Category Archives: HOW TO

DAILY OUTFIT│ The Tale of Two Tees!

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‘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!

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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.

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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

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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!

STYLE TIP ┃Switch and Swap with Colour!

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The taupe trench is a classic and an excellent piece to have in your wardrobe.  It’s perfect for when the weather still has one foot in the afterglow of Summer and the other in Winter’s shadow.  The perfect transition-piece ─ it’s weekend casual without being slipshod.

It’s easy…but let’s face it, it can be beige-boring.  Solution?  Add a pop of colour.  Swap out the matching belt for a colourful one!  Primary, patterned or in my case, neon yellow!

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Another very simple (and inexpensive) way to accessorise and remix!

IMG_0549IMG_0541Happy experimenting!

66 (quick) ways to Happiness!

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Happiness

Yesterday I randomly thought about that melodious gurgling sounds of a baby, and it dawned on me that we don’t need the magnanimous or elaborate to tap into that often elusive feeling ─ happiness.

Shortly after, I found myself scribbling down 66 other seemingly insignificant things or… ways to happiness.  Enjoy!

♥ Going for a walk in the urban jungle also known as your neighbourhood

♥ Putting that sweet compliment on repeat for the entire day

♥ Calling someone you love and just having a chat

♥ A glass of chilled wine

♥ A smile from a stranger

♥ Graciously accepting a compliment

♥ And savouring a compliment

♥ A bunch of flowers

♥ Appreciating your senses

♥ Declaring and working your ONE Desire

♥ Baking a loaf of bread

♥ Sending someone a ‘just because’ card via snail-mail

♥ Being in complete acceptance of ALL of your life as it is right now ─ its challenges and its joys

♥ A mid-week cerulean sky

♥ A heart-to-heart with a good friend

♥ Flipping through your favourite magazine

♥ Enjoying an ice-cream

♥ Doing something you’ve been meaning to do for a while

♥ Saying ‘yes’

♥ Saying ‘no’

♥ Forgiving yourself for that ‘silly mistake’

♥ Letting go

♥ An afternoon sunburst that targets the side of your face or just the right spot on your back

♥ Sipping on a superb coffee

♥ Feeling blessed

♥ Doing something sweet for someone

♥ Playing dress-ups!

♥ Calling someone instead of texting

♥ Taking your shoes off

♥ Finding an alternative

♥ Allowing your kids to tickle you

♥ Choosing a different drink or sandwich at lunch

♥ A head massage from your hubby

♥ Cooking a simple meal ─ one that you really enjoy

♥ Halting the need to compare yourself to others

♥ Organising a picnic

♥ Asking your grandmother for advice

♥ A dry body-brushing before taking a shower

♥ Dreaming up some fanciful things

♥ Saying ‘Thank you’

♥ Reading a chapter of the book languishing on your bedside table

♥ Yawning unabashedly

♥ Taking a picture

♥ Painting a picture…with words

♥ Attempting something new

♥ Revisiting a pleasurable pastime

♥ Forgiving…yourself

♥  Shedding some old skin

♥  Skype-ing someone you miss

♥ Congratulating others

♥ Walking barefoot on sand, grass or concrete

♥ Taking a class ─ screen printing, Zumba, drumming or Russian

♥ Letting the dishes pile up for a day…and doing something frivolous instead

♥ Connecting with a like-minded soul.  Sending her (or him) an email

♥ Devising plans for a MagicalMonday….or morning

♥ Feeling the possibility of a simple yet adventurous thought

♥ Dancing like a crazy person

♥ Finishing this sentence “Wouldn’t it be nice if…”

♥ Smiling and strutting when you’re in your cozzie

♥ Doing a bollemakiesie

♥ Going make-up free

♥ Writing down 5 things for which you are grateful

♥ Watching a sunrise

♥ Listening to your favourite song…over and over again

♥ Wearing some O-Bling…it goes beautifully with every outfit

“Do not allow the past or the future to rob you of your present” ─ Edwin Edebiri MBA

ONE Desire ┃one day at a time

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ONE Desire

We create so many lists.  Lists of our goals, our intentions, our desires and wishes.  Our Bucket lists, our things-to-do-before-we-turn-30 lists…and they’re usually LONG.  LONG LISTS that take pride-of-place in the queue of our growing overwhelm.

God I must achieve…I must, I must….Oh please let me achieve!

It’s a modern-day war-cry.  And while I pretty much have all of the above, I seldom remember them or remember to visit them – sigh.

So this is why I’ve come up with the ONE Desire reminder concept.  Every now and then, a little LOVE ball hits my brainscape, and I’ve decided that instead of fattening the aforementioned lists, I am going to give it a solo cyber corner right here on lieslg.com

Thinking ONE thing, focussing on ONE thing, doing ONE thing (at a time) is exactly the kind of energy-pill we need to fuel the rest.  It becomes do-able.  Easier.  And most of all, bloomin’ exciting!

I think tidbits of excitement are just the kind of nourishment we need ─ daily.

So, I’ll start…

Today (perhaps even this entire week) my ONE Desire is to wear some O-Bling ─ also known as Optimist-Bling.  Quite simply, my practice is to be the brand ambassador for O-Bling.  My thoughts, my actions ─ my entire demeanour will move to this tune.  It will require effort, but this is my wish, my ONE Desire, and in time, it will be my happy habit…my little success story.

So there, it’s out!  Now, what about you?  What is your ONE Desire today or this week? Tell me, tell me, tell me, because ”Life is a great bundle of little things” ─ Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

The September Girl┃Part II: ParkPicnicPrancing!

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SeptemberGirlSky

When it comes to my birthday, I am renowned for my multiple-celebration stance!

It was no different this time around when I kicked off the celebrations with an evening of indoor rock climbing on one end of the birthday spectrum, and rounded it off with some ParkPicnicPrancing on the other!

I love a picnic.  It’s no-fuss, and you don’t need an occasion to bust out the picnic rug and basket!  On the other hand, it is rather fun when you can use Le Picnic to set the scene for your special occasion, and this I did, with gusto!

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I chose Beare Park, in Elizabeth Bay as it is equal-parts park, inner-city and harbour!  I am a big fan of quirky, quaint and hole-in-the-wall even when it comes to my park picks!

The great thing about picnics is that you can do simple or go large!  You can theme it UP to the max and make it an all-day affair, or you could simply keep it simple yet stylish, and let the flourishes abound in your cake, your napery and your FrenchFroth!  For this birthday, I chose the latter.  I wanted it to be an easy-breezy Saturday afternoon shindig.

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I ordered a playful cake, gathered the ingredients for some falafel wraps ─ I wanted to do something a little different from the usual charcoal-chook! ─ grabbed my favourite French cheese and my celebratory FrenchFroth also known as The OrangeLabel!

And I was almost there….

Other essential Picnic Paraphernalia:

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♥My preferred picnic rug and basket.

♥I like to inject some simple style with my napkins, paper plates, cups, glasses and cutlery.  I chose black-&-white stripes and polka dots for the former, (candles included!), and I always bring glass champagne flutes, and my favourite vintage cutlery ─ a real treat!

♥My camera (fully charged) and iPhone (for ‘gramming purposes!) are essential for capturing all manner of birthday moments!  I will often hand over La Contessa to one of my talented photographer-friends to get a different perspective, and also to give me a chance to enjoy my birthday-gal status over photographer-for-the-day!  It’s actually a lovely stream of surprises when I’m later scrolling through my pics.  I highly recommend telling folk to feel free to grab your camera throughout the day and snap away.

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♥Music definitely amps up the ambience, so bring your own or pool your tunes-resources. We all have music-mates…you know the ones with the music goods, so use them!  Keep it mellow and complementary or crank up a dancing-queen vibe ─ either way will infuse some flavour!

SisterSledge & me

Once my to-take list is ticked and all is packed, I throw on my relaxed party spirit as my final touch ─ an essential ingredient for good times!

Oh, and please remember those tidbits that are often forgotten…

sunscreen & ice for the Summer picnic!┃mozzie spray┃a jacket for when it gets cold & a flashlight for when you’re packing up in the dark, slightly inebriated!┃garbage bags┃wet wipes┃bottle opener and some matches to light the candles!

In conclusion, my ParkPicnicPrancing was a super relaxed and fun afternoon that carried over into evening at a friend’s nearby apartment!  Good folk, good food and good froth kept me brimming with good ole birthday cheer – even though my actual birthday was still 2 weeks away!

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Let’s just say I got in early and continued to have a blast!

Do you subscribe to the multiple-birthday-celebration?  And are you a picnic fan?  What would be your ideal picnic scenario?

DIY┃Neon Chartreuse Necklace!

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I’m in. I’m on. That neon bandwagon!

I’d been watching the ‘movement’ online and I’d been inspired to get my fiddle ON!

Needless to say, there are many-a-neon-(plus glitter!)-d.i.y languishing in the wings, but today one is coming onstage!

Hope it inspires you to move your d.i.y muscle, if only once!

One SundayShenanigans™ jaunt in Bondi, I popped into St.Vinnies and came across this necklace:

Not one I’d flip over in its current countenance, but a d.i.y-dabble? Now that made it super attractive!

At $17 it wasn’t exactly thrifty per se, but I grabbed its solo self over a bunch of other wouldn’t-it-be-nice frivolities ━ as you do when in any given charity shop! ━ and had my first step ticked.

This one took me longer than anticipated because I thought I’d just tape the chain and spray the beads.  Ha!  The Universe obviously wanted to engage me in some patience-practice, so it was a patient detaching of every.single.black.bead.  Not to mention an initial, quick sandpaper swipe of each said black bead! lol

Then onto spray, wait – turn.  Spray, wait – turn, with a white paint first to give the chartreuse a better base from which to beam! And repeat for double coat.  Aaaand then repeat for colour chartreuse!! Phew

One heck of a loooong patience-practice sesh later, and voilà ━ a d.i.y vision is born! Happy with the result, and have been happily wearing it ever since!

The EasyPeasy Way:  Purchase a string of beads or a troop of diamanté pieces and blanket-spray away!  No patience required!!

Basil Pesto┃From My Kitchen To You!

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I have always wanted to make my own pesto.  Today – finally – it happened!  And this is how it went down…

You’ll need ━

Equipment:

▪ A food processor or blender (although I’m sure you could whip it up in a mortar-&-pestle).  I have a Kenwood triblade.

Ingredients:

▪ Basil

▪ Garlic

▪ Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

▪ Pine nuts

▪ Parmesan (Pecorino or Grana Padano)

How it’s done:

Wash and dry your basil.  Chop up your garlic.  Grate your parmesan.  Toast your pine nuts (this is optional)

Notice that I have not given you amounts!  I know, I know…but I actually did this free-fall!  I grabbed a handful of basil leaves, a handful of pine nuts, grated a handful of pecorino, and used a couple of glugs of EVOO!  You can always taste-test along the way :-)

Just be aware of garlic-overload!!  You want a sweet hint of delicious garlic not a knock-your-taste-buds-sideways wallop!!

And that’s it!

It was super quick and so easy ━ I definitely recommend you give it a go, and yes I’m talking to you non-Nigellas out there…because I am one of you ;)

Ways with your pesto:

▵Grab your nearest cracker or slice of ciabatta & dip in!  Oh, and try it atop a wedge of brie or camembert too – yum!

▵Your batch will last you a couple of days in the fridge so make it work for you by slapping some on a sandwich ━ cheese & tomato, chicken, vegetable or a salad sandwich.

▵ Stir through some pasta for a simple pasta sauce ━ add some parmesan to serve OR more pan-toasted pine nuts for extra oomph!┃For those of you who need some meat with your pasta, stir-fry some chicken and then add your pesto and pasta.

▵ Add it to a quick and easy pea soup!

▵ Drizzle it over a green salad ━ and add a few chunks of feta.

▵ Add a dollop on your lamb cutlets OR

▵ Stir through your mashed potato.

▵ You can also freeze your batch.  Fill an ice-cube tray & freeze. Once frozen, remove and store in a ziplock bag, back in the freezer.  This should last a couple of months or more!  Note:  if you choose to freeze your pesto, leave out the cheese – & add it only when you defrost your cubes.

I hope you try it ━ and if you do, link me up so that I can see your work!!

Any other pesto-ideas, please share in the comments below :)

From this side of Sunday to the other end of Monday ━ BIG love to y’all!

How To Make Your Day Rock┃ONE simple thing!

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It takes only ONE thing to piss you off, to turn your mood, to make your day suck…BUT today, my lovelies, I’m here to tell you that it takes only ONE thing to make your day ROCK.  One thing ━ simple.  easy.  fun.

Buy.yourself.a.bunch.of.blooms!

Oh, yes!

No PhD-thought-engagement required.  Just gather some coins and grab some prettiness on a stem.  Seriously, they are so inexpensive these days and accessible.  Your supermarket for one ━ hello $5-a-bunch!

If you want to snarl at me for asking you to buy another thing – please don’t (pretty please).  Just swap out your coffee and that 3pm-choc-inhalation!  I promise you, it will give you a new kind of high ━ you’ll be energised and smiling for days!

OR – better still, your garden!  Go forth and pillage [snarl diverted!]  ;)

Put them in your house or in your office (or split up the bunch! Oooohh, so budget-divine baby! lol).  Just do it, and…

be reminded of the simplicity of loveliness and the pure loveliness of life!  You are the captain of your ship called “TODAY” ━ make it lovely, make it smile, make it ROCK and make it yours!

Have a bloomin’ bombastic MONDAY!

PS: If you already have some blooms in your arena, look at them now and appreciate them more.  Or if you’re feeling generous, you could buy someone else a bunch?!  Hmmm…your colleague, your bestie, your lover….a stranger!

Green Smoothie Time!

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Favourites – black&white, WORDS, and a hit of POP colour!

In life, I have always been curious and experimental.  So when the green smoothie crossed my path, my curiosity was piqued, and once more, my experimental self came to the fore!

Like green juice – my other favourite – it is a liquid hit of pure goodness, and surprise surprise, a bit of a taste sensation too!

Put your prejudice aside and give it a whirl – it’s the quickest and most nutritious snack ever!

What you’ll need:

♥ Coconut water.

♥ One banana

♥ One avocado

♥ A big bunch of baby spinach leaves

And that’s it!

Oh, and of course you’ll need a blender ☺

How to do it:

I start off by pouring the coconut water straight into the blender, followed by the spinach, banana and avocado.  And then I give it a good blend…

Et voilà, all done!

I pour mine into a wine glass and enjoy my treat preferably while taking in some Vitamin D too☺

There is goodness and variation when it comes to both coconuts and a green smoothie, and you can be as creative as you wish. Sarah Wilson and The Alkaline Sisters do a great job with tips and explaining the amazing benefits of coconuts and green smoothies!

I hope you try it!  And if you don’t have a blender, don’t feel pressured to run out and buy one.  Just borrow one from a friend or family member.  Do the barter-thing and borrow the blender for a week in exchange for a night of babysitting, a brunch or a mani…or whatever!  Win-win right?!

BIG love and a HIT of greens to you!

NOTE:  As green smoothies are fast becoming a favourite in our household, I am going to start using the juice of young coconuts – straight from the shell.  I have tried them before and they are so delicious and super hydrating – you can drink the juice straight from your coconut-cup!  You can also eat the white flesh! Scoop it out and eat it as a yummy snack or put it in your next smoothie.

I am lucky that I am able to get both the unopened (Thomas Dux) and the opened ones (About Life).  The unopened ones do have a longer shelf-life, just be sure to aim your machete-move away from your body!  In short, take care.

“Tulip stem juice” as so hilariously described by my WordSir-in-crime!

I couldn’t wait and as you can see, I had already taken a few gulps before capturing it on film!  So yum!