positive thinking – Page 2 – Rachel MacDonald

Making Me Happy

31 October, 2012

Hola honeys!

I want to kick off this superb day with a reminder, from my heart to yours…

You – beautiful you – are an incredible treasure, a luminous being of light. You are a gem and your being here makes the world a better place. Your life is unfolding as it’s meant to, and even if it doesn’t quite feel like it down in your bones, where you are right now is absolutely perfect – another thread woven into the intricate tapestry of your life. Mine for joy every day and know that nothing is ever permanent. The magic is in the process. The wisdom is in the journey.

“You are given the gifts of the gods; you create your reality according to your beliefs. Yours is the creative energy that makes your world. There are no limitations to the self except those you believe in.” ~ Jane Roberts

Ok, now that you know how AMAZING you are, let’s shimmy on over to this week’s Making Me Happy list.

The past seven days have been devoted to restoring my energy and getting my house in order, and I’ve revelled in the clarity that comes as a result of “tuning in.” Read on for my love list…

Alkalising Greens

Currently crushing on: Morlife Alkalising Greens!

Lately I’ve been feeling like I need a “little boost” energy-wise, and while I’m back on the salad train and enjoying every glorious, mung bean-filled minute, I’ve been adding a spoonful of this green goodness to my water every day to great effect.

Alkalising greens are my alternative to the 3pm coffee run favoured where I work and – hand-on-heart – the new version pictured actually tastes quite good. Lime-y and fresh. Give it a go.

Soul Retreat Saturday

Let me give you a little rundown of my Saturday, a day I affectionately christened Soul Retreat Saturday because man, was it good for the soul.

I started with a Far Infra Red sauna/ Hypoxi double-up (I’ve been doing a couple of sessions like this a week and will do a wrap up soon, but let’s just say, YESYESYES). Next up was the most exquisite Reiki session (my first and certainly not my last) combined with sound bowl therapy – I literally floated out of the room.

The rest of the day can be summarised as: salads, reading, cuddles with the most amazing man in the universe (my husband!), costume shopping – and subsequent giggle-fests – and an early night. These kind of Saturdays are going to become my new normal.

Birthday Planning

Hip hip hooray, my birthday is creeping ever-closer (can you tell I love a good celebration?)

I’m not going too bananas with decorations – famous last words – but I bought the pinatas above on the weekend, along with some other fun bits and bobs that you’ll see in the post-feista photos!

Marie + Kris Mash Up

I absolutely adore this video of Marie Forleo and Kris Carr whipping up healthy goodies in Kris’ kitchen in upstate New York. These two are just divine and I’m so touched by the depth of their friendship.

Isn’t it lovely to see two powerful women celebrating each other’s brilliance and cheering each other on so generously? Give it up for the sistership! (gosh I love being a woman).

Audiobooks (yep, again!)

Listening to audiobooks as I get ready for work in the morning is a super efficient use of my time and current loves are Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy (a kick in the pants – if you’re prone to procrastination, this one’s a game changer) and Transformational Speaking by Gail Larsen.

Magnificent morsels:

Excitement to hang with the lovely Kim this weekend in Byron + Real Living mag + sunshine after the rain + the never-ending awesomery of the Internet + the wig I’ll be wearing to a costume party this weekend (meeoooow!) + raw desserts + more new succulents + incense from the neighbours wafting in through the window (yum) + YOU GUYS! x

What’s making you happy this week? You know the drill – share away sugar!

Images: Poster | Headphones

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Making Me Happy

24 October, 2012

Beautiful footage mixed with soulful thoughts on gratitude and treating each day as a gift = the perfect kick off for today’s Making Me Happy. Watch to the end, it’ll touch your heart.

As for my own gratitude list, I’m going to hurtle right in and share the things that have made the past week of my life that much sweeter. Read on lovers…

Louise Hay’s Heart Thoughts

I picked up Louise Hay’s stunning book, illustrated by this talented lady, a few days ago and I’ve already photocopied several pages and plastered them all over the divider walls at my work desk. The perfect pick-me-up when you need a hit of positivity (particularly after 207565 meetings, which pretty much sums up my work life right now!)

Rad Interviews

In case you missed it, I had a rollicking good time being interviewed over on Betty Means Business last Friday. Click through to hear about my journey towards entrepreneurship so far and my tips for adding more joy to your life (amongst other fun things!)

To add to the awesomeness of the whole interview process, I was also sent this divine package from the site’s creatrix and all-round rad woman, Kate Byrne. Would’ya look at that branding? HOT HOT HOT.

{also, you totally need to get your hands on Loving Earth’s Coconut Chocolate Butter. Wow. Just… wow.}

This Site

I’ve been riding a wave of emotions since stumbling across Artifact Uprising – the highest of highs when I thought I could make beautiful things with all my photos, to the bummer, dude! low when I discovered they don’t ship internationally.

Looks like I’ll be ~~starting a petition~~ investigating mail forwarding companies or speaking very nicely to a friend in the U.S.

UPDATE: I just saw this on their wonderful blog. Freaky!

Succulents

As head of the Succulent Appreciation Society, there’s been a noticeable lack of succulent appreciation happening around here of late, which is simply not on.

Enter: the newest members of the team, sittin’ pretty above. I love how the spiky cactus has delicate little white flowers growing out of it for tricks. Oh nature, you crazy beast, you!

Brights

A lovely pink folder for dreams and schemes, neon Post It’s for my goal wall and stripey material for my Mexican fiesta/ colour-fest birthday celebrations coming up next month.

Colour me happy. Everyone needs a bit of bright in their life.

Ten Pin Bowling Shenanigans!

With the focus very much on ‘play’ and ‘fun’ over the weekend (the antidote to way too much computer time), Ramai and I decided to do something we’ve never done together and go ten pin bowling with my brother’s Andy (the extremely tall one above) and Kaidyn (who is actually not far off me in height and he’s only 10!)

The rules were simple and silly: if you got a strike you had to do an interpretative dance of some kind, which was… enlightening. Ha!

As you can see, I started strong (for both games actually) but totally got beaten by the boys in the end. Next time, gentlemen, next time.

That’s me! What about you sweet pea? What’s warmed the cockles of your heart of late? Share away below. x

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Making Me Happy

17 October, 2012

I’ve been doing some ‘Big Picture’ thinking lately and lovingly putting all areas of my life under the microscope to see what’s aligned, what’s out of whack, what I’m working towards, what I want to create and as I mentioned in my newsletter, how I want to feel.

I love diving deep with self-examination and I’ll write about my intentions for the rest of the year on a separate post, but I want to mention here – as a prelude to that post – that I think it’s so important to do these regular “check in’s” to see how satisfied you are with the various areas of your life. It can be a simple or detailed as you like – rank the key areas of your life from 1 – 10, ask yourself which ones need a little TLC and decide what action is needed to bolster the lowest ranked areas. Review, celebrate (your accomplishments, how far you’ve come) and clarify.

To give you a personal example, I’m not 100% satisfied with the ‘health’ area of my life at the moment, because being satisfied means cooking nourishing meals most nights of the week, eating salads for lunch daily and exercising/ moving my body in some way every day. They’re all out of alignment currently, and I gotta tell you, a lot of it is due to taking on too much work. I’ve let work barge its way in and take over, and without shining a light on this energy leak, it would have been very easy to coast along ‘as is,’ feeling sub-par and kind of off.

Thankfully, it all comes down to making a decision to change what’s not working.

Today – and every day – I want to remind you (and me) that:

The time is now. The place is here. What comes next is totally up to you.

You deserve happiness, you deserve to be fulfilled in every area of your life. Look at your stories – who told you that nothing comes easy, that you have to sacrifice everything for your big dream?

Dialling down your power doesn’t serve anyone, beautiful. You’re a conduit, a high vibin,’ miracle magnet and YOU are in control.

And like the poster says, amongst other things, why don’t you go out and read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful? Because you know what? You totally are.

Musings and pep ups aside, there’s been lots to get excited about this week so read on to discover what’s been lighting up my life of late…

Cosmo Bride

Look! Our Big Day, adorning the glossy pages of Cosmo Bride!

Super thrilled to have our wedding featured in the Summer edition of the only wedding mag I ever bought when we were going through the planning process. Definitely one to show the grandkids one day, eh?

Holidays

While I was in Melbourne, my hunk of a husband tackled three tasks that I ~~have been procrastinating on~~ hadn’t had time to get to – booking our honeymoon (Italy, we’ll be seeing you in May 2013!), locking down a five day getaway in Byron Bay for my 30th next month (my party will fall on the Saturday of said getaway) and on a less-exciting front, cleaning out the fridge.

Whatta man, whatta man, what a mighty good man.

Guest Posting

My name twin Rach from Little Bits of Lovely invited me over to her site last week to share the beauty products that are on high rotation for me right now. Head over for a peek inside my beauty cupboard.

Daily Inspiration

Don’t you love when awesome people create just the thing you’ve been waiting for? I was stoked when I heard Dani from Positively Present had released a shiny new offering, Stay Positive – a beautiful book loaded with every day reminders and musings for magical living. All 365 days of the year are covered and it’s broken up into monthly themes including Relationships, Self-Love, Motivation (and more).

This generous, uplifting offering has certainly brought me joy this week and I know I’ll be referring back to it many a time. One to leave on the desk at work, for sure.

Thongs!

And not that type of thong, my American friends. No one loves thongs that much… except maybe Sisqo.

One guess what I’ll be living in this summer?

Mexican Beach Blanket

Speaking of summer and to continue the colour theme, our new Mexi beach blanket arrived yesterday from a fantastic company I discovered recently, Hammock Heaven (website + ebay). I’ve been chatting with the owner Ana over email and she’s a total sweetheart. Good service makes all the difference.

I adore pulling this post together every week. I’ve said it before and I’ll invariably spout it off ’til the end of time – drawing attention to the goodness that exists in our lives is so incredibly powerful. ‘Things’ become more than just a purchase, they represent something that adds beauty to our world. ‘Words’ become more than words, they become sustenance for our soul. A sunny day is more than ‘just another day’ – it’s something to be marvelled at, a blessing to be celebrated.

Find the joy in a smile from the stranger at the supermarket or the good news shared by a friend.. and of course, get your list happening in the comments below. I’m hanging to hear what’s rocked you this week!

Image: rocketrictic

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Making Me Happy

10 October, 2012

Good morning hot stuff! I couldn’t agree more with the above – what do you think?

Read on for a list of the things that have rocked my world this week – simple soul-warmers that have softened the edges of what has been another full-o-action week in the life of Rach!

Farmers Market Goodies

Oh how I love a good jaunt around the Farmers Markets! Amongst bags of fresher than fresh veggies, on Saturday we picked up some to-die-for pineapple and this raw chocolate fudge slice from Raw Ecstasy (ecstasy – ain’t that the truth!) which ended up being my breakfast. Oops.

(In case you were wondering, I promise it wasn’t as huge as it looks in the pic. If only.)

* For some awesome raw/ vegan dessert recipes to whip up at home, check out this section on Vegie Head.

Dinner With My Bro

My brother Andy has been working in North Queensland for the past 6 weeks so it was awesome to catch up with him (after making this quick video, of course).

We ate Thai food, laughed a lot, mused on the ways Andy and my other brother Ryan (26 and almost 25, respectively) had changed in the past year. We all hit that point – and if I had to pluck some numbers out of the air, I’d say 25 and then again around 30 years of age are just of those two “milestones” – where change is bright and bold and obvious, rather than beige and slow and under-the-radar.

I feel like the three of us are all at that point in our lives right now. Transitioning. Wiggling around. Stepping into new skin. Uh huh.

Melbourne

I’m off to Melbourne tomorrow and I thought I’d give you a sneaky-peek into What I’ve Packed to Wear to the Problogger Conference.

Sass & Bide silk pants, floral shirts, boots, some basic tees and my sequin jacket (for Friday night) all made the cut.

(Please excuse the shocking photo, I’m racing out the door!)

This Quote

I remember listening to a Pearl Jam live concert around 1997 or so and before playing “Daughter,” Eddie Vedder mumbled in his gorgeous, husky voice: “This one’s for whoever wants it.” The crowd went crazy.

In borrowing from my good friend Eddie here, I’ve shared a quote below on purposefully straying from “The Path”… and it goes out to whoever wants it (or whoever needs the comfort of those words today).

A poignant reminder that we’re never lost when we veer off the path, we’re simply wandering new trails that lead us to exactly where we need to go.

“Sometimes, following unknown paths, we find ourselves in a maze of growth, in failing light, unsure where we are, flailing through jungles of stiff, impenetrable shrubs and sharp briars in deceptively benign-looking woods. All at once we realise we are lost, unable to retrace our steps. Then, suddenly, we come out onto a paved highway, far from where we thought we were, feeling a gratefulness and a relief we are ashamed to acknowledge.” | Robert Finch

Creative Inspiration, Every Day

I hazard a guess that you’ve heard of Julia Cameron’s celebrated book The Artist’s Way – a ground-breaking and spiritual tome on the creative process. The book shown above serves a follow on from The Artist’s Way, with daily creative reminders laid out for all 365 days of the year. It’s pretty darn brilliant.

Never one to follow suit completely, instead of reading consecutive pages, I love leaving things up to the Universe and flicking to a random page to see what words of wisdom lie before me.

Freakishly, I landed on the pages below (the correct date for today). WHAAAAAT?! Seriously! Guess the Universe likes order and sequence after all!

Other bits + bobs:

Lovely gifts in the mail (and a bottle of Moet from my boss!) + holiday scheming + that summer feeling + Burleigh on the weekends – I love seeing people milling around, sipping coffee in cafes, lazing at the beach, riding their bikes, holding hands, LIVING + Super Soul Sunday + emails from readers that bring tears to my eyes and warm me from the inside out. Thank you. x

+ What’s on your love list this week, superstar? You know sharing positive experiences gives them wings so go ahead, make EVERYONE’S day by unleashing your joy right here in the comments!

PS: In the past 5 weeks, just short of 2000 people have downloaded my eBook More Magic, All the Time (which kinda blows my mind). To ensure you don’t miss out on the action, simply fill in the deets below and hightail it to your inbox to get your hands on your free treat!

Images: Fellow Fellow | Yellow Bird Yellow Beard

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Making Me Happy

3 October, 2012

Hello, hi, hooray! I’m awash in the afterglow of a weekend centred around ‘flow.’

I mentioned in my first email love letter (sign up in the box at the top of the sidebar) last Friday that my major focus is committing 100% to how I feel.

I start most days with a visualisation – a moment of pause where I wait for a special word to wriggle its way out of my subconscious – and lately, ‘productive’ and ‘energetic’ have been stealing the show. Work, work, work, busy, busy, work. But something’s now changed. After Friday’s commitment fluttered out into the ether, a new word has rolled into town and it’s F.L.O.W.

Peaceful, joyous, ease ‘n’ flow. It’s simplicity is breathtaking.

What I’m enormously grateful for right now is that by inviting flow in, I actually feel more energetic. By taking the time to marinate in delicious, slow, peaceful ‘being’ on the weekend, I feel more productive. I actually feel like I have more hours in the day (watch this video by Gabby Bernstein on time bending – I found it on the weekend and nodded the whole way).

Let’s uncomplicate things, gorgeous. What’s your word going to be today? What feels powerful, peaceful, comforting or commanding?

Drop your declaration in the comments below, then think about setting a reminder in your phone so it pops up and surprises you. Scrawl it on a Post-It, stick it on your computer and write it on your heart. One word mantras are the way of the future!

Long Weekends

Seriously, how good are they? I think the thing I love most about having 3 days off is you can mix in just the right blend of everything – a big dollop of relaxation, a generous helping of social cheer and a pinch of work.

My weekend in review:

+ Friday night Ramai went to I dinner at our favourite ‘local’ Justin Lane. And yes, we do pretty much go there every weekend.

+ Saturday was spent having breakfast with my besty and later, watching the AFL Grand Final with the crew. Rekorderlig cider. Yum. That is all.

+ Sunday was a silly day filled with grey day beach walks, this Coachella 2012 vid (hello teenage memories!) laughing our heads off all day (can’t get enough of hanging with my husbo, he’s the best company ever) and visiting my brother, and then Monday I plonked myself at the computer all day – except for when our power mysteriously went out for a couple of hours – and got to work.

Dear World, I’d like to put in a request for more long weekends. Thanking you.

Wise Women Council

Thrilled to be featured among a bevy of inspiring women in Lisa Claudia Briggs Wise Woman Council.

Click here to read all the rituals for loving self-care and to have a poke around her beautiful corner of the web. Ahh… a hug for the spirit.

Lorna Jane

Pump up the jam. Some sweet new exercise gear found its way into my wardrobe this week and I know it’s a big call but the sports bra above could be the best I’ve ever owned. No booby bouncing here (not that there’s much to bounce, but yoooou know).

Gratitude

(amazing botanical poster by Pierre-Joseph Redoute, from Art.com which is chock-full of goodness).

I wanted to share this beautiful quote on gratitude because I think the line “allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies” is just divine.

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” | John Milton

The glorious thing about actively practicing gratitude is that brings about more of those “everyday epiphanies.” Small wins hold greater meaning, beauty is omnipresent and blessings find a way into your heart space. I truly, truly believe that what we focus on increases, and focusing on what’s already fulfilled, or what’s already abundant in our lives means those gifts keep showing up.

More magic, all the time.

The Dip

Practical, pithy, potent. I love the way Seth dishes up his advice. This book is no exception and I whipped through it with glee last night.

Favourite line? You’re astonishing. How dare you waste it.

Art Prints

In. Love. (find them here and here).

Little bits o’ lovely:

AstroStyle – I can’t believe these ‘scopes are free, they’re so good! + Your responses to my first newsletter sent my heart a-flutter, so thank you x a bajillion for being you + Melbourne trip next week – looking forward to a change of postcode for a few days and to meeting some of you guys (yay) + early bed times + planners covered with neon highlights + connections with people I admire overseas. And kisses. Always kisses.

Your turn! Share your ‘guiding word’ in the comments below and unleash what you’re grateful for this week. What’s made you smile, lovely?

Top illustration via Poppytalk

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Making Me Happy

26 September, 2012

This week in a nutshell? A potent cocktail of action, with a minty fresh sprig of reflection.

The action-y parts were scattered throughout the week, but most of the reflection happened as I was out walking yesterday when I started doing a bit of a mental whiz through my life as it stands – almost as if I was the coach of Me, challenging myself with probing questions and waiting to see what answers would bubble up.

Where are you going? Where are you growing? What do you believe? How have you changed? What’s off-kilter?

As far as answers go, right now, I know I’m inching closer to a new beginning… but I’m also tripping myself up a little by trying to do All Things instead of laser-focusing in on the worthwhile things that take me closer to my dream. That was lesson number one.

Lesson two was that I need to make the time – create some ‘white space – to do some inner work and to come up with my grand 2013 plan. I have plenty of ideas swirling but it’s all a bit nebulous at the moment and I get the feeling that it might take a mini-break for me to get that all out of my head and into some sort of form. Sometimes separating yourself from daily doing is what it takes for the creative stuff to really flow out properly.

So onto this week’s Making Me Happy list, which is a bit of a mixed bag (as usual!) Before we dive in I want to ask you the same questions: Where are YOU going? Where are YOU growing? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, sista!

Wedding Styling

On Saturday I put my wedding decorating boots on and headed to Brisbane, where I joined our friend Kris from Little Gray Station to style a wedding at Bleeding Hearts art gallery.

With just a few hours to transform the space, some mega styling superpowers were called upon and thankfully all came together beautifully in the end.

It wasn’t until I was driving home – buzzing, exhausted, creatively pumped – that it dawned on me that working fast really is my bag. I’m not sure if I should utter that out loud for fear of inviting more of that crazy energy into my life (!!) but I do generally work better – calmer, more efficiently – when the pressure is on.

(That said, there’s no-freaking-way I could do that every weekend… and to any wedding stylists reading – you cray. Hats off).

Sundays

Whales frolicking in the distance, sunny blue skies, a copy of The Coaching Blueprint in hand (brilllllliant) and my love by my side on the sand. Another perfect morning in Byron.

Ramai and I jumped in the car early on Sunday morning so we could make the most of the day down south, and after breakfast at The Top Shop (always a winner) we sprawled out on our towels for a few hours for some much-needed chill time – complete with dreamin’ + schemin’ + plenty of scribblin’ in my trusty Moleskine.

Later on in town I picked up a fab new Element “beach bag” (well, technically it’s an overnight bag but I’m using it for beaching) and we ate the yummiest Thai at Asia Joe’s.

The last stop of the day, to round out the weekend magnificently, was an afternoon with friends at Burleigh hill. Summer is a-coming.

Hypoxi + Infra Red Sauna-ing

Hello impending 30th birthday! I’m back on the Hypoxi train and this time around I’m adding 20 – 30 minute Far Infrared saunas into the mix to really ramp up the detoxing/ toning/ butt blasting (not to mention, to add in some requisite relaxo time).

Will be sure to report back in the next month about how the combo is going.

Love Notes

It’s been almost 4 weeks since I launched my very first e-offering, ‘More Magic, All the Time: 20 Ways to Create Your Best Life Ever’ and I’m so thrilled that many of you have felt moved to contact me with sweet words about the book and its message. It seriously warms the very outer edges of my heart to hear that it spoke to you in some way, or simply put a skip in your step. I love the eBook format and can’t wait to brew up something else early next year.

If you haven’t yet got your hands on a copy, jump to it gorgeous – it’s free and may just rock your socks.

The first joyful step towards making magic is just below…

Audiobooks

My new obsession. Although I’ve read 2 out of the 3 books I’m about to mention, there’s something insanely motivating about listening to inspiring words on long (or short) drives – especially when there’s limited time in your life for ACTUAL reading.

I’ve been immersing myself in the wise words of Tony Robbins (Unlimited Power), Danielle LaPorte (Firestarter Sessions) and Louise Hay’s Receiving Prosperity, and funnily enough, after listening to the latter just before bed on Sunday night, I woke up on Monday morning to find I’d made some money in my sleep. Bring more of that subliminal goodness on, baby!

Interviews

Grateful for the delightful abundance of interviews over the past little while (actually, I think the 3 interviews – oh, and a guest post – I completed last week may have taken the interview total to about 25 or so this year!) Blessed.

I love that interviews are like having yourself over for a cuppa and a chat… or examining yourself really closely in the mirror. While applying red lippy, of course.

Mo’ love:

My family and their new kitten Storm (beyond adorable) + The Lifestyle Transformation Guide + excitement for the second B-School meetup this weekend – I love those babes! + cuddles + watching Marie Forleo rock the shiz outta her conference on one of the B-School bonus vids + this affirmation: “I attract like-minded, soulful, super positive beings of light into my life” – I’m all about deep connections + support right now + YOU GUYS. Seriously, could you be any cooler?

“Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.” ~ Rumi

+ Blow a kiss to the Universe and tell us in the comments: what are you thankful for?

Images: Striking Truths | Alannah Hill

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Making Me Happy

19 September, 2012

Welcome to another shiny edition of Making Me Happy! I’m going to dive right in today gorgeous souls. My love list this week includes:

Sequins!

Oww! I got my MJ on over the weekend with my sparkly new black sequin jacket, which I’m kinda crazy about.

Le Jacket made its debut at dinner with the girls on Saturday night, and let me tell you sista, it was a crowd pleaser.

(PS: I’m assuming the dancing is to blame for my “swept back” hair in the first pic. Well, that and the miniature wind machine I carry around in my handbag…)

Daily Rocks

I’ve heard Danielle LaPorte and a few other inspirational ladies mention Patti Digh, and for some reason or another, I’d never found my way to her site – until yesterday, that is, where I was thrilled to discover Patti’s Daily Rocks,

The Daily Rocks are essentially daily meditations and writing prompts – short snippets of wisdom, pithy combinations of words – and it’s their simplicity that makes them so brilliant. Love.

Neon Jewels

The neon obsession continues. My favourite colour combo at the moment is WITHOUT. A. DOUBT lime green and light grey (or white) and I can already tell the beaded necklace I picked up on the weekend is going to be on high rotation over the coming months. The perfect complement for a crisp white shirt. Yum.

* Just on neon, thank you so much for all your beyond-wonderful comments on the neon hanging planter giveaway. I had a grand old time reading through them, so much happy in there!

Running Meditation

In reference to my post from last night, I’ve spent a few days floating between digital fatigue, inertia and complete happiness (yes, it’s possible to feel really calm and slightly over it at the same time!) and yesterday I decided to kick the first two not-so-awesome feelings in the butt by testing out something new: running meditation.

I normally run with a friend from work and Ramai but yesterday I went out on my own and started clearing my mind by visualising a clear, open room with a treasure chest in the corner (to contain reckless, swirling thoughts). The room – which of course, was Pinterest-worthy (haha) – was wide and airy with sunlight streaming through the big windows, and as I ran around the Burleigh headland, I pictured energy flooding through the space and me literally picking up rogue thoughts and putting them in the chest.

This might sound kinda wacky, but let me tell you, by the time I got home I felt 286566 times better. Give it a go if you’re a visual creature too.

Karen Walker

In lurrrrrve with my new Karen Walker Super Duper Strength sunnies.

Glasshouse Candles

Unsurprisingly, another oozing-with-deliciousness scented candle by Glasshouse has made its way into our home.

I have to warn you though if you buy one of these for yourself – this fragrance is dangerous. It literally smells like caramel tarts, which may or may not lead to eating said caramel tarts (What? It was a friend’s birthday!)

This Awesome Infographic

A handy little chart from Paid to Exist for differentiating between a “hobby” and a “passion.” Love it.

Prettifying + Creative Goodness

I’m helping friends out with the styling/ set up of a wedding this weekend and I’m really looking forward to dipping my toes back into the wonderful world of weddings for the day!

I’m picturing you sitting there with a cheeky little smile on your dial, and I want to know: why are you happy right now? What’s bringing you joy? Share your love list in the comments below!

Images: Jose Villa

PS: I’m super proud to tell you that my eBook More Magic, All the Time is resonating with a boatload of special souls. Get a free copy of your own below!

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