32 Things I’ve Learned In 32 Years
In no particular order
I turned 32 on Saturday. I feel more hungover than wiser, but I do think I’ve accrued some learnings over the past three decades. Like many things I write on here, this is more of a note to myself - things I want to remember and just happen to be public for everyone to see. Take it or leave it! I’m back next week with a proper piece of writing about personality types and trying to define ourselves. Happy bank holiday!
Sourdough simply isn’t the best bread. It’s good toasted with eggs. But if you want a bacon sandwich, you’re going to need soft, white, fluffy bloomer or tiger bread and that’s just a fact.
Living closer to your friends and seeing the same people regularly is actually really amazing and will make your life better.
Working out is so much more fun if you’re not doing it to lose weight.
Testing your meatballs before you cook all of them is a sure fire way of making them better. Make the mixture, roll a small one out, cook, taste and then season the rest of the mixture accordingly.
Having one outfit and sticking to it isn’t boring; it’s chic and I learnt that from my dad (and Fran Lebowitz).
Herbs like basil won’t last in the fridge; but if you put parsley, coriander and dill in a Tupperware with a bit of water and J Cloth at the bottom, it will keep them fresh. And chives are best wrapped in kitchen towel then popped into a glass of water, kept in the side of your fridge.
Different ovens require different temperatures and cooking times. That’s why I don’t always trust recipes; my oven always needs a little longer when I’m roasting a chicken. The more you cook with the oven, the more attune toot you become. It’s like a relationship (they won’t leave you but they might break down).
You can just tell the difference between good quality meat and cheap meat. I don’t think that means you need to buy expensive meat all the time; we just need to eat less of it on a daily basis and save the good quality stuff for an occasion.
The idea of being alone for the rest of your life becomes less sad when you’ve got amazing friends who you can depend on. I’d happily live on a commune with mine and I’d never get lonely.
Finding the perfect fit of anything is pretty much impossible unless you’re the ideal western beauty standard. Get things tailored or altered!
On that note: buying things because they look good on other people does not always translate to your own body. I’ve learnt that the hard and expensive way.
If my career is anything to go by, it takes many risks and different versions of things to get to a point of stability and happiness.
I’m still learning this one: caring so much what people think of you to a debilitating degree will get in the way of you enjoying your life.
It’s better to be honest about why you’re cancelling plans rather than make up a lie that you have to keep up with.
Something I truly didn’t appreciate until my thirties: pubs are perfect cultural institutions that cannot be replaced by natural wine bars. Going for a casual half on a Monday night is one of life’s great pleasures.
Perfection doesn’t exist except in the form of food - e.g. a perfect boiled egg (6.5-7 mins), a perfect roast chicken (low and slow then turned up high to finish), a perfect tiramisu (with a little orange zest).
You should always order two hash browns with your McMuffin: one to slide into the sandwich and one on the side.
Trying new restaurants is great but at the end of the day, the local spot five minutes from your house that always tastes good and where you know the staff is always going to be a little bit better.
A breakfast taco is usually superior to eggs on toast. Keep corn tortillas in the freezer because they’re so quick and easy to defrost in a pan.
Fish fingers should be in the freezer at all times to be defrosted in the toaster and placed on top of rice, in salads, in sandwiches or just eaten with a bowl of miso butter peas! They are ultimate snacks.
There are hundreds of chilli oils that cost over a fiver from hipster Hackney brands but ultimately it’s the Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp or the Sun Wah XO sauce coming in at £2.50 that taste the best.
Friendships need to be nurtured but the best ones don’t necessarily require constant chatter.
On that note, it’s ok for friendships to fade. If we kept every single friend we’d ever made in our lives we would be exhausted.
Kismet exists and will pull you apart from certain people or situations then introduce you to others that make your life better. And sometimes you’ll think it’s for one reason but it will turn into another and neither is better or worse, just the way things were meant to be.
The best way to remove sausage meat from its casing is to score it all along the side. I spent years trying to squeeze it out from the top like an idiot.
You will discover your particular brand of butter (or butters). The Lurpak of your childhood will translate into President (salty, creamy); Kerrygold (golden and creamy); or Isigny D’Mere (tangy).
“That was the morning I committed the first sin of love, which is to confuse beauty and a good sound track with knowledge.”
“Don’t start measuring your life in sex, it’s dangerous. Great sex is not a big deal.”
You will return to the same book (see 27 and 28) over and over again for wisdom and you will learn something new each time. (Stephanie Danler, thank you).
There is, sadly, such thing as too much salt.
It is simply impossible to be a babe all of the time! We are all part time babes (thank you Kelli for this reminder / merch).
The hype about pasta water is truly real!
