Thank You!

msbrownskin

Please-and-Thank-you…life’s staples!  Thank you for stopping by and please feel free to add your own tidbits of thankfulness below.

This week, I’m grateful for…

Soda bread

Marrickville Markets

Brickfields

Sunday morning at Brickfields

Zero Waste Home I love her motto.  And I love it even more that she lives this way in such a stylish home!  Swoon, StyleSister!  And she’s French!!

My moment

Silverbeet at breakfast with my eggs layered over it, and at dinner with my lamb chops sitting a-top.

Wholefood Warriors’ sprouted, vegan pancakes with a savoury filling of veggies, meat, salad, fresh herbs, hummus and chilli.  Having it for breakfast?  Even better!

The sweet guy who checked that I knew Mario as he had seen M wander off with my iPhone while I was ordering coffee!  Kind and caring folk do exist!

AidyBoy

Spending time with my li’l brother.

Being more mindful of waste, and doing my bit to reduce!  I am determined to follow this path, a start of which I’ve already made.  Now looking forward to sourcing places where I can buy my milk in refillable glass bottles!

My new followers on lieslg!  Welcome lovelies ─ you totally make my day, & not in a numbers kind of way, it’s rather that you like what I am saying here.  Bless you.

Simplicity

Brown-glass apothecary-like bottles.

My valiant attempt at reducing rather than simply de-cluttering!  Also, mindful de-cluttering!!

Sarah Wilson and her i-quit-sugar-movement.  Not only is it educational (& confronting!) it is also a beacon of light, and something to which to aspire.  Addendum: I fail all the time in sticking to sugar-free.  I am so attached to sugar (and not the kind you may think either!) without even having known it.  But knowledge truly is empowering and once you know, you do have to make choices based on that (confronting!) knowledge.  Having said that, I no longer berate myself when I trip over (mouth first onto that chocolate bar!) I just move on and try again.  I know (as with a lot of things these days) that the switch will click over and things will just be……the road of endeavour indeed pays off.  I’m yet to use the i-quit-sugar chocolate cookbook, but I am excited about giving it a wholehearted shot.  Did I mention that I am determined to transition into this tribe?  Well, I am determined!  Plunge in and Prosper I say!

Fakkes Stifatho

Maria Hannaford over at Econest.  I love and learn from her philosophy, weekly, and her Greek-inspired recipes are divine!  Just this week I tried the Fakkes Stifatho ─ yum!

Fresh laundry…yes, it makes my heart sing!

Impromptu styling at home…I’m pretty sure it’s a calling!

Kayaking!  I tried it for the first time, a week ago, and it was pretty awesome, and easier than I thought!

Bloglovin’!  The interface ─ it’s so much better than Google Reader.  My import is now also complete, so I can happily tick that one, off my infamous to-do list!

Inspiration hitting me mid-something-else!  And this usually means that another thing also gets done, created, produced.  Can’t not be happy with that.

Last season’s inexpensive, cobalt-blue, part-cashmere pullover, from Zara, keeping me warm on Sydney’s first real cold day!

Repurposing!  This perspex container used to be my tissue box, until one of the tiny screws of the lid fell out.  My intention was to replace it, but then I happened upon the “reduce & re-use” train of thought, and decided that I no longer needed to buy tissues, at least not for every room in the house!  And just like that, my erstwhile tissue box made the move to my kitchen, and my tomatoes are very happy!

Repurposing

Bulk shopping at my local co-op!  So good to stick to the Refuse, Reduce + Re-use motto.  I’m getting there and loving the process.

Good Japanese for an impromptu lunch.

Hanging out with friends ─ impromptu and midweek, the best!

Nettle tea and homemade chocolate.

Elephant Bling

Re-visiting my old jewellery!

Getting ready to sell some of my things on Gumtree.  Here’s a snippet…

A brand new pair of last-season Giorgio Armani sunglasses with original cloth and case

A brand new pair of last-season Giorgio Armani sunglasses with original cloth and case

A brand new pair of last-season Gucci sunglasses with case

A brand new pair of last-season Gucci sunglasses with case

Vintage bag

Vintage bag

Revelations or a-ha moments, and coming to them very simply…while doing the dishes!

Letting go ─ of what you think you want and need, of how you think it should be or unfold; letting go of the expectations, and the struggle.

Acceptance…of everything ─ self, circumstance, thoughts, situations, people…accepting and then simply being grateful for how it is right now.  NOTE:  Acceptance is very different to giving up, so please know that.

“No amount of self-improvement can make up for a lack of self-acceptance”

Dr Robert Holden

What are you thankful for this week?

Dream car┃Mercedes SL300 gull-wing 1954 coupé

Dream CarThis car sped across my vision a while back, and that was it…I finally had a dream car!

I had no idea what it was, except that it was definitely yesteryear ─ it harked to a dreamy other-era-loveliness.  As it turned out, it’s a 1954 baby…with wings, gull-wings!

Black, shiny, small, curvy, cute…stylish, I think this baby will give me wiiiiiings!

Addendum:  I don’t necessarily aspire to actually acquiring this sweet, sweet set of wheels ─ just having it in my see-scape is thrilling enough….oh, and it’s also pretty neat that I can now answer the question “What is your dream car?” with a very confident…

“The Mercedes SL300 gull-wing 1954 coupé ─ in black with red interiors” (of course!)

Post-script: I have just spied a white one, and I think I could entertain this version…or maybe I’d just send it Ivania’s way!

What’s your dream wheel-set?

Pump up the volume!

I thought I wanted these…

Louboutin PIgallesbut then I spotted these…!

Saint-Laurent-Patent-Heel-Tab-Paris-Pumps-04

SaintLaurent Pumps

Three words…Ooh la la!

They are equally as extravagant as each other, I know!  And that is why they are on my style vision board, and not in my closet!

Not yet in my closet.

You see, this vision is part of my new sartorial modus operandi ─ necessary.quality.capsule!  At this stage, perhaps not necessary, but they will be as soon as I do shoe-cull-number-two!  Yes, it’s on the cards…because I’d rather have one killer (and versatile) pair of heels than a  dozen ─ I once packed 12 pairs of shoes for a 2-week overseas trip!  And that was just skimming the surface of my then-shoe collection; My brain cells trip over themselves now, at the thought of that scenario!

Incidentally, I have not yet even slipped my tootsies into either of these LoveLoves ─ how’s that for vision-faith?!  Oh, well, they’re just shoes……still, I hope the shoe fits!

DAILY OUTFIT│ The Tale of Two Tees!

Outfit1

‘creativity is the love-child of imagination’

and the tale of my two tees, is a case in point.  Long story short, I had received the wrong sized tee from ASOS, and decided to keep it.  One day, while looking at it & deciding its fate, creativity stepped in after my imagination stepped UP!

Outfit2

I simply stepped into the neck, belted it and welcomed a new skirt into my wardrobe-fold! It’s quirky…and cheeky, and I love it.  Teamed with some LuciteLove, it was the perfect outfit for a breakfast meeting at Bread and Circus.

Outfit3

Outfit4

Outfit5

Outfit6

Outfit7

Jacket1

Jacket2

Jacket3

CloseUpMetallic

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

Details:

Tee: ASOS

Skirt: ASOS tee

Leather boots: Wittner

Bangles: Somebody else’s trash became my treasure ─ a long-ago Rozelle Markets find ─ and I think they cost me $2 each

Big ring: Another long-ago Rozelle Markets find, and at a sweet $5

Small ring: Bella Emporio in its opening year!  It was $10

Bag: River Island via ASOS

Leather jacket: Just Jeans purchased in February 2010, and never worn until this day!

Location: Empty ‘For Lease’ space next to Bread and Circus.

Inspiration:  minimalism & metallics, my imagination & an innocent mistake!

quote: brownskin

ONE desire┃one day at a time

ONE. your moment

It’s time…for another ONE of these!

I find that when overwhelm threatens, I can either be overwhelmed or I can remind myself of ONE desire ┃one day at a time, and take my own advice.

My hunger for knowledge is titanic ─ I like to know things, because I’m highly curious and love trying new things or simply editing that which I already know!  Yes, it’s a passion.  And along with this passion comes a sh*tload of information!  The knowledge part being the carefully selected bits from this ocean of information….& this takes time ─ a precious commodity that can evaporate in the blink of a long-lashed eye!

Which brings me to this…

I breathe (very important first step!) and then I tell myself that it’s okay.  It’s okay that I am so interested in everything.  It’s okay that I have gargantuan to-do lists!  And it’s okay that my personal and professional lists are head-to-head in this knowledge-race.  It’s okay.

I breathe again.  And then I reach out for ONE thing.

This is what I did yesterday, because I wanted to cry when I happened upon a list from a few weeks ago, with only 3 lonely ticks!  I wanted to cry….but I didn’t.  Instead, I calmly looked at the blue, blue sky and thought, “Wow, beautiful”.  I listened to the neighbouring noise…Sunday sensations…late afternoon…reading…on my supremely comfortable couch….breathing….seeing….sipping on some sweet Sunday Style, and just enjoying the moment!  It’s not easy when your to-do-thought-train threatens to take over, but you just brush it away calmly, and stay right where you are!

It’s peaceful coming right back to where you are…right now.  It makes sense.  You appreciate where you are and what you’re doing; you appreciate the situation, the things and the people around you, in that moment, full-stop.  So simple and yes, very grounding and energising.

I find that as soon as I do that, and continue to do so, all that follows (yes, the to-do stuff!) flows a little better, and answers greet me without the how-&-where-constipation.

When I started work today, the answer to a big business question came to me in two-clicks.  Usually, this can entail an entire morning, afternoon or even day of ‘work’, so I truly believe that by focussing on my moment ─ as I like to call it ─ I calmed the heck down, I breathed…properly, I enjoyed, I appreciated, and I opened my whole-self right up to receive all that I needed, in order to do all that needed doing.

I am particularly enjoying this moment ‘talking’ to you.

Your moment is not only waiting for you, it’s with you right now, so enjoy it!

NEW THINGS│ Lucite, Leather and Marble!

I used to be a huntress of the fiercest kind.  Almost every weekend, I’d have to finish my breakfast outing, with a dollop of double cream on top!

Every other time, if I came across a St Vinnies or a Salvos store, garage sale and even a roadside gem, I’d engage.  Perhaps it’s the stylist in me, but there was nothing better than finding amazing things for equally amazing prices!  I would scour and forage and come out smiling….those were the days.

It’s been a long time since I’ve done this, and I remember it fondly rather than longingly.  As with my sartorial style, my interior style has also taken on my new modus operandi ─ necessary.quality.capsule.

As I said it’d been a long time……until a few Fridays ago, when I was thrown a chance to dig deep in my hood’s Goodwill store.  Oh joy!  And oh joy it was, as this time, I came up GOLD!  There were so many fantabulous goodies for the taking (& re-making) but I simply let my imagination run wild with pleasure, & then stuck to my guns ─ that if something popped up that was also on my need-list, was in excellent condition and with the right price tag, then I could call on my consummate-consumer and acquire!

And this is what happened, and what came home with me…

LuciteLove1

LuciteLove2

LuciteLove3

♥ Some LuciteLove always!  I found these 6 dishes for just $3.  They are perfect for holding my jewellery currently located in drawers in my bedroom, & also for dainty desk-detritus.  This is definitely my interior aesthetic and I couldn’t help smiling big on the outside and in!

LeatherSkirtFront

LeatherSkirtBack

♥ Oh, hello leather max-pencil skirt!  This darling was so serendipitous, that as soon as I lay eyes on her, I knew she was mine, and the perfect fit for my impending, capsule Winter wardrobe.

M&P

♥ You know, I have never owned a mortar & pestle!  And I have always wanted to, especially of late, where making in the kitchen starts ‘from scratch’!  ─ this pair was still in the box with the original price sticker on it.  With its wicked weightiness, the ideal size, and $10 price tag, I gleefully scooped up the newest-addition-to-my-kitchen-family.

It feels great to feel so blissful, and not because I simply went shopping or got my retail-therapy hit.  It’s more that I can be frugal in my consumer-stance as well as with my dollars;  It’s that I can still consume and go shopping, but only more mindfully, and only for what I really need.  It makes sense.

I hope you enjoy the images of my Holy Trinity of Mindful Happiness, as much as I am enjoying using them.  I have to add that every time I am now in my kitchen, and I get a glimpse of my mortar & pestle, I have to smile…it’s true.  And for those of you who know me and know that I am not intrinsically master-chef-inclined, you’d understand the magnanimity of this simple joy :)

Oh, and I am looking forward to having my skirt on high rotation for both work meetings and drinks with my dames!

Thank you!

Thank you!Every day is an opportunity to be thankful.  And every day, amidst the madness of life, one has to remind oneself of exactly this.  I particularly push myself through the gates of gratitude when I least feel the bliss of the g-word.  And while I begin reluctantly, by the 3rd or 4th thank-you, I am rearing to go and with a huge smile that starts at the root of my liver and heart!

I give thanks in the morning, while still in bed, & starting with my bed!  It’s deliciously warm and comfortable, and had just provided the best platform for a stupendous night’s sleep; Makes a big difference to one’s day.

I give thanks at night, yes again in my bed ─ a popular pulpit for gratitude! hahaha.  And also everywhere and anywhere in between.  Whenever I remember, I’ll quickly shoot off one or a few things for which I am grateful……sometimes, I’ll take a moment in the sun, over my latte, to scribble a score of gratitude in one of my favourite Moleskines.

I gave my thanks its first public platform here on lieslg, & revisited it every Friday at Cocktail Hour.  I stopped for a while, but then I came back; I re-jigged the name and now it sports a simpler moniker.  It may no longer (strictly) be weekly, but it will continue to find its place here as it’s such a big part of my life anyway.

Being grateful really opens up my eyes to abundance…my own abundance.  There is no room or necessity to want-and-wish for anything or anybody else’s life or good fortune.  And it’s the quickest and simplest and cheapest way to happiness and…generating some more of that much-desired abundance.

So here I go……

Share Your Victory ─ it teaches me so much about myself, business and people.  It’s the 3rd member of our family.  It’s our heart.  It’s our livelihood.  And because sharing victories and supporting each other is what it’s all about.

lieslg ─ it gives me such pleasure hanging out here and writing and musing to my heart’s content.

A Cowboys-&-Indians party!  Yes, as you can see below, I’m half Indian (top) and half Cowboy (bottom) ─ a somewhat cheeky nod to my own mixed heritage!

Hands up!

A cluster of feathers and a bubble gun!  Oh, the little things ─ hahaha!  This is an old Sportsgirl necklace that I quickly fashioned into a my version of the Indian headdress. I bought the bubble gun from a local toy store & then gifted it to the kidlets after the party. Here’s to thinking creatively (to avoid unnecessary costume shopping) and supporting local, small businesses as well.

Cerulean skies

Cerulean skies.

Curly Top

Curly hair.

Meeting new people all.of.the.time, and giving time to friends who have been in the fold for a while.

LuciteLove

Old jewellery coming out to play again.

Manly, and hanging out on the harbour.

GreenJuicing

Green juicing, always.

‘All that I need to know is revealed to me.  All that I need, comes to me in Divine Right Order’

Discovering Kundalini yoga.

Jewellery design sketches!!!

Collaboration!!

Letting go and allowing.

Long ocean swims.

Kayaks!

The Gordon Family

Old photos of my dad, his dad and his mum.

White Moleskines!!

The distillation of my 2013 Core Desired Feelings: self-acceptance (enough)│believe (confidence)│purpose (excited) │focus (accomplished).  Sweet-Swoon!!

Organic almost-everything!

Raw milk!

Trieste limited edition coffee pods ─ such lovely smooth chocolate-y undertones.

SuperbSunset

Amazing sunsets and magical moon nights.

MagicalMoon

Visiting family in Canberra.

Entrepreneurial ventures.

Meeting up with blogger buddies.

Sundowners with friends at Belgrave Cartel.

Taking up with Pinterest again ─ so good!

Sugar-free snacks.

Anzac Day.

A Friday lunch-date with a beautiful friend.  A bonus that we were spoilt with mazarine skies, a balcony with ocean views, a gorgeous apartment, yummy food, fab company, music and good ole fashioned laughter!

Herbal teas.  My current favourite is planet organic Chai Spice, while my ongoing love is for Genmaicha with roasted rice.  Ahhh…wicked work companions.

Imagination.  My imagination.  It’s such a blessing.  An escape and also home…as well as a  fabulous foundation for birthing ideas and collaboration and business ventures and your Dreamality™

ITONC

Getting up super early on a Saturday to experience the second-last day of a pop-up cafe. It helped that the view to the sky, beach and ocean was magical, and that the service, coffee and food was fantastic!  Here’s hoping the pop-up becomes permanent.

DyeON

DipDye

Getting shit done! hahaha.  And Sundays are simply super for this very reason.  I got my dye-ON, my writing too ─ hello 4 articles, in the space of about 3 hours!  And cleared out my jewellery and more clothes!

De-cluttering

Snippets…of TIME!  This is precious and divine, all in the one breath.  Shit.can.be.done.in.snippets.of.time!  I was never one for that ── I’ve always preferred long stretches of time…to start, keep going until that ‘thing’ was finished!  Oh, the old ways! Hahaha.  Well, the snippets…of TIME thing is gratifying with a capital G!  It’s called life, it’s called this-needs-to-be-done-along-with-everything-else, it’s called focus, it’s called “no more excuses”, it’s called ‘Yay, I can do this’……and I quite love it, because it’s getting shit done!

Bed

Lazy Sunday mornings (before getting shit done!)…in bed!  Being ridiculous, silly, narcissistic…whatever…it’s about trying shit (as well as getting it done!), experimenting and putting it out there.  I call this my grainy rendition of the 1980s-Elle-Macpherson-in-bed-for-Gilles-Bensimon’s-Sunday-morning-photographic-experimenting!!

Plunge in and Prosper!  My mantra for 2013 and beyond.  So good.  Incidentally ms brownskin came up with this one, and I love her for it!  So, I am super thankful to be able to get my PIP on!

Snacking on Love and Forgiveness.  And being reminded to do so just when I most need to.  It’s so-good soul-food I tell ya!

Letting go of “my plan”.  Oh boy, so hard to do, but I’m blinking determined to Plunge in and Prosper!

KitchenCorner

My kitchen corner ─ much body-&-soul-food is prepped here with joy (the joy bit, more and more these days!)

Clearing out the physical junk to allow my much-loved and treasured possessions to shine and give me joy, make me smile every time I catch a glimpse of them or that one thing.  I am enjoying my improved plan of having, in my home (and wardrobe), only that which I absolutely adore.

Miracles

Mothers’ Day and being with family, for the whole weekend.

BurgersWithATwist

Burgers with a twist!  Yes, that’s sprouted rye & spelt and oh, so yummy!

Cafe love and new ingredients…hello mustard cress + chilli on avocado.  I will be re-creating this combination at home.

Exercise.  Honestly, not as anticipated as my hit of morning nectar, but very satisfying once it’s done (and yes, good for the mind, body and soul!)

Each.new.day…full-stop!  And realising the magnanimity of this daily gift.  It’s not just another day to endure, it is carte-blanche on repeat if you’re lucky enough to be alive and in receipt.  I sometimes need reminding (day-dredge can be persistent in her visits!) and when I am reminded, I can deeply realise and deeply appreciate.

Sparkle

Give thanks…appreciate…when you least feel like it too, because it will flip your switch to feel-good pretty much pronto!

BIG love xoxo

QUOTE │ms brownskin

believe

“Plunge in and Prosper!” ─ ms brownskin

Don’t worry about whether you are ready or not.  Don’t worry about how well you’ll fare. Don’t worry.

When you plunge in, you’ll be in!  You’ll be doing it, and you’ll figure it out.  That is the lesson, that is what counts.

That you took the plunge, makes you prosperous.

Dreamality™│We all deserve it!

dreamality

Dreams + Reality = Dreamality! ─ ms brownskin

No doubts necessary.  No rationalising required.  No coming-back-down-to-earth!

Just being real [ity] smack-bang in the middle of your dreamscape…because who said it had to be mutually exclusive?!