Good Mood Vibes and Loving Life

Today's post is brought to you by today's amazingly cheerful mood, lots of Jackson 5 music blasting in the lounge room and a nice hot cup of coffee.

This last week I have been very tired and emotionally drained. I don't know why but i'm just exhausted. I think I've just been working a lot, thinking about life too much, not seeing my kids enough and now that my husband is back at work I am missing him a lot too. Basically I have just been a tired blob of mess. There were a few days there where I just wanted to curl into a ball but couldn't. We all have those moments in life and they will always find ways to just creep back in there and bring us down. However I have learned (from a Disney movie of course) that you just have to keep moving despite everything that is happening just keep on swimming because life is not over and once you push through there is always good on the other side.

Today however the sun is starting to come through here in Adelaide, work was decent today, i've popped in one of my all time favourite cd's and I guess myself is just back in action. I woke up with spirit :D I have lots of new plans for my life that I am still working on and I have started a sister blog which will be up and running soon.

I am always trying to be a healthier person and so I have decided to start studying health and nutrition. My new blog will be sharing my journey as well as being a health and lifestyle blog. Eventually I want to make a career out of sharing with the world how to live a healthy lifestyle with the right foods and the right mindsets. It is going to take a lot of hard work but I think I have finally found something that I am so ready for and can see me doing for the rest of my life. This time however I am not rushing into anything and I am just taking baby steps and seeing where I get to. I will of course keep things updated on here. My other blog will only be about health and nutrition and then this blog will remain as everything else in my life for now.

I am also in the process of decluttering my house one space at a time. It is taking a while but i'm trying to rid my world of clutter and general crap that has taken over my space. I am already feeling better and like I can breathe again and i'm only half way through my bedroom haha.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day and just remember when life is getting you down just keep on swimming :D

Ciao
Liane xx

Foodie Friday

It's Foodie Friday!!!!
Okay so it is actually Sunday now but I wrote the majority of my blog on the Friday, then I had to work a whole bunch and my Ipad freaked out with my photos but all is good now and so I am uploading Foodie Friday a little late.....sorry :(

This week has been so much in the kitchen. My whole family has taken to my new healthier lifestyle and everyone has been enjoying all the yummy foods. My 12 year old son was my biggest worry because he doesn't eat a lot in general and when he does he just lounges on the couch eating whatever has the most sugar or bags of chips. I know that sounds terrible but now that he is growing up and I'm working 6 days a week I just can't monitor and control everything as much as I used to.

I'm not saying that as an excuse it is just the way it has become this past year and everything has slackened. I sat him down last week and we talked about healthier choices and more exercise. He told me that he likes to play Football with his friends at school so we went to the shops and bought him a football to encourage him to play more. Then I asked if he would like to join me in eating healthier foods and making better decisions with food. It is a new journey for me trying to eat clean and make better choices and I didn't wanted him to make the decision himself with a little guidance because after all I am the parent but I do like my children to have a say in their own lives. 

He fully agreed and this week we focused on breakfasts and snacks to start with. Just to get him thinking about all the many options for breakfast you can have besides froot loops. He has been loving it so far. Creating his own smoothie versions with the help from Jessica Sepel's new book 'The Healthy Life' which has categories for Fibre, Protein, Healthy Sweetners etc which you just pick one from each category. I love this method because I can teach him about what each ingredient in his smoothie is providing his body with.

We have also been watching some of Jamie Oliver's Family Food Tube on YouTube and we watched his wife Jool's make a yummy Bircher muesli that you make the night before! This recipe is Fantastic as I can whip it up the night before and leave it in the fridge for a couple days and everyone can help themselves and top it with their own favourites like, berries, nuts, granola, yoghurt etc. perfect!! 

Another one of our favourite brekkies is a toasted English muffin topped with natural peanut butter and sliced bananas yum yum yum! 

I think I have mentioned this in previous blogs, that my 16 year old daughter has recently become a vegan. The rest of our family is not that keen on giving up meat but we are proud of her and I decided that on Friday's and Monday's we would join her and have vegan dinners with her. Last Monday I made these awesome vegan burgers which we all loved.

This weekend we are heading down to the Market Shed on Holland to pick up some organic, fresh fruit and veg for the week ahead!!

Eating healthier has just been SO amazing! I can't wait to keep sharing all the things I have learned with you all as I continue on my journey.

Ciao

Liane xx

My Top Ten Workout Songs

As most of you know I have been exercising a lot the last couple of weeks and I am absolutely LOVING it. I managed to do some form of workout everyday and it makes me feel happier throughout the day, I feel more confident in myself and I feel stronger.

To get me through my workouts I always listen to music and I thought that today I would share with you my top ten workout songs. Some of these are faster and some slower as I start out with upbeat music and cool down with slower or more chilled out tunes. I also have a very wide music taste so there are bits from every genre!!

I hope you enjoy and if you have any favourite workout tunes please share them with me in the comments so I can check them out and get some new ideas for my workout playlist :D

Ciao
Liane xx


Ariana Grande feat Iggy Azalea - Problem

Robin Thicke - Everything I Can't Have

Steeler's Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You

112 - Dance With Me

Starship - Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now

Timmy Trumpet - Freaks

Jessica Simpson - These Boots are Made for Walking

Shaggy - You Girl

Step Up 3 - I won't Dance

Salt n Pepa - Push It

Foodie Friday - Pranee Thai and San Churros

Last weekend we went on a little family night out with our kids and our friends and their kids for dinner and dessert. We met at a little Thai restaurant on Brighton Road called Pranee Thai. This place is so good especially for families. The staff are super friendly and the owners always come out and socialise with the customers. The food is absolutely delicious.

My favourite on the menu is the duck curry........OH MY!! it is like heaven but there isn't an item on the menu i haven't enjoyed so I highly recommend them. The prices are also amazing! so please please make sure you check it out if you haven't already, it is so worth it. The kids on the table chose salt and pepper squid and devoured the plates. It is really easy to just grab a bunch of dishes and just share amongst everyone. That is what we do every time and it means we get to try bits of everything.

After Pranee's we headed for a drive up to Marion shopping centre and had dessert at San Churro's. I did enjoy San Churro's and the food was yum yum yum but I found it quite pricey for what you were getting. I did really really like their mugs they were super cute and I did go over to their shop area to buy some but they were quite expensive so I didn't bother. The kids were in heaven here as there is so much melted chocolate that you can dip anything in haha. It was definitely a fun experience and a great place to go but it isn't something you could do all the time, I don't think.

Here are some pics from our night :D

 

Potential new life change

Evening Lovelies

It's a chilly day here in Adelaide and quite sad looking outside. I've been working up at my city job this morning, as most of you know I have two jobs and today was quite busy I was kept on my feet and I love days like that. My city job allows me to come home just after lunch as I start early in the morning so I got to laze a bit this afternoon and think a lot.

The last few weeks I have been focusing on getting my health and fitness to a better standard and I think I have been doing quite well. I have cut my coffee intake to just one a day and I am drinking lots more water. I am also eating more clean foods and exercising every morning before I go out to work. I am feeling a lot more energised and happier which got me thinking a bit more........today I was researching some options for learning more about nutrition and health. I'm thinking I might start a course maybe online or at an institute. I just want to be more equipped to look after myself and I think it could even be a possible career for myself if I ended up really enjoying it.

For the moment I am just looking at researching for myself and my health so I can improve but I think there could definitely be potential for more later on. I feel like I am getting older and don't have a real life goal as yet so I am in the works of figuring out what to do with my life. Maybe this is it. Who knows :p

I will definitely keep you all updated.

For now if anyone knows of any good nutrition books I might find helpful let me know in the comments and I will check them out.

Ciao
Liane xx

Beauty just around the corner......

It always amazes me what beauties you can find near your own backyard if you just get out there and look for it. I always find myself sitting and saying how boring everything around me is or how there is nothing to do. Like a child on school holidays who has no clue what to do with their new found time. 

But if I just get up and get out there there is so much to enjoy and appreciate that is so close to home. No need for thousands of dollars to go on a holiday or long trips to get somewhere nice. 

Yesterday my sister and I spent the last day together before she headed back to the UK and I drove up the road about 10 minutes away and we walked along the boardwalk at Hallet Cove beach. This place is truly beautiful and it wasn't until yesterday that I really appreciated it's beauty. 

I love that you can walk along the board walk and look out at the beautiful waves and the Coast. it is just so peaceful. It is great for working out, climbing all the stairs and it is quite a trek if you really want to walk far or even jog. I'm definitely planning on walking along once a week as part of my workout routine.

I have definitely decided that I am going to explore more around me and appreciate where I live and what is surrounding me before I complain about needing a holiday. It's the simple things that make our lives happier and more fulfilled and I want to get out there and make the most of it. 

 Do you have somewhere near you that is a little piece of heaven?? 

Girls Date at HarbourTown Adelaide

Today I went on a shopping trip with one of my besties from work and my sister for her last day in Australia before she flies home tomorrow. We decided to go and have a girly day at Harbour Town in Adelaide and it was a great day out. We walked the whole of Harbour Town and stopped for lunch at Subway in the middle. 

I thought I would share with you all the items I purchased from today, I didn't spend a lot but I got quite a few goodies. I was on a budget this week after our big trip to Melbourne so I didn't go overboard. Just some little treats to spoil myself while I have a couple of days off work.  

The first shop I stopped and shopped in was Typo. Typo is one of my favourite shops for stationery. I love their funny little sayings and their super funky/hipster items. Today I was in search for a new financial year diary. I love to get my diaries in the financial year instead of the start of the year. I have no idea why I just always like it that way. This little green diary was only $7 on sale (originally $14.99) and I love it! It is small enough for my handbag but thick so it fits a lot in it. This one is the day to a page one but I think you can also get the same size with a week to a page which is a bit slimmer. I prefer day to a page for my diaries but I also do mix and match a lot as well. It depends how cute the diary is. 

Also from Typo, I grabbed this super cool retro looking cup  that says "I have a milkshake, where the hell are all the boys" I thought this was super cute and I needed something to take my smoothies to work in now that i'm having more of them in my new health kick. This baby was $14.99 and seems to be quite sturdy but we will see how long it lasts. If it does last a while I might even buy a spare one. 

Next store I purchased from was Cotton On. They had a great sale on and if I wasn't on a budget I probably would have bought a whole car load of clothes home. Alas I was on a budget but I did find these cute workout shorts in the 'body' section at the back of the store. I love love love the Cotton On Body range they have so many cute workout clothes, underwear and pyjamas. I grabbed two pairs of shorts today which were on sale for just $5 each! BARGAIN! and I really needed some new shorts to workout in now that I have joined the gym again. YAY! 

 o

In Valleygirl I found this cream and maroon coloured top for just $5 it is slightly cropped so you can just see some tummy! It's going to very amazing when I finally get my abs sorted :P I must admit the sporty look is growing on me and I find it quite comfortable and fun. I also purchased a nice satin type flowy top also for $5 which looks amazing but didn't photograph very well. It will look really nice as a dinner date outfit so when I wear it I will show you guys.

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Finally I shopped in the Cosmetics Fragrance Direct where I picked up a bottle of Guess - Night for my husband for $19 on sale (rrp $49) and I also grabbed a bottle of Beyonce - Heat Wild Orchid for the same price. I was super excited to be adding another perfume to my collection and the Guess cologne was the first one I have ever purchased for my husband as usually I can't find one that I think suits him. This one I knew I had to get for him because as soon as I smelled it it just instantly hit me as something that would suit him. When I gave it to him he said he loved it so YAY!! :D

After a great day shopping it is time for me to cook some dinner and relax with the family!

Ciao
Liane xx

Foodie Friday - A week of healthy eating!!

Yay! It's Foodie Friday :D and even better this is my very first blog post for Foodie Friday!! Double Yay!! Every Friday my blog post will be food related whether it is me sharing a recipe, a menu plan for the week, reviewing a restaurant or food product or maybe a health food post. Every Friday without fail will be about Food Glorious Food!!

I thought I would start the Friday series with a look at what I have been eating this week. Last week I decided that I need to sort some things out in my life including getting my savings plan going!! (I'm aiming for $2,000 saved by Christmas), sorting out a career plan for myself, going hard at my bucket list AND most importantly getting my health back in order.

I'm hoping that blogging about my journey will help me stay motivated and keep me inspired to continue and get through the hard parts. I find it really hard to keep my goals. Basically I have a bunch of goals and I get super excited about them and then 2 or 3 weeks later, all those goals are out the window. Usually it is a "I don't have enough time" thing and sometimes it is just a "I tried but i'm just not good enough" thing. Either way it sucks and I deserve better from myself.

So this week I started slowly getting back into a healthy eating routine. I don't need to lose weight so I'm not on a diet I'm just trying to eat more clean foods and get fitter and healthier. 

Here is my week in food:

Monday - Brekky: Oatmeal with almond milk, banana and strawberries. green tea

Snack: Apple, Carrot and Celery sticks

Lunch: Cucumber sandwich

Snack: Greek Yoghurt and Chamomile tea

Dinner: Meatball Rigatoni

Tuesday - Brekky: Muffin with Peanut Butter and Banana

Snack: Orange Smoothie

Lunch: Salad Sandwich

Snack: Pineapple and Blueberries

Dinner: Southern Fried Chicken with chips

Wednesday - Brekky: Oatmeal with almond milk, banana, strawberries and sultanas

snack: fruit and nut with a hot chocolate

Lunch: cheese and pineapple toastie

Snack: Greek yoghurt topped with berries

Dinner: Lamb Rendang and a Peppermint tea

Thursday - Brekky: Muffin topped with peanut butter and banana

Snack: fruit and nut

Lunch: salad sandwich

Snack: veg and dip

dinner: I cheated this night because I was tired and forgot to get meat out the freezer so we had kfc :( 

Friday - Brekky: banana smoothie

Snack: peppermint tea

Lunch: subway sandwich

snack: fruit and nut

Dinner: beef and veg soup

Okay so it wasn't the best start but I'm trying. Next week is going to be even better I can feel it. I am very proud of myself though as I have been drinking much more water which is fantastic for me. In the morning I have a glass of lemon water and some days I take my large water bottle filled with slices of orange, strawberries and mint leaves. It is soooooo good and helps me get that water down :) I'll definitely be trying out some more infused waters next week. Let me know your favourite infused water combos in the comments and I will try them out! I might even do a blog post on them soon.

Stay tuned next week for the next instalment of Foodie Friday!

Ciao

Liane xx 

Mask of Magnaminty - a Lush Review

A few months ago I was watching a Zoella blog on YouTube where she was doing a haul and she mentioned a store called Lush. As the clog continued she showed her collection of Lush bath bombs and I was instantly intrigued. A little while late I was watching Tanya Burr and she also was talking about this Lush store and sharing bath bombs on YouTube. I am a huge fan of both these channels and so I decided that I had to find out more but with my busy life (when I'm not watching YouTube channels in the middle of the night) I just forgot about it.

Then one day I managed to get in the city for a date with my Husband and I saw a Lush shop on Rundle Mall. Oh I was so excited and dragged him in to have a look. I have been hooked ever since. All the colours and the smells and the bubbly friendly staff who are all so happy to be surrounded by amazingness. It's truly magical and it's now my favourite shop. Luckily it takes a bit of a drive to get there otherwise I would probably go broke. 

On my recent trip to Melbourne, one of the first shops I wanted to find was Lush and we did find one in Melbourne Central. Yay!!! I spent ages in there and came out with some bath bombs and small pot of face mask called Mask of Magnaminty. 

I was super keen to test it out but I thought I would wait until I got home from my trip. I wanted to go home and have something new to entertain me. In the last two weeks I have tried it 3 times and I love love love it. 

There is a strong minty fragrance which is quite overwhelming when you first open the tub but it doesn't take long to adjust and enjoy the soothing smell of the mint. It has a slight green colour which looks like a face mask from a beauty magazine and it has a slight graininess to it that helps gently exfoliate your face as you wash it off. 

I find that the mask is super easy to use, every few days I just apply to my face jump in the shower (when I'm not washing my hair) and leave it on until I jump out and wash my face. Easy as that. It's just a 5 minute mask so it's quick and simple. Once it is washed off it leaves my face feeling soft and fresh, super perfect for a quick fix after a long day at work. 

The Mask of Magnaminty is a little pricey, for the smaller 125g tub it cost me $15.95. There is also a 315g tub for $34.95. However it is worth the cost I think as it is made with 100% natural ingredients, Lush is against animal testing and the pots are made from 100% recycled plastic. If you keep your pots  and bring them back to the Lush store they will give you a free face mask for every 5 clean pots you hand in :) 

So there you have it. If you're looking for a new face mask I highly recommend a trip to Lush for your fix. They have plenty of other natural products as well so head on down. I know I'll be going back very soon to try out some of their hair treatments. 

Ciao 

Liane xx 

Melbourne Museum

We woke up sad to be leaving Melbourne. We had such a great time but we had missed the aquarium and the Queen Victoria Markets. Basically our weekend just wasn't long enough. It was also pouring down with rain outside so it made the day feel miserable.

We packed up our bags and cleaned up the hotel room ready for checkout at 10am. Checkout was easy and the hotel let us keep the car in the car park for no extra cost for the remainder of the day so we left it there and decided to have one more adventure before our drive home........Melbourne Museum. 

Even though we had a beautiful view of the park we had never managed to walk through it so we all grabbed our umbrellas and braved the cold through the park. We got some cute photos with this very cool water fountain in the park.

The walk from the hotel to the Museum was so quick. We could actually see the Museum from our room. They had the IMAX there as well but we didn't have time to watch a movie unfortunately so we skipped that part. When you enter the museum you have a choice of upgrading your ticket to allow you entry to a movie as well which I believe is slightly cheaper for purchasing both at the same time.

Unlike Adelaide museum the Melbourne museum has an entry fee which was about $8 a person. People with a student or concession card get in for free.
We were all super hungry after buying our tickets so our first stop was to the Museum Cafe! Oh my golly goshness this cafe ROCKED!! There was so much variety in the cafe hot foods, cold foods, healthy foods..........yep I said healthy foods!! I grabbed a homemade chia yoghurt yum yum yum!! The prices were bargains!! My sister grabbed a tandoori chicken meal with chips and veg which was a big serving for just $9.50. We were in heaven here and it blew us away that a museum had such great food prices. We highly recommend eating here. I can't flaw the cafe at all!!


Ok back to the Museum. We walked around for a few hours checking out all the exhibitions. It was a huge museum. I'm pretty sure it is bigger than the Adelaide one. Instead of boring you with every step here are some photos of our Museum adventure. I must say my favourite part of the Museum was Pharlap and also the Mind and Body section! (I actually learned so much from this museum).

Enjoy

Inside the old homesteads

Ciara found a library

Mummy!

Cutest dinosaur skeleton EVER!

Pharlap

So many animals

Should have left her there!

Melbourne Day 3 - Melbourne Central and Little Collins Street

Our third day in Melbourne we all slept in and then headed out to check out Melbourne Central because I was looking for a Lush store and heard that they had one in there.

Our plan was to shop at Melbourne Central and then visit the Aquarium but we once again ended up shopping for the whole day. It was a very quick walk from Our hotel, Mantra on the Park to Melbourne Central. As none of us had breakfast at the hotel we stopped at the food court first and grabbed some coffee's and nibbles. I picked a cupcake from a little cupcake shop but I wasn't that impressed to be honest, i think I have had better at markets in Adelaide. The shop was quite cute though and the cupcakes looked amazing in the case, the taste just wasn't as amazing as they looked I suppose. 

After our quick pick up we looked at some shoe shops including converse where I found some very cool shoes but I didn't purchase them as they didn't suit me even though they looked super cool on the shelf :( it didn't take us long to get amongst all the amazing shops. 

Most of the shops were just your basic shops that you find anywhere but it was still exciting to see them in a different format. Gap was a good one to shop in, they had a big sale on while we were there so we spent a while browsing. I am going to be an auntie soon so my sister and I were looking at all the cute baby clothes in there. Forever New was there, which is my favourite shop of all time but I didn't go in there for this day because I had already shopped at the DFO store and I knew I couldn't afford most of what was in there. The store looked very fancy and huge so maybe next time I will go and check it out.

Shopping in GAP

Down on the lower level (I think) we found a sweet shop that we just had to go in. I came out with a box of Lucky Charms cereal, a Shaq drink for my husband and an Irn Bru drink. Then we finally found the Lush store YAY!

Ok the Lush store in here was quite small and not as cute as the Rundle Mall store I normally frequent but it was still amazingly cool. I spent so much time in here just smelling everything and browsing. After a while I emerged with my paper bag full of goodies including 2 bath bombs to add to my bathroom collection and I purchased the Mask of magnaminty (which I will blog review about later). When I returned home I purchased a little basket for my bath bombs so now they look quite cute in my bathroom :) 

We stopped in Dangerfield for a browse. We weren't intending to buy anything, I just wanted my sister to check it out as she had never heard of it. However they were having a sale on their very cool tshirts so my sister grabbed the last 'Jon Snow' top from Game of Thrones and I of course took a 'Sweeney Todd' shirt (my 6th johnny Depp shirt now) and a David Tennant, doctor Who shirt. I was very very happy with these purchases.

One of our group wasn't feeling well so she headed back to the hotel while the rest of continued shopping. We were planning a tram ride to Queen Victoria Markets but after a yummy lunch at Nando's we realised that the markets shut early and we had missed it. So off we went to just wander the streets. 

It didn't take us long to find Bourke Street Mall where we popped in to The Myer Centre. This place was absolutely huge and packed with people. My sister knew what she was looking for so it wasn't as stressful as H&M which was good. My sister ended up buying make up there which is where most of the shoppers seemed to be. 

Outside again I found a shoe store underground that sold converse, Nike, Adidas and more. I purchased a pair of converse in there for $60 on sale and my sister grabbed a new pair of Nikes which I believe were around $120. I had been looking for Converse all trip so was happy to finally find some. A few shops up we found a Dotti store where we purchased a few sales items.

Next street we checked out was Collins Street where we shopped in Ralph Lauren. It was my first time ever in a Ralph Lauren store and I felt so fancy in there. Staff were so wonderful in there. The best service we had in the whole of Melbourne and one of my sisters purchased one of their polo shirts. One of the most expensive purchases on the trip but worth it for her. Collins Street was full of all your high end shops like Louis Vutton, Gucci, Armani and Dolce & Gabbana. It was a street that is designed for those who have too much money to waste. But it is still worth looking at for the shiny floors and classy people and the clothes are pretty damn amazing. I was just too scared to try anything on in case I accidentally touched the clothing with my Nando's eating hands. Or even worse, came out to show everyone and popped a button or something.

After that the shopping was over for the holiday. We all got what we were looking for and we were happy. Then it was just a very cold and dark walk back to the hotel. We saw a homeless man on the street and stopped to give him all our change. He was very nice and it really made us stop and think about the many homeless people around the streets. I definitely want to try and help or volunteer when I get back home. 

For dinner we just had a shared platter at the restaurant attached to our hotel as we weren't very hungry but needed to eat something. Yum yum yum! This platter fed us nicely and was only $18 we also grabbed some rum and cokes to go with the meal.