Goodbye Christmas :(

I know this post is rather late but I'm a lazy blogger. 

I'm one of those people who cant WAIT to put up the Christmas tree (I was a bit late this year and it didn't go up until the beginning of November) but once Christmas is over, I want it gone. So last night I packed everything away while Tallulah and Oliver (my Devon Rex kitties) watched sadly as their scratching/eating post/hideaway cave was taken down.

Here is what it looked like before Christmas.

 

I think this was taken on Christmas morning as the tree remained presentless until the night before. Lazy blogger AND lazy present wrapper!

 

Every year I collect new Joy and Noel sets. My Nana's name was Joyce and Poppy's was Noel so they're very special to me. This was our first Christmas without Pop and second without Nana. Our family is so small now. Very different dynamic...

 

One of the beautiful pewter ornaments that were my Nana's. I'm so glad I got these.

 

Little babushkas! Yes, there are smaller dolls inside :)

 

A few of the goodies under the tree for me :D

 

Nespresso! I really didnt expect to love this little machine as much as I do. It is a DREAM to make coffee in. So simple to do and even easier to clean. LOVE.

I know. Worst vegan EVER.

 

Dont laugh! I have the biggest celebricrush on Nicole Richie and the book wasn't totally horrible! Sure it's just a fluff book but it surprisingly reads wells and definitely kept me entertained.

 

Remington Total Curls. I have naturally curly hair but need a little help to overcome the frizz and my general hair rattiness.

MJ <3

Fairy Lights and Lovely Frocks

 

From Tim Walker

Jamie's Family Christmas

Christmas? Check.
Jamie Oliver? Check
Gorgeous set designs? Check.
Fabulous food? Check.
Cute kids with even more adorable names? Check, check.

How could I not immediately LOVE this show?!

Since becoming vegan (about 10 months ago), I havent been all that interested in cooking programs which I used to really, really enjoy. My love for Jamie Oliver however has never dwindled. He is by far my favourite chef and his love for fresh and healthy produce (his vegetable garden is to die for) means a lot of his recipes are vegetarian or vegan.

As a crazy Christmas freak you can imagine my excitement when I saw that he is putting together another Christmas special, this time making it a family affair with his bouquet of adorable kids (Daisy and Poppy - maybe Petal and Buddy Bear were off in the forest) and lots of other family and friends (yay, Gennaro!).

The 5 part series starts on December 15th in the UK (hopefully Foxtel will pick it up here) and you can see an episode rundown HERE.

In the meantime, check out Poppy and Daisy helping with JO's Christmas Pancakes.

Nom Nom Nom

Ok, so I know it's getting a little warm (at least in Brisbane) to still be making soup but I took a trip to the dentist this week and have been living on mushy foods since then.

I'm a little sick of mashed potato and pumpkin and store bought soup at work (puke) so thought I would come up with something a little bit more tasty. Basically I just used whatever vegies I had in the fridge but you could easily add whatever you like. Sweet potato and eggplant would've been particularly delicious I think...

Anyway, it was AH. MAY. ZING So rich and creamy and super filling.

Roast Vegetable Soup

1/4 Pumpkin peeled and cut into small pieces, about 1 inch long and 1-2cm wide
Approx 8 cloves Garlic (unpeeled)
2 Carrots peeled and cut into 1cm slices
2 Zucchini sliced down the middle and cut into 1cm pieces
2 bunches of Asparagus cut into thirds
1 Medium Onion cut into quarters then 1cm pieces
Approx 2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary
4 cups of stock (I used 2 cups of Massel Chicken stock - thank baby Jesus for accidentally vegan foods! - and 2 cups of vegetable stock)
2tbs Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 225°C (fan forced) and add oil to your oven pan.

Add pumpkin and garlic to the pan. Season with salt and pepper and put into the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes then add the carrots.

My pumpkin was ready about 5-10 minutes later so remove the pumpkin and garlic then add the zucchini, asparagus, onion and rosemary to the pan with the carrot. These should take about 15-20 minutes but just keep an eye on them.

Let the garlic cool enough to pop them out of their skins then put the roasted garlic and pumpkin into a blender with 2 cups of stock and blend til smooth.

Add the soup to a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Drop the heat and let it simmer while you blend the remaining vegetables with the last 2 cups of stock. I left out about 1 cup of the carrot, zucchini, asparagus, onion mixture and added these to the saucepan so the soup wasnt 100% smooth.

Bring back to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with a big scoop of nutritional yeast (for the vegies) or parmesan (if you eat cheese).

YUM!

Oh, to be up a tree!

I would love nothing more than to live in a treehouse <3

 

elledecor.com

zevs.net

 

 

apartmenttherapy.com

nytimes.com

 

www.treehugger.com

 

Or maybe just sleep in one...

Hello, FUN!

 

A modern twist on an old fashinoned tradition. Nobody could say this hen's do was dull :)

See the whole story at whimsicalwonderlandweddings

Blog Take 2

So my 365 wasn't really all that successful last time I tried this blogging business (http://projectshanna365.blogspot.com). I didn't even make it a whole month! Working full time and freelance design after hours can take up quite a bit of time and taking one picture EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. become a chore and not very much fun. This blog will be a little different. If I blog everyday, yay. If I don't, so what?

I spend a LOT of time on my computer for work so a lot of my day is spent online. I often come across beautiful, inspirational things that I'd just like to share and what better way than a blog? So that is what this will be. Things I love, things I've bought, things I want to buy (silly spending ban), things I'm doing in my life, just things :)