Blog maintenance

 

 

Hello Lovers!

The blog is moving on. Yep, you heard it here first. The Lover List has dumped her host and found a new host. Her new host will provide her with all the love she needs and satisfy her every need.

Be patient. It shouldn’t take us too long to pack up the blog boxes and move houses.

See you soon,

B xx

 

 

Vegas Letter Lights

Why do I always form obsessions over things I can’t really afford? I’m meant to be saving for a holiday to Vegas later in the year and instead I’m dreaming over Vegas Letter Lights for my living room.

Also known as Alphabet Lights!

Which one do you like?

I really really really LOVE LOVE LOVE the white Vegas Letter lights.

DownThatLittleLane also offer petite lights for kids rooms. Due to be released in mid 2014.

 

Asparagus and Cheese tart

As you all know, Hubby and I are committing to #MeatFreeMondays and truly loving it! Hubby found an asparagus tart recipe online this week (thank you MensHealthAu) and asked me to make it. I turned my nose up at the idea and walked away.

Guess who won? Hubby did. Boo!

I amended a few of the ingredients based on what we had in the fridge – added caramelised onions for sweetness and Jarlsberg cheese – and the final result was so friggin delicious I just had to share it with you.

Asparagus and Two Cheese tart
2 bunches of asparagus, cut in half
2 sheets of puff pastry
2 tb sour cream
3 tb Parmesan cheese
3 tb Jarlsberg cheese
1 onion, sliced
1 tb brown sugar
1 tb balsamic vinegar
1 egg, beaten

Directions: Pre heat the oven to 180c. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook asparagus for 2 minutes. Drain and leave to the side. Fry onion for 5 minutes until soft and add brown sugar. Stir until dissolved and then add the balsamic vinegar. Remove from heat. In a bowl mix together the sour cream, both cheeses and season with salt and pepper.

Line two trays with baking paper. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 4 squares and gently fold the sides to provide a border. Spread a spoonful of the cheese mix over the puff pastry, add another spoonful of caramelised onions and top with asparagus. Brush the pastry border with egg and bake for 20 minutes.

Note: You could actually cut the puff pastry into 8 squares (instead of 4) and make these into appetisers for a party.

 

Tuesday Tunes {Little Dragon}

Add this one to your workout/dance/f*$k-the-world playlist. Loving this track by Swedish band Little Dragon.

The constant drumming in Klapp Klapp will keep you moving. I promise!

Artist: Little Dragon
Song:  Klapp Klapp {Listen here}
Album: Nabuma Rubberband

Image credit: SilenceNoGood & Wikipedia

Thought of the week #28

What does this quote teach us? That marvellous projects take TIME and I need to sell my Toyota.

Testing cosmetics on animals should be banned

Earlier this week, you may have heard The Australian Greens introduced a bill into the Federal parliament which would ban all cosmetic testing on animals.

Insert fist pump here!

If the bill gets supported, and we should BLOODY well support it, Australian’s would be taking a step closer to a world that stands strong against cruelty to animals.

Before I go any further, here comes a truth bomb. I actually didn’t know if the beauty products I use were tested on animals or not. Shock. Horror. Shoot me.

Buying hand cream/foundation/eye shadow that has been tested on animals is a bad choice. Poor innocent animals shouldn’t be subjected to pain and all sorts of horrors for the sake of slapping some cream on my face. Dogs, mice, rats and other animals shouldn’t be locked in cold cages. They shouldn’t sit and wait in fear of the next terrifying and painful procedure that will be performed on them.

{Here’s a suggestion. Why not test beauty products on disgusting human beings like Brett Cowan?}

Maybe I’ve turned a blind eye to animal cruelty. Why? Because it’s super sad to hear about and I feel helpless. But I/WE need to open our eyes to the bigger picture here. As of today, we can make better informed choices about what we eat and what we buy.

The first step is learn which companies test their products on animals – click here. Wave bye bye to Clinique, Garnier, TREsemme, Dove, Maybelline, Kerastase, L’Oreal?

The second step is to open our cosmetic bags and bathroom cabinets and see if any of the listed companies and brands reside with you.

MOST IMPORTANTLY. Let’s support the companies that pledge to NEVER test on animals. Click here.

What else can we do?
How serious are you about choosing cruelty free beauty products?  Take the pledge today and don’t buy anymore products tested on animals. Get familiar with the cruelty free company list. Check labels. Show those bunnies and guinea pigs that you care. And don’t forget to encourage family and friends to buy cruelty free products.

Be informed. Make better choices.

Side note: I admit I eat meat. I own leather products. I’ve attended a circus show. Until this week I had never really considered the impact of these actions on animals. Researching this post made me commit to animals rights, so from this week onwards I’ll be following the #MeatFreeMonday movement, I won’t be buying anymore leather products and the circus can get stuffed!

Image credit: Pet Safety News

MOJO. Where are you?

Last week I needed to switch off and unplug. Take a step back. Digress. Internalise.

Why? I’m not sure. I actually can’t put my finger on it.

So I’m going to call it intuition. My gut was telling me to take a breather because let’s face it, sometimes life just gets fucking noisy. My creativity decided to pack up and abandon me. The butterflies I normally feel about life had headed south. A sense of overwhelming ‘blah’ took up residency.

Life, for a brief moment, was uninteresting.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been working hard on new projects – expanding my mind, expanding my skills, expanding this very blog – and I’m now beginning to think it’s zapped my mojo. I’m empty.

But for the minute, I think I just really needed to write about this crazy uncalm feeling so I could jump ….. and get over it!

So there you have it. My mid week brain dump! Do you ever get like that? A feeling of uncalm? A case of the blahs?

Tuesday Tunes {Duke Dumont}

I heard this song, ‘I Got U’ about a month ago and couldn’t download it. iTunes kept telling me it was an ALBUM ONLY song and I kept screaming ‘That’s horse shit! Gimme the song’.

I even considered downloading the song illegally. Oh yeah, I can be naughty sometimes. I’ve totally forged signatures before.

The song God’s must have heard my screams because the song just got released.

{insert my happy dance here}

Artist: Duke Dumont
Song: I Got U feat. Jax Jones {Listen here}

Take a listen. Do you like the song? C’mon!!!! Dance with me. 

Image credit: SoundCloud & MixMag

Thought of the week #27

Are you like me and get annoyed whenever you see a headline about ‘how to be successful’ or ‘the secret to success’? I honestly don’t give a shit how a successful CEO organises their day!

Success has a different meaning for everyone. Perhaps it’s a constant moving target that’s relative to where you are in life? It’s just a matter of locating it’s current position and taking a shot. If you miss, re-evaluate, locate the target again and take another shot.

Happy Monday lovers xx

Tuesday Tunes {Peking Duk}

Another Canberra creation! Check out the lads from Peking Duk and their latest single ‘High‘ featuring Nicole Millar.

Peking Duk do a bit of the festival circuit and also loads of Aussie nightclub guest DJing appearances. The song ‘High’ is high energy with a twist of house.

Adding this one to my WORK-OUT playlist pronto!

Artist:    Peking Duk
Song:     High Feat. Nicole Millar (Listen Here}

 

 

 

 

Image credit: KickKickSnare & Beat