals it because I don’t condone physical violence 😂” 

AND this thought also popped into my mind “If one of these girls steps on it and the screen cracks, its peak…for them.”

Eventually the night came to the end and I had already spoken to the security guy who was inside the pit with us. 

When he managed to throw everyone out (except Shae and I 😁) we searched for the phone for a while. Then he said in true Nigerian-Clark-Kent-esque fashion “Step aside ladies”…

He took one step in, threw a couple balls out the way, stomped his feet and clapped three times and found my phone! I was buzzing…especially because at that time amongst many other lost items my phone was the only thing to be found.

Lost items included: Lost earrings, a few lost phones and a  shoe

I did a little tap dance and wanted to bless the security guy for finding my phone so I gave him a big hug and a tenner and made my way.

And of course had to snap about the experience lol…
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Overall this challenge was super fun and I’m gonna try my best to update this blog as frequently as possible because I’m super behind! 

Songs of Praise

Yes, I know I started late, but as you can see I’m caching up with these #25For25 tasks!

Challenge number 2 took place  a few weeks ago!
As the title states, I was involved in the filming of BBC’s Songs of Praise with my Church City Gates.

I know what you’re thinking…Songs of Praise, the typical robes, choir boy attire…

Well I can guarantee it was nothing like that!!!

Rehearsals started in February and we had to learn/perfect 12 songs…yep 12 songs. Working on the harmonies is always my favourite part, sopranos at the front 🙋🏾, altos in the middle and tenors at the back.

On the first day of filming we were all buzzing. By the end of that 8 hour day we were all slumped.

Seeing the cameras and the equipment the BBC were working with was out of this world. 
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​Imagine taking a selfie on one of these bad boys 😂

The producers had to film some shots of the choir and the backing vocalists before the congregation arrived. We would sing a song once…twice…thrice…fou…you get the picture 

But that’s TV for you! It’s tedious having to sing the same thing over and over but we literally had to put on our brace faces and give the same amount of energy during each recording.

The Songs Of Praise band included some extremely gifted and talent musicians. I read an interesting fact that the saxophone player is the legend who played the sax solo on George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’…yeah you know the one lol!

The whole experience was beyond exciting, from the constant touch ups #shinyforeheadproblems to the banter with the producers and band.
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I have to give a special shout out to Uncle Steve and Auntie Vel Thompson for coordinating the whole thing and being so patient with everyone ❤
Another special shout out to the choir (esp the sopranos) we managed to secure the front row so we got a cheeky DAB in every now and then 

What’s in your bag Shiv? 

Well Auntie Vel is very used to being behind the camera so she gave the saints a list of things to keep with us whilst filming.

Auntie Vel’s Bag of Essentials:

• Wet wipes
• Deodorant/Body spray 
• Perfume
• Breath mints
• Lip Gloss (girls)
• Translucent powder
• Comb
• Water bottles
• Talcum powder

But because I’m Shivy and I’m extra, this is what I had with me for the weekend…

Toothbrush, toothpaste (Oral B 3D White all day), mirror, Vaseline, lip balm AND lip gloss. Nail varnish (the finest specimen of Christian Louboutin), hairbrush, hair moose, hairspray, perfume and cream…

My little hamper really got me through the day (I had a couple snacks in their too lol)

My two favourite moments of the day were hearing the words “That’s a wrap”…

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…and when the entire choir were invited onstage and we showed the BBC City Gates is really about!!!

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I’ve attached a little summary video of the whole weekend so you can see what we got up to!

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Overall, the experience was one to remember. What better way to celebrate Challenge number two. 
City Gates Songs Of Praise Choir, lead vocalists and band.

Let The Challenges Begin…

Who, what, what, what, where, how did I get right here…

I figured my first ever blog post should explain who I am, what I do, purpose of the challenge…you know the ‘important’ stuff.

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Siobhan, I usually go by the name Shiv or Shivy

Wow…this is like writing my personal statement all over again lol.

I want to keep this post short and sweet; hopefully you’ll come back after I complete my next 24 challenges!

So I’m turning 25 this year, and to celebrate I came up with this #25For25Challenge.

The plan is to do 25 things I have NEVER done, before the year ends; sort of like a bucket list! 📝💡

I asked friends, family and complete strangers to make suggestions about what kind of tasks I could do…some really easy and others completely insane; but I’m up for it!

Throughout the year I’ll be documenting each challenge by blogging/snapping and videos 📸

Im genuinely so excited to do something new and most of these tasks are things I wouldn’t ever imagine doing…but I won’t say too much 😶

Just watch this space!

“The purpose of life is to live it. To taste experience to the upmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt