It was a lovely evening but like all events of this size if you weren't standing in the right place the platters of food never made it anywhere near you.
As we moved around sampling the wine on offer we spied people with platters with delicious looking food aboard but alas they never made it to us until well into the evening. By then we were hungry and could smell the aroma of food being cooked at the food station in the middle of the "tent".
It seemed we weren't the only ones who were hungry as people lined up three deep to get at the delicious looking array of food on offer.
Everyone eventually got fed. While I was mingling a man said to me "you're are the lady in the paper".
Yes, I replied, that's me. "Is Mr Neat really that Neat," he asked me. "Does he make the bed?" It made me think of what perspective some people have of Mr Neat.
The answer is no, he doesn't make the bed, nor does he clean the bathroom. He just likes everything in "an orderly fashion" and I'm afraid I'm not very orderly.
Anyway back to my busy weekend. Saturday morning I went to my uncles' funeral. It was one of those funerals that you come away from thanking your lucky stars that you have such an incredible family.
His daughters did a fantastic job of making what could have been a sad occasion, a celebration of their dad's life.
There were sad moments of course but there was also happy memories and laughter.
Next it was off to look after Miss six and Master four while their parents enjoyed a F.A.W.C! event at Clearview. It must have been good because they were very happy when they got home.
Then yesterday I was up early getting ready to go to Blissed Out Yoga and a Wholefood Brunch with Nici Wickes.
Nici shared her story of using food to go from feeling burnt out and tired to feeling healthy and full of vitality.
She's a great speaker and her message wasn't just about food. It was also about how we treat ourselves. One "exercise" she did with us was to have us all close our eyes and imagine what we would do and say if a friend, or family member came to us and said things weren't going well in their lives. What would you say or do to them? Perhaps a hug, certainly encouraging words.
Then she had us imaging what we say to ourselves when things aren't going to plan in our own lives. I know exactly what I say to myself. Get on with it, or build a bridge or maybe for goodness sake get a grip.
It really made me think about how hard we are on ourselves.
So next time you feel like you're not coping or something goes wrong in your life, instead of telling yourself off, stop, don't be mean to yourself, be nice - give yourself a break.
FOOTNOTE: I'll be writing more about this event in Saturday's Indulge.
- Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.
