You say it's your birthday

Tomorrow I turn 35.

Looking back on my life, I'm pretty damn happy with everything I have done and seen.

I've experienced the kind of love every girl should experience at least twice. I've had my heart broken. I've cried more tears than anyone should ever shed.

I've had a mixture of different careers fom Journalist to TV Producer/Director/Webdesigner/Writer to Public Relations Bitch to Administration.


I decided when I turned 32, I'd try my hand at writing novels. I'm still working on that one. I'm ok with not being published yet. Being a writer is a career that can last a lifetime and will.


I've battled an eating disorder - anorexia to be exact. Ok, it's one I'm still battling and always will. I'm ok with that too. I've realised I'm too much of a perfectionist to let that issue go away anytime soon. I've also realised I'm too much a fighter to let it beat me.

I've gone to University. I've worked hard and have three degrees to show for it. I don't regret any of them or the lessons they've taught me along the way.

I've seen the world. I've traveled right throughout Europe, para-glided off some of the highest alps in Austria, whitewater rafted through Colorado and Austria, taken a early morning balloon ride through Albuquerque, New Mexico, danced in the streets of Spain when they won the World Cup and ate snails in Paris.

I've traveled extensively through the US -which is still the country of my heart and where I oneday hope to retire. Everytime I go back, I fall in love all over again.
I've lived in so many different places my head spins with each and every one of them. Some have been brief stays and others much longer.

I've met some amazing people along the way - each who have helped shaped me into who I am and some, whom I don't see often but are always close to my heart. I love each and every one of them.

I've learnt so much about myself in the past 35 years - some lessons I've learned harder than others. I've learnt that when the chips are down, I am a survivor. I can take criticism. I won't like it but I'll take it on the chin. And you can bet your ass I have a voice and if I don't like something, you'll know about it.


Some people see turning 35 as the beginning of the end. I see it as a new chapter in my life. One I can't wait to grab onto with both hands.

Where do I see myself in the next 5 years? Firstly, not just finishing the novel but getting it edited, agented and published. The second and third novel will also be in the works by then.

I see myself living away from Melbourne. Most likely the states. Home is where the heart is and the heart has not been in Melbourne for a long time. I do like the idea of roaming the world, but we'll see.

Yeah, I'll be older. But you know what? It's not the end of the world. Life is what you make it and someone once told me you should live your life, like it's the last day of it and that's what I'm going to do.

So, turning 35 is not a curse to me but a blessing. If I hadn't reached this age, I wouldn't have realised that become a fiction writer is what I want and need to do with my life. I wouldn't be who I am now and I wouldn’t have met the amazing people in my life.
Here's to turning 35 everyone. May you all experience it once...or for some people I know twice.