Archive for Luxury
Something to Love – Raw Buckinis!
I used to love eating cereal out of a cup.
There, I said it. I confess.
But since pretty much moving away from consuming grains and cow’s milk, I don’t often get the chance to re-live that naughty little snack, unless I purchase a raw muesli (a ‘grawnola’) and have it with nut-milk.
When I was at the health-food store this week I noticed this new product from one of my favourite companies (Loving Earth).
It’s a bag of ’organic activated buckinis’, and I nabbed myself the ‘deluxe’ version.
Let me just reveal the ingredient rundown:
- caramelised buckwheat (agave syrup, mesquite powder, cinnamon, maca powder, Himalayan crystal salt)
- sour cherries
- goji berries
- white mulberries
- cacao nibs
- caramelised pecans
- coconut chips
- Incan berries
Is your mouth watering? Oh, and by the way, buckwheat isn’t actually a type of wheat, and it’s not a grain, either. It’s a type of fruit, and it’s super good for you.
Just before I had my first taste of this, I listened to a WISH Summit call with the beautiful, wise Shakaya Leone of Earth Empress, who reminded us of how wonderful it is to SLOW DOWN and absolutely savour, treasure, each mouthful of food we take.
So I tipped the buckini mix into a small bowl, and doused it with fresh almond milk. And you really don’t need much of a decadent little treat like this – the bowl in the earlier pic is very small (that’s a teaspoon resting in it).
From the very first mouthful, I made sure I savoured the sublime flavours (including the dense, rich flavour of the tiny cacao nibs) and textures (crunchy and chewy), and appreciated just what a luxury it is. Oh my goodness, it was good. Very, very good.
And we all know what feeling very, very good does for one’s vibration, don’t we?!
Do you have ‘something to love’? A little treat that you look forward to every day? (And hey, if it’s a healthy treat, all the better!)
I’d love to hear what it is that you love to treat yourself with. Just leave a comment below.
PS If you live in Australia, I’d recommend trying a Loving Earth product as one of your treats – they’re mostly organic, and taste fabulous.
Who Wants to be Rich, Anyway?
If you speak with the average Joe or Josephine on the street, you’ll pretty soon uncover quite a few beliefs about ‘rich people’.
According to most of us, wealthy people are:
- lucky
- greedy
- stingy
- elitist
- wrecking the planet with their hyper-consumption
- unethical
- unkind
- unloving
- non-deserving
And that’s not the half of it.
Do these beliefs sound familiar? Popular culture loves to vilify rich people through TV, books, movies, online media… there was even a fun series of ads that aired here in Australia a few years ago, mocking the stereotype of rich ladies.
So, if you say you want more money, but you believe these things to be true about rich people, then why on Earth would you want to be rich?
An interesting discussion point here is: what does being rich mean to you? Does it just mean having enough money for your immediate and future needs and wants, and money to share? How do YOU define ‘rich’?
If we turn to dictionaries, ‘rich’ is defined as having a great deal of money or assets. This implies that to be rich is to have substantially more money or assets than is normal.
I believe there’s consciousness shift happening around the world, with more and more of us realising that money can be used for good, and that rich people can actually be GOOD people.
So even if your current radar is tuned to seeing the negative traits of some rich people, you can choose to turn your focus to rich people who are doing good in the world.
What about Oprah? What about Richard Branson? What about Anne McKevitt? What about Bill Gates?
Even if you don’t always agree with the way Oprah, Richard, Anne and Bill spend their money, their intentions are great and they’ve positively affected the lives of millions of people.
And you can choose to be one of those people who does do good with money. Hey, why not?
As a rich person, you can choose to be:
- caring
- generous
- compassionate
- kind to the planet
- ethical
- warm
- kind
- loving
Isn’t it exciting to think that we can be part of a new paradigm, a community of rich people who inspire and uplift, who are decent human beings, and who know how to use the energy of money to best effect for people and the planet?
(Although, there have always been rich people who’ve given back and helped others… it’s just that we don’t always choose to notice them.)
YOU get to decide what sort of rich person you’re going to be. You don’t have to conform to any stereotypes – you can choose to live authentically and use money as a tool.
Remember, there are just as many greedy, stingy and unkind poor or middle-class people in the world – we just buy into the myth of poverty being somehow more righteous and upstanding.
You can help the world a whole lot more when you have access to money, and your own quality of life can be enhanced by having money – and that’s OK. You’re allowed to enjoy your life.
But listen, I, too, have concerns about hyper-consumption and its effects (I’ve even created a decluttering program to help you shed items that you don’t really need!). I know we need to care for the Earth, but I also see so many brilliant people coming up with inventions and processes that help neutralise our carbon footprint and, in fact, give back to the planet.
So I think we can enjoy material items and travel, as long as we’re giving back to the planet and aren’t looking for happiness through hyper-consumption.
In the end, our meaning in life comes from connection and love, and our relationships with people will always win out over material possessions and external experiences.
So, do you know what kind of rich person are you going to be?
Leave a comment and let me know!
Larking Around this Christmas
Yes, yes, I know it’s only just under two months until Christmas, but you know I like to plan ahead!
If you’re like me, you’ll be very excited to know that Australia’s Lark online store has just revealed its ‘Christmas Store’ – with lots of gorgeous little Christmassy bits and bobs to brighten your home or to give as gifts.
I’m not full-on into all things ‘vintage’, but I love the nostalgia I feel whenever I pop into the Lark online store. There’s also a REAL Lark store in the sweet town of Daylesford, and my girls just loved browsing in there last time we visited. (Their excitement generated lots of knowing smiles from other mums in the store.)
I bet your mum or gran would love it, too!
So, grab yourself a cuppa and head over to the site to immerse yourself in loveliness…
Note: Allison and the team at Lark deliver within Australia, but they also ship overseas. So if you’re outside Australia, you can still snap up a gorgeous thing or two.
Lilac Dreams
Sunday was an amazing spring day here in Ballarat – mid-20s, and glorious sunshine.
I went with my girls to the Botanical Gardens (they took me on a tour, pretending that I hadn’t ever been there before), and we came across the most beautiful lilac tree in full bloom.
I just had to share some of its beauty with you (see the pic above). I buried my nose into its masses of flowers, inhaling the sumptuous, heady aroma. Can you just imagine?
Mmmm. Are you stopping to smell the roses/lilacs/other fragrant flowers today? If not, just let yourself dream about it, and be carried away…
I’m in Love with My Watch
Well, I’m not IN LOVE with my watch, but I do love looking at it.
(Not in the same way that Roger Taylor of Queen is ‘in love with his car’.)
After I had my babies, I didn’t often wear a watch. Watches seemed to get in the way and needed to be taken on and off all day to avoid them getting damaged (or to avoid them scratching my babies).
I also had trouble finding watches that I liked. Much as I love silver, you just can’t read silver numbers clearly. And, much as I love pink, pink watchstraps don’t go with every outfit.
But now, eight years later, I’ve found the perfect everyday watch. It’s simple – clear, good-sized numbers, a watchband that goes with just about everything, a silver rim, and the perfect size for my wrist. I also think it’s pretty. I love looking at it. And that’s very good for my vibration.
I was reminded about Timex watches when reading A Cup of Jo blog post a while ago, and I also recalled that Timex is the watch of choice for many millionaires (according to Thomas Stanley in The Millionaire Next Door: Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy
And all for only US$24.95. See, you don’t need to spend a ‘fortune’!
Time for me to go, for now…
(If you’re interested in this watch, head here: Timex Women’s T2H331 Analog Silver-Tone Case Black Leather Strap Dress Watch
PS Do you have a favourite ‘thing’ that makes you smile whenever you look at it or use it? Leave a comment below!
Matchbook Magazine August Issue
I’ve just taken a breather and clicked through to the latest issue of the colourful Matchbook online magazine.
Yes, it did come out late last week, but I’ve been holding out, leaving it as a delicious reward for making my way through some deadlines that I’d set for myself.
And it was worth the wait. I make a point of enjoying the season that I’m in, so that I’m living in the present moment and aren’t wishing myself to be somewhere else, but sometimes it’s nice to see what’s happening in another hemisphere, and to imagine what it would be like to experience that season right now.
So it is with this month’s Matchbook, which celebrates the very summery (for the northern hemisphere) month of August. I could feel the sunshine beaming onto my skin, and imagine myself strolling along sunny streets, warm air caressing my arms, and sunglasses lightly perched on my nose. Full of late-summer colour, this edition boosted my spirits, let me tell ya! (Lest you think I wish for year-round summer, I also sometimes find myself looking at wintry scenes from overseas when it’s mid-summer here – I guess I just love all seasons!)
In this issue, I ADORED an article about one of my favourite ladies, Katharine Hepburn, and, in a feature about Matchbook’s favourite shades of red lipstick, was inspired to reconsider my usual aversion to bright-red lipstick. I lost myself in the pages that offered sumptuous treats for body, soul and home such as Champagne truffles (ooh la la!) and beautiful travel accessories.
But I won’t spoil it for you. Take a look at this month’s mag, and be inspired to make your life even MORE beautiful than it already is! (Sign up for a subscription, which is free, and the magazine’s link will be emailed to you every month.)
PS It’s not all about buying ‘stuff’, either – you can easily create a beautiful life by appreciating what you already have, and by arranging your life and home to be even more gorgeous. I’m so glad for magazines like this, which capture the essence of a delicious life.
Absolutely Beautiful Things
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I like to go on (and on) about surrounding yourself with beauty. It’s very good for the vibration, my dear!
I’ve been following the blog of Brisbane-based interior designer Anna Spiro for a few years now – her blog is so uplifting, and beautiful. I go there for a hit of beauty, whenever I feel in need of a boost.
This week, Anna launched her very own online store! You can purchase all sort of lovely things for your home through the site, and there will be changes every season. Right now, there’s a winter (for Australia) selection available. I have my eye on the sumptuous silver boxes…
If you’d like to browse the store, simply head here.
Ah, here’s to beauty!
A Melting Moment
We love spending time together as a family, so on Saturday Darren, the girls and I drove to the pretty country town of Daylesford. It only took just over half an hour, which is better than the nearly two hours it used to take us from Melbourne!
The trip was interesting not only for the beautiful rural scenery (and it was a sunny day, which always makes us feel good), but because we periodically slowed to follow bunches of cyclists who were racing.
Once in Daylesford (contented sigh… it really is one of my favourite places), we visited the cute-as-a-button Lark Store, had a scrumptious afternoon tea, and headed to the town hall for the Daylesford Makers’ Market.
Inside were many talented craftspeople presenting their wares, including Julie Andrews of Urthly Organics. Bendigo-based Julie makes a scrumptious range of body and lip butters, face and skin creams, vegetable soaps, toothpastes… and melting moments for the bath.
I LOVE finding sources of natural skincare (you know I’m always banging on about living naturally, so that your vibration is high and therefore in high ‘attracting’ mode), so I came away with a brown paper shopping bag full of goodies.
As I type, I’m inhaling the aroma of the range’s ’Australian organic lemon-scented ironbark body butter’, which includes ‘love’ as its first ingredient (love THAT!), followed by ingredients such as lavender, aloe vera, certified organic shea butter, unrefined cocoa butter… and the list goes on. I tried this body butter yesterday, and it’s so creamy and rich – great for dry winter weather.
I had also bought some ‘melting moments’ (see the pic above – doesn’t it look like a block of chunky chocolate?), which make your skin silky smooth. I bought these because I realised that it had been quite a while since I had a relaxing bath, and what better excuse than to road-test these for you?
You run very hot water at the start, drop in a melting moment block so that it starts melting, and then adjust the water temperature as the bath fills.
The melting moments come in packs of three, but here’s what an individual ‘moment’ looks like:
Just like a hunk of white chocolate, don’t you think?
And yep, my skin really did feel silky afterwards. Lovely. Thank goodness there are two more moments in the pack. Can’t wait to do some more ‘unwinding’!
If you’d like to try some gorgeous, natural skincare, Julie sells her goodies at the St Andrews market near Melbourne, but you can also purchase them via her Facebook page.
Wishing you many ‘melting moments’ of bathtime bliss…
A Law of Attraction Necklace
I mentioned recently that I’d attended Sandy Forster’s ‘Secrets to Money & Success’ event in Melbourne, and that I’d purchased a beautiful Law of Attraction necklace at the event.
Well, here it is, in the photo above! Isn’t it just gorgeous? I’m not usually a ‘jewellery person’, but every now and then something catches my eye. I love the arrangement of stones, crystals and pearls in this necklace, and the silver metal.
The US-based company that created the necklace is called Seeds of Light, and there’s a cute little explanatory card that comes with the necklace, featuring this text:
The law of attraction works when we first ask the Universe for what we want.
We must have faith and believe that we deserving of our desire knowing that we are worthy of the request. We now must be open and receptive for our desire to manifest.
The following stones will aid us in our quest: Aquamarine and Amethyst open the connection to the Universe through divine guidance and intuition, allowing us to ask for and receive information. Emerald heals the heart and clears the emotional body. We are now ready to create pure intention allowing us to believe that we are deserving of our request. Pearl promotes purity of mind, body, and spirit; opening a divine connection of highest good for all, enabling us to receive our gifts with gratitude.
Aww, isn’t that lovely? Originally, I was going to purchase the ‘Prosperity’ necklace that Sandy was selling at the event, but it had sold out by the time I went to buy it – how wonderful that Sandy then whipped out a bag of these Law of Attraction necklaces! While being more my colour, this necklace also suits me perfectly because my business is based on Law of Attraction principles!
I know I already vibrate at a high level – because I choose to – but wearing this necklace is a lovely affirmation of my intention. I just love it.
If you’re interested in ordering this specific necklace, just head here, but be sure to check out the other beautiful products on that website. Heaps of gorgeous gift ideas for your lucky friends and family…
For the Love of Luxury Part III
Have you experienced luxury today? If you haven’t, I hope that, by the time you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll be inspired to do so!
I love giving myself luxurious experiences. They just make life all the richer.
For more about this favourite topic of mine, see part I and part II in this series.
In those blogs you’ll see my philosophies on luxury – I believe that, while you don’t need luxuries to purely exist, they definitely allow us to appreciate a full experience of life here on Earth. I also believe that living well shouldn’t be considered a luxury.
And what about becoming blasé about luxuries, if we ‘overdo’ them? Well, I believe that we can choose to focus on and fully appreciate those things that could be considered luxuries (after all, the term ‘luxury’ is relative, and unique to each person), but we can also choose to leave spaces, to go ‘without luxuries’ for a little while and then find it easy to appreciate them when we allow them back into our lives.
I like doing a bit of both. Consciously noting and appreciating ‘everyday’ luxuries, and then allowing myself to experience ‘contrast’ by deliberately not having a few luxuries, and then allowing them back in. Back and forth, the flow of life.
For example, the Cath Kidston tissues in the above photo were a little gift from my four-year-old cousin. They seemed too pretty to use for just nose blowing, so I used them when I was putting on my make-up, to wipe make-up from my hands before washing them under the tap. Such a pretty way to start the day, and I was able to get a few uses out of each tissue, which extended the luxury!
The ‘old me’ would have been paralysed, not wanting to use and fully appreciate these gorgeous tissues because once they were used up they’d be ‘gone’ – but I now know that this is a lack mentality! Life really is too short not to use and really appreciate beautiful things. And remember the good old Law of Attraction? What you focus on, you bring about…
I thought I’d share a few of experiences or ‘things’ that I consider to be luxuries. My Things I Love list includes a lot of luxuries, but below is a list of a few luxury-specific goodies. I hope they inspire you.
- Hot showers (not great for the skin, but I do love them – I always make sure to rehydrate afterwards with a glass of water, and moisturise with coconut oil)
- Having my daughters sit on my lap for a cuddle and really appreciating that they’re still small enough to do that.
- Breathing in the aroma of my daughters’ freshly washed and dried hair.
- Going out to dinner and a movie with my husband.
- Aromatic baths by candlelight
- My Burleigh Calico plates (see, I really do use them!)
- Baci chocolates
- Sleeping in and then waking naturally
- Time out for a walk on my own, listening to inspirational audios on my MP3 player
- Full-body massages by a myotherapist
- Having someone else make dinner (thanks, darling)
- A whole day with nothing planned (who knows what adventures await?)
- Breakfast in bed
- Five-star hotels (check out Vicky Archer’s description of luxurious French hotels)
- Damask tablecloths and napkins
So, tell me. What do YOU consider to be a luxury? Even taking time out of your day to read enjoyable blogs can be considered a luxury! I do hope you’ve enjoyed this three-part series, and that it’s inspired you to create (and really appreciate) luxury in your life.
Big, luxurious blessings to you…
Joanne's coaching was exactly what I needed to help me focus my precious time and money on finding work and making money! What I like most about Joanne’s coaching is that it's gentle, supportive and empathetic, rather than pushy and 'ra-ra-ra'”
...if there’s something that you’ve been putting off doing, because it’s so big and overwhelming, then by coaching with Joanne you'll definitely find a way to do it, to finally reach your goal.”
Radiant