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. 

Melbourne Day 2 and Mantra on the Park

Mantra on the Park 

I have stayed in Melbourne 3 times now and the first two times I went for the weekend I stayed at the Jasper Hotel which was quite nice but for our girls trip I wanted to try something a bit different. We booked in advance and we wanted to pay on arrival instead of upfront. We also wanted to have a hotel room that would accommodate everyone as we had a group of 4 and wanted 4 single beds if we could get them. We were also after a place that had good parking facilities as I was scared of parking in Melbourne. 

We scanned the website for a few weeks on websites such as Hotels Combined and Trivago and we also researched using the ever handy Google for good hotels in the CBD of Melbourne. I only knew a few streets in Melbourne as previous trips I was with my husband so we didn't spend a crazy amount of time shopping so I also had to do some research on the best shopping lanes and centres and tried to book a hotel that was also close to these places so we could get everywhere on foot or tram. 

After a while we settled on Mantra on the Park which was located on Exhibition Street and from the pictures had a wonderful view of the park which I remembered visiting the last time I went on holiday there. 

The Hotel View

Mantra on the Park was a wonderful hotel. The staff were very friendly and helpful. We booked a 2 bedroom apartment which had one room with a double bed and the second room had two single beds. The room was made up to accommodate a family which I thought was great. It was very handy having two bathrooms and the kitchen was stocked with everything you needed to cook at the hotel and not worry about going out for dinner etc every night. 

Living Area

Living Area

The balcony view of the park and city was gorgeous and the main bathroom included a washing machine and dryer for your own use. 

The only things I can say that were disappointing were the room service (even that wasn't terrible) and that we had to pay an extra $25 a day to have wifi in the room. They came in to make the beds etc but they didn't take rubbish or neaten up the room like other hotels do. There was a dishwasher in the kitchen but we didn't know how to work it. Staff didn't clean any of them they were just left for us as well. 

Apart from that the room was great the service was friendly and helpful and the indoor pool was a decent size. We didn't have much time so we didn't try out the pool and sauna or the gym but we did have a look and they seemed quite good. 

Overall I would give them an 8/10 

Day 2 Adventures

After the big drive on the Thursday up to Melbourne we were all exhausted and slept very well that night so when we woke up on Day 2 we were up early and ready to just have some fun shopping. We decided not to have breakfast at the hotel as it wasn't included in our stay. So first up we walked out onto the street and walked into a little cafe about three shops down to grab a coffee and brekky and to read the map of Melbourne. The cafe was very cute and staff were nice. I chose poached eggs on toast with some avocado and bacon with a coffee.

From there we walked down to Emporium Melbourne which was HUGE and we found soooooo many of our favourite shops including Nike, Adidas, T2, Victoria's Secret, TopShop, Armani, Chanel and so so so much more. Even though they were all our favourite shops we were mainly shopping for bargains so we didn't buy a lot from there. 

Next stop was to H&M which we had heard was really good from a friend. This place was absolute madness and I couldn't stand it. Think of those news reports you see on TV of thousands and thousands of shoppers all fighting to look at items and attempting to manoeuvre prams and children through the crowds......it was horrible and I hated the experience. I couldn't enjoy any of the clothes because by the time you got to look at it you were already exhausted from the trek of 5 steps dodging shoppers. The other girls managed to buy a few bits but I just didn't even want to stand in the huge line to the checkout. 

In the morning when we originally planned our day, we had planned to catch a tram after H&M to take us to the DFO but after the H&M disaster I just wanted lots and lots of fresh air so we decided to walk it and if we got too tired we would grab a tram. The walk was actually not that bad and it was nice to look around and check out the city as we walked. 

We arrived at the DFO with sore legs and super tired BUT when we walked into the doors and discovered the amazingly huge factory outlet we were given the boost we needed to carry on. The DFO was more than I imagined it would be. There were so so so many stores all with huge sales on.

This was were we managed to get all the bargains on our holiday. I picked up an awesome faux fur lined jacket from Forever New that was originally $150 but I grabbed it for just $70 on a faulty rack because it was missing one button on the shoulder. That was one of the happiest moments of my life......no joke! In Calvin Klein we decided to grab some underwear for our partners back home and they had 90% off!! It was insane, obviously the line was HUGE but it was worth it and if you joined their mailing list on the day you gt an extra 5% off. So the one underwear for $50 was just $4.50!! I was waiting for someone to say that I read the signs wrong but no! haha

Other stores we loved in the DFO were, Authentic Factory Outlet, Adidas, Nike, Factorie, Peter Alexander, TopShop, Vans, Jay Jays and more.

As we left the venue we realised just how long we had been shopping for because it was night time and all the bars and clubs were starting to fill with the nightlife coming into action. We started the walk back with all our shopping but we were so exhausted that we grabbed a taxi from outside the Casino entrance. This only ended up costing us about $16.

We rested in the hotel for a bit and then grabbed some chinese for dinner from the restaurant that we had eaten at the night before but we got takeaway so we could eat it at the hotel.

Our first shopping day was a huge success but there were still things we wanted to shop for so we agreed to do just a bit more shopping the next day on the streets.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 3 in Melbourne with more shopping

Girls Road Trip to Melbourne

For a long long time it has always been on my bucket list to road trip with the girls. I always dreamed of doing it when I was growing up. I watched movies like Crossroads and Ten Inch Hero and I all I wanted to do was drive and have fun.

Then I grew up and got married and I honestly thought I would never get to road trip with the girls. When my sister told me she was coming to visit me from the UK I decided to grab the opportunity and plan a road trip. One of my sisters lives in Australia but she has never been out of Adelaide so I decided that we would all road trip to Melbourne girls style. 

Obviously we were planning lots of shopping but we also wanted to get in some sightseeing and the museums. I will share our adventure by days as it will be too long for just one blog post.

Day 1 - The Drive 

Everyone was super excited for the road trip so we were up and at em super early. The car was packed and ready to leave by 5.15am. I was super impressed that everyone managed to get up without any complaints. My husband was a champion and let us drive our new car the 2014 lancer, which is a dream to drive and has great heating. It was also nice and big so we had much better leg room and plenty of storage in the boot. 

Each of us girls had a suitcase and a bag for inside the car. My car bag had my purse and keys as well as snacks for the road, car phone chargers, my iPad, simple first aid kit, beanie, drinks and a blanket. (I'll share what I packed for the weekend in a later post).

None of us were expecting the drive to feel so long. It was a 9 hour drive from Adelaide to Melbourne and it seemed to take forever but it was worth it. Following the phone GPS we headed to the Highway. It was an amusing start as we managed to get on the highway the wrong way and our journey started with us heading back to Adelaide. A quick giggle and blame passing and we got back on track with the radio playing and everyone warming up in the car with our blankets and heater. 

Our first stop was at a little rest stop on the side of the road just before Bordertown, where we did a quick change over of drivers as I was getting a sore back the first few hours. Then we carried on to Bordertown and stopped again to fill the car with petrol, have a toilet break and grab some energy drinks. 

There was not a lot to see on the drive and some of the girls fell asleep along the way. We didn't bother stopping anywhere as we all wanted to get to Melbourne ASAP and we didn't really see anything that motivated us to pull over and get out until we saw a McDonald's at Ararat. We didn't all get out but a couple of girls went in for a bathroom stop and we swapped drivers again. 

The next few hours were a bit of a drag. We were all getting tired and just wanted to arrive in Melbourne and get out the car. Eventually we could see Melbourne city in the distance and we all woke up and started getting excited. We didn't need the GPS for the whole trip so far as it was basically one road the whole way but once we arrived at the end of the highway and entered Melbourne we had to get out the GPS to help get us to the hotel. The roads in Melbourne were hard to figure out compared to Adelaide so it was a bit chaotic and nerve racking getting to the hotel but we made it without any bad experiences. 

Mantra on the Park was our hotel and we quickly parked out the front and then ran in to check in. The receptionist informed us that there was parking on the premises for $30 a day, which we took her offer as it was just easier than searching for another park. We also wanted the car to be close to us and feel that it was safe. The hotel car park also came with a key card that we could enter and exit as many times as we liked during our stay, but we never took the car out as the trams over there were so easy and most things we wanted to do were in walking distance. 

Once the car was packed up safely we headed to our room to drop off our luggage and check out the hotel. (More on that tomorrow). 

Everyone was exhausted so we headed out for an early dinner. We ended up walking to Chinatown but the restaurants we liked the look of were super packed and it was freezing so we headed back towards the hotel and next to our hotel we found a little Thai restaurant called ThaiLicious. The food was super nice and staff were very friendly. I ended up ordering an entree of satay chicken and salad with a side of coconut rice which cost me about $12. The dish was made with a good amount of spice and was a great portion for someone with only a small appetite. Looking at the whole menu the prices were extremely reasonable and there was a nice variety. I wish we weren't so exhausted from the drive as we would have been able to appreciate our surroundings more that night as I remember it to be such a pleasant little restaurant. If I go back to Melbourne I will definitely eat there again. 

Once dinner was over we just went straight to bed so that we could get enough sleep to be refreshed for the rest of the weekend. 

Make sure you stay tuned for the next instalment of Melbourne adventures tomorrow with the hotel review and day 2 of our trip. 

Ciao 

Liane xx 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 30

A photograph of yourself today & 3 good things that happened to you in the last 30 days.

Wow! I made it. 30 days of blogging. I can't believe that I did it, I'm always so slack or forgetful when it comes to blogging so I am so proud of myself. 

This photo I took today because I bought a new Liverpool scarf. I love Liverpool and the boys are coming down to Adelaide this week to play. I wasn't able to get tickets but I thought I would freshen up with my new scarf and pop my Liverpool shirt on for the weekend. I'm hoping they will play the game live on TV. 

The last 30 days have been crazy fun. I've been working hard but also enjoying things around me more and trying to live life to the fullest. 

The 3 best things that have happened to me in the last 30 days have been: 

1. My sister arriving from the UK to visit me for the month

2. Girls road trip to Melbourne

3. Getting more healthy 

Hopefully my next month will be just as good. I have lots of plans and ideas to keep me occupied so you will be hearing all about them very soon :) 

Ciao 

Liane xx 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 29

Something you could never get tired of doing?

I really believe that I could never get tired of reading books. I love reading and books are my most favourite things to buy and to have a collection of. I would love to one day have my own library room where I can just sit in a comfy chair with a nice lamp and fireplace and just read in there all day and night.



I also think that I could never get tired of traveling. Growing up I never really went traveling but in the last 5 years or so I have really caught the bug for it. I have only been to Bali and some states in Australia but I love the whole experience and I can't wait to travel the world. I'm planning lots of trips in the future and I think I could keep travelling for years on end and be happy. I would love to have my own dream house to retire in one day but until then I would be quite happy to just keep moving and moving like a gypsy. If only I had the money to just get up and go.





I have started my savings plan so hopefully one day i'll be off having plenty of adventures and reading.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 28

BYour favourite movie

Morning Lovelies

It is our last day in Melbourne today :( nobody wants to go home. We didn't manage to fit everything we wanted to do in our 4 days which was a huge shame. We are heading to the museum shortly and then the big drive home.

Today's post is a really really hard one for me as I seriously have so many favourite movies. I could do a top 100 list and still have movies I missed. I will do a top 50 list for you today but I will also tell you that I'm pretty my number 1 movie ever is.............

The Labyrinth

I've loved this movie since I was a kid. I have watched it thousands of times and I know every single word. 

My top 50 all time favourite movies:

1. Beauty and the Beast

2. The Green Mile

3. Singing in the Rain

4. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

5. Clambake

6. Crazy Stupid Love

7. Enchanted

8. The Lion King

9. The Notebook

10. Love Actually

11. The fast and the furious

12. 10 Things I Hate About You

13. Lawless

14. public Enemies

15. Anchorman

16. Leap Year

17.Heat

18. Blown Away

19. City of Angels

20. The Accidental Husband

21. Music and Lyrics

22. All the Harry Potter movies

23. Save the Last Dance

24. Step Up 2

25. P.S I Love You

26. Hoodwinked

27. Fried Green Tomatoes

28. Steel Magnolias

29. Gone in 60 Seconds

30. Secret Window

31. Casper

32. Hocus Pocus

33. Corinna Corrina

34. Moulin Rouge

35. Motherhood

36. The Dark Knight Rises

37. Muppet Christmas Carol

38. Groundhog Day

39. Home Alone

40. Some Like it Hot

41. Robin and the Seven Hoods

42. Oliver

43. My Fair Lady

44. The Ghost and Mrs Muir

45. The Holiday

46. Spice Girls Movie

47. Unleashed

48. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

49. Ghost

50. Dirty Dancing 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 27

Put your iPod on shuffle and list the first 10 songs.

Can't fight the moonlight - Leanne Rimes

Uptown funk - Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars

You girl - Shaggy/Neyo

Cheerleader - OMI

Valerie - Amy Winehouse

Good girl - Miss A

Poker Face - Glee 

Miracle worker - Super Heavy 

Pop goes my heart - Hugh Grant

Back in the day - Wayne Brady