Aventures alimentaires: Cindius Nargles

I don't know if it was because we were catching up in an American steakhouse (PJ's) which was what set the context but Cindy and I spent quite a few hours talking about all things American whilst dining on philly cheesesteaks, root beer and sweet potato fries with a NY Yankees flag watching over us. I haven't seen this girl in over a month because I've been working and studying like a crazy person and our schedules are always conflicting. What a ridiculous excuse. Anyway, as I was scrolling through my instagram feed one train ride home from uni, I found a quote that kind of just pulled some heart strings:

We are very good a preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.

Anyway, this just made me think that little bit harder about how wisely I was investing my time, and in what. I'd expand more about this but it's currently 12:43am and I have class till 8pm in the morning so I'll just leave it at that. After PJ's, we went to Three Monkeys to have some NY cheesecake (it only just dawned on me the coincidence) and hot cocoa. There's just no other way to spend a chilly night in Brisbane. :)

Riya actually introduced me to the amazingness that is this New York cheesecake when we went there after debating last week. Although I've been here a few times before, this was the first time trying their cake. Hands down the most delicious baked goodness, ever.

Hope y'all have had a lovely week. Friday is the law ball and I am super duper excited for it!

Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great weekend (don't forget Mother's Day!).

Love, Sarah x.

Vous ne vendrez pas très bien

A couple weeks ago I was presented with a lovely opportunity to model for Vigari Boutique's new arrivals with the amazing, Sophia Cao Nguyen. Here are a couple of (untouched) photos from the shoot. Some things I learned from the shoot: You can't just do whatever (obviously); there is an actual art to posing which I am definitely not akin to, so props to the models who do this day in day out *claps*. It is an actual challenge. Forget the 200 selfies you take to find the right photo, think more 600+ photos, standing still for hours in the sun or taking huge strides back and forth for the perfect shot. Aside from all that, I had a grand old time. Oh yeah, portable change rooms on a windy roof top are definitely lolworthy. Anyway, enjoy!

Forgot seamless underwear. Whoops.

As you might have noticed this post is a filler post since I haven't updated in a while. Hope your May is going splendid and as it is the 4th today... May the 4th be with you (hehehe).

Love, Sarah x.

Recipe: Instant oats with banana, coconut and almonds

Most mornings when I don't have time, I often skip breakfast. Lately though, upon review, doing that is probably not so great for my metabolism and so I've opted to making a super quick breakfast. This is my go-to recipe for when I'm in a rush and it's healthy, super easy to make and takes 5 minutes at most to prepare!

Ingredients you will need:

• 1/2 cup of instant oats
• 1/2 cup of water or milk
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 handful of shredded coconut
• 1 handful of almonds 
• A pinch of cinnamon

Serving size: 1

Method:

Step 1. Prepare your instant oats according to the box instructions. I use Uncle Toby's instant oats, which require two minutes on high in the microwave. When measuring cups, I like to use a tea cup because I can never usually find my normal measuring cups.

Step 2. Slice up your bananas and chop up your almonds (if you wish, I find that it makes it easier to eat).

Step 3. Place the bananas, almonds and shredded coconut on top of your oats as you desire. Sprinkle the cinnamon and drizzle honey over the top. Voila!

Enjoy! Have a lovely weekend, guys.
Love, Sarah x.

Rien

Zilch. Nada. Nothing. I've been up to rien in the past couple weeks since I last posted. Nothing note-worthy anyway. But here is an update in the form of photos regarding the things I have been up to!

Future Music Festival 2014 was graced by Sandy and I this year! It was incredible (maybe not as great as last year though... nothing beats dancing in a giant, swampy race course) and we managed to get to front of stage for almost every act we wanted to see. I got to meet Hardwell (my all time favourite DJ) and spend a lovely day with Sandz!

At the end of the festival I had another two wrist bands to add to my (slowly growing and relatively small) concert and festival wristband collection! Not sure where my Coldplay and The Script ones are though (and 1D LOL).

Not only did my brother buy me VIP FMF tickets for my birthday, it also came with an afterparty ticket!

West End Markets

I spent a beautiful Saturday morning hanging out with Gracie and Cindy at the West End Markets after a casting.

Weekly soup at Aroma's at uni with Clauds. I actually think we've tried every "soup of the day" they have.

New recipe finds

I think I like to cook too much, I've even started a hashtag on my instagram... #procrasticooking. Here are a few dishes I've tried out in the past three or so weeks!

Grilled mushroom risotto with parmesan 

Grilled salmon and lemony cous cous with cherry tomatoes

Sasha's 21st

My Russian homeslice turned 21! We celebrated by having dinner at Kapsali's followed by Friday's (which I left early from) and drinks at a few bars

Close up's of my face are generally unwarranted

The beautiful Sasha P.

Yoga @MDH

I wholeheartedly recommend yoga for anyone who has a spare hour in their week. It is the greatest detox from a hectic weekly schedule and your body will appreciate it (maybe a couple hours after though hehe). You don't need any experience and it generally starts of easy, gets insanely challenging, and then the last ten minutes consists of you lying there recollecting your thoughts for 10 minutes or so while the instructor gives you a head massage!

Misc

I did some volunteering with the Salvation Army in Inala!

Some Contracts studying.

My ootd for dinner with friends

More studying (accounting though I believe?)

And last night's Pho night at Co Trang's house after church. The perfect thing for sad, drizzly weather.

I think this may be too huge of a post - but oh well. Thanks for reading, y'all!

Love, Sarah x.

Un autre point de vue

In the words of Truman Capote, "I love New York, even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it," I, in a similar fashion, fell a little more in love with Brisbane after seeing it from above. 

There's a quote that goes something like, like a man who has been dying for many days, a man in your city is numb to the stench. Morbid, I know, but very applicable here. I used to complain about how boring Brisbane was, having lived here most of my life - I still do actually - but once you're presented with a fresh perspective through noticing the finer details of the city you live in - how we're slower paced than the other cities, how the city is our hub for everything, you'll begin to actually understand why for instance we were chosen for the G20 Summit and the reasons why we've received Lonely Planet's seal of HIP-proval (hehehehehe). *breathe* that was a super long sentence.

View from the first roof top.

I can't quite put my finger on the location of the second roof top but it required climbing a caged ladder from what I thought was the roof top, to what actually was the roof top. We were up there for quite a while and the clouds were dark and heavy because it was about to storm.

Spotted: the Wheel of Brisbane!

The last photo we took before it started to sprinkle and we had to leave.

Have a lovely week y'all and I shall see you in my next post!

Love, Sarah x.