August Favourites

Outside of the confining walls of social norms and expectations there’s a life. And perhaps for most of us, myself included, that’s where most of the magic happens. Now I fought long and hard with myself to a reach a point where I understand that above anything else (money, education, material objects and acceptance) happiness should be my main concern. Whilst I love owning and buying beautiful things, happiness in myself, happiness within what I am doing, and the happiness in those I love and hold dearly, is more important than anything I may possess.

When I began concerning myself with my goals and my values, I began questioning whether what I was doing was helping me towards them, or holding me hostage and making me incredibly unhappy. I could adjust my situation. Break free. Start to do what truly makes me happy rather than sitting in my own damn prison. 

So this September, I’m asking “why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?” Rumi. What's keeping you there when there's a beautiful world to explore?

I'll quit jabbering on now, so here are my August Favourites:

I've always rather fancied myself as that mysterious woman in films who lives in red lipstick and a little black dress, and these two scents that I have been utterly obsessed over  in August make me feel particularly feminine and seductive. For that air of mystery I've been alternating between Coco Noir by Chanel and Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone.

This By Terry Ombre Blackstar in Misty Rock has been my go-to shadow stick for an effortless wash of colour all over the lids, and I've been dusting Dim Light from the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette all over my face for a dewy skin finish. Both are products I'd repurchase in a heartbeat.

Nike Free's are always my first pick for a gym training shoe. They're lightweight, flexible, and never cause my feet any discomfort. I've lived in these new white Nike Free TR 6 all of August. I've also been using these Kit Sound Bluetooth Headphones that I picked up fairly cheaply and let me tell you they are an absolute game changer. 

My last favourite of the month is The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People written by Stephen R. Covey and recognised as one of the most influential books ever written. I'm not sure there's one person I haven't praised about it to. It's all about powerful lessons in personal change, taking responsibility for your own actions, shifting how you view situations and how to work interdependently and effectively. If you want to learn how to be successful in both your personal and professional life, I highly recommend reading it. 

What were your favourites in August?

K

Invaluable Lessons I've Learnt Running

Invaluable Lessons I Learnt Running

As I narrowly avoided face-planting concrete the other morning on my run, a great lesson I wished someone had taught me, was not to attempt running and talking. But perhaps that was just pure clumsiness. 

Here's a few invaluable lessons I have learnt from running: 

• Just because it’s not easy, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Getting to the end of your run can often feel like an impossible quest. But I suppose like childbirth, when push comes to shove, that baby’s got to come out of there somehow, and you’re only way home is getting up and over that hill. Running is almost never easy. It’s hard. It always will be. The only difference is that each time you set out, you realise that although it’s hard, you’re strong and more than capable.

• Fast runners, slow runners, there’s little difference. We’re all made of the same grit and determination that will get us through our runs, regardless of our times and distances.

• You can’t compare your mile to anyone else’s. We all thrive in different aspects of our lives. When my Brother began running again, I was really disheartened to see he could do what I found incredibly difficult, so easily. This type of discouragement is natural and we can all feel as though we aren’t good enough within certain aspects of our lives. You can use these feelings as a positive driving force to improve your own performance, but focus on doing your best not anyone else's. And at the end of the day, sure he can thrash me on a 5K run, but I’ll always make a better bowl of porridge than him.

• The climb is steep, but boy, the view is great. All your efforts are being noted. All the long runs, the hot runs, the hard runs, the fast runs and one day, you’re going to see the fruit of all your labour. 

• It’s easy to get caught up with the PBs. A lot of runners get really concerned with always going out there and running their fastest, which sometimes can take all the fun out of running. Don’t forget to sometimes go out running for the pure enjoyment of the sport - forget about PBs, just run. On Christmas morning, my Dad and I always open a pair of new running shoes and it’s become a sort of tradition that we break them in with a cheeky run before the festivities of the day begins. We don’t worry about how far we run, or how fast we run, we just have a great time. 

And possibly the most important lesson I've learnt running: the Rocky theme tune gets you up hills quicker. Fact.

K

May Favourites

First, a little note on progress that I've realised in May:

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together” Vincent van Gogh

Sometimes it's necessary to take a step back and view your progress over a series of months. For a long time I've felt as though roots have been grounding me down in one place, and that I wasn't moving forward in my life. And I cannot tell you how incredibly disheartening it is to look upon someone else's life, as they achieve and do amazing things, to feel as though you are stuck in one place. However, those little day-to-day changes I made, so minor and insignificant but constant, built upon each other like red bricks. When I took that step back, I saw that it had formed a magnificent structure, and that my life could not be more different than it was at the beginning of the year. 

So whatever your goal may be, don't monitor how you have changed since yesterday or since last week. Look back at how you've changed in a much bigger picture and you might be surprised to find you haven't been wading through black treacle this whole time.

Onto the favourites: 

Does anybody else suffer from that post-amazing-read depression, where you feel like no book could ever quite compare to the one you've just read? After I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns, I thought I'd never enjoy another book again, but The Girl In The Red Dress exceeded all expectations. It's a truly unique and page-turning read. I snuggled up many an evening in May with this book and a mug of Bluebird Tea Co's Honey Bee Beautiful tea - an antioxidant rich tea with sweet honey notes, and skin calming ingredients like camomile.

Typically my foundation ran out this month and pay-day seemed like an age away, so I started using the Revlon 24 Hour Colorstay Foundation, which is a great dupe for Nars Sheer Glow. I've been using a combination of this Crazy Rumours 100% natural lip balm in Mocha (which smells incredible), with MAC's Morange layered on top for hydrated, bright summer lips. And then I set all my make-up with the Smashbox Primer Water, a product I swear by and have used everyday since December to keep my make-up from melting off my face. 

An amazing discovery in May was this Sweet Pea Pantry Grainy Brainy Pancake Mix which is full of amazing ingredients for the body and mind, like buckwheat flour and flaxseed. Not to mention it contains absolutely nothing artificial and no added sugars or salts. Another discovery was the Grown Ups Read Things They Wrote As Kids podcast (not pictured), which is hilarious and makes me feel slightly less embarrassed about my own tragic pre-teen years. 

And lastly, I haven't stopped wearing these Sweaty Betty Urdhva palm tree print leggings, mainly because I like to pretend I'm actually sitting on a beach in Bali sipping from a coconut when I'm wearing them, not in the stock room at work - a girl can dream.

15 Minute HIIT Treadmill Workout

April Showers. The curse of the month.

We all anticipate light, sunny, spring days, and instead we’re greeted by thunderstorms. 

And that can really be a bugger for those of us who love to run outside, because running on a treadmill just isn’t the same.

The difference between running 5 miles outside and inside is incredible. Outside, you can run from one town to another and back. You get that feeling of fresh, cold air in your lungs first thing in the morning, the cooling breeze that tails cars as they drive by. A good morning here and there from people passing by, and then that amazing moment when you finally spot your house and you're on the home stretch. And when there’s such a beautiful world outside to be running through, the treadmill just seems to bore me out of my little mind.

Honestly, the only thing that entices me to use the treadmill in the gym is that appropriately, or inappropriately so, it is placed with a great view over to the free weights area. And we can all appreciate a man with a good bum doing their squats.

But cardio in the gym can be quick and exciting. It doesn’t have to be a slow slog on the treadmill for an hour. Meet HIIT:

High Impact Interval Training has many benefits, including improving cardio health, burning fat and calories, building muscle and increasing your metabolism. But the best benefit is that it is super short and super effective.

Short bursts of intense exercise at 90 - 100% of your maximum heart rate followed by periods of rest, keeping things interesting and making a big impact. You won’t get bored with the constant switch up between walking, sprinting and jogging.

If it’s set to rain all week and a run looks impossible, or maybe you’re looking to lean out and drop a bit of body fat, try adding this 15 minute treadmill HIIT workout onto the end of whatever workout you're doing that day a couple times a week.

Here's hoping it gets sunny soon,

K

March Favourites

Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. A little mantra for me throughout April. 

I've overcome what may appear as only molehills to some, but steep mountains with ragged footpaths to myself, to get to where I am now. The end of March saw me achieve some big feats that I'd never thought possible, ever, giving me the confidence to finally pursue my dreams with a little faith within my steps. 

And I'm going to it do the best of my ability. 

Whole-heartedly. 

So at the end of the day I can say I gave it my all and I really couldn't have given it anymore. 

I've always been brought up to know that if you tried your hardest, the outcome doesn't matter. 

If you gave it your passion, your intelligence, your everything, you gave it enough and you should be proud of yourself too (even if I do forget that a little too often myself). 

So a little reminder for next month: if you've worked as hard as you could, thats enough.

I'm sure going to need to remember that.

Onto the favourites:

My absolute favourite this month is the Silver Hero 4 GoPro. After hesitating investing in for a very long time, I'm ready to film all the extreme sporting that I never do. Now I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to running - being able to measure and compare average stride lengths with friends is what I'd call fun - so a birthday gift to myself this year was the Garmin Forerunner 620. I was also gifted this classic red Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet Lipstick in 51 La Bouleversante and haven't worn another red since. Chocolate just had to make an appearance in this months favourites, because if you didn't stuff your face with a bit too much of it this Easter, you're lying. This Lindt Dark Chocolate Bunny was coincidently dairy-free and delicious. I was a very happy bunny this Easter. No pun intended. A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, is a beautifully written, heart-breaking tale of hope and despair, that'll definitely make you have a good ol' cry. I was about half way through this book when I realised it would tear my heart in two, but I just couldn't put it down. Jo Malone Sweet Almond and Macaron Candle because every girl deserves a luxurious candlelit bubble bath on their birthday. I had a nasty flare up of eczema on my face this month so I've been using this Cloud 9 Tranquility Ultra Soothing Cream for Dry Damaged Skin. The cream is rich in vitamin B12 and avocado oil that soothe and nourish the skin whilst being free from nasty ingredients and most importantly steroids, which makes it perfect for continued use. When my skin is extra dry and irritable, I sleep in a thin layer of this all over my skin as a really hydrating mask.

Have a lovely April

K

The 10 Ugly Things I Learnt From Running

The ugly, the embarrassing and the frankly too much information things they don't tell you...

1. Crying as adult in public has never been more acceptable or appealing. Multiple times I've found myself on the brink of the tears swearing I'll never make it to the top of the hill, but everyone feels like that - right?

2. You know that inspirational, no idea how you're so positive all the time, #motivationalmonday instagram post person? You become her. But sometimes the only way you're going to make it through a run is by channelling your inner Buddha - "the more I run, the stronger I become".

3. Fancy a pedicure? Never again. Unless you can face getting out your blistered, sometimes blackened toenailed feet, it’s a no-go.

4. Without rhyme nor reason, some runs are simply terrible. You're breathing is all off, your muscles just aren't warming themselves up and it's only the second mile*, but some runs just don't happen at all, don't beat yourself up. * These runs often end up in tears.

5. And now that we’re talking about runs: Runs will either leave you with the runs all day, or leave you in intense pain literally unable to to go at all. Oh, and when your digestive system throws a curveball mid-run? Don’t get me started. 

6. You’ll never have been more offended than when other runners will straight-out ignore your smile and “good morning” - like whatever, it’s because they’re totally jealous of your co-ordinated running outfit.

7. Getting beeped at walking down the road can already feel degrading, throw in a sweaty, red-faced mess and...

8. There's nothing worse than feeling too cold on a run, unless of course you've wrapped up so much that you feel like you're about to pass out from heat exhaustion...

9. Now every one speaks about this amazing feeling that you get from breaking through the pain barrier, how you could go on for miles and miles and it's all la-di-da. I'd still like to experience this, please.

10. Lastly, sometimes, when you gotta' spit, you just gotta' spit, so don't give me that look.

K
What ugly things have you learnt running?