Design a life you love – vision board

In my last post I talked about saying yes to things that I really want to do, but have usually held back in the past. Well I recently came across an online workshop called Design the Life You Love. It has been created by Adelma Lilliston, a wellness and life strategy coach, and the aim is to discover what you really want in life. You can learn more about it on her website Joy & Brussels Sprouts.

This seemed like a wonderful opportunity, however my first thought was no, it’s too far out of my comfort zone. But we can't have that sort of thinking now can we? So I gave myself a bit of a metaphorical kick up the backside and signed up.

The workshops start on Wednesday, and to prepare for the first workshop we have been asked to create a vision board by flicking through magazines and selecting pictures that jump out at us.

Last Sunday I sat down with a bunch of old magazines, some scissors and a glue stick and set about to create my vision board.

Here is what I came up with:

I notice a bit of a country theme going on, with lots of greenery. Do I secretly want to move to the country perhaps? There's also a cute doggie, horses, children, chickens and stationery (wait...how did that get in there?).

It’s also been really great looking at others vision boards on the Facebook group page and I am really looking forward to the first session tomorrow night.

I’ll keep you posted on the workshops and how I find them!

Livalini x

Just Say Yes – a post about anxiety & conquering my fears

My whole life I have been a bit of a scaredy cat. I have never done anything out of my comfort zone and I have been too afraid to try anything new.

In February 2012 I had a panic attack. It wasn’t my first, but it was definitely the worst thing I have ever experienced. I still don’t feel comfortable going into the details at this stage, perhaps one day I will have a post dedicated to my anxiety and panic attacks, but you need to know some background. 

Today, I feel anxious often, but I use a variety of methods to keep panic attacks from re-occurring including cognitive therapy, controlled breathing and not doing anything out of my comfort zone. I have had a couple of panic attacks since, but nothing I haven’t been able to control.

I have missed out on so many experiences in my life so far, because I have been to scared to give them a go. It started from a very young age and is continuing today.

For example, I didn't get my ears pierced because I was scared of the pain, I didn't participate in sports days because I was afraid of failing and looking silly, I didn't go on a single show ride as a child/teenager because I was too scared, I could never put myself out there with other people because I was afraid they wouldn’t like me.

This is just a snippet of experiences I missed out on as a child because of my fears.  And I haven’t even mentioned all my other fears such as spiders, public speaking, ghosts and the dark.

Let me just get this straight before we go any further. I don’t want this to be a self-pitying blog post. So on to the fun bit.

Mark and I on the Ferris Wheel at the Show in September this year.

A month ago I decided to start conquering my fears. And no I’m not about to go hold a spider in a dark room. I’m talking about things that I have always wanted to do, but have been held back by fear.

So I have started keeping a Conquering my Fears Journal and I hope to share many of these with you as I do them! In the back is a list of challenges. It looks like this:

Just Say Yes Challenge

• Public speaking
• Going on a show ride
• Getting my ears pierced
• Flying (haven’t been on a plane since my panic attack)
• Getting a tattoo
• Going to Ikea (that is where my major panic attack happened)
• Getting my Drivers Licence
• More driving lessons
• Going to the dentist
• Getting a pap smear test (sorry if that’s too much info)
• Go to see a Kinesiologist
• Have my fortune told
• Go horse riding
• Go to Fiji next year
• Go skydiving in NZ when we go in 2015

In the front of my journal I write the challenges I have completed and draw a little picture to go with them.

I have already completed a few and I will share one of these with you each week and hopefully some new ones as I complete them. The list will be constantly updated, as experiences come up in my life that I would usually turn down, because the goal is now to say yes.

Just. Say. Yes.

Livalini x

September Favourites

I know this is a little late and we are now well into October but I thought I would share with you a few of my September favourites. This would have been posted earlier but as my first post, I wanted it to be perfect! So if it's not, be gentle with me...

1. Gluten Free Muesli by Food for Health

I have been absolutely loving this muesli. So tasty on its own and great with a chopped banana. It’s low in calories, really delicious and doesn’t require any added sweetener. It’s a little pricy at around $8 but you get 8-10 bowls out of the box so personally, I think that’s great value.

2. Banana, Peanut butter & Carob Powder Smoothies

I make these in my Thermomix as a bit of a weekend treat breakfast. I would take this over bacon & eggs any day. I don’t really follow a recipe, but here is what I usually put in:

1 Banana

1 heaped teaspoon of natural Peanut Butter

1 heaped teaspoon of carob powder

1 handful of ice cubes

140 ml milk 

Then I blend it for 1 minute on speed 8 in the Thermomix.

I got the carob powder from The Royal Adelaide Show, the brand is The Australian Carob Co. and it is really delicious.

3. Kosmea products

I have raved about Kosmea products in my skincare routine post and I am going to post a detailed review soon, but these are definitely on my favourite products list this month.

I purchased 3 products:

Kosmea Apple of my Eye Cream

Kosmea Radiance 24/7 Youth Boost

Kosmea Eighth Natural Wonder Revitalising Facial Serum

And I love all of them!

I am not sure if there is a specific product that is making my skin look youthful and soft and supple or if it is a combination of all 3. I don’t really mind either, as I will keep using all of these products for a long time!

I also hope to try some more of their products when I run out of other things (I have to stop buying new products when I still have other ones). They are also really affordable.

They also have a day spa in Adelaide that I really want to go visit now! Christmas present idea perhaps...?

4. Table of Plenty Mini Rice Cakes - Triple Berry Yoghurt flavour

These are so amazingly delicious and also low in calories, but that is just a bonus. They are a great sweet treat for work. They help me stay away from the charity chocolate bars! Not sure if they are available in all supermarkets, I get mine from Woolworths.

5. Our new sofa from Freedom Furniture - Brooklyn 3 Seater Sofa

We ordered our sofa such a long time ago and it finally arrived! So exciting! I love it so much more than I thought I would.

I got the idea for a brown leather sofa from New Girl. If anyone is looking for a really comfortable brown leather sofa with a bit of a retro feel, then look no further! It is also really big and I feel like it would easily seat 4.

The lighting in our house is really crappy so I only have this photo for you. It comes out a lot darker than this too, I definitely recommend looking at the display model in store before you buy it.

6. My new bankcard has a sheep on it. Just sayin’.

7. The Parents Room at Westfield.

Ok so that sounds creepy as I don’t have any children but I recently went to my local Westfield Shopping Centre with my friend & her newborn baby and the parents room was like a fabulous sanctuary in amongst all the crazy. Besides the smell of diapers and the occasional baby crying, it was so peaceful in there and got me thinking it would be a great place to go if you were having a panic attack and needed to escape the mayhem. As long as there were no screaming toddlers...

8. My friends new baby boy Bane.

He is so adorable and he’s got such a little old man face. I just love him!

9. Organising a baby shower.

No it’s not mine, don’t panic. My partner’s brother’s wife Tina is expecting a little baby and she asked me to help with the organising of the shower. I am so excited for this; it’s going to be epic. My role is organising the decorations and the theme is circus. By the way, I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl yet :)

10. Zoella and Sprinkle of Glitter

These 2 British girlies have fabulous blogs and YouTube channels. They are a mix of lifestyle, baby, thoughts, fashion & beauty. I am addicted to watching their videos; they are so sweet and so funny to watch. Go check them out now! Here is the link to their blogs (which have links to YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc.)

Sprinkle of Glitter

Zoella

So there you have it, first blog post for Livalini. Hopefully someone besides my mum is reading this.


Livalini x