Health Kick - Excercise

Time for me to get my running shoes on! (You won't actually catch me running though, I hate running!)

But I must have lost my mind because I have embarked upon a new ridiculously hard excercise regime. Ouch!

It is Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (This woman is crazy!), and although it is incredibly painful at the moment, it is great because you are squishing loads of excercise into only a 25 minute workout each day. Which means there is still plenty of time for cross stich, hurrah!

What I like about it is the fact that you don't have time to get bored (or breathe!) It is split into a rotation of 30 second to 1 minute excercises, and within that you are switching between cardio, strength and abs. There are 3 routines, each of which you do for 10 days, then you move onto the next.

I've just finished day 10 and I have only missed 1 day so far (well it was a bank holiday!) It is going pretty well so far, although it is incredibly tiring! To give me energy I have been eating these little gems on my way home from work. They are super expensive but they are way better than having something like a redbull, they are actually good for you and contain a whole host of super-foods. You are meant to eat them 30 minutes before excercising and they really do work. Although I couldn't afford to have them everyday or I think I would go broke quite quickly!

After my workout Chris has been making me protein shakes, which apparently help your muscles recover faster, and give them something to build with. Benefits also include fat loss (because when your muscles are bigger it means you burn more calories when you aren't really doing anything!) and healthy ageing (your muscles deteriorate as you get older, and this will slow it down!) You wouldn't be able to get the amount or types of protein naturally that you can from a protein shake.  

What excercise routines are you doing at the moment?  Join me in my mission on Twitter by using hash tag #healthkik .

Laura xXx

Tour around 'Dairy House Antiques'

Today I thought I would take you on a virtual tour of my favorite antiques/vintage/allthingsbeautiful shop!

It is called 'Dairy House Antiques' and is in Semley near Shaftesbury, but it is a bit of a hidden gem. It is in quite a big building and there are lots of fascinating rooms to explore. My favorite area is downstairs where there are drawers full of fabrics, lace, ribbons, and an abundance of buttons and all things crafty! Unfortunately the lighting wasn't brilliant in this room so you will just have to imagine the rest.

The other rooms are full of all sorts of things; clothes, furniture, books, crockery, garden implements, the list goes on...

I really loved these little 1950's shot glasses, I almost bought them at £25 but I didn't have quite enough money. I may live to regret this forever!

However, I did manage to pick up a HUGE pot of embroidery silks for just £14. I was excited to get them home to count them and of course to put them all in colour order. Turns out I have about 160!

If you are ever nearby you must visit this lovely shop. There is also a reclemation yard around the corner which is worth a visit. They have lots of furniture and other pretty bits and bobs to look at, as well as lots of old doors and things made of concrete!  

What are your favourite treasure hunting spots? I would love to hear so that if Chris, Pip and I ever go on adventure near you we will know the best places to go!

Laura xXx

Health Kick - Raw Tomato and Watermelon Gazpacho Soup

The other day I tried out a lovely raw recipe from 'Raw Food Real World: 100 Recipes to get the glow'.  I have to admit, although the recipes in this book look absolutely delicious, most of them require a lot of ingredients, many of which are difficult to track down. However, this was one of the ones that looked super easy and I decided to give it a go!

Raw Tomato and Watermelon Gazpacho Soup

Just looking at the ingredients for this makes me feel healthy!  

Ingredients

3 cups watermelon seeded and pureed in a blender

1 cup seeded watermelon, diced small

1 cup seeded tomato, diced small (about 2 medium tomatoes)

1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, diced. (about half a cucumber)

Half a cup red pepper, diced small.

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 small handful coriander leaves

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Half a small jalapeno (I cheated and used a few of the preserved jalapeno slices you get in jars)

1 spring onion, white and 1 inch of green minced

1 tablespoon sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Obviously as the recipe is 'raw' it means I saved a lot of time by not cooking the food, however, there was a lot of dicing and blending to be done, so it took quite a while.

I mixed it all together, added the blended watermelon, then chilled it for a bit.

It was rather yummy! I know that watermelon in this recipe sounds rather strange, but actually it worked really well. I did find it quite filling though, and the flavors are powerful, so I would suggest only having a small amount as a starter, or a light lunch. Chris managed to polish off the bowl pretty quickly though, so maybe that was just me.

Have you tried out any super healthy recipes lately? Please do share! You can join in the discussion on twitter using the hashtag #Healthkik

Laura xXx

Join me in a super duper Health Kick

With my holiday at an end I feel that I need to make sure I keep myself motivated. Often I wake up groggily and come home from work lathargic.  I think what is needed is a good old health kick to keep my body working at its full capacity! The idea is not to loose weight but just to make sure I am doing everything possible to keep my body healthy.

"Sorry guys, I am going to have to eat you."

I am planning to tackle this in 5 different ways, and I hope you will join me! (more on that later)

1. Excercise - I am a bit of a wimp and feel I would be happier if I could sustain some sort of excercise regime. I plan to try out different excercise plans until I find one that suits.  

2. Healthy Eating - I hope to introduce more fruit and vegetables into my diet, as well as having a high percentage of 'raw meals' or at least raw vegetables in my meals.  Again, I am not looking at a diet that will help loose weight necessarily, but one that will make sure I am getting as much nutrition as I possibly can. After all, I like to have a cuppa and a cake now and then, and banning that would just be depressing. I'll just make sure I have a carrot or  something to make up for it afterwards! 

3. Eliminating Toxins - I absolutely hate the idea of all the toxic/carconogenic products we use, air fresheners, cleaning products, and even deodorants!  I am going to look into natural replacements for as many of these as possible.

4. Healthy Hair/Skin/Nails - There are many products that claim to give you all of this, but are they really as good as they say on the tin?  Again, I will be checking out what ingridients actually make up these products, and decide if the outcome is worth the potential risk, or if there is a safter alternative available.

5. Sleep - This one is fairly self explanitory, making sure I get enough sleep! But how much exactly is enough? I usually try to get 8 hours (and often fail) but perhaps it is healthier for me to sleep less/more. I'm going to look into ways of figuring this out.

There's a lot to think about! So I'm going to take it slow and concentrate on one thing at a time!

Laura xXx

Holiday Snaps & Misadventures

I thought I would let you see a few snaps of our ...

Here we are ready to leave for Dartmoor! We stopped off at Charmouth on the way to do some unsuccessful fossil hunting.

On our first full day we walked to Fingle Bridge. There was a lovely Pub, which we had lunch in. We then ventured onwards towards Drogo Castle ... 2 hours later and we were still walking... up a very steep hill! And guess what, when we got there, the Castle was closing! I was dreading the walk back, so with limited signal, we managed to call a taxi, but before we could book it a lovely couple who were volunteering there offered us a lift home. Hurrah!

Then it was time to head to Wadebridge. On the first day we went to Tintagel Castle, but I stupidly forgot my camera. The weather the following day looked promising, so we headed for Treyarnon Bay. It was beautiful, and Chris went for an explore.

I was very excited to get a Mr Whippy ice cream, only to drop it minutes after this photo was taken. I was devastated, but as it fell on a rock I felt that the 3 second rule applied.

We explored the rock pools and found this beautiful, if a little slimey, rock face. I am happy here because I managed the treacherous path to get across. (I only fell in a bit on the way back).

 We tried to use the timer on the camera to take a photo, but Chris somehow lost his footing...

 So we gave up on that idea, it was far too dangerous. Meanwhile...

...below, children had joined forces to create a massive barrier against the incoming tide! They were really going for it and seemed to be doing a good job. We had to leave before we saw the full outcome,  but they fought valiantly.  When we got back to the van we found that Pip had made a friend. He didn't really want to leave, but we let them exchange addresses so they could stay in touch and managed to drag him away.

We went for a delicious meal out in the evening. Unfortunately Chris's stomach was not a fan of the mussels and we had a rather humorous night. Worried that we may both have food poisoning I psychosomatically contracted Chris's illness, and then joined him in dashing back and forth between the van and the toilet block. Incapable of doing much the next day I decided to get on with my cross stitch, while Chris lay invalided in the back. We also watched a lot of The IT Crowd and ate lots of soup.

Here we are, Chillin' in the van, did you spot me in the mirror? This was probably not that day, Chris looks far too well.

On our last day we visited the Eden Project. This was taken in the Rainforest Biodome. They were offering a magical drink called Baobab for only a pound. It was yummy.

 There were so many pretty flowers to take pictures of, unfortunately it was a bit steamy!

After we left Wadebridge we stayed one night in Blandford, which is where my parents and grandparents happened to be camping.

It was a great trip despite its many disasters. I didn't even mention the wind and rain, or the fact that I had packed a pack of cards that was missing 3 of its deck! Or the time when I went to turn the tap on but it fell off instead and water went everywhere!

It was an adventure, and that was the whole idea. We are looking forward to our next one!

Laura xXx

Holiday Nails

While on the road in Pip I decided to brighten my nails up, as they have been bare for a while now. I used the same pattern/stickers that I used in this post, but tried out 3 new colours which I thought would go great together.

They weren't far off perfect, but I think I still need some practice. Next time I will take some tips from Leslie and Janet!

I used Rimmel London Lycra Pro nail varnishes. I quite like the quality of these and they seem to be quite hard wearing too. Although the brush is a little big to do small nail designs which I found quite tricky.

Supplies

Rimmel London Lycra Pro in 500 Peppermint

Rimmel London Lycra Pro in 420 Aqua Cool

Rimmel London Lycra Pro in 312 Ultra Violet

Models Own clear base coat/top coat

Have you used these polishes? What do you find works best?

Laura xXx

Classic Movies - An American In Paris

So, although I am currently away on our first holiday in Pip, I have magically created myself a wireless hotspot using my iphone, and thought I had better finish off my trio of classic films! I had meant to post this before we went away but we were really rather busy and I ran out of time... anywho... on to classic film number 3, and I think my favourite of the bunch... An American In Paris!

This film won me over straight away with it's opening sequence. Gene Kelly's character, a struggling American artist living in Paris, wakes up in bed in a considerably small room. He then proceeds to gracefully turn the minute room from bedroom to artist's studio, in a beautifully choreographed ballet! Much like how Chris and I have been changing the van from bedroom to living room everyday. Maybe not quite as graceful though, I have lost count of the times I have bumped my head, it is probably about an inch bigger on all over now!

Gene Kelly's character is immediately likeable, so when he falls in love with a young woman it is hard not to hope he gets the girl! I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it, but of course there are a few obstacles in the way of true love!  It all culminates in a rather trippy dance number, but beautiful none the less (though at this point I had no idea what was going on!)

This one is really worth a watch! I found it more captivating than South Pacific, and I was far more attached to the characters. Next on my list to watch is 'Singing in the Rain'. Judging by this film Gene Kelly is a Gene-ious, so I'm going to start swatting up!

I will be back soon to update you on our adventures (and misadventures) in Pip. We are in Cornwall, currently camping near Wadebridge, so if you have any suggestions of where to visit please do let me know.

Laura xXx

Cult Cross Stitch Patterns - WeeLittleStitches

I have just discovered something AMAZING this morning which I am very excited about and I thought I best share with you all ASAP! It is a lovely little Etsy shop called WeeLittleStitches The perfect combination of Geekery and Craftery, this shop offers it's customers cross stitch patterns in the form of pixel people. Not just any people mind, characters from our favourite cult classics! Below are just a few of the designs available. I'm sure I don't need to tell you who they are!

I'm definitely going to be purchasing at least one of these very soon! And a big thank you to LilyLovesLola who I spotted stitching my favourite movie of all time on instagram - The Goonies! Otherwise I would never have stumbled upon such a fantastic shop. I hope you have enjoyed this post. I'd love to know of any cross stitch patterns you are using, I feel cross stitch may be my next crafty thing! 

Laura xXx

Classic Movies - South Pacific

So, you remember that little collection of classic films I bought the other day? We'll it's time to talk a bit about the second one I watched... South Pacific!

I hadn't really heard much about this film so I didn't know what to expect, even though it is super famous.  I did enjoy it when a couple of classic numbers popped up that i new the words to! 'I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair' and 'Happy Talk' (which was accompanied by a rather strange but entertaining dance number). It's great to know where these songs originated from, I had no idea before!

People seem to fall in love and decide to get married very quickly in old films don't they? This one is no exception! Two relationships form in this fashion, one of which happens in less than a day and they can't even speak the same language!

The film centers around the relationship between Nellie and Emile (shown above), although there are other characters in my opinion that over-shine them and are perhaps a little more likeable.

I think I would like to watch the stage version of this, as apparently the film is quite different. Have you seen this on the stage before?

Laura xXx

Pip Update - Having a good old clean

And so, it was time to clean... we cleaned here, there and everywhere!

Below you can see the left side, which has been cleaned and T-cut, and the right side which was yet to do. Big difference huh!? Ok, so it was probably a bit more noticeable in real life...

Time for a picnic and a rest on the lawn. I'm not asleep I promise!

We found a naughty bug-a-lug on Pip's Lei.  Your journey ends here Mr bug!

Testing out the van. You can catch a glimpse of the finished floor and bed in the background if you look closely!

There was another very important job to do! Do you remember that Pip was missing his VW badges?

Well now he has some! He is much happier now that he is a real VW! I found both the back and front badges on ebay, the silver had all worn off, but I won them for £13 which was a bargain, and we just sprayed them back to their lovely silvery selves!

We have left Pip at his grandparents this week. My dad has been trying to work out how to put our new fridge in. I am very excited to get back tomorrow. The plan is to work on him all weekend, if he's not finished by then we'll have to keep going, but hopefully we will get him done by mid-week and can start out on our first adventure! Hurrah!

Laura xXx