Instax Wide Instant Camera

I have wanted an Instax camera forever, and now Litle Chief Honeybee is giving one away. I hope I win. I would have lots of fun.

http://honeybeeinthecity.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-giveaway-instax-wide-instant.html

I am grateful for...

• my husband

• vegan food

• webcams

• my friend Laura

• my family

• vegan hair products!

• thepopularpodcast.com- their videos that totally inspire, make me laugh and want to jump up and down

• pink hair

• the park where Thom and I go and take his mum's dog for a walk, BLISS

• the blender and juicer my friend gave me

• animals

• travel, thinking and planning

• hope

• the new workspace that Thom and I are setting up to work on our WEBSITE! What a dream come true
• love, above all.

I haven't been inspired to blog lately. I have been feeling a little bit low and kind of torn about things that are going on in my life. However, I started watching some podcasts by Kelly and Jessica on the popular podcast.com (especially this one) and I couldn't help but feel really inspired and really good. Life is wonderful and I am so lucky to have what I have. Thom and I are embarking on a huge change at the moment and it is so exciting. We are starting a website together and I am really inspired about it, especially now that I am letting go of my fear and anxiety. I feel exilerated and I want today to be the best day of my life. All I need to do is let go a little more and practice feeling wonderful.

Here is some secret agent broccoli to make you smile-

(click here for the amazing Etsy shop that sells these)

Crushed dreams

I will never be able to rock this look. A sad realization.

(source: Face Hunter and Sundance Festival photos)

But The Dainty Squid's 'Wishing For Spring' post made me happy again. She does it every time.

I have also just found out about the PS22 Chorus, that's enough to get anyone out of the 'I'll never have a beard to rock combs in' slump. Check them out. The phrase 'killing it' is more than appropriate when talking about these kids. Enjoy (thanks for letting me know about them Synne).

This one also puts a huge smile on my face:

Awesome giveaway!

There is an awesome sponsor giveaway over at Sometimes Sweet. I am especially drawn to this necklace, so cute.

 

Made by Moon and Sable, a very cool Etsy shop.


I listened to a Gala Darling podcast while going for a long walk along the coast today and everything came into perspective. It's amazing how powerful thinking about what we are grateful for can be. It really got me out of the funk I was in. (Now I want to go shopping!)

I also went to go see my co-workers rabbits last night after work. They are Flemish Giants and I want one soooooo badly. I picked up the boy and he just relaxed in my arms for ages. He was so chill. Here are some pictures of his mum and sisters :) I didn't get a snap of him, he was hiding away enjoying some peas.

Salted Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

I have just found out about this insanely amazing sounding beverage! This needs to be made...soon. Damn, all of these things I get obsessed with making require kitchen tools I don't have! This one calls for an immersion blender. I will be calling my friend tomorrow to request a date with his :)

Salted Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate 

(recipe and image from One Ordinary Day, slightly adapted from Dinner with Julie)

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup water
3 cups milk (I shall be using soy, of course)
3-4 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or 3 oz. finely chopped chocolate

In a saucepan, add the sugar and cocoa and whisk in the water until smooth, then whisk in the milk over medium-high heat. Heat until steaming. Remove the pan from the heat and add the peanut butter and chocolate chips. Let sit for a few seconds, then blend with a hand-held immersion blender or whisk until frothy.  Finish with a touch of sea salt and some toasted marshmallows.  (Don’t skip this part, because you’ll really be missing out!)


*I won a vegan marshmallow making kit in the Christchurch Vegetarian Society's raffle, this will be a perfect use for that kit! I'm excited. 

knitting lust

I have just come across Tiny Owl Knits (links to ravelry page) and I am COMPLETELY in love, yes, caps are necessary! Below are a few of my favourite patterns, oh how I want them all:

deer hat with little antlers!

 this is not just a cute gnome house, it's a...

 needle holder! how insanely cute is that?

 and this cute bow is wonderful

this is probably my favourite though, a fawn poncho! I love ponchos, I love fawns, perfect!

All of these patterns are available to download through Ravelry. If you're a knitter and you don't know about it, please go there now and sign up, it's knitters heaven. There are so many free patterns and a place to document all of the needles you own and what's in your stash, and then you can search for patterns based on what yarn you own! Amazing.

Anyway, back to Tiny Owl Knits. I am totally in love with these patterns and will be buying them as soon as I can. The only thing I am struggling with at the moment is that since I am now vegan, I am trying to knit vegan as well, this means no animal fibers. So, felting is out of the question, as far as I know. I do have wool in my yarn stash already. I am just hoping it's the right kind of wool to be able to make these gnome house needle holders. I don't want to be wasteful :).

The designer of these gorgeous patterns has two awesome blogs for you to check out as well. Tiny Owl Knits blog and Owl in the Dark.

For now I am knitting this bow headband:

 Because I have found out that bows look cute in my pink hair. 

You can download the pattern for this headband free here.

Ah, knitting joy :)

Complaining and gratitude training

I haven't been very happy with my job or what I am studying and it has affected all parts of my life. Sometimes it is really difficult to come to grips with what I am feeling and the emotions seem to take over, as if I'm not in control. Needless to say, it's been a frustrating year and I have been searching for ways to get through my own personal storm.

I was reading Jessica Mullen's "Introduction to Life Design" out of curiosity this morning. She has managed to make a living through lifecasting and creating a series of methodologies for life design. In short, she blogs and creates podcasts about the positive things in her life, creating the reality of her dreams. Of course I would be curious about reading her blog, I want to jump on that train! I recommend taking a look at the life design toolbox in this post. I really enjoyed reading about simple exercises to improve the way we think and live.

 (source: evasee)

Mullen's blog post also linked to the blog of Tim Ferriss (he wrote the 4-hour workweek book). I was a little unsure about this guy at first (probably because I am jealous of people who are successful at doing what they want to do, to be honest!), but a couple of articles really affected me. One is the 21-day no complaint experiment. Don't complain for 21 days and see how it trains your mind towards more productive and positive thinking. It seems so obvious now! I consider myself a fairly optimistic person, but the more I think about it, I do compain a lot. I am pretty keen to try this experiment out. I really want to make a positive change in my thinking and I think this is a really effective way to do it. The rules are pretty strict but I think if I at least try to monitor my thinking habits it's bound to have a positive result.

(source: tickledbylife)

 The other 'lesson' posted on Ferriss's blog is Gratitude Training. This is an article written for people who find it difficult or ineffective to meditate. I don't think it's difficult, I just find it hard to make time to meditate. There are so many other things I want to do during the too short day. However, gratitude training sounds perfect for me. You wake up in the morning and think about what you are grateful for and write them down. And you just keep adding to this list. I love journals and the act of writing something down with a pen (an activity I don't do very often anymore) inspires me. And, I really think that doing this first thing in the morning will provide me with a nice framework for the rest of the day. I have a gratitude journal  app on my iPhone, but I never remember to use it! I think if I can get in the habit of waking up and writing it will be must easier for me to be consistent.

I want to make myself a journal like this because it makes me laugh:

 (source: nowvember shop on Etsy)

Today I am grateful for being vegan. For all of the people who have put so much effort into creating AMAZING vegan recipes and lists. They have made it so easy to live as a vegan, just look at this accidentally vegan list! I feel so good having made this decision, my actions really align with my feelings and that makes me feel like I do have control over my actions and my life.