and I'm one Elle of a contradiction

A little about me:

Well I thought I'd share a little bit of information about me. Nothing too personal, just a little insight. I have never been a girly sort of person yet I love extremely girly things. As I have grown up the tomboy has left me, as it probably has for a lot of women, and the feminine side of me has developed at an ever increasing pace.

Things I have always loved though include Jane Austin. I remember watching the BBC T.V. episodes with my dad when I was younger and the love for period dramas has stemmed from that. This is why I have added 'Read Pride and Prejudice' to my 30 before 30 list. It's a slow process since I am a slow reader and since I keep stopping to look up words and the meaning of certain phrases I come across in the book. But I will get there.

Another one from my feminine side is my love of baking. I love to bake and it mostly comes from my love of T.V. cooks. I used to watch cooking show after cooking show on a Saturday morning, but I didn't really start baking until I moved into the house I am in now. Before then I lived at home or in a share house. It wasn't until I had the run of the kitchen before I started baking a lot. I mostly try to only bake for an occasion, otherwise I have too much food to tempt me and I eat more than I should. 'Hold a home made high tea' is another 30 before 30 item and comes from this love of baking. Also I absolutely love tea, high tea and Devonshire tea. I basically love tea and food.

White chocolate and dark chocolate cupcakes for my aunt's 50th.

My want to create a dress and a blanket for my 30 before 30 comes from me wanting to be able to be more of a domestic goddess. I also love quite feminine dresses and often get called lady like by one of my friends. But here I come to the less lady like side of me. Firstly to motorbikes.

I started learning to ride in 2005 after my mum asked me if I wanted to learn as she herself rode as well as her husband. I got my licence in December of that year. I moved to Perth not long after and met a large group of friends through this common ground, including my current boyfriend. I am also going to help a friend of mine get her licence as apart of her 30 before 30. This is current bike and I have had her since 2008.

My bike

For all of those playing at home, it is a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R750.

Other not so girly things I do include boxing and kick boxing. I am by no means saying that girls don't kick box or do other martial arts. More that to do so you must not mind walking out with a few bumps and bruises. Which I am defiantly not afraid of and that a more gentile girl may not like. I started regularly going to a fighting fit class over 3 years ago. In that class we did a bit of boxing, a bit of kicking, some weights, some yoga and some weapon work as well as a lot of other things. Then last year I started attending a boxing fitness class with some friends. One of which is the one who keeps calling me lady like and wants to learn to ride a motorbike. These classes are run by boxers in a boxing gym and are no where near a boxercise class. A few months back the fighting fitness class changed to another class which I wasn't entirely interested in so I went looking for a substitute and found kick boxing. So now I go to both the kick boxing and the boxing classes and I enjoy them immensely.

So there you have it. A little insight into me and the things I love.

Love, love Elle.