Thankful Thursday #4

Hello all! I do hope you are having a lovely week with plenty to be thankful for!

This week I am thankful for:

Little corners of my home coming together - I haven't done a lot of decorating in my new place yet because I really don't know which style (if any) I am going for, but I am incredibly thankful for the few pretty little nooks and crannies that are coming together now. I feel like a Sim - my environment meter is slowly and surely going up as bits of my home come together haha

Dad's retro surfboard - My dad gave me one of his old, retro surfboards on the weekend so that I can start learning while he makes me a new, custom board and I'm so thankful for both of these things! I love his old board. It's so cool!

Afternoon surfs after work - Thanks to my new board, some fine weather and living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, afternoon surfs have been happening this week. I'm only learning, but it has been so much fun and I am really going to miss the sun being out until after 7 when daylight savings ends!

Afternoon cups of tea with mum - I went and visited mum on Tuesday afternoon and sat and had a culpa with her while I taught her something on the sewing machine. It's a strange feeling teaching mum things to do with sewing when she is the one that originally taught me how to sew, but I really appreciated this it of time spent together. I miss her since moving out of home.

Lennox Head Pizza and Pasta - Jake bought us pizza for dinner tonight and oh my gosh it was so delicious! I am convinced I'm going to get fat living within walking distance of the pizza shop, but I am thankful for the delicious Moroccan lamb pizza and the little pizza shop it came from all the same.

Fiona O'Loughlin reading my review of her memoir and thanking me for it on twitter! I'm fan-girling. Holy shit! She is amazing and she put like a billion xxx's at the end of her thank you tweet! Totally star struck and gobsmacked and proud!

As always, a big thank you to Lisette and Leona for inspiring me to be more thankful.

Book Review: Me of the Never, Never by Fiona O'Loughlin

I recently remembered that I am in possession of not one, but three library cards and finally decided to give up my expensive book buying spree I've been on and give them a bit of exercise. I went to the library a couple of weeks ago with a handful of highly recommended books on the "to borrow" list - none of which were present at either of my local branches! Still in need of something to read I decided to have a browse and just bring home whatever jumped out at me until the books I really wanted came back in. Well, I certainly surprised my fantasy-loving self bringing home three biographies, but I think I made a good decision as the two I've read so far have been thoroughly enjoyable!

Fiona O'Loughlin is one of my favourite Aussie comedians, so I was thoroughly intrigued to see what secrets and stories her memoir might hold. I absolutely devoured this book, racing through the first half in just one afternoon and finishing the rest over the following two days.

The memoir is made up of hilarious anecdotes and touching moments and follows her life from early childhood through to where she is now. There are highs and lows, there is plenty of chaos and the memoir resonates with me perfectly. We often put comedians and other celebrities up on a pedestal, imagining them to have perfectly organised and luxurious home lives, but this memoir proves otherwise. Fiona's family is as lovingly dysfunctional as any of ours and I love her for it. If you're after some light reading that will make you laugh and make you cry (sometimes simultaneously), then this is the book for you. Plus, with comedy festival season at our doorsteps, now is the perfect time to gain a further insight to one of Australia's most loved comedians.

Thankful Thursday #3

Okay, so I know I'm late again but these posts mean too much to me not to write them at all and this week has been a very up and down week full of anxiety and a little bit of illness for me, so that makes it even more imperative to be thankful. I started back at uni on Tuesday at a new uni and was not feeling very positive about it all because I just loved Griffith so much, but it's turned out that SCU isn't all bad and there have been plenty of little things throughout the week that I can be thankful for.

Friendly faces - I walked into uni this Tuesday feeling like I was going to throw up, when all of a sudden, I saw a single friendly face who offered to show me to my class and all became right with the world again. Friendly people are the greatest!

Pinterest's send pin option - Since leaving the Gold Coast and my beloved Griffith university, pinterest seems to be mine and my best friend's main channel of communication. We often send each other funny little things that relate to inside jokes we share, or pins of things we know the other would just love so much. On Monday night I had a particularly shitty night with family and financial problems getting me down and just before bed, with tears streaming down my face, I opened this pin that Darci sent me that set me off in hysterics! It was exactly what I needed to cheer me up!

Comfort foods - This week has definitely been a good one for comfort foods in my household. I went through 4 litres of ice cream and a large jar of nutella in less than two weeks and even convinced Jake to let me buy more! Not exactly a healthy diet, but hey - I'm happy and ice cream is delicious!

Setting goals - This may come across as a strange thing to be thankful for, but I'm a terribly indecisive person and I'm not very good with goal setting (load of rubbish, innit). This week, however; I decided that June/July 2015 I will be in the UK/Germany. On top of being indecisive and not good at goal setting, I'm also a rubbish saver, but it seems this decision has all of a sudden  got me watching my pennies and I've actually managed to put a fair chunk of money away already! I never thought a UK trip would really be possible for me while I'm at uni, but I may just prove myself wrong here!

Jake - yeah, I know I could put this dude in pretty much every Thankful Thursday post ever, but this week with him has ben so great! He has made me laugh so much! Picture this - I came home on Wednesday afternoon to see my burly, Aussie, beer drinking, tradie boyfriend with a mud mask on. Yep, that's right, a mud mask! My friend lent the mask to me to try because it is a product she bought through me from Arbonne that I hadn't tried yet. I put it on Jake jokingly on Sunday afternoon when I was doing it, but I never expected him to like it enough to want to do it again! So funny!

I hope you have a lot to be thankful for this week! As always thanks to Lisette and Leona for inspiring me to be more thankful!

The little things that show he cares

I don't give my wonderful boyfriend enough credit! I woke up on Friday morning expecting nothing but a card and maybe some flowers or chocolates since Jake had hinted that he had bought me a Valentine's Day present. I had bought him some chocolates and a set of 5 action movies, one of which we saw on one of our first dates, 2 1/2 years ago. I didn't put a lot of thought into what I bought - it was only Valentine's Day, we've never made a big deal out of it, and generic flowers or chocolates were all I was expecting to receive, after all!

I unwrapped the rectangular present he handed me on Friday morning thinking I knew exactly what was inside. The paper fell away, and the chocolates I was expecting were nowhere in sight! Instead out tumbled Lorde's album, Pure Heroine, and the DVD of The Great Gatsby - two things I had very much coveted. My chest tightened and my eyes welled up. You might not think this is a particularly romantic gesture, but what this gift meant to me is unexplainable. Jake is a man of few words. He is a bloke's bloke, he likes things simple, and these two little gifts surprised me because they're perfect. These two presents were proof to me of the attention he pays me. Jake held me as I cried over reading The Great Gatsby a few months back and has patiently endured me turning the radio up to an ungodly level every time Lorde comes on ever since I first heard Royals about a year ago. I never would have guessed that he had taken note of these things, but I'm glad he did. A CD and a DVD aren't exactly equivalent to diamonds as far as gifts go, but they mean more to me than expensive jewellery ever could because it's the little things like this that show he cares.

I hope your Valentine's Day was filled with simple gestures from your loved ones that show they care, too.

Thankful Thursday #2

I miss this little dude! And my mummy.

This week, as the full reality of living out of home again and living with Jake sinks in, I definitely am finding it crucial to remember the little happy things throughout the day that I can be thankful for. So without further ado, this week I am thankful for:

Living by the beach - after a hard day of unpacking or working, afternoon bike rides for a swim at the boat channel, or simply kicking back with a cuppa and listening out the window to the soothing sound of rolling waves are greatly appreciated.

Jake mopping and vacuuming - this might should like a simple thing to be thankful for, but that's the point. Before we moved out, Jake's mum still made his bed and did his washing, so the fact that he has been willing to help with housework without prodding is a miracle to me and such a relief! So far, it's really helped us to avoid arguments.

Paying off my library fines - this week I paid off $17 of library fines that I have guiltily been avoiding for two years and started borrowing books again. Ever since, I've had my head stuck in a book. It's great!

My Arbonne support network - I don't want to get all soppy, but these girls are amazing. In Arbonne, you have a "team" of uplines and downlines and then you have sisterlines, who are linked to your team in other ways. Really, your success depends on the support of your upline, who should be checking up on you and helping you stay on track, and your downlines who you support in the same way. Their most important job is keeping you motivated and excited by the business and keeping your dreams alive. Well, my upline has sort of left Arbonne at the moment because she has enormous stress on her plate and family problems which are demanding her attention right now, and I totally understand that, but it makes things a bit difficult for me trying to do this thing without her support. Enter, my fantastic sisterline's District Manager, Rosie, who has taken me under her wing, made me feel a part of her group and offers me tremendous support with my business. The kind of support you expect from your upline. I can't thank her and her team enough for making me feel like one of them, and for keeping me motivated to succeed and passing on their knowledge to me. They don't know how much it means.

Living in Lennox Head - Seriously, this might be in every Thankful Thursday post forever now. I love this town so much! The atmosphere, being able to ride bikes everywhere, the friendly people who stop you randomly in the street for a chat, the singing barrista at my favourite coffee shop in town. This place is amazing and I don't think I'll ever get over it!

Last but not least, I am thankful to Lisette and Leona for inspiring me to be more thankful.

Impossible Quiche Recipe

Boy do I mss the days when mum cooked for me every night! Moving out gives you a whole new appreciation of living at home, that's for sure! I mean, I love cooking, but after a long day at work there is nothing better than coming home to dinner on the table. This week, I tried out one of my favourite easy recipes handed down from mum. Impossible quiche! One of the simplest and most delicious recipes I've ever made. Want to know how?

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 can of sweet corn
• 150g diced ham
• 1 small zucchini
• 1 small carrot
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1/3 cup of plain flour (I used gluten free for Jakey's benefit)

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and add milk, then whisk again. Add bacon, sweet corn, cheese and grated carrot and zucchini. Sift the flour over the mixture, stirring as you go. Mix everything through thoroughly and pour into a greased pie dish before baking at 200 degrees C for 30 minutes or until a knife poked into it comes out clean.

It's that simple!  And the best thing? It's so packed full of yummy stuff, it makes a wholesome, healthy meal all by itself! You don't even need to whip up a salad! Plus it tastes delicious cold, too!

Madame Flavour Tea Review

My tea obsession is getting a little ridiculous. As it stands, I currently have 9 varieties of tea bags and one packet of loose leaf tea in rotation for my daily cuppas and the flavour combinations I am trying are getting more and more far out with every purchase. I'm currently browsing Bluebird Tea Co.  for some new loose leaf flavour combinations, as I do much prefer a pot of loose leaf when I have the leisure to the quick, on the go teabag-shoved-into-a-mug-dealio. Unfortunately, the quick, on the go teabag-shoved-into-a-mug-dealio is a much more frequent occurrence in my life than kicking back with a pot of tea, so no matter how much I might love Bluebird's brews when I get my hands on them, tea bags are still going to be a staple in my cupboard, and I will continue, no doubt to search for the perfect ones. 

Usually, as far as teabags go, I'm a Twinings girl through and through, but after stumbling upon the beautiful packaging of Madame Flavour's brews I just had to give her a whirl. I was drawn to the Raspberry and Hibiscus Tisane while Madame Flavour's brews were on special in my local supermarket due to the colourful, floral look of the tea as depicted on the front of the box (and admittedly, the fact the box is pink). I had been after a floral, fruity-toned, sweet tea to enjoy, as we don't often buy milk in our house (Jake prefers soy to full cream and I'm not a big milk drinker) and wondered, could this be the perfect brew?

Well, I was not disappointed! Following the directions on the box, I planned on brewing the tisane for a full three minutes, as recommended, but ended up taking the teabag out after just one after seeing the rich, pinkish colour of the brew and inhaling a sweet and heavy aroma. The tea tasted beautifully rich and sweet. The floral tones of the hibiscus shone nicely through the heavier, raspberry flavour and I have found each cup I have had a delectably moreish experience. I normally enjoy two sugars in my tea, but this tisane calls for only one half in my cup. I think the sweetness of this tisane might not be for everyone, but I quite enjoy it when I'm in the mood and am looking forward to trying some more of Madame Flavour's brews.

Grilled Cheese Cook Off with Sam from Planet bake Life

Hello lovely readers! Today is a very special day for this little blog. You see, today is the day that Sam from Planet Bake Life has invited me to take part in an awesome Grilled Cheese Cook-Off. The idea behind it is that we each make a grilled cheese, filling it with what we think is the most delicious filling in the world, and post it on our blog. Then, next week we will test out each other's sandwiches to see for ourselves just how delicious it is!

Sam is a recent and very good blog friend of mine who was born in South Africa, lived in the UK for nine years and now resides in New Zealand where she and her dad own a takeaway shop with an artisan bakery attached. This makes her one of my geographically closest bloggy pals and we are still a whole country away! Who will win the title of Most Delicious Grilled Cheese Sandwich? Who knows?  Sam is probably at a slight advantage being a baker and all. Anyway, here is what I came up with for my sandwich. I might be biased, but I think it's going to be pretty hard to top!

 Grilled cheese sandwich with honey mustard seasoned shaved turkey, cranberry sauce (on both slices of bread) and camembert cheese! Mmmmm, melty, cheesy, sweet-yet-savoury goodness!

Now, pop on over to Sam's blog to see what she cooked up for the challenge and pop back next Monday to see what I thought of her creation!

Tips for moving house

Well, considering I move into my fourth house in a year today, I thought I would put together a little post on tips for moving house. I mean, I do consider myself somewhat of an expert in this area by now! Most of this stuff is small stuff, but believe you me, it's the little stuff that makes a difference when you're lugging your fourth car load of boxes to your new place and someone's blocked the driveway. Moving house can be a very stressful experience, so to avoid tempers colliding, you want to make things as easy as possible for yourself, right? Thought so :)

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Tip #1

Pack your clothes in an organised way - shirts with shirts, shorts with shorts, clean undies somewhere you can find them easily and try to keep everything folded so that when you get to the other end, you can pack your clothes into your wardrobe quickly and without fuss. Also, pack an overnight bag with essentials and a few pairs of clothes included in case you don't get around to putting your clothes away on the first day. I swear there is nothing worse than not being able to find your pyjamas after a hard day moving house! 

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Tip #2

Label boxes very clearly! Instead of just writing what room things are for, be specific. That way you know which boxes you need to unpack first to survive the first few days in your new home! For example, cups and plates would take unpacking priority over your fondue set and baking supplies in the kitchen, as you're going to want to use them pretty much straight away!

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Tip #3

This is a rather important one - make sure to get your electricity hooked up before you move in and put your fridge on the first load of furniture to go to your new home. It takes a fair while for your fridge to cool down when you first hook it up and you're probably going to want a cold drink after moving all that furniture around all day! Trust me, you'll thank me for this one!

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Tip #4

If you've already seen your new home before moving day, draw up a rough map of where you want your furniture before it all gets moved to your new place and give it to the men with the muscle so that they can put everything in it's place first go. There is nothing worse than a random jumble of furniture in your living room when you're trying to get yourself settled in your new home. Plus, who wants to be madly moving furniture around trying to find the best place for it when there are boxes to unpack?

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Tip #5

Have an esky of cold drinks and sandwiches on hand for everyone who is helping you on moving day, whether it's friends and family or you have hired professionals to help you move*. Moving is hot and sweaty work, and I can guarantee that everyone involved will be much happier if there is a cold drink and a bite of lunch on hand for them through the day. It also goes a long way to have a little thank you gift on hand for those who help you move, be it a box of chocolate or a six pack of cold ones, I'm sure they will appreciate the gesture. Moving isn't exactly fun, so you should definitely let your helpers know you appreciate them giving up their day!

Well, that's all the insight I have for today, but I'm sure I'll think of some more little gems this weekend along the way.  Would a part two to this post be worth putting together for you all? Or do you have your own pieces of advice for me to implement this weekend?

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