Gorgeous Things Blog » Things n Stuff!

Best of the Gorgeous Things blog

LA — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:49:22 +0000

We’re turning three this week!

I’m so proud of all of us, Gorgeous Things blog turns three this week and it’s thanks to all of you that we made it this far. So a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reads this blog regularly or from time to time. It really has been such a pleasure getting to know some of you so well. An extra special thank you to our gorgeous contributors Angela Stewart, Megan Faulkner and Gabrielle Sutton – I couldn’t do it without you. xoxo

To celebrate, I thought I’d share some of the most popular and a couple of my favourite posts so far.

Free Clothes! Seriously!

admin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:43:30 +0000

Maybe it’s because it’s Sex & the City 2 week, but fashion is currently taking a front seat in my life. I’m finding myself lingering longer in King St shop windows, touching delicate fabrics with a wistful sigh and fantasising about being able to walk daintily in 6 inch spike heels. And you know when you focus on something – it just seems to have a habit of finding it’s way to you in delightfully voluminous quantities.

So it was really no surprise when a chance meeting led me to Nikki Durkin, founder of the soon to be launched fashion swapping website 99 Dresses – Your Infinite Wardrobe of Free Fashion

I’ve got nothing to wear

If you’ve got a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear, this site could really help you to get your fix of something new without the credit card binge, hangover.

There’s two things that you really need to know about 99 Dresses

Nikki’s idea for sharing and swapping clothes with friends and beyond through a website is exactly what I want. I’ve been to a few clothing swap parties which were great. You get to expand your wardrobe without reaching for your wallet. The problem is – there’s never one on 2 days before an event that I need a new dress for! Nikki has solved that problem for me by taking the concept online.
Nikki only left High School last year! She’s now in her first year at university. Even though I don’t want to make too much of her age, as I don’t really believe that it’s relevant if you have a brilliant idea and the gumption to pull it off. I find her idea and passion for pursuing it, more inspiring than her age. But hell yeah – she’s only 18!

Re-use, re-duce, re-cycle & save!

99 Dresses fits perfectly with the Gorgeous Things mantra of looking fabulous and feeling great naturally and I’m seeing it as a sustainable choice for expanding your wardrobe and getting rid of clothing that you no longer want, need or even fit into.

The site launches in a couple of weeks but check out what’s been happening on Facebook on the Anyone Want Free Clothes page.

And sign up to be one of the first to start swapping clothes – for FREE! Go to 99 Dresses to Sign Up

I’d be keeping a very close eye on this website…

If strong language offends – do not click to read this post

LA — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:55:02 +0000

Just had to share this fabulous Facebook page.

Now we all know that foul language isn’t clever or funny, it just shows a lack of vocabulary, right?

Bah!

Who cares, this is just a bit of FUN!

Check it out >>

Intelligent classy well educated women who say @#&% a lot

—–

My apologies to the ladies that were offended by this post. Love, LAx

Take it Personally – Awareness aint Action

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:07:48 +0000

Read this blog for long enough and you’ll start to get a bit angry. What? Angry?

If what you read sometimes here on Gorgeous Things doesn’t make you angry then you’re probably not taking it personally.

Sure we spend quite a bit of time talking about how to take care of your skin without chemical nasties and style your hair without tipping L’Oreal’s chemistry set on your gorgeous hair. BUT I wanted to give myself and everyone else a quick reminder about what’s at the heart of Gorgeous Things.

Here goes:

Beauty & Brains
Awareness & Action
Natural approach first
Nurture yourself so you can nurture others
Nurture the planet

No where does it say that you need to become an activist but we do try to give you the knowledge and means you need to do something positive. Whether it be giving you reviews of earth and people friendly products, or simple ways to cut down your weekly fuel consumption and sometimes ways to feel good naturally so you don’t have to reach for the pharmaceuticals straight away.

One way to make your choices easy is (as my good friend and business partner Christian Jacobsen puts it) think of every dollar you spend as a vote.

Then take this one step further (and this is where Chirstian’s genius really kicks in) think of these votes as – for and against.

Spend a dollar in Subway, McDonald’s or KFC and that’s one vote against your local take-away food store as well as one vote for big fast food chains.

Now there’s a good way to make it personal.

Who are you voting against without really thinking about it?

Oh, and our online magazine launches in a few short weeks. Got something you want to share with Gorgeous Things readers? Well, write it down and if we think it fits well with what I’ve talked about in this post – our 5 values – we’ll publish it when we launch in May. Write about anything you like – max 1000 words.

Got something to say? Want it to be read by tonnes of women? Send it to la@gorgeousthings.com.au

Book Review: The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

Gabrielle — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:58:26 +0000

Reviewed by Gabrielle Sutton

When someone experiences a particular difficult event in their life whether it be a death, divorce or other major life changing experience, advice is usually given to take ‘one day at a time’. What if you knew what tomorrow held? Could you change it? Would you want to change it? And what would be the consequences of changing the future?

Cecelia Ahern’s latest book, The Book of Tomorrow’, tells the tale of a young lady, Tamara, whose whole life is sent into upheaval by a death. The events that follow are outside her control, and she has no one to confide in or support her. The book is set in Ireland (Ahern is Irish). Following the death, Tamara and her mother must move from their home in the exclusive Dublin beachside suburb, Killiney, to live with family outside a remote rural town in southern Ireland.

We all live in our own reality. Cecelia Ahern’s The Book of Tomorrow’explores what happens when we step outside that reality. When we start to realise that our behaviours, expectations and relationships are formed by the very limited environment in which we live. Tamara’s new life and new friends are a far cry from those of her old life.

Cecelia Ahern, like other contemporary Irish authors like Maeve Binchey and Monica McInerney, has the ability to bring to life the unique Irish spirit and humour and rich country side, transporting the reader to Ireland. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Take the DailyWorth Savings Pledge

LA — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:36:30 +0000

Watch your money grow!

I’ve recently signed up to the DailyWorth Newsletter (financial education for women in plain-English) and I’ve gotta tell you – it’s the best thing I’ve done in 2010 so far!

Check it out and if you have something you want to save for in 2010 – take the pledge and get saving.

Here’s the pledge they sent me in my DailyWorth Newsletter this morning. I love the way it’s worded – very action orientated and empowering! Join me in the pledge and make yourself proud of your saving efforts in 2010.

The Pledge

Yes! I pledge to save in 2010.

Yes! I already have a savings account that I would like to contribute to, or I will set one up. I am calling this account my (choose: Emergency Fund/Curve-Ball Fund, or anything you’d like to save toward) savings account. I will set it up by this day: .

Yes! I will automate this savings by setting up a transfer to happen on the day of every month.

Yes! I will start by saving 5% of my monthly income, or an amount that I am comfortable with, specifically $ a month.

Yes! When I am confronted by fear or hypnotized by the latest sale at (name favorite store), I will choose my future and save instead.

Yes! I will be patient with myself, and I won’t let small set backs keep me from reaching my goal of $ saved by December 31st, 2010.

—–

I’m starting 2 accounts, the first one is the sensibly titled “In Case of Emergency – Break Glass” fund – this is where I’ll be putting my 5%. The other, slightly more frivolous fund is “The Little Blue Box Account” – that’s right, I’ll be taking those savings (the money I save by halving my weekly coffee expenditure) straight down to Tiffany & Co in Castlereagh St this coming Christmas and buying myself something nice.

There’s no need for you to make your amount public if you’re not comfortable doing so. It will though help you to be accountable to your pledge if you at least tell someone, I’d suggest your least judgemental friend.

Good Luck! Might see you Christmas shopping (for yourself) at Tiffany’s

Is Yoga really helpful for Managing Arthritis?

Megan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:05:13 +0000

by Megan Faulkner

The Australian Institute of Health and Wellness (www.aihw.gov.au) has recently published (11 September 2009) health expenditure data for arthritis and musculoskeletal disorders in Australia for 2004-05.

More than 6 million Australians are effected by these conditions and direct health care expenditure was $4billion which equates to 7.5% of the total allocated health expenditure in Australia http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10699.

Osteoarthritis accounted for one third of the costs and alot of it is associated with hospital expenditure for hip and knee replacements, and medications.

As someone who suffers from mild Osteoarthritis and who is always looking for the most natural solution to the problem, I thought there must be a functional way of easing this problem. There are many therapies and activities that are thought to help Arthritis, such as Tai Chi, aqua aerobics, osteopathy, Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique. However, as a somewhat biased yoga devotee I was interested in the benefits yoga could provide for treating Arthritis pain and stiffness.

The John Hopkins Arthritis Centre in Baltimore, Maryland ( http://www.hopkins-arthritis.org/patient-corner/disease-management/yoga.html) provides yoga classes for Arthritis sufferers based on over 75 scientific studies as a beneficial from of physical activity. Of those studies only a few have assessed patients with Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis, but those studies found an improvement in joint health, physical functioning, and mental and emotional wellbeing http://www.hopkins-arthritis.org/patient-corner/disease-management/yoga.html#benefits.

Most of all the studies found an overall improvement in quality of life, positive feelings and stress reduction. It is thought that many arthritis sufferers may enjoy yoga more than other forms of exercise and therefore stick with it.

‘Yoga Journal’ magazine has also published blogs and articles discussing the benefits. One study by the Emirates Arthritis Foundation is mentioned and suggests that only 12 sessions of yoga can make a difference to sufferers of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Other studies can be found at http://www.yogajournal.com/search?q=arthritis. Yoga may also ease discomfort for sufferers of osteoarthritis http://www.yogajournal.com/health/2577, especially when props such as blocks, straps and chairs are used to accommodate limitations, and when practiced regularly.

There are many forms of therapy out there and yoga may not be the right one for everyone.

The message is to not let disease or limitation prevent you from trying therapeutic activities that you may enjoy.

Under medical advice explore your options, do research, don’t be afraid to use props or modified techniques to get you started, and sticking with it is important.

Megan visits Cafe Gratitude – San Francisco

Megan — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:21:16 +0000

Interview with Terces and Matthew Engelhart by Megan Faulkner

Cafe Gratitude - San Francisco

I have always been a healthy eater, I am a vegetarian and try to be conscious of getting a fairly good balance of fresh fruit and vegetables in my diet, one of my favorite places to eat in Sydney is IKU for it’s creative raw and macrobiotic meals.

Since moving to San Francisco I have really appreciated it’s focus on sourcing local produce, much of it organically grown. I was intrigued when I first visited Cafe Gratitude, a cafe dedicated to healthy vegan and raw food meals, drinks and delicious desserts.

However, as I have discovered there is so much more to the ‘Cafe Gratitude’ phenomenon than just the food, so I was very excited to have the opportunity to interview the founders of Cafe Gratitude, Matthew and Terces Engelhart.

Tell ‘Gorgeous Things’ readers about the philosophy behind Cafe Gratitude?

Matthew Engelhart I met Terces in September 2000, and about six months later we realised we wanted to have a life together, our children were grown. We said “what’s this life going to look like that we’re going to create”, and we somehow concluded that “how about we just live our life from inner guidence”.

It’s not about strategising how to get to the beach with a Pina Colada and a retirement nest egg, but what if we just followed inner guidence and surrendered to that.

One of the first insights we got was to invent a board game. This board game was to train people in what we call ‘the being of abundence’, to extract people from the ‘scarcity paradigm’, not enough money, not enough time, not enough beauty, not enough love, not enough, not enough, not enough….that human beings have found themselves in.

So we spent a year kind of just sitting down at a blank canvas so to speak, with some dice and some index cards, and we spent a year creating this game. About a year into that we got the idea to develop a workshop around the game, to write a book around the game, then finally because we saw how difficult it was to inspire people to take time to do a workshop…everyone has to eat, lets have a gaming parlour where people come and have coffee, eat a croissant and play this game.

In the mean time we tried to experiment with a raw food diet on Terces insight. We tried it for thirty days and felt so good and so alive, and so clear that we said “Oh I guess it’s going to be a raw food gaming parlour. I would say that’s the humble beginnings.

So the Cafe actually started out of the game?

Terces Engelhart Yes, we created the game first

And the name of the game is…?

ME ‘The Abounding River’. That game and there is also a book with a 42 day practice in it that are for sale on Amazon and CafeGratitude.com.

Is a raw food diet safe?

ME I think in the United States we’re kind of beyond that. I think that used to happen a bit, but I don’t hear that much any more.

TE And I would say, we’re not even saying eat one hundred percent raw food. We’re saying add more raw food to you’re diet, and everyone is saying that that knows anything about health, eat more fruits, eat more vegetables, eat less meat, eat less dairy, eat less processed food. That’s kind of accepted, and we make raw food so delicious that it’s very easy to incorporate it into your diet.

We’d be happy if people, you know, chose raw food as another genre for eating, like italian tonight, thai tomorrow, raw food on Wednesday, you know…, and started to include it. It’s not so much just the food for us as it is the whole experience. Here’s what the benefit of raw food is.., you’re clearer, you’re more present, because you’re body’s not having to work so hard to transform the food into energy. The food is closer to it’s original energy source, so it’s just easier to digest.

Now, I’m not saying go eat a whole bunch of nut based foods. If you looked at Matthew, and my diet, or most people who eat a lot of raw food, they eat a lot of fruits and vegetables in their, you know, natural state. So you’re just clearer, you’re more present, you’re more available to be used for something meaningful in life, is the benefit of raw food.

You have way more energy, you have to sleep less. Raw food you eat less, because you get more nutrition.

ME We all know this. Now, we have Thanksgiving here, I don’t think you have Thanksgiving, but you have the ‘Barbie’ right? So, notice how you feel after a big barbie, like a barbeque. That’s a certain experience, right, not good, not bad.

Notice how you feel after a salad, a really, really fresh salad. Two completely different experiences. One the body is groaning to process what you’ve just put in it. You know after Thanksgiving here in the United States, every one just kind of crashes on the couch, falls asleep and watches football and goes comatose. It’s the same thing, raw food doesn’t require the same amount of energy to process, so you have more energy to live you’re life.

Are there particular things that women should be aware of if they want to focus more on a raw food diet?

TE Well, you know, what I would recommend is you want to have…, I would start with juicing. You want to increase the nutrition that you’re getting, and decrease a lot of the empty foods that we’re eating.

I would say, being a woman, for me the most important thing is lots of great juice, and I also think wheatgrass is a great addition to a diet, and I would stay away from alot of really dense nut based dishes. There’s a lot of nuts in a lot of raw food recipies, and I think you want to stay away from eating too many of those. Some is great, but too many of them you don’t want to eat. Then I would say…

ME …And when she means juice, she means leaning towards chlorophyll juices, green juice, not like super sweet fruit juice…fruit juice is great but celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, chlorophyll, chorophyll, chlorophyll.

TE …not all carrot juice or orange juice.

Where does your understanding of nutrition and healthy eating come from?

TE Well mine comes from, kind of coming backwards, I was originally, in college part of my education was nutrition. For me really it came from, I had an eating disorder so I kind of was fascinated always with food and nutrition, but from the side of trying to manipulate it. I was also an athlete, and so we were also taught to really manipulate our bodies for energy with food.

My mother was educated in nutrition, but again that was nutrition of the fifites, which is not the nutrition of today. Then I would say personal experience, and what we read, what we’re presented with in all the…you know people who come through with products and ideas. I wouldn’t consider myself a nutritional expert, I personally think there is so much conflicting information about nutrition, that it’s better for people to get to know their own body and listen to their own body…it’s pretty amazing that…

ME Yeah, one’s body is one’s expert

TE It’s pretty amazing, we know there’s more information about how to take care of a car than how to take care of your body. There’s more agreement for the car. So I think people need to learn their own body, and trust themselves, because all of us have different backgrounds and your body has adapted to how you were raised and the foods you’ve eaten and how well you take care of it. A body is amazingly resiliant.

Can you share any of your favorite recipes?

TE Well I like icecream, so icecream is one of my favorite sweets in the cafe. Then I would say I think we do and amazing job of the cheeses that we offer, most of those are cashew based, I think those are amazing. Things that people feel like, if they have to go on a diet there’s some ‘loss’, so I think it’s easy to incorporate those. Then I would say, there’s the ‘I am grace’ smoothie, which has been around since the beginning of time, same as the coconut cream pie, both of those are coconut items. I like our yoghurt, I think our yoghurt’s amazing, coconut yoghurt. I like a lot of our food.

ME There’s two recipe books available on our website. One’s just desserts and one is most of the recipes for Cafe Gratitude.

TE One’s called ‘I am Grateful’ and the other one’s called ‘Sweet Gratitude’.

Any future pursuits that you’re working on related to the Cafe?

TE Cafe Gratitude is expanding, it’s still in the growth mode. As much as we all resist that. More? Take on more? You must be kidding. So it’s still in growth mode and we’re also opening up ‘Gracias Madre’, which is a new concept. It’s organic vegan mexican, and it will utilise all the raw cheeses and dairy and all that. It’s not stricly raw though. That will open up in November.

…And in terms of ‘The Abounding River’, do you see that going in any other direction?

ME We’re just doing the second printing of the game. We’re leading workshops, we’ve led them in Mexico, led them in Canada,…all over the United States. So where ever there’s a demand, there’s conversation about having one in London, in Phuket Thailand. We lead three workshops, one about ‘Sacred Commerce’, one’s ‘The Abounding River’ which is about the being of abundance, and the other is called ‘Kindered Spirit’ which is our relationship workshop.

In the ‘Sacred Commerce’ workshop, who are you normally working with? Do you go into organisations?

TE Both.

ME Either way. Sometimes they come to us, sometimes we go to them.

TE We host them at least once a month and we often go to other organisations and they sponsor us.

ME And now what’s really new is, we’re training ‘trainers’ so that there’s people that can consult and go out in the world and lead these workshops and we don’t have to be there, in fact we’re having a training tomorrow.

And do you run those trainings?

TE We do.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?

For me it’s not just the food it’s the philosophy, and the philosophy is that you get to create your experience of life based where you put your attention. That it’s not just your circumstances. And so I think for us it’s the combination of, if you’re gonna clean up you’re life, then I would say purify your diet, but purify your thoughts as well. Think happy things.

More information about the workshops, game and food can be found on the Cafe Gratitude website, www.cafegratitude.com.

By the way readers the coconut icecream is amazing. Although my recipie hunting skills are as yet unsuccessful I can share with you another of my favorite raw dessert recipes (you really can’t believe how good these are, and so easy to make).

Carob Walnut Biscuits

1 cup raisins

3/4 cup raw walnuts

1/4 cup raw carob powder

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Combine raisins, walnuts, carob powder, and salt in a food processor. Process until dough starts sticking together. Press dough into any biscuit cutter or shape you like on a tray lined with baking paper. Place tray in the freezer to chill and firm up for 30 minutes or more before transferring to the fridge. Thaw 5 minutes before serving.

The future depends on what we do in the present. – Mahatma Gandhi what we do in the present. – Mahatma Gandhi

Homebirth Rally – Passionately Supporting Midwives & Families

Angela — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:37:47 +0000

THE MOTHER OF ALL RALLIES

by Angela Stewart

Homebirth Rally 7 September 2009, Canberra ACT

Recently, on a very cold, wet and dull Canberra day, my close friend, her four year old daughter and myself joined more than 2000 others to protest against federal government plans that would see homebirthing effectively made illegal.

Our participation began listening to Fluer Magick, an Indigenous woman, perform a special welcome ceremony at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, in front of Old Parliament House. Despite the weather the mood was determined and jubilant amongst the crowd. It was amazing to be part of this energy.

We then marched up the hill to the lawns of new Parliament House, and gathered – under a sea of umbrellas – to listen to a range of speakers. There were many speakers including Homebirth Australia Secretary Justine Caines, Family First senator Steve Fielding, Greens senator Rachel Siewart, Liberals Sophie Mirabella, Ian MacFarlane, Andrew Laming and Gary Humpries – all spoke in support of allowing women the right to choose homebirth. It was wonderful to hear Sarah Buckley MD, a GP and mother of four – all homebirths speak. Sarah is the author of “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering” a leading book on homebirth and calm mothering.

At times it was hard to hear over the excited chatter of friends spotting friends, children sharing their own forms of protest, and the rain… but it was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by so many people willing to ignore their discomfort to stand up for what they believed in. The crowd was made up of all ages, stages and makes of people. Babies slept soundly in slings, prams or at their mothers breasts, children ran around and dodged the rain, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, sisters, friends and future parents stood firmly – for several hours – to make themselves heard, and support the leaders of the homebirth movement.

It was incredible to feel the warmth and hope amongst the crowd on such a bleak day. Although homebirth was not a path that I took – I consider it for my second birth until I knew I was having twins – it is a choice that I had, and would like my daughters, nieces, sisters, friends and all of the future mothers to have. For me it was as much about protecting my right to choose, and preserving that right for future generations.

If you are interested in the progress of the protest, and homebirthing www.homebirthaustralia.org has up to date information.

If there is something that you are passionate about, or you are simply wanting to protect your right to choose, I would encourage you to stay in touch and informed – I am very proud that we pulled on our waterproof boots and braved to the weather to stand up and be counted. What moves you???

32 Natural Beauty Tips & Tricks – Exclusive Free Ebook

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:09:10 +0000

—

- Want to know how to get luscious locks without all the chemical nasties?

- Maybe you have sensitive skin that reacts to conventional beauty products?

- Or, perhaps you want to know how to bring your abundant inner beauty to the outside?

—

Here’s 32 Tips & Tricks to do all of that & much more!

DOWNLOAD NOW – PDF (500kb)
32 Natural Beauty Tips & Tricks from Gorgeous Things

Hey there pretty lady! While you’re here – why not join the Gorgeous Things Facebook page and mailing list for regular NEW TIPS & TRICKS