Farewell

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I am super excited to finally announce my new website is up and running. I have been working behind the scenes for quite some time now to get this up and for someone who has never been technical I am quite proud of my achievements.

Okay, achievements may be a strong word and perhaps I have more of a press-all-the-buttons-until-something-works, kind of attitude. Either way it here, its set up and I am super excited. I’ve loved blogging from this platform but I am excited for you all to easily subscribe to my news feed, easy to add me on twitter if you wanna join the conversation.

I have to admit my favourite new thing about this blog is the beautiful peachy design, it is just about my favourite colour and go-to-item in my wardrobe. So head on over and check out the brand spanking new design and see how easy it is to follow me there.

www.missimperfect.com 

Expect More But Less

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I am a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin‘s The Happiness Project. I read it during the middle of this year and it literally helped me turn my life around and got me out of a major funk. Gretchen is a born researcher-highlighter-note-taker-kind-of-gal, no wonder I fell in love with her.

With all this research under her belt she began by trying to decipher happiness from can we have more of it to ‘what is happiness’, she studied the greats and read all the research papers. Within her research she discovered a lot of contradiction while learning about happiness. For example she wanted to …

Free herself from envy and fear of the future, and live fully in the present moment – but not lose her ambition.

Lighten up and not take herself too seriously – but also to take herself more seriously.

This led me to thinking of my own contradictions that I am currently pondering, she says that each person’s happiness project would be uniquely tailored to the person they are, so each to their own. One contradiction I seem to have stumbled upon lately is trying to expect more from life yet less at the same time.

You see I feel that too often I walk around with negative self-talk within my head, I am selling myself short, not believing in my full capabilities or just in general putting myself down. This isn’t in any major way but I have come to accept the fact that I won’t get a good mark because I am not very good at this subject, I won’t be able to run any faster, because I am just not built that way. The issue with this thinking is that I am discovering that it is so limiting.

That is all, I am putting myself in a box, that I am unable to get out of. If I overheard a similar conversation between two friends that I have within my head, I would definitely be telling that girl she needs to have some brighter, more helpful friends, ones that don’t put her down. This girl – who I am absolutely loving at the moment, says why not? Why not to everything. Why don’t I deserve a good mark, why can’t I run faster?

If I only ever keep believing that the worst will happen then why would anything different happen. People who believe in life that everything is made out of energy and if we think something or manifest something within our own minds then we can attract that action to ourselves. You can either take this or leave it, but regardless nobody wants to be walking around expecting the worst. For starters if you think you’re not going to get that job interview you probably aren’t going to be putting much effort into it. Yet if you stride in their with confidence that says I deserve this job, I can do this, then why the heck shouldn’t your interviewer believe you.

So as you can see I have fully started to embrace the ‘why not’ attitude and making sure I shift my thinking a little to make sure I am expecting more from life. Yet there is a double-sided sword from this. Too often I fall into a very easy trap that gets me into trouble. I am sure there are lots of guys and gals out there (it could be more of a girl thing though) of people who have these crazy expectations that always fall short because life cannot be planned down to the T like it is in your head.

When this happens, when friends, family, or partners don’t live up to these expectations in your head, for a night to go perfectly, for them to receive the news in just the right way, or have the exact response you want them to have you know you are heading for trouble. Nobody can read your mind, and if you are putting crazy expectations in your head you are unfortunately going to end up feeling mad, lonely, upset, dejected.

So that is the newest contradiction I have found with life, of course there are plenty more lets face it life is riddled with black, white, grey, murky brown colours mixed together. It’s never clear cut and something can be seen from a multitude of different perspectives. But for right now I am working on expecting more from the universe but less from those around me.

Recap + Raw Chocolate

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Sit back and relax for a lovely recap of the last week and a great recipe for raw chocolate if you are a raw foodie. I thought this would be a great chance to fill you all in on how Optimising October is going. Right now I am not feeling the energetic buzz I was hoping for however I am blaming this on self infliction over the weekend and daylight savings stealing an hour from me.

But I digress, so the first week was difficult to get started, slow at times, but I’ve definitely done some things I am proud of and I know I have to start somewhere, so here is letting you know some of my favourites from the past week.

My green smoothie I was excited for, I know all the health benefits included in these and definitely want to start introducing them to my diet, such an easy way to get a hit of some extra greeny goodness for myself.

Lots of meditation this week, I wanted to start out slow, to see where I am coming from to succinctly know where to go. This is something else I really want to begin to include in my life more, moments of peace and pause, this was a great start to a hopeful continuation of meditative moments.

My gratitude jar. This has already become a daily habit, at the end of each night I sit down and write 3 things that I am grateful for. I enjoy reminiscing on the day gone by and am realising no matter what happens there is always a reason to be happy or thankful. One day it was because I had the exact change in my purse and car to rent 3 movies. Yep was a highlight for me.

Gratitude Jar

Having my first ever raw chocolate experiment I was so excited to give this a try, seeing how I could combine chocolate with healthy seemed perplexing. It was interesting to see what ingredients combined to make a healthy alternative to this much-loved snack or guilty pleasure. The taste was a bit strong for me, I think my taste buds are still used to my current diet, perhaps if I was a raw foodie it would have tasted differently. I definitely loved making the recipe below from here, and if you want any more great raw chocolate ideas definitely head over there to check it out.

That was what I was loving from the first week, now what I am looking forward to this week is to get dry brushing – I want to slowly integrate this into my shower routine, being one with nature, and treating myself. I am enjoying this challenge and have it hanging next to my dresser table so I can tick off my accomplishments each day.

Now for the long anticipated recipe …

Double Chocolate Brownies 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups ground walnuts
  • 1/2 cup sultana + 1/2 cup medjool dates
  • 1/2 cup cacao powder
  • 2 tablespoons lucuma powder
  • 2 pinches sea salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tblsp desiccated coconut

For the Icing

  • 1/2 cup cacao powder
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 pitted medjool dates
  • 1 tblsp raw honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Using a food processor: place ground nuts, cacao, lucuma, salt and vanilla extract. Process until mixed.
  2. Leave food processor on and slowly feed through dates one at a time until a dough forms.
  3. Turn off the food processor and with a spoon, mix in additional chopped walnuts and sultanas.
  4. Lightly dust the base of a rectangular non-stick pan with the desiccated coconut.
  5. Press the dough tightly into the pan using a spoon to form a brownie.

For the icing:

  1. Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend until smooth **
  2. Pour or spoon icing onto brownies and place in the fridge or freezer to set for an hour

**Note that the icing will turn quite hard when cold so if not using right away, leave out at room temperature (only for a few hours though, any longer and store in the fridge but let soften before using).

Broome Part II

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Imagine this waking up early in the morning to sunshine and warm weather, to look outside your window and see a beautiful pool and red dirt surrounding you. The hardest decision you have to make is what you will eat that day, because you already know the routine … run, swim, relax and write, lunch, arvo is spent going to the beach, lying down reading a book, swimming in the ocean, come home, dinner time, rest, rinse and repeat.

If you  had to ask me how I felt on this holiday one word summed it up perfectly, fabulous, and this wasn’t just because I wrote about the constant need of ‘me time‘ for the beautiful Sophie.

See if you are not feeling fabulous, blissful, happy and rested when you are holidaying with your mother in Broome in a brand spanking new house then there isn’t much that is going to excite you in this life. So it’s clear that my holiday was fabulous but I want to let you in a bit more than that so here is what I was loving on my trip.

New Gemstones

I bought myself 5 very little pretty gemstones when I was away from a very typical hippie free spirited man that called me dude a lot, but I was so happy with my new stones, I loved them a low. See here I am all about not waiting for the moment to be perfect, till I know enough, or old enough, I don’t wait for the moment in the future when everything is perfect to do something, if I want to then that’s usually a good enough reason to do something. When I first saw this stall at a Saturday Market I knew I wanted to buy something from this shop, but what? You could say I was easily overwhelmed by all the choices.

So I left without any pretty gemstones, I decided it was best if I wait until I know more about the gemstones and I can pick the perfect one. Yep I was clearly living waiting to live, instead of living and deciding buying some cheap gemstones will make me very happy. After coming home gaining some perspective and reading this Tara’s fabulous words about crystals I knew I would go to the market again the next day to buy my stones and let them chose me. Let that be that.

I ended up with these 5 beautiful stones above me. I picked the ones that instantly caught my eye and they were a perfect fit, I don’t want to say too much but let’s just say each one had something that was so right for where I am in life right now and what I need help with, it was eerily wonderful and am so happy with my purchases.

Broome Market

Enjoying nature

It can often be the simplest things that leave us happy within our lives, we generally don’t find it stuffed in our rooms, on the computer or t.v. as much as I love a good marathon of t.v. shows or reading my blogs, often true moments of peace and happiness can come from a long walk, seeing a sunset or sunrise, the little moments outside.When I was away I fully embraced this, the feeling of the warm sun on my skin, lying on the beach, seeing a clear blue sky, gong in the water, all of these small activities gave me a sense of calm and I am so grateful to it. I think the beautiful Jess Ainscough sums it up perfectly when stating why it is so important for us to engage in nature.

Spa Day

A spa day is top of the list essential for a relaxing getaway holiday, this was no different and I loved it. I went to the beautiful Bali Haiin Broome to be pampered, to relax and be wowed by this beautiful place. Walking around the spa it was clear to me that the little things truly do make the experience, my welcome tray with water, beautiful flowers and cool towel, which comes in very handy in a place like Broome.I enjoyed a hour long massage, which was heaven for my achey legs (yes I did run 16km the day before), lets just say the next time I head to Broome I can’t wait to go back to Bali Hai to receive the same service, enjoy the massage and look around this beautiful place, hopefully it will leave me as relaxed as the last time I went.

Bali Hai

Early nights, early mornings

I might seem geriatric to be admitting this was a highlight for my holiday but perhaps coming off 8 long weeks of uni and cognitive fatigue it felt amazing to be going to bed so early, receiving proper rest and waking up early, by early I mean 6am early, I got to see the sunrise from my room, I’d feel the temperature increase it was lovely waking up early in that relaxed environment.

So there we have it some of my favourite parts of my holiday to Broome that I loved. Keep your eyes peeled because I think I might even have coming some other beautiful snaps of purchases at a later date.

Why I’ve Already Won

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Thirteen weeks of running, physio trips, copious amount of deep heat, taping, stretching, foam rolling, swimming after runs, going to bed very early and lots of bananas (my favourite pre run snack), I am finally here, the week leading up to my first ever half marathon. I couldn’t be more excited or petrified of what is in store for me.

Today I wanted to make it short and sweet and tell you why I am already a winner before I’ve even started my race, and why regardless of my time I will be happy finishing a half marathon. Okay truth be told the second one, silencing my ego may be a bit difficult but I will be trying my best.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Source: Uploaded by user via Alexi on Pinterest

I’ve had some ups and downs within my training like anyone, some weeks were better than others. I still remember the first time I ran 7km it was honestly the biggest struggle, now 7km is an average distance to cover in my run. Or my first 9km run I thought was such a long distance, and now I feel like I could happily go for a 10km leisurely run on the weekend. So for these two reasons are the exact reason why I am already a winner before I’ve started the race.

Sometimes when you have so far to go it is easy to become focused on the end product, will I run the whole race, will I stop to walk, will I run it in less than 2 hours 30 minutes, you become fixated on how you can be the best – also known as letting your ego in and fear voice talking loud.

Yet I feel that  sometimes the biggest achievement is showing up, getting to race day. So before I even take one step I know I am incredibly lucky and proud of my achievements, I have run for 2 hours at a time and survived – it was hard but I’ve done it. I run 6-7km at a time, a distance that used to be a huge incredible distance to achieve one day, I am a runner.

That is what I am feeling at the moment, and during this week numerous times my fear, ego, scared voice will creep inside my head, I might listen to it but I will release these negative thoughts from my brain, because I know I have done the best I could do to train for this day and I will be able to run this.

So take a think about it and is there something right now that you are being too harsh on yourself? Do you need to look back to have a real sense of pride in this moment?  By doing this it helps us gain perspective and see the journey we undertook as what it was. For me, I will be proud because I will look how far I have come in the last 13 weeks, or how the longest time I used to run for would be 20 minutes, and from that to where I am now is an achievement, regardless of race day.

I am very excited to compete in my first fun run and run the furthest distance I have ever gone. I will definitely fill all of you in on how it goes, so keep your eyes peeled.

There’s just one thing I need to remember, how do you run? Easy one foot in front of the other. Repeat. 

How Bad Do You Want It?

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You thought it was over with part 1 well it isn’t that simple. If you thought all you needed to know to succeed was needing to want it as badly as you want to breathe, well you were mistaken. That is the easy part, the hard part comes next. When you have to start all the hard work to get you were you need to be. A life long commitment to staying true to your dream and goals day in and day out. Now ask yourself this one question, how bad do you truly want it?

 

Inspiration Station

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Welcome to an overload of inspiration on this delightful Friday, I hope you enjoy having a look around at all the motivation.

                                                                           Source: bailey-forest.tumblr.com via Maddison on Pinterest

                                                                             Source: quotehimonthat.tumblr.com via Maddison on Pinterest

                                                                                     Source: etsy.com via Maddison on Pinterest

                                                                        Source: anamublog.wordpress.com via Maddison on Pinterest

                                                                    Source: yellowbrickblog.blogspot.com via Maddison on Pinterest

                                                                           Source: yes-butno.tumblr.com via Maddison on Pinterest

Broome

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On my mid-semester break I went to Broome for a relaxing holiday. For those who have not heard of this place before it is a small town at the top of Western Australia it is renowned for it’s spectacular beaches, crystal clear waters and sparkling sand. I couldn’t wait to share with you some beautiful snaps of the place I had the pleasure staying at. I hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

Images found here: 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|

Classic Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

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This was my first time experimenting with baking a cheesecake it went fairly well, the taste was delicious to say the least the only issue was my cheesecake turned out to be a bit cracked. It wasn’t too bad,  I would still highly recommend to try this recipe just be cautious of it cracking as written in the recipe below. I also made the mistake of not taking any pictures this week so I apologise for the lack of pictures but needlessly to say next week there will be lots of pictures accompanying the recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 250g packet Arnott’s nice biscuits
  • 140g butter, melted
  • 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 300g sour cream
  • ¾ cup castor sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tsp vanilla essence

Serves: 12

Method:

  1. Release the base from a 22cm spring form pan and invert. Line the base with non-stick baking paper, allowing the edges to overhang. Secure the base back into the pan
  2. Place the biscuits into the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined. Transfer to the lined pan. Use the back of a spoon or a straight-sided glass to spread and press the biscuit mixture firmly over the base and side of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
  3. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 160. Place the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in the clean bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and process until well combined.
  4. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in over for 1 hour or until just set in the centre. Turn oven off. Leave the cheesecake in the oven, with the door slightly ajar, until cooled completely (this will prevent the cake from cracking). Place in the fridge for 4 hours to chill.
  5. Remove the cheesecake from the pan. Cut into slices. Dust with icing sugar and serve with cream and raspberries if desired.

                                                                                        Source: donnahay.com.au via Kylie on Pinterest

Feel the Love

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Right now we have fear being shoved down our throats on every ad break, news slot or front page newspaper and I think it is important to feel the love and share the love. Today I want to feel the love as I personally celebrate a milestone along with blogging for 2 months now. So I wanted to wrap it up with feeling some love for things I have been loving lately. Along with some things I couldn’t be prouder of.

Accepting my journey.

I have come to realise that where I am in my life right now is exactly the place I need to be and the path that I am on might be different, slower, faster, curvier or longer than someone else’s path but it is the perfect path for me to get where I need to be.

Letting go.

This goes hand in hand with accepting my journey, but I have really learnt the art of surrendering, I have been a bit AWOL from the blog lately with not much notice – I must sadly say I have been tucked away in my bed with a delightful gastro bug. Not fun at all, but even during those times I was able to let go. I accepted it was shit, I couldn’t change the situation and just rode it out. I’ve really been learning the definition of going with the flow lately.

Always find happiness.

When one says a gastro bug it would usually equate to bleak and limited happiness, but I discovered this weekend that there is always an event within my day to put down in my gratitude jar even if I am that sick. There is always laughter, and small moments that can make us happy.

Gabby’s podcast.

I discovered Gabrielle’s podcasts last week and fell in love with them, what a great way to sit in traffic, on the train or instead of listening to music. This girl is all about the magic of miracles and I l-o-v-e love it. I would highly recommend downloading some of these podcasts and learning the art of miracles.

Beautiful pretty dresses.

Going away to hot tropics weather when my summery gear has been locked away made me go wild. I had a new bright colourful dress on each day and I loved showing them all off and remembering the beautiful clothes I have waiting for me this summer.

                                                                                                                                                                     
                                                                               Source: ohhellofriendblog.com via Anna on Pinterest

 

  1. I loved finding this video and discovering these 5 ways to increase my happiness and productivity at the same time, it was certainly a highlight of my month.
  2. If you are being sucked down the path of negativity well look not further these tips will  help you to stop that.
  3. With Spring happening right now do you want to know some great ways to brighten up your plate with some fresh wholesome foods, well look no further than these ah-mazing superfoods.
  4. The moment I found and watched this I knew I was looking at something that spoke my message so clearly. It is about failure and why it is paramount to embrace to receive success.
  5. Lastly what I am extremely proud of and definitely feeling the love from all of you is my optimising october month (which officially started yesterday and I couldn’t be more excited about it). There is still plenty of time for you to get on board with this amazing program.

I’ll be posting updates here once in a while to let you know about how my month is going, I hope you’ll join in a few of the days if not all with me.

That’s it for today but I want you to go out there today and feel some love. When that neighbour, friend, family member or partner compliments you today, don’t simply brush it aside, take it in and believe it. Or better yet stand in front of that mirror for a little bit and give yourself some compliments.