I mentioned the 21 Day Challenge in my last post, and a lot of my friends have become tired of me banging on about it!

I decided to take up the following challenge over a month ago and besides  exceptional circumstances (a wedding and an essential chip shop dinner this weekend! When in Rome/Rotherham...) I've stuck to it well past the 21 days and intend to continue it ongoing. 

At first I thought it would be difficult and painful but for some reason the word 'challenge' made it feel so much more fun than if I'd called it a diet! Here it is: 

... Believe me, it CAN be done and I feel healthier, fitter, brighter and slimmer for it!

While sticking to it and sticking to clean eating generally I have had my vices too - the odd fancy yogurt (lemon curd are my favourite) or a bowl of ice cream help any sweet cravings I might have. A slightly overused phrase has become: 'hey. It's not on the list...' ;) 

Remember that exercise always helps too. Even if its just a few minutes a day and more than your norm, it will always make a difference. 

Give it a go and let me know how you get on! Also if you have any of your own challenges please share them with me - I'd love to give something new a go!

Hello everyone! Thanks for all your messages and for continuing to check back during my hiatus - I don't know who you are, but I'm grateful all the same.

Life has been a little stressful and strange for the past month. Without going into too much detail (save that for the press), I was unfairly pushed out of my job a few weeks ago and replaced with a consultant to save money. If that wasn't hard enough; rather than be honest about that my employer tried to land the blame on me. Thank goodness for Google Analytics and the heaps of colleagues and clients who can prove and vouch for my hard work.

That said, I've had a very positive month too and I like to focus on these things especially when things get tough. Hard to believe I know. But here are just a few of the positives from the last month:

• I learnt who my friends are. SO many colleagues spoke out on my behalf to support me
• Colleagues became friends
• Family and friends have been on hand to listen to me and help to restore my confidence  
• Throughout this entire process, I have had the confidence to know my worth. A year or so ago I might have taken the wrongful criticism and believed it. I'm now full of myself enough to know that I'm good at what I do, and put up a very good case 
• I lost 7lbs! Stress + gym (already paid for) + 21 day challenge + 30 day squat challenge = happy! I can't explain how much regular exercise has stopped me from falling into any kind of depression based on my latest experiences
• I have fallen even deeper in love with clean eating, market shopping and Aldi! Fresh fish, fruit and vegetables are wayyy cheaper that any processed crap. Takes more time, but being jobless means I have more time!
• LinkedIn is amazing. 
• Strangers and recruiters are even more helpful when you're honest with them
• I got a job last week! Sadly I couldn't accept it as they needed someone to start right away (and I will be away in Melbourne from the end of this week), but getting the first job I interviewed for whilst on the market? Great for the confidence!
• Getting to hang out with family. Being in London surrounded by distractions and tube fares was affecting my already worrying bank balance even more. So I'm currently spending time at home with my Grandparents, helping out, sprucing my CV, baking and getting to see plenty of my brother and his little family. 

... So it's not all bad. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of things I am worried about but I'm determined not to let those worries affect me. 

For a short while this blog may be more focussed on: 

• Cheap recipes
• How to live on a shoe string ;)
• Melbourne on a shoe string (typical I have a holiday booked and now no spending money! Argh!)
• Diet and fitness malarky

Until next time!

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for continuing to come back! My blog gives me so much pleasure, it's great to see that people are reading it!

That said however, I have to go on a little break - I few unpleasant things are taking the fun out of my life at the moment. Hopefully i'll be back to normal next week, but I'll keep you posted!

Take care of yourselves and eachother!! :) 

Sara xxx

Last Saturday I had an excellent night out with my best friend Mandy and some of our other best friends to celebrate her 30^th birthday in Angel. 

Me and the Birthday girl <3

 It was a brilliant night in spite of a massive mix up and failure by Barrio North, who double booked the area we had reserved and caused a great deal of upset and let down for Mandy. It was very poorly managed indeed, but rather than focus on the negative you can read Mandy's review on the View London website and we'll be done with it! No seriously. Read it.

She may be cute but she doesn't put up with any crap!

Following a hasty exit from Barrio, we descended upon The Diner on Essex Road who provided us with a huge booth a last minute, perfect for our group and served us enthusiastically and tirelessly with lovely cocktails and food throughout the evening. They even saved the cake I’d made for Mandy (which I had to sneak out of the fridge at Barrio and sneak back into the Diner - a challenge!), and added on some candles for us!

Birthday Angel cake made by your truly! - See below for recipe

I'd highly recommend The Diner for a birthday evening; the food was great (I had a bowl of sweet potato fries to keep me going and they were yummy - crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, perfect!) and the staff are so friendly and helpful. They even got involved in some of our games!

Good company plus this excellent service meant that what happened at the beginning of the night was forgotten for a few hours and we went on to Club De Fromage to dance our socks off in high spirits! If you haven't ever been to Club De Fromage, where have you been?!

I have had so many good nights there - the cheesy music, fancy dress and cheesy hosts take me back to Uni days, but in a good way! 

Mandy's boyfriends looks on with disapproval :) 

Lots of dancing followed and I'm so glad that we were able to save Mandy's night. After swing dancing with Amanda for a few hours (I reckon I'm a pro in the making), I've even decided to look into going to Lindy Hop lessons, so I'll keep you posted on that!

Have you ever had your night sway a little too close to disaster for comfort just to be saved at the last minute? Would love to hear your bad turned good stories!

Until next time,

PS.

If you'd like to make an Angel Birthday cake, use this recipe - you just need to swap the rectangular tin for 3 round ones, and use pink food colouring instead of red. I found that red food colouring + baking soda + heat = GREY. But that's what test cakes are for ;) 

xxxx

My seedlings are one week old today! I feel like a proud mother, spamming you with greenery as opposed to photo upon photo of my first born child and his or her first spit bubble / rusk / hat with ears.

I'm taking these photos on a daily basis with the intention of being able to create a Vine / Instavideo with the shots at the end - watch them grow! But I won't spam you with them on a daily basis, promise.

I think this is pretty impressive only 7 days after planting, I'm very pleased.

The seed mix is just called 'Mixed Wild Flowers', so waiting to see what they turn out to be is a bit of anticipation in itself!

They've grown so much! About 1.5 inches tall now!

Go seedings!

More interesting posts to come once I've shaken the Monday blues. Have a good week everyone!

As I mentioned in my bio I've recently developed an interest in gardening. I'm very lucky to have a grandmother who taught me how to plant seedings and plants and take care of them, but its only recently that I've developed the inclination to plant some of my own and actually take care of them!

Most plants I've had in the last few years have been bought on a whim and short lived in every sense of the word. I only started to gain a bit more interest when I got sick of paying for fresh herbs in the supermarket when I know they are easy to grow and keep for free.

I bought a 'seed greenhouse starter kit' from Poundland as a little project recently, and that is now flourishing and I'm so proud of it!

A herb kit like the one I bought from £land!

The same goes for my chilli plant acquired from the seeds given to me after dinner at Wahaca. Its so great to get so much joy and sense of achievement from something so... cheap!

When Shaun and I went to Amsterdam in June he bought and planted some Tulip bulbs for me in a window box outside my bedroom. An amazing, sweet and thoughtful gift, although unfortunately we'd just missed Tulip season! So they haven't flowered yet.

Keen to have some flowers to look at this Summer, I bought two packets of 'mixed seeds' from another really cheap store - one of those factory outlet places that sells literally everything. I bought 2 packets and a fancy floral trowel for £3. Brilliant considering I almost bought a similar trowel from an 'I Saw You Coming' kind-of store in Soho the other day for £20. It was fancy and I liked it, and I almost thought 'why not have a fancy trowel, treat yourself Wills'! But then I decided not to spend more money for something with flowers on it. Win.

Anyway. I was delighted to see that only two days after sewing these seeds, I have little seedlings!

Day Two

Day Three

Check out these guys going for it!

I'm aware that I've become a little obsessed with them - I have to check them every day to see how they're coming along, and the warm weather we're having is definitely having an effect on how quickly they grow! I'll try not to spam you too much with seeding watch!!

Watch videos about how to grow your Wahaca chilli's

Watch more 'I Saw You Coming' videos so you too can be less of a thicko

I had a bit of a rough week last week - on Tuesday as I was leaving the exhibition with Nisha, something bad happened to me. I have considered blogging about it, but for my own safety have decided not to for now. What I did do though, is report it to the Police, which I am very proud about.

Feeling like I'd done my bit, I decided to stop being grumpy with the world and cheer myself up. Also, enjoy the lovely weather we're having in London at the moment!

Artistic Monkey are my local salon where I live in Kilburn. I often visit them for my haircut, and they always do a fantastic job. Last time I went to them it was my birthday and the lovely ladies there gave me a birthday card with a free beauty treatment inside - nail polish and shape - so I thought this was no better a day than to today to redeem it. 

The salon is beautiful inside. Comfortable, carefully designed and luxurious with big comfy chairs and beautiful mirrors. I always feel so special when I go there!

My beautician was really warm and friendly, we chatted about life and things as you do, and she helped me choose the best colour for my skin tone - she wasn't shy to advise me to try something different when I went for a peachy colour, so we went for bright red! With a little diamanté as a special treat. How fancy!

The ladies there offer all kinds of refreshments from their massive Smeg fridge, not just tea and coffee, so when my nails were done and looking fantastic, I relaxed on their decking outside with a gorgeous glass of chilled rose. It was perfect - just the ticket after a bad day!

Visit Artistic Monkey - they have a loyalty programme too so if you recommend a friend and they visit, you'll get your treatment half price next time! Visit their website or pop in for full details.

What I love about this city is that there so much to see and enjoy without having to spend lots of money. 

On Tuesday night my friend Nisha and I went to the private view of La Joie de Vivre, an art exhibition in East London, featuring an artist by the name of Skeleton Cardboard. Street art and art in general is of growing interest to me, Nisha knows all about it being an artist herself, so when she asked me along I knew it'd be worth a look.

The exhibition was held at Silwex House, a warehouse space just off Commercial Street - the perfect place for a street art exhibition! The space was bright and airy, there was a saxophonist and a cellist to provide mood music and a selection of artisan foods for the hungry. We weren't though, we just went for beer.

The art was fantastic - very colourful, messy, with sprinkles of meaning - the way I like it. Some painted with think poster paints, bright colours with with faces, and then there was Skeleton Cardboard. Skeleton Cardboard is exactly what it sounds - skeletons, painted on cardboard! Big ones on massive sides of boxes, right through to tiny ones on train tickets dotted all around the gallery. Fun!

We got to speak to the artist himself who was very happy to tell us that there's no meaning behind the canvases he chooses, he just uses whatever cardboard is lying around. Why buy a canvas when you can make your own? Very good point. And sustainable!

After our trip to the exhibition we had a little walk about Shoreditch to look at street art:

I love this one <3

One of my favourites! The strokes are so intricate... loving the use of the pillar in this one too. 

Eventually stopping at the Music Bar Hall on the curtain road, for nachos, a pint and a good gossip. Brilliant friend times!

Nisha being pretty cool

Check out Skeleton Cardboard, and look out for skeletons on a street near you!

Skelton Cardboard on Facebook

This week I went on quite a brave adventure.... I paid a visit to The School of Life to take part in one of their evening classes - 'How to Have Better Conversations'.

*Image credit The School of Life

I first heard about The School of Life about six months ago, when Pobs was telling me about how they'd set up a school in Melbourne. For a good few months I would visit their website, look at the classes, think about how excellent they were, and then well... chicken out.

The School of Life is not only a very lovely shop selling books and ideas for everyday life, they also hold a variety of workshops and classes to help people to learn more about themselves and others, starting from the most basic of topics such as 'How to Have Better Conversations'! Their blog is pretty awesome too.

Gathering nervously, introducing ourselves and enjoying a little bit of a buffet!

I was one of the first to arrive (eager beaver!), the shop was quiet with only a couple of people there before me, but as soon as I walked in I managed to get into a conversation with someone. Ahead of the class we'd been asked to prepare some notes on "your most life changing conversation". Well, first off just being asked to do that a week before the class meant that I had some very interesting conversations with my friends, just trying to think of what could be THE most life changing conversation I'd ever had. There are so many! A theme which came up seemed to be that something bad happened, I had a conversation, then I changed my life. I did have some nice ones, but I won't go into them for fear of going on!

So, we shared our life changing conversations over some yummy nibbles and a glass of wine. It was exciting to be in the same boat as everyone else - very few people came with someone, and that was what was important to me. There is nothing more exhilarating than throwing yourself in at the deep end, finding that you can swim, no one is going to let you drown and in fact you're pretty awesome at it.

The class took place downstairs in a very plush room with lovely patterned walls and rows of chairs - a creative space. Hugo, our lecturer talked us through conversation through history, how conversation has evolved, and types of conversations. There was plenty of opportunities to practice too - we were asked several times to stand up and speak to a person we'd never spoken to before about the topic in hand. Difficult conversations was one of them and we were asked to speak to one person about the conversations we find most difficult and why. It was really eye opening.

I spoke to a HR Manager who spends his day job sacking people (well i'm sure that's not all he does, but you get my point!), yet found it more difficult to sack his own team. I think that made sense, but he said he beats himself up about it. I told him about how I have my most difficult conversations with people I care about and friends. I hate to 'rock the boat' for fear of that person leaving, no longer being my friend anymore - and about the smallest things! However I can talk to my manager at work about my tasks with no fear whatsoever. Having been a freelancer in the past I have the confidence to know what my limits are, that I can manage my own workload and if that can't be agreed between a manager and myself, well hey ho off I go! (sort of... shhh please don't sack me Ian). It's so interesting to notice the situations where we have fear and where we do not. Even more interesting to recognise, challenge and change those fears for positive. 

All in all, I cannot recommend a visit to The School of Life any more strongly. For the cost of a standard dinner and drinks, I spent a fantastic evening exploring ideas, meeting new people and learning from them. The experience just keeps on giving too, not only did I make a couple of new friends, but since my evening I've had some fantastic conversations with people I know, and far different conversations than those we usually have, all based around this experience! I plan to pay them another visit soon.

What parts of conversation do you find most challenging? What types of conversations you find most easy or difficult? I'd love to hear your thoughts!