Still poor.

You know how I posted a while back before I left for my NY trip(a short update on that will be up in the coming weeks) about trying to really save money and how I had planned to continue my scrimping and saving in the big apple? Well that idea failed somewhat dismally. I ate my cup of noodles there and crackers and fruit roll-ups that I had brought but I still pigged out and bought lots of other food like a large cup of Pinkberry fro-yo, ben and jerry's vanilla ice-cream, spring rolls, subway, etc, etc. So now as my punishment I can't fit into some of my clothes and I don't even dare attempt to try on my prom dress my mum sent me over from Australia. I tried I really did but my boiled eggs did not look appealing and they went off very quickly(as I was in an April fools mischief-y mood I dropped one of them out the window of the hostel). I did spend a lot of money on food but I don't regret it too much as I still remember how those foods tasted because they were all so good and they were associated with a lot of fun times plus I kind of thought to myself "This is New York. When am I ever going to get a chance like this again?". But since I have arrived home I've gone back to my stingy-ness and hopefully today or tomorrow I'll be going around handing out babysitting flyers so I can earn some extra cash.

Frozen yoghurt at its finest.

Poor Girl's World.

I actually thought I'd have plenty of time to blog this year during my high school exchange but it seems I'm almost as busy as last year. Turns out today I leave for New York. The big apple. Whilst it almost seems unreal the fact that my cash is dwindling does seem very real. I was given a travel money card before I came on exchange which my parents loaded with some of my pocket money for the year, whilst it's not a credit card, I've been flashing it around like it is one but after taking a closer look at my account summary I had to take drastic measures and I don't think I've used my card for about a month. I always used to think it was so hard to save money and that scrimping and saving little by little didn't make much difference overall but I've realised if you really want to save money you've got to have a different mindset.  Before I really took to this 'money-saving' way of thinking I had all these little necessities I was planning to buy and would never consider missing out on eating out or doing an activity that cost money. Now that I've really embraced scrimping I realise it's not that bad and I haven't missed out on that much or really regretted it. If anything I've experienced more, enjoyed myself more and learnt simple ways to make things last. One of my expenses that I knew I had to accommodate for this year was toiletries so in order to save money I've been using up some of the shampoos already in the bathroom I use that my host mom had in there even though they may not be the ones I'd usually get they're still good and it means I won't have to go out and purchase as many myself. I also noticed the toothpaste I found in the bathroom here foams up really easily so I don't need to put as much on my toothbrush. I've also been trying to save my pimple cream by making sure I cleanse my face for at least a minute to prevent blemishes in the first place. This March I think I've spent around $170 which is less than half of what I spent in January and February and is going to be really helpful as I need money for shopping in New York. Unfortunately the trip only includes breakfast at the hotel so in order not to spend a fortune on food which is one-time thrill type of spending I got my host parents to stock us up with food from Costco so at least we won't have to buy all our snacks there. We bought cup of noodles, crackers and fruit roll-ups plus I was skyping my mum back in Australia and she said that when she went travelling around Asia with a friend 20+ years ago they took hard-boiled eggs in their suitcases as they keep well so today I'm going to boil up a bunch and pop them in with the rest of my luggage! Thanks for the idea mum!

My high school had a variety show(basically a talent show minus the prize) several weeks ago and I thought that would make a fun Friday night out but it cost $2. Usually I wouldn't blink at eyelid about paying for that but now it's like $2 is $2 less that I'll have in my bank account. I recently spent a day in a nearby seaside town, Santa Barbara and I ended up spending over $30 on just food alone- all the little snacks I bought throughout the day added up so now I'm really wary with any money I spend. I knew I really wanted to go to the talent show so when my drama teacher presented me with the opportunity to usher for the variety show which meant I could get in for free I signed my name up right away! I actually had so much fun ushering- I got to greet everyone coming in and it was nice seeing how community-spirited everyone was about the event and I got to mess around with all the other ushers there. There was like 7 or 8 of us which was way too many so we were all fighting to give our programs to the new guests coming through the door. If it wasn't for me being so stingy I wouldn't have been able to get such a 'wholesome' experience of the night.

I will continue to let you all know how my stingy mindset plays out in real life whilst I'm hitting it up in the big apple this week.

This Christmas...

I'm getting ready for: the arrival of my aunt and uncle from England(if they even manage to come with all the snow they're getting over there, delaying most of the flights out of London) who are vegos so we've had to do a little extra preparation for them and we're having a vegetarian Christmas for them which is exciting as we're going to try all these new recipes out of the various vegetarian cookbooks we've accumulated over the years. A Sweet Potato and Leek Roulade with a Christmas Stuffing looks like it's going to be the main attraction on our Christmas table this year.

I'm baking: music note shaped vanilla cookies as per the recipe from the new Junior Masterchef cook book(recipes are so much easier and much more to my liking than anything that would be in the 'adult' Masterchef cookbook) using vanilla extract and not vanilla essence. I ended up making 6 batches of them for all of mother's 30 piano students.

I'm listening to: Glee's new Christmas album. We haven't bought a new Christmas album in a couple of years and have stuck to the collection of carol CDs we already have but I was itching for a new one and I knew the Glee album would not disappoint. All the songs on it new so joyous and truly embody the spirit of Christmas, even with all the new carols on it that I've never heard before and the gospel twist on "Angels We Have Heard On High" was magical.

I'm decorating: my dad's Christmas tree. He's a bit of a scrooge so he only bought his own Christmas tree a couple years ago after I asked him to get one. so him, my brother and I were putting up the ball-balls,tinsel and lights over the weekend and we bought a nice gold, sparkly star to go on top as we couldn't find one in the shops when we looked for one in 2008(we didn't end up putting the tree up in 2009). It's been really nice to celebrate Christmas not only at my mum's house but at my dad's too.

I'm buying: the majority of my gifts online for the family(and even for myself as my mum hasn't quite figured out how to use paypal and online shopping sites)as I can buy more unique and tailor-made gifts for the recipients to enjoy. And as always there are huge discounts usually when buying online.


I'm attending: a Christmas carol concert. My dad, brother and I went to one this weekend at the local park which was much easier than attending one in the city as the parking/walking distance was less of a hassle and as we couldn't stay for long we had no trouble leaving easily. It was really nice to just spend the evening with other families who were getting into the Christmas spirit. They had candles you could buy for $2 but straight away my brother blew it out as well as attempting to blow out the 'big' candle that the organisers were attempting to light all the other smaller ones with to give to people. Luckily we managed to keep the second one alight, even though I did have to put my hand over my brother's mouth every now and then.

I'm loving: the fact that the whole month of December is special if you put in the effort and relish the jolly spirit of the season; not just the 25th.

I'm photographing: Our lovely advent wooden 're-useable' advent calendar. I've never been a fan of the chocolate ones and this one is so much more exciting even though we've had it for years and I probably know all the trinkets off by heart. If you count you'll find there are 20 toys as today is of course the 20th of December(for the next hour and five minutes anyway...)

Have a lovely Christmas all!

P.S. Feel free to use this as a blog tag if you're in a 'jolly spirit'.

2010

Hope you all had a lovely New Year and Christmas Day, I feel so giddy about it being the start of a new decade(I'm ignoring the fact that technically the new decade starts in 2011).

2010.
Wow.
It's finally here.

Shame it's not really how the 2000s were depicted in those old futuristic films/tv shows(Think "The Jetsons") But perhaps that was a little too far fetched, I doubt even the 3000's will be like that. I think the closest thing to how I expected the 2000's to be is IKEA. Seems silly how a furniture store could be so advanced but it truly is. I feel they have revolutionised the way people shop and it makes sense. They make the process of shopping simpler and as a 'reward' for shopping there you get cheaper products. And it's the tiniest of details that all add up.

The flat packaging- they save on the decreased cardboard, giving you cheaper prices plus the DIY element of putting the furniture together saves you even more. Not to the mention the adorable and simple picture instructions.

(credit: greenbang)

The provided shopping lists, pencils and measuring tapes. Why didn't people think of them before?

(credit: unilinkbus)

The supplied shopping bags and no plastic bag policy; the store short cuts, making it ten times easier to manouvere round the shop; the beautiful children's creche; the "As-Is" section where you buy disouncted IKEA furniture that has been used or that has slight faults(I used to think it read "A5-15" when I was little and could never figure out what an earth it meant); the fact that they have everchanging showrooms where you can test everything out and see how it really looks plus the market hall where you can buy everything you see.

My favourite part of IKEA though would have to be the restaurant, I love how you serve yourself and the array of foods they have available for you to choose from(Did you notice how they even have jars of baby food available?) for just a couple of dollars. They also sell vegetarian and organic food, which gets a big thumbs up from me. Plus they encourage everyone to put away their own trays, which I whole-heartedly support. I really hate when people leave all their leftovers on the tables when it would take them less than 60 seconds to put it away. The cleaners already have plenty to do with cleaning away spills/dropped food and clearing away all the china/glass, plates and cups.

(credit: fredtexas)

And just to top it all off, you can buy the food they sell at the restaurant and cook it at home yourself. Next time I'm wanting to buy their organic pasta sauce, which for the quantity is far cheaper than the organic versions in the supermarkets.

(credit: ikea)

What I'm trying to get at is that I expected the noughties and the tens(anyone got a better name for the new decade?) to be a bit more innovative, simple and more eco-conscious. I guess I'll be visiting IKEA more often. Perhaps even on an ikea bike?

Several days ago my mum and I visited IKEA just to eat lunch there. That's just how awesome we think it is.

Happy November!

There weather is definitely heating up over here but all the flowers in our garden have started to come out including these lovely little blue ones(no idea what they're called). Unfortunately for some that means hay fever season but luckily for me my immune system is like a brick wall, nothing can hurt me.

2009 seems to have flown by! And Christmas is right round the corner, I'll really be able to enjoy it this year as school will be finished by November 25th for me so I'll have all of December ot really embrace and enjoy the season.

Thought I'd get a new desktop background to celebrate the new month, a cheeky little blythe doll to keep watch over me.



I was in the mood for baking the other day so I decided to make some wholemeal fruit scones. They tasted much better than any of the ones you find in the bakeries or cafes, plain white flour ones that are just really stodgy and not particularly good for you. Mine had a lovely crunch on the outside and a real 'homey' taste to them plus they're healthy too with hardly any butter or sugar.



Have a lovely November all!

All Hallow's Eve

Happy Halloween everybody!

(Don't you just wish you had these as YOUR Halloween costumes?!)

Well it won't be Halloween just yet for you Americans, it feels strange how Australia almost lives in the 'future'. I was sceptic we'd actually have any trick or treaters visit this year but we bought three packets of lollies just in case and good thing we did as that almost wasn't enough! We had three sets of kids come trick or treating, the second group was 6 little kids all dressed up in fancy costumes, two were Michael Jackson which I thought was very sweet. They were so excited when I gave each of them their chocolates and lollies. There was one tiny little boy with them and as the others ran off to the next house I gave him an extra two lollies, and told him not to tell the others ;) Apparently in America you're only allowed to give out wrapped sweets but the rules aren't so strict here so I didn't think the kids would mind having some 'exposed' gummy worms. I've also heard in America you can't gives kids apples as people have slipped razor blades in them! Honestly, why does someone always have to ruin these things?! But on the other hand, Halloween is supposed to be all about the unhealthy, cavity-prone, sickly sweetened candy; not boring old apples.

Anyway, I saw the group of 6 little boys come back down our little cul-de-sac once they finished trick or treating the other houses and we still had candy left so I ran out and asked them if they each wanted one more piece of chocolate, a big "YES!!" came the reply and they all ran up to our front door again. Seriously, you should have seen their faces!

Later we had to drive over to my dad's house and on our way home we got a lovely surprise, a nice big splatter of egg across the windscreen. We stopped the car and tried to look to see who threw it but the nasty people who did it were probably long gone. The least they could have done was say "Trick or treat?". We most definitely would have opted for the "treat" option. But on a more serious note, it was extremely dangerous; it was very dark, very sudden and splattered across the windscreen making it hard to see. Plus it looked pretty revolting.

Thank goodness Halloween only comes once every year!

Banana Bread

After finding this little apron in the linen cupboard and discovering that it still fit me I was inspired to bake something new. My mother suggested "Banana Bread" as she had the recipe in an old cookbook of hers. The book is falling to pieces though, I need to see if I can get it laminated or maybe get it bound somehow at a stationary store (I will have to look into that). The book had a bunch of other savoury goodies in it that I would like to try out in the future: Barm Brack, Potato Scones, Welsh Cakes & American Brownies. Anyway, Here's the recipe for the Banana Bread with a couple of my own alterations mixed in.


Banana Bread

220g wholemeal self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mixed spice
100g margarine
450g ripe bananas(approx. 4-5 peeled bananas)
120g caster sugar
100g sultanas
50g walnuts
2 eggs(lightly beaten)



Turn on your oven to 180C(350F) and then grease and flour a 600g loaf tin. Sieve flour, salt and spice into a mixing bowl. Rub in margarine until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mash bananas and add to mixing bowl. Place walnuts into a plastic bag and crush them into small pieces using a rolling pin, then place into mixing bowl along with the eggs and caster sugar. Use an electric beater to mix until the mixture is well-blended and there are as little lumps as possible. Add in sultanas and stir with a wooden spoon. Pour mixture into tin and bake in the oven for 45mins to an hour(or until loaf is well risen and has a pale golden colour on top). Once cooked leave loaf in tin for 5 mins and then place on a cooling rack. I like to eat the loaf warm(10 seconds in the microwave if not fresh out of the oven) with a bit of extra margarine on top.


I can't remember exactly how I got this apron but I just remember wearing it at my great aunt's house in Ireland when I visited her when I was younger. I specifically remember having it on when I helped her make gooseberry jam. I really love the design and colours used on it,very sweet.

A glass and a half-full

You know how my reward for drinking water was that I got to drink it out of my pretty glasses? Well here's a little photograph of them.



I'm honestly in love with them. I bought them when I went on vacation with a friend and her family to a little holiday town named Busselton. They had lots of neat little shops there, selling lots of little quirky bits and pieces and some really good thrift stores. A lot of the places sold organic and eco-friendly products so I stocked up on organic skincare products. I also bought this organic vanilla cupcake mix. Now personally I'm not a huge cupcake fan(I'm more of a savoury girl) but I had to buy these as they were organic and I am so so glad I did. They tasted 'divine'! They just had this delicious natural vanilla bean flavour, instead of the artificial flavour you usually get with those packet mixes. I was a bit sad once I'd eaten all the cupcakes as I didn't think I'd be able to get the mix again but luckily for me I found them in this store called Liquorice that sells dried pantry foods and such. I was ecstatic once I found them and to my delight the store also sold other varieties in the range, as well as pancake mixes! They are quite expensive though, at $15 a packet but for the occassional treat I definitely think they are worth it. Next time I buy a mix I'll take a photograph for you all.

Bento

Something you all have yet to know about me is that I love bento and bento boxes. If you don't know what bentos are then you really are missing out. They are basically just small lunchboxes and you fill them completely with food, usually cooked items and things like rice. They originate from Japan and everybody there has a bento everyday and theirs are usually very appealing to the eye. I first fell in love with Bentos when I came across this lovely lady's blog:Lunch in a Box. The blog's author, Biggie has written basically everything you need to know to start bento-ing, she's a genius. She really needs to write a book about it!

I myself haven't made many bentos before but here is the one I had today:

The bento box is a double tiered one and the lower container had a pumpkin & ricotta gourmet roll(bought at my local deli) and ketchup in a sauce container in it. The upper container had a little salad of snow pea sprouts, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and coriander. Yummy! I'm going to have the rest of the sausage roll tomorrow.

In other news, I went to China last year with my school and I took lots and lots of photos. I recently got round(a year later :D) to getting the photos printed but when I went to put them on a USB, the photos just came up as a black screen with "invalid image" on them. I was freaking out, I couldn't find any way to retrive them. But luckily I found I still have most of them on my camera memory card. Now I just have to re-edit all 800+ of them......Gotta love technology.