It's been a rather impromptu post today, but one that seems to have cheered me up. I lost a whole post that I had written out and it had taken me days to do so. Oh well, on wards and up wards. I was having fun looking at Etsy for the cutest dog items for our new puppy and thought it would be a good idea to share my favorite finds. Sometime's it's more fun shopping for your pet anyway ;) 

Dog Tie Bandana from Khlausing Shop 

Everything in this collection is absolutely beautiful and it's hard to pick a favorite print. They also make dog beds, leads, and collars. These would be something really special to have. It would definitely make you want to take your pooch out to show off how good they look in it. 

Dogs Are My Favorite People T-Shirt 

Because it doesn't get more relatable than this! I could definitely rock this while out walking my dog. They also have a cat version if you are so inclined. 

Engraved Dog Tags 

I so love the style of these and the customization is awesome. You can choose silver or copper, what to write on the back, and also what small symbols will go around the name. This might just be my top pick for Enzo's name tag. 

Key Hook by CypressandWhim 

I am definitely going to need one of these! I know they're a little cheesy, but I'm gonna need a cool hook for his lead anyway, right? The only problem is that shipping to NZ will cost just as much as the purchase, so I might use it as inspiration for my own DIY project. 

Custom Drawings by OnekoShoppe 

This would make a perfect present for my Mum, since her dog Bond is everything to her. You can choose from a couple of different designs, but I thought this one was particularly beautiful. 

Bulldog Baseball Hat 

I thought this was a really cute way to show your love of dogs. The pink color is so pretty (you can also get blue, purple, green, grey, black, dark blue, and aqua.) Perfect for those sunny walks in the park, with or without a dog. 

Best Friends Matching Key Chains 

I've seen these online before I secretly really want one. It would just be such a cute little reminder of your four-legged friend you'll be going home to see. 

Some pretty cute stuff, huh? These would definitely make great gifts to anyone who's obsessed with dogs. I've definitely got a few in mind for some friends and family. Plus I love supporting small businesses! 

Hope you enjoyed this shorter post today. I was going to have a break, but I'm glad I kept my creative juices going and put something together. 

What are your fav items?

Steph x. 

Five Other Ways To Use Instagram

Whether you love it, hate it, or you sit somewhere in between, Instagram is a massive part of the blogging world. I try to avoid any negativity I can and just enjoy it for being an awesome creative platform. I love posting photos and I love seeing others with their beautiful content. It calms me, gives me inspiration, and it's a fun extension of the blogging world.

But is it just for posting and looking at photos? Definitely not. That's just the start of the fun. 

Plan your travels

My family and I have made a few trips the US over the last five years and I have found Instagram to be so damn useful for finding great spots. By searching through hashtags and finding some local accounts, you'll find some awesome recommendations. Foodie places, where to hang out, and most importantly, where to take the best pics for your Insta. You always wanna know where the locals go.


Cafe Reviews

Ever since the earthquakes took out a lot of our city life back in 2012, there has been room for plenty of up and coming cafes to come onto the scene. There's a girl I follow called Christchurch Foodie who tries all the new spots and shares her favorite spots. I get excited whenever I see her post so I can plan where to check out at the weekend. Local Instas are the best for seeing what's good in your city. Even when she does trips to other parts of the country, I take note for when I might visit and follow the epic places she eats at. Find people who specialize in your area and use them as your city guide.


Celebrate your pet

I'm a sucker for animal Instagrams and there are some talented people out there that rock at it. And who doesn't love looking at pictures of cute cats and dogs? This is really fun way to work on your photography skills and show the world why your pet is cutest ever. You can bet I'll be making one for my future dog!


Find new bloggers

I spend quite a bit of time going through different hashtags (#lbloggers #thegirlgang) and spread some love with likes. If I like someone's style I will go check out the link to their blog and it's led me to finding some really awesome new bloggers to follow. We all know how hard it is (impossible even) to grow an audience on Instagram, so showing a little support here and there can mean the world to someone.


Healthy Recipe Ideas

There have been a few people over the years that I've followed for their fitness inspiration, especially if they remain big foodies too. You can find awesome recipes for smoothies, protein waffles, cookies, almost anything! I normally take a screenshot and use it as inspiration for the next time I wanna try out something new.

Well there you go! Five fun new ways to explore Instagram and renew your love for the platform. 

These are pretty much my favorites and what I do on an average Sunday afternoon. 

What's your favorite way to use Instagram?

Steph x. 

Life Update: We're Getting A Puppy!

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick post to announce some pretty exciting news that I can't stop thinking about. And I can't express how FLIPPING EXCITED I AM! 

Steve and I talked about getting a dog long before we even moved in together and he knew it was not negotiable with a dog-obsessed girl like me. It was all I wanted for Christmas/my birthday last year and we knew 2018 would be the year to adopt a pup. 

I've always grown up with dogs and now that I'm at the point in my life where I could have one of my own, I was determined to make it happen. 

On Thursday afternoon I got to my Mum's house to pick her up for work and the first thing she said was that she found Spoodle puppies for sale. I was pretty happy because they don't come up much to buy where I live. We had a look and the puppies where just so beautiful. Spoodles were definitely in my top 5 list of what dog to get too. Obviously it was a big commitment to jump into and a lot of money, but puppies sell so damn fast. I messaged Steve right away to see what he thought/begged him to consider getting one. I said there was no harm in seeing if any of the boys were available, so he emailed the owner for me. 

We were in luck. 

Three boys were still up for adoption and we could visit them at 7.30pm the next night.

It seemed meant to be for a few reasons. One was that this was the first of many tries to have puppies still available. I think we have made about three phone calls in the last few months that haven't worked out. And also because these pups were actually born on mine and Steve's anniversary/my brother's birthday. That in itself was a sure sign for me. 

All of the puppies looked healthy and happy running around. But despite the cuteness of all six, there was one pup we were sold on from the second we saw him. Enzo was the only black one of the litter, so I loved that he was unique already. The owner allowed us to play with the puppies for a good half an hour which meant that I was in utter bliss. We were definitely in love with little Enzo and despite the owner's daughter being reluctant to give him up, we assured them he would be going to a good home and would be so loved. We paid the deposit swiftly and he was officially ours!


Only a few more weeks until he is big enough to come home, which gives us time to prep the house. It will be the longest time we have to wait for him and I know everyone will get sick of me talking about him. I know we have to go through potty training and a few sleepless nights, but at the end of the day will be having a lovely dog for many years to come. I get excited just thinking about all of the adventures we can go on.

It's a big, big dream come true for us.
You can look forward to lots of updates on Enzo and how he progresses. And he will definitely be getting his own Instagram account soon!

What kinds of doggy posts would you like to see?
Steph x.

Three CrossFit Movements I Love & Three I Suck At

As it says on the official CrossFit website, 

"CrossFit is constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity." 

Meaning: you're never bored, you will get strong at a lot of different movements, and it will really make you sweat. I think that's the main reason I had to leave a normal gym. I was just BORED of repeating the same movements over and over, and going back to do it again the next day. Given how many different movements there are in CF, I really couldn't have fallen into a better sport. 

One day we are sprinting, the next we are weight-lifting, then we are running and coming back to do kettle bell swings (my personal favorite combo.) It's a different workout. different focus, and different strength everyday. 

There's also the downside to trying to be good at everything, but there's a lot of fun in trying. I think everyone has a natural knack for a few movements, or there's at least there's some you love doing when they come up. 

Three I LOVE...

DEADLIFTS

There's something so simple and satisfying about simply lifting a heavy weight from the ground. I've always loved them and get so excited if they're in the WOD. No matter what else we are doing that day, I'll be a happy girl.


HANDSTAND PUSH-UPS

This was one of those movements I picked up really quickly. I never thought I had much upper body strength, but these are almost easier than normal push-ups! They're definitely more fun at least. The gymnastics movements in CF are hard, but you feel like a kid again. I still need to get stronger at them and be more proficient in workouts.


KETTLE-BELLS

Oh yes, I love me some KB's. When these show up in a workout I am immediately more confident and excited for whats to come. For some reason I used to HATE doing them at my old gym, but once they showed up in CrossFit I've enjoyed it. The trick is the get your hips to do all the work and hold on for as long as possible. So chalk up your hands real good (much to my coach's dismay.)

And three I really suck at....

BOX JUMPS

There's no movement I dread seeing in a workout more than that damn wooden box. It all started within my first few weeks of being at my gym. On a Saturday workout one of the girls got me doing a higher jump and I felt good, so in class one morning I set it the same. First jump....my shins go straight into the box and I have to do the workout with blood on my legs. I think your first box jump accident always stays with you. Then after my knee injury I was so afraid to do any kind of explosive movement that might damage it further. It's always a mind game folks. I've been trying to force myself to not chicken out and just do it, but it will still be some time before I feel confident.


ROWING

I think I dread getting on the rower just as much as jumping onto a box. I used to find doing 500m rows for time or 30 calories to be hard, yet tolerable. Then back in 2017 we did a rowathon for charity in teams of four, so we did 10km total each. And you know what? It was the most miserable/painful experience of my life. After the first 1km sprint my whole body was so full of lactic acid that everything hurt and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. I'm not a bad rower, but I would like to be more conditioned for that pain and to be able to push through it.


SNATCHES

This isn't surprising considering my coach told me it would be the most complicated lift I would learn. When you see athletes performing them they just look so cool and it looks so satisfying to get a great lift. And the worst part is that they make it look so easy. But trying it yourself is odd. It's a weird movement and something that takes time and practice to really sync up. I'm gonna work on my overhead squat too, which will make my shoulder stability better and in turn I can snatch more weight.

What are your favorite movements to do when you work out?

Steph x. 

Daily Blog: Mini Golf Date & Lentil Sheppard's Pie!

Happy Monday!

So, it was a bit of a fail this morning. I got up at my usual 5.10am, convincing myself to get dressed and go to class. The program said we were going to be doing overhead squats (something I've been wanting to work on for ages.) Naturally I was already running late because I couldn't figure out how to get my side car mirrors to work.

I managed to get there just on 5.30am, ready to race inside when I find everyone is still waiting in their cars. No coaches had shown up, so we were all waiting to see what to do. I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding and at least I get an early start to the day!

I'm gonna make the most of my free time and read/discover new blogs. There's nothing I love more than a quiet morning to myself, hot coffee by my side, and a whole bunch of reading to do.

Favorite time of the day: Breakfast!
I treated us to some croissants yesterday and it has made my morning. I quickly fried up some eggs and added avocado. Sweet chili sauce inside them just made it perfect. Afterwards I pretty much fell asleep watching TV and napped for an hour. That early start caught up to me!


I was scrolling through Twitter when I people talking about the #GRLPOWR chat coming up and I got so excited because I haven't done a bloggers chat in so long.

I haven't eaten anything since my croissants at 8am, so I'm gonna quickly make a tropical protein smoothie. I just chucked in:
mango
papaya
natural yogurt
coconut whey protein
ice
water

It was just what I needed before going out for a run!

The chat is over and just in time for me to meet Mum. It's hot out so I should come back sweaty!

I actually prefer running when it's cooler out, but I will never be one to complain about a bit of sunshine. And I get more of a tan, so that's always a silver lining.

I had a super-quick tuna rice bowl for lunch and now we are off to play some mini-golf! It was all Steve's idea and I'm so glad we are getting out for a date. It's all themed around our city, Christchurch, and some of the historical buildings affected by the earthquakes. Just one of the many creative ways they have used empty lots throughout the city.

It was so cute and fun. And it turns out I'm not so bad at mini golf as I thought! Yours truly won the game, although I was proud of Steve for getting a hole in one. On one of the trickiest holes too.

Of course we had to walk down to the Margaret Mahey playground where they have food stalls. Steve spotted hot mini donuts for us (he's a keeper, I know.) I was also craving a real-fruit ice cream that I knew was there. Mango and raspberry sounds so good, right?

Look who has come around to spend some time with his big sister!

I'm making lentil Shepard's pie for my meal prep this week, no recipe to follow, I'm just making it up as I go. First step was to saute onions, peppers, and later some mushrooms with vegetable oil and garlic powder.

Then I added two cans of lentils and one can of chopped tomatoes. Then I chucked in all of my favorite spices: turmeric, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, and of course, salt. After letting all the flavors cook together for a while, all I had to do was transfer it to a baking dish and get started on my mash.

I always make it with the same ingredients (garlic powder, butter, salt, and a little milk.)


Time to go to CrossFit and I'm taking Bond with me. He loves watching people and being involved, so he will have fun too.

There was A LOT of overhead squats and snatches on the menu today. We started with some strength work of three heavy overhead squats. I was a little disappointed that I only got up to 30kgs, but I remember I've only done this strength once before,. My wrists obviously aren't going to be used to the weight yet. Still a victory.

Then the workout gave us some more practice. It was for time:

20 Power Snatches
20 Lateral Bar Burpees
20 Over-Head Squats
20 Lateral Bar Burpees
20 Snatches

Yes those snazzy pink lifting shoes are mine <3

I did the workout in an okay time and I went lighter to work on technique. The hot weather got me super-sweaty, so I decided to take Bond for a cool down walk before I headed home.

Of course the first thing I did when I got home was put cheese on my Sheppard's pie and wack it in the oven so I could eat it ASAP. I didn't taste it much when it was in the pan, but my god it's good! So happy with how it turned out. Super-filling too and it will fuel me well for tomorrow.

Bond went back home to Mum, so naturally Ollie knows he can come chill with me again. Steve had some friends come over, so I left them playing NBA and got some blog work done. We made the effort to do some stretches before bed too, a habit we will be keeping in 2018.  Not a bad way to start off the week!



How do you guys like the daily blogs coming back? A little blogger behind the scenes is always fun, right?

Hope you all have an amazing start to the week.
Steph x.