Cosy Winter Adventures!

~It's raining- so now what? ~

Now that the cold weather is starting to creep in to Melbourne its time to start thinking of ways to be social and keep warm at the same time!

Gone are the lazy sunny days where we can grab some drinks and head to the beach or get together in the afternoon sun.

My best friend Cara and I swapped our mini skirts for pjs and our high heels for slippers tonight for a cosy girls night in to come up with all of the cool things we want to do this winter! 

So thanks to Cara for co-writing this blog and we hope you enjoy our ideas to warm up these winter evenings!

Cooking IS sexy….

A great way to bond with friends and lovers is over a delicious home cooked meal. Most of the fun happens in the kitchen and even the grocery run can make for some  funny moments!

A healthy meal that is great to share is home made pizzas with pita bread bases and your favourite toppings. So easy and quick to make so you can spend more time enjoying the important things! Bring on the dinner parties!

Tea Houses

Melbourne is full of quirky little tea houses (My favourite is Quali-T on Chapel st) that are a cute, cosy and healthy alternative to heading out in the cold for drinks. So much love to be shared over a cup of green tea and as dorky as it sounds it's interesting to see how many different types of tea there are to try!

Snow Trips

Last season I had the pleasure of helping my best friend Jade learn to snowboard for the first time; it was one of the most fun and hilarious times we have ever had! But I must say she was very brave and by the end of the day had the basics mastered.

Even if this isn't your cup of tea it is still a great trip and there are many other activities to do as well as enjoying being amongst the most magical scenery you could imagine.

There are lots of good mountains in Victoria you can try. The closest is Mt Baw Baw, which is good for a day trip if you don't want a long drive. Although further away, Mt Buller, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham always have the most beautiful snow! So grab some mates or your family and start making some magical and hilarious memories.

Dessert is the new foreplay.....

What hotter way to end an evening than being indulgent and feeling naughty over a sinful chocolate cake or a warming sticky date pudding? Either head to a restaurant to enjoy a quiet bite or have fun creating your own at home… A delicious  ending to any perfect night.

Vintage Date Nights

Everyone knows about the good old faithful cinema date nights, but for a twist how about trying the drive in movies? There are two drive in cinemas in Victoria, one in Coburg and the other in Dromana. Great for a bit of old school fun! It's a nice excuse to get out of the city as well.

Wine Tasting

To me winter means red wine weather! Most Victorian new release wines come out in June so it's a great time to take some mates and explore Victoria's wine regions. There is nothing like enjoying a glass of wine by a fireplace with gourmet food while overlooking some of the most scenic views Victoria has to offer. Some of the regions are Bellarine Peninsula, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley and the King Valley.

~

Thanks so much Cara for the fun and laughter while we came up with this blog! Everybody should be as lucky to have a best friend like you! I hope you guys try out some of our ideas if you haven't already. Complaining about the cold weather on Facebook won't make it go away, so stay positive and embrace it by trying something different and fun!

Winter Eating Habits!

Easy Diet Tip!!

Swapping Foods.....

These posts are getting further and further apart as I'm getting busier but this is one that I've been meaning to write for a while. It's advice that everybody has heard but sometimes it helps to have a reminder of some of the ways we can tweak our daily routine to be a bit healthier! 

We are all looking to have healthier habits, especially now that winter is creeping up on us and we start to crave those comfort foods again. It's hard to not feel guilty when we have a big bowl of pasta, or have our third hot chocolate just to keep warm!

Life is too short to diet- Nobody is perfect, which is why I love the idea of swapping as opposed to cutting things out completely, if we deny ourselves our favourite things then we tend to crave them and feel guilty when we do indulge.

Substituting foods is a great way to still have the treats that we want and also not end up being twice the size at the end of winter!

Here are a couple of EASY suggestions that I try to adopt that are easy to implement!

Breakfast-

Food is what usually gets me out of bed in the morning- I can't wait for my cup of tea and a nice breakfast. A great way to swap and still get enough energy for your day is to swap your toast and butter for a small bowl of porridge. Its warm and comforting but it's low GI so it will release energy slowly and keep you feeling fuller for longer, and hopefully curb those mid morning snacks as well!

Lunch- 

We all get a bit over salads after summer and it's hard not to go for something full of carbs like a toasted foccacia to fill us up for lunch! A good idea for winter is to go for a healthy vegetable soup, it fills you up and keeps you warm at the same time. The best way to know the ingredients is to make it at home yourself then keep it in the fridge or freezer, some of the store bought ones have a high salt content to watch out for!

Dinner- 

Some great swapping tips for dinner meals which means you can still have your favourite comfort foods are to swap normal pasta for wholegrain pasta which has more nutritional benefits and the same goes for brown rice, which is much healthier than white rice. Two tiny little changes which can make a big difference in the long run! Sweet potato is also a much better choice than white potato, it adds a different flavour to the plate and has less calories and more vitamin A.

Snacks-

 I'm hopeless when it comes to snacking, because I'm a vegetarian I tend to not feel as full for as long because I'm missing certain proteins and fats that take longer to digest. So I always keep some almonds or goji berries on hand. Being a woman means I am also prone to chocolate craving at any time of the day! I have recently swapped milk chocolate for dark chocolate. I might throw a tantrum if I had to go without it altogether but opting for dark chocolate (only a small amount) is a much better option!

I love my potato chips but they are so processed and full of salts and flavourings that it's probably my unhealthiest habit. But sometimes you just need an easy, crunchy snack so I try to go for popcorn instead. I have an airpopping machine at home which is great because it cooks it without any of the fats or oils and you have control over how much salt and butter you put on. It's actually something I would be lost without now, it makes something delicious but without the guilt of the packet stuff!

Drinks- 

It's easy to drink water and feel healthy in summer because we are hot anyway! When the weather is cooler and we want to be cozy, chances are that we go for a coffee or hot chocolate instead of a glass of water. One change I made a little while ago is to swap my coffee's for a green or white tea. Nice and warm, but there is no fat from the milk or sugar. Green tea can help with digestion and weight loss and white tea is great for the immune system so will help prevent you getting sick as well!

My perfect 3pm slump snack is now some dark chocolate, a few almonds and a cup of white tea. Now doesn't that sound nice and healthy?

In saying that, we all have our cheat days when no matter how great our intentions are we end up with a doughnut, a mars bar or a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows :)

I hope everybody enjoys the last traces of sunshine in Melbourne as winter begins to close in around us!  I promise to write about some GREAT things to do in Melbourne to keep you entertained for the cooler months!

~Jade
xxx

L'Oreal Fashion Week & My Exciting New Project!

L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival

March 18- 24

And so another week of fashion in Melbourne has come to pass! The L'Oreal Paris runways were full of all of our favourite designers and the seats packed with our favourite celebrities, fashionistas and bloggers.


The main theme for the Autumn/ Spring collections this year were bomber jackets (thanks mostly to Josh Goot), black leather was heavily featured and the printed suits were still making an appearance as well.

 

The main runway shows were held at Docklands as usual and drew an impressive crowd.

 This year I chose to wear one of my favourite designers, Lisa Taranto- I love her 'Alice Dress' from last season, its such a classic! It worked beautifully with my Tony Bianco clutch and shoes. 

For something casual I paired a simple Review strapless with Bardot pants and my favourite Chanel necklace. The Tony Bianco clutch was out again (it's just the perfect size for everything!) And my shoes, although you can't see them were actually from Wittner. They have some nice, simple black heels that I'm loving right now!

The standout fashion for Instyle Runway 2 came from Bianca Spender, although there were murmurs of disappointment amongst the floor seating at there being a lack of creativity overall on the runway. Camilla definitely put on the best show, with her tribal theme really grabbing the attention of the crowd. Beautiful head jewellery and standout prints really closed the show on a high to the track 'All your gold' by Bat for Lashes, which also happens to be my favourite song! 

Harpers BAZAAR runways are always ones to look out for and this year featured Sass and Bide, Ellery, Arthur Galan, Christopher Esber, Karla Spetic and Bassike.
Sass and Bide's collection was beautiful but predictable and a little bit repetitive, with Ellery taking the show with their mix of casual and cocktail designs. My favourtie ABC presenter and friend Karina Carvalho first mentioned Ellery to me- now I'm addicted! 


The skirts from Karla Spetic are also on my wish list for this season!


The Docklands show is a much more intimate show than the Town Hall venue used for Spring Fashion Week and the pampering room set up to add to the experience is well worth a visit, as well as the exclusive VIP bars for pre drinks and canapes before the show. This year we were in the Rekorderlig bar before the Instyle Runway Show. We enjoyed the funky decor, some great cocktails and a good mix of interesting people.  

Its always such a fantastic night out with the girls, great for fashion lovers of Melbourne or those who just want to try something different!

The next big fashion project for me will be in my new role as the chief fashion blogger and beauty/lifestyle editor for INVANITY Magazine which will launch next month! 

Have a look at the facebook page for the first glimpse of what is to come! Keep an eye out for me on the streets of Melbourne, snapping and interviewing the hottest trendsetters of our fashionable city for INVANITY's Street Style.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Invanity/554188477946400

Take a Chance

 1 Little Action can Change your Life.....

Just a catch up in to my crazy little world this month- It's been so busy and my life is almost unrecognisable from 6 months ago! That's the beauty of life and change though isn't it? You just never know where it's going to take you!

I have learnt so much lately, those life lessons that seem so obvious and cliche but are so important!

The most important thing I have learned is to be a bit selfish, it sounds nasty but it also translates into following your dreams… Nobody else is going to make sure that you get somewhere in life, you have to do that on your own!

From starting this little blog not even a year ago I am now writing for a magazine, 2 websites and have a media internship with Melbourne Vixens/ Netball Victoria and write their web articles. As well as studying journalism, doing modelling and working in a beauty therapy job that I love.

It just goes to show what we can achieve with one little action, and good friends who believe in you.

The same thing goes for fitness and lifestyle goals- Once you take that first step, or go for that first run around the block it inspires you and one day you realise that you have been up every morning pounding out several k's.

The hardest part of starting anything new is the first step… filling out the form to enroll in that course you have always wanted to try, putting your runners on in the morning or emailing an enquiry about your dream job. Once that's done the rest just falls into place!

So do something positive today- take that little step. It doesn't have to be a new year or the start of a new month… today is as good a day as any. And just think, in six months you will have wished that you started today…