Getting back on the blog

I have decided to get back on the blogging train. What better way to get started than a post about food. I have been a wannabe vegan for about 6 years now.  I have to be honest and admit that a couple of times I have tripped up by ordering eggs when I can't eat anything else on the menu when lunching and brunching. I am consistently good about the no meat/no dairy part. 👊

I have decided that I want to shift about ten kilograms. So I need to move away from my unhealthy obsession with kettle chips to eating three healthy meals a day with some fruit and veggie snacks. I am a girl seriously lacking  in cooking skills. I get excited about soup from a can and fresh bread with lots of Olivani. 

After scrolling the Internet for simple vegan meals I decided to make fresh spring rolls. Oh so simple and oh so delicious. My favourite part about these is that there are no set ingredients or measurements. You can use whatever veggies you have in the fridge. I used edamame beans, marinated tofu, avocado, cucumber, sprouts and carrots. The trickiest but is soaking the rice paper to soften it. Yummy rice paper rolls are definitely fool proof cooking.   

New Obsession - My Daisy

For the last 3 weeks I have enjoyed being a new Fur Mum. I have also changed from a staunch dog person to a cat and dog person. After years of wanting a dog I finally reach the realisation that with my life a dog would be a near impossibility and the puppy may experience boarder-line neglect.. I work full time and don't always get the chance to go out for a walk and can't afford Doggy Day Care. Because of all these factors I decided to invest the next 15 years of my life (God willing) into a beautiful cat.

The cat I choose wasn't just any cat so pleas don't judge me for not saving a life (I sort of figure that not eating meat saves alot) to balance out a non SPCA kitty. I branched out into the designer cat model and choose a beautiful 4 month old  Ragdoll Kitten. She is a gorgeous ball of fluff who now responds to the name Daisy. I could just eat her up she is so cute.

I must admit in the past cats have freaked me out. I used to have a kitty called 'Fluffybum' as a child. Fluffy scared the s@!t out of me! Whenever you would be walking down a corridor this fur ball would come sprinting towards you and cling onto any pair of bare legs, leaving claw marks and blood. This is my reasoning for a designer kitty. I wanted to be relatively sure of the personality so I wouldn't spend the next 15 years walking with a blanket wrapped around my legs out of fear of surprise cat attack. 

Daisy has a devine personality and I have fallen completely head over heels i love with her. She makes my life a happier place. I might just need to save up for a brother for her now!

x

Inspiration wall art

It is hard to believe that simple painted wooden letters can often cost $20 and up from a homeware store. Luckily as an amateur crafter I like to think of cheaper ways to get the same product. What I love about this is that it is so simple that no matter what your crafting ability anyone can do it. Introducing homemade pastel inspirational word art.

Cheap as chips alternative

Three simple steps to super cheap wall art:
1. Buy wooden letters from spotlight
2. Buy paint in a range of colors
3. Paint letters

Whats in your bag link up.

I love learning about people and making predictions about what they might be like based on their things. What better way to do that than looking into bags and sharing my own bag content. I am so excited to join the what's in my bag link up hosted by Ricci from a beautiful Mess. Keep an eye out for my favourite but very grandmotherly part of my bag which is my bag caddy. My bag caddy is wear I store all my handbag essentials. If I want to swap handbags all I need to do is put the bag caddy in a new bag and then I have everything I need.

What's in my bag? Here goes!
This is the bag I am using today. Its a Navy and White imitation leather one from Sportsgirl in Brisbane, Australia. I purchased this bag when I was visiting one of my besties in June. It has a handle and a long shoulder strap so I can wear it over my shoulder or across my body depending on how heavy it is.

 As you can tell the bag is not overly big but I sure can shove a lot of things into. My bag is organised into 3 smaller bags. Picture 2 shows the things that weren't in any little bags but were organised and easily accesible. There is a country road voucher for my sister in law for Christmas, my life saving life planner and my teacher's registration form that I need to renew.

 Here we go on to picture number 3. My favourite photo and my favourite thing... THE BAG CADDY! It has pockets for everything, a handy key chain so you don't loose your keys, and pockets for lip stick, make up, phones and anything else you can imagine. The beauty of the bag caddy is that you can swap bags daily with ease.

 Here is what I keep in the bag caddy. I keep headphones, iPhone, post it notes, hand moisturiser, lipsticks, gloss, mascara, my colours so I know I know what is meant to suit me , jellybeans for a sugar hit, pens, my purse and a small black bag for tampons and all things girly!

 My third bag  found in the bag caddy is my purse. If I don't feel like using a handbag I just grab this small bag. It is  my wallet containing money,cards, vouchers, drivers license etc.  It can fit my make up and phone in it at a stretch if I am going out dancing with the girls

Finally I have the items from the bottom of the bag and the front pocket of the bag. These items were just hanging about in the bag without a home. There is some jewellery that I was wearing  yesterday but then decided to take off through out the day, credit card, change, more lipstick, eye shadow applicators, used lotto ticket, spinning top and receipts.

Well that's what is in my bag. I can't wait to see what surprises are lurking in all your lovely bags too.

Personal life personalised

Being the geek that I am it is not only ticking things off a 'to do' list that gives me great satisfaction but also anything personalised.  People seem really pleased with personalised gift giving and seem to feel the love through the personal touch in the gifts. It certainly eased the festive giving this year. which I have posted about in the past.

One company that has brought me great joy in the personalised product range is erincondren.com. The best thing is that all of these products help me become slightly more organise. The postage to New Zealand is a bit pricey but I am easily able to turn a blind eye to the postage price when I look at the beautiful stationary with my name sprawled across it and when I am writing on the beautiful pages.

So far there are four products that I have road tested. These are the life planner already on to my second one, deskpad, notebook and Christmas gift labels. 

My favourite product is the life planner. I love how there is enough room on the planner to schedule all aspects of my life - work, personal and health. The colours are gorgeous and especially love how there is the option to personalise the cover as much as your heart desires. I added a quote to my planner 'be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle'. This is to remind me to get over myself and that if someone upsets me I don't need to hold a grudge as I don't know what they are going through and their reasons for their actions and words.

There are several other fantastic features such as the clear zip lock pocket and the keep it together folder. I love the zip lock pocket for storing all those everyday objects you need such as stamps, gift cards, cards, envelopes and more. The features in the planner are never ending. Before I got my first planner I used to watch this video religiously and let my mind wander about all the ways the planner could be used and be entranced by the month plans, to do lists, tabs and coloured stickers.

One of my goals for next year are to write things down straight away at work and jot down brainwaves and wonderings so I don't forget to ask questions or share my ideas. I ordered the deskpad to help achieve this goal. I used it for one day this year but realised I wasn't in quite the right mind space to accomplish goals and needed something new to look forward to next year. I can't wait to pull this out next year and I am sure just like the planner people will be amazed by its beauty and style.

To achieve another goal of happy, healthy living I have ordered a notebook to jot down quotes, goals, recipes, memories and anything else that delights me and makes me smile. I love the selection of lined and blank pages. My favourite part was when I opened the notebook and saw that each of the lined pages had different floral design on the corners. SO PRETTY! It also has a calendar, keep it together folder and zip lock pocket.

Just to complete my personalised happiness I ordered some Christmas gift labels to add to the fun of Christmas wrapping.

Favourite Places

I love the chance to relax on the weekend at places that aren't streaming with people. Here a few snaps from my current favourite spots to walk, read a book or to simply just look.

Karaka bay and Seatoun, Wellington, New Zealand

My parents house, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Lyall Bay, Wellington, New Zealand

Homespiration

Pinterest

As someone with aspirations of becoming a homeowner I love to waste away hours browsing homes for sale and decorating ideas on pinterest. My idea of beautiful living is relaxed and comfortable with a slight country feel.

Large, grand and brand spanking new has never been a style that has appealed to me.  I love the idea of fulling a house up with quirky antiques and mismatch furniture. I prefer white, bright and light over dark, dull and orderly.

Here are a few recent easy to do, cheap and simple images I have fallen in love with.

Pinterest

Pinterest