Not the best start to the week being woken up by an earthquake at 3.30am. The epicenter was quite close to where I live so it was a violent one : ( This one was no help at all, thanks Buddy.

Watching some Fuller House while I eat my lunch! I made a quick quinoa stir-fry with tofu. I needed some energy for work and I knew this would do the trick.

I figured out that the reason I have no energy is because I'm getting ill. I'm filling my meals with chili and ginger to help kick it out of my system. Coffee is my productivity saviour!

Vitamin C packed smoothies are also a must-have for fighting off a cold! Pineapple, kiwifruit, oranges, and frozen raspberries just because I love them.

Night off work = watching Teen Wolf without anyone moaning. Oh how I wanted Theo to be one of the good guys, didn't trust him from the start. Still cute though.

Desperately tried to get through Son of Neptune because I have so many exciting reads sitting on my shelf! I actually liked this one a lot more than I thought I would.

Rocking the pink leather jacket again. I was also blessed with a good hair day too! Hallelujah!

Friday morning and I'm still fighting my cold. It's not enough to stop me, but waking up to a sore throat is never nice. Echinacea drops are the absolute best at stopping colds! Over-dosing on vitamin C isn't a bad idea either. Survival 101 with Steph!

Aaannd the tofu cravings are back. I seriously need the quinoa for extra energy today! It's been one of those kinds of Fridays. I very nearly left my iphone that had dropped out of my bag onto the ground at the park carpark. Thank goodness I had an urge to check Twitter!

Let introduce you to lemon heaven a.k.a lemon protein balls from Lola Berry's cookbook. These honestly taste like lemon meringue pie, yet they're not bad for you! Just a mix of almond meal, lemon juice/zest, protein powder, and a few other ingredients. I'm already addicted...

Kinda obsessed with my new slouchy top! Perfect for a lazy Sunday, until I spilled coffee on it 5 minutes later...

I tried out another Lola Berry recipe and made Paleo Banana and Cranberry bread. It tastes amazing! I thought it might come out a bit dry since one of the main ingredients is almond meal, but it's dense and lovely.

I powered through this book in about three days and I can't wait to share my review of it! It is a serious YA fiction game-changer. It blew my mind!

How was your week everyone? Mine was a little tougher than usual, but still good! Trying out new recipes and finding a new favorite book were the highlights for me. I also had my second boxing lesson and broke in my new gloves. 

What was a highlight from your week? 

Steph x. 

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Weekly Snaps Diary #7

One of the phone cases I bought on a late night Aliexpress session arrived! I'm in love with it. Cue lots of bathroom selfies...

I finished Crown of Midnight this week and it was So. Damn. Good. I highly recommend this series.

It has me hooked again, guys. I can't stop watching Teen Wolf! Season 5 is so gritty and I love it. 

Here's my current photography set up: white card on my bed, which is beside a nice big window. If you see any flat lays on Instagram, this is how I do it : )

A little fitness update for you! Things are going super-well at the moment, the biggest thing being that I've dropped from 65kgs to 60kgs (woohoo!) I'm not going crazy, just using the My Fitness Pal app to track my kilojules and stop my late night snacking habit. I can also plank for two minutes!

I shouted myself two new books today! My local store had buy one, get one half price, so I made straight for the fiction section. I thought since it's Valentine's day on Sunday I would treat myself.

My beloved Under Armor trainers have now reached the end of their running ability, so I had to hunt for the perfect replacement. I went back to Nike since their Zoom Structure models are amazing for running, I love the design too.

This totally happened. Ben Brown a.k.a one of my favorite YouTubers and biggest inspirations in life, liked my tweet that I tagged him in. How cool is that?

We went off to see Deadpool on Saturday night and it was so freaking good! It was hilarious and Ryan Reynolds was on point with everything. It's so refreshing to get a unconventional superhero. I highly recommend you go watch it!

Sunday morning isn't complete without blueberry pancakes! Oh and puppy cuddles.

Loving my new running shorts from Cotton On Body. I think the coolest part is that they match my tattoo! It's been so hot here lately that I'm now living in my running shorts, but I love it.

Yet another Sunday night curry. I have to say that Indian is one of my favorite comfort foods of all time. I spent some time organizing blog stuff and put on a chick-flick to finish off a great week.

Some unexpected gems happened this week! I also hit 700 followers on Twitter and 250 lovely people following my blog, so thank you to everyone! You are amazing <3

How was your week? Let me know in the comments!
Steph x.

Weekly Snaps Diary #6

All I need for relaxing afternoon off work: coffee and a book.

My bookshelves had become way too messy in these past few weeks so I had to spend a good chunk of my day rearranging my books. Now I'm one happy (and kinda-organized) bookworm.

It's been raining for four days! Why Christchurch? I desperately need to take blog photos, but the lighting is terrible #bloggerproblems

If you saw my post, you'll know I made galaxy cupcakes! I used the recipe from Rosanna Pansino's cookbook Nerdy Nummies. They were a lot easier to make than I thought and taste amazing!

I made my own gnocchi for dinner! It's just Ricotta cheese, flour and an egg.

I finally got a new drink bottle! It's the perfect size (950ml) so it's not too big, yet I know I only have to drink two of these a day to stay hydrated. I like keeping track of those kinds of things; plus the writing describes me perfectly!

Oh I've missed Dan and Phil! They brought out a new Sims video this week and I have completely forgotten how funny there are. I also had another personal training session today and I'm really excited to get back and work on my dead-lifts. 

Here's my typical Saturday morning set-up: breakfast in bed while I watch YouTube, chat on Twitter and get some blog work done. I usually work at my desk, but weekends are for relaxing!

We went to the Re-Start mall to check out our favorite fitness store Lululemon. I could honestly spend so much money in there! Plus we had to stop for coffee even though it was a scorching hot day.

We drove by a new playground in the city center and decided to stop for ice-cream. It's hard in Christchurch nowadays to find somewhere bustling with people, so this was really nice.

Sunday always means baking! I tried the chocolate chip cookie recipe from Nerdy Nummies and they turned out great. I did manage to burn my fingers quite badly taking them out of the oven (oops!) but it was worth it for these. 

 I pretty much spent that remaining hours of Sunday editing posts and watching Dan and Phil Games on YouTube. A relaxing way to end a great week!

I hope January is treating you well so far : )
What was your favorite part of the past week?

Steph x.

Weekly Snaps Diary #5

Hello Everyone!

It started raining when I went out for a run, so I set myself up for a a cozy afternoon: home-made soup, reading lots of lovely blogs, and having a Captain America marathon.

This is my dogs new spot that he goes to on a hot day (my closet) we can usually only see his feet poking out.

I made my Dad some chocolate chip cookies for his birthday! They were supposed to come out flat and chewy, but I accidentally used self-raising flour instead of plain (oops!) They still tasted amazing! I used the recipe from the Tea With Bea cookbook (one of my all-time favorites for baking).

 

Finally got my hands on it! I felt quite groggy all day, so I took a social media break to just lay in bed and watch it. It was just what I needed!

Check out what I got my brother for his birthday! It's BB-8 from the new Star Wars movie and he loved it. It's remote controlled and makes the cutest noises. My brother may be 26 years old now, but he is still one of the coolest people I know. 

My weekend lip color: Maybelline Baby Lips Candy Wow "Raspberry" and Fleur de Force lip gloss "Starlight." It came out a lovely rose-pink! I'm thinking it will be my new favorite pairing.

We actually had two birthdays in our family to celebrate this week, so we all had dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant. It was amazing as always and satisfied my cravings I had been having all week.

 To finish off the evening we went off to see the new Star Wars movie on Saturday night! I absolutely loved it. I REALLY want to see it again...

Spent my Sunday getting ready for Christmas! I wrapped some of my brother's presents while my Mum was busy making sugar cookies. Anything to make Christmas Eve less stressful.

I set out to complete another item on my Christmas bucket-list, making meringues! I was surprised by how well they turned out, to be honest. It makes me excited for Christmas food already!

Only 5 days until Christmas! How are you guys getting ready?

Steph x.

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A Christmas Afternoon Snaps Diary

Hello Everyone!

I decided to spend my Sunday getting lots of Christmas stuff ready, seeing as it's now less than two weeks away (seriously, how?!) It turned out to be a perfect day for baking, and mother nature even turned out backyard white for a little while.

I really wanted to practice making a gingerbread house and I found a healthy recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks, The Happy Cookbook which is one of my favorites to use.

We had a crazy storm come through with thunder lightning passing directly above us. It even turned our back yard white with hail stones. Believe it or not, it's supposed to be summer right now.

And our Christmas tree is finally up! No one else in my family was that enthusiastic about it, so I took it upon myself to decorate it. I tried to stick with a red/white/gold theme and I love how it turned out. Now it's really starting to feel like Christmas!

A tradition we always have at Christmas is to make a big brunch for everyone. Since my Mum is gluten-free I thought I would try out a recipe for pancakes made with Buckwheat flour, using the same recipe book as before. I added some cacoa powder to make them chocolate flavored, because why not!

They were really good actually, especially with strawberries. Buckwheat can taste quite nutty so I might add some sweetener next time. This is why we experiment, folks!

She wasn't happy that we moved her bed to make room for the tree...

The lightning storm came back and actually blew out our router, so we had no wifi until my brother replaced it with our old one. Believe me, I was starting to panic!

 I decided to watch a bit of Sherlock to pass the time. I forgot how much I missed it!

My healthy batch of gingerbread didn't work out so I made another one and it turned out great, thank goodness! I've never had much luck baking gingerbread.

So it all seemed to be going well, but then I broke one of the ends...

I mastered the art of baking, but not the construction! As you can see it turned into a bit of a disaster...I was getting quite agitated by this point so I called it a night. Never ever bake in bad mood!

Never mind the baking disaster, it was still a lovely afternoon and the house is definitely feeling more festive now! I shall try the gingerbread house construction again next week. Always live and learn.

How do you like this style of post? It was quite fun to make. 

Steph x.

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