Found

It's Friday and I've found a bunch of stuff! Look!

1. The secret to long life? According to this 100yo it's cigarettes and whiskey 
2. Harvard students aren't good at everything. Like keeping bathrooms tidy. They're cr*p at that!
3. That sickening display of that silly Kim Kardashian girl doing what she does best
4. This made me dream
5. Fendi s/s 2014. Wipe your drool!

Enjoy the times ahead with good people only, doing wonderful stuff and with only the biggest grins available! I'll be:

1. Meeting with my two loveliest ladies to be covered in their babies! They're first time mums and I'm thrilled to bits for them and their hubbies - their rugrats are extra cute which always makes things easier
2. Other stuff is happening. Stuff that's good for me - with darn good folk to boot.

Wednesday Wellness / Sinless

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Eat well, keep active and enjoy something that's not on your usual healthy eating list once in a while. Depriving yourself is not the way to go, we all know that. If you deprive yourself consistently you will inevitably binge and that's horrible for anyone's metabolism. So now and then spoil yourself.  Sweet treats don't have to be loaded with "bad stuff" either, like this healthy indulgence.
These treats are heavenly in every way - sin free and delicious - from Jenna Zoe's decadently healthy cookbook, Super Healthy Snacks and Treats.

Chocolate Caramels

Makes about 6

200g/1 cup of dates, stoned
1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter (look for unsweetened, made without any hydrogenated oils)
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
1 pinch of salt
250g/9oz. dark/bittersweet chocolate (preferably sweetened with unrefined sugar, or unsweetened if you can't have sugar)
1 chopped freezer-proof baking sheet or plate, lined with clingfilm/plastic wrap

How to make

1. Put the dates in a bowl of room-temperature water and allow them to soak for a few hours. They will soften and absorb some of the water, which will help when making the caramel.
2. Rinse the dates and put them in a food processor. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the edges of the bowl as you go.
3. Once the dates have started to form a paste, add the peanut butter and continue to pulse.
4. Lastly, add the coconut oil for texture and the salt to bring out the flavour.
5. Process again until the mixture naturally forms a large ball.
6. Pull off bite-size pieces of the mixture with your fingers and roll them into neat balls. Lay them out on the prepared baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water. Leave until melted and completely smooth.
8. Remove the chilled caramel balls from the freezer. Place 1 caramel on a spoon and dip it into the melted chocolate so that it is completely and evenly coated. Return the ball to the prepared baking sheet. You can use 2 teaspoons to help shape the chocolate coating if that helps.
9. Repeat with the remaining caramel balls, then freeze for at least 20 minutes to give the chocolate and caramel layers enough time to harden properly. Once they've frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag.
10. Remove the caramels from the freezer just before serving. Store them in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe: Overnight Oats

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Sugar free, bake free, fuss free, dairy free and packed with nutrients. Here's how to make a time-saving, power-packed brekky.  And yes, you guessed it - it's Vegan!

Overnight Oats

Dry mix:
Organic, raw oats
Chia seeds
A handful or 2 of Sunflower seeds
2 or 3 handfuls Psyllium husk
2 or 3 handfuls Linseed
Ground cinnamon to taste

Combine all dry ingredients into an airtight container to be ready when you are.

Serves 1:
1/3 cup dry oat mix
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
frozen mixed berries
Organic coconut flakes (if you like)

In a small container combine oats and unsweetened almond milk. You can place the berries in now or first thing in the morning - I like to place them in overnight, that way their juice sweetens the oats. Cover your container and place in the fridge - allow oats to set overnight. To serve, sprinkle some organic coconut flakes (and your berries if you hadn't put them in overnight) and you're good to go.
 

Found

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Yoohoo! It's Friday! See below for some nifty time-nibblers.

1. Speaking of nibbles, get your peepers over Jamie Oliver's Chorizo and tomato salad. Yum
2. THE BEST BUB CHAIR YOU WILL SEE...not to mention the branding
3. Spoiler alert! Get straight to the point of a movie with these 5-second-graphics
4. Contemporary art seems totally devoid of smiles. Why you no say cheese?
5. Double helix ring by Vale

 Hope those few finds get you onto the best possible start for a weekend of good stuff. I'll be:

1. Teaching a bunch of amazing girls how to samba, stretch and weave their way through some Afro-contemporary. Itching to get into my dance shoes.
2. Staying off sugar. That's right. I've kicked ol' sugar in the butt. More on that on Wednesday Wellness, soon.
3. Did someone say grapes? Heading up to Adelaide's Robert Johnson winery for a girls Sunday "long lunch" and wine sipping. More on that in Sweet Nothings soon.

Whole30 Wednesday / bare basics

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 Happy Whole30-day-14 (to me). It's day 14 and I'm....waiting for day 16 when they say you get the amazing energy boost injected throughout your body. Until I get my new found bounce, here's how the journey has gone so far:

- I feel like rat-droppings, let's be honest - but my clothes are fitting better
- Eating clean and fresh isn't a chore; it's great. I'd just prefer to have a latte (full fat and full stick-my-finger-up-at-no-dairy-clenses) every morning
- My energy isn't crash hot but I put this down to 9-5pm work commitments being more than just 9-5pm hours, plus the stress-pest that follows me home from my office desk
- I've noticed a shift in my body composition. It's been a slower process than I hoped but I'm shuffling the annoying pinchable skin off bit by bit

The thing with Whole30 is you've just got to stick to it. I'm feeling that more on day 14 than ever. Just bloody stick to clean, basic food!

My motivation?
- Kick the tired, cranky, crampy, bloated horribles away
- I need to be in a white leotard in 4 weeks. If that's not motivation to feel like a lean, clean pirouetting machine, I don't know what is

Thoughts for the day

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I fleetingly thought about life today. I thought, if I'd put it to a dance move, it'd look something like this; free, ruffled, bold and rustically-well-styled. 

Found

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Some days I'm willing to let you judge me exactly by my irresponsibly obvious attitude - see above. Here's some other stuff to avoid everything on Friday...until 5pm, of course.

1) Airy. Earthy. Understated. NAMOI, thank you for taking my wardrobe in your talented hands, rejuvenating it with my own mini collection of NaMoi originals. *My credit card has officially got itself into trouble. It whipped itself into the hands of this wonder woman - crazy, I know - and purchased a bag full of well-styled goodies. Tsk tsk. Mind of it's own - but good taste. 
2) More understated fashion-goodness from Kieley Kimmel
3) Art by Andy Denzler. Smudged abstract. Pretty damn good.
4) A ballsy kitchen rug. You'll see what I mean.

Izzy Bizu

Need a voice to listen to? Try Izzy Bizu's. Warning, you'll be hooked.

Whole30 Wednesday / Lemon tonic

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Week 2 of Whole30 has been going OK, thanks. Here's the deal with week 2:

- I haven't been fighting huge huger or sugar cravings
- I'm waiting for day 16 where the energy-bug kicks in
- I've been sleeping like a log (but feeling like I need more than I'm getting). I can't keep my eyes open past 10pm
- I admit I have 1 day off of Whole30 per week (tsk-tsk me, go on) but I still see and feel results
- Speaking of results, something is happening - my stomach is getting flatter(ish) slowly
- I do feel an emotional wreck, I admit. Those around me would be nodding their noggins off, reading this. I'm a little tired, drained, unsure of my progress and over-thinking everything. Fear not, I'm not giving up
- Skin is in its detoxifying stage (which isn't so pretty), my eyes are looking a little brighter and my complexion is showing signs of a glow peeking through the dull patches
- Training is beginning to feel better. Balancing up en pointe (ballet point) is feeling easier as I'm staring to feel less groggy, achy and "full"
- I'm feeling healthy and light, even if I'm not quite looking it yet

Tip!
Adding lemon to water is also a perfect habit to get into whilst on Whole30. I try to keep a lemon at my desk to squeeze into a cup of hot water throughout the day - makes you feel like you've stepped into a spa retreat, not to mention the health benefits going on.

What I've been up to

Totally blissed to our eyeballs, smooches and all, we've just stepped out of some wickedly-sweet happenings (daylight and post-sunset). This time, my list of happenings is doubling as a list of gratitude:

1. Date night dinners all weekend with my cute-as-pie guy.
2. Wine-sipping and cheese-plate-nibbling at our newly-stamped-haunt
3. Slowing down 
4. I did say all-weekend-date-nights? Chopsticking at the brilliant nosh from Golden Boy was part of the deal; swooned off my tush by their new fit out! 
5. Bikram yoga. I told you about how good this stuff is, right.
6. Under a clear midnight sky we listened to this man
7. Beach running in deliciously sweet rays
8. Eating blueberries
9. Taking paint to canvas with etudes in the air
10. Separating (slowly) the glue between my digits and my iPhone

Hope you've had some sweet things fill your days. Write them down - does your soul a tonne of good. Maria x

Found

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 It's Friday. There are finds to be shared! Enjoy.

1. These two will put you under their spell - a stunning display of raw balletic artistry and power.
2. Did you know you can activate your own nuts and seeds (skip spending half a fortune in the health food store).
3. Your design bones are set to shake with this work from Commodity + Ferroconcrete.
4. Lexus has transformed driving to art. Literally. Your car can paint your portrait and colours it depending on your lead-foot or Sunday-snooze-pace.
   
   
   Plus...drum roll...
5. Adelaide (my hometown, often overshadowed by its bossy neighbours Sydney and Melbourne) has been listed top 9 cities to visit in the world. Did you hear? New York Travel has even boosted our egos! As an Adelaidian, I am so bloody excited to have this little city peek above the haze of stale, production-line cafes, old architecture and foot-stomping-protests against change! We've actually done it and seen the light! A few ease-ups on business and architecture regulations have seen the city blossom overnight with developments, tucked away bars, restaurants and specialty-coffee-making-hide-outs (just waiting for their chance to pounce). High five Adelaide.

Damn good Market Lane filtered coffee from Exchange - specialty coffee guys here in...yep, little old Adelaide.

So the weekend is inching its way closer. Hope it's filled with the brightest stuff you could possibly want. I'm ready to dive head first into date-night-dinners at new CBD eats with my partner in crime (15 years on and my guy still gives me giggly-girl butterflies); I'll be taking plenty of time to chat over Market Lane coffees (remembering how I'd knock back cups of the stuff in my Melbourne-based days); and do good stuff with good people that send good vibes through my soul. Simple.