I'm Moving To WordPress!!!

Hey guys,

You may have guessed by the title but I am moving my blog over to wordpress.  I just wanted to post this short post here to let you all know that you can now find me at BrittanieDe-ann.com

I have made the decision to do this purely because wordpress looks much more professional and gives me so many option and I can do much more than I can here.  I am so excited to move over there and have so many ideas.  I hope you will come over and follow me as I won't be posting here any more.. 

Thankyou for the support xx

Sydney Eats

Hello, my loves!

Long time no see, or should I say talk?  I apologise for my long absence. I have neglected my little blog and have been finding it hard to get back into the rhythm of posting again, however after going to Sydney a few weeks back I have at least two blog posts that I have been wanting to share with you.  So as you may have guessed by the title I want to chat to you about the places we ate at while in Sydney. As you can imagine we ate out a fair bit while on holiday and I wanted to tell you about a couple of them.  Also, if you would like to see a peak into our Sydney trip, I vlogged a bit of it so you can check it out on my Youtube Channel. 

Okay, so lets start with Monday lunch. We flew into Sydney around 10am Monday morning and by the time we got away from the airport and Sage, (Julian's wonderful Aunt) had showed us the most beautiful parts of Sydney it was definitely time to get some lunch.  We had been up since 4am after all.  She took us to this gorgeous little cafe in Double Bay called About Life and it's nothing like I had ever seen before.  Keep in mind I come from a tiny little town compared to Sydney so I haven't experienced much.  This cafe actually doubled as a superfoods supermarket and was filled with healthy food and gorgeous architecture.  

The food was delicious and they had so many vegetarian, gluten free and vegan options.  However a little pricey as you could assume. Also, they had drinks that I didn't even think could be a thing like the Choc Beet Latte which is a blend of cacao, chai, spices and beetroot steamed with coconut milk.  Weird right?  This cafe had a lovely atmosphere to it, super chill vibes.  The only downfall was the attitude of the lady that served us and the fact that they had no avocado even though there were in a store with plenty to spare.  Unfortunately the smashed avocado was the dish Julian wanted so he was quite upset when he found out they weren't willing to use one from the store. Aside from that devastating fact the lunch was rather delicious!

Fast forward a few hours and a good hour nap later and it was finally time for dinner!  We decided to shout dinner for Sage as she was being so kind as to let us stay at her house.  She took us to this beautiful little vegetarian place in Glebe called Badde Manors and I was honestly surprised at how cute and quaint it was.  It had so many vegetarian options, Julian didn't know which one to pick but to be honest it was one of the best meals I had on the trip. I do love me some vegetarian food!  My meal was delicious, I ordered the Eggplant and Ricotta Layered Schnitzel with mash and I can honestly tell you, I didn't miss the meat portion at all.  Also, it was super cheap sitting at only $18, I mean what? The only problem I had with this gorgeous place was that the chairs were so uncomfortable for me and the table was tiny but that seemed to be a recurring problem with anywhere that we went in Sydney. The ambiance of Badde Manors was so loud and crowded but it really added to the vibe, unfortunately we did go out for dinner the night before a public holiday so everyone was out, probably adding to the cramped feeling. Although it felt fun, if that makes sense?  Also, can I just say that the lady who served us was super lovely and was super quick to clear our plates and make sure we were having a good time, so thank you to that wonderful lady!

I am so excited to tell you about this next gorgeous cafe.  It was my favourite cafe from the trip and if I lived in Sydney near Glebe I think I would be a regular customer.  Well Co. is the name of this next cafe, as you may have seen from the picture.  The overall feel of this cafe was just lovely, it had beautiful artwork all over the walls, the view from the balcony upstairs is just so gorgeous and the decor was to die for.  

The food was also beyond delicious, I ordered the Eggs Benny and it was cooked to perfection.  They also had avocado which made Julian very happy. Hot chocolates are always my go to drink I get and no joke, these hot chocolates were the best I have ever had, and I have also been told that the coffee is so good too, so if you are a coffee drinker on the daily, I highly recommend Well Co.  Unfortunately we did go on a public holiday so it was 10% extra on the bill, but generally on a day to day basis the meals sit at a normal price, the Egg Benny was $16 which isn't too bad for Sydney, however I wouldn't get it every day. 

Again, the only thing I can actually complain about was the size of the table and the uncomfortable chairs, however they did have more comfortable options in different areas that I probably would have gravitated towards if I was a regular.  The service was so lovely and quick, we had our drinks in less than 10mins and our food was out not long after, which was so surprising but wonderful.  I highly recommend Well Co. if you want a cute cafe to frequent weekly, it seems like the perfect place to just go relax and zone out or maybe catch up on some reading out on the balcony.  

Tuesday night we went out for dinner on the harbour of Circular Quay at a little restaurant called East Bank Cafe, Bar & Pizzeria. It was so beautiful and felt so romantic.  This was the only 'restaurant' we went to on our trip and I wasn't disappointed.  Unfortunately again we went on the public holiday so it was fairly expensive but that didn't stop us from having a good time.  It was fairly cold being just on the water however they had heaters going which made it super cosy and warm, perfect atmosphere.  The food here was again, so damn delicious.  Julian had the Gnocchi and said that it was cooked to absolute perfection which was lovely, one of my favourite things was the simply fact that they gave the cheese topping in a separate dish so we could add it ourselves and I thought that was just so great. I will say this was the one place which had super comfy chairs and I really found myself appreciating them.  Also the lady that served us was the nicest person and I really think that makes or breaks a restaurant or cafe, I really enjoyed our dinner here and would definitely go back on any future Sydney trips.   

Last but not least on the Thursday night we went out to dinner with Julian's cousins and I can honestly say it was one of the best times I had on the trip.  Although I felt very anxious being around his cousins for the first time I felt very comfortable and accepted.  We went to this cute little Chinese place in Five Dock called Simply the Best and it was simply the best.  The owner was a lovely yet hilarious little Chinese man who was super helpful and made it feel so fun. I tried a selection of new dishes that I hadn't tried before and each one was better than the last.  I would have to say the duck and the lemon chicken were my favourite. It was just the nicest night I've had in a longtime. 

Anyway guys, I didn't realise this was going to end up so long.  I even took out a couple of places to try and make it a bit smaller. However, I hope you enjoyed it.  I really enjoyed going to each of these places.  Let me know if you have been to any of the above places and what you thought or if you have any recommendations for when we go to Sydney next time.  I hope you are all having a lovely week! 

Until Next Time

BrittanieDe-Anne xoxo 

Attempting Valentines Day Desserts

Hello my Loves!

How are you today? I hope you had a fantastic Valentines Day, whether you were celebrating with your significant other or just having some much needed alone time.  Julian and I don't often celebrate Valentines day, purely because it can get so expensive, however I did try out these two desserts and made a cute dinner for us on Monday night instead.  Today I just wanted to show you these gorgeous desserts and tell you my thoughts, I'm not going to go through how I made them however I will link the original posts that I used.  Although Valentines Day is over you can still use these desserts for anniversary dinners or just to have something cute and delicious! 

Okay, so this first dessert tastes just as good as it looks! It was so delicious! These are called Deep Dish Red Velvet Cookies for two. Honest to god, these were so simple and so quick to make, basically you mix the wet ingredients together, the dry ingredients together, then mix those together.  Add the chocolate chips leave that mixture in the fridge to chill for about an hour then bake them in the oven in a baking dish with some hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, take them out and top with Vanilla Ice-cream! So Easy!! They were so super yummy too but do note they are very sweet, so if you don't have a big sweet tooth you might not like them.  If you follow this off the link that I gave just know that in the method it doesn't actually tell you when to add in the dry ingredients so I just decided to add it just before the chocolate chips.. Also note that when you bake it in the oven place it in a baking dish with some hot water in it, it helps to bake evenly.  I definitely will be using this recipe again, I loved how simple it was! I put them into bake as we sat down to eat our dinner and they finished just as I was taking out plates to the sink, how good is that? I can't praise these highly enough, I really thoroughly enjoyed them! 

 The second dessert that I made was these Red Velvet Cupcakes in a Jar, and yes it is an actual coincidence that both the desserts I made were red velvet.  Although, I really like red velvet so maybe I just gravitated towards those? Who knows? These were a little more time consuming. However, I did cut the time down a bit by using packet mix red velvet cupcakes instead of making them from scratch. Lazy, I know.. But I really didn't have that much time to play with so anything I could do to cut down the time I did.  Anyway, basically for these you make up a bunch of red velvet cupcakes, and some cream cheese frosting them layer that in a jar. Simple right?? I used glasses instead of jars because I didn't have any jars to use, but it turned out just fine  There was probably more than needed because the glasses were a bit big but the cupcake and the frosting really complimented each other well! Also, you may want to note that not only do you get these gorgeous desserts but you also get at least 6 more cupcakes left over with plenty of frosting to spare! So win win! 

What do you think guys? Would you try these desserts? Do you have a massive sweet tooth? Let me know which one looks most appealing to you? If I had to choose I think I would have to go with the cookies in a dish! They were just so god damn delish! Hope you enjoyed this post and your Valentines day and I will talk to you again very soon!!

Until Next Time

BrittanieDe-ann xoxo

My 2017 Workout | Piit28, Blogilates & Swimming

How are you today my lovelies?

Just a heads up, I didn't realise this was going to be so long, but once I started I couldn't stop. Enjoy xx

I have spent January so far, sorting out my workout routine for 2017 and I wanted to share with you what I have been doing and what I plan to do in the coming months.  Now, before I start I know a lot of you are going to have opinions on what I should and should not be doing but I just want to say that I really do appreciate your input but this is just as much a mental and emotional journey as it is a physical one for me right now. So, although I appreciate any advice you give me, only I know what I can handle physically and emotionally.  So thank you in advance but this is my workout plan. 

For starters I want to talk about a book. A book? You ask.. Yes a book. For Christmas I received what I think to be one of the best books I have ever read, it is titled 

Holistic Nutrition 

Eat well, train smart and be kind to your body.

By Kate Callaghan

This book has taught me so much and I have only scraped the surface of what it has to offer.  It touches on everything from how your hormones should work, to how to manage stress and how to be kind to your mind and body.  I highly recommend this book to every woman ever, and even some men.  It is fully tailored toward women and I keep finding little things inside the book that make me understand my body a little more and help me to minimize my stress levels cause god knows I stress myself out too much.  Because of this book I have changed up my workout from what I was doing last year.  Although toward the end of last year I wasn't really doing much at all. 

So to start off, although I love PIIT28 and wholeheartedly stand behind it and how effective it is, I haven't yet started this as a workout this year and I don't intend to for a few months yet.  As of right now I have decided to move back into doing Bogilates.  I am however still a PIIT28 Ambassador and would highly recommend it to anyone who is willing and ready to take on the challenge.  It's intense and gives results so if you are interested you can read my review here and buy the program here. Goodluck!

Now as I said I have decided to start with Blogilates which is basically the same workout moves as PIIT28 just not as intense. I like to do at least three different body part workouts a night so for example I would do (a form of) squats, crunches and cobra push ups to work my thighs, core and arms and that's just a minimum.  When I'm feeling pumped I usually do between five and seven different moves resulting in a 30 minute or more workout but I have some days where I'm fine with just doing three. I intend to continue doing these for at least two months and each week upping the intensity and quantity so that each week I am gradually getting stronger prepping me to get back into PIIT28. 

I also have been swimming lately which I am loving so much.  I have added this in as my Tuesday workout, I get up at 5.30m and am at the pool by 6am.  I actually go with my Boss which is part of the fun, I really have been loving the different feel I get when I go swimming and I know how beneficial it can be.  As of right now we do 16*50m laps which doesn't seem like much to some but considering we started at 6*50m laps I think we are doing well. I get such an elated feeling when I leave the pool, I feel so accomplished.  I am however still learning how to breathe properly when swimming, its a hard battle in my head to breathe at all when my mouth is so close to water. haha but I'm getting better. I want to keep swimming in my workout schedule for as long as I can, I really love it and it makes me so happy even if it's not doing heaps toward my weightloss, its helping my stress levels. 

I also like to let myself have a rest day at this stage in my workouts, I don't want to punish myself for feeling tired and/or exhausted so each week I allow myself at least one rest day but no more than two.  Each week I like to set myself little goals to reach by the end of the week. Those could range from doing an extra set of a move to spending ten minutes meditating.  Oh yes I have also started trying to meditate and do some much needed yoga.  You could say I have a well rounded list of things I do for exercise at the moment.  Along with exercise though, Julian and I have also started a meal plan which we have been following lately.  

If you would like to see a post about the meal plan and how we have organised our meals and our diet for that matter, let me know. As for now I think I have covered just about everything, if there is anything you would like to know leave it in the comments.  I would like to leave you with a question, if possible?  How many of you also watch YouTube?

I hope you are all doing well xx

Until Next Time 

BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Goodbye 2016, Hello 2017

 Hey guys, 

 I hope you all had an absolutely fantastic Christmas with your family or friends or even if you decided to celebrate it by yourself and if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you have just had a lovely week.  I really wanted to write a blog post kind of fare welling the year of 2016 because I feel like for a lot of people it hasn't been a good year.  For me personally, I have had a fairly good year.  I have had a lot of personal achievements that I am quite proud of. I started my YouTube Channel, I have grown my blog and facebook page and I have spent another wonderful year with my partner who even on my darkest days has made me feel beautiful.  Along side those achievements though I have also had a few bad times, although nothing that I couldn't handle. I don't like to dwell on the negative so I want to just move on to my goals for 2017.

I have such high aspirations for 2017, I am so excited to enter the new year and I have a really good feeling about how the year will turn out.  I want to try and focus solely on the positives this year.  I often find myself dwelling on the negative so that is one thing I hope to change. 

 Shall we jump into my goals and plans for 2017.  I have quite a few that I hope to achieve.  Firstly, I hope to further this blog, I love writing on here and I am hoping to set up a system so that I am posting weekly again! I have so many ideas to post about and I hope that you will all enjoy them as much as I enjoy talking about them! If you have anything you would like me to post about I would love to hear your suggestion.  Along with this wonderful blog I want to grow my YouTube community, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do it yet (If you haven't subscribed already, I'd love for you to pop over and check it out! Leave a comment so I know you were there xx)? I hope to continue making quality content on my YouTube channel and hope that I could even better my content. I would like to vlog more and in August I hope to travel to New Zealand with Julian for a few weeks and see all it has to offer.  I am so excited for this trip as it will be my first time travelling and I can't even begin to explain to you how much I want to travel. If you have any recommendations on where we should visits let me know in the comments! 

I also have very personal goals which I am so motivated to work on.  I say it every year, but this year I really, truly do want to be comfortable in my own skin, at the moment that means working on losing a bit of weight because I am not very happy with my body right now. But I know I have the potential to put the work in and achieve the results I desire.  I don't want to chat about this too much because I plan to write a blog on my workout plan for 2017, so that will be coming in the near future!
I also want to work on loving myself regardless of my weight, I find it so frustrating that I can't seem to change my mindset from 'you will be beautiful one day' to 'you are beautiful.' I just can't seem to accept that I don't have to be 'skinny' to be beautiful and that's what I want to work on this year! So wish me luck!

Guys, I'm not going to bore you any more but if you do have any suggestions for this blog or for any videos you might want to see on my YouTube channel, do let me know because I would love to hear your suggestions! If you aren't following my blog it would mean the world to me if you would join my online family and share it with all your friends! I hope you enjoyed this post and if all goes well I will see you again next week! xx

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Its That Time Of Year Again.... My Tips For A Less Stressful Christmas!

Guys, 
It's that time of year again and I honestly could not be more excited! 
Christmas is just around the corner and this year I have been so overly excited about it I'm pretty sure Julian is just about to lock me in a closet until Christmas is over. haha 
There is something about Christmas that I find so wonderful and magical.  The atmosphere just gets filled with good vibes and happiness and it's so hard to feel sad or angry however there is also a lot of stress involved so I thought I might let you in on a few little things that I like to do that can make your days leading up to Christmas a little less stressful..

Number one? Make Lists... Lists are my best friend.  I have a list for absolutely everything, even if I don't complete everything on my list, writing one out just makes me feel so much more calm and in control of the situation.  Whether it's a list of gifts you are still yet to buy or maybe even a list of all the food you need to buy for christmas lunch, I always find it helpful to sit down and put my thoughts on paper just in case I forget something.  Which I tend to do if I don't have a list.  However lists can also be a bit over bearing if you are feeling as though you need to complete everything on said list so make sure you are being practical when writing them otherwise you might just get even more stressed. 

Number two?  More lists... Over the last few years since I have moved out of home I have found it really hard to buy for my parents and sister, purely because I don't know what they don't have anymore and I can't just sneak into my sisters room to see which book she needs to complete her latest series, so I have resorted to asking for a list (again with the lists...). However I ask them to write a list of about ten or more things that they need or want so that I can pick and choose and it will still be a surprise, because there is nothing worse than spoiling a surprise before Christmas.  This has definitely seemed to work although if you use this method make sure to ask for the list well before December just in case you have to buy something online! 

Number three?  You Time... Christmas time might be a time for giving but don't neglect yourself.  Set aside some time each week or maybe even each day when you can have a little me time.  Whether it's a super comfy bath or just some time to watch your fave YouTuber's vlogmas, whatever you want to do make sure to let yourself do it.  Don't let yourself become too stressed! Your mental health is more important than anything, if you aren't in the best frame of mind how can you truly enjoy Christmas? Talking about mental health, your physical health is also very important, if you're known to skip a meal, try your hardest not to, if you're super busy you are going to need all the energy you can get! Most importantly just remember to take care of yourself! 

Lastly, Number four? Pre-planning... Pre-planning is the most amazing thing ever, having everything organised before December is the best feeling in the world.  I feel like in this day and age a lot of gifts can and most probably are bought online and when you are buying online you have to be organised well in advance.  You don't want it coming up to the last week before Christmas and you are still waiting on that one gift for someone you care about.  So pre-planning is the way to go, I have even gone as far as to start planning my gifts in October so I have plenty of time to make sure I have the money and can order them with plenty of time to spare!  

However guys, if all else fails, enjoy the holiday, eat too much, have fun with friends and wait for that present to arrive after christmas, try not to stress. xx
I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this post! I actually enjoyed writing it so much! However it has reminded me of a few things I need to do before the end of November! I hope you are all super excited for Christmas and aren't freaking out too much already! I am super excited and can't wait for my upcoming blog posts and YouTube Videos! Make sure to keep an eye out xx

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Anne xoxo

Starting Youtube...

Hello Everybody, 

How are you all? It's been a while since I've sat down and spent time writing and I have honestly missed it.  I have been spending so much time lately working on my new YouTube Channel and the content that I put up that I have completely neglected writing and I'm sorry for that.  On the topic of YouTube I wanted to write a post today about my experience and and why I started YouTube because really I just have some things to say. Also if you haven't seen my channel yet and wanted to check it out, feel free to check it out here!!

So let's start off with why I started shall we? Basically I started this blog about a year ago now and have been loving it, I love being able to share with you guys, let you know my opinions, my experiences and such but I felt like I really couldn't convey my personality across very well.  I really wanted this blog to pick up and I wanted to start a little community of people that I could chat to and have as a sort of friend group.  Unfortunately that didn't happen for me, I thought it was because not many people read blogs, or maybe people just weren't interested in what I had to say but whatever the reason I felt like YouTube would be an easier platform to use as it would be easier for me to show who I really am and chat with you guys and really get to form a community. So I turned to YouTube, I spent some time setting up my room, buying the necessary equipment and started from there.  I had so many videos planned to start with but truly the hardest part was sitting in front of a camera and feeling comfortable.  I honestly talk to myself all the time but I still feel like I'm not really myself on camera which I'm trying to change.  I really want to be me and show you who I really am. 

I've made fourteen videos now and I definitely have found some aspects of it to be hard.  As I said, being myself in front of the camera is difficult for me because I really do want to show you something that i 'think' you will like not necessarily something that is true but I am trying really hard to be honest and open so that is challenging.  I have also had a few 'breakdowns' I guess you could call it? When I posted my first video I had such a good response from friends and family, I had so many nice comments and in a week I had doubled my subscriber count (Not that that is all I care about) but after that it kind of froze, and that was really hard for me.  I went into this thinking it would be easier than blogging to grow a community of people and when I say that I don't mean a mass following, I have no intention of wanting to be famous I just wanted this to be like a little family to me but unfortunately my channel stopped growing, I don't get many comments and sometimes that can be very disappointing because I put so much effort into filming and editing my videos. It kind of feels like if you put lots of effort into a school assignment and you are super proud of it but you only get a C.. It can be very disheartening.  I am just trying to stay positive and I really am realistically doing this for me, I want to become more confident in myself, I really want to further my skills at editing and I do want to create a friendship base with a lot of you guys! I just have to keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day... 

I appreciate each and every one of you, whether you are reading this now or watch my videos or even if you just silently cheer me on, each of you are so incredible and I love every one of you! I don't want this to come off as complaining as all because don't get me wrong, I love making videos I just wish I could make more friends!

I Love You Guys! 
Until Next Time!
BrittanieDe-Anne xoxo