Tuesday, January 27, 2015 365 Project // Day 21 - 27

21st January: I went on a sewing frenzy and ended up chopping a Tigerlily dress into two - making this skirt and a top. I was quite hesitant to do it, because that dress ain't cheap and I was scared of screwing it up, but I kind of felt like the pattern was too 'busy' to wear as a dress, and I think I'll get a lot more wear out them now.

22nd January: I've barely taken this colour off my nails all January. 'Coral Crush' by Maybelline. (I somehow managed to break that teal ring about 2 minutes after taking the photo). 

23rd January: Went on a mini shopping spree at a local discount health food store. 

24th January: I love my mum's place.

25th January: Ishka are having a 50% off sale, only condition is that you sign up to be a member (free to do so). I bought these rings for $5 each, both made in the Philippines out of eggshells.

26th January: I've decided that I probably need to start working on reducing the level of grains in my diet. I love them, but my tummy just hasn't been the best lately, and I'm pretty sure it's a result of gluten. I made this porridge this morning, but substituted oats with quinoa flakes. I think I need to tweak a few things, but it was pretty yum (and no pains that day!). 

27th January: Brunch at Daniel Son cafe (more on this later). I want these lights in my house :P

Tuesday, August 26, 2014 Recent Matters...

#1 
I saw this photo this afternoon, and started grinning from ear to ear. For multiple reasons, really. It got me thinking about the word "feminist" and its place in today's world. I don't know if this is just my own personal experience, but I believe there has been a shift happening, even within the past couple of years. I recall in my first year sociology class, about 4 or 5 years ago now, when we had to go around the classroom and explain whether we thought of ourselves as a feminist. I remember most responses being along the lines of "I wouldn't call myself a feminist per se, but I definitely believe in equality".

For a few decades now, I think we have been made to believe that "feminist" is a dirty world - something excessively confronting, aggressive, extreme, and wildly unattractive. A person could believe in all that feminist ideology stood for, whatever branch of feminism that may be, but still feel uncomfortable with claiming the feminist title. But I think there has been some sort of change in the attitudes towards the word within the past couple of years. I think feminism is not only starting to become more accepted, but also encouraged. Even (dare I say it?)cool. 

Just little things, like Beyonce's statement, are working to shake off the stereotypes. Beyonce is sensual, feminine, straight, a leg-shaver, intelligent, polite and a feminist. You can be any type of woman, or person, and still be a feminist. I only hope that it doesn't stay at a superficial level - where it's simply cool to say "I'm a feminist". Because we all know that trends don't last long.

#2

Fruit for breakfast, yeh? Notice the tick of approval for "No Artificial Flavours"... how lenient are these claims, exactly? And for $2? That shit should be illegal. Does anyone else suffer from grocery shopping anxiety? This has only been a recent development for me, but since learning more about what actually goes into our food, I simply don't trust anything (neurotic much?). I basically ignore all the claims on the front of the packages now, and look for the ingredients list... it's actually quite scary how many "healthy" things have lots of little nasties in them. And then you think, OK, I'll just stick mainly to the fruits and veg.. but we're also quickly learning more about what these fruits and veggies are being sprayed and poked with. It's all a little overwhelming.

#3

I've been doing Sex and the City marathons over the past week or so. I did a long one back in my early uni days, and for some strange reason I've decided to re-watch them all. I don't even particularly like the show, I think it's just easy and relatively pleasant to watch. But it's simply amazing how quickly technology has changed even since this show was made, which really doesn't feel like that long ago. They talk about getting "the email" for the first time, whether they would ever do "online shopping", and when no one shows up at Carrie's birthday dinner, they can't reach her to tell her why because SHE DOESN'T HAVE A MOBILE PHONE. I was also thinking, if they made the show today, Carrie would totally be a blogger, not a column-writer. The way she writes belongs in the blogging world, as opposed to the newspaper world - it's way too personal for print publication.

Photo Sources: Beyonce; Carrie

Wednesday, August 6, 2014 Going Green(ish)

I don't really know what has caused the change, but within the past year I've become a lot more conscious about what is going into my body, my overall health, as well as (now to get really green here) the health of the planet. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and it's just a maturity thing, maybe it's just an interest/passion that is developing like any other hobby, maybe it was moving out of home and having to buy all my groceries and cleaning products for myself for the first time, maybe it's George's influence, maybe it's the blogging world influence, maybe it's my limited budget influence.. maybe it's a combination of all those things! Most likely. But living simply and healthily is something that is growing in importance for me, and I'm actually really enjoying the process of learning new things and trialing new methods and discovering new foods and products and why they're beneficial to us and our environment. I'm still a long way away from being the healthiest person out there - I enjoy chocolate way too much, and sitting on my ass watching movies way too much, and cheese... oh, blessed are the cheese makers.. but I've really come a long way in the past year and I think slow change is the most effective change anyway.. right?.. right.

I thought I would share a few sources of inspiration that have really helped me in learning more about this "lifestyle", if you could call it that. If you're interested in learning a bit more about healthier ways of living, I wholeheartedly recommend checking out the following:

Oh Dear Drea (Blog)

I think this woman is amazing. Her cooking, her creativity, her humility, her work ethic. I cannot recommend her enough.

Annie Jaffrey (Blog/YouTube)

Annie has also undergone a massive change in lifestyle over the past year. She has recently adopted a raw vegan lifestyle and although I'm not ready to undergo a change like that, she has a lot to offer and she is really passionate about what she does. I've learnt a lot from her. She is also super sweet.

Ecoholic Beauty (Blog/YouTube)

I've only discovered Jessica recently but, oh my lordy, she is fab. I've already learnt SO much from her, plus she is so entertaining and hilarious. Her blog and her channel are still relatively "small", big but small, much bigger than mine! But I can see great things in the future for this woman. Check her out.

Anna Krien. Us and Them: On the Importance of Animals. (Book)

I love Anna's style of writing, for one. She is informative and engaging, while not being preachy. She gives the information, and leaves us to make the decision. I also recommend that you read anything else she has published, ever.

Jonathan Safran Foer. Eating Animals. (Book)

This book is quite well known, and I know it has had a big impact on a lot of people. This was what actually first made me choose to become vegetarian. George also read the book, and although he is not a vegetarian, he has really cut down on meat a lot. This Johnny Saf dude is persuasive!

I think that will do for now. If you check any of these guys out, I really hope you enjoy them or, even better, learn a little from them :)