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

Babies, don't take them for granted!

I have written and rewritten this particular blog numerous times so I figure I would just get to the point. I recently offered my girlfriend my eggs. Not your run of the mill chicken eggs, no my reproductive eggs. So some of you might be thinking what the? One of my very close girlfriend has been trying to have a baby by IVF for 3 years now with no success. She was 40 when she started her first round of IVF and unfortunately it has never taken. There is nothing physically wrong with her or her partner, her body produces eggs normally and her partner is a perfectly healthy strapping man. But the only thing that they can conclude is that there age means that their eggs and sperm isn’t as strong as they would like it to be. This has not only been heartbreaking to watch but makes you really think about your own life and puts things in perspective.



I am lucky to have 3 amazing nieces and 1 spunky young nephew who I love unconditionally and would do anything for. Now all 4 of these little angels (their parents may say different) coming into this world hasn’t been easy on either them or my sisters. I have lost a niece, I have had to sit with the fact that they thought my sister had a brain tumour in her second pregnancy and had to watch my other sister be so violently ill though her pregnancy and birth that it makes me wonder why I even want kids. But the simple answer to that is the enjoyment that these little ones give not just their parents but my whole family. I love that my nephew thinks my name is Roxy as he has managed to confuse my name with my dog. I love that when they have all learnt my name and say it repeatedly, I love that all my nieces have a crush my fiancé as they always run to him before me. And most of all I love how during really difficult times in my family’s life they make you realise how important family is. When my grandfather died it was unexpected and sudden but 4 months later the beautiful Ava Mackenzie came into the world and was able to take away some of the pain we all felt. I see my sisters with my nieces and nephew and see the joy they give them and the sacrifices they make for them. I’ve seen Kate sit in front of a dryer with Jack watching clothes spin around as that was the only way she could calm Jack down. I have seen Jacqui dances around to wiggles to make her girls smile when their having a moment.



These are the things that make me want to be a parent and I except I could face the problems my sisters face during their pregnancies but I’m willing to do this for a baby of my own. So to sit and watch my closes friends go through this I realise that this is something I can help with. So it doesn’t seen bazaar to me to off someone my eggs as if this means that my girlfriend has a chance at having a child then why not. Now I asked a few people what there thoughts were on this. A few people had said that they would find it hard as to do it for various reasons and these were a few I got. Firstly what if I gave up some of my eggs and my friend has a perfectly healthy child and it came time for me to conceive and I couldn't or I had a child with a deformity. Well that can happen regardless if I have given some of my eggs away or not.

Secondly wouldn't I feel like the baby was mine? Now I don't know if anyone has seen the size of an egg but it's the size of a pin prick I shed hair and eyelashes that are bigger. Yes these don't resolve in a child but it's a very small part of me.

My thoughts on this is once I have given the eggs to my friend and they no longer belong to me. They are hers and her partners and it will grow inside of her, she will nourish it and keep it safe and deliver it when the time comes. This is 10 months worth of work, (The 9 month thing is rubbish 40 weeks equals 10 months) I only participate for a 1/4 of a percent of that and what better gift could I give but the gift of life to them.


Now after some research into me donating my eggs we located a few dramas. Firstly I would have to register that I was a Donor and when the child was 18 years old the child could register on line and find out that I was what they would call the biological mother. So keeping this a secret was out of the question as my friend would have to tell the child. Strange you can adopt a child and never tell them but using donor eggs and sperm mean't you have too! This is something we all didn't feel comfortable about, as the child may never find out that I played a part in their existence but they could and it was a risk that we weren't happy with. Can you imagine if this child found out on their 18th birthday "Oh you are our child but you know your Aunt Dannii it was her eggs that helped us conceive you". Apart of what the physiological damage could be to them I would be in this child's life and it would feel betrayed my not just their parents but by me as well. My strong thoughts are that these laws need to change as parents who go through IVF have the option to donate their eggs for the reproductively challenged. They are doing something for people who have been in the same boat as themselves and can understand it from a point of view a lot of us may not be able to.


So I guess for me to sign off on this blog is Yes I would definitely give my eggs to my girlfriend if were able to do it in a way that we were both comfortable. Cause at the end of the day any of us could be in that situation one day and I would hope that I would have a friend put that offer on the table as a choice I could have. Being a parent is the most selfless thing you can do in your life and I think we should all have the option no matter our age or race.So for all the mothers and fathers out there whenever your child is being a pain and your ready to sell them on ebay, remember there are people out there who aren't as fortunate as you are.

Personal Training, Is It Worth The Cost?

So long gone are the days that personal trainers are just for celebrities. I am lucky that I have a second job that allows me to afford to splash out on a trainer once a week. I have been really lucky that I have had some amazing trainers in my time but I have 2 that stick out in my mind. My first one is the amazing Emma Pilcher, I started to train with Emma at the beginning of the year who I absolutely loved. Emma would work me hard and have a good giggle, Emma is very inspiring and has achieved a lot in her life and has 2 very amazing children. Her husband and her run an amazing personal training business and would highly recommend her and her husband Glen to anyone. I unfortunately had to stop my training in May with Emma as I had lost my job and had to make some cut backs and my personal training was one of them. I still remain close with Emma and love being able to hear about her adventures. So when I started working again I wanted to get back to training, the only thing I needed to go train in the mornings before work and nights no longer suit. I am also unable to train on Saturdays as I work then, as Emma has her little ones I don't want her to be asked to get up for me at 5:30am. So I was thinking who would be able to do this for me? Then I realised there is someone who I know can kick my butt as she does it 2 mornings a week. And that’s the beautiful Amanda Kelly, a couple of reasons I made the decision to go with Amanda is for starters she is the same shape as me, so I know that she will know how my body works. Amanda like Emma has a killer body so that’s a big plus. I also like the way Amanda's teaches classes, I'm always tired and feel like I have had an amazing workout afterwards. So I have now been working with Amanda for about a month now and I'm already seeing a huge difference in my body. I also have come to find myself a new friend in Amanda. She has been very supportive of my goals and hasn’t shied away from me for wanting to achieve them. The thing I also love is she continually kicks my butt and tells me I can do something even when I think I can’t. Especially when I told her I was allergic to chin ups! That excuse hasn’t work and I know I will be doing them soon.

So my question is, is personal trainers worth all the hype. My answer is Yes but the is a but at the end of that. Finding the right trainer is the key, as they are not all the same and some are downright terrible. For example there is a trainer in my gym to bitched to a client that I was going to get a big bum from doing a particular exercise as he saw me do it regularly, problem is she is one of my clients and told me. Now as far as I’m concerned this guy can get stuffed but the problem for our mutual client is that she doesn’t want to go in the weight areas anymore in fear that this trainer will bitch about her. So here are some tips that might help. Look for referrals from people who have them, watch PT’s around your gym and see if you like the way they are training their clients and never be scared to say it’s not working if you have done a few sessions and it doesn’t work or they start bitching about other clients.
Map out the reason you want a trainer and so you can be forward with them when you start, whether it is weight loss, muscle definition or just to mix things up.

So on my second day of cleanse and I am still not well. I am eating food and incorporating my juices through the day, for example I had a light breakfast of some gluten free toast and a small salad for lunch. I drank a juice mid morning and will drink my juices this afternoon and tonight. While this is not ideal for a proper cleanse it’s what I need to do until I start to get better. I find the juices do make me feel full and give me energy as well I will keep doing this through the week and see what kind of weight loss I have on Friday. If I don’t lose the 3kg that was recommended that I would lose I won’t be upset as I know I have done the right thing by my body.

For reccomendations for amazing personal trainers please email me on danielle.banister@gmail.com

Urban Remedy Cleanse

So as I mentioned in last weeks blogs I am doing the Urban Remedy Cleanse this week to help me loose a bit of weight prior to the wedding. I actually got recommended to this product by a few people who have done it and had great success. So I had seen a lot of positive feedback from the Facebook page and so I posted on the walls what I would like to achieve by doing the cleanse. I got a a prompt response by the beautiful Emma who gave me some info and was even kind enough to come meet with me and discuss what my plans are for weight loss. Emma sat down with me and explained how the cleanses works. What effectively we do on this cleanse is give your digestive system a break for a few days.
Your body is designed to detoxify naturally. Cleansing helps to accelerate this natural process of neutralising or eliminating toxins from your body for optimum health. An Urban Remedy Cleanse is particularly efficient and effective because it does two things at once:

It floods the body with easily-assimilated nutrients, vitamins and minerals – energizing and stimulating your body's natural healing abilities.

By giving your digestive system a rest, vital energy normally used to digest food is freed up, allowing that energy to become available for other uses, like cleansing and detoxifying. With all this “free time’, your body will begin to scour for dead cells, toxins, damaged tissues, fatty deposits, etc, all of which are then burned for fuel.

So my cleanse was delivered on Sunday night and they all looked great. As I have signed up for a 5 day cleanse I received my first 2 day cleanses and will receive my last 3 days on Tuesday.
So when I wake up on Monday morning I am feeling really unwell and I think this isn't a great way to start my cleanse. I drank juice one on the way to work on the train. It smells like a fresh salad in a juice, it takes my about an hour to drink it as my body is taking a while to get my head around a salad in a bottle. I am also not a huge fan of cucumber so as this was in my first juice it was a little harder for me to drink.
I got to work and was not well so I had to come home. Not a great start to my cleanse! i had some starch and felt a lot better and have slowly started drinking the rest of my juices. I feel a little weak but not too bad, I know I have food options if I need them and I can stop at any time if it gets to much. The most surprising part is my fiance is looking at the juices and really wants some as he thinks they look really good. So when I do my daily blog I will write at the end and let you know how I'm feeling.