hmmm.....what to order?

I consider myself to be a reasonably healthy person.  I'm not going to lie, I enjoy beautifully made cuisine (not just the leafy stuff) and I have a killer sweet tooth that I undoubtedly inherited from my mother. I've always admired people like Alice Waters who pioneered california cuisine and made the importance of local and organic produce chic. Truth be told I've always toyed with the idea of vegetarianism and pescatarianism as I could never quite justify the difference between the love I feel for my dog and some of the other cute animals I was consuming (I know, I know but it's true!) Nonetheless, I have always been aware of what it is that I'm putting into my body and how my body reacts to what I'm fueling it with.  So when Michael Pollen collaborated on the recent documentary Food Inc., I was both chomping at the bit to acquire that information, yet terrified at what this would do to my relationship with the food that I know and love. 

One evening I lured my boyfriend into sharing this terrifying experience with me with a bottle of red and a 'healthy' dinner.  Needless to say the wine was consumed while we pushed around our now seemingly toxic cuisine.  There's no doubt in my mind that Michael Pollan plays a highly important role in shaking us up by unveiling the jaw dropping truth to what we're condoning as consumers and ultimately risking in the name of a cheap and cheerful bite.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed once obtaining these startling facts, so when I found Michael Pollan's book Food Rules, I breathed a sigh of relief!  Thank goodness! An easy way to break it down and apply as little or as much as we can. There are 64 rules in total and here are the top 15 that I pulled from the book.

1. Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce.

2. Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

3. Eat only foods that will eventually rot.

4. It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.

5. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves.

6. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well.

7. The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead....blunt but true.

8. Have a glass of wine with dinner.

9. Stop eating at 80% capacity.

10. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. If you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry.

11. Don’t get your fuel from the same place your car does.

12. Do all your eating at a table.

13. Leave something on your plate.

14. Break the rules once in a while. “All things in moderation. Including moderation.”

15. Buy fresh local produce when you can.

Hope this helps you as much as it helped me! Remember to treat your body with the respect that it deserves and more importantly get informed so that you too can make informed choices!

Power to the people!....now pass me that ice cream sandwich.  

LA bound...

After two whirlwind weeks I'm about to hop on a plane and head back to LA.... via San Francisco to pick up my puppy dog. Although I could use another couple of weeks here, I can't wait to squeeze that ball of fluff!
See you all soon!
xo

brides to be and table tops

There's nothing like a beautiful table setting to welcome your guests. When the elements are brought together correctly it has the ability to set the mood and immediately transport your guests to 'lovelyville'.  Whether it's a casual dinner, a wedding or a baby shower, you have the ability customize your setting based on the tone of the event.  This particular setting was for one of my dearest friend's bridal showers and was a hit for our surprise spa afternoon. 

Spend an afternoon going through your fridge pulling out all the little jars of bibs and bobs that you no longer use or have passed their use by date.  Any old wine bottles and jars in varying size, anything that can hold some liquid can hold some flowers!  Don't be afraid to experiment with colour too. In fall those darker green bottles pair beautifully with baby pumpkins and burnt sienna tones but for spring or girly celebrations, I prefer a cleaner palette. 

If you're a little shy about putting larger complicated bouquets together then that's okay! When you're choosing flowers stick with wild flowers such as daisies. It's as simple as giving them a trim and putting them in the vase, it doesn't get much easier than that! Here's some other tips...


➣ Lilies are a great flower as the smallest bouquet can fill your house with their sweet scent like an expensively pungent candle. 
➣ Keep in mind that for a dinner party you might want to steer away from overly aromatic flowers as you don't want it to compete with your dinner! 
➣ Be sure to remove all of the leaves before trimming your flowers as the extra greenery will do you no favors in terms of longevity.  
➣ Group your flowers together in colour and variety to create a more organized arrangement.


Voila! Domestic Goddess that will have your friends oohing and ahhing! 

Thank you Mum!

This is the first mothers day that I've spent with my Mum in I don't know how long and I'm really excited to be celebrating her up close this year. We were chatting today about life lessons and she had a couple of pearls that she shared with me that I thought I'd share with you... Enjoy!

Be wise about who you share your true heart with.  It's okay if that group of people is small, it should be! Make it an elite club with an exclusive membership.

Once you've found those people, love them fearlessly and with a passionate, reckless abandon.

Iron your clothes.

Give back in anyway that you can.  Even if it's only an ear or a smile do it as often as possible. These small gifts will change you.

Life is a series of ups and downs and how you handle the downs are an important part of your story.  Learn to ride those slopes with grace and faith.  Things will get better, you can grow if you choose to and most importantly let go.

Forgive.

Learn what's real and what's just noise.  Don't add unnecessary stress to your life and learn how to deal with what already exists.

Find your passion and feed it often like a greedy, glutinous animal!

Keep it simple. All of it.

Laugh as often as you can. Laughing changes your frequency and can be one of the most healing things you can do for yourself.

Wear sunscreen.

Don't allow other people to do to you, what you wouldn't allow them to do to your child.

Never stop growing.

Happy Mothers Day mummy! I love you!

home.sweet.home.

Oh I've been such a bad little blogger lately, I know I know...but I've been having oh so much fun.  Growing up in Australia on the sunny Gold Coast really could've been much worse! Every time I return to these familiar shores I begin to feel instantly rejuvenated by everything that is near and dear to me. The longest friendships and familiar faces, the food, the warm kind air, the salty ocean and of course the Kookaburras that wake me in the morning with their suspiciously cheerful laugh! Last night I found myself at my best friends wedding which was funnily enough located at a local marina, one of my old stomping grounds. It was so surreal to be there on such a momentous occasion and look up at the unchanging night sky constellations I used to study as a changing teen. I was effortlessly reminded of how far I've come and that I am not the constant in this equation... These Sky's have seen many lifetimes grow and change, which is strangely comforting and awe inspiring at the same time.  

It doesn't take long to get back into the Aussie way of laid back living and soon I start to adopt the peaceful perspective that only comes with good vacation time (if only I could bottle this stuff!).  Like a good Bob Marley song everything seems easy and breezy!


Here's some of the highlights, places and faces that I love!

Weddings, champagne, sunrise, sunsets, birthdays, champagne, yachts, hen's nights (bachelorette parties), pole dancing, champagne and warm cups of tea with my Mum. Coming home is like putting on a well worn, well made shoe. 
It hugs and supports you in all the right places!

sunday morning hangovers.

Last night my LA family and I had a little early birthday celebration at my favorite LA hotspot, The Soho House.  The sun was setting, the drinks were flowing and it wasn't long before we were all taking shots and in full celebration mode. My girlfriends and I found ourselves in the restroom chatting about our pending hangovers when a girl burst out of one of the stalls instantly imparting her strategy for that ever illusive 'night of drinking without a hint of a hangover'. 

I did a little research this morning and there is actually some evidence to support her said theory.  

Tequila is the constant ingredient and the rest goes something like this.

Tequila and the juice of two limes followed by

tequila and pineapple juice.

Continue to alternate between the two for hangover busting power.

The key ingredient here is the Bromelain found in the pineapple juice which is a super hydrating and anti inflammatory enzyme.  Apparently the citrus in the lime  kicks up the bromelain power and keeps you super hydrated, allowing you the fun of a boozy Saturday night and dodging the nasty, puffy hangover that usually follows.

Unfortunately I can't give her a shout out as I don't remember her name and if this actually works then who knows, she might've been an apparition. Then again right after our restroom rendezvous I saw her accost a celeb at the bar and proceed to give him advice on how he can improve his character on his current hit ABC series, "give me more eyes, not so much mouth... you rely too much on your mouth and it's uncomfortable..." Clearly she's a well of wisdom.

After my night of filthy dirty martini's I'm going to take some advil and take my puffy swollen self back to bed.

Dirty Secrets and Dirty Laundry

Time to come clean, time to admit a dirty little secret that I've been coveting for some time now. Growing up in Australia my Saturday mornings were all about cartoons. The Smurfs, The Snorks, The Jetsons, Scooby Doo, Scrappy Doo, you name it, if it was animated and fantastical I was in.  Although my Saturday mornings don't include cartoons anymore I will shamefully admit that it's now much worse.  Rather than graduating from one guilty pleasure and evolving into something a little more sophisticated, I have found myself completely regressed.  My boyfriend would love it if I spent my morning catching up on world news and finding out what important things are happening in the global community but sadly, no. Instead I wake up long before he gets out of bed so that I can start indulging in my guilty pleasure...yes, the best and the worst of "reality" tv.  It's true I'm suffering from an addiction and I'm loving every minute of it.

Real Housewives series (mostly NYC), Jamie Oliver, Tori and Dean and Kimora, I spend my morning with my cup of tea a diy mani and the remote. 

you don't know jacques!  

The reasons I have told myself and my boyfriend that I love this junky genre vary from an array of intellectualized excuses to simple statements. "I find it to be anthropologically fascinating" or "There's nothing else on". Either way I find myself equally drawn to the lives of other people and the whole 'living a life in the day of' experience. Sometimes I'm annoyed, sometimes I'm inspired, and sometimes I care and sometimes I really don't, either way it's easy television. It's like having a conversation with a familiar friend and sometimes it might be the friends that you're not sure you entirely embrace but all in all I know what it is and I love it anyway!