Hello Wednesday at Hello Duffymoon

Hello Wednesday at Hello Duffymoon

So, I scrambled around on all fours, disconnecting and reconnecting wires for a week and eventually things just came right. I know it sounds super silly but I consulted with some smarty pants and they couldn’t tell me what was wrong so I just went ahead and hoped that it would fix itself…and TADA! Fixed! When in doubt, disconnect and reconnect the wires a bunch of times.

This last week has been a fairly busy one for me, so the internet downtime was well timed actually, no energy to waste pinning till the early hours. Apart from being fairly busy at work – I have been cooking quite a bit too. My darling and I have been trying to stick to our healthy eating so it has mainly been roast veggies, salads and an assortment of grilled meats, but nothing gets you inspired to mix things up like using a combination of the same ingredients over and over again, it is amazing how different cooking methods change the flavour of even the most simple ingredients !

On Saturday night we let our healthy eating loose a little and had our friends Deane and Rosie over for dinner and a movie. We make steak and leafless salad for our mains and ended off with triple chocolate brownies and whipped cream in front of the tv.  I will be posting the best brownie recipe on earth  (ever) later this week! 

Just a quick check in now that I am back on-the-line 

Duffymoon

xxx

Leggings as Pants (& that good 'ol body image thing)

Good day!

I skipped out on posting yesterday, because to be brutally honest, as soon as I got home, i pulled on my leggings and I fell atop my fresh, clean, white linen and proceeded to doze off for about 2 hours, I was ridiculously tired for a monday evening. I woke up half way through my nap, slightly flustered with the lesser spotted ginger feline curled up close to my heart, so I allowed myself to drift off again. It is amazing how soothing a little warm, purring fluffball can be to a half asleep human.

Anyway, yesterday was the first day of super healthy eating. After a weekend filled with naughty foods and lazing about, come Sunday evening D and I were both feeling awfully lethargic and all round gross, emphasis on round. We made an extremely hasty agreement to be reasonably healthy for the next 10 weeks. By the time summer holidays come, you bet your ass you'll be seeing us frolicking in the waves at the beach.

All this diet/health/food stuff has got me googling and pinning "perfect bodies" and in turn - got me thinking about body image. When I get on a health kick, I immediately go onto Pinterest and totally wreck my self confidence and kill my appetite by pinning and flicking through +- a billion pictures of  gorgeous, perfect ,thin ,tanned and toned individuals. I guilt myself and make myself feel really horrid for not looking just like that or not being super thin or super toned or super tan or whatever particular area I am being rough on myself about that day.

As I am typing this, I know just how silly it sounds and I know that a couple of you may be yawning and a couple of you may have serious feminist views on the subject, I also know that there may be a few of you who are nodding your heads and going "mmhmm", but at the end of the day, I am just being honest here, these are just my feelings. Also, I am not going to stop pinning inspirational bods.

Instead of admiring these beautiful women, setting myself reasonable goals and becoming inspired to be my optimum self...I get depressed and down about the person I am already.

This is not a blog post about not being able to admire beautiful women enjoying the body they have worked for or a blog post about societies view of women, this is simply a blog post about me not allowing myself to love my own body because I haven't quite been able to get my head around the fact that: I am my own kind of perfect. 

So this spins all the way back to leggings as pants. The other day (can't quite remember which day) I hopped out of a steaming hot milk bath and pulled on some black leggings and a white vest (one of those super comfy woolies vests with built in support - I live in them) and I swung around to hang up my towel and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, I became increasingly curious as to what it is about my body that I am so self conscious about and why.

I wouldn't say that I have "body issues" but there are certainly things I am always wanting to change, depending on the day or mood, obviously. So as I stood and looked at myself in the mirror, I decided that there was one thing I DID need to change and that was the way I see myself. My body is my body and I love my body the most when it is working as a well oiled machine. It may not be when I am my thinnest or my most tan or perhaps even my fittest but I love my body the most when I am my healthiest, inside and out.

So instead of standing in front of the mirror and picking myself to pieces, I looked at myself in a different light, a lighter light. Like a real dork, I spoke to myself and said things like: "I am so lucky to have a really lovely hourglass shape" and "I have great, thick, long, glossy hair", from top to bottom I noted all the good things about myself and said them out loud. By the time I finished up I not only felt a kak ton beter about myself, but I was able to look upon improvements to my body as improvements instead of insults.

Guys, I am swinging into 24 on a rope of self confidence and body-love, in 16 days (just throwing that out there)

Your body is a magnificent and magical thing, treat it with care and compassion and spoil it with goodness and good 'ol fashioned health.

So go on, chuck 1 litre of full cream milk and a few tablespoons of honey into your bath, you won't know yourself!

Duffymoon

xxx

Going Bananas with Bananas

Good Evening!

I woke up to the soft pit pat of rain on the iron roof and a full and warm bed. One softly snoring fella and 2 snuggled up cats, curled into perfect circles - forming a nifty little figure of 8. So adorable.Anyway, I managed to haul myself out of bed and as I mentioned on facebook yesterday, I have been scratching through my stacks of recipes trying to find a real cracker to use up my giant bunch of organic bananas. 

Once banana growing season is in full swing (please let me not fool you - I don't know when that actually IS. I am only assuming it is now) I hand out bananas like crazy and I am still left with a reserve. I usually freeze a couple of whole bananas which are perfect for morning smoothies, just chuck em into your blender and bzzzz away. 

The thing about big banana bunches (haha) is that the bananas ripen at different stages, so while you may have a whole lot of green ones (usually at the top), there are a few that are going very brown (usually near the bottom). So basically you have to use them at different times for different things and it gets more complicated than you would imagine bananas can get when you are trying to avoid wasting bananas. I need a banana usage timetable. 

Basically the bananas I wanted to use were the slightly over ripe bananas, so naturally my mind immediately shot to banana bread, a happy classic for all ingredients involved! Now, I don't own a loaf tin, so I opted for some banana muffins, so off we go! 

Below are 2 recipes, 1 for plain and simple banana and pecan muffins and 1 for double chocolate banana muffins. I rummaged around my recipes and found an interesting Nigella recipe, which I used for my base recipe and then I just adjusted a few things (different things for each flavour) and created these 2 of my own.

Be warned, these are not your run of the mill woolies banana muffins. They have a small/moderate amount of sugar as the focus of the flavour is B A N A N A. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a sweet banana muffin, these are just not those muffins. Don't embarrass them and make them feel bad about themselves, just love them for who they are. Don't be that guy.

Banana & Pecan Muffins (12 large muffins)

3 large bananas

125ml organic coconut oil (can be substituted for vegetable oil)

2 large organic eggs 

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

100g organic light brown sugar 

250g self-raising flour 

1 cup of organic roughly chopped pecan nuts 

1) First thing is first! Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Secondly, mash your bananas until they are real mush, you can do this in your freestanding mixer or by hand. I mashed mine by hand. Next add your coconut oil, eggs and vanilla extract and blend until combined. 

2) In a separate bowl mix your cinnamon, sugar, flour and pecan nuts. Slowly mix your dry mixture into your wet mixture. Dollop this mixture into your lined muffin tin and bake for 10 - 15 minutes OR until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins (12 large muffins)

3 large bananas

125ml organic coconut oil (can be substituted for vegetable oil)

2 large organic eggs 

1 tbsp vanilla extract 

100g organic light brown sugar 

225g self-raising flour 

3 tbsp organic cocoa powder

1 cup of dark chocolate chips / roughly chopped chocolate  

1) First preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Secondly, mash your bananas until they are real mush, you can do this in your freestanding mixer or by hand. I mashed mine by hand, again. Next add your coconut oil, eggs and vanilla extract and blend until combined. 

2) In a separate bowl mix your cocoa, sugar, flour and chocolate chips. Slowly mix your dry mixture into your wet mixture. Dollop this mixture into your lined muffin tin and bake for 10 - 15 minutes OR until a toothpick comes out clean. 

It is best to let these cool for a bit before scoffing  or storing them. As for my batches? I have already delivered 2 batches, one lot to my mom and one lot to my sweet fella's mum. What can I say, I like to give my baked goods away. You can substitute the coconut oil for sunflower/vegetable oil, but why not hit up Imbali blends and get your hands on some delicious coconut oil? It is a bajillion (scientific term) times better for you than any other oil and is has super anti-aging and anti-fungal properties as well as a host of other amazing stuff.

Well, I best be off, it is chilly and I have a glass of red in hand and a stew on the go!

Just by the way, all my pics were taken by my darling Darren with his super nerdy windows phone.

Duffymoon

xxx

22 till 24

I know, I know, who still gets this excited about birthdays at the ripe ol' age of 24? The answer is me and all the other cool kids who love balloons, confetti, cake, sparkles, crowns and obvs presents. I should probably also mention that I will continue to be excited about birthdays...forever. I love my birthday, I love other peoples birthdays, I love festivities, I love wrapping presents, I love giving presents and I love receiving presents (obvs).

So, naturally, every year I get as much mileage out of my birthday as possible, pinboards, day dreaming, wishlists, candle buying, deciding on themes, a countdown and I am one step away from a birthday itinerary.

22 sleeps until I am twenty four! I am very excited about my birthday this year, I am not sure why, but everything just feels so magical. The number 24 looks lovely and it feels like the perfect age to be. Perhaps next year I will feel the terror of aging but this year I feel young and fresh and like I have an entire lifetime ahead of me! Yay 24!

I thought I would put down a few of my wishlist items, just for fun - because I love making endless and often quite unrealistic wishlists. Here is a little taste of the kind of things my heart is after.

1- Red Fox Spirithood / 2 - Essie "Where's my Chauffer?" / 3 - Vans Leopard Authentic / 4 - Washi Tape /
5 - Mongolian Fur Cushions / 6 - Dolce & Gabbana "Light Blue" 7 - Kitty Tights  / 8 - Rose gold "J" initial necklace

I love making wishlists and trawling the interwebs for beautiful things, I think I get the loving beautiful things from my mama because she loves beautiful things too, (if I were saying this in real life I would say "That is why she loves me so much" and then say KIDDING, but the tone is lost here so just pretend I didn't even say that okaythanksbye)

It is raining on and off in this precious little town and apparently that isn't going to change until Sunday anyway. Carpe Durban is my usual haunt on a Thursday night but tonight I'll be skipping the drinks and crowded comfort of The Winston and swapping the usual social buzz for a snuggly night in with my hard-working fella, a couple of cold cats and American Horror Story. I like to think that I have toughened up with the scary movies and such but everyone else will most definitely tell you otherwise.

I must be off, the kettle has boiled so it is time for some tea!

Duffymoon

xxx

Hitting Reset

This Monday came with all sorts of promise. Promise of a fresh start to a fresh week minus the weekly anticipation and fear of endless drama

This Monday, however, didn't turn out to be that Monday.

Instead it was like standing on the edge of a diving board on a smoking hot day, ready to plunge headfirst into the coldest mass of water... and then being forced to turn away and go on home. I was so ready for that fresh slap of ice cold water, the freezing but satisfying sting across my skin. I was so ready for my body to slowly slip beneath the still surface and emerge feeling clean and amazing and free.

Not today Jack.

So instead, I am hitting reset. Monday promised and she failed to deliver, but thats okay, I've got the power *sings*

Eugh, embarrassed.

So after a great and super emotional bonding day with my mama at the office, I headed home to change into my running kit and meet my bestie Nicole for a run in Bulwer Park. I say run, we say run, it was more like a mog (mog = mock jog) because we have been B A D, okay we have been busy, but fitness doesn't hold the phone while you mess about with work and such. We ended up doing close to 7km for out first exercise in a while and I am super impressed with us! Tomorrow we go again!

As I type I have a full tray of delicious veggies roasting in the oven and I am sipping on a big ol' cup of tea, counting all my luckies and resetting my Monday. I have an amazing home, old and full of love - 2 gorgeous silky cats and 2 bouncy lovable hounds. An amazing mum, a little bit dippy (but aren't all the good ones?) My hilarious sister, who I would do absolutely anything for. My darling Darren, who despite my occasional exaggeration and slight penchant for trams, totally adores me and also accepts my obsessive love of christmas and pretty things. My wonderful friend Nicole, who is with me through all these really weird ups and downs, girl, we have the most strange friendship, but you are always there and I would not have it any other way. My job. My other family members. My growing garden. My life. So many luckies!

Oh, a simple recipe for delicious roast veg for 1:

1/2 a handful of asparagus
5 or so baby corns
5 or so courgettes
5 or so patty pans
1/2 a handful of baby rosa tomatoes
1/2 a red onion
olive oil
Basil pesto (home made is best, but woolies is your next best option)
chilli flakes
Black pepper

Slice and chop all of your veggies until they are roughly the same size, remember the smaller you cut your veggies the quicker they will cook. I hope you didn't cut your tomatoes, because tomatoes are fruits you silly bean! Chuck your whole rosa tomatoes and veggies into a small roasting tray and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, a tiny sprinkle of chilli flakes and a bit of pepper. I say a small roasting tray because this is a small amount of veggies and you don't want them all spread out on a big try, drying out and getting stuck to the bottom...this happens and it is awful. Roast in the oven at 190 degrees celsius for about 10ish minutes. Obviously your cooking time depends on the size of your veggies.
Remove from the oven, add a generous dollop of basil pesto and swish around. If you want to add an extra element to this you could always add some toasted almonds/pine nuts and a bit of fresh rocket.

Nom nom nom to a small unplanned recipe share!

Time to finish off this Monday night with a hot bath and then to climb into bed. Fresh sheets = a good nights sleep


Duffymoon
xxx

Below my feet

Oh happy day! It is the weekend at last! It truly felt like this week was never going to end, which got me thinking about something my mom has always said to me at sporadic intervals throughout my young life;

"Never wish your days away"

Oh how right she is,  we fool ourselves into believing that we can only live on the weekends, chasing one weekend after the next or the next big event and soon you will find the year is through and you are on to the next year, which you will race through at breakneck speed to get to the very next year.

Hey, you, where are you rushing to?

I'm sitting here on my heavily decorated, extremely high horse, handing out all this wisdom like I am the queen of taking it easy and living every moment - when in actual fact I am the probably the most guilty. I am future girl, thinking so far in the future that I am wondering how I am going to avoid moving to the moon.

We all need to take a little time to do a selection of random NOW things. Flick off your shoes and go outside and stand on the grass, feel the energy from the earth below your feet and revel in it - *personal side note* avoid dog poo and bits of chewed up dog collar and try not to pay too much attention to the dog barking for his soccer ball to be kicked. Don't let the big, overwhelming things stop you from loving the little arbitrary things.

Count your blessings and not in a lame way, in a way that keeps you sane and enjoying little moments of everyday. Take some time to stop and enjoy something right this very second.

I just looked over to the big compartmentalised shelf in my office, it is filled with all the little things I love, rainbow reels of cotton, bright Shwe Shwe fabrics, giant silver bells, colour co-ordinated files, Guru Girl umbrellas, birthday tea, framed greeting cards and about a million other bits and bobs. I have never really thought of it before, but I have always wanted an office like this, bright, organised (in places :P) and full of beautiful things. One blessing counted *tick*

I simply cannot wait to enjoy every moment from now until then, whenever then is, it's not important is it?

Duffymoon
xxx

Oh, and mum, I love you

Could it be that you and me are the lucky ones?

Happy wednesday everyone! Wednesdays are B I G deal 11am meeting days for me!  From thursday to tuesday is all insane preparation for this mid-week meeting, that is either a win or a fail. This weeks meeting was a major win! Yay! Go me!

Over the past few weeks I have been tossing and turning and freaking out about a possible "career move" and today it was all finalised and I can finally share it, which is a weight off my shoulders, because sharing it makes it official and real.

So, as some of you may know, I am a general runaround/packer/stock taker/designer and daughter at Guru Girl. The past 3 years have been the most hectic & amazing growth experience for mom, myself and Guru Girl - juggling a million tasks at once between mom and I and struggling to keep our heads above the water with regards to workload. The very exciting news is that all of this furious paddling beneath the surface and floating with our heads in the clouds is about to pay off!!

As of next week, the Guru Girl family will be expanding! We are on the hunt for an amazing full time co-ordinator & production manager as we speak and yours truly will be moving down to the designers floor in the factory. This means that not only are we taking on a full time member of staff, but I will be solely designing for Guru Girl, without all the other stuffs to distract me. This means that we will be bringing out F O U R brand spanking new ranges a year.

At first I was extremely apprehensive, I am a creature of habit and I am super duper reluctant to make big changes. However not only is this an extremely huge vote of confidence in our gorgeous Guru Girl, I am going to be learning more of the ropes on the design side! I am still scared, but I am also very excited, I want to embrace this change and lap up every drop of knowledge that is going to be offered to me. So, here is to Guru Girl and our new adventures *clinks glass*

Other than all this exciting work news, there is a certain amount of drama in around my life at the moment. The worst thing about drama surrounding you is your inability to do anything about it. I am trying very hard to stay positive and keep my nose clean, but that is not the easiest thing now is it? Especially for a fiery scorpio like myself.

Tonight is going to be all about organising my desk, conceptualising Autumn/Winter 2014, drinking tea and further falling in love with my life.

We can only be hurt if we allow ourselves to be hurt,

Duffymoon
xxx