A waywards guide to DTR

I thought since this recently happened to me and is the most popular topic around my circle of friends (both girls and guys); DTR "Defining The Relationship" seems to be the most frustrating topic that both genders are experiencing in the early stages of a relationship.

For both guys and girls this can be quite an awkward stage when you have been with someone for awhile. Not to get to tricky, but my definition of being with someone is you either, hang out a lot with them, speak to them regularly, are affectionate with each other (kissing, hugging and sleeping with one another) and that you have been doing this for a period of time. Oh and of course that this person is the only person you have been doing those interaction with.

Now I thought I would break this down one step further, why do we need to define a relationship? Well from my experience it can save you from a lot of embarrassing scenarios, i.e. when friends ask you if they are your partner/bf/gf and all you can give them is "oh we are sleeping together" or "we are seeing each other but we are not dating". Believe me when I say this but it does wear thin after awhile and having the kind of uncertainty will in the end will drive anyone a bit banana's.

A DTR appears when either one party is unsure about how each other feels about the relationship and are unsure where to head from it. It is important to have some kind of direction with someone, because at the end of the day you can avoid unnecessary events by being clear and that just means you can get on with your life. Think of it as forward planning, without any lose ends.

So you have reached that point that you realised that you need to define the relationship, so now what?

Here are some suggestions about breaching the topic that you can use,

• Slip it into conversation about other friends relationships, maybe use "oh they are just a great couple,are we a great couple?"
• Be straight forward and ask "are we an item?" 
• Go the other direction and make a comment about how its nice being friends and see if they turn around and go "I thought it was more than that?" (pre-warning, you have to be sure with yourself in case they might actually feel it is a more of a casual thing)
• Ask them out "will you be my girl/boyfriend" you could use starters like, I really enjoy hanging out with you or you make me happy to get the ball rolling.

These are only small ideas on the whole scale of things, but if you have been in a similar situation I would love to hear your feedback. Was it good? bad or indifferent?

Much love and happiness

Z 

Procrastionation Day 16th October

Well well, it seems to have been sometime since I had enough material to warrant a procrastination blog post! I have come to admire people who are very consistent at blogging, it is no easy task to say the least. I find that I will only blog about something that inspires me or that I really just want to share with the world cause it made me smile and I definitely all about sharing the laughter.

So since my wardrobe tamming is taking longer than a week I thought I would give a little peak at what I have been reading over the past month, so enjoy this mini adventure!

• This post about how you feel about you ex had a little bit of truth to it for me, what about you?
• I realised that I unconsciously do this, but we should always surround ourselves with powerful like minded people; because it will make us better!
• It was really kind of mind blowing to read this article on how the current and past generation are dealing with competition of popularity.
• As I don't want kids, reading about what parents shouldn't say to non parents made me become more frustrated with people who say these things constantly to me.

Some food for thought really, a bit of light blog reading; but remember enjoy your day and that even though you are procrastinating you are education yourself too!

Peace

Z

Spring Overhaul

Photo from Pinterest

It has come to my attention that it is time for a revamp, now that I am not a student anymore (woohoo) I think it is time to make my surroundings represent where I am in my life. Currently it is in a stage of chaos and when I mean chaos I mean I have two types of personalities mixed into one. I have my student life trying to hold strong against my approaching work life, now you may wonder what the hell does that mean?! Here is a summary of it:

• My wardrobe is a confused mess, it does not distinguish who I am right now! There are different pieces of clothing that I do not wear anymore or that needs to be repaired or even thrown out!
• When I look at my room I see remnants of a student life over the past 4 years and a mixtures of my new life trying to come through; so merely I have items that I used in my student years that are now gathering dust and newer items trying to fit in to my tiny little room.

As well know that most of us like to spring clean when this season appears, meaning out with the old and in with the new! To be honest I never took the "spring clean" thing seriously but as I matured I realised it is a great way to improve your surrounding for the on coming months and make room for new and exciting things.

So this week I am dedicating my spare time to spring cleaning my wardrobe, my inspiration did come from reading Gala Darling's article on wardrobe taming and that has really got the ball rolling for my spring overhaul.

I will keep you posted on my progress this week via twitter and give you a review at the end of it!

Peace

Z

Wicked - The Muscial

A musical was definitely on my bucket list of things to do, everyone in there life should try and see a musical; I was really happy I went to a modern one as I think I would not be prepared enough for a classic such as The Phantom of the Opera. I know they are in different genre but it would be best to start out with a musical that had a mixture of drama, comedy and action; it keeps you more interested.

The modern musical I saw was Wicked, the story that was before Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ. It was original a book by Gregory Maguire in which became so popular that it was re written for the stage and boy it now makes me want to go out and buy the book! The cast I saw were highly talented and could sing amazingly, but I guess that is to be expected when it been on Broadway for almost 10 years!! It was also quite fun when we realised that the Wizard was a Kiwi, the whole audience cheered and it made me smile to think that in a semi formal setting we cannot help but applaud and be proud at how well they are doing!!

So take a chance, try something new! I did and I certainly do not have any regrets on that aspect.

Peace

Z

Auckland: Big little City

We all know that we have some bias towards the city we grew up, some also do not have the best experiences and find new places to call home and be bias about. For me I will always love Auckland, it is where I have grown and become the person I am today, since I am feeling so happy I want to share with you a little snippet of what I love about Auckland.

Big little City

My Home

Z

TGIF: Inspirational Weekend Boost

Hey Peeps,

Since it is Friday I thought I would share with you my top 10 inspirational quotes that I have come across in Pinterest. Hope this kicks off your weekend and give you a smile on your dial, promise to get my graduation post up soon! Pre warning this post is going to be a photo overload!!

Have a awesome weekend!

Z

What to do when goals start to happen

Well it has finally started to happen, my graduation is approaching after 4 long arduous years of study I am getting my degree in management! When people say "this is going to be my year" it is because of a lot of events that are going to happen, well this is definitely going to be my year, graduation, getting a job and saving for my overseas experience. How can you not say that things are not happening?!

Since then it has got me thinking, about how do people react when they know that they are achieving their goals? It can be such an overwhelming experience, especially if the goal has taken you a long period of time and you have wanted it so badly. Once I graduate I plan to celebrate with friends my achievement by having a get together and relishing that I had finally done it! nothing beats being with your friends and having a merry old time.

It still feels surreal that I finally have reached this point in my life, I can still remember my days at high school wishing to get out and start exploring the world, now I am reflecting on how I got to where I am and if I would change anything about it. Some people can fall into a lull about how things have gone in their life, has it not turned out they way you wanted? or do you feel like you are missing out on things because you were doing something else?

Well what I can tell you is "STOP RIGHT NOW!" life is unpredictable, one minute you are doing one thing and the next you are going in a completely different direction! Can you tell me definitely that you have always done exactly what you intended to do? We can all say yes to a degree, even if we had achieved it, there would have been twists and turns in getting there. So I want to pass on a piece of knowledge that I have gained through experience and observation, do plan goals, don't make them to super detailed! you need to have room to make adjustments; such as time, place and importance. My degree has always been the forefront in my goal setting, however I made adjustments when I learn't that I couldn't achieve my goal in the time I had allotted. By doing this I did not stress too much, on not initially fulfilling my goal, because I knew I would do it, just the terms had to be altered.  

Now what I want you to do is practice accepting change within your goals, create a simple goal, an example would be saving for an item that you want. Allow room for flexibility and start working on it and be open minded when a hurdle comes up, once you have completed the goal reflect back on how you handle it and see if you stressed out or accepted the variable. By doing this you build a resilience to the changes that can affect our goals and direction, having a strong resilience in goal setting will actually help you reach your goals and still feel satisfied by the time you get there.

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps" - Confucius

Food for thought really,
Peace Out,

Z

Across the ditch a.k.a Australia

My Sydney Shopping Trip

So over the past week and a half I have been inhabiting Australia, I have been mostly in Sydney and for four days in Melbourne. Australia for me is like a second home that you visit on a yearly basis. My uncle and first cousins live there so I don't need to worry about accommodation while I am over there.

This time round I stayed with a friend for free in Wollongong which is south of Sydney about 1 1/2 give or take depending on what direction you are coming from.  

One of the beaches in Wollongong

Wollongong reminds me a little bit of Whangamata in New Zealand, a small town where people are friendly and the city just plods along. I was really impressed with the free bus service they had, it saved me a lot of money and it got me where I needed to go! I also watched my friend play in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament,it didn't take me too long to figure out the rules and seemed like a lot of fun, even when i did get smacked in the face with the Frisbee. If you are looking to get into a sport that is not to overwhelming I would recommend ultimate Frisbee, so check it out!

On a side note, Wollongong is a coastal town so there is plenty of beaches to surf and swim at. A bit of a sleepy town but I definitely got my r and r in.

Pancake Parlour in Melbourne, one word, AMAZING!

Now Melbourne, that is another story, the city is huge! It took us 90 minutes to get our hotel from the airport!! However there was so much to see, I went to the Melbourne National Museum and the Victoria National Gallery to see the Monet exhibition, Impressionism has always been my favourite type of art and the fact it was all based around Monet was pure heaven for me! I did go into the city for a night on the town, it was great, we ended up staying at one bar that played current and old school music; definitely had a few sing a longs to some old hits. Visually I did find that Melbourne was lacking something, maybe it was the mix of old and new buildings didn't seem to fit in my eyes, though the old buildings I saw there were very beautiful. Sadly to say I did not get a chance to hit the shops and see what kind of places Melbourne had to offer as my friend I went with did not like to shop, boo! annoying boys...

My carry on luggage for my trip back home!

With this holiday I did manage to travel quite a lot within Australia, I used the Sydney Railway to get around and found that they were spot on every time. I would recommend using the trains as you can get day, weekly and fortnightly passes, plus the trains go to most places; I took a train from South Sydney to North Sydney to see my Uncle and that in the end was 3 1/2 hours! For my domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne and back I used Tiger Airways, overall, not impressed; both my flights were delayed and there service was appalling. To be honest though I guess that this was Murphy's law really about only just wanting to get the cheapest flight and mentally having to end up paying for it!

Other than that, I had a pretty fun holiday! Hanging with friends and family, getting a little bit of shopping in and overall just relaxing. Perfect! I hope this little review might interest you in visiting Australia or even just giving yourself a bit of a holiday, we all need it you know.

Some purchases before I even left Auckland, oh dear...

Peace Out

Z

The next chapter!!

Photo from Pinterest

Well the weekend flew by in a crazy wonderful mess, I stayed up till the morning watching the day start on the new chapter of my life. Yes it is a bit cliché in the way it sounds, but I believe there needs to be some symbolism in ones life, because how are you going to recognise growth if you don't make momentous occasions?!

This post was going to be about preparing for a party such as a birthday, this was more in the material sense of what you can do to make things work and look fabulous to your ideal. However I am now feel that with my party that has been, I want to share with you about certain occasion where preparing mentally is just as important as physically.

There are always going to be moments in your life that you build up to, mine is my graduation due in August and the fact that I have turned 25! I planned my birthday 2 months in advance, a bit excessive for some people, but for me it is a natural thing I like to do. When I say plan, I looked at venues, decoration, what I was going to wear and who would possibly come. What I can pass on to you is keep your expectations realistic, I have come across many people who at their party are freaking out that something is not right, like did they provide enough food or will many people come? It made me realise when I was planning my birthday that those concerns are not relevant, at the end of the day you are having a party for you! if no one comes to your birthday then you truly know some of your friends are not really there for you.

Now you say "what do you mean those things are not relevant"?!, yes, having a good amount of food and people show up to your party are factors in making an unforgettable night. If you are consistent in your planning, then you should not have to be concerned about those two factors; when I mean consistent I mean you have to notify people in advance, say 1 month and then send a reminder a week out just before the event. Therefore no one can claim that they did not know about your upcoming events, in today's society, being so busy a couple of reminders do not go a stray and are not on the border of harassment.

After all that it is important to reflect on ones standing when birthday's come round, I sat back and thought about what I had achieved in my 25 years; well I finished high school, went travelling around the world and meet amazing new people who I am privileged to call friends. Now I am writing in new goals that I want to obtain, having a time line is helpful but you have to be aware that there will be hurdles along the way, for me one of my new goals is to move to England and do my overseas experience (OE). I have set the date for my May 2014 but you never know I may end up going earlier due to prices being cheaper or I may end up going later because I am short a bit in funds. Also another goal is that I want to meet more people, preferably out on New Zealand and work toward improving my blogging, plus getting out there more in the workforce. These goals do not really have a specific date, but they are goals that are achievable and satisfying at the end of the day.

I hope after reading this that you are a bit inspired to set some new goals for yourself, why not grab a blank journal and write out what you have achieved and what you plan to do next? Make it pretty and stamp it with your own signature style, it will be a great reference point when you feel like you are losing direction in what you are doing in life. I will post up mine once I have finished!

Please let me know how you get on, I would love to hear from you!!

Peace Out

Z

Autumn Prep List

Picture from Pinterest

Hey Peeps,

While I am writing this blog it is a dreary wet day outside, the temperature has decreased rapidly in the last few days and I can definitely say Autumn is here. I don't know about you but I seem to discover when the season hits that I am ill prepared, there seems to be a lack of warm clothes that I have stored away or that the shoes I plan to wear are worn and won't protect my feet from the rain. So for my benefit and yours I am providing you with some ideas that will help you avoid being caught out in the rain or worst cold!

• You have to look fashionable when is comes to the seasons, even when two out of the four season has rain and snow! Some of these trends I am definitely going to follow for Autumn.
• Here is a great guide for someone who has to start from scratch when updating their Autumn wardrobe.
• I want to try and eat seasonally, so here what is in season for Autumn
• Also to make a good prep list you must find good recipes so that you can get into the groove of things!
• For all my New Zealanders I found this cool site dedicated to vegetables, it is surprising that many of us are uneducated about their benefits.

So here is my mini prep list for Autumn, I hope this has been helpful! If I find more interesting facts I will update this post.

Have an awesome week!

Peace Out

Z

Beauty Review - Nivea & Garnier

Hey Peeps,

The weeks have seem to have disappeared, I hope everyone has had a interesting time. For me I have had a car accident, been super busy at work and still managed to fit in birthday parties in the process. What a life you might say, I say yes! but everyone can be busy it just might not be the same things as me; so again procrastination material has been sparse. So the material I present you is my opinion the two products shown above, Garnier BB Cream and Nivea Light Moisturising Day cream. In the last month or so I have started to become more and more obsessed with finding face products that are not horrendously expensive and to point actually do at least 70% of what they say the can do on the box. Well I hope this is interesting for you and is in the end helpful as a review.

Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector (Oily & Combination Skin)

I was very very skeptical when I purchased this product, "gives a matte effect" "reduces pores & imperfections". The first thing I would like to point out is that if you are not educated on what type of skin you have any of the products you buy that are not suited to your skin type, will not be as effective as you want it to be!

Our skin changes all the time due to many external and internal elements i.e. the weather. BB cream is the current fad at the moment I have come discover why, not only does it complete one of your skin care routines but it also has traces of foundation and SPF. Upon application it looked like foundation out of the tube and had the similar texture, when I applied it to my surprise it glided on like moisturiser and did have a matte finish!

Doing the test run I checked on it through out they day and again I was pleasantly surprised, it stayed on with only a few area getting a little thin however it kept its coverage. Being a supermarket/drug store product it does a great job, it has now become a definite in my beauty bag and I would recommend giving it a go if you like tinted moisturisers or are bit young to be wearing foundation. Also please not I tested this with a other products, I used under eye concealer, general concealer and adding on top bronzer and blush. This product is great as a simple base for everyday natural wear, I would not recommend it for night wear.

Nivea Light Moisturising Day Cream

Now this cream it good, not amazing or mind blowing but it completes its job of being a moisturiser. I know that Nivea followers will understand what I mean when I say it has that distinct Nivea smell; lots of their moisturisers especially have a distinct smell in which you know it is Nivea. The cream apply's easy and is not too creamy as being a oily/combination skin I am very anti sheen! It worked well with the Garnier BB Cream, the combination seemed to help the BB Cream stay on longer and my face was not irritated by it. You cannot really go wrong with the product, great for day to day wear under other products; a good starting product also for a beauty routine or a new person taking on a facial routine.

So there is my beauty review for these two products, I do hope they were helpful! Now back on the band wagon and bring on Procrastination Wednesday. What great and wonderful site to find and explore next..

Peace Out

Z

Procrastination Wednesday 10th April

My little snippet of Wellington

Happy Procrastination Day

How has everyone's week been? I am pretty proud of myself getting this written before the week is out, I have such a blast being in Wellington and visiting my friends, I never leave Wellington disappointed!! This week's material is based around my trip, so if you have any plans to go there I suggest to take a look at some of the places I will suggest..

• So this is the bag I took as luggage for 2 days, I am very proud to say that I fitted everything I needed; Country Road bags are extremely popular as luggage bags for short amounts of time. If you are ever in the market for one, I suggest looking at one of these! Mine was jam packed for my 2 day adventure, you never know what you might get up to and I like to be prepared.

My room at Ibis Wellington

• When I got in at 10.30 pm I was pretty happy to have such a comfy room as this, great size, comfortable bed and the reception on the television was perfect. The 24 hour reception was a bonus as I was worried that I might have to call a number to be let in! Overall I had a great experience at Ibis the staff were friendly and helpful, the rooms immaculately clean and the atmosphere very relaxing, but not to mention right in the middle of Wellington central!

• I confess when I go to any place I always go check out the shops, even if they have the same shops like Auckland. I ended up purchasing essentials which made feel very pleased with myself; I brought leggings from Glassons, two beanies from Cotton On, a pair of pajama pants from Cotton On Body and of course I hit the Lush they had! Lastly I got this really nice smelling candle from Ecoya which was sold in Stevens, I am starting to get back into burning scented candles, you just cannot beat a nice smelling room or even home!

So the weekend really consisted of me catching up with friends, eating fabulous food and shopping. What more could a girl ask for? If you are looking for a great breakfast or nice place to chill out I would recommend Olive, I went there on my last day for brunch and had a really nice Eggs Benedict. On a last note when you do go to Wellington (and you should) checkout Cuba St there is such life on this street, I saw a man get arrested and I also go preached to about how I need to be religious. So get among-est the quirkiness and I will see you all next week.

Peace Out

Z

Procrastination Wednesday 3rd April

Happy Procrastination Day

What a fantastic week! not that it has anything to do with it being a shorter working week (lies), there was a lot of news feed flying around that it has only taken me till now to sort out the good ones for you all. Also next week I will be heading to the capital of my country Wellington! So I plan to explore, take notes, create fun pictures and report back on findings just for you all.

• Even though I am only going for a weekend travelling can throw off your body, so I have been reading up on ways to keep happy and healthy while I am travelling.
• I found this website talking about really healthy tips for organic snacks 
• Though I am currently having for breakfast and up&go with fruit and I find that to be a substantial breakfast to start my day off
• The accommodation I have booked is under the Accor Hotel group, I recently have come to the realisation that travelling, whether it be small trips or large overhauls, being in a loyalty program certainly has it's benefits. The more you travel and get points the better the deals are, also I have discovered being on this program I automatically get cheaper standard rates, if that does not impress you then what would?!
• Also I stumbled across the top 10 dry shampoos by one of the blogs that I read, it is quite handy especially if you don't want to have to wash your hair every second day like I do!
• Lastly I found a great trick to making your legs smoother, I think I might try it before I head down to Wellington next week.

Thought some of you might appreciate this as much as I do, hehehe definitely a grin jerker.

Have a great weekend!

Peace Out

Z

Procrastination Wednesday 27th March

Happy Procrastination Day

I have decided to alter Procrastination Wednesday a bit, when I am going to post and it will still be every week I am going call it procrastination day, as I am seeing pattern. If I try and keep a day of the week instead of any day in the week I will end up producing links that I am not happy with and you all might not like either. However Procrastination Wednesday should always, always be celebrated! Eat something naughty or have a look at my past posts :) 

So to the material, I have come across some help tips and trick this week that I know we can all benefit from! Even though in the northern hemisphere it is Spring and in the southern hemisphere it will be Autumn; however I think this is just versatile enough to be beneficial!

• This will be a must do over the long weekend (Easter)
• I love this person review on why weirdos out do the normal it is hilarious and quite cute really...
• Take care over this long Easter weekend and make sure you keep your body well looked after
• Also this week I did psychometric testing for a job that I having been trying to get, lets just say it was the most strangest test I ever took

On that note have a awesome weekend! eat lots of chocolate and do things that you love.

Peace Out

Z

Procrastination Wednesday 13th March

Photo from Pinterest

Happy Procrastination Wednesday

Yay! I am so happy I got the content this week. Felt like I had let you all down by not providing you all with a distraction for your Wednesday. So here is this weeks content:

• Last Friday was international womens day it is pretty cool what the day symbolises, New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote and this day just made me smile. Go Equality!
• Also check out my group pinboard it is dedicated to anything Kiwi
• Here is an interesting review on adrenal fatigue
• Also I read Gala Darlings beginners guide to palmistry it was amazing! definitely want to try it out on my friends
• I just noticed that today's date is the 13/03/13 there is a lot of three's in today's date, so I researched the meaning of the number 3.

Have a good read my friends and leave any comments, I would love to hear from you!

Peace Out

Z

Creating my own personal diet (lifestyle)

Picture from Pinterest

"So as part of my healthy New Year resolution, I decided to go carb free for 2 weeks (most likely will stretch it longer but thought I would set something realistic first) similar to the paleo diet, however I take out just starch i.e. bread, potatoes etc."

However since writing that piece it has now been well over 2 weeks and I am managing quite well, I feel a lot better not eating so much heavy starch food. A lot of products have carbohydrates in them and our body does need good carbohydrates, in today's society we are consuming the "bad type" of carbohydrates. For example I used to consume a starch product every meal, I would have bread with my breakfast, a pasta or rice dish for lunch; then I would finish off with potatoes or bread for dinner. From my own personal research I pieced together that I did this unconsciously to make myself feel more full, as starches have less water in them as do carbohydrates such as fruit. But doing this resulted in me gaining weight because I put too much carbohydrates into my body, too much obviously freaked out my system and started producing fat.

Along the way I have purchased a clean eating guide, this was a small investment into myself; because when you think about there is only one you in this world and you only have one body. Being in my mid twenties now I definitely want to up the anti on myself, I want to be a fine wine and only get better with age. Now I ummm and ahhhh over this guide because there had been a large amount of mixed results from this guide, I choose to purchase this guide and have been happy with the resources I have been provided with. This is a lifestyle choice for me, however I do not follow this guide right down to the letter, I have lost 2 kgs while being on this guide and I know it is going to slowly come off, only with my patience and consistence.

I will document further how I am experiencing changing my own habit and creating a more healthier lifestyle, the fundamentals of my personal diet consist of:

• No carbohydrates that consist in wheat forms; this means I choose not to eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta etc.
• I try and make sure that every meals has fruit or vegetables.
• I try to regularly exercise, I play indoor netball once a week and do exercises at home. 
• Lastly I do not beat myself up over not sticking to the rules, we all fall down and we are entitled to treating ourselves. Just not going overboard, everything in moderation.

The lifestyle change was based on me noticing changes in my body, I was tired a lot and putting so much unhealthy food into my body that I would feel bloated and sick. These changes are for my own personal benefit, I am not starving myself or denying myself enjoyment of food.

I would love to hear your comments on lifestyle changes that you have made and how they have impacted on your life. 

Peace Out

Z