Since it is currently the school holidays in Sydney, I have quite a bit of extra time on my hands so I thought I would plan out some meals that were fairly healthy and could be eaten quickly with little to no preparation. For this week I made 10 full meals, side meals and snacks.
Coconut Quinoa
Vermicelli Noodle Salad
Ingredients - Vermicelli noodles cooked in veggie stock, spiralised cucumber, carrots, spring onions, mint, coriander, 'Thai flavoured' tofu, satay sauce and sesame seeds
Lastly for snacks or side dishes I roasted some sweet potato and pumpkin and also cut up some rockmelon that needed to be cut up
For my breakfasts I have a fruit smoothie with coconut water and apple juice which I also add chia seeds which are full of omega 3, antioxidants, fibre and protein, flaxseed which contains omega 3 and fibre and 'Vital Greens' powder which contains over 70 vitamins and nutrients which you can read about here. If I'm still hungry after the smoothie I will usually make toast with avocado and tomato or just plain vegemite toast.
This meal prep has helped me to ensure that I always have a filling, delicious and fairly healthy meal on hand which are chock full of veggies!
I'm definitely no expert at learning languages, however I am currently trying to learn German and have found some useful tips and tricks that might help people in similar situations.
DuoLingo
If you can find the language you are learning on DuoLingo get it! I have found it so helpful to learn beginners and conversational language. It also helps you learn the different tenses for words etc.
DuoLingo has platforms online and in app form which makes it really handy to learn on the go.
It also great features like it's immersion section where you can read articles and correct them and the discussion section where you can go if you have any problems and discuss with other users.
Although this may seem silly because I'm obviously not a child anymore I am essentially learning in a similar way that I was taught how to speak English as a child. When we were younger we didn't begin by reading massive long chapter books so why should it be any different when learning other languages.
This website has a good list of German children's books but you can always just look them up online.
Music
This one doesn't necessarily help me learn German but it definitely helps you learn how words sounds and the way that the language is spoken. I love finding new artists I really enjoy but it also makes me feel closer in a sense to the language and culture of the country.
I made a Spotify playlist for German music when I first started listening to it and continually add new music to it as I find it. (Also I promise it's not all Cro but he is awesome)
Also if you want to understand what the song is saying/means usually you can find lyric translators online.
The first German song I listened to
Practice with People
This one seems pretty obvious but not everyone does it! I'm lucky enough that one of my best friends is also learning German at the moment as her family is German and we try to practice and help each other and she practices with her mum and Oma at home.
If you don't know anyone personally who speaks the language you are learning you can hire a language tutor or for a less expensive option find a pen pal online and email/message/write to each other. At the same time you may be able to help them learn English and learn more about their culture.
Immersion
I find immersion to be the best way to learn more about a country, culture or language. Whether it's listening to the country's music, watching a foreign movie with the subtitles on, reading books or news articles or just having 'no English speaking days' where you only speak only that language for the day (only if you're with a person who speaks/is learning that language).
You really just have to practice, I wish that it was easy enough to learn in a few weeks but it takes time, patience and practice to commit to learning a new language, I definitely believe that it pays off in the end though. There are so many languages that I want to learn but unfortunately I need to get a bit better at German before I take on any more languages!
I hope this helps a little bit and gave you some new ideas about how to learn a language or inspired you to start learning a new language because I absolutely love it!
Fashion Week 2016 has been going on for a while now around the world and I believe the men's shows are still going on at the moment. I've loved catching up on all the shows and watching my favourite bloggers and celebrities to see what everyone has been wearing.
I've seen a few trends that really stood out to me in some of the shows as well as in the street fashion.
(All photos are from Google and Tumblr)
Tweed:
Particularly popular in the Chanel show at Paris Fashion Week
"Ballerina" Style:
The use of tulle and baby pink/nude colours, also light flowy a-line skirts particularly popular in the Valentino and Marchesa shows at Paris and New York Fashion Week
Mixing/Bold Patterns:
This isn't necessarily a new trend but I've seen it particularly in the street wear this year, people have been going all out with mixing different fabrics that wouldn't usually go together
Flares:
People have really been moving on from the straight/skinny style of pants and are going back to the big 70's flares, I saw this trend particularly show in the street style
My favourite show during fashion week was probably the Valentino show during Paris Fashion Week everything was so beautiful! I hope you have enjoyed this quick, little post about the some of my favourite trends during 2016 Fashion Week!
Love Morgan
Let me know what your favourite trends during Fashion Week were by getting in touch with me!
Find Me:
Hope you are all well, as for me not so much. On Wednesday I was out on a school excursion at the beach and I could feel myself coming down with a cold, my head was pounding and my throat was all scratchy and hoarse. Anyway, by Wednesday night it had turned into a full on cold and my head was aching and every part of me was blocked, I couldn't hear or breathe. It was a disaster.
What was even more of a disaster was that I still had another test on the next day (I had 4 or 5 tests and assignments this past week) so I couldn't take the day off. Basically on Thursday afternoon I went home early and I haven't left bed since.
Today I decided I wanted to do something nice for myself to make myself feel a little better so I had a bit of a pamper day and this is what I did. Enjoy!
I started off by cleaning my face and then put on my face mask from Soap and Glory called 'The Fab Pore'. I left this on for about 30 minutes which is about 15 minutes longer than they recommend but my face didn't burn off so that's a plus... :/
I then went on to run myself a bath hoping that the steam and hot water would unblock my stuffy head. I used a 'Father Christmas' bath bomb from Lush (yes I do know it's not Christmas).
I washed my hair using three of my current favourites which will probably seem really odd as they're just normal, everyday products. I begun using these products a few weeks after I got my hair bleached and it got really damaged. I've been trying to get my hair back to normal and these products have definitely made a huge difference and have made my hair a lot softer and helped keep the blonde from going brassy and orange.
Pantene Pro-V Ultimate 10 Shampoo - $7.89
Pantene Pro-V Colour Therapy Conditioner - $10.99
John Frieda Sheer Blonde Tone Correcting Conditioner- $17.99
A bit later on I lit a bunch of candles and made myself a cup of tea, usually I'll mix two teabags one green tea and one peppermint and sometimes (like today) I'll also add a little bit of agave nectar to sweeten it.
The rest of my day consisted of drinking TONNES of water, napping on and off, moisturising my face (a weird habit I have when I'm in bed all day) and watching Netflix (I finished off the new 'Fuller House' series) and Casey Neistat vlogs on Youtube.
Also currently listening to 'Obsessive' by Chase Atlantic who I've been following since the ClintonCaveMusic days check them out on YouTube.
I hope that this little post has inspired you to have a pamper day/evening if your own!
With the Oscars coming up on Sunday I thought it would be fun to put together some outfits for two of Hollywood's finest.
Eddie Redmayne was last years winner for best actor for his role in The Theory of Everything and has been nominated again this year for The Danish Girl. What I love about Eddie's red carpet style is that although he has certainly gone with the plain black suit and tie before he also isn't afraid to mix it up with crazy colours and cool textiles. My personal favourite red carpet outfit of his to date is from the 2012 World Premiere of Les Miserables where he wore this beautiful green, velvet Burberry suit which photographed incredibly.
For this years Oscars I would love to see Eddie in something crazy but cool. This years Gucci pre-collection has been described as very feminine which I think would be a really cool tie in to the role he has been nominated for. I would love if Eddie wore something like one of these suits by Gucci with the crazy pattern and colour mixing as well as the more "feminine" patterns.
Paired with these black Versus Versace black 'Desert' boots which can be bought here.
And some Tommy John undergarments to make sure for no red carpet wardrobe malfunctions. After all, no star wants to be remembered for a wardrobe malfunction (like adjusting themselves in the background of a photo) on their big night. Check out their men's underwear here.
To make sure this doesn't have to happen ;)
I adore Emma Stone and she has never been afraid to play with bold colours or with showing a little skin, usually either with a plunging neckline or a high split but she still knows how to keep it classy and elegant which I love. Emma has also been known in the past to play with vintage styles and cool architectural details. I really loved what she wore to the 2014 Met Gala with her beautiful custom made two piece, colour-blocked ensemble by Thakoon.
For the forthcoming Oscars I would love to see Emma in an outfit like this with this beautiful Valentino beige, beaded and feathered embroidered gown. I agree this gown is certainly outrageous but I think that if you're ever going to go outrageous the Oscars is the place to do it. This gown is elegant and interesting with an ode to the vintage style that Emma loves. This gown does have a hefty price tag if you're interested you can get it here.
Pair with a pair of simple Stuart Weitzman Nudist 110mm sandals in 'Adobe Aniline' which can be bought here.
I'm so excited to see what everyone wears on Sunday to the big night and I'll especially be keeping a look out for Eddie and Emma if they make appearances. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for one of my favourite films about one of my favourite people 'Amy' to win for Feature Documentary!
Love Morgan xx
Let me know what you want to see your favourite celebs wearing on Sunday by getting in touch with me on social media:
A few weeks ago I was in the mood for making some stuff and it ended up in this post. I've been tossing up since whether or not to post it but in the end it's something I'm proud of and even if no-one sees this post I know I'm happy.
Anyway, that didn't make sense, all of these 'mood boards' were made and created by me from things that I've collected from magazines or craft stores etc. Enjoy!
