Things That Make You Go Ooooo (May 2013)

Ok confession time I've been having such a crazy month that I almost forgot to post my favourite links from this month, I think I'm well overdue on some me time! May has been insane for me but I've already got some amazing things coming up in June and July an even BIGGER adventure. Now it's finally starting to feel like Spring I really want to re-organise and spring clean my life so here's a little inspiration for those of you wanting to join me in my mission.

♥ 9 Spring Cleaning Hacks To Make Your Apartment Liveable Again - The Batcave is looking hella crazy at the moment so I really need to start re-organising everything again including the mess that is my laptop!

♥ My 20 Best Productivity Tips

♥ 7 Tips For Busy Bloggers on Finding Time to Blog - Taking note of these at the moment as life is getting in the way of my blogging, it's time to set myself a blogging schedule!

♥ Wishes, Dreams And Flower Crowns: 20 Ways To Celebrate Spring! - I always love Gala's tips as they always contain something kinda different and soul happy so I'll definitely be making time to try a few of these out!

♥ 30 Ways to Improve Your Mood When You're Feeling Down

♥ Candid Thoughts on Changing - This is something that has been on my mind lately to as I've found my tastes changing and evolving, I do belive change is a good thing though even though others mind not feel the same way.

♥ Change is a Friend of Mine: Wisdom For The Mighty Dreamer - Need a big of encouragement then give this a read and read it again!

♥ On Unplugging

♥ Taming the Email Monster - Some great tips here on organising and controlling those crazy emails and keeping that inbox clean.

♥ Late 20s Rut-Busting: Identifying Sneaky Time Wasters - I'm totally guilty of all of these, then I go through periods of insanity and I go though it all over again it's time to make a change!

♥ Ang Lee and the Uncertainty of Success

♥ 5 Ways To Stop Stress Before it Starts - Some great tips here on not letting yourself get too stressed, something which I've been very guilty of lately!

♥ Identity-Based Habits: How To Actually Stick To Your Goals This Year - I must admit I've been pretty good at sticking to things but I'm starting to fall off the wagon so I'm definitely taking note of this.

♥ Five Lessons From The First Year Of Blogging

♥ The Secret Door - If you ever need a quick escape just click on this and it will take you somewhere amazing!

♥ How To Do Less and Live More - One thing I've learnt this month is that I need to say no sometimes so I'm definitely going to be using these tips more.

♥ What I've Learned from Disney Prince Charming

♥ 22 Things Happy People Do Differently - This is so true and I'm making a real concious effort to implement these into my life so they become second nature.

♥ News Is Bad For You - I stopped following the news a while ago and while some people may find that a little ignorant of me my mood shifted dramatically, let's face it the news is mostly depressing so sometimes you just have to distance yourself from it and focus on the more immediately important things in you life.

♥ Miss Represents: Standing Up For Positive Change in the Media

♥ 3 Reasons Not To Be So Hard On Yourself - We all do these from time to time and it really is foolish so stop, life is a journey and success will be yours if you let it in.

Love & Honey

Cate

xoxo

Read, Watch, Wear, Play

May has been one crazy month, I've hardly had time to sit down and relax but I still have some great picks for this month. It's been forever since I read an actual book and I kinda feel bad about it and as much as I love my comics I really want to get my hands on a good book so be sure to comment with recommendations because travel season is coming up which gives me an opportunity for lots of airplane reading time!

Justice League Dark

I honestly have no idea why I've only just started reading this because not only does it feature two of my favourite comic book characters (Constantine and Zatanna) but it focuses on the more supernatural and magical elements of the DC world which I'm totally into. The characters are so intriguing that I just can't wait to find out more about them and I'm really loving the artwork to so I'm definitely adding this to my pull list. Also I may have bought a top hat and a pair of fishnet gloves recently... I wonder why?

Hannibal

Hannibal was one of those shows I was kinda intrigued by but wasn't expecting too much from but after seeing the first two episodes I'm hooked. This show is really beautifully captured which sounds kinda weird for a something that deals with such a dark matter but the cinematography creates an atmosphere that you just get lost in it and it's definitely one of my favourite aspect of the show. The casting of Hannibal is perfect to Mads Mikkelsen has that subtle, elegant malice down perfectly and I love the relationship that developing between him and Will that I just can't wait to see how the true identity of Hannibal will be revealed.

Benefit Passport to Posh

Recently I decided to give my face a little break from make-up but sometimes I just need a little something to enhance my natural features and this little kit has everything you need to give you that great natural look and is compact enough to travel with so you can just stick it in your purse for those emergency touch-ups.

Super Monsters Ate My Condo

Waiting rooms are the worst and I've found myself sitting in them bored out of my mind a lot this month so I downloaded this crazy game to pass the time and have since become addicted to it, yes I am a 4 year old anything super silly and brightly coloured is awesome in my book, but seriously give it a go and tell me that it's not fun!

What are some of your favourite things this month? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Monsters & Make-up

Cate

xoxo

Donate Your Bras To Charity!

After losing quite a bit of weight and working out daily I've found my usual bra size was starting to feel a bit lose on me so I decided to go get myself re-measured and yes my bra size has changed which means I'm left with a closet full of bras that no longer fit.

Quite a few of my bras have hardly been worn and are were in such good condition that it seemed a shame to just throw them out, so I did a little research and found a charity that you can donate you old unwanted bras to.

Sometimes we throw things out without a second thought and one of my goals is to be a lot less wasteful and to reuse and recycle as much as I can so when I saw the bra recycling campaign by Against Breast Cancer I just had to spread the word

"When you make a deposit at a Bra Bank, your illfitting or unwanted underwear will be whisked away to start a new life on the other side of the world, where traders support their families selling textiles locally. Successful ventures like this keep many families in developing countries out of poverty whilst providing employment for people at home in the UK."

Bra Banks can be found in various locations throughout the U.K. or you can do what I did and send them directly. By donating your unwanted bras you are not only helping the fight against breast cancer but supporting small businesses and families in poorer countries as well as reducing waste which is a win for everyone, so don't just throw those unloved bras away donate them!

Love & Life

Cate

xoxo

Inspirational Quotes #38

"I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you."
- Frida Kahlo

8 Eccentric Etsy Fashion Finds

Etsy is my favourite place to browse all things quirky and unique, I would quite happily buy my entire wardrobe from there. The best thing about buying from handmade/indie shops is that you're getting something that is not only unique but handmade with love, so here are some of my favourite geeky fashion finds.

The JOKER Dress

Batman: The Animated Series is one of my absolute favourite incarnations of the Batman world and this dress is the perfect embodiment of that. This design is perfect I love the bold colours and the use of onomatopoeia which reminds me of the always cheesy yet amazing 1960's TV series, this dress is 100% awesome and right at the top of my wishlist!

Pikachu Pokemon Glitter Shoes

PIKA~~~~ SHOES I CHOOSE YOU!!! Sorry I just couldn't resist a good pun but aren't these just the cutest things you've ever seen? If fact if you like these then you should go check out this shop as it's full of cute glittery shoes and I'm not kidding I would wear every single one of them!

E.T. Alien Mini Dress

Just as I saw this dress E.T. came on the TV it must be fate! E.T. is one of my all time favourite movies, I used to watch this all the time when I was a kid and totally blame it for my obsession with all things space related. This dress is the cutest and that image of E.T. is just adorable. 

Red Felt Dalek Purse

You guys know I love my quirky bags and this one is definitely quirky, I almost can't believe this is a bag it looks that amazing! I'm really impressed with this bag and all the other bags in this shop there is something for everyone here so even if you're not a Who fan be sure to check them out.

Marvel Super Hero Dress

This dress is just perfect for the Marvel fan, I absolutely love it! I'm so jealous that I don't have awesome sewing skills because I think if I did I would have a whole wardrobe full of dresses like this. There is a whole load of geeky dresses in this shop but this one is definitely my fave I would love to wear this as my birthday dress.

Gryffindor Waist Cincher

Ok so I'm not really a big Harry Potter fan but I really liked these House themed corsets and how they incorporated colours and the crest into them that I'm almost tempted to put on that Sorting Hat and it you're not a fan of Gryffindor then check out this shop for even more beautiful corsetry.

Star Wars Comic Book Apron

Cooking is one of my favourite hobbies, I love experimenting with new recipes but it can get messy so having an awesome apron would be very handy and this apron would be perfect to wear when making recipes from the amazing Star Wars Cookbook don't you think?

Lord of the Rings Inspired Skirt

Fun fact about me I'm pretty much obsessed with ancient maps especially maps of fantasy lands. The Lord of the Rings is one of my all time favourite movies and although I've already started a collection of Middle Earth clothing thanks to Black Milk I would love to add this skirt into my wardrobe to.

Be sure to share some of your favourite Etsy finds in the comments!

Love & Lemons

Cate

xoxo

Dornish Red Mountain Stew

Quinoa is one of those things I never know what to do with, I just can't seem to find anything really exciting to make with it so after a bit of searching I decided to use it to bulk up a stew in the place of meat. I don't usually use a lot of dried spices when I'm cooking but I wanted to go for a Mediterranean kinda taste for this with the days getting warmer and the result is something hearty yet fresh with a slight spice to it
and definitely something I will be making again.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 red onion
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 courgette
• 1 pepper (or 4 small)
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1 tin of butter beans
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 bay leaf
• sprinkle of chopped coriander
• 3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

(Serves 4)

♥ Dice the carrots, courgette, peppers, garlic, onion, celery and cherry tomatoes.

♥ Heat the olive oil in a pan then add the diced vegetables and cook until soft.

♥ Once the vegetables are cooked add the vegetable stock, tinned tomatoes, butter beans, cumin, chilli, paprika, ground coriander, oregano and bay leaf and simmer on a low heat.

♥ Whilst the stew is cooking wash the quinoa thoroughly until the water runs clear then boil it in a saucepan with a cup of water.

♥ Once the quinoa is cooked and all the moisture has been absorbed divide it into bowls.

♥ Add the Shaoxing rice wine to the stew then divide the stew into the bowls with the quinoa

♥ Sprinkle a bit of fresh coriander on top.

♥ Eat and enjoy!

Good Luck

Cate

xoxo