The Trip Happened

Hello!

So as I predicted in my last post, I was way to busy having fun on my trip to be blogging every day. The trip was as amazing as I though it was going to be, so many life long memories and friends made, places and things ticked off the bucket list and so many photos taken that I couldn't keep count. I'm still in the process of editing all my photos (yes I know its been 6 months already) but it did take me over a year to edit all the photos I took in Europe so I'm still doing ok!

I think I will wait to write a post on each place until I have finished the photo editing process, that way I can not only tell you what happened but I can actually show you as well :) 

I hope all is well and that the world is treating you nicely in some way or another!

x.

Re-Wind then Fast forward..

* Re-wind back to November 23rd 2015 *

Hello, It's me.

I was wondering if things would have changed in the last month since my last post and yes they have. Apart from Adele releasing new music that is absolutely magical, I decided to withdraw from my course. Yep, to a few people they thought I was crazy, but to a surprising amount of others both in and out of the industry have said its probably one of the best things I could have done. So now Im just focusing on saving for that trip that I'm still planning on taking next year, its times like this I wish money grew on trees, but unfortunately thats not the case. So working hard seems to be the only way to get there.


(Thats all i managed to type out for that post and its been sitting in my drafts ever since)

* Fast forward to now *

First of all, its been a year since Adele released 'Hello'..... what?

So almost 1 year since I started this post and over a year since this blog saw any love from me, I've been pretty busy. Busy planning, busy working to afford and busy trying to pay off what will be an epic holiday thats going to be commencing in 2.5 weeks!

Yep thats right, in the last 12 months since we last spoke I have (with a good friend of mine) planned a massive almost 7 week holiday to the U.S.A which is going to be worth all the hours and hours of work and energy I have put in this year, ohh and not to mention the lack of sleep I have had in the working hard to save save save process. But finally we are at the business end and I'm so excited! I wont believe its finally happening until I'm on that plane halfway around the world, when I know I don't have any work and just pure leisure for 6.5 weeks! Don't get me wrong, as soon as I land back in Australia I will be jumping straight into 2 weeks straight of Work for the 2017 Australian Open which is always a combination of awesome fun, hard work and eventually a little bit of Insanity, but its worth it!

But enough work talk and back to the topic of my trip, which did I mention I'm SOOOO excited about! This trip has been in the making since February this year and it seems like its going to be pretty wonderful! It starts in the wonderful city of San Francisco and eventually ends in the city of Miami! In between those two wonderful cities will be a number of other cities, amazing sights and food, A Christmas in Chicago (with snow hopefully) and a New Years celebration in the Big apple!
Im hoping to document majority of my trip through here with stories and blog posts (which I have high hopes of doing but will probably be to busy enjoying life to actually post) and through my instagram for the visual aspect! @ihaveabearhat if anyone wants to keep up with me on there!

And obviously within the last 24hrs of this post Donald Trump has been elected as the new president of the US which concerns me quite a bit... Luckily for me I will be there before he gets officially sworn in but I can still see that there is probably going to be a bit of conflict and distress amongst the people for America over the coming months which we will probably at some stage witness firsthand while we are over there.
I just hope that nothing to extreme happens with the American people and that over the next 4 years everyone working with Trump helps talk some sense into that man!

I'll (hopefully) keep you all up to date with the trip as it happens!

Until next time lovelies.

x.

Procrastination.

Hey Guys,

So today is my one day off this week and I am supposed to be spending it doing assessments but I have somehow over the years become quite good at procrastinating.... which leads me to this post, something I can do that feels like Im writing out answers to an assessment question but really I'm not at all. (it does make me feel less guilty though)

Im still in the same boat as my last post but now I have decided that I will continue on with my course until the end of this year (at all my teachers and class mates requests), then I will probably defer and travel as much as I can over the next 12 months... So now for the next 6 weeks of this semester I need to attend and complete all of my assessments while at the same time trying to do as many shifts as I can at work to build up a bank of savings for a massive holiday next year, which seems to be the only thing on my mind for the past month.

In planning this trip I want to go to as many different places and see as many different cool things as I can. I have only been to 3 countries in Europe so far but I want to tick the rest off my list in one massive trip, but I know that one massive trip will take me a life time to save up for and it would probably be rather exhausting. So I'm thinking of visiting Europe over 2-3 large trips so that I can see every wonderful thing the place has to offer. I just don't know where to start... I have been looking at my options and I know that because I have done a Contiki once before with 2 friends and it was the best experience of my life I think I would be up for doing another one by myself and meeting a massive bunch of amazing people that then become like family after a month on the same bus! It is either that or I possibly go with a Bus-About trip and do my own thing on the way around Europe which really appeals to me, the only thing is I think I need a little more experience in traveling if I was to do that as you have to be wonderful at budgeting your way around Europe with accommodation and food which I'm not the best at on a good day. Where as with Contiki (i know you end up paying a lot more) but its all paid off before you even leave Australia and they take you to some pretty cool places.

If anyone out there has some suggestions of options I should do, places 'I MUST SEE' or people I need to meet then let me know. 

And in yet another not so exciting post I'm off, to go and procrastinate a little more :)

Life 2.0

Hey Guys,

Well now, I find myself here yet again, and this time its 18 months after my last Life post. In the last 18 months I have done quite a bit with my life I've moved house twice, Moved up quite a bit in my job and I have been to Europe and back for a 3 week holiday to meet family members I have never met before in my life so in some aspects I have moved forward but in other aspects of my life I haven't gotten very far. 

In my last 'Life' post I wrote about how people who are studying are always complaining about having to study and do assessments and how I hated all of that and that I am a much more hands on learner.. Well guess what, in the last 4 months I have found myself back at it, studying Events Management... now at the time I thought it would be a great idea (well it was the only idea I had and I thought I should see how it goes) and now just over a term in I'm starting to regret starting the course, not because of the teachers or how its taught but what they are actually teaching.
I have been fortunate enough to be working in hospitality at a Major Stadium in Melbourne for the past 2 years and its been a fantastic experience, what the job has taught me and the situations it has exposed me to, some have been life changing and thats where I'm stuck with this course, what they are teaching me in the classroom on a piece of paper I have learnt in the last 2 years at my job, now don't get me wrong I understand they have to teach this content as some of the people in my class have never been exposed to any of these kinds of situations but for me I have already been through majority of them..

So this is where I'm currently at, do a stay doing the course which is costing me quite a lot of money to learn a few new skills or do I step away from it and learn through life experience..?
That gets me to my next point of this post..

All my life I have wanted to travel & explore the world which I have been fortunate enough to do on a few occasions already in my life, and at this point in time it seems that travel is just filling up almost every part of my thoughts for the last month or so. I'm 23 years old and I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up so I think while I'm young I should see as much of the world as I can before I settle down to a 'normal life' but I don't think my life will ever be fully normal, what is normal anyway?
So that is yet another reason why I want to leave my course so I can work as much as possible to fund my travel desires. One thing that has sparked the travel bug in me apart from going to Europe last year and meeting all my family over there and the fact that every man and his dog has gone on a holiday this year is this little gem of a video that was uploaded to youtube just over 2 weeks ago taken by a guy named Logan that took his GoPro with him and decided to capture the European summer in a pretty funky way.

This video has made me just want to go an book a holiday tomorrow the only thing stopping me is my lack of funding the old bank account, but I am planning on booking a big trip once I have saved and hopefully I can think of a creative way like this to capture my whole experience on my GoPro, and if the GoPro idea fails lucky for me and all of you reading this I have pretty good photography skills (well you would hope I did after studying it for 2 years) so I'm sure I would be able to share a quality snap or two with you all.

Until the next post my friends.

Healthy Veggie Soup.

Ohhh HELLO!

I have made this soup a few times now and not only is it really healthy but it's bloody delicious and everyone loves it. 

It's really easy to make and its great because you can make it with what ever you like so you know what goodness you are getting. 

I made a large batch because I was feeding myself and 4 men (who eat like horses) and there was still plenty left over which I divided up into containers and put in the freezer to have one day for lunch or one night when I don't feel like cooking. 

I went a little improv with the recipe but thats the great thing about it, you can make as much or as little as you like with what ever vegetables you please. What I used:

~ 2 x Medium Heads of Broccoli

~ 1 x Large-ish Cauliflower 

~ 4 x Carrots

~ 1 x Medium Sweet Potato

~ 2L x Stock Chicken or Vegetable (I used Chicken)

~ 300mL x Thickened Cream (For a healthier soup you don't need to add this)

~ Salt and Pepper to taste

~ Any other flavours or spices you would like to add e.g.Garlic, Curry Powder etc.

To Make the soup all you have to do is combine all the ingredients in to a large pot 

Bring the pot to the boil and boil the vegetables for at least an hour or until the vegetables are falling apart and some of the stock has been reduced. Depending on how thick you like your soup boil it for longer and reduce the stock down more of just don't add as much stock at the beginning. You can also add 1-2 potatoes which will help thicken the soup because of the starch in it.

Once you have reduced it down if you have an electric mixer/blender like a vitamix then you can blitz it up but if you don't, not a worry, just use a potato masher, thats what I used. Mash it until most of the vegetables have broken down and there aren't many lumps (even if there are a few lumps they will be that soft they will just break up when you eat them).

Once you are happy with the consistency this is when you add the cream if you want, If you don't want to add cream then its ready to eat straight away.

This soup is so delicious and so easy, its great for winter time because its hearty and healthy. I served it up with some homemade sausage rolls for the boys, but you can have it by itself as a sufficient meal. 

If you have any questions about the recipe or make it yourself please let me know or post a photo of your wonderful creation. 

x.

New Recipe Attempt #1: Breakfast Coconut Chia Pudding!

Hello There,

Yes so as the title suggests I had a go at making Coconut Chia puddings for breakfast because I have seen, heard and read a number of people rave about Chia seeds and how good they are for your health. I have wanted to try then of quite a while but I never knew what to do with them, well let me tell you, you can put them in pretty much anything, they don't really have a taste and the health benefits from them are amazing! 

I follow a number of health bloggers on Instagram and they are constantly using Chia seeds in almost everything they cook/create/eat so I thought I would give them a go in the form of Chia pudding and I will definitely be making it again! It was absolutely delicious and knowing that I am eating something so delicious but its so good for me is also a bonus! :) 

I brought my Chia seeds at a Woolworths Supermarket here in Melbourne, and they were around $9 something, I purchased the White Chia seeds but from what I have read there isn't really any difference between the White and Black Chia seed varieties besides the appearance, everything else with them is the same.

The recipe I followed was this one from the lovely blog I follow called Julia & Libby (Check out their other stuff while you are over there because they have some great stuff) I followed their recipe but halved the ingredients because this recipe makes enough for about 4 servings, so I had enough for 2 breakfasts, I also didn't have any Lucuma or Coconut sugar so I just didn't put those two ingredients in, but it still tasted wonderful with out them. I served mine with Banana and Apple because they were the fruits I had at home but these puddings would go with a number of different fruits. 

If you are thinking about trying Chia seeds then you defiantly should, with the amount of health benefits and diverse ways of using them they are defiantly something I will be buying from now on. 

If you guys try this recipe out, let me know, and if you have any other recipes you want me to try out then comment or link them below and I will give them a go! :)

Have a wonderful day!

x. 

Post Ireland and UK depression.

Hello My Lovelies,

I do apologise for that lack of posting on my behalf over the last three months, well no quite a lack of posts, 0 post to be exact.. (sorry) The only person I can blame for that would be myself. I am a shocker for starting things and never finishing them, and I really need to work harder at learning to finish challenges that I start.

Over the last few days I have been thinking about my trip to the UK and Ireland which I took almost a year ago with 2 good friends. We spent 3 weeks traveling through England, Scotland and Ireland on a Contiki Tour with what can only be described as the greatest group of people you could ever possibly meet, I would consider almost all of them Family now. On that trip I made a bunch of friends that I will have for life, from all over the world and I'm soooo so thankful that I got to meet them and spend the time I did with them.

And due to it being St Patrick's Day yesterday, I had a massive feeling of post Ireland depression, wishing I was back over there in one of the greatest countries in the world with some of the greatest people on this earth, not only my contiki family but also just the general Irish population and people. The Irish are some of the greatest people I have ever met, they are probably the closest people to Australians you can get in terms of their sense of humour and their drinking culture. I just love everything about the Irish, they always seem so happy, carefree, welcoming, hospitable and not to mention their fantastic accents, I could listen to them speak all day. I have always had a love for the Irish, I also love the fact that my Dad's side of the family originated from Ireland many many years ago. 

I don't just have love for Ireland, but also for London and the rest of the UK as well. I just think London is one of the greatest cities on this earth, you can just go for a walk for a couple of hours and see so much amazing and incredible things. I felt safe walking around the city at night, a city that I had only been in not even 2 days. I would get on a plane right now and be back there in an instant if I could. I would seriously drop my life here in Australia this second if someone offered me a ticket and a job in London or anywhere in Ireland.

I am planing on saving up my money and going back over there before the end of this year to work. The London Pubs program seems like the best option for someone like myself, having worked in pubs and restaurants since I was 16, hospitality is what I know, and the pubs and drinking culture in London and the UK would be awesome fun to experience from both sides of the bar, not only drinking in them but also serving behind them. It would be an amazing learning experience and so much fun!

I just wish I could get paid to travel the world, experiencing different cultures and opening my mind to different traditions from every corner this amazing earth has to offer. That would be my dream.

I will leave you with some random pictures from my trip away and hopefully I will be able to share some new ones with you in a few months time when I am back over there once again, living it up in such an amazing country.

x.

LUSH Christmas Bathtime Favourites

So yesterday I was in Highpoint Shopping Centre and I walked past LUSH and couldn't help but go in and check out what bath bombs they had in stock. I  usually go in an buy one or two at a time, but when I got in there I found they had load of limited edition christmas ones!! 

And because I couldn't decide on what ones to buy the lady suggested I buy the gift box 'Christmas Bathtime Favourites' which had most of their festive collection in it, so….. $60 later thats exactly what I brought. 

It smells so good and the box is so pretty!

So in it you get 10 different bath bombs, some are new and others come back every year before christmas, of the 10 I have only used 2 of them before which are the 'Avobath Bath Ballistic' and the 'Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic' which I loved! 

Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic:
Unwrap your Christmas spirit, with stimulating sweet orange and lime oils.

This is the one I used last year and loved it! Its covered in a gold shimmer powder and its filled with crazy bright colours inside which makes the water look amazing and it smells amazing!

Shoot For The Stars Bath Ballistic:

A magnificent bath bomb with our Honey I Washed The Kids fragrance.

Both ladies working in the shop at the time told me at different times how good this one was, it was both of their favourites. They said it is filled with a silver shimmer powder and little glitter stars. This will be the first one I will use for sure.

So White Bath Ballistic:
For the fairest bath of them all, delicate rose and uplifting bergamot for when you need a moment of calm.

In Zoella's recent Lush Haul she raved about this one, and it smells wonderful!

Cinders Bath Ballistic:
Be transported to the fireside with warming cinnamon leaf oil and crackling popping candy.

Im excited to try this one and see how it acts in the water, obviously its not edible popping candy but I am curious to see if it reacts similar to popping candy when put in the bath.

Father Christmas Bath Ballistic:
Refreshing mandarin oil provides plenty of festive bath time cheer.

This will be the one I will use on christmas eve. It sounds and smells like the best addition to the bath just before christmas.

Luxury Lush Pud Bath Ballistic:
Relaxing and comforting lavender scented pud, perfect for a bedtime bath.

Im not to sure how this one will go, I'm not the biggest fan of lavender, actually I hate the smell of lavender, although it doesn't smell to strongly of lavender I'm just hoping that once it hits the water it docent explode with a lavender smell, but I have a feeling that the water is going to look amazing with all the colours.

Avobath Bath Ballistic:
Like a reviving, lemongrass spa bath, complete with an avocado and olive oil massage - almost.

This is also one I have used before, this one is available at LUSH all year round and great for any day, so fresh and relaxing.

Snowman Bath Ballistic:
Let this big softy moisturise and nourish you with creamy cocoa butter.

The lady in the store said that after using this little guy your skin will feel amazing because of the cocoa butter in it. I am a big fan of cocoa butter so I have a feeling I'm going to love this one.

Bombardino Bath Ballistic:
A softening lemon cheesecake scented bomb, for pure Alpine indulgence. 

This was by far the best smelling one, I was going to buy it regardless of it being in the box or not, it smells so amazing, it has a really creamy scent and it is apparently based on a european christmas drink. If this is true I want to try the drink!

Think Pink Bath Ballistic:
Bathe in sweet, fragrant pinkness with an explosion of confetti hearts.

And this is the last one in the box, I'm pretty sure this is another one you can get all year round in LUSH, it smells really sweet which I love, and judging by its colour the bath is going to be pretty amazing!

Well that is all from me today, I hope you have enjoyed this post.
Have a wonderful Christmas with friends and family :)

x.

My Welcoming.

Greetings All,

This is my welcome post to this wonderful site and to you wonderful people.

I'm going to apologise in advance as I was terrible at english in school so my spelling and puncuation will probably be quite dreadful but I am going to give it a go.

My name is Rhianna and I am a 21yr old from Australia.

I am currently working in the hospitality industry so I tend to have a lot of free time during the day and I have been trying to find something that could keep me occupied throughout the day, thats where I came up with the bright idea of creating this Blog.. 

Hopefully it's a great idea! :)

I am a qualified Photographer but as of late I have not done much with it, but I'm hoping that having this blog will draw it out of me. I love the idea of a blog, it gives you the opportunity to be able to document your life through images and writing while creating something others can experience as well.

On my 19th Birthday I decided that I would do the 365 day challenge on Instagram, all I could and would post was 1 photo a day for a whole year. I did it a little different to the normal challenge, where I got the idea off a Skateboarder that goes by the name of Steve Berra, where the photo was a portrait of himself with different people or things as the background. 

The 1st photo on my 19th Birthday.

It took me a couple of weeks to get used to doing it (I would forget to do it and then realise just before I fell asleep.) But once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed doing it everyday, I was always trying to find something or someone new and exciting to be in the background, it challenged me to get creative and to try different shots. When the challenge was coming to an end I was trying to think of something new I could do for the next 12 months after this little project finished, I was actually pretty sad when it was over, I didn't know what to do with myself, it felt weird posting normal photos in Instagram rather then the 'selfie' which I had been posting everyday for the last year. 

and the last photo I took for the challenge..

I have been trying to find something to do which would document my life and certain days and events that were important/special to me as well as those random thoughts you get in moments of pure boredom that you just want to speak about to see if others ever think the same thought or weather you are just crazy.. and I think this could be the place. 

I all hope you have a wonderful day, I look forward to whats going to happen next.

We should do this again sometime. 

xo.