The Christmas Chronicles

Merry Christmas!!
I know I'm a few days late but we all know it takes a bit to get over the hype. And the food. Oh the food!

I have been very spoilt this year, like most years - I always feel incredibly blessed with the gifts that I am given. This year I was gifted my first proper designer piece.

I was given the gift of Chanel.

Thanks to my incredibly generous Mum and Dad and their trip to Hong Kong in November, my Mum wanted to spoil my sister and I and give us a Chanel wallet each as a super special present. She was armed with a great friend in HK who knows the designer stores well so getting there was no problem.

I was sooooo surprised when I unwrapped the little black carry bag with the letters CHANEL on them. I was even more surprised when I realised it was a classic black wallet, complete with authenticity card and the yummy leathery smell (this is not a fake peeps!).

Dead Lord I am a lucky girl.

I was also gifted some new towels for the house, a Mimco phone case in one of my favourite colours, some new Nike joggers, a new Pandora bracelet, a gold bangle, a BBQ for my apartment patio (I can't wait to BBQ when I get home!!) and lots of other goodies.

If you follow me on instagram, you would have seen a few more snaps of the big day! How did you all fare in the Christmas haul?

The only thing that I am sad about this Christmas is how overwhelmed and stressed my family felt. I'm being honest when I say this Christmas didn't fly by in a sea of joy and happiness. There's the food prep, the cooking, the cleaning, the setting of the table, the organising and the chaos of a bunch of family all hoping to get a long, with the clash of personalities at least once since deep down we are all very much the same.

I'm sure it is similar in some people's households, but if you are one of those family's that get a long like a house on fire and there are no tears or tantrums, then I salute you.

I only wish that at our next Christmas we can all remain calm and remember what the day is about. Because for me it is about family spending time together, eating and laughing and being happy to be in each others presence. Of course I'm a realist and there will always be a little tiff, but I hope the stress of the 'big day' doesn't take away from how special all of us being together really is.

(My Christmas tree in Sydney)

This year having our family together is especially important. My Grandfather is in the early stages of battling lung cancer and his treatment has begun over the Christmas break so having him here with us, and still healthy is a true gift.

I hope wherever you spent your Christmas, and whatever gifts you were given, you realised how lucky and blessed you are to be with people that you love.

(Our family Christmas tree at my parents home in our home town)

Now it's time to look toward the new year celebrations. Oh boy, another year is on the door step. Is anybody else a little freaked at how quickly 2013 has gone?

2014 is shaping up to be another cracker of a year for me. I am planning, but only a little, because in my experience every year has thrown me so many curve balls and changes that I can never plan too much! But, this is exciting! Not knowing sometimes is a great thing!

I've decided that I am going to do a 'reflection' post on all of the amazing things that have happened and that I have accomplished in 2013 rather then a post about new year resolutions because mostly every year they are the same for me!

More to come soon.

Happy holidays! x

Bellabox trial

Have you heard of Bellabox?

If you haven't, I'm hear to tell you all about it ... well, from my experience anyway.

Bellabox (according to the gals who created the service) is '...the beauty sampling concept to revolutionize the way Australian's discover, trial and purchase beauty and lifestyle products.' 

The system works in a way that gals who love their beauty products and don't want to commit to purchasing 'the newest, best, fan-dangle' products on the market without really knowing whether they'll suit them or not, can trial them!

There is a price, however. ('Aint nothing comes for free in this day and age, am I right??)

It will cost you a neat $15 a month to subscribe to the service and each month you will receive a cutely packaged sample parcel in your post box with the latest and greatest products on the market in cute sample sizes.

A look at the November box design

I first heard of Bellabox through a lady I work with. She was super excited one day when the office editorial assistant brought her mail to her desk and with that mail was a little turquoise 'Bellabox'.

She squealed with excitement as she ripped into the box to find out what goodies were in store this month. My reaction was a little like ... 'Your bella-what has arrived?"

And so she preceded to tell me about the amazing-ness of the service. I got sucked in and wanted a piece of this pie too. I signed up and keenly waited for my postie to drop off my Bellabox too!

Most of the samples from the November box

The good stuff: It kind of feels like your birthday every month when you receive a nicely packaged parcel full of about six or so beauty products that you may, or may not want to try.

The samples are the perfect size for your gym bag/handbag/travel bag, and can double as gifts to people if you're not into the products (hello stocking stuffers!)

The other stuff: I decided after two months that I didn't really need to be paying an extra $15 a month on sample beauty products when I am kind of already set on my beauty regime. I mean, yes it is nice to try new stuff, but I only recently forked out over $300 on an entire new skin care line and have finally found a foundation that doesn't feel too oily and covers up my blots nicely.

However, if you are a beauty lover and can't help yourself when it comes to reading about the newest products in the latest Elle and you just have to try them, then this service may be perfect for you!

And, if you happen to fall madly in love with one of the samples, you can pop online to the Bellabox site and purchase said product. Easy peesy.

Have you tried this service before? Are you already a subscriber and lover? Tell me all about it!

E, x

Feed Your Soul event wrap part 2

I am back into my normal work routine this week after my quick get-away to the Gold Coast for the Feed Your Soul event and I have had more time to process what we learnt.

After Ashy gave us an insight into her life and how she deals with struggles, bad moods and motivation, we got to hear Nicole Joy speak. I didn't know a lot about Nicole before the event. I knew she had an amazing new book out that she had been repping on her instagram account for a while, but I didn't know her 'story'.

Me (in front) and my sister snapped taking some notes during the event.
Image source: Harpa Design on Facebook here.

Nicole is a fully trained teacher with a university degree and all. After years of teaching and hating going to work, she realised it was time she stopped doing what she thought she had to do with her life and started to look for what she really truly loved and what made her happy.

Because she is part Italian she knew cooking was a passion of hers and realised that she could make a living out of it. She told us that she had the opportunity to write her book six months after she started working on her new found passion of writing recipes and cooking clean sweet treats.

It took only six months before her book was out! This blew my mind. To think that someone can have such a strong passion and pursue it so strongly that it becomes something amazing like having a book published in less than a year. Incredible.

Nicole explained that after years of failed job opportunities she knew in herself as soon as she started doing what she loved she was in the right place in her life. Sometimes I guess you just know.

She told us that there is no reason why we all have to be mediocre people. We can all be incredibly successful and bloody amazing if we just go after what we truly want. We need to stop doing things that we think we should be doing or think our families or our partners want us to do, and do more of what we love and more of what makes us happy.

This really resonated with me. We had to write down a list of things that we love doing, it didn't matter how small or insignificant they seemed, we just needed to jot them down. Once we did this, Nicole asked us how many of us do the things on our lists regularly. Most of us realised that what we had written down were things that we truly loved doing, and things that made us happy, but we rarely ever made time for them.

I really got thinking about the things that I love doing and why I don't do them more often. I find myself getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle of work life and push the things I love doing to the side, or say I don't have time to do them, when really, if we want something bad enough, we will make the time. I especially need to make time to do these things more often, because the more we do the things we love, the happier we will be.

A lot of what we learnt were such simple concepts to better our lives but sometimes it can take a while before the penny drops and you realise how much we can over complicate things.

Life is too short to be miserable in a job we don't love because we think we need to do it or need the money, or we think we don't have a choice.

I think we can all benefit from thinking about what we truly want out of life. We can design any kind of life for ourselves, we just have to be brave enough to go for it.

Nicole and Ashy, two inspirational ladies.
Image source: Harpa Design on Facebook here.

E, x

Feed Your Soul event wrap part 1

Hey lovelies,
Happy Tuesday, I hope your weekend was spent doing things that you love! I know I spent mine doing some amazing stuff!

This past weekend my sister and I flew to the Gold Coast for the Feed Your Soul event as mentioned in my post back here.

I promised to report back on the event and all I can say is, WOW. I have learnt so much from this event so I am going to write about the things that I learnt in two posts (so you guys don't have to read an essay! lol)

I was soooo excited for the event but even more stoked when the whole day exceeded my expectations. I had been following Ashy Bines and Nicole Joy on Instagram for some time now and had never thought I'd actually get a chance to chat to them about normal girl to girl stuff, but at this event we did!

As Ashy said in her speech in the morning, a lot of people see her on social media and judge her quite harshly and unfairly because they have preconceived ideas of what they think she is like because of her successes. She reminded everyone that she is only human (an amazing one at that!) and asked that we do not judge anybody during the course of the event.

I was blown away at how well Ashy spoke. She presented herself so nicely and was so approachable. When my sister and I were leaving the venue we even had a chance to chat to Ashy by ourselves and I seriously felt like we were talking to an old friend. She is just like us, she is only 25 (her birthday was yesterday!!!!) and has her struggles just like anybody else.

I found her story super inspiring and I told her I thought she should definitely write a book (which she said she hopes to work on sometime in the future when ever she gets a spare moment, which doesn't look to be anytime soon - this girl is one busy entrepreneur!)

We were treated to raw goodies for breakfast, lunch and snacks including muesli for breakfast and a yummy green smoothie after our boot camp session with the ABBBC trainers.

OMG the training session was great!! I had never done a proper big group session like this one before and it made me realise and understand why Ashy's bikini body challenges work so well. Training in a group makes the session soooo much more fun. My mind was preoccupied most of the time laughing with the girls I had just met or being silly in some of the exercises.

So many girls I met at this event were gorgeous people inside and out. We all seemed to get along together even though we were all strangers. I guess this is what happens when you put a bunch of like-minded girls together, we all want the same things - to feel healthier and work towards a better life for ourselves, so we all clicked!

I was so surprised at how much I took in from this event. I had never been to a 'motivational' talk as such before and I guess until you go to one, you won't really know how you will respond to the information.

From Ashy's story alone I learnt that believing something negative about yourself can change your whole life and influence the path you are heading down. Ashy truly believed she was too dumb to succeed at anything in life so she put off her aspirations of becoming a personal trainer for years. It wasn't until her life took a path where she had really hit rock bottom that she could muster the strength to apply herself to the personal training course and do what she really wanted to do.

Image source www.transformationcentre.com.au 

It seems so crazy now to think that Ashy thought she could never become a personal trainer! She is running an empire involved with helping women change their lives through fitness and health. Imagine if she had continued to believe that she was stupid and never chose to change her life and apply herself?

It's amazing to think about. I took a lot away from her story. Of course we heard a lot more about Ashy as well but I would be blogging a long time to tell you it all. This is why I believe she should write a book - she has so much to tell that a lot of people don't know about her and assume that success just landed in her lap. This is so not the case.

People need to work hard to achieve their dreams and goals and this event reconfirmed this for me. Sometimes it's easy to think that we are working hard towards out dreams when truly we are just hoping, waiting and wishing things would all come together on their own.

I plan to use this knowledge and work harder towards my goals for sure!

E, x

Weekend

This weekend I had BIG plans to visit the beach and checkout some more markets (I was thinking Manly markets) but my plans changed.

The boyfriend and I decided that this weekend was going to be one of relaxation. Plus I read my horoscope in the Sunday papers this week and even the stars are telling me to take a chill pill and de-stress.

Ok. I'm listening universe.

We had tickets to see the American comedian Arj Barker on Friday night at the State Theatre in the city. It was an AWESOME show. I highly recommend it. We even got to meet Arj and get a signature! I was a little star struck even though he isn't technically "big time" in Hollywood or anything.

The weather was horrific (storms and flash flooding) on our way into the city, as was the traffic and not to mention the wait time to get a damn taxi. Dear God. This is city living I guess, and we are still getting used to it!

We had dinner down at Darling Harbour and because it was raining we ran into the closest restaurant (since we were also running late as the weather/traffic/taxis were terrible). We ate a quick meal at Cyren. It was super fast and pretty tasty although I had eaten there before. Trav had some sword fish and it was devine!

Yesterday was Christmas tree shopping day! Super exciting since Christmas is my favourite time of year. I was itching to put the tree up as soon as we got home but the boyfriend says not until December 1st. Damn. Next week it is!

We got the cheapest tree I've ever seen but next year I will lash out for a bigger and nicer one, maybe even after the boxing day sales. I just couldn't justify the big bucks at the moment with my budget. I'll post about the tree when it's up in all its cheap glory.

Right now the boyfriend has parked himself comfortably on the couch watching the darn cricket.

Is anyone else's other half moulding themselves to the couch to watch the cricket??

Meanwhile, I am dreaming of these cute flats from Asos. I think they're perfect for this summer and within the budget too. Hmmm a purchase may be on the cards!

Stay happy peeps and have a lovely new start to the week tomorrow!
E, x

Bondi Farmers Market

Yesterday I got up early and decided I wanted to visit the Bondi Farmers Market. I have been fixated on going and visiting Bondi for some reason since I moved closer to the city. I had been there before and I am told the beach is not great for swimming in but I wanted to visit it anyway, plus I heard the markets there are good!

So it took me about an hour to drive in and the weather was suppose to be terrible with rain and storms but Mother nature held out long enough for me to explore the markets and get to walk along the beach for a little bit.

It was beautiful down there yesterday. The storm clouds were rolling in but it was humid and warm enough to swim. I wish I had packed my new Seafolly swimmers so I could christen them the right way (in the ocean of course!)

Anyhow, after I got caught up looking through Bondi Wholefoods (which is a great store/cafe by the way! - They are soon opening online, I'm excited! I really hope they post out here!) I realised that I had only paid about $5 for parking and it was going to run out if I didn't make it back to the markets soon!

I rushed into the fresh produce stall and was in heaven! I get so overwhelmed at these kinds of things and often don't know what to by. Next time I am definitely going to take a couple of recipes with me so I can purchase with meals in mind.

I stocked up on some usual stuff that I have in my fridge however: some scrumptious baby tomatoes, a big bag full of rocket, some dutch carrots, a bag full of apricots, mangos and a litre of almond milk! Yum!!!! I love almond milk and will be making my oats with this this morning.

Despite all of the amazing food, I could't go past the flower stall. Oh the flowers.

As soon as I spotted the peonies I was in love. These are my favourite flowers (on par with hydrangeas) and the stall holder had them in white and this lush red. So gorgeous!

And in true "hipster" fashion, on my last stop before hauling all of my goodies into my car I had to try a cold pressed juice. I asked the stall holder to recommend me a juice out of the green or the red. He said that everyone seems to be jumping on the 'green smoothie/juice' bandwagon but his favourite was the red beetroot juice mix. I can't remember what was in it (maybe apple and something else) but it wasn't too bad, although I think I'll try the green next time.

The only thing I am super bummed I forgot to get was some of the "Bondi Yoghurt" I have been seeing posted around Facebook. Aw well, maybe next time.

Have you been to the  Bondi Farmers Market before? Do you live in the Sydney area and know of any other good markets to visit? 

I'd love to hear about them! I love a good market!

E, x

Feed Your Soul

Are you on instagram, or twitter or any other social media device?

Well I am! You can find me on twitter here, and my instagram handle is elliemaree12.

I love my instagram, and twitter keeps me hella-entertained. I am devastated that Big Brother has ended this year because it has been one of my favourite trash TV shows to tweet through! (Yes, I need a life!)

Anyhow, I mentioned instagram for a reason. I follow the very inspirational fitness and health entrepreneur, Ashy Bines and she announced a few months ago that she and two of her health and wellness friends, Sharlene Fletcher of Live Love Eat Raw and Nicole Joy of Nicole Joy Inspire will be hosting a health, fitness and wellness event on the Gold Coast for ONE DAY ONLY!

When I first saw the event advertised I instantly dismissed the thought of going because I didn't think I could get to the GC in time. Turns out, I can go! 

(Mental note, Ellie you don't live in a remote country town anymore - Sydney is only a quick flight away from anywhere!! Hooray!)

My big sister and I are going together which I think is even more special since we can experience it all together. We're only spending the one night in the GC and have decided that our only free day on the GC will be spent on the beach (since I haven't made it to the beach yet this season - shame on me!)

The event will involve learning to cook clean, raw desserts (OMG YUM!), a fitness training session with Ashy (which I am particularly excited about!), a question and answer meet and great with the three lovely ladies hosting the event, motivational talks, a yoga session and SO much more. It's the perfect excuse to deck myself out in my exercise gear and get an extra boost of self-love.

I am beyond excited!!!

Are any of you attending?! Let me know! I'd love to see you there :)

E, x

Happenings

Hey folks,

Sorry for the post-lag. Life always seems to get in the way for me. My to-do list is miles long and I always have tonnes of great ideas rolling around in my head but time just keeps on ticking on.

But hey, thats life right?

Anyhow, on to the 'happenings'. Like I just mentioned, I have been SUPER busy lately but not too busy to realise how good I am currently feeling about my current situation.

I mean, (as corny as this will sound), I have been feeling lately that I am both happy and content with my life as it is in this moment.

I don't know if it's the clean eating (for most of the week *wink*) and increased exercise that has helped rid my body of negative, yucky toxins and thoughts, or I am just going through a phase (that I hope sticks around for a while thank you!) but I am happier than I have been in a long time.

A few things have happened that may also be contributing factors:

1. My long-distance relationship is finally becoming a "normal" relationship. When I say normal I mean the boyfriend has now been offered a new job which will mean he can move to the city and live with me finally!  I say finally because for the almost two years that we have been dating we have lived apart.

Long distance has been tough on both of us emotionally and I have found that the stress of being apart and wanting to see each other and not being able to, caused my body and mind to go a little hay-wire.

2. I have joined 2 local sports teams and have ramped up my fitness! I love a good physical game of netball and I have registered to play in both a ladies only and mixed indoor comp two nights a week. Verdict, feeling AMAZE!

3. I've had a week off from univerisity studies. Those that havent read my previous posts wont know, but I have been studying to become a graphic designer for a few years now. I have only FOUR subjects left and I can graduate! Due to relocating to take up my new job here in the city means I have to finish my studies via distance education (i.e online) so this time next year I will be finished! *cheers*.

I have just finished a semester of study so the time off from juggling uni study and full time work has been a blessing.

All in all, I am feeling FAB!

I have also just finished reading the always inspirational Lorna Jane Clarkson's recently released book MORE which gave me a massive boost to start looking at life in a more positive light which has also been a key to my recent positivity glow. (I recommend this and Lorna's first book Move Nourish Believe to anyone interested in the Lorna Jane brand or looking for a good dose of happy, healthy inspiration!)

I have chosen to wake up everyday being thankful that I am happy, healthy and alive! What more could you ask for really? 

Love and happy-vibes to you all x

Spending and saving, I need a plan

Ever since I started studying full time again last year I had to learn how to live on a tight budget pretty quickly since now real income was coming in.

Now that I am working full time again, I have this sweet little thing called a 'salary' coming in to my bank account every week that makes me feel happy, and burns a hole in my pocket.

The thing is, we all like to think that if we were earning more money we would be saving more right? WRONG! Sooo wrong! I find that the more money I earn, the more my 'wish list' of awesome clothes and accessories and cute housey stuff grows.

I need to learn how to save again, without making myself feel like I'm earning peanuts and can't afford a few luxuries here and there.

To be honest, with the amount of rent that I am paying I'm not exactly on a 'fabulous' wicket if you get what I mean, so saving is high on the priority list, I just need to get that message across to the shop-aholic diva inside of me!

Today I sat down and wrote out everything I had spent my money on in the past week. I had another bill come in last night, so the thought of doing a spot of online shopping this afternoon was crushed pretty quickly.

I decided that if I sat down and wrote out all of my expenses and could actually see where I had gone wrong on the spending front, I would be more likely to watch this for next weeks pay.

Do you do this?

The biggest thing I have found that has taken a few pennies from my pockets over the last week was buying my lunch and buying coffees. (That's right, I have hopped on the coffee drinking band wagon and I'm feeling a little low about it. I have always been against drinking coffee but now and then I don't mind a caramel latte of a morning.)

There is no reason why I should be buying my lunch more than once a week. Preparation is key and I notice that the days that I do end up buying my lunch is due to the fact that I was running late for work that morning and had no other choice but to buy. Not this week! I am going to make a conscious effort to pack my lunch every day! This way I'll most likely eat healthier too!

As for the coffees, at anywhere from $5-$8 a pop its way too expensive to keep buying them! I can by a whole packet of sachet lattes for roughly $6 that will last me for more than a week! Thinking smart people!

In light of all of this 'organisational' money-speak, I have found some cute stuff online (to buy... doh) that can help keep everything in order if you're like me and need a good boot in the bum.

1. 'My Bills' organiser by Kikki K 

2. Expense tracker, instant down loadable PDF by Printable Wisdom on Etsy

3. 2014 Diary by Handmade Books on Etsy

4. 'Budget book' by Kikki K

Tell me your saving secrets! I want to know how you save, and any tips and tricks if you have them!

E, x

When life gets in the way + recent buys

Hiya!

I cannot believe that it has been over a month since I last blogged. I think it has almost been two months!! A lot has changed since I last blogged. And I mean A L O T.

For starters, I got offered a full time job as a sub editor with Fairfax Media at The Land newspaper! (For all of you 'city' folk out there, The Land is the rural peeps go-to weekly newspaper about all things... well... rural).

{N.B Sub-editing involves laying out the design on the newspaper pages, spell checking, grammar checking, fact checking etc etc.}

I was insanely excited when I found out! I had a spare-of-the-moment decision to first apply for the job when a good friend text me about the position, and since she knows me so well and knows that reporting about rural things is right up my alley being the country-bumpkin that I am, I had to apply!

After the interview my mind went into melt down and the 'what if's' started.

'What if I get the job?' 'What if they thought I was a complete looney?!' 'What if they want me to move right away?'

And so on. Until I got that call that they wanted me to relocate to western Sydney in two weeks. I had a mad rush to sort out my life, starting with moving out of my rental in Wagga Wagga, locating a new rental in Sydney and sorting out my uni enrolment to now be studying by distance education for the remainder of my degree.

Ok, take a breath!

This all happened about a month a go and I am now blogging from my new apartment in Western Sydney suburbia and LOVING IT.

Learning a new job whilst in the midst of a chaotic relocation and juggle of university work has proved to be HECTIC to say the least, and I will be honest and say there have been days where the good old tears have come out, but today I can report that I am happy, settling into my new job and life (so to speak).

Things seem to be finally slowing down, and I am slowly getting into this new routine!

Besides all of this hulla-bulloo, I haven't been doing a great deal so there isn't a lot to report on. So I thought I'd put together a quick 'recent purchases' post inspired by starting a new office job.

Since we don't have an official uniform at The Land, I have been trying to gradually buy office inspired pieces for work in the attempt that I'll stop wearing my good outfits to work. Slowly happening, still a WIP.

Here are a few office-attire purchases I have nabbed up lately:

1. Witchery shirt (bought on sale - colour is currently not available online but style still is)

2. Witchery hammered tear-drop earrings (current) 

3. Cue side panel pant (current)

4. Cue pleat front shirt (purchased on sale in store, also available online)

5. Witchery scarf (current)

I'm still working on getting a few more pieces because even though I work in an office, it doesn't mean I need to look boring!! Although, with the season changing I am holding off a bit on purchases so as to not 'stock up' on winter items when the heat will be here soon enough!!

Anyhow, I promise more blogging will be happening soon!
Take care,

E, x

A few of my favourite things

One of my favourite things about being back home in the country for uni holidays is getting the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy the little things that country life has to offer.

One of these things is veggie gardening! I have had a love of veggie gardening for some time now and have never really had the space in either of my rentals that I have lived in to have a big veggie patch. Fortunately our family home is situated on a 5 acre paddock so there is plenty of room to grow gorgeous veggies!

Unfortunately this past summer has been a super hot one for our region so our veggies suffered. My parents also work a lot so they don't have a lot of time to put into the garden as much as they would like to.

Over the last week and a bit of me being home, I have made it my mission to bring the veggies back to life! So far I have managed to harvest some capsicums and an eggplant and I am trying my hardest to save our zucchini plant and get to the tomatoes before the bugs do!!

Our plot is only small at the moment but I have big plans if things keep going well!

Today's harvest from the Nelyambo (this is our house paddocks name) veggie patch also came from our lovely hens who I am glad to report did not get washed away with all of the rain we had last week! Still doing us proud and providing our family with plenty of yummy eggs.

I'm going to do some reading up on organic or alternate methods to getting rid of bugs from our veggies. Over the last week I had to resort to using an insecticide just to try and save what was left of the rotting and dying patch but I'd really like to start using organic alternatives to keep our veggies as healthy as ever!

Do you have any suggestions?? Any green-thumbs out there with some tips for me?? Please comment, I'd love to hear from you :)

E, x

In other news: Designy Stuff

A few posts back I mentioned that I had been working on a project for uni where I was going to be designing my own stationery. Well, I got the assignment back and the stationery products that I designed and I am happy to say that I did super well with the results! Yay me!

Anyhow, I posted a few pictures on my Facebook as I like to share with my friends and family what I have been working on and it turns out a handful of people contacted me and wanted copies of some of the items! I was so stoked! The feeling that people actually like and want to use something that I have made was excellent!

Here are peek at some of what I have available

"Todays Jobs" fridge mountable notepad $14

"Handmade with love" gift tags for the crafter's out there :)
Also available in a coral red patterned background $4 for a pack of 10

"7 Day Dinner Planner" (at back) A4 size mounts onto the fridge $30 for 50 sheets
"Today's Jobs" and "Shopping List" jot pads both have 50 sheets, $14 each

I have a few other goodies made up but these were the most popular at this stage! The Dinner planner was really successful which I am happy about because I love how bright and colourful it is!

I am hoping to work on some new designs in the coming weeks and continue to see the interest in them via my FB!

E, x

Offspring fanatics

Hey there, long time no catch up! Sorry!! My busy life is once again taking over and my chances to sit down and devise good blog posts have been pretty slim.

Anyhow, how are you all? I'm doing super well! I'm actually so excited for today because my boyfriend is traveling down to pick me up for the weekend (as I managed to sell my car - that's another story) and we are going home for the weekend!!! I am actually going home to work but I am excited about that. I just need a little breathing time away from uni and I haven't seen Travis in about 3 weeks so I am super happy!

In other news, Offspring is back on TV! Are you a fan? I have to be honest and say that this is the first season that I have ever seen! (Shame on me!) I have a decent excuse... kind of. Where I grew up we didn't have Channel Ten until about year or so ago so getting to know all of the shows on the channel has been fun.

Plus, Asher Keddie (plays the role of Nina Proudman) came to my home town last year to work on the Channel Ten show 'I Will Survive' so I was keen to see what she was like as an actor!

Source: mymodernvintage.com 

Well I have tuned in this season and I am slowly getting into the whole Nina Proudman thing. I have noticed that there are some serious fanatics out there! People love this show and all of its quirky-ness.

One blog that I love, Styling You does a weekly wrap up of the show every Thursday with a Nina outfit 'inspiration' post just in case you want to purchase Nina's outfit from that episode! It's pretty cool. Ladies really seem to be into her boho look and it seems to be quite accessible to re-do in your own wardrobe if you want! Check out Nikki's blog, she is fantastic at beauty and style and really knows her stuff!!

Style inspiration put together by Nikki from StylingYou.com.au 

One thing I have to say, and I know a lot of fans will want to kick me when I say it; I'm not that sure about Nina's partner Patrick! He seems a bit 'dodgy' to me. That's just me!

What have you got planned for the rest of the week? I'll be computer-less from tomorrow so I'll check in on Monday hopefully! Happy weekend lovelies!

E, x

P for POSITIVE

Source: inspirationalpicturequotes.blogspot.cz via I AM Enlightened Nutrition on Pinterest

I'm a pessimist. Its a horrible trait and if I am honest, I haven't been trying hard enough to shake it. I always think of the worst possible outcome and then I get myself knotted up in a negative ball feeling glum and not wanting to face the world.

Last night this happened when I was in bed talking to my bf on the phone. I keep thinking that things in my life haven't turned out at all how I had imagined when I was back in high school. I envy those that leave school and fall straight into a career that they love and everything seems to fall into place.

It has taken me YEARS to figure out what I want to do with my life, and this year I am confused all over again?!

Do we ever really work out what we want to be or how we want to live our lives if we are one of those 'unfortunate' ones that didn't strike it lucky the first time around?

Anyhow, I'm getting a bit gloomy again.

Today's word for me is positivity. I am making a conscious effort today to think of happy, positive thoughts to boot my negativity.

So what if I am confused with what I want to do after this degree is over at the end of the year. Who cares if I end up working an average job for a while? At this rate, if it makes me happy - I DON'T CARE!

Do you ever feel like this? 

E, x

The weekend that was

Its already the middle of the week and I haven't even had a chance to share with you my fabulous weekend that just passed! (WARNING: I've gone a little photo mad on this post!!)

I travelled home on Friday morning so I could attend the annual horse race meet in my home town. I go every year so this year was no exception.

I was SO overly excited to get home because I hadn't seen my family or boyfriend in over three weeks! I even got a special surprise when I arrived home to see that my little sister and her boyfriend had driven all the way down from Townsville to surprise us all with a visit! I was so happy! (They were pretty tired, it was a 22 hour drive!!!! OMG!)

Me on the right with my sneaky little sister Jessie who surprised us all with a visit!

The races did not disappoint either. The day was warm and sunny, just perfect! It was made even more special because my entire immediate family was together again for the first time in five months so I was sure to get snap happy and get photos!

With my older sister Kate

My family *love*

My dress, shoes and gloves were from Witchery (my favourite store clearly lol!) and the fascinator was purchased from Myer. This year I felt more comfortable in my outfit than any other race out fit I had ever worn! It was warmer than usual but I made sure I wore nude stockings anyway.

I love a good day at the races, I got to spend some quality time with my family most importantly and caught up with my awesome friends and gorgeous work colleagues at our business tent!

Some of the team I work with when I am not at uni! Awesome bunch!

Best weekend in a long time! But I am definitely back to reality now and back to uni in the chilly Riverina! We had a cold snap here (as did much of the state) and I am rugged up on the couch as I type.

Also, before I go, I have a car update! My Barina is apparently not worth that much if I want to trade it (which I kind of expected even though I had everything repaired and she is running fine now!) so I am selling it privately and putting the money towards a new VW Golf! I went car shopping with my Dad yesterday and I think that's definitely what I want! Pretty fancy looking small car!

I am hoping that my car sells quickly, comment below if you happen to be in the market for a second hand Barina *wink*

Ellie XO

Old faithfuls

Today I was in town looking for a present for a friends housewarming party and I bent down to look at something on the bottom shelf and I heard my jeans rip.

Thank goodness it wasn't in the 'awkward' region! They tore just above my knee. I was devastated! These jeans have been my 'old faithful' skinny leg jeans that I have had for about five years now. After so many wears and washes, it looks like the denim couldn't handle it any more and had worn thin.

What to do with my old faithfuls now? Well, I could embrace the 'torn jeans look' that seems to be increasingly popular right now... or I could experiment with some cute DIY knee patches.

Inspiration here:

Source: google.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: goodlifeforless.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: vanessajackman.blogspot.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: images5.fotop.net via Ellie on Pinterest

What do you think? Leave them or patch them?! 

E, x

The lust list

I spent a long time on Pinterest last night while I was tucked up in bed. That website of goodness has a way of sucking me in! So much inspiration, so little time.

Here's what I have been drooling over

Source: purlbee.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: pagesfrommymoleskine.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: urbanoutfitters.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: downthatlittlelane.com.au via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: adairs.com.au via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Ellie on Pinterest

Source: downthatlittlelane.com.au via Ellie on Pinterest

Happy Sunday friends x