Sleep or sex?

Would you rather dream it or do it?

Would you rather get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep or have hot, athletic sex?

If you answered sleep, you are my people. Sleep is my drug of choice.

I have devoted decades to figuring out how to sleep better.

My current formula is:

• 2mg melatonin

• Bioavailable magnesium tablet

• Blackout blind

• Yoga stretches before bed

• Low lighting in the evening

This works most of the time unless I go out at night, drink too much, stuff up at work (ANXIETY!) or sleep somewhere that is not my finely calibrated bedroom.

I know I’m not alone in this. As we traverse the rocky terrain of parenthood, peri/menopause and work emails that don’t stop at 5pm, sleep becomes ever more precious and elusive.

The video below is TRUTH.

Watching/reading/listening

SO MANY GOOD THINGS!

Do you ever feel completely bombarded with awesomeness? I do. Sometimes I spend half an hour just looking. The streaming service scroll is the modern day version of the video store stroll.

When I worked at Local Video Hamilton in the early noughties, I loved getting to know everyone’s preferences and making recommendations. I was the 2002 algorithm!

For this chilly week in 2024, here’s what I think you might like.

Reading

One of my book clubs (yes, I am in two because I am a book club ho) is reading this. I haven’t finished it yet but oh, Trent Dalton, you break my heart. I wasn’t a huge fan of Boy Swallow Universe (mostly because the narrator on the audiobook was irritating) but I did enjoy Love Stories. This book has completed my conversion from fence sitter to Trent Dalton fan. He weaves gritty realism with idiosyncratic detail and then throws enough fairy dust on it so that it’s not Trainspotting levels of depressing.

Watching

Season 1 of The Twelve on Foxtel. HOO BOY. This is a non-vanilla thriller. It follows the case of a wackadoo artist aunt accused of murdering her wild child niece. If that isn’t juicy enough, the 10-episode season follows the stories of the fourteen jurors (there are two spares) that are tasked with hearing the case. There’s gambling addiction, accidental death, borderline personality disorder and IVF, just to name a few of the spicy psychological goodies in store for you.

Listening

Davidji’s Inviting Bliss Into Your Life Meditation here.

Drinking

Swedish Bitters taste ghastly (I wretched the first time I drank them without juice) but they do seem to be helping my digestive system. They have a soothing, slightly laxative effect that dampens an overly-acidic stomach. Apparently the eye watering bitterness kicks your gallbladder into gear. The Western diet is notoriously low in bitter foods so this (revolting) tonic is meant to be good for your liver.

On the less disgusting upside, I bought some mystery white and red 12 packs from McClarenvale Cellars (thank you to @rebeccavaridelofficial for the tip). Definitely not good for your liver but the wines are all A+. This white-labelled wine tastes like it comes from very la-di-dah origins, a bit like Prince Frederick hanging out at The Slip Inn or the lowborn Targaryens who (spoiler alert) may have been adopted by DRAGONS. Check them out here.

Central Coast adventure

How I love an adventure! On the weekend, some of my friends and I went to Distillery Botanica near Terrigal.

It’s SO PRETTY. It’s hidden away in the coastal hinterland, tucked into a fragrant garden bursting with gin botanicals. There’s a cafe for lunch (I had the reuben) and excellent coffee and cocktails, as well as a tasting room with an enormous copper still.

We tasted our way through the gins (pictured above), as well as vodka, rum, raspberry liqueur and coffee liqueurs. My fave was the Pearl Crush gin, made with crushed up oyster shells from Broken Bay.

Fun fact: The best juniper berries come from Macedonia and the best raspberries come from Tasmania.

Thank you!

That’s all from me for this week but before I go, I just want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who has signed up to this little newsletter.

97 of you! OMG. I am so excited about this. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY BIG, SOPPY HEART.

If you know anyone else who might like it, please do share it with them and garner my never-ending gratitude.

And if there’s anything you would like to see in this newsletter, please drop a comment below! I live to serve you, dudes.