Merry Christmas!

So Christmas is here and I am on my last day of work so I thought what better way to finish this year than a festive blog. So as I have mentioned before I am not the biggest Christmas fan but I am a fan of time off work. The sad thing is though at this time of the year the road tolls climb so I would first like to say please be safe of the road this holiday season and take my fiancés advice drive like everyone is trying to kill you. So in other words be alert.

So the other things I wanted to mention in this blog is that I may not be the biggest fan of Christmas but I am a big fan of spending time with my family. So enjoy the time that you have with your family as a lot can happen in 12 months and you need to treasure every moment. I know Joe and I will as we have become an Aunty and Uncle for the 5th time yesterday and we are very happy to have another niece especially as it is the first from Joe’s sister Ness and fiancé Vaughn. Congratulations on baby Arielle you both got the best Christmas present you could ask for and Joe and I can’t wait to meet her.

Another thing to consider to do over the break if you are staying in Sydney is to do some touristy things. I know Joe and I take for granted all the amazing things we have on offer in Sydney so we have decided to take the ferry over to the zoo and have a day over there. I haven’t been to the zoo for at least 10 years and the last time I was on a ferry I was vomiting off the back of one in Thailand! It will be nice not to ride a ferry without a hangover. The other thing is taking a drive to the blue mountains and doing a bush walk, they have some great tracks up there with waterfall and amazing wildlife.

And finally for a lot of my friends and family who I know have had a really rubbish year and are ready to kiss 2010 good bye. I hope that 2011 brings a lot of love, wellness and hope as I know you all truly deserve it.

Merry Christmas and have a safe New Years

Love Danielle x

Christmas Making You Fat?

So as I mentioned in yesterdays blog the silly season is definitely here. Everyone I have spoken to has a million and one Christmas parties and luncheons and are consuming their body weight in food and alcohol. So I am doing a pre-emptive strike and going to do a detox prior to the Christmas day and see if I can move a little weight so I won’t blow out of Christmas Day and the New Year break.

Now when I say detox it really not the right word for what I am about to explain and I’ll explain why. I was explained this method a few years back by a friend of mine who has said this is a great thing to do after holidays to get your body back to some normalcy. This method is 3 days and you can have you lose up to 3kg depending on how much weight you have to lose and size that you are. I on average will lose a kilo or 2 over 3 days but I don’t have much weight to lose.

So the big questions you are asking is how we do this? I will warm you it isn’t pretty but it does work.

It is 3 days or protein! And that it! No carbs, no sugars and no vegetables or fruit. So let me explain how this works.
We have all heard of the famous Atkins diet that made Jennifer Aniston look like a lollipop head, this is based off that diet but not to the extremes that the diet follows. Now as most people now when we up our protein in our diet we tend to eat less carbohydrates and will lose weight. So for this “detox” (I use this word lightly cause I have no idea what else to call it) we cut out the carbs and stick to a protein only diet. With protein diet plan, you can lower your carbohydrate and calorie intake.. When you lessen carbohydrates and calorie, you permit protein to consume body fat while encouraging weight loss.

So the next thing is why 3 days? Well the answer to this is simple your body cannot survive with no carbs, carbs gives us energy to function and long periods without them our body just goes into shut down. So by doing this for 3 days our body goes into shock, it starts chewing the carbs in our body and then starts moving into the fat. Now I know people who do longer than 3 days I have never done it myself but I wouldn’t recommend it by the 3rd day your body will be adjusting to the no intake of carbs and settling in this is the best time to shock your body again. If you are to go over 3 days my suggestion is no more than 5 days.

So what can you eat? Well here is a list of things
• Eggs (no more than 2 a day)
• Fish
• Beef
• Lamb
• Pork
• Seafood
• Chicken
• Turkey

And that’s about it, there is to be no dressing, sauces or gravy. You can use salt and pepper and olive oil if you pan cook anything but that’s it. The other rules for this to work is you need to eat every 3 hours, you need to keep your body fuelled so you can keep going, you also need to consume 3 litres of water a day.
There is a few things to expect while doing this, on the first day you may get a bit of a headache and will feel tired. I recommend taking some panadol and going for a lie down if you can. This happens as your body is trying to figure out what is going on and is wondering where your carbs are. I will warn you the first day is the hardest! The second day does get better, you are more in the swing of things and you body is starting to adjust. The final day is a breeze so your body will now be adjusted that there is no carbs hence why on day 4 we start introducing vegetables and fruit back in.

So once you have finished your 3rd day you will find that all you will be craving is fresh fruit and veg. The three days of protein will have gotten rid of any artificial sugars you have in your body and it almost resets the clock so to speak the 4th day becomes important. On your forth day introduce your fruit and vegetables back in try not to eat any dairy or wheat if you can. You will notice a few things on the fourth day you will not eat as much your body will now be in shock again as there is fruit and veg in your body and it hasn’t seen it in 3 days so the shock to the system happens again. 3 days of protein will make you constipated so you will more than likely go to the bathroom within 30 minutes of the fruit and veg hitting your system. If you can avoid any artificial sugar on day 4 and 5 great if not it’s not real problem. This is a great way to kick start a diet or to lose a little weight that you may put back at Christmas.

This “detox” isn’t for everyone so think long and hard if you can handle doing this. Also one more thing to remember it’s only 3 days we can do anything for 3 days, good luck and let me know how you go.

Getting Into The Christmas Cheer

So apologies I haven’t blogged for a while but I haven’t had the inspiration to blog about anything. Oh and I am getting slammed at work and by the time I get home I’m to tired to try write.

But I am starting to get inspired to blog about some things and I thought as were coming into Christmas I would blog about my lack or Christmas cheer.

Over the last ten years or so I have not been particularly keen on Christmas, I have no reason for my dislike for it and Christmas hasn’t done anything to piss me off but it just seems to be something I really can’t be bothered with. I think I missed out on the Christmas cheer gene, my mum loves Christmas. Our house looks like something out of the Griswolds with tonnes of Christmas gear all over the place. Both my sisters like Christmas but I think that’s partly due to the fact that they have children so the kids get excited for Santa’s visit (Don’t ask any of them to sit on Santa’s knee as there not really down with that) But my sisters have to do all the stuff like eat the cookies that are left out and nibble on the carrots that are for the reindeer.

I don’t really like the present aspect either, I am at the age that I make enough money that if I want something I buy it and thinking of ideas for presents that people can buy me just does my head . Oh and I hate buying Christmas presents as well, now I do not begrudge buying my family presents especially my nieces and nephew cause it gives me an excuse to go into TOY R US and remember the days that I would beg my mum for a new Polly Pocket. But the crowds are so frustrating and people seem to turn into complete idiots the minute they walk through the sliding doors of the shops.

My poor fiancé who really likes Christmas is stuck with this scrooge of a fiancé who hates doing the Christmas tree as there are more pressing things to do with my time then this like online shopping.

But I do have to admit there is a few things I do like, firstly I like that it’s a day off from work. Let’s face it we all do. I also like the food it the one day of the year that everyone goes all out and you eat like it’s your last meal on earth. But the big thing I love is that I see my family, it’s one of the few days that we are all together including my cousins and Auntie’s and Uncles and this year especially as it’s my sister who lives in Bega’s year to be in Christmas so I get to see her, my brother in law my one and only nephew who calls me Roxy and the beautiful little Amelie who has just started to walk.

So maybe I am not a scrooge I may just be a selective Christmas goer who would just likes little aspects of this holiday season.

Can Work Out Clothes Make You More Motivated To Go The Gym????

Last weekend I was doing a clean through of my wardrobe throwing old clothes out and I found in my draws some old workout clothes. Now back in the day before I became the fashionista that I am (Well that’s a big joke) I was a Supre loving gym clothes wearing lady. Oh yes I would wear those terrible black tights that would go see through after 2 washes and there stinking hot singlets don’t breathe. Ah the good old days, now back when I use to wear these clothes I thought I was hot shit, well that was until I got to the gym and I saw people in this really expensive gym gear. So I pose the question is what you wear to the gym influence how you train.

Now firstly when I was in my Supre loving days I was boarder line with an eating disorder so I would have workout naked if it came down to it if I meant I would burn calories. But my best friend Corrine would always have nice workout clothes and I would wonder how I was going through 20 pair of tights and you were only going through one. So I decided that I would invest in some expensive workout clothes and man do they make a difference. Now there is a few reasons why I think this makes a difference, we all like to dress nicely and like to be commented on our clothes and I don’t think that theory changes in the gym. So when I put on my snazzy new tights they had patterns on them that made my legs look thin! It was like a pair of skinny jeans but more comfortable. And the tops had padding and man did I look like I had some boobs on me! Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t have a lot going on in the chest department. So I went to the gym to give my new clothes a workout. Now I use to do a lot of pump and I run a lot and my beautiful Supre tights would continually be falling down and I felt like an idiot running a million miles and hour or doing a pump class trying to pull my tights back up. So I decided I would test them on a treadmill, I ran for a full hour and my tights didn’t fall down once. I did pump and they stayed right where they were supposed to. This started leading to a few things I could run faster as I could use my arms to steady myself in a run and not worry about pulling my tights up, I could have more weight on my bar and not be concerned that I would have to balance the bar on my shoulders and have to pull my tights up! Amazing!

Now I know in previous blogs I have payed out on meat head in the gym (Did I mention one of them reads my blog and pulled me up on it whoops) and say how they love to stare at themselves in the mirror. Now I’m not calling myself a poser but it is nice that when you leave in the morning that you look good and that get reaffirmed when you get to the gym and you still look nice. Now I don’t go to the gym to get men’s attention and all ladies know we dress for each other not the boys. Unless your this lady in my gym who really needs to cover up, I’m all for being comfortable but you need to have respect for other people too! So I like that when I do a class and I quickly check myself in the mirror that I look good and usually cause I am comfortable I tend to push myself a little harder.

My recommendations for some good workout clothes are
2XU Tights http://www.2xu.com/2xu-landing.html
Running Bare http://www.runningbare.com.au/
Addidas clothing http://www.adidas.com/au/homepage.asp

My God I’m 27!

As you may have guessed from my Botox blog I may have an issue with getting older. Well I have always had an issue with age full stop! And as I have turned 27 today it made me stop and have a think about getting older. When I was younger I always wanted to be older and I hated that my high school boyfriend was older than me by a full 6 months and now I would like to be younger by a full 6 years. Well not a whole 6 years maybe just 2.

When I was 25 I could deal with that and I decided that this was a good age the half way point to 30 ok I would like to stop now! Apparently it doesn’t work that way. Damn you father time moving that clock forward! But I looked at myself naked in the mirror this morning to see if things had changed. Silly I know I really don’t take much time to look at myself in the mirror sure I do when I’m shoving make up on my face or checking what I’m wearing looks ok. But I decided that I would take a good hard look and not in any kind of dirty way. And I came to a few conclusions firstly I look much better now that I did 3 years ago and that’s a lot of gym work and good food. My butt hasn’t dropped to the floor (just yet) it is actually smaller. My tummy is much flatter and also has some definition to it, thanks Amanda for that one. Legs are leaner and more tone, so I have to say I haven’t aged so bad.

So apart from the body I had a think about how else I have changed in the last few years. Well I think I’m a lot more calm than I was a few years back, I’m learning not to sweat the small stuff. I am also learning to be a lot more accepting of people in the whole. I use to be a like this person drives me crazy, but now I am more excepting of people and everything that comes with them. I don’t not like anyone anymore I just accept people as they are and there rubbish it’s not worth not liking people.

I also remember when I was younger that I thought by 27 I would be married and have one child and pregnant with my second?????? Man I am so not ready for children. My friends who are my age with children I think are amazing who have children I have realised I am just not ready for them yet. My fiancé on the other hand is.

So after my reflection on my birthday maybe 27 isn’t so bad but ask me next year when I am half way to 30!

The Bucket List

So I woke up this morning at the stupid hour of 5:15am and one of the first things I do is check my phone. I’m a bit of a nanna and am asleep early as I get up really early and there is a text from my mum that says “At the hospital they think your nanna has had a stroke” Well not the kind of text that I usually wake up to. Now I have to say this is no big surprise my nanna is in her late 80’s and has been unwell for a while so we have all been waiting for this text or call saying she has taken a turn for the worst.

Now after a few phone calls at a more reasonable hour I have found out that my Nan had a mini stroke and she seems to be ok but will need to be kept in for observation.

So this had me thinking today that life is very short and we need to make the most of it. So I have created my bucket list, things I want to do or see before I die. Some of these things are already being for filled at the moment but I have added them anyway.

• Walk the Inca Trail. This is a mountainous jungle hike leading to the sacred Inca city of Machu Picchu. The 45km trek is usually covered in 4 days.
• Go to Africa on safari
• Marry the man that I love with all my heart (Doing that one in February)
• Have children
• Back pack around Europe
• Get my motorcycle license
• Go to Glastonbury
• Learn French and Italian (That should be interesting)
• Go to university
• Be 70 years old and playing bingo with my 3 best friends



So what’s your bucket list?

Budget Is A Spread Sheet That Has What My wedding Is Costing Me!

So I had my friend Lorna over the other week and we are getting married within a few weeks of each other and we were talking wedding costs. Such as how much is brides maid dresses worth and what we were willing to put in towards bridesmaids and groomsman. My other client turned and said “Oh what kind of budget do you have?” to which Lorna replied “Budget what budget? A budget is a list of what everything is costing me on a spreadsheet” I had a really big laugh at this as this tends to be the case for a lot of people getting married and I am totally n the same boat. I know what we wanted for our wedding we have booked it and every month money goes out to all sorts of things. Honeymoon, rings, photo booth and so on. I’m really good at budgeting for things and I have felt I have done a reasonable job with the wedding as I still have money left over from the original budget that my parents and Joe's parents gave us. Now to be honest I never really payed attention if I liked it and thought it was reasonably priced sure I’ll have 5 of them.

That’s really my philosophy on shopping full stop why should my wedding be any different. But the old wedding can get a little out of control when it comes to cost. You just have to utter the word wedding and you can add 50% to everything. We tried to I actually didn’t tell one place I wanted it for a wedding I wanted it for a function and got a price once they realised it was for a wedding it went up by 20%. So is a wedding really worth all money we put out for it. Remembering that all this money is for one day, the average Australian wedding in 2009 was $49,202! I would like to know who these people are and can I have a loan! Lets round that up to $50,000 I can do a lot with $50,000 pay of a chunk of my house, go to Europe and live for a while and actually stay in places that aren’t hostels. Now personally I think 50k is a little bit to much for one day seeing that is the average Australian wage.

So I have done a quick calculation of what our wedding is costing us just over $26,000n this includes everything from suits, dress material and so on. Now I still know this is a lot of money (A deposit an apartment) but it seems to be something a little more reasonable. (Please comment if you think I’m wrong)

The one thing I am looking forward to is after the wedding is having my money back and not paying for things for the day. Not that I begrudge paying for any of these thing but I'll tell you right now my shoe spending has gone down.

So I am now asking for comments or private messages on what you think is reasonable, what you have paid or what you know people have paid that you think was crazy or really reasonable.

What Classifies As To Skinny?????

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs I have been trying to lose some weight before the wedding in February. Now I have been quiet successful and am pretty much close to what I feel is what I would like to be for the wedding. Now this has been through a whole lot of hard work and exercise to get me to this point. Now I haven’t deprived myself of anything I want I have just been eating right, lower carbohydrate intake and for me I have cut out a lot of wheat. (I react to go to gluten quiet badly if I eat to much and it make me retain a lot of water) So I have been feeling quiet good about myself and proud that I have done this without going crazy and going down any path of eating disorders or so on.

So I have been feeling good about myself until the other day at work. I was in our lunch room eating my salad sitting across from a lady who works with me and she says to me “Danielle have you lost weight?” My response was yes. I was feeling good someone had noticed that I had lost weight and was ready for my compliment. (I know lame and yes at that point selling tickets on myself) But no there was no compliment there was the following comment “Well your looking really thin! Almost sick” Well I know this wasn’t to be rude this comment came out of concern. So I was a little taken aback by this so I’ll admit that I went to check myself out in the mirror to see if I had any bones sticking out or looked like a lolly pop head. Nope everything seemed in proportion I was wearing tailored pants and a lose fitted top. So I could say it was maybe say that this was my thin clothes and maybe make me thinner. So I brushed off the comment and went on with my day. Now I have had comments about my weight loss especially from my partner “Your too skinny” or “What’s this?” That would be my hip darling? You seriously went to uni? Now firstly Joe doesn’t like change and sometimes I think he doesn’t look at my body. Not in a bad way but I don’t think he intently looks at my body and then one day he will take notice. So I tend to disregard what Joe says a bit about my body cause well he’s a boy.

So today I have come to work really tired I did a two 13 hour days and I could barely pull my sorry ass out of bed. So had to go up to the same ladies office to speak with another lady and she called out to me to say hi. This comment follows “Danielle you are shrinking in front of my eyes and you look exhausted!” Well if I knew that but thanks for pointing it out to me. Now this lovely lady and she really is sits me down and talks to me about maybe having some time off to recuperate and is truly interested in my health which is a really lovely thing as I have worked in places that I have don’t care if you’re sick or well you are expected to show up and do your job and not complain. So after this comment I thought I haven’t weighed myself in a while I might go have a look at my weight. Well figured out what the deal is, I have lost 5kg my aim was 3kg and I have lost 5. So I understand where the concern comes from as 5kg from my fame is quite a lot.

So back to my original question what classifies as too skinny. Now I am not talking about Donatella Versace’s daughter thin cause that looks terrible I mean at what point do we stop? Now it is hard for the people losing weight as I don’t really notice the difference (Well except for my 2xu tights cause those boys are like a second skin on me) It’s easy for us to say to one another you don’t need to lose weight and you look fine. But at what point do we sit one another down and say you are looking really thin. Now I love this women for checking that I was ok and she has done it in such a nice way that I didn’t feel threatened or upset. I still don’t think that I am border line anorexic or anything and I am probably happy where I am now.

A Blog To The Teachers!

They say that those who can’t do teach! Really? I don’t believe that I taught for a number of years and I feel I’m a fairly good hairdresser. But trust me I know there are some absolute rubbish teachers out there who are giving out a tonne of wrong information and there are people picking up the slack elsewhere.

As I have mentioned before I work in a natural therapy college so I am surrounded by teachers every day, I don’t get to see a lot of these guys in action as my job is more in administration. What I do here at the college is work with a team that supports people studying by distance education and my job is to help these guys through the clinic aspect. All our courses have modules where our students need to spend time in the environment that they are studying in and observe, perform consultations and do treatments. No for anyone who has studying by distance whether it is a theory bases course or a practical based one this is a very hard thing and you need to be completely motivated to do it. I take my hat off to these guys as I speak to them on a regular basis and 9 out of 10 of them are ploughing away to get there work done and rarely complain.

When I started here I was informed that I needed to organise a Intensive Clinic for students who have massage as part of their course to come and attend here for a 4 or 5 day Intensive so they could do some clinic time and get feedback from our supervisors. This wasn’t an easy task we had a few hurdles to get through to be able to make this happen and you always have the fear of what if people don’t show up or if they hate what we have organised for the clinic or what if they get in there and they and we blow their heads off with to much information! Now I always knew I had amazing massage therapists in the clinic upstairs and I have been lucky enough to have massages from then and they have made me feel a million dollars afterwards but I have never seen these guys in action until yesterday. I really wanted to get a feel of what these guys are teaching our students and how they handle these students remembering that some of these guys have never even touched someone and let alone perform a massage on a paying client. I sat up in the room yesterday and observed how they worked and taught, now I know nothing about massage and god help anyone who gets one off me as I’m more likely to do damage to someone then make them feel relaxed or even better. So here I am sitting in this class and taking notes on massage and watching on why you massage like this and how to look after a pregnant client (We have a pregnant student in our class and she was kind enough to be a guinea pig) I also came to the realisation of one of the things I miss about teaching is the moments when you watch a student make the connection and when everything starts to make sense. I saw this on nearly every student yesterday and it made me smile as this is the thing that make my job worth wild. I have students ring me on a daily basis that you sometimes to need to pull of the ledge and say that it’s all going to be ok and lets break this down into chunks. So to see these guys who have never been in a class room for this course drink up all the information that was provided.

So I want to say a really big thank you to the guys upstairs changing some of these students lives this week and a big thank you to Steve for working with me to get this done and writing such a amazing program for these students. I and they appreciate this so much.

Take Your Herbs!

So as I have mentioned I work in a natural therapy college, not only is this an amazing place to work its I have a few little perks to my job such as free massages, free beauty treatments and getting to work with the best of the best natural therapy practitioners that Sydney has to offer.
One of which is the amazing Kylie Seaton naturopath, now Kylie was a little hard to miss on my first day of the college. What is your job here she asked apparently no one had filled my team in that I was starting that day or that my role existed "Oh I'm the External Clinic Coordinator" oh great the job with no description she said with a smile, I knew I like her straight away. You only have to speak to Kylie for about 30 seconds to like her and an extra 10 on top of that to know that she's knows what she talking about. You only have to look into Kylie's background to figure out why she is so good at what she does her awards include
Blackmores Professional Award for Excellence in Naturopathy, Traditional Medicine Supplies Top Naturopathy Graduate, NHAA International Phytotherapy Conference Student Member of the Year, NHAA International Phytotherapy Conference Peer Support Award.
Oh and the official qualifications are: Bachelor Health Science/Naturopathy, Advanced Diploma of Naturopathy, Advanced Diploma of Western Herbal Medicine, Advanced Diploma of Homeopathy, Diploma of Nutrition, Certificate of Iridology, Bachelor Arts Communication/PostGDip Communication.

Kylie is for sure one of the top naturopaths around, so here is the million dollar question whats a naturopath???? For people who are not completely natural therapy savvy a naturopath is a someone who deals with health issues with natural products and herbs. Now if you spoke about a naturopaths 10 years ago people would look at you like you had 2 heads for not going to the doctors to get your health issues fixed. But after numerous reports of doctors prescribing drugs that's we don't need and filling our body full of chemicals with terrible side effects people are now looking for natural remedy's to our health issues. I am a firm believer that natural herbs can very much be the way to go I have used them for depression and never had side effects like I have had on other prescribed medications. Kylie is able to treat condition such as fatigue, IBS and many common issues without using drugs.

Kylie has recently been interviewed in RUSSH magazine on an article called Both Ends Burning.
I am very lucky that when I have been unwell I just need to look at Kylie and she knows what to give me to have me sorted out in no time. She has an amazing bedside manor that people feel comfortable with her as they constantly look to her for advice. The other thing that I admire about Kylie is the lengths that Kylie goes to for her patients to ensure there health. Kylie left work the other day to go with a client to the doctors as this client has been unwell for a period of time and trying to figure out what is wrong has been a challenge. She did this free of charge and gave up an hours pay to be with this clients consultation. Now not to say that I am doctor bashing here as there is a place for prescription medications as well and Kylie will work with doctors to make sure that her clients have results.

So the next time you are feeling unwell or have a niggling issue that just wont go away take a look at visiting a naturopath as they my be the one who can help with a natural alternative rather than pumping your body full of chemicals as all we need to do is stand on a busy road for two minutes to get enough chemicals to last a life time.

For appointments with Kylie please email Kylie on kylie@takeyourherbs.com.au

My Favourite Thing In The World Shoes!!!

As someone who regularly trains I find having the right type of shoes is something that is really important to being able to have the right shoe for the right kind of training. Now I’m the first to put my hand up and say I am not a podiatrist but I do have a little common sense. It makes me laugh when I see guys in the gym in there slip on boat shoes working out with weights. Even funnier when I see them drop a weight on their foot and break a toe (True story happen 2 weeks ago and yes I laughed!) Or my other personal favourite in the builders who come in their work clothes including their steel toes boots and king gee’s work shorts to do a work out prior to starting work.

I am a big fan of shoes of all kinds, for anyone who knows me when it comes to heels the higher the better and I refuse to believe the reason my calves are sore! But I am also a huge fan of joggers and here is my top picks for some great joggers.

In the last 12 months Nike have seemed to pick up their game and started releasing some really amazing shoes that are very cool looking and very comfortable. The Nike Free (pictured above) seem to be the shoe of the moment as they are everywhere, I have had 2 pairs of these funky shoes and I am a huge fan. They are super light weight and they don’t feel like you have anything on your feet. My recommendation on these are they are great for weights, aerobics, classes such as Body Combat and Abs Butts and Thighs. These shoes unfortunately aren’t good for running or spinning as they don’t offer enough support and aren’t firm enough for the stirrup on the spin bikes.

My next recommendation is Asics Kayano these are not the cheapest shoe on the market but well worth the investment. They have a great gel base on them that makes them great for running. They also have a very firm toe on them as so they are perfect for spin as you won’t feel like your toes are getting crushed in the stirrup. They came in a wide range of colours and I find that they are perfect for all types for feet. My recommendation for these are for weights, spinning, running and classes like Body Combat. I find them a little to heavy for any aerobic training.

The best place to find your Nike Free is on http://www.mode-shoes.com/ they are very reasonably priced and have a good turnaround time on delivery. For your Asics I recommend Rebel. They hold a large range of Asics and are competitively on price with other stores.

Eat Pray Love

I went on a date night last night with one of my best friends Corrine to see the movie Eat Pray Love. This was a movie I was really looking forward to as I read the book in Thailand earlier this year and fell in love with it, I then passed it on to Corrine and she loved it just as much.
For anyone who hasn’t read Eat Pray Love we follow Liz Gilbert on her journey of discovering herself after a painful divorce. She decides to spend 4 months in Italy to eat, 4 months in India in a ashram to prey and she finally ends up in Bali were she unexpectedly find love.

I really enjoyed the movie but it didn’t delve into the complexity of the book as it would have been a very long movie trying to get all the information without turning it into a movie longer than titanic but a great film to watch all the same.

Now I don’t find many books that make me stop and think about my life but this one certainly did and there is 2 points in this book that really helped me. There is one conversation so specific that rang true for me that made me think that when I wanted to start losing weight that I wasn’t going to take it so serious that would have me going down another path of binge eating and so on. Liz and her friend are sitting eating pizza’s in Naples and her friend says “Liz I can’t eat this I have put on 10 pounds since I have been in Italy and I can’t fit into my jeans” Liz promptly responds with when you have taken your clothes of in front of a man has he ever walked out” Her friend responses “no” exactly says Liz the guy is so stoked that there is a naked beautiful lady in front of them they don’t care about a measly 10 pounds on your hips. So we’ll enjoy this pizza and we’ll go buy ourselves a pair of jeans in the next size up. Now I have to say Joe has never balked at me in with no clothes on and I doubt he ever would (If he knows what’s good for him)

Secondly there Liz talks about having a hunger for life and for work. I was in a dreadful working situation when I was in Thailand, my work was one of those places that had a rotating door and people were constantly coming and going there was nearly 100% staff turnover while I was there I went away wondering if I would have a job when I got back. I hated this work place and hated everything it represents with is such a hard thing to say about a not for profit company. I also was in a little bit of a rut in my personal life, I was newly engaged (this isn’t the rut part) but I became wary that marriage would change my relationship with Joe and I. I have had a fair few friends that have had amazing relationships but when they got married everything changed. So this prompted 2 very big things in my life, firstly a conversation about my life with Joe and how we were going to make a marriage work. Secondly I made the decision I to leave my job, this was a little bit of a no brainer but I felt it was time to really sink my teeth into something I would love. I knocked back a fair few job for various reasons one being money it wasn’t until I had a job description put in front of that actually felt worth wild doing and working for one of the largest companies worldwide.

I highly recommend this book for someone who needs a little soul searching or just a bit of plain inspiration for their life. It’s a great read and had a huge impact on my life and hopefully it will on your after reading it.

Taking Responsibilities For Our Actions.

I woke up this morning to find I had a few missed calls from a friend of mine. I gave her a call back this morning to see what was up. This friend works for a company that is technically employed by myself and other people who live in my block. She doesn’t have anything to do with myself or block in her day to day work. Now I haven’t had a great relationship with the person who looks after us from her company nor has 90% of the people who live in our block.

In the recent months the residents of our block recently came to the decision that we would terminate our contract with this company as we have felt that the women who takes care of our block has done things that are not only are not in the interest of our block but unethical. Last week the residents had a meeting to make the decision of what we would do and the women in question was to attend. The unfortunate part of this meeting it probably came 1 year to late as on the night people were quiet angry at the treatment of the people in the block and made the distaste very clear to this women. It wasn’t the way I would have like the meeting to have gone down but I can’t control what other people think or the way they act. When the vote was taken it came that the contact was voted to be terminated.

So we thought that the situation was done and dusted well that was until my friend gave me a call. My friend has 2 small children and only works limited hours. When she arrived at work last night some accusations had been made against her saying she was involved in our lot leaving her company. Now firstly I would like to add 1 person in our block was aware I have a friend who worked there and secondly I made sure I kept my friend out of this as it wasn’t her problem nor was it my place to put her in a awkward position. But all this is besides the point.

This women who represented the company wasn’t doing her job and when this happens you can lose your job or in this case lose work. Now the smart thing would have been for this women to take reasonability for her actions. Not pass the buck because what happens when we do this is that a lie will only hold for so long. When you are incompetent at your job it only takes so long for people to realise that your useless and then after that your bosses.

In life we all do stupid things, I don’t think I know one person who hasn’t and most people freely admit to this. It’s the way we handle things in this situation which define the person we are but finger pointed and shifting the blame doesn’t work. Now the thing that really upsets me about this situation is my friend is amazing at her job I have known her for nearly 10 years now and I would hate to think that the actions of this women could affect her career as she has done absolutely nothing wrong and now has to try resolve the situation.

So next time you make a mistake or you know you are doing the wrong thing instead of pointing the finger at people how about taking some responsibilities for your actions karma will surely reward it for you later on.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY! (I’m only a few days late)

I was going to write this blog last week and got a little caught up with some other stuff going on at work. So I thought I would write about dads this week in the festivity that is father’s day! Now I am very lucky I have a pretty amazing dad. I really admire my dad in a lot of ways, he has a strong work ethic he had the ability to go to uni as a mature aged student and has god knows how many degrees and also has the ability to scare anyone straight with this particularly quiet voice that has the edge of you really don’t want to mess with me (I’m told it takes years to perfect) He is really tall has salt and pepper hair with matching beard, hazel brown eyes and thick sausage fingers! Now anyone who knows me knows I look nothing like him and my eldest sister Jacqui is the spitting image of him and my mum didn’t really get a look in on her and I could definitely be the milk mans baby. Now I may not look like my dad but I am definitely my father’s daughter and I didn’t realise this until I was much older.

When I was younger my dad and I could fight and not one of us would back down. My dad was tough on us but always fair and as much as it pains me to say it was what has made my sisters and I the strong women we are today (obviously with my mum’s help) I remember a fight we had over I can’t remember and we didn’t speak for days. He was at the time working in Malaysia at the time and he dropped me to work when he was back home for a short visit and he was due to fly back to Malaysia that day while I was at work. I have a feeling that my mum asked him to put the issue to rest as he was leaving to go back for a few weeks and she didn’t want him to leave with us still angry at each other. I remembered my dad apologising and I pretty much told him to bugger off and traipsed into work. The fight continued till the next visit home. People seem to think I get my stubborn streak from him but I really don’t know why? (I say this with a smile)

As we have both gotten older I find we are both less stubborn and don’t really fight anymore and we have both come a little bit softer with age. But his dry sense of humour is still there I had to warn my now fiancé when I introduced him to my dad. Just laugh at anything he says he will be joking and he has a really good poker face. (Joe would love to be able to do this when he actually plays poker so he could win some money) I am grateful everyday that I still have my father as my best friend unfortunately doesn’t have hers and fathers day is always the hardest. I never had the pleasure to meet him but he must have been the most wonderful man as he gave me a friend like Corrine.


Happy Belated Fathers Day to my dad and to everyone else’s fathers who are out there.

So The Election Is Over, What Happens Next?

Now I know what your thinking isn't the rule not to talk about politics and religion. Well yeah but I logged onto Facebook tonight and saw a whole lot of disgruntled status updates about who one today election (I'm from the shire and it is a very strong Liberal seat and kills it every election, so if you live here and you vote Labour don't advertise it as you may lose a limb) Now I must admit I had one myself as I am not keen on the this whole election as a whole and after speaking to various people who did the donkey vote they have said if they knew it would be this close they would have actually done it properly.

We all get so geared up at election time and to be honest it's the only time I see a tonne of status updates about the politics and it will all die down within a few days and I will go back to seeing what people have had for breakfast or how bad there day is going. While a lot of us are not happy about the result we now need to ask ourselves Where do we go from here? A few things to remember is that the seats are on a pretty even split between parties so making changes and having policies go through will be very hard for Labour if the other 75 seats don't agree. I also believe that this election will change a lot of things Labour and Liberals know they are on a knives edge with the Australian people. If they didn't they both wouldn't be trying so hard to swing independents to see there side of things and start looking at rural Australia more.

Also this is a 3 year contract so to speak, if it all turns to rubbish what chance do we think Labour will hold a 3rd term? I do believe that the independents and Labour do there best to make the most of this 3 years and I really hope they do as the Australian people need a good 3 years after a particularly rough last 3.

So the thing to remember now is to give Labour a chance and let Julia Gillard have a go and lets try start this with a clean slate. Worst case scenario we can vote them out next year and vote in the sex party!

Stephanie Rice You IDIOT!

Today I jumped on facebook and saw my sisters status of Stephanie Rice you idiot! I started reading through the comments and was getting an idea of what had happened and that she tweeted a offensive word and it didn’t offensive word was. Clicked onto Ninemsn and low and behold I was right. I'm not going to write the word but lets just say it's in refrence to gay males. The thing that I find the most terrible about this is for starters it's such and ugly word and is extremely frowned upon in society, secondly you have a open twitter account with god knows how many followers and you think you can say it and no one would notice? Now I realise that athletes and celebrities get put up on a petistool and we expect them to act in a particular way so they are role models for young children. I don't always agree with this as it doesn't allow these people to make mistakes and when they do they fall particularly hard!

Ben Cousins is a prime example a football player who was a role models then he bacame addicted to drugs and when he fell he fell hard.
I don't excuse his behaviour but he obviously is a troubled man and had to have this played out in front of the media which is not only hard for him but hard for the family as well. I know a few people who have had addictions and doing it without the media is hard enough on them and the familly. 99% of my friends drink now there is always a chance that we can get addicted but for a good chunk there isn't. I know lots of people who take drugs recrationally and don't get addicted but sadly I know a few who do. Drug addiction is something I don't know a lot about so I don't feel I can comment pass this but I hope you are seeing the point I am trying to make.

But when I see people in the public eye make statements like this for me it isn't oh well everyone make mistake and has prices to pay. I find this stupid that all if us know better better than throwing around slurs of any kind and the sad thing is I don't think she is a nieve girl who doesn't know any better. A point my friend Lizzie made (congrats on the engagement as well to her) is that one of her fellow team mates Mathew Mitcham is an openly gay man who I’m sure wouldn’t appreciate it. The sad thing is I think that we have come so far in the way of race and sexuality that this makes me sad. So I really hope before anyone thinks that it’s ok to use any derogatory terms take a long hard look around were not if the 1800 people get with the times.

What Happens If We Gain Weight When Were Trying To Lose it?

So as I have mentioned in previous blogs that I am trying to lose a few kg before my wedding in February. I have been previously weighing myself daily but over the last few weeks I have been doing it weekly as it can do your head in doing it daily.
So Friday is my weigh day so in the gym I walk up to the electronic scales making sure no one is around to witness my weight and yes I take my shoes off (they are an extra 300 grams) and jump on the scales. To my absolute horror I have gained 500 grams! I weighed myself 3 times to check that the weight was right! A meathead who trains in the gym came up behind me and said I don’t think it gets lighter if you do it a few times, now if I wasn’t scared that this guy could flick me across the gym I would have been sure to smack him straight in the face. Did he know I was having a mini breakdown here!

Now a little confused I put my shoes back on and head over to do some exercise awaiting my trainer to come up as she teaches a 6am Abs, Butts and Thighs! She will talk me out of my irrational thinking and put me straight. Another lady I know comes and starts talking to me as I’m on a machine I get distracted and there walks by my trainer into class. I didn’t want to be rude and say to this lady I’m sorry I need Amanda to talk me of this emotional cliff I am standing on. To late Amanda is gone along with some of my sanity!
To my huge relief my beautiful best friend Corrine come up the stairs in her sexy gym gear, I proceed to tell her what has happened, now most people would give you a smart ass response (Joe I’m looking at you with your comment of you do number 2’s that weigh that much so maybe I need to go to the toilet) that didn’t help! Corrine looks and listens and says “You have upped your weights and downed your cardio training so it could be muscle gain, I fluctuated 500 grams a day don’t stress” These magic words pulls my head out of my butt and gets me back to rational thinking.

Now if this had happened about 4 years ago I would have probably starting starving myself and upping gym sessions to lose this 500grams cause my mind set was so messed up. I had to be very careful here not to fall into that trap again as it is very easy to do and I have seen people do it all the time. So when we’re trying to lose weight and we have a gain what do we do?

It’s very easy to fall off the wagon, go and emotional eat and throw in the towel. But it’s time like this that I feel you really strengthen yourself and take control of the situation.
As usual Corrine is completely right, yes I have change my routine for about 6 weeks now and yes I am lifting bigger weights so it could be muscle gain.
Also it hasn’t been a good week for me, I have been emotionally drained with various things in my life taking a toll and my eating has been a little out and I haven’t felt like I am worthy of having this weight loss I desire.

So I have made a list of what I need to do to help this process, when we have setbacks in life whether it be weight loss, loss of a job or a break up. It’s best to revaluate what we’re doing and make improvements. Now I know this may seem extreme over 500grams but I have recently spoken to people who have come back from holidays adding an extra 3 plus kg to their frame. So here is my advice

• Get a food diary going, write down what your putting in your mouth, you can do this in your phone on the diary. This is very confronting when we look at what we consume.

• I have been in a routine for 6 weeks now with training so I need to start mixing things up and keep my body guessing as it will get use to the same thing if I do it constantly.

• Thinking positive! This is a huge this as we need to stay positive or we will fall off the wagon.

• And finally stoping being hard on yourself as this isn’t doing anyone any favours, when we fall down we pick ourselves back up again and keep moving forward.

I hope this helps anyone who is trying to lose a little weight and are feeling a little overwhelmed by the situation.

GOSSIP!

Let’s face it we all like a little gossip on the occasion. There is very harmless gossip as in finding out your friend is getting engaged before she is or there is downright nasty gossip that can not only hurt someone but there reputation as well. And boy do I have a story for you, I was having my training session the other week when a women who is regularly at the gym at the same time most mornings walked by I notice my trainer get very quiet for a moment and looking uncomfortable. “You ok” I asked she looked perplex for a second then said “ No actually I’m a little pissed off” Then proceeded to tell me that the lady who had just walked past had started a rumour that something was going on between herself and another staff member at the gym. I was like oh honey that’s not bad don’t stress about that. She said “Oh I forgot to mention that she rang the man in questions wife” well this was a definitely a WTF moment.

I try to stay out of gym gossip as my gym is a very tight knit bunch and if you get pulled into the rubbish that goes on in there you get consumed by it. I have seen it happen before with people in the gym that they won’t go to that gym anymore they go to one of the other gyms in the area cause they now are in a uncomfortable situation.

So you’re probably wondering how this woman came to this conclusion and it’s quite simple my trainer and this guy train together on the occasion. That’s right people they trained together. Now if this is the case I am having it on with a lot of guys in the gym and a few girls for that matter, I’m not a huge girl and I need to have people assist me if I’m on the chest press. I do try to assist people too but as I said to a guy in the gym the other day who was pressing 100kg that if this falls on you the best I can do is call for help and watch you struggle. Back to my trainer, she said that she will train with anyone boy or girl if they are training at the same time as her as sometimes having a buddy will push you harder. The thing that really gets me is that, firstly this woman has a set to ring this man’s wife and say this. Apart from the fact this is highly inappropriate but this poor woman was sitting at home wondering what was going on with her husband. I don’t care what your relationship is like if you got a phone call from someone saying your partner was getting it on with someone else you would be upset as well. Obviously when he got home he was confronted with what was said to her, he handled it really well and explained the same thing as I said if I was sleeping with everyone I trained with I would never have time for my fiancé.

I feel terrible for my trainer as she has to be very professional at work and it isn’t in her best interest to confront this lady, I suggested hitting the emergancy stop on the treadmill when she was on it and watch her fly off, I even offered to do it for her. Anyone who knows my trainer knows she is an amazing lady who is completely professional and has never had a a bad word to say about anyone. The thing is that if this gossip had esculated my trainers reputation would be tarnished, I live in the Sutherland Shire and everyone knows everyone business so this could have been very damaging not just personally but professionally.

So if anyone who read this blog is in the business of starting rumors or getting involved in them. Think about the reprecussions of your actions, this isn’t high school anymore it’s not just reputations that can be at stake.

Hair Treatments!

So following up from my shampoo blog yesterday I wanted to blog on the best treatments for your hair. Here is a great list of treatments for all hair types.

Extremely Dry Hair - Redken All Soft, this treatment is expensive but is thick and rich and will nourish your hair.

Broken and Brittle Hair - Redken Cat Treatment, this product cab repair the hair but 100% if used correctly, 3 back to back treatment will improve the hair by 100% anymore than that protein will reverse on itself and start to damage the hair. This product has been around for years and is still a best seller

Quickie Treatments - GKMBJ One Minute Mask, this will moisturise and nourish hair in 1 minute. Perfect for people who don't have time to wait around for a 15 minute treatment.

Fine Hair - Fudge One Shot treatment is a spray leave in treatment is full of protein and moisture and has no weight to it. Great for a leave in treatment as well for people with thick hair.

Normal Treatment - GKMBJ Intensive Treatment, this is great for all hair types it's not heavy and is very moisturising on the hair.

These all have fairly reasonable price points, I will admit Redken is a little expensive but worth the money. Remember to treat your hair once a week for the best results.

Can’t Find A Shampoo To Suit Your Hair? I have The Answers Here For You!

Finding good products for our hair is always a bit of a challenge, you buy something that you figure will be amazing on your hair only to find out it makes it oily, dry or sticky. So this week I’m going to put a list together of my picks of products that will work best for your hair starting with shampoo.

DRY HAIR- I highly recommend GKMBJ Latic Shampoo, this product is reasonably priced and is amazing on dry hair it really smoothes the cuticle out and isn’t heavy and can be used on most hair.

TORTURED HAIR- I love Fudge Tortured Tonic this shampoo is light weight and very repairing on damaged hair. It can be used on all hair types.

BLONDE HAIR- If you don’[t want any brassiness in your hair I highly recommend De Lorenzo Nova Colour Shampoo in Silver, this product is very strong and eliminates all yellow from hair (Beware not to overuse as you will get a silver effect on your hair)

COLOURED HAIR- I think PPS Colour Ware shampoo is great if you just want to lock your colour in and want something that will moisturise your hair without making it heavy.

OILY HAIR- I highly recommend PPS Pure Cleanse, this is a great product for people who need to wash their hair daily and want something to strip oil from the hair.

DANDRUFF- You can’t go past GKMBJ Dandruff shampoo, it is light weight and still moisturised the hair without stripping any extra natural oils.

BODY BUILDER – I swear by TIGI Rock Star shampoo, this adds loads of volume and it very cleansing.

CURLY HAIR- I love CURLY SEXY HAIR, this shampoo define curls beautifully and isn’t super heavy so people with fine hair can use it as well.

STRAIGHT HAIR- I think a great product for straight hair is CONTROL FREAK by TIGI, it really smooths the hair straight and reduces the need for products on the hair


If you have combination hair please don’t hesitate to give me a email and I will help you diagnose your hair and find the best product for you.

Can A Blog Change Your Life?

The answer is apparently YES! As I mentioned when I started to blog I did this cause I felt that I had things to say and it may be of interest to people and off I went. I have not held back on any of my blogs I have given my opinion whether it be good or bad. I have opened up about things that I hold near and dear and share stories from my family. This has been a really great experience for me and my creative side, I was always scared I thought I loss that when I gave up hairdressing full time.

I didn’t really know how many people read my little blog as I only officially have 4 followers (Please join up to follow me) but I started getting a huge amount of private messages through Facebook, email and texts. Some people don’t always feel like commenting on a wall post especially some that have been as personal as mine. I have had people who I have known for years that I had no idea had gone through things that I had. I also had a message that a person went and used the Botox place I recommended and loved it. My best friend told me they loved me after my blog about them and Corrine has been at the gym 2 days this week so we can see each other.

These really made me feel good about my blog, but there is 2 people I was to talk about who have meant the most to me by sending me a email. It wasn’t until yesterday I received an email from an American lady (Yes I have gone International) she had gotten onto my blog through a friend of hers who was put onto it by someone else. The one thing with my blog I have no idea who reads it as I don’t have a tracker or who looks at it or not. Anyway back to this amazing girl, she said she has been reading my blog daily and has really touched her. She suffered an eating disorder for years trying to get to a place that she was happy, that place never happen which is a common with people with severe eating disorders. She confessed that she was so bad that she use to stand in the shower and run on the spot to burn calories. She has had Botox to feel younger and to break my heart a little further she and he now husband are on their 4th round of IVF trying to get pregnant the years of damage she did to herself. She goes in and out of depression and beats herself up on how she could have stopped this. Responding to this email was such a hard thing as I’m not a councillor or am able to give her any type of advice. I won’t go into what I responded to her with but it was full of positive information and have told her to email me when she want if she needs to talk.

The second person I wanted to talk about is a lady I actually know! I met this lovely lady through a mutual friend and she sent me a message that she has been trying to lose weight since having her 2nd child and is getting nowhere and feels terrible about talking to people as she feels like a broken record. She needed someone like I needed when I started on my downward spiral into a mild eating disorder. She read my blog and was hoping for some advice on eating and exercise and support. I referred her to read my best friends Lizzie’s FIT blog (You can find this on blog spot) I have been clear that I am no expert on losing weight but am more than happy to give her tips on what works for me and email and text her regularly letting her know that I am here for her and she can call me when she feels like chucking it in. I am more than happy to do this for anyone that needs this.

Everyone’s posts, comments, emails and texts mean the world to me and make writing this blog worth wild. If people can walk away from any of my blogs feeling better about themselves then my job is done.

I would like to end this blog with a quote from the beautiful Emma Pilcher, Believe in yourself (cause I sure do)

Note: Both women who I have written about in this blog have approve of me writing about them. I would like to dedicate this to them as they inspired this blog from me. Xxxx

No Fear!

As I mentioned in my blog yesterday my 2 year old niece Ava has no fear of anything at the moment. I have never seen a child run at things with such little concern for her own safety. I must admit this is one of the things I love so much about Ava, all my nieces and nephew are so different to one another and all have their own little traits. But at the moment this is a the top of my list for Ava. You could not find a more chalk and cheese pair then Ava and her sister Elise, Lisi as she is known is more reserved and cautious and has been for her whole life. When we got our first pug Roxy, Elise was completely freaked out by Roxy even though she was a 100 times bigger than her, Lisi is warming to Roxy now that she is older and a little calmer.
Ava has always been cautious of Roxy as long as she can remember Roxy has been full size and I full size pug is scary to any 2 year old. But now we have added a new edition to the family in the name of a little black pug name Elvis, I am very cautious that the girls know Elvis from a early age so as he grows they are ok with him and he is obviously not threatening at his grand old weight of 850 grams.

So when I called my sister on Saturday and asked to pop round to introduce Elvis to Lisi and Ava I knew we would have to be careful not to freak both of them out. When I walked is Lisi was intrigued by him but didn’t want to hold him as I know this was time thing for Lisi she would hold him in her own time. Ava went running from the room screaming. Where did my no fear girl go I got scared that she was losing that quality all ready, she came running back in 1 minute later to find me sitting on the floor with Elvis and Lisi having a play then all of a sudden plonking herself right next to me pulling Elvis out of my hands and putting him on his lap and turning to me and saying “puppy!” No concern for her safety or if Elvis may hurt her she was wrapped in this little puppy in front of her and I lost my puppy from that moment on had to pry him back out of her hands when it was time to go.

So this got me thinking when did we all become such big scaredy cats! Really we get to an age where we become so cautious of most things and stop taking chances. Now I don’t mean jumping out of planes or playing chicken on a busy road (Well actually I do that most days trying to get across the road to get my coffee) but we don’t take as many chance in life we do things the safe way. I don’t know if it’s cause we become complacent or if it’s because we can’t be bothered. For example I was speaking with a girl in my Attack class who hates her job but is scared to leave. When I asked why she said it’s all I know and I’m secure there. Me any job I have hated I have left, one cause I figure that I spend 40 plus hours there a week and I need to like what I do and the people I work with. But with saying this about this lady in my attack class she goes bungee jumping all the time, now me I will never do bungee jumping I like my spine in place thank you very much. So how are we so fearless in some things but not in others, I know every time I’m called to my big bosses office I run through my head of what could I be getting in trouble and sit nervously until I find out the reason I have been summonsed there. Usually it’s to give an update on what I’m working on.

So what I would like to ask the people who read this is to do something fearless in the next week, it can be as simple as trying some random food or book a trip to a destination that you want to go to but have been holding back on or to approach your boss about a pay rise or a new role that is being advertised internally. I think sometimes we need to take an Ava approach to life and go in no holds bar and give it a go. Remember in life where not here for a long time but a good one so make everyday count.

Things That Make Me Happy!

I was speaking to a girl that I work with and she was saying that when she has a bad day she makes a list of what makes her happy. This acts as a distraction to what is going on in her day and brings her back to reality.
So here is my list.

• My Fiancé, he puts me in my place when I need it and loves me unconditionally
• My puppies, Roxy and Elvis make me laugh and I always have someone to come home to who is happy to see me
• My family, as much as we can drive each other up the wall we love each other non the less
• My nieces and nephew laugh, they all have this crazy cackle and it keeps me in stitches
• My friends, they are always there for me and always fun to have a party with
• Balloons, I have a slightly weird obsession with them I always think people are lucky who get given balloons
• The singing Barista, across the road from my work is this amazing coffee shop and they have a barista that sings while he makes your coffee. I always have a giggle at this
• A good cup of coffee
• My niece Ava has no fear and dives into everything head first. I love watching this as I know that she will grow out of it one day
• Fresh Flowers, there is nothing like fresh flowers I think they can brighten your day and a room
• Running, I love that it clears my head and I am at the point now I can run for an hour and a half and not stop
• New music on my ipod, anyone who runs know that it makes a difference when running
• Trashy TV, Joe hates it but my favourite is The Housewives of NYC, The Kardashians, Pineapple Dance Studio and The Hills just to name a few
• Gelato, any flavour and I will eat it at anytime of the year
• Personal training, I for some dumb reason like getting my ass kicked
• Dancing, I don’t care where there is nothing like shaking what your mother gave you

I would love you all to comment on one or more things that make you happy. You would be amazed what makes people happy sometimes.

What Classifies A Real Friend?

I am very fortunate in life that I have 3 best female friends, I have met all of them in different ways. My oldest friend Kristen I met as school, we had a crush on the same boy at school. Now most girls would see this as competition not Kristen and I we saw it as way to spy on him and report back to one another. Tragic I know but if you think this is bad you should have seen the notes we wrote to one another. I then have Corrine, I met Rin at the gym, I use to see her every morning then one day while I was in the process of getting change up walks Corrine and say “Oh wow you have hair extensions, I just got mine last week” now if most people walked up to me while I was half naked and started to talk to me about my hair they would have copped the most dirty of looks but I remember looking at Corrine and thinking I can’t help but like you and that is how our friendship was born. And lastly Lizzie, I must admit I was a little wary of Lizzie when I met her, she had not long started dating my best male friend and like most friends would be prepared to scratch her eyes out if she did anything to hurt him. Over time I realised that Lizzie and I have a lot in common and this girl has come to my rescue on a few occasions, especially when I’m writing work reports, resumes and assignments for Tafe. These are 3 people who are truly special to me hence why they will walk down the aisle with me when it comes to my wedding day.

So you may be wondering why am I writing about these 3 wonderful girls and their friendships to me? Well that’s simple, I received a text from Corrine last week that said “I’m so sorry I haven’t had time for you lately”. Corrine and I have had a huge amount going on in our lives in the last few months and we went from seeing each other every day at the gym to once every 2-3 weeks as Corrine running every morning near home so she can get to work early and while I’m still at the gym. I smiled at this message as it is a very Corrine thing to say and I would probably say it to her as well if she hadn’t beaten me to the punch. Now the reason that this makes me smile as I have a different relationship with all these girls but still very much the same. I regularly can go a few weeks with Corrine and Kristen and not speak to them. Not that I don’t want to but cause were all so busy, this doesn’t mean I love them any less or that they love me any less but that’s our life at the moment. Kristen and I didn’t speak to each other for 2 years after I left high school. This didn’t mean I loved her any less but we needed to do our own things for a while. But I know it is as simple as picking up the phone and saying hi what’s doing and everything is the same. There is no arguments that you haven’t called or that I’m a bad friend, this to me is a great friends. Now you may be wondering here about Lizzie, well she is in own group all together. As I said Lizzie started dating my best male friend and they are still together 5 years on, I see Lizzie every weekend and email and text nearly every day. This is as we are in the same group of friends spend a lot of time together. I know if the situation ever changed if we didn’t speak for a week or so the same rules apply, there would be no arguments that we weren’t in contact with one another, it would just pick up where it had left off.

Now I know that isn’t what always defines friends but for me when it come down to it I would prefer to have a handful of friends like these than a mountain of friends who come and go through my life. I think if you can count you true friends on your hand then you are doing very well for yourself in life. I made the decision many years ago that I didn’t want toxic friends in my life and that for a simple reason. I can do a pretty good job of making myself feel bad on occasion, I don’t need the people around me doing it for me. So I did a bit of a clean out of friends, I also along with half my group got cleaned out from 2 friends that I thought where our good friends. Amazing what a boob job can do for a friendship (not mine, obviously for anyone who knows me) I also think that this has been a great thing as I don’t miss these friends and if they can’t be honest with you about something very obvious then what kind of friends are they right? I also don’t miss the way they made me feel, I was made to feel that I was bellow them, whether this was intentional or not I don’t now but I know I don’t miss it. So I hope this blog make you take a little look at your “friends” and if any of them are making you feel bad about yourself then maybe it’s time to have a clean out. It will guarantee that you will feel better about yourself and I promise that you will be better off without them.

The Blue Parrot

I never thought that I would do a restaurant review but I went to a restaurant on Saturday night that was so good it was hard to not write about it. The restaurant is called The Blue Parrot at its on Surf Rd at Cronulla. My fiancé and I were catching up with another couple and I haven’t been out to dinner with them before but Joe has known Steve since high school. So we wanted to go somewhere really nice and I really wanted to get to know both of them better as Joe speaks so highly of Steve and we are invited to their wedding in January.

Now I left it in Joe and Steve to organise where to go to dinner and being typical boys it was 2pm on Saturday and nowhere had been booked. So I was down at Cronulla and went and had a look around for somewhere for dinner. We had seen some great reviews for the Cooks Table but it was booked out so walking back I walked past The Blue Parrot and saw they had 3 courses of $37.50 so I thought that’s well this is reasonable and they were able to fit us in so it worked out perfect. I have been to the Blue Parrot about 8 years ago and the food was lovely from memory and my parents go there on occasion so I knew it had to be ok.

So we had an early reservation and when we arrived the restaurant was half full which was surprising for 6:30pm, we were seated in at a beautiful table. One of the first things I noticed was it is a really beautiful restaurant, the lighting is really nice it wasn’t to dark and it wasn’t blaring light either. They had a great menu with a really nice mix; they had beautiful salads and light meals for entrées. I had the tempura prawns with lemon aioli; Joe had the prawn and scallop wontons for entrees, both these dishes were amazing and very light. The serves for these were very generous.

For mains I had lamb shanks with vegetables, I can sometimes be very wary of lamb shanks, as they can be a very heavy dish. This wasn’t at all. Joe had the duck, which was great and cooked really well. I’m not a huge duck person but I really enjoyed it. Laura had a stuffed chicken, which looked amazing and she said was great too.

We were tossing up on desert should we or shouldn’t we, Laura and I made the call that the desert was the way to go. I am a bandit for a good gelato, so they have a trio of gelatos. It was fig, pistachio and chocolate. I have to say these were AMAZING! Joe got the fruit platter and Steve and Laura got the sticky date pudding. The fruit platter was really good and had really nice cheeses. Both Steve and Laura said there sticky date pudding was great as well. Only complaint was the ratio of ice cream to pudding wasn’t quiet right but delicious none the less.

So apart from the food there was other things that made the meal so great. The waiters were very attentive and were always there but not in an over annoying way. The meals were all bought out together and were all hot so we knew nothing had been sitting there for a while.

I really recommend this restaurant to anyone as the food is amazing and so was the service. It is also BYO so you can take your favourite bottle wine to have with your meal. Definitely give this place a go as it is not a huge restaurant a go if you like good food and want somewhere you can go and talk to your friends. Phone number is (02) 9523 9109.

Wedding Guests

As I have mentioned in previous blogs I am get married in 7 months time. And who ever said that getting married is the happiest time in your life clearly lied!
Well actually it’s not as bad as that but a wedding is a lot of stress and money. Now I am very lucky both my parents and my fiancés parents have been kind enough to help out with paying for the wedding so that has take a lot of stress of us financially.

Now like most couples we have an idea of what our dream wedding is. I am very lucky Joe and I have very simular tastes in things and when we found our wedding reception we both knew that this was it and that neither one of us had to talk the other into a place we didn’t want. The other big thing is the venue is a great size but realistically it also limits our numbers to about a 100 at the most. So when it came time to sit down and go through who would be there this was a very tough call. I have a very large family and extended family my extended family are family friends who have been in my life since birth and have welcome Joe into their family with welcome arms. Joe on the other hand does not. He has his 5 brothers and sisters 2 of which have partners and his parents and Nanna. (May I say I love Nanna McGloin so much I have never seen such a small woman consume so much champagne but I guess that’s the Irish in her)
So once we put our family down we then had to move onto friends, this is always tricky. You have people that are in your group of friends that you only see when there is an event or your have friends who go through girlfriend or boyfriends faster than I do underwear. So where do you draw the line at people you invite to the wedding.

We made a common rule of no plus ones or no people who we hadn’t seen in 5 years or that each of us hadn’t met. This seems ok in theory but not so? Do we invite bosses? Do we invite work friends? Oh we went to that person wedding but I haven’t seen them in 3 years and only chat occasionally on Facebook. Well as you can imagine when we did the first draft we were at 130 people, this was way too much and we wouldn’t be able to fit. So when we went through the list both Joe and I were saying to each other who is this? And we would then have to decide can we have them or not. It is really hard cutting people off a list as you don’t want to offend anyone but you also need to be realist are they going to be in your life in 5 years time. This is sadly a hard task as you do start thinking about what kind of friendships these are and it sad to think about friends this way too.

I know plenty of people who have invited everyone to their wedding and within 12 months have never seen them again and have paid $150 a head for them to be at the wedding. That’s the last thing we want, weddings and engagements are a very personal thing and I do believe that you have the people you love there. We had the great experience of a girl who Joe and I are not close with and we know has an issue with us show up at our engagement party, as you can imagine it went down really well with me when she comes into your parents home and helps herself to food and alcohol you have paid for. Not cool!

So for anyone who is planning a wedding take the time to think about who you want to invite to your wedding, this day is about you and you fiancé. And sharing it with the people you love. People should understand that weddings are expensive and that sometimes there just isn’t enough space or money to have everyone.

Moroccanoil

So today I thought I would give a review of Moroccan oil for all the people who are a little curious about this product. Well when I say all of you I mean the ladies not so much the men.

The luxury brand, Moroccanoil®, is the originator and leading manufacturer of professional Argan Oil in recent years there has been many competitors come out releasing their own version of this product.

A powerful antioxidant and UV protector, Moroccanoil’s proprietary Argan oil blend is rich in vitamins and natural elements that fortify the hair, including Vitamin F (Omega 6), Vitamin A to improve elasticity, Vitamin E to protect against free-radicals, and Phenols to shield against environmental stressors.

Moroccanoil® products have a strong following among leading runway, film, television and celebrity stylists who search for the very finest for their A-list clients. Moroccanoil® is a backstage fixture frequently used to create hair for major magazine covers, fashion editorial spreads, as well as for award shows.
There is many Moroccanoil®’s Argan oil is harvested under a fair trade program which provides substantial socio-economic support to thousands of families in the Souss-Massa region of Morocco. Revenue from this project provides income to families and helps improve the working conditions of rural women. It is also used for reading, writing and management classes, as well as for modern infrastructure and technology that help make harvesting easier and more efficient, ensuring long-term management of the Argan forest.

First of all I liked what the company stands for any company that is under the fair trade program I am will to give sometime to. So I bought a small bottle to try out on not just myself but on my clients as well. The usual thing with a product is that it will work great on some hair but not others. I have extensions in my hair and being human hair I need to treat them like normal hair. I find the ends of my extensions can sometimes get a little dry so I make sure that I use good shampoo’s and conditioner, I also find most oils work well on the end of them as well. So I wash and conditioned my hair and added a small amount to the ends. Firstly this stuff smells amazing! Secondly it glided on my hair and when I combed my hair it detangled and I could feel the smoothness where I had placed the oil.

So I did two tests, one letting my hair dry naturally into a curl and blow dried straight. Like most hair when dried naturally it is frizz central, not with the oil. My girls were very defined and smooth and not sticky or felt like I rubbed a bottle of oil in my head.

Next the blow dry test. I find most of my clients can dry their roots to mid lengths really well but they can’t seem to smooth out their ends. So I decided to give my hair a very unprofessional blow dry. Not drying in sections and just a shake, brush, dry. Thanks Sue for her description of how she dries her hair. Even at my most rubbish attempt at a blow dry my hair look really reasonable, can you imagine what it would look like if I did it properly.

So I then moved onto my next test my mum anyone who has seen my mum knows she has a huge amount of hair and the texture is coarse. When I used the oil it was so smooth and felt amazing nice and smooth and took the very coarse feeling off it.

I have now been using this on all my clients with amazing results. Moroccanoil is not a cheap product a large on will set you back about $45 or a small $25. This product does last a long period of time and a little goes a long way. I recommend that if you would like to purchase SA hair and Beauty suppliers on level 7 the Gowing Building sell this product a reasonable cost or you can go online and order from http://www.hairbodyskin.com.au/hair1/moroccan-oil/?gclid=CKmyvrLAraMCFQMjbgodBF4K3w