"Just wanted to say thanks so much for a really excellent workshop. Really enjoyed it, and got lots of great information. It’s inspired me to eat more raw! And make it!" Judith
"Thank you for a brilliant evening. The food was fantastic – far better than I expected."Kelly
There’s been some gradual progressive changes on the website here over the past few months, as I’ve been trying to make the website more user friendly just for you, with easier access to:
I’ve also been quietly working on the Parenting page where you will find from time to time, posts that are obviously more geared towards our family life for those that are interested – you can expect some more posts coming up on there, as I know people are just keen as mustard to know more about my pregnancy diet, nutriton for preparing and ideas for pre reading preparation, plus reviews, good and bad on not only food products but things that have helped us along the road as new parents.
But this post is geared around our last vacation – you can read more about other trips in the Travel section here.
Living in Saudi Arabia as expats, does have it’s downside at times (think inconvenient prayer times multiple times throughout the day that shut down business in the middle of your grocery shop/errands, no addresses only weird directions to shops/buildings in town, having to wear an abaya when off our compound amongst other things) but there are plenty of benefits to living in this culturally enrichening place too. I’ve spoke about some of them before but not today.
Also living here enables our family to do the travel that is very important to us. Both myself and my husband, prior to meeting, chose our respective careers – he as a geophysicist, and me as a flight attendant initially, because we wanted to live in and travel the world, and this is how we hope to bring up our children too. However this is our last travel now for at least a year with baby no 2 due in a few months.
So fortunate that we are able to do this at this moment in our lives.
As some of you know, we recently returned from a last minute trip to visit relatives and show my husband my ancestoral home of Scotland. Nothing was really planned until we got there but we packed so much into the week I really wanted to share with you.
As my dad was born in Glasgow, we have plenty of extended relatives that live there that I met for the first time when I moved to Scotland in 2005, so we were lucky enough to stay with my cousins James and Kirsty and their daughter Megan.
One major highlight for us as a travelling family adjusting to travelling now with an 18 month old sidekick was staying at the Hilton Coylumbridge (Aviemore)in the Scottish Highlands, which was unlike any Hilton I had stayed in. I mean any place that advertises TODDLER MINI Breaks has my attention.
All low set, including time share lodges as well, the Hilton caters for families with children of all ages as it has an outdoor activity centre as well as a soft play indoor area for kids from babies to tweens! They do have creche as well for those times you need adult only time (we didn’t use).The 2 night package we got included 3 course (delicious) dinners and buffet breakfasts – all really exceeded my expectations.
The hotel is a little tired and old but for all that’s available I didn’t care.
After dinners the massive lobby was usually filled with other families and children, and whilst the parents enjoyed quiet drinks, the children danced to the live performer – although he probably didn’t intend to have such a huge under 5 following, he was a really good with his mini audience and us parents could relax.
This hotel was really KID oriented!
Even though Aviemore is also reknown for a ski town, apparently they do more business is the warmer months with activities like downhill mountain biking etc.
Other activities we saw were clay shooting, bike hire, skating, quad bikes, white water rafting, abseiling and I am sure there was way more!
Other things we did whilst based out of Glasgow, were day trips to:
Cycling around Loch Katrine – I LOVED this!
Stirling Castle
William Wallace Monument
Edinburgh & Edinburgh Castle which happened to be right in the middle of world famous fringe festival – no shows were seen but the atmosphere in the streets was electric
G
lasgow Botanic gardens – I used to frequent this place when I lived in West End Glasgow 7 years ago. Stunning!
West End Glasgow for lunch
pub dinner with all my relatives in one spot and a friend of ours who happens to be from Scotland but lives here in Saudi with us too and was also there
and the city centre.
There was so much more to do we are going back (most likely in winter) as Pat, usually a tropical weather kinda guy, would love to see if he could handle the winter there.
Who knows, Scotland has made it onto our list of possible potential places we’d like to live after we leave Saudi one day.
Food
As for my food whilst on this holiday, let’s just say that I really enjoyed myself and didn’t make too much of a deal of eating raw. If it happened it happened, and I made sure to have fresh fruit and trail mixes on me at all times not only to snack on to avoid too much processed foods, but because I am pregnant, and when a hungry mama’s got to eat, she’s got to eat. Being healthfully prepared between meals also gave me a little more chance to enjoy my mail meals whether raw or not.
Plenty of people thought it must have been hard to be raw in Scotland, but let me tell you, the fruit and vegetable department of ASDA was a sight to behold compared to what we usually have available here in Saudi Arabia where most of our produce is imported. I mean who can go wrong with a double sized punnet of local and pesticide free blueberries/strawberries for £1.
Flights
We flew Emirates, Bahrain to Glasgow, transitting in Dubai as per usual.
Emirates have just added an extra daily flight to Glasgow and the reason we travel with them as they offer a great value frequent flyers program for us, have a larger than other airline seat pitch, are amazing with children, and if it’s not a full flight they are always kind enough to offer us a spare seat next to us, because until Manus is 2, we don’t purchase a seat for him.
This trip we were fortunate to be upgraded to business class, but only for the 50 minute flight from Bahrain to Dubai – wouldn’t it have been nice to have a business class flight 6 hours to Glasgow Emirates are usually great with upgrading frequent flyers when economy is overbooked.
Have you been to Scotland? If so, any other places you would recommend to visit?
I
f you need any raw tips/tricks on how to stay healthy whilst travelling why not check out my Travelling in the Raw ebook for sale here
I just returned home from a lovely girly weekend of visiting my best friend in Dubai, which is a 50minute flight for us from Bahrain.
Manus had daddy time at home, whilst I was able to have probably my only little trip away in a long time, and also before our second baby’s birth in December.
Even though it was a mini trip, here’s some tips I use to stay on track health wise when I go away on long and short trips:
Consider packing a blender/juicer or both. On our recent detox vacation to Thailand I didn’t pack either because I knew it wasn’t necessary and juices and smoothies would be very available at the resort, but on this trip I knew my friend didn’t have either of these appliances. I checked ahead with her to see if she would mind and of course she was more than happy to be introduced to my favourite green juice and smoothie breakfast morning routine. What’s even better, is she has a small grocery store at the bottom of her building so ingredients weren’t far away. I didn’t take my heavy champion juicer but the slightly less heavier but less expensive (incase it was unfortunately damaged) centrifugal juicer did the trick for two days worth of juicing.
Plan ahead. As Hayley and I both were looking forward to some chill time at home (it is Ramadan – which means we can’t go out to eat during daylight hours and some businesses had modified hours, plus we had plans for spa time and DVD couch time)
we planned our meals ahead of time. We made a big batch of pre made salad (enough for multiple servings) and I introduced Hayles to my spa salad dressing.
Treat yourself. As it’s not everyday I get to hang with my bud, and stay in Dubai, I knew we were going to eat out or take in for our dinners, so as long as the rest of my meals were smart choices, I’m happy. I can go back to high raw/100% when I get home. First night’s dinner was home delivered pizza (veggie on whole wheat crust) and salad, second night was dinner at Nobu, at Atlantis on the Palm
Get moving. The original plan was to Get some classes in at the gym, but we ended up just doing our own thing at the apartment gym instead which was just as fun. You can also pack your walking shoes and do plenty of sightseeing on foot or do some serious steps walking a mall
Getting there. Don’t rely on airline food! Although as it was such a short flight for me this time I only took a couple of apples and a banana, but really I should have more packed in case of unplanned delays. Staples in my carry-on usually would be homemade energy bars like Banana & Spirulina Crackers, Macaroons & Raw Cookies. I also like to make my own trail mixes of soaked gojis, raw nuts, cacao nibs, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, raisins and other dried fruit. If you run out of time, prunes and packaged dried fruit are a great ‘grab on the run’ to take along with you (and they help keep you regular). Apples, and capsicums (peppers), carrots and cucumbers travel really well, so why not pack a little travel pack of almond butter, hummus or guacamole to snack on through the flight. These can be easily picked up prepackaged. Herbal Teas, stevia and/or honey are my inflight drinks as well as using my Bobble to keep hydrated.
Pregnant? If you are pregnant or suspect you might be, especially in early stages or first trimester, reconsider flying. According to Gabriel Cousens, “a pregnant woman flying in an airplane in her first trimester exposes her baby to enough radiation to increase its risk of leukemia sixteen times.”
Also DO NOT go through the X-Ray machine ESPECIALLY if you are pregnant. Usually they will just pat you down instead, however, leaving Bahrain the security guy said it was ok for me to walk through it and i had to insist that i didn’t want to. You can also opt out of the X-Ray machine even if you are not pregnant, just be aware of the pat down which honestly, I don’t actually mind
You can find more hints and tips in more detail in my digital ebook, Travelling in the Raw, available here
If you’ve been reading here for a while, you will know that I have a soul sister and her name is Kristen. Kristen Suzanne to be precise. She runs a very popular and one of the first raw food blogs over here and has quite a few ebooks and books that you might like to check out, as well as an awesome published book called Raw Awakening which if you pre order now, you will also get a FREE copy of her ebook Raw Transitions – perfect for the raw food beginner or trying to introduce more raw food to your family. So Kristen and I developed an online friendship when I first delved into more »
So I think it was about time we just had an easy day. With Pat heading off for some of his work (well that’s the reason we are here in the first place), Manus and I headed off to the local Whole Foods in search of some more GREEN JUICE!!! Manus enjoying a Lara bar in the background. And spent at least an hour in the store, just pouring over their goodies: KOMBUCHA!!! Every flavour you can think of. Raw snacks like cakes and cookies and kim chi. And a whole dry stores section dedicated to RAW FOOD. This is what I walked out with but not limited to: Although not raw, this vegan cheese more »
Day 4 included some mandatory tourist stops Like the home of the Academy Awards: Kodak Theatre This was taken 2 days ago of my husband and son. And this photo was taken of me 7 years ago on my first trip to LA Outside Grauman’s Chinese theatre: home to footprints and handprints of movie stars from today and days gone by. Then of course, an obligatory picture with one of the characters on Hollywood Boulevard. Complete coincidence that it was Jack Sparrow Mum was more impressed than Manus. Afterwards we saw two more Johnny Depp characters – the Mad Hatter, and Willa Wonka – amazing costumes. Then it was time to get some afternoon refreshments more »
Day 1 was spent wandering around Long Beach – where we are staying, in a haze of jet lag, after a 16 hour flight from Dubai which Manus HARDLY slept a wink, just trying to familiarise ourselves with our new home for the next 10 days and to pick up our rental car – we fell asleep by 4pm! Day 2 headed off to Costa Mesa to South Coast Plaza – after being recommended it as a shopping destination by my flight attendant buddies who call Long Beach their second home. Costa Mesa by car is about a 45 min drive away, in Orange County. If you do happen to make it there as a more »
Well as life gets back to normal here, I thought I’d share with you, one of the most enjoyable holidays I’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot from someone who spent the first 3 days of our ski holiday in bed sick with a virus, trying to look after a baby, whilst everyone else enjoyed the slopes from the minute we arrived! But I’ll get back to that later. How about this view right? From our chair lift less than 100m from our chalet. Back in October, we began discussing the possibility of a snow holiday, as Pat has wanted to ski Lebanon or Iran for the past couple of years but the seasons more »
Good morning everyone. Or rather Happy Eid, Health & Happiness كل عام وأنتم بخير و صحه و سعاده It’s Eid time here again, Eid al-Adha to be precise. That means vacation time in the Islamic world, so even for us expats we get the same public holidays as well, which began today until next Tuesday. Whilst most of our expat friends are off on amazing holidays to Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Dublin or even home to Australia, for the first time, we decided to stay home – the compound is a ghost town. Hubs is studying and I want to get our messy house in order without social distractions, plus we have a big Christmas holiday coming up more »
Howdy friends! How are you all? Our heads are a little sore over here, we had a farewell party to go to and stayed out a little later than expected, but whilst at the party I received an awesome email that I was so excited to share with you all just in time for this Fab Friday giveaway! Regular readers of the blog will know how much I adore my Tribest Personal Blender, even as much as my lovely Vitamix. And here’s why: Great for travel. This baby has not only seen me through my days as a career flight attendant on the road, making sure I keep up with my green smoothies in my more »
Howdy everyone! As promised I’d thought I’d share with you a little of the beautiful accommodation and service we received whilst our venture up to Maleny for my Raw Food class as Kind Living Cafe. Lucy arranged for us to stay in the picturesque and relaxing King Spa Suite at Aritsan Spa Views Bed & Breakfast for the evening following the class I had conducted so we jumped at the chance. We left Baby M with the grandparents and enjoyed some adult only time in the luxury B & B which boasts the largest spas in Australia with outdoor views of this unique volcanic region right from your spa bath tub. [View from the spa] Randy more »
Have you ever had the chance to link up with folks you’ve made friends with online? Better yet, have you tried to explain this to people who don’t really get the blog/social media thing and think it’s a little strange? Haha, well I have had the chance to meet up with my virtual friends not once, but three times, including when I met my mentor Kristen, one of my favourite flight attendant bloggers Sara on a work trip to the US, another flight attendant group bloggy meet up here and lastly, only a few weeks back, one of my favourite Aussie bloggers, Hannah of Wayfaring Chocolate. Without wanting to recap her trip with what she more »
When I was in Singapore last week, I caught up with fellow Matthew Kenney Academy (formerly 105degrees) alumni and buddy, Sandra for lunch. (That’s Sandra behind me) We were the only international students in our group – me from Saudi/Australia, and her from, yep, you guessed it, Singapore! I was thrilled to be invited to check out Sandra’s culinary academy Fresh Food Academy on my visit before we sat down for lunch. The studio itself brought back fond memories of our month long adventure we spent in Oklahoma City last April becoming raw chef qualified here: So much so, I was immediately planning my move to Singapore The visit culminated in a double serving of more »
**All photos of this post taken on my iPhone as we left our big camera at home Hi everyone! How are you all going? Sorry I’ve been AWOL but you cannot imagine how much busier a holiday home to your family here in Australia becomes when you have a little person to introduce to everyone. But rest assured, I’ve got loads of posts to update you on when we get back to Saudi next week (:() , but in the mean time, last night I headed to the only raw food night I know of in Brisbane at Cafe Checocho with this lovely lady. Ames of Raw and Peace from Northey Street Organic Farm more »
Love my Aussie Boost Juice juice – I had the Two & Five Juice oranges, apple, carrots, piece of celery, beetroot & a Vita Booster Weird! But kinda good :S A whole aisle of organic foods like quinoa, nutritional yeast, baby food etc, despite the white processed sugar on the end of the aisle Greens galore! So much organic produce!!! Aloe vera Agar agar – my thinking: this is IRISH MOSS Love dried chillies Wish I knew what mushrooms/funghi these were…maybe a tonic tea could be made with them? Regular readers will know…I LOVE coconuts! I could swim in their water and build a house of the coconut meat De-husking the coco’s Garden Mall Petronas Towers they more »
Hey there everyone, hope your weekend has been a lovely one where you are at. It’s been a sad news weekend that’s for sure, and my heart and thoughts go out to all the friends and family effected by the Norwegian tradegy. Also really sad to hear of Amy Winehouse’s death, may her torment now be over. I’m still here in Dubai, holed up with my gal, making and enjoying some really clean eats. Yesterday I was a crazy lady and I headed over to the Mall of Emirates on a Saturday when everyone and their nanny was there! (my friend lives closer to Dubai Mall which I much prefer but thought I’d check out more »
Howdy peeps! Happy hump day! Hope you liked the first in the EASY series, coming at ya every Monday. Don’t forget to put down your feedback and/or experiences as we go along. We can keep each other motivated along the way. Yesterday we packed up our lives for the next 5 weeks of being on the road. Random sidenote: Love my new Ergo – so does my back!!! First stop Dubai As my dad says, “Considering the amount of time his mummy has spent on a plane you would expect excellent behaviour….” I’m chilling with my girlfriend here in Dubai for a week, then hubs and I hit up Kuala Lumpur to visit some friends, more »
During my travels to Italy for my sisters wedding I stopped over twice in Dubai to visit my pal and also do a little shopping. As my girlfriend whom I stay with lives close to Dubai Mall I have been getting to know the place quite well each time I visit Dubai. Usually my first stop is Planet Nurition on lower ground floor where I pick up a juice from the Jason Vale Juice Master stand. On my first trip there I had a wheatgrass shot with a Dreamy Detox chaser Apple, celery, cucumber, ginger, lemon. On the way back from Italy, I tried another wheatgrass shot with the hubs, who met me in Dubai more »
For those newbie readers hihi! In a previous life not too distant ago, I used to be a flight attendant. I worked on a low cost airline, prestige and also VVIP – that’s Very VERY Important Person aircraft. Now I’m a mum, I’ve been able to experience the other side as a traveling mum. Having had a background in career flying before, it’s given me a little background as to how to be prepared so here’s a few tips I’ve employed for my journey of traveling with an infant. 1 when booking your ticket, see if you can pre-allocate your seat with the bulkhead/bassinet seats. Some airlines will overbook these seats so you could end more »
Hey bloggies Just a quick note to let you know I’ll not be back to regular posting here til June 13th when I’ll be back from Dubai & Italy, I’m traveling on my own with an infant so I’m leaving the treasured MacBook behind for this guy. My sister is getting married in Verona, so I’ll be there to give her away with Baby M as my date. Just happened that hubs couldn’t escort us due to studies and mum and dad couldn’t make the last minute trip from Australia either. We will all celebrate together anyway down the track I’m sure. I’ll have plenty to share with you all when I return, including some more »
Hey everyone I’m just back from a night away in Riyadh (still in Saudi) where we had to go and sort out his passport and pick up his citizenship certificate as he is Aussie by descent but born in Saudi, and we needed to go in person. I packed the camera to take photos, but to be honest, I had a bit of a bum time there (if you follow me on twitter you will know why) and couldn’t wait to get out of there quick enough. Also, taking photos in this part of the world can be a little worrying, as there are certain rules you must adhere to like “definitely do not take more »
Hiya everyone! Sorry for my absence of late, but I think you know I have a very good distraction! Even if he is ‘Sir Poopalot’ it’s a welcome distraction and I am loving being a mum to Manus Kai. Also I want to again say thank you to EVERYONE who has poured out so much love to him and our family with the beautiful gifts, cards and well wishes. So many people to thank I just hope I don’t forget anyone – it’s gonna take months to get around to it! I had all these brilliant guest posts lined up to share with you once I had Manus, but I am finding that being a more »
Hey to the rest of the world that has their weekend still going! What are your plans? Today for us started with a MASSIVE one of these: Even better because I didn’t make it! Gotta get every last drop! If you want the recipe, check out my juice post over at High on Health here. Then we hit the shops for some grocery stocking up for my Raw Food Basics Workshops that I’m conducting on Monday. It’s always a lucky dip finding things here in Saudi Arabia, as sometimes you will find an awesome discovery, only to go back to the shops to find they either moved it or don’t stock it anymore. Anyway at more »
This is a repost from last year, when I wrote an article for Heather Poole, one of my favourite Flight Attendant Bloggers and also an upcoming author of a tell all book of essays of her experience in the skies over the last 14 years. She asked me to put together a recipe using cherries to coincide with a giveaway of CHERRIES she was doing at the time. According to Heather “What you probably already know is jet lag can be cured by taking melatonin. What you may not know is tart cherries contain a significant amount of melatonin.” So if you are like my many flight attendant buddies or just suffer from jet lag every time you travel, you more »
It’s been a while since I posted some of my daily eats so now that I am back in my own kitchen, well mum’s, and following a lovely supply shop last night, it is nice to be back on track after a lovely holiday abroad. First of all last night I rediscovered my love affair with almond butter. On a red juicy apple that mum kept saying reminded her of the red apple Snow White bit into. So sweet, red and juicy. This morning I woke up and made myself something I’ve not had in a while, but felt my body was in need of after eating out for most of my holiday (other than more »
I’m now back in Oz (Australia) but hopefully not for too long as I’d love to get back to my ‘home for now’ of Saudi so I can start prepping for our little man’s arrival. Plus I miss my best friend’s “crazy boat driving” face already!!! Anyway just a quick post on some interesting finds we found on our grocery shop to stock our catamaran for our 7 night adventure on the Andaman Sea last week. Thought you’d like to see what you can find in Thailand. I had been relegated galley mate for obvious reasons (there’s not a great deal of crewing I think I’m skilled for other than lookout) Along with other galley mate more »
Hey there! This is not normally something you would be thinking about leading up to the silly season, but as Thailand is the flavour of this week and since one of my good friends has just returned from this same spa (with glowing results), I’d thought I’d share with you all, my time at one of my favourite places to go (so much I went back twice). Russell James has even told me about his time there too. Now whilst some people disagree with fasting for detox, I am going to share with you my experiences and how I came to Spa Samui on my first trip in 2007 then 2008. Keep in mind that more »
Here it is, as promised, the latest instalment from my friend and blogger, Amelia Kelly aka Traytable A fellow panelist on the Crewlounge Podcast (although we have never been on at the same time) and another Aussie, if you visit her Blog or follow her on Twitter or her Facebook page, you will most certainly enjoy her aviation geek quotes and info. I’m off to the markets! See you when I get back Amelia Kelly is an Australian flight attendant for an international airline. Aside from being an internet addict, she is also a proud AvGeek and enthusiast in all aspects of aviation.With over 10 years commenting on & writing about aviation, Amelia aims to more »
Sorry I’ve been late on the next update for the Travel & Wellness Week’s posts, but I was unable to get wifi access on my transit in Dubai airport, for posting and I really have been wiped about for the last 36 hours since arriving back in Brisbane – I believe it’s called jetlag coupled with pregnancy Well that’s my excuse and I am going to milk it for the next 4 or so months For those of you that didn’t know, I’ve had to come home to Australia for a few weeks as I finished my contract back in Saudi, and have needed to come back home to sort out new paperwork I don’t more »
Welcome back to the 3rd instalment in this weekly series of keeping Healthy whilst Travelling. I’ll be heading out late tonight/early tomorrow morning for the marathon journey back home to Australia for a few weeks to sort out residency paperwork, so I’ll be sure to share with you some hints/tips that I’ll be employing to keep fresh and well for the trip, even more important with my baby bump I’m carrying around with me! If you missed it earlier this week: I am clipping my wings as an international flight attendant Monday, Melissa told us how she remains healthy on the road as a flight attendant Yesterday, Chloe, The Backpacking Journalist spoke about her tips more »
Next destination in this week’s Travel & Wellness special comes to you from another West Australian but grew up in my favourite country of New Zealand. This time, we are showcasing not an airline worker, but a Backpacking Journalist. As I too, also suffered from the same problem she writes about here when I first moved to London in 2005, I really can relate to her story. For those readers who are really keen to see more RAW related travel hints and tips, please stick around this week, I have not 1 but 2 really cool posts lined up on how to stay raw or high raw whilst travelling. Born in Western Australia and raised more »
As promised, I’ve got some great guest posts lined up this week to talk to you about how to keep on track with your health when travelling. This is probably one of the most common questions I am asked as an International Flight Attendant (well former now hehe), and as much I have quite a few pointers that I want to share with you all later on in the week, I thought it would be fun to turn it over to some of my other friends who do this for a living too, to get a broad spectrum of how each person finds taking their health into their own hands, when jetlag, foreign countries and more »
Hi Everyone!! I mentioned this week was a pretty big week ahead in the Girl on Raw world, so now I can share some of the reasons why: After 8 1/2 years as a Flight Attendant, I have finally clipped my wings (for my job anyways) and decided it’s time to retire the uniform and have my feet planted firmly on the ground. Yesterday was my last day. Over this time I’ve had some wonderful and exciting, plus very interesting moments and thought I’d share some of them with you! – meeting my boss, Richard Branson – operating a chartered aircraft of returning soldiers from military service abroad – having my name printed on the more »
This weekend we headed back to Bahrain for some catchups with friends and plenty of shopping! Whilst there with some friends of ours, I took the time to show them some of my favourite places to pick up some of the more unusual ingredients. Carrefour in City Centre Mall for things like Cacao, Goji Berries & Agave. Bio Natural Nutrition in Bahrain Mall Geant in Bahrain Mall for pretty much everything else that Carrefour doesn’t have. I was a bit disappointed to find that although they still stock Artisana Nut Butters they didn’t appear to have my all time favourite Coconut Buter This week is going to be really busy for me with loads happening, more »
Hey everyone, I am back in the Magical Kingdom and have been since Monday! Sorry for no updates of late but I’ve been readjusting to the timezones, heat/humidity (oh my gosh it is crazy!!!!! 109°F/43°C with around 50% humidity) and reacquainting myself with loved ones. I am not sure if it’s the heat or the jet lag which has me struggling to get much done, but hopefully this week I will be back on track, including my first work flight back tomorrow. Wish me luck! I hope to be bringing you a new regular segment coming really soon (which will help me and possibly you with weekly meal planning), so stay tuned for it this more »
Tonight I did my first ever Raw Food Workshop in my home city of Brisbane. I really enjoyed getting to put some faces to the names that I had ‘met’ online and show my home about my ‘crazy’ diet I even roped my mum into some labour for the evening. She made the most compliant assistant. The venue, before the madness. (Look how tidy my station is! NOT FOR LONG!) And the magic begins: GREEEEEN smoothie! Talking with hands! YUM. Thanks to Lyn for some of the action photos! The only bummer for the night – I forgot to push record on the video camera Oh and I went a little overtime. Thank you to more »
**STOP PRESS**For those of you wanting to become your own raw food chef, my friend and mentor Russell James is offering his HOME STUDY program at $150US off for the next 48hours. Click **here** for more info. Who wouldn’t love seaside living? Even in the dead of winter. Well ok, a Brisbane winter is pretty mild, but it does beat sticking out the Saudi Summer for a few weeks right? The other evening I joined my parents on a sunset walk to walk the Boston Terrier my sister left behind when she took off to live in Italy. And I’m glad I did. If you look REALLY close you can see 1 or 2 dolphin more »
Yesterday I woke up at stupid o’clock to make it to the Northey Street City Farm to beat the crowds at their weekly organic market. I had heard much about it when Pat was home a few weeks back plus I was dying to meet this lady! Skye was seen on Series 2 of Australia’s MasterChef and is renown for using fresh and native ingredients like finger limes, lemon myrtle & wild hibiscus. After leaving the show, she launched her dessert business Wild Sugar and her and her yummy desserts can be seen at the Northey Street Markets every Sunday from 6 – 1030am. We sampled some of her delights last night after dinner. Don’t more »
Wowee I cannot believe I’ve been here a week today and time is going at breakneck speed. Time, please slow down! After catching up with my other favourite twinnies – NOT these ones – but one day (I didn’t get any good photos – but they are having their 1st birthdays next weekend, so expect plenty when I do my godmother duties), I met my dad for breakfast at Brio. I am in love with this neighbourhood and look at that blue sky IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER. (And my dad wearing shorts!) I had watermelon, pear and mint juice. Porridge with soy and apple compote (I didn’t eat the yoghurt & honey) and I could more »
It’s been a while and I’m sorry but I am now officially on my vacation! After deliberating over where to go for my latest vacation (my number 1 choice was NYC) I finally decided on a trip back home to Australia. But first I had to stop off in Dubai for a few days to have some girl time. My friend Hayley, who I used to live with in London, has been living in Dubai for 2 years and when she told me her housewarming party was going to coincide with my stopover I was thrilled. So the last few days have been filled with pampering at one of Dubai’s many beauty salons, checking out more »
Hi hi, sorry for my absence of late. My honey is home from Australia and I have quite a few exciting projects on the go, but rest assured I haven’t forgotten you and I have some quick recipes I want to share with you Heather Poole, one of my favourite Flight Attendant Bloggers and also an upcoming author of a tell all book of essays of her experience in the skies over the last 14 years, recently asked me to put together a recipe using cherries to coincide with her latest giveaway of a travellers kit, including you guessed it, CHERRIES! Check it out here! According to Heather “What you probably already know is jet lag can be more »
Thanks to EVERYONE for my birthday wishes on Twitter, Facebook and email yesterday. I know I kept it quiet up until yesterday, but to be honest, I had no major plans (my honey is back home in Australia for one more week) and it really didn’t phase me to do too much except relax and NOT work. My girlfriends came to my rescue though and planned a get together with friends and some KARAOKE! How fun. I have video of us signing (killing) Joan Jett, I Love Rock n Roll, however it might take some convincing to get permission from those who partook to get it on the Interweb Right now I’m away on a more »
It’s the weekend! Well it is for me. I just got back from a shopping expedition to Bahrain (and dropping my boyfriend off to the airport, he’s gone home for 2 weeks to Australia and I wish I could have gone too!) Wow, 2 visits to Bahrain in 1 week is a little unusual for me, I only aim to go there once a month but sometimes it just happens. Here are some tidbits about Bahrain & Saudi for those of you that don’t already know: (for those newbie readers I am an Australian, living in Saudi Arabia) Bahrain is an island country in the Persian Gulf (made up of 33 smaller islands) joined to more »
Thanks for all your comments on the Vegemite post. I think we might have a hung jury on which is best: Marmite or Veggie. Well one thing is still the same, I love vegemite on hot toast the day following a few drinks. But I don’t like the slight headache and craving something juicy and hydrating the next morning. As the weather heats up here this is a refreshing drink to cool you down. Step in the Tropical Slushie Tropical Slushie Half a pineapple 1 mango half a papaya 2 cups of water 1 T of lime juice pinch of salt 1 cup of ice Blend until smooth. DERICIOUS. Remember I told you about my more »
In 2005, I left my comfortable life in Australia to move to Glasgow, Scotland. On my way, I went on a month long holiday to Hawaii, Los Angeles then to stay with my Aussie pals who were living in MEXICO. This is the inspiration behind my Holy Guacamole Dressing. This was one of the most incredible vacations of my life. Not only did I have the most wonderful hosts (thank you so much to the Suarez and Cowell families for opening your home and your family) but I was able to see the ‘real’ Mexico and enjoyed every single moment. The journey didn’t come without any drama of course, when I landed in Mexico City more »
Thank you everyone for your lovely and positive comments regarding my new layout. I hope you continue to enjoy it. I cannot stop checking it out, it’s so pretty. For those of you that don’t already know, I have a day job. One that requires me to live out of a suitcase now and then, and also requires me to be supremely organised – something that is my purpose in this life to master. I never get any better at packing (one of my favourite bloggers, Gillian, has a great video here that helps me out when I get analysis paralysis during packing time) and I rarely enjoy the experience, dragging it out for as more »
Has anyone ever had the chance to meet their hero? Someone who inspires, encourages and maybe even supports their cause possibly without them even knowing? Well this past weekend I finally got to meet mine! And her wonderful family! For the past couple of years Kristen (of Kristensraw.blogspot.com & Green Mommy Blog) has been my biggest support with my transition to a raw diet firstly through her sassy and delicious recipe books, then secondly through her online friendship. We got to know each other personally through regular emails and facebook chatter (I’m even pals with her very funny and popular mother) then I kept threatening to come and visit her in Arizona. Finally I did more »
Hey everyone! Right about now I will be halfway between Texas and Saudi (mid air heading home after a long trip) so I thought I’d do something special and have #2 in my guest post special of other bloggers that keep me inspired. But before I do, seeing as I’ve been out on the road these last 10 days, here’s a reminder video post of how I sometimes stick to Raw on the Road with all my frequent travelling for work, just incase you missed it the first time. Here, Jess of Dairy Free Betty talks about her transition to a Dairy Free diet. Whilst I am flying about I hope you enjoy, go check out more »
Hi beautiful people, what’s happening with your week? I am at the end of my trip and will be heading back home soon enough but before I do, I thought I’d share the some of the rest of the goodies I have picked up whilst being here in the States: On Saturday I mentioned I hit up Katy Mills for some outlet shopping and I was happy to snag some goodies from the Nike store: (Don’t ya just love the hotel room carpet?) With some of my buddies from Boot camp and Boxing class singing the praises of the Nike Tempo shorts I thought I’d better get me some to try out. And to be more »
Hey hey, for those of you just joining me, I am still in Houston but not for much longer Yesterday saw me running around like crazy trying to get all my last minute pick ups before I head back to the Magic Kingdom and I cannot help feeling I may have overdone it?? What do you think? Averie has got me convinced that I should start to learn how to make alot of these things myself, in the very least the bars like she talks about here, but I guess the reason I like having these convenience foods is for when on the run and for the lack of a better option (like a piece more »
Hey everyone! How has your week been so far? Sorry I’ve been awol, these across the pond trips knock me around more than I realise, plus I’ve been getting in some much needed shopping time to stock up on some luxuries we don’t really get in my part of the world and we did a little flight the other day to the countryside: Saturday, I heeded my pal Jenn’s (of the Robertsons of Mumbai who have suddenly moved to Thailaind) advice and checked out Central Market and fell in love. Photo courtesy of here I just forgot that it was the weekend so probably not the best time to check out a new place, but more »
Emirates are usually great with upgrading frequent flyers when economy is overbooked.
