Beach

I think M & I chose the best weekend ever to make our first trip in circa 3 months to the beach.

Hello Spring!

That photo really doesn't do it justice.

I really super want a nice beige t-shirt, (pictured from YesStyle).

I swear I've searched half of Melb, (and can't afford the Bassike one at the moment).

Current happy life maker; strawberries for breakfast.

Nat x

Kelly Rowland - Rose Colored Glasses (Official Single Cover with lyrics)

Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine with lyrics

Photographs

First, some useless outfit pictures. No, I have not improved with age.

Me inspired to wear a 6 year old jacket. I knew I'd want a khaki jacket again.


Easiest ever work outfit.


Second easiest.


This stuff is revolting and I can't believe anyone likes it.

Amazing noodles were found while starving on Bridge Road.


Mama and Papa gave me birthday roses.


I went and fed the swans that I see every time I go for a run. They live in a little damn by themselves away from the others. They're adorable.



Best.



Work Wife.



My work place buys the most amazing cakes.(Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie)

A special thanks to Mr. M for taking me wherever I wanted to go all weekend and not complaining at all. Also to my beautiful family for an amazing dinner. I like everyone together.

It's nice to be 24.
Nat x

With Every Birthday...

There comes a wish list.

Here is mine;

Pink Corporation Kaitlyn Bag

Dinner at Ezard Restaurant, Melbourne

Parlux Hairdryer

Bassike Scoop Neck V Tee in Sand

J Brand Houlihan Trousers

Kit Shop Loves Ocean Nail Polish

Queens Wardrobe Blouse

Lanolips Rose Hand Balm

Breakfast at Replete Providore Melbourne

Macarons from Cacao

Some new Pilates DVDs, a subscription to Good Health Magazine, a work-out hoodie, a cream blazer and cook books would also be nice. As well as a pay rise to afford it all.

If it was your birthday on the weekend, what would you want?

Nat x

Woohoo

Hey guys :)

Today time is dragging and it's making me think about some stuff that's not good!! But I am rising above it and getting on with it :).. Anyways, this morning I had a knock on the door by Mr. Postman with a present for me :). I ordered some make up products from e.l.f yesterday morning and they arrived this morning how impressive is that!! Not even 24 hours and they are here.. I no I will deffo recommended them to friends and I am for sure going to order from them again without fail.! 

Yesterday e.l.f put up a discount code for free delievery and there was no way I was going to miss out on such a good offer :) I like free things ha ha who doesn't lol. I brought 6 items and it only cost me £15.50 and you could never get 6 items for that price on the high street would you? I'm sure you would like to no what i got:

1 x Mango Madness however on the box itself it's called Passion Pink Nail Polish - I am very happy with this just by looking at it. It is a good size and the colour looks lovely. price £1.50

1 x Mineral Foundation-SPF 15 - The contence feels lovely smooth and soft and suits my skin tone great however I'm not that impressed with the size of the box as it looks more like a sample! price £3.50 (a little over priced!!)

1 x Mineral Infused Face Primer - This is the best thing I have ever used in my life!! I used a little on my hand to see what it would be like and it is sooo lovely soaked into the skin and left it feeling like baby skin!! price £6.00

1 x Therapeutic conditioning lip balm Vanilla Creme - I haven't used this yet but my lips are getting very dry and cracking and I love the smell of Vanilla price £1.50

1 x Waterproof Eyeliner Pen - I brought this as I love the smokey eye look and thought it would look good I haven't used this yet price £1.50

1 x Natural Lash Kit - I have short eye lashes and no matter what mascara I use nothing makes them long so yes I am going to cheat ha ha I will only wear these when I go out. price £1.50

Thank you for reading hope you are all having a good day

Diana xoxo

I'm sorry

Hey guys.

I am sooo sorry that I haven't blogged in awhile I have been a very busy girly..

Well I'm guessing you all would like to know what I have been up to.. Well other than working 9-5 I went to Thorpe Park on Thrusday with some friends and it was amazing I loved it I toke a picture of a ride (I must admit I did chicken out on going on it haha)

Also it was my birthday on 12th September and I have turned 20 :).. I didn't really do much for my birthday to be fair but I did go up town with my Mum in the morning and had a look around the shops and I did buy myself a maxi dress from new look it is lovely and I have brought myself a top from river island (I am sorry I dont have pictures yet but i promise i will as soon as I finish work) and then in the evening I went to dinner with my boyfriend which was lovely (went to frankie and bennies.. I am in love with there food and plus the kind lady gave me 20% off my bill too how nice :)..) and yes I did have to have a birthday cake ha ha no birthday is complete without a birthday cake!!

(This is not my cake I just found this picture on the Internet)

I also painted my nails for my birthday and I went for a funky look but I am sooo in love with them :) I used models own feeling blue let me no what you think?

Thank you for having a read and I am sorry it is only a quick blog about what I have been up to I will add pictures of my new items soon.. ooohhh and I have brought some products from e.l.f as it is free delievery until tomorrow morning I just couldn't help myself I hope they do come soon so I can show you guys

Love.. love.. love

Diana xoxo

My Year

Next Sunday, the 19th of September, will mark my 24th birthday. I love birthdays, I always have. I guess it's because it brings about two things I always enjoy; good food and loads of attention, (I can't help it, I love attention).

I've spent most of this evening trying to plan my birthday weekend. As far as I'm concerned, the 4-5 days, up to a week, surrounding the actual day of your birthday is a time to be completely selfish and demand things you usually wouldn't get. For me, this involves making my entire family sit down to a vegetarian meal, (veggie burgers or sheppard's pie made of lentils at this stage), having M cater to whatever I want to do and dressing up a little too much for not a whole lot. I also try to have all my friends, who have nothing to do with each other except at my birthday and sometimes Christmas, come together for dinner. Unfortunately, I can't get them all in the same place at the same time this year, (this makes me sad).

Every year as I plan, I also reflect back on the year just had.

What a year this one has been.

My 23rd birthday saw me have dinner outside at a restaurant with my friends for the first time since my 20th. I had serious dreams of spending Summer at the beach house, (and did), and was contemplating going back to part time correspondence study.

My 4 closest girlfriends at my 23rd dinner.

My 24th birthday sees me fitting in my birthday selfish-self between full time work weeks. I exercise regularly, photograph everything (because life is amazing), and have plans to return to University. M & I shoot down to the beach house every sunny weekend we get, and we're seriously looking at buying a house together. I own pots, pans, knives, and everything else you'd ever need in your kitchen cupboards. I seriously value my 1000 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and I go to Coles on Thursdays to check out what's on special for the week.

Boy life has changed. I love it!

With that, I am inspired. 23 was the age I wanted to start work. My whole aim was to get a job, even if it was part time, even if it was part time and online, I wanted to make my own money. I wanted that 'normality'. I got it!

So what do I want for 24? I've always set the bar high, and I seem to keep reaching it, so here goes nothing;

-More than anything, I want to buy a house with M and make a home together.

-I want to return to study. I believe I've found my passion, and that is nutrition.

-I want to progress in my current job, whatever form that takes.

-I plan to become the fittest I have ever been.
-This needs to combine with the best lifestyle through food I can muster, (I would say diet, but I hate the word), to become the healthiest I have ever been.
-I want to stop taking all the medication I still take.

There it is, what I want to do over the next year.

And I will do it.

I love birthdays so much.
When is yours?
Do you believe in star signs?
Me? No. I am so the opposite of every Virgo trait I have ever been told about.

I am so happy at the moment. I hope that comes through in my posts, even a little. Life is so fantastic! I find myself springing into work on Monday. I must be so incredibly annoying.

Smiling in the heat last Summer. So happy just to be.
(and so excited 'just to be' in warm weather again!)

Nat x

Junior Masterchef

No show has ever made me feel more uncomfortable, and in so many ways. Forget that I didn't know to top and tail french beans when I was 8 or 12 years old, it would've have mattered anyway; I wasn't allowed to use a knife sharp enough. I wouldn't have even been able to identify a truffle let alone know what to do with it, (I don't know how to do that now!), I would've said 'marscapone' as 'mask-a-pone', and surely tempering chocolate was something you did to calm it down when it was angry?

Matt Preston standing over you before you've left primary school? Surely enough for nightmares!

What is this? Is it a set up? Does anyone know any children that can actually cook like this?

Forgetting the freakish cooking talent of these kids, there's something that bothers me far, far more. Yes, they are being incredibly kind and giving the kids guidance but ultimately, they are pinning kid against kid and making it a big competition.

"You are not as good as those kids over there".

It doesn't matter how they say it, they are saying it. That sort of competition amongst kids is not something I like, and it's incredibly uncomfortable to watch. Almost as bad as watching the kid beauty pageants - they're just being judged on something else.

Am I the only one thinking this?

Nat x

Baby Blue

I am currently obsessed with anything blue, especially baby blue. I think it's a mix of craving for clear skies, and craving for the ocean.

Kit Nail Polish "Shop loves Ocean" - Lonely Hearts Deuce Dress - American Apparel Sailor Sweater - Pantone Espresso Cup - Spalding Yoga Mat - Kikki K Storage Box - Stila Blue Bonnet Palette -Blue Chocolate Hearts - Blue Topaz Earrings

I want to wear lots of baby blue this Spring/Summer, especially mixed with taupe. I'm seriously starting to hate black and I'm getting more and more obsessed with all things pastel.

Is there a baby blue flower? I want baby blue flowers.
Wat flavour would a baby blue macaroon be?

Happy weekend!

Nat x

Do you, Detox?

Lately an unusually high percentage of my friends and acquaintances, as well as blogger's posts I have been reading, having been doing detoxes. I'm hugely guilty of declaring I am starting a detox of one sort of another every 3 minutes, but logically, scientifically, I guess, I don't actually believe it's of any benefit.

Let me point out that when I say detox, I mean cutting out major food groups. An example of this was the latest detox I was reading about which was named the 'basic detox', (apparently the simplest and most 'common sense'). This particular plan involved slowly phasing out alcohol and caffeine, which I thought was great, but once they're gone you move onto sugar, wheat and dairy. Sorry, what? Sugar for a while, OK, I can understand, especially as you're probably getting enough through various other non-obvious sugar sources and fruit, but wheat and dairy? That makes it sound like it's assumed all of us have varying levels of gluten and lactose intolerance, which I certainly don't agree with.

The most prominent detox at the moment seems to be the Urban Remedy Cleanse.

This detox is trendy, and I mean trendy, and I admit I am just as curious as the next person and have hounded everybody I know that's gone near it about how it's gone. But, just juice for 5 days for the great price of $325? Surely we've all gone nuts.

Detoxes, including the above, promise to eliminate toxins. OK, fantastic if you live on fast food 6 days of the week, but beyond that, what is a toxin? Personally I don't think dairy and wheat would come under toxins unless you have the above intolerances.

Mum often tells me about her days at the gym well before I was around, and how much the gym fanatics promoted eating carbs, as many carbs as possible, and not just wholegrain ones. Amazingly, gym obsessives in the 80s and 90s had just as amazing bodies as the ones now.

I'm concerned it's all gone a bit nuts. Don't even get me started on colonic irrigation!

So, do you detox?
If so, what does detox mean for you?

I'll leave you with words from my nutrition idol, Janella Purcell;

"I don’t believe it’s healthy to put your body through a massive detox, which have been the trend for some years now. It puts way too much pressure on your body and your liver releases too many toxins at once, making you feel nauseous, lethargic and cranky with the added bonus of nasty headaches."

Why would anyone want to do that without proof it makes any difference to anything?

Nat x

The Hubby Survey

Even though he's not my hubby, M is a huge part of my life & has been for a long time.

Inspired by/Stolen from Domestic Divinity

How long have you been together: 9 years in October.

How old is he? We're the same age, so both soon to be 24. Yes, young to be together so long, but please don't call us high school sweet hearts! Drives us nuts and we have changed so much since those days.

Who said I love you first? M actually. He wrote it on a piece of paper in a science class. I still have that somewhere, (even if he was too young to really mean it yet, I still adore it).

Who eats more? Me, definitely, once I get into eat mode. M isn't a huge eater and doesn't have the huge passion for food I have. He eats to live, I live to eat. I think I shock him with how much sometimes.

Who is taller? M is.

Whose temper is worse? I'd like to say it's a close call, but I know it isn't.

Who does the laundry? We don't yet live together, but I definitely do more laundry as an individual.

Who sings better? I'd like to think I sound fantastic against the car radio, but I'm pretty sure we'd come equal last on this.



Very old pic of M making fun of me posing. I was very sick here.
Who is smarter? M is the smartest person I know, alongside my father. Not to say I am silly, of course.

Who does the dishes? M is quite good at cleaning if I cook.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? M does. That's the boy side as far as I'm concerned.

Who pays the bills? Completely equal and when we live together it is planned to be completely shared. I already take charge of some and him of others that are shared. I hate being out of the loop so I'd never let him do it all.

Who mows the lawn? When we have one, it will be M's job, (and this will be the first he's heard of it). I wouldn't do it properly anyway.

Who cooks dinner? Me, unless there's steak and Mum's around, then M. He helps if he's around, though.

Who drives when you are together? M all the time. I'm not a fan of driving.

Who is more stubborn? Me. Without doubt!

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Neither.

Whose parents do you see the most? Probably mine as while we're still at home M stays over a lot, (more space), but I do make a point of visiting his house once a week too.

Who has more friends? I'd say M has more friends, but I am closer to mine.

Who has more siblings? Equal. Sister for M, brother for me.

Was it love at first sight? No way - I used to despise him for various high school reasons.

Nat x

Shopping :)

Helloo everyone,

                         I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!! 

I went to town yesterday had lunch with my boyfriend and then hit the shop's... I got a lovely dress from this shop that hasn't long opened and it is amazing they sell use pretty dresses and handbags and cute rings etc, I just couldn't help myself and I brought this dress and it only cost £22.00...

This morning when I woke up the weather was looking rather dull and I was wondering what I should do today and then I remembered that I said I was going to go to Portsmouth so off I walked to the train station I went and trust me to get on a train that stops at every station it was a long journey but I got there in the end. Then I headed straight to Primark I love that shop such pretty things for little money (I can't see why most shop's cant be like that) I was in there a pretty long time I wanted to have a really good look and I got myself some clothes and I only spent £22.00 in there how good is that!! I am looking to start getting in my winter clothes now as it is starting to get pretty cold now but anyways this is what I brought:

  I got 5 headbands for £1.00 :)

This jumper cost £4.00 and I love the price tag as this jumper really feels nice and snugg

I am really loving this animal print cardie this was £11.00 still a good price tag I think as this feels like it is also going to be really warm and snugg 

I got some black jeggings because I realized when I looked that I have no black jeans.. none what so ever how shocking can you get so now I have a pair :) these cost £6.00

I also popped into the perfume shop..

I remember smelling this sometime ago and it really smelt lovely so I got myself some and it was on offer to £14.99

 Anywaysss I am off now hope you all have a good night 

Diana xoxo

Beautiful Weekend

.. and it's not even over! Tonight there is a Fathers Day Feast a'la Natalie's familia, (does that make sense?), to come. The two roasts don't interest me, obviously, but the huge amount of antipasto & giant apple pie at the end could be pleasant. A bit of Semillon, (my favourite), and some Rose from the family vineyard, (have I told you about that?), and I am set!

Anyway, the weekend started well with my ZOAEX items being on my bed waiting for me when I got home. They were individually packed in brightly coloured packets with bright stickers to conceal - very Spring of you ZOAEX.

Very, very happy with the items. Both fit great, very cute, very soft 100% cotton. Definitely worth the $18 a piece. Not sure about $120 or whatever they claimed to be pre-sale, but I'd put it at the same quality as my American Apparel tees. In fact, the white one is closer to Bassike, which I was super impressed with. Highly recommend.

Do you think I'd get away with this on a super hot summer's day as a dress?

I'm thinking maybe at the beach.

I spent Friday night with M, talking way too much about things he wasn't particularly interested in by the sounds of it. Saturday morning we woke up to cold, wind & rain. We were out of the house by 10am, (impressed?), and off to search for a kettle. We bought a Russell Hobbs electric one.



The lovers who hide under our pergola whenever it rains.
M's Mum's birthday was last week and I didn't get to see her, so I decided it was appropriate to do some baking as a gift, especially as the weather was particularly bake-friendly.

Choc-chip biscuits and oat slice, both from an old Women's Weekly cook book of Mum's. Very yummy.

Before we headed out to M's parents house to have coffee and eat the above, we fashioned some bruschetta out of groceries we picked up along side the butter, choc chips and eggs.

The two on the left are mine. Traditional tomato, basil, bocconcini and fresh olive oil after garlic-rubbing the bread for me.



A happy drowned rat with her bruschetta.

Saturday night was a quiet one for me. M went home for work-related exam study. I did a face mask, (to review soon), and read magazines in bed. I made a tofu & eggplant stir fry and learnt to never use silken tofu in stir fry again, but it tasted amazing anyway. I generally acted like a princess all alone and I loved it.

This month's Vogue cover shot scares me. She does not look good, to me, at all.

This morning I took Dad out for breakfast for Fathers Day, and then went for a walk to work off the deliciousness that was fresh fruit, toasted muesli, yoghurt & raisin toast. We saw a duck with way too many ducklings. Dad decided she was running the lake's child care centre.

After cleaning my room & finally finding my group certificate so I could lodge my tax return, (first time I've ever done it), I went down to the local with my grandparents and sat and had a beer with Nonnoo, (grandfather), while Nonna played the pokies. It was really

I had a beautiful weekend.

How was yours?

What did you do for Dad?

2 weeks until my birthday...

Nat x