Healthy Granola Recipe

Granola. Mm. I'm a big fan.

But not of the additives and fat that are usually in store bought types. Sometimes you can find a nice one in a health food store, but they usually cost an arm and a leg.
So here's my recipe :)

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raw almonds
A handful of pitted dates (cut into small pieces)
1/4 cup linseed & chia  (meaning, half of each to make 1/4)
1/4 sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 cup wheatgerm
1/4 cup sugar free maple syrup
 1/4 cup macadamia/coconut oil

You can add anything else, walnuts, pecans, dried blueberries, coconut, carrot... the list goes on!

Mix the wet with the dry, spread on a sheet of baking paper and roast for approx 20 minutes at 150 Celsius.

Enjoy with some yoghurt and fresh fruit! :)

Making New Friends

I don't know about you, but I find it hard to make new friends. I guess I expected that my friends from school would be my BFF's for life. And as much as I love them still, and they are still my friends, they also have their own lives and it's hard to fit time in. Especially if they live in Canada - you know who you are! - and have had, or are having babies. That's something that I want to do one day, but right now I can't really relate to what they're going through - as much as I'd like to!

So, here's my question: how do adults make friends? Am I the only one that has a little bit of trouble with this? Is it simply as easy as "asking them out"? I don't know. What if they say no and it's awkward and weird, but you still work together so you try and pretend it never happened. Over thinking it? Definitely.

So, lovely people who read my blog, if you have any advice, I would love to hear it!

 

Photo credit

Getting Back into it

So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that. I've been such a bad blogger! The worst.

Sorry about that. Life and stuff get in the way. Inspiration goes out the window at Christmas time (for me anyway!) along with any motivation to do exercise/be creative and break the cycle of eating Christmas pudding in January.

Also, I've had a few of those "oh!" moments since my 24th birthday last year. I dunno, I think some people call it growing up? Who knows.

Anyway, some of the things I thought were important, weren't anymore. Some of the things I liked, I don't anymore. It's good, because if I look back on some of them, I think - "were they ever important?" or "Did I ever really like that?" Sometimes other peoples opinions influence your own, without you even realizing it.

So 2013 is more about things I ACTUALLY like, and things that are (no, I won't put it in caps, I think you get it) actually important. Hurray!

So, to kick off my first blog post of the new year, here's a fantastic juice recipe I made this morning, to help my PMS bugger off. It worked!

 

Tru's PMS Be Gone Juice! 

2 large carrots

1 large pink lady apple

1/2 punnet blueberries

1 large orange

Blend/juice! 

Website!

I now have my very own website! It's exciting stuff.

Feel free to visit me at truanlowes.com  !

I'll still be updating this blog though, the website is more of a professional thing.

Yay!

An Australian Christmas

At the risk of being predictable, here is a Christmas post. I know, I know, but I can't help myself. I simply LOVE Christmas time.

Here in Australia we spend our Christmases outside, having a barbie (barbecue), drinking beer/summery cocktails and playing cricket, eating pavlova and swimming. It's a pretty excellent time.

On Boxing Day, there's always massive sales but there's also the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. It's pretty excellent to watch as they sail on the harbour (to Tasmania).

 

Christmas Tree in Martin Place

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race

 

 Moonlight Cinema

(I've never actually been to this, but dying to go!) 

 

Sydney Town Hall

Pavlova... best. Ever.

When I look at all the lovely things I'll be able to see for Christmas, I just get so excited. It's such a fun time. 

I'm curious though, for those who are used to a white Christmas - how would it be for you to spend it swimming and having a barbie? Would it be weird for you, or would it be a fun experience?

I think I'd like to experience a white Christmas at least once :) 

How do you spend your Christmas/Hanukkah/Ramadan? 

I'd love to hear!

Vintage cars, beaches and fairy woods

Yep, that was my weekend. Vintage car show, walks by the beach and cycling in the national park. Does it get much better than this?!

I hope your weekend was magical!

(Delicious savory loaf recipe to come later this week!)

Rett Syndrome

I don't have any kids. I don't know anyone with Rett Syndrome. It hasn't affected my life and up until recently, I didn't even know it existed.

But that doesn't mean I can't tell people about it now.

Elizabeth Halford is a photographer I admire. She is honest, quirky and her daughter has Rett Syndrome.

Her website, Gracie for Rett opened my eyes to this development disorder that affects 1 in 12,000 girls.

I don't presume to know what she goes through, or what other families go through, or even what those brave little girls who have this disorder go through. But if this blog post gets seen by someone, who emails it to someone else, who then tweets it... well, I guess it's a small thing in the scheme of things.

Elizabeth has got some great information on her website, so please, have a read and pass it along!

Tweet it, email it, pin it - anything to get the word out!

Happy Friday!

It's Friday, and I'm excited.

I'm excited that I have two days off work.
I'm excited I'm going out with John's family tonight for dinner.
I'm excited that my new shoes came today (wearing them right now!).
I'm excited that I got a reach to photograph a wedding.

I'm also excited that I'm working on my website, and it'll be live soon! So that's VERY exciting.

I wonder how many times you can use the word exciting without it losing all meaning?!

Also, I'm going to be doing a fun lamp DIY in the next few weeks. It's a pretty ugly brown thing, but it has potential to be something excellent... can you guess what I'm going to say? EXCITING!

Ok, check out this lovely lady's photography. I'm really in love it it. You just HAVE to see it.

And, here's something to make you smile! :) 

Party Decor Inspiration, and Other Stuff

Well, it's my birthday in a few days. I'm going to be 24 years old. How the hell did that happen?? This probably sounds silly, but sometimes I forget that I'm a grown up - does that make me still a kid if I say "grown-up"? Probably - and sometimes I think, "oh I've got ages to do the things I want". Or, "I'll be set up eventually", or some other "one day..." excuse. But I'm almost a quarter of a century old, and there's still so much I want to do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for the things I have, I just want to make sure that I don't have any regrets about wishing I had done things and experienced more.

So, in my 24th year, I'm going to do the following:

Start Yoga/Pilates
Read more classics (Pride and Prejudice for example)
Do a wheelie (on my new bike!)
Master the fishtail braid
Learn more French
Call my parents more
Take more photos - professionally and recreationally
Put 110% into my Diploma
Do a short marathon

That's pretty much all I can think of for now, but it's enough to get me started!

But first, there's got to be cake and pretty decorations!

Spotty bunting

Green striped straws - I actually bought these!

I love washi tape!

I love this idea from The Crafted Sparrow, but maybe for my 25th? 

For this weekend's get-together though, I'm keepin' it simple. Green and pink bunting, green striped paper straws, pink polka dot plates, etc! 

Hope your day is colorful! :) 

Long weekend + beaches & sunshine

This past weekend was excellent. It was a long weekend, so we got to chill out and do whatever we wanted (doesn't happen too often!).

I did a bush run (John did one too, but he runs at a faster pace!) and stacked it pretty bad. My skins are ripped (might have to invest in some 2XU's??) and got a pretty gross gash on my knee. But I continued on for another 20 mins, and felt pretty good (apart from the knee-gash).

We watched a new TV series (The Tudors - reviews anyone?), spent lazy afternoons in the sun reading The Casual Vacancy, took Marley to a beach (with the whitest sand ever!) stayed up late and watched scary movies, had a bbq and just relaxed; it was heaven.

Here are some of my snaps :)

 Also, I enrolled in my Diploma in Photography! Very exciting!

It's by correspondance and I haven't had the best luck before sticking to such a relaxed schedule - any tips?

xx

Ragamuffin!

Best. Coffee. Ever. Seriously.

I always have soy (lactose intolerant) but I'm actually not a huge fan of it (I'd bring my own lactose free milk to coffee shops if I could!) but their mochas taste magnifique!

And their muffins. Oh my. 

For any Sydneysiders, or visitors to Sydney, they're located on Norton St, Leichhardt (aka "Little Italy"). And if you go to Ragamuffin for your soy mocha (or beverage of your choice) make sure you check out Bar Italia and their amazeballs carbonara. Incredibile! 

Happy Wednesday!

 

My Week in Instagram

This past week was special, fun, romantic, sad and satisfying.

It was John's birthday, presents and cakes galore.

My Dad came over for business, but we got to hang out too :)

I also had a funeral to go to, for someone truly caring, inspirational and well loved. It was a lovely service though; before he died, he requested that everyone wear bright clothes, and instead of flowers to bring a shrub or small tree to plant. His wife (my high school teacher and friend) told us some hilarious stories, and at the end some of his close friends did the Maori Haka - intensely awesome.

Some lovely moments were shared between my boyfriend and I. Without sounding too mushy or gushy, he's an amazing person and I'm so glad I found him.


Hope your weekend was all of the above and more!

:)

Spring Fever!

I love spring. Big fan. Fun things happen in spring, like my boyfriend's birthday (yesterday), my birthday, and lots of beautiful flowers, peaches, pretty dresses and daylight savings.


Last weekend we went on a bit of a road trip with the pup, and then stopped for coffee at our old place, Ragamuffin. Best soy mocha in Sydney. And the most amazing muffins. We don't get to go there regularly anymore, but it's nice to go back. Lots of nice memories from when my boyfriend and I were first going out.

Do you have special places like that? Certain smells and tastes that remind you of someone special? Sometimes it can be really strong, and you feel like you're back there :)

I also found this awesome dress that just says SPRING to me, by Modcloth :)

Wings of a Beauty


Hope you're having a great week! :)

Healthy(ish) Cookies

Ah cookies. You're a big love of mine and quite hard to have in moderation (seriously, who can have just one?)

So I embellished a recipe I found, and they turned out excellent! See the original here.

As you can see, they're from a diabetic website, so only a small amount of sugar was used and lighter calorie/kilojule ingredients used. Sometimes eating healthier doesn't mean you have to sacrifice the taste.

Now, I didn't add the butter and rum flavoring but I did add some hazelnut meal (about 1/4 cup). For the margarine, I used only 3 tablespoons of nuttlex. I also chucked in some slivered almonds and dark chocolate chips (don't judge me).

And they were delicious.

A Learning Experience

I've been sick all this week (the flu going around right now is damn clingy!) and I'm only now getting the chance to check out the photos from last Saturday's wedding.

It was a lovely ceremony, and quite a learning experience. I learnt bits and pieces from another photographer who was there - he has knowledge! It was pretty interesting. For example, he told me that if you want to be an assistant photographer, the way he went about it, was nagging. He found a photographer who's work he really loved and just didn't give up when he was told no. He said you'll get told NO a lot, and just don't give up - if it's what you really want to do.

So for any photographers who I admire, who might be reading this - I apologize!

I also learnt a few tips, like getting nice and close to an object (I already do that, I love macro photography) and changing the viewpoint. He had a pretty awesome camera set up too. A 5D Mark II, with a diffuser and battery pack. It looked most excellent!

Here's a little sneak peak :)

More pics to come!

Shooting my First Wedding

Wowzers. I'm pretty stoked. I'm going to be a second shooter; I can't tell you how exciting that is for me!

I think there'll be at least two other photographers there, so not too much pressure for a newbie like me. 

So I've been browsing, looking for any tips, tricks etc... and I found some interesting stuff.

Check out this article, about shooting a wedding and enjoying it.

And this one, the absolute basics for wedding photography for amateurs.

Excellent basics, what shots to take and some tips.

A Photographer's List - handy!

50 Must Have Shots - I love this!

I don't really know what to expect, but below are two group shots that I just have to get! 

 

Also, I've been browsing the blogs of lovely ladies who inspire me - Jasmine, Gabby, Katelyn
 and Laura. 

Wish me luck! 

Happy Thursday :)

Annalise Braakensiek Jewellery Launch

So I photographed a little shindig (or soiree?) hosted by Annalise Braakensiek on Saturday. Admittedly, it put me a little out of my comfort zone but I learnt some valuable things. But the most important? I'm shy. I know it, but surrounded in a room full of people that I'd never met - and having to ask if I could take their picture, well, that was waaay outta my comfort zone. 

Kinda fun though. 

Here are a couple of pics from her jewellery launch (amazing stuff too - one word: turquoise). 

Gaskell Guitars Sneak Peak!

Ok, so I did a photoshoot on the weekend. With some wicked guitars and the dude who makes 'em.

Here's a little sneak peak!

It was a little out of my comfort zone, but it was fun and I learnt a lot! 

Giveaway Winner!

So the winner for my giveaway is Danae from A Drop of Jade! (results from random.org). 

Congratulations! Contact me to collect your lovely prizes :) 

On another note, I'm having SO much fun playing the with aperture and manual focus on my camera! 

Hope you're having a lovely day! 

Occupying my brain space.

I love browsing my favorite blogs and Pinterest for interesting finds. Here are some fan-freakin-tastic things I love, or are annoyed about. Or things I think are pretty :)

This lovely Ring DIY, from Sincerely Kinsey. I really want to make one of these. 

Motherhood Mondays from A Cup of Jo. One of my close friends is almost 6 months preggers (woah! where did the time go?) and I think she'd like this article. 

This article, from Hello Giggles. Our Liesel is an amazing athlete and we're super proud of her. The criticism over her weight caused an uproar. I was just speechless that the critics thought it actually mattered?! 

These awesome kettlebell workouts, I can't wait to try them! 

You can never have too many pairs of boots, right? Right? 

This dude's website, fantastic photography articles. 

credit

Hairstyles worn by ladies in 1910. I love that you can wear some of these styles now, and they're considered bohemian or chic :) 

Also, this article. She's a true hero.