Health Kick

It's rare that I ever do posts like these, but as I sit here in the garden in my delerious state (hay fever drugs are knocking me out!). I thought I'd do a little post on my current health kick (not that it will last for long). So a couple of months ago my good friend Georgie pointed me in the direction of Herbalife, she advised me to get these shakes that count as a healthy meal and then multivitamins and fibre tables to go alongside them. I'm usually quite skeptical about things like this, but I'd already seen that they'd worked for her (although she has more disapline than I!!). After doing the shakes twice a day for a week I was DONE! I was hungry, tired and craved pasta every second! But since I've been home and away from Uni, no more work and deadlines, I can relax! With my past month or so consisting of the gym quite regularly, I thought I'd try and start up on my shakes again and see how far I can get! My aim is to do it for about a month as best I can, but I'm still going to live alongside it, not be too overly strict with it! So I'm on day 3 and I'm feeling okay! A little bit light headed (but I think that's from all the hay fever drugs). I'm a bit if a foodie, so I have decided to put in place some rules in place so that I can have something to eat other than just dinner! 

So instead of just having the shake alone with milk, my friend Gwyn (soon to be a fellow blogger!) have me a tip that blending the powder with half a banana made it taste so much better. So I did and it really was! Plus it meant I was getting more goodness into my system too. It does require that you use semi skimmed milk, however milk and I don't agree, so I opt for either soya, almond or hazelnut milk instead! I blended it all together and VOILÀ! Breakfast was served! I do this same process again for lunch and allow myself to have nuts and fruit as snacks if I get a little bit peckish! 

In this process I have also discovered the most delicious thing! APPLE AND PEAR GREEN TEA! Tea is always a must for me, with all my relatives being northern, putting the kettle on for a cuppa is just second nature! Unfortunately I'm trying not to drink as much, as it's very easy to live off tea to fill me up as a snack! Instead I found the perfect alternative! Green tea on its own can sometimes become a little bit of a bore, bland and green! But this apple and pear tea actually holds quite a bit of taste, as well as filling the little gap in my tummy! 

As I experimented with bananas yesterday, today I switched it up again and went for strawberries and used my almond milk instead of the hazelnut, as it's sweeter and would compliment the strawberries more! Again it was pretty yummy, and I'll be doing my second one for lunch very soon! 

Now, when it comes to dinner I am a little bit like the crazy squirrel from 'over the hedge', "CAN WE CALL IT STEVE!" Yeah, I, sure you know the one! I'm moody as hell and want my food as fast as possible! As I said at the beginning, I don't want to limit my summer to nice dinners out and BBQS all because of a health kick! After all, it's not something I want to live by forever!! So on my first night My dad made the silly mistake of letting me man the BBQ! Although it was yummy, it was a funny ordel to watch and panda eyes were to the extreme while I was eating my dinner! Nevertheless I had BBQ meat and salad with bits of French bread and it was beaut! I got to sit on my favourite patch of the garden and just chill...letting the stress if the world fade away! 

After we ate my Pappi lit out little outside fire and I snuggled up in my chair with my duvet putting the worlds to right with some long arse chat! He enjoys a good rant just like I do! :) as much as I wish that my glass was filled with wine, unfortunately it was Elderflower Pressé, just as yummy but not as happy! 

That's my post for the day! I better get on and make my lunch shake! I can feel the squirrel I'm me rising! Enjoy this beautiful Friday! :)

"Healthy Body, Healthy & Happy Mind"

O x

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Bag a Bargain

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am having a massive clear out of my wardrobe. Although I will be heading to a local bootfair with the REAL bargains, the most decent stuff I am selling online on the app Depop (user: @livymonts). I wanted you loyal readers to keep updated on what's being out up. So if you haven't already either have a look and message/comment about the items you like on here, or head over to depop and add me to be the first to see everything :) 

Keep having a noses on here, twitter and instagram as well as depop if you fancy it! Believe me it's lethal! You will get addicted! 

Happy shopping, and Happy Thursday!! 

O x

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The Art of Doing Nothing

After the mad rush of deadlines it actually feels so surreal to just be sitting in my garden at home, having a BBQ, blogging, and not feeling guilty for doing so! If you know me, then you will know this already. I admit I am a bit of a busy body! I like to keep myself occupied on my day to day, buzzing from one place to the other. Im pretty sure that when I'm at University I rarely have a spare hour to myself, always popping from lectures to dance, to see friends and fitting in blog posts and eating out  in between, not to mention SHOPPING, always always shopping :). 

So being home for the past 2 days has just been bliss! After my hectic week of Dance Class, Last Ocean, Trent Dance Awards, FINLLY my Deadline date and enjoying the last day of term with 'Trentival', before making my way to Manchester on Saturday morning and heading straight to Parklife Festival (soon to be blogged about) for the weekend, Then back to Nottingham to pack up my room and move home (not to mention going back again the day after because it needed 3 trips!). Having had a day and a half at home to just DO NOTHING! Has been utter bliss, and I'm sure you'll agree. Probably made you feel a bit tired just reading all of that. Oh and did I mention thats what my life is like ALL THE TIME!

"Relax. Let every moment be what is going to be. What's meant to be will come your way, what's not will fall away." 

-- Mandy Hale

Obviously me being the little Dora I am couldn't quite sit still for the whole day! Of course I sorted out all my clothes to chuck, sell online and take to a boot fair, AND blog about it :) However, in comparison to the norm thats NOTHING! At mid-day today I was itching to making some plans and just head out, but I pursued my itch and stayed in chilling and uploading my never needing pile to Depop while occasionally chatting to my Dad as he did the Gardening. 

I didn't realise just quite now much of a busy bee I was until I sat still for 5 minutes and instantly wanted to be doing something! I'll admit I did make a plan for next week, BUT THATS A WEEK AWAY! I have left the rest of this one entirely free to just relax and go with the flow (not that I'll get anyone asking me to do anything, so really it will be a half week of blogging, clothes selling and watching my 3 favourite programmes!). Tell you what though, its a good job Made In Chelsea is on and THE RETURN OF NEW GIRL, and second season of Orange Is The New Black. It means that I am set to just relax in front of the TV if all else fails. Which is unlikely considering I wrote an A4 page list of everything I could think of that I need to do over Summer, so I'll always have something, even if it is only little, to do!

Someone once told me that I dont have an off button, well I think now I've finally found that I can. Its just like one of those really stiff buttons that take a good while to push down :)  

"You're only human. You don't have to have it together every minute of every day" 

-- Anne Hathaway

O x

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Blogger Sale

Its that time of year again...exams and deadlines are over, we have partied hard all year and now it's time to relax! BUT before we can do that we have the horrible trauma of moving out :( You got to University at the start of the year with just one car full of stuff, then on the way back you manage to fit all your stuff in 3 JOURNEYS! (Ridiculous I know!!). finally after 3 trips to Nottingham and back (which takes 3 hours each way!) I am home sweet home! However, you may think the nightmare stops there...oh no! Then we realize there is no way in HELL all those things are going to fit into your room back home! So here we are, year after year having MASSIVE sort outs of clothes! I've been unpacking all day and being really tough on myself on what I really don't need anymore :( As sad as it is to chuck some of these lovely items away, it has to be done! I know I usually hold my bloggers sale on here, but I thought it might be an idea to have a go at this new Depop App, which I'm sure once I've got the hang of, I'll be buying lots more clothes! I haven't had time today to upload all of them, but I've made a start and I wanted you guys to be the first to know! So take a look, and if they take your fancy either buy them off me on depop: user = @livymonts. Or message me/comment with the item you would like and I can tell you the price of the item and take it from there :) keep your eyes peeled for more posts I will be uploading on here and instagram (and on depop of course) of the rest of the pile to be uploaded! 

This is the rest of the pile that needs to be uploaded!!!! 

I will also be taking this suitcase full of other clothes to a boot fair in Kent very soon too, so if you are around that area and you would like to nab a few bargains I will post it up on here and you can come along! :) would be lovely to meet some of you too!!

Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for more! 

O x

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Enjoy it because its happening

As you all loved her last guest post, I kindly asked Jennie Leighton if she would mind me spreading her intellectual words on my blog again! The author of Bitches, Bitches, Bitches has written yet another moving piece on University and enjoying the life you live. 

"'Leaning his back against the bench, Hector began to relax. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was somewhere else. Anywhere but here, honestly. And when that failed, he opened his eyes and decided to just enjoy the view from where he sat currently. For now, he enjoyed it.'

I came across this quote while once again browsing the archives of tumblr. It struck a chord. I'm not sure who originally wrote it, but I'd like to give them a hand shake because it got me thinking, and thinking is a good thing. I also know that it's a sentiment that would benefit us all to remember. 

All too often we forget to be still and just appreciate where we are, and what we have, right now. Not what we had last week, or what we want to have next week, but what we have now. What's in front of us now. Where we are now. Who's with us now.

I gave in my final assignments for my degree on Monday 12th May 2014. Two days ago. Already the pressure is on to move on to the next stages of my life. Find a career, a place, a life, of my own. My university life is officially over. It's gone and it's not coming back. And while this fills me, and I'm sure many others too, with excitement at what is to come, the bittersweet taste creeps in with a simultaneous pang of sadness. This sadness covers many small things, that I know will be brushed under the carpet of 'nostalgia', put in the box of 'times gone by'. But part of my sadness is because, with the knowledge of it being 'gone', I come to realise that I didn't appreciate every moment of it fully. I know this is normal, and that lessens the sadness considerably, but still, it is there. 

The age old dichotomy of 'the journey vs the destination'. The constant battle of knowing you should enjoy what you have, while concurrently feeling the need for 'more'. At every phase of life it seems we begin daydreaming about the next. When we are children, we will life as a teenager to come sooner. When the label of 'teenager' encompasses us, we can't wait to be adults. While at school, we are eager to begin university. And while at university we can't wait to graduate, all the time under the impression that our degree is currency for the 'next stage'. I can't help but wonder how long it will take for us to will for the next phase - marriage and children - upon having reached the 'career' stage. 3 years of my life has flown by in an instant. A blurred reality. I wish I'd known how quickly it would be over. The umpteen 'appreciate it because it will be over soon' comments, still didn't prepare me for just how soon that would really happen.

It seems there is a continuous desire to move on to the next chapter. We wade through the seeming monotony of everyday life, to somehow reach this 'next chapter'. We view the days as mundane and boring, while constantly fantasising about some golden future that we haven't yet reached. Rather than enjoying and appreciating what we have, for what it is, while we have it, we spend our time musing about something that hasn't even happened yet. 

Don't confuse what I'm saying here for mere acceptance of something, when you could have something 'better'. Being driven, being hard working, and striving for more from your life, are all important for feeling fulfilled. But not as important as truly appreciating the garden that's already around you, while waiting for the new seeds to bloom. If you're constantly living in the future how is it possible to be in the present? If you're always waiting for something that hasn't happened yet, how is it possible to enjoy what you're doing now? While putting some unbeknown future on a pedestal, you are loosing the significance of now. While worrying about what could happen, what is happening is being squandered. 

We wonder why we can feel unhappy? I think the answer is startlingly clear. 

It all sounds so cliché. Don't dismiss the clichés. They're important.

Concentrate on what you do have and you'll end up having more. Concentrate on what you don't have, and you'll realise you'll never ever have enough. Dwell on the beauty of life. Take in everything. Don't dismiss the warmth of a hand hold. Don't dismiss the importance of laughter. Don't dismiss the feel of sunshine on your skin. Don't dismiss the smell of flowers. Appreciate learning. Appreciate friends. Appreciate family. Appreciate everything, as you have it. Don't dismiss anything. There is always something to appreciate, something to marvel at, something to be grateful for. Take the time to breathe and take things in as they're happening. Forget yesterday as it has already forgotten you, and don't worry about the tomorrow's that you haven't encountered yet. Just take in the today's that you have. And as the quote that started this post so rightly said: open your eyes and enjoy the view from where you're currently sat. Make a conscious effort to do so.

Enjoy it because it's happening."

Written by Jennie Rose Leighton, blogger at jennieinabox

I hope you all enjoyed this insightful piece of writing as much as I did! Its a message I feel is applicable to everything in life, no matter how big or small, young or old, successful or not. Be happy in what we do and what we have, because you only have one life - live it well.

O x

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What She Wore: Coordinate Me

Following on from Saturday's purchases, I gave one of my new matchy matchy outfits a spin on Monday. While going for cocktails (aways having cocktails) and a catch up with my friend Georgie I decided to take my polkadot co-ord out for its premier! 

My outfit consisted of:

Jacket: Topshop

Lipstick: Topshop 'All About Me' 

Matching Co-ords: Urban Outfitters

Watch: Fossil

Bag: Topshop

Boots: Topshop

O x

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Cocktail Making

So, like I mentioned in my post yesterday, last week Trent Dance got to have a go at making some of their very own cocktails! It's safe to say that it was a very fun night and I don't think many of us remember exactly the name of all the drinks we were trying.

I don't know why exactly, but the mention of the word: Cocktails to a female gets us all very excited! It springs to mind dressing up, girly chats, dancing, fruit (which we then presume MUST be healthy) and most of all FUN FUN FUN! I think everyone who attended can vouch that if nothing else they definitely came away having had a lot of fun!
I would certainly reccomend cocktail making for any event. Whether its getting to know each other, a party, a celebration or just a girls night. Its a ton of fun and a great ICE BREAKER (excuse the pun).
We were able to use the upstairs of 'Fat Cat' in Nottingham and we were the only ones up there. While there, we were taught exactly how to make the cocktails we wanted to!
The ice was flying the straws were falling and the spirits were in full flow! Jade our president played the main role in shaking, mixing and making. Making sure that each cocktail was tailored to our individual taste bud needs!

While in the process of making all these intricate cocktails, my 2 friends Sophie and Katie realised that in reality, we probably were never going to be able to afford all these ingredience, so they opted for making a student cocktail, one that wasn't too cheap but still tasted half decent (well better than a vodka soda anyway!). So here it is...
The Student Cocktail

Gin

Edlerflower

Tonic Water 

Ice

Add mint or cucumber to make it 'The British Garden' 

If you're a sweet tooth like me replace the tonic water with lemonade! BEAUT :)

Esme making layered shots which were called 'Jellyfish Shots' 

She also taught us all how shots are MEANT to be taken...Its a revelation, apparently we aren't meant to just tip out head back and let the alcohol fall where it may. Apparently you're meant to shove it all in your mouth and nearly swallow the glass! Give it a try if you intoxicated enough!
IT DOESNT EVEN REQUIRE HANDS!

I made a cocktail called Lollypop (not quite sure what was in it to be honest, but it was very nice!)

Other cocktails I enjoyed were: Vanilla cocktail, Banana Milkshake, Peach Mohito, Passoa Cocktail (sorry I can't be more specific, there were lots of cocktails being shared around!).

I'm not sure if any of these however will take over my obsessive love for the Toblerone Cocktail that I always crave from CoCo Tang! Seriously, if you live in Nottingham, or are every here to visit you MUST try this cocktail! You will just think you're having a chocolate milkshake with a hint of baileys! Its amazing, not to mention the fact that you get 2 bits of Toblerone on the side of each one. So much better than getting a strawberry or pineapple!

O x

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