Airy Fairy Thoughts

Just so you know blogettes, I have not gone anywhere but am just currently experiencing a delay in my writing thoughts/posts. No, it’s not writer’s block, it’s just that I have a few things I’ve needed to attend to in the last couple of months (like saving some mula on my Internet bill) and finding that perfect writing job, you know the one where I become a beauty editor and dictate what you next put into your beauty case?

In the mean time I will be posting you updates on my life and the things I am thinking about. Today I have been thinking alot about one of the women I look up to so much, Miss Zoe Foster. If you hadn’t heard this lovely young lady who is very quickly becoming one of the most famous beauty writers in the world, was beauty ed at Cosmo for a few years, then beauty director at Harper’s Bazaar and now Editor-In-Chief of Primped.com.au, oh and ah did I mention she has her own book? Air Kisses, is about a girl who wings her way into becoming a beauty editor and gets dumped by her boyfriend via text message, she decides to get her own back and you can only imagine what happens next…? Well, you could keep imagining or you could go nab yourself your own copy from any good bookstore and at $32.95 you’d be stupid to be sitting there staring at the computer screen – go buy yourself a copy you silly girl!

I’m on my way to Borders right now. Toodles!

Peace Out,

Girl Next Door xoxo

P.S If you've just had lunch/dinner and you're craving something sweet, then head to Zoe's blog, for a dollop of fat free fruityness, it's the perfect way to relieve that choccie craving (minus the calories)!

Is Yoga really that good for you?

I’m one of those chicks you’d refer to as a Gym-Junkie, no, I’m no anorexic but I do care about my body, what I put in it and how I treat it is one of the most important parts of my life (isn’t it everyone’s?). I’ve been a member of Fitness First for nearly 4 years now and in that time my relationship with the gym has had many stages.

Starting out I just couldn’t get into it, I started going with my friend Bec at lunchtimes, then before work – meaning, getting out of bed at ridiculous hours of the morning and even tried the after work workout. It was just all bad timing, I had nothing to work towards, then I scored myself a full-time boyfriend and it was time to think about how I wanted him to see me and how I felt about my body. Slowly, I started to lose weight, tone up and regain my confidence. Now that I’ve been going for so long, I’ve stopped seeing results, it’s like my body is telling me it’s time to change my workout and move onto something that will start showing results again, you know, mix it up. My mum has always told me (and I hate to admit it, but, mum’s always seem to be right!) I need to get into Yoga, not only for the body benefits but the mind and spirit ones too.

I’ve always thought of Yoga as the easy way out of exercising, the cheater’s guide, if you like. I mean, how can you possibly burn calories when all you’re doing is stretching? Although on the other hand, Madonna, Geri Halliwell and many more trim celebs swear by the Ancient Indian art.

I had to try this ‘exercise’ out for myself, I took advantage of the mid-year sales and bought a Yoga DVD; 10 Minute Solution, Yoga. I have been partaking in the DVD every second morning before breakfast. The good thing about it is that you can make up your own workouts, there are 5 x 10 minute workouts to choose from, each session focusing on a different part of the body. Abs, legs and butt, relaxation, burn and basics, I did 30 minutes this morning – basics, legs and abs and let me tell you I worked up one hell of a sweat, I could smell my armpits from a mile away and when my boyfriend walked in to the lounge room he was wiping sweat from my forehead! I can barely hold my arms up as I type right now, they’re killing me.

I will continue to trial the DVD and let you know what the results are, if I start seeing any more. The teacher on the DVD says that if I practise the DVD regularly I will start to see and feel the difference. I have already noticed there’s a sense of calmness in my body and my day when I combine Yoga into my morning routine.
Maybe my Mum is onto something?

Peace Out,

Girl Next Door xoxo

Choice lovers beware......

I was doing my fortnightly shop with my boyfriend this morning and we always make a list – you know so we don’t ‘blow our budget’, what we buy is pretty much the same week to week. The necessities for us go a little something like this: bread (gluten/wheat free and normal), milk, vegies, fruit, rice noodles, sultanas, nuts. From week to week we’ll sometimes buy something a little naughty as well, whether that be a tub of ice cream (Connoisseur or Sara Lee), pack of lollies (Natural Confectionery) or a block of chocolate (Swiss Dark) – we usually go for the same brands each time and don’t think outside that square unless absolutely necessary.
I know when my parents go shopping they reach for the brands they know as well, if dad wants a choccie biscuit he’ll reach for the traditional Tim Tam, if mum wants some coffee she’ll reach for the Nescafe traditional flavour. I mean why wouldn’t we, we love the brands and quality we’re getting and there is no need at all to think outside the square – especially if we don’t have a lot of funds to support our decisions.

Which brings me to my point – why do brands such as Tim Tam feel the need to keep introducing more and more flavours of the biscuit when everyone already loves the original flavour? I know for a fact that the new range of Tim Tams aren’t doing well, honeycomb clusters and mocha clusters are bombing at the checkout so have been moved to the ‘on special’ rack at the start of any old aisle. They’re left to expire on their shelves in the hope that someone walking through the cereal aisle will look past their ‘list’ and grab a pack just coz they’re ‘on special’. But the thing is, the reason they were moved to that aisle in the first place is coz they’re not even being picked up.

In a world where variety is the spice of life is there in fact too much choice?

Think about when you head down to your local Gelatissimo or Cold Rock Ice Creamery, there are about 30 different flavours to choose from (at least!) then you can choose what cone you want it or whether you want it served in a cup, what toppings you want on or inside the ice cream. Don’t know bout you but, take me back to the good ol’ Neapolitan ice cream days where the only flavours to choose from were chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.

Do you think dropping all the choices we have these days (the ones we don’t ‘need’ but ‘desire’) see a drop in the amount of cash we’re ringing up at the register?

Today we have never had so much choice and although a range of choices is always good I do believe 2008 marks the year that obesity has well and truly hit rock bottom – literally. In the year 2000, the Australian population alone had over *47% of women and 63% of men overweight - that was 8 years ago - imagine what that percentage is like now. Don’t even get me started on the United States. I really believe that if we did get rid of all the un-necessary choices in the market right now – i.e Pizza Hut and Domino’s ever expanding pizza flavours, random milk/juice/cordial flavours and yoghurt/desserts our world would be a happier and less greedy place. If the supermarkets went back-to-basics and used the ingredients that were all made and produced from the land, soil and animals the world would be a better (and less pudgy) place to live in.


Let me know your thoughts.

Peace Out Food Lovers,

Girl Next Door xoxo

*Info courtesy of Nutrition Australia (2000)