Goodbye January, Hello February

Posted by Dannii on 2 February, 2012

Let’s hope my cold has been left behind in January! With 6 1/2 months until the wedding it’s time for me to really get into shape!

The agenda for this week is:
- Monday: Exercise Bike
- Wednesday: POP Pilates Total Body Workout
- Friday: Praise Aerobics

I’m also planning on making some deliciously healthy, vegan meals this week (in suitable portion sizes):
- Spinach & sweet potato curry
- Creamy avocado pasta
- Vegan tortilla pizza
- Chili on a bed of steamed carrots
- Vegan enchiladas

And I’m trying to have healthy drinks:
- Lots of water
- Fruit teas
- Jasmine green tea
- Black tea with vegan milk

And snacks:
- Fruits
- Nuts
- Low-fat hoummus & vegetable crudites
- A *couple* of squares of dark chocolate

 Super Healthy Immunity Boosting Rainbow Stir Fry

Posted by Dannii on 25 January, 2012

I have been ill for about a week and I was mostly better except for a cough, so I thought it’d be ok to start exercising again. Oh was I wrong! My cold has now come back with a vengeance!!

I was feeling awful at work this morning and suddenly got hit with a recipe idea for a Super Healthy Immunity Boosting Rainbow Stir Fry! So I went to the supermarket in my lunch break and got as many healthy ingredients as I could think of! I was very happy walking back to work with my massive bag of vegetables!!

To boast my veggie intake even more I had a massive salad for lunch with chilli sauce, which not only helped clear my airways but also provided a much appreciated rush of endorphins! I also drank a lot of (various) tea and water to keep myself hydrated.

So back to the sti fry (unfortunately in my excitement to eat it I forgot to take a photo!)
Ingredients:
Pak choi, spinach, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, courgette, carrot, spring onion, garlic, fresh ginger, green chili pepper, corriander (fresh would’ve been bettter), wholewheat noodles, light soy sauce, red palm & canola oil

It was sooo good! The strong flavour of the ginger was good considering I can’t taste much at the moment and the gentle warmth of the chili pepper gave it just the right amount of kick!

Verdict: NOM! and I really do feel like my food choices have given me a boost!

 This is Love

Posted by Dannii on 31 December, 2011

I had a complete meltdown whilst exercising tonight. I felt like I was never going to be able to lose weight and look my best for our wedding. But the Dan picked me up and held me. He got me to lie down on my exercise mat and do slow situps whilst he held down my feet. He gave me two of the bottles of cava we just bought for our wedding to use as weights. He said they were good visual images to use. He told me how he used to do situps like this with a medicine ball three times a week. He made a plan for me, we would do this together three times a week and two times a week I would go on our exercise bike whilst watching tv/films (we just subscribed to Love Film).

Dan showed me such love and support tonight, exactly what I needed. I can’t wait to become his wife :)

 This is Love

Posted by Dannii on 23 December, 2011

Dan met me at the bus stop last night with a beautiful bunch of flowers and my favourite festive chocolates (Snow Bites) just because he hadn’t been able to pick me up from work two nights in a row!

 Is it summer? Is it winter?

Posted by Dannii on 13 September, 2011

This weekend was fun. My mum and her partner John came down for the day on saturday. We all went charity shopping (I got two gorgeous dresses and a top) then the boys went to the pub whilst my mum, sister and I looked at wedding dresses. I only had a quick look and booked an appointment. Nothing on the rack really jumped out at me but I’m sure it’ll be much better when I try some on! I’ve got an appointment booked for a discount bridal day next month so I need to decide what style I want by then!

We then made home-made curry from scratch (and a vegan one for me!) because Charley’s (my sister’s boyfriend) parent were coming round for dinner.

On Sunday we had a BBQ after church with Kirsty and Tom. It was so warm and sunny, perfect t-shirt weather. Then later we went for a walk in Greenwich park and it was cold and rained so much. From one extreme to another in one day!

 Here’s What We’ve Been Up To Recently:

Posted by Dannii on 30 April, 2010

Here’s Some of What We’ve Been Up To Recently:

1. Going to Ikea with Madeleine for a fun day out!

Our housemate decided he wanted to buy furniture for his room so we all went to ikea, with my friend Madeleine (who I hadn’t seen for MONTHS). We spent hours walking around looking at everything and anything. Madeleine and I spent most of the time taking photos of us trying everything out!

A massive Best Buy has just opened near Ikea (I think it’s the first one in Britian) and I really wanted to go but we were all ravinous with hunger so we went straight to Bluewater to get some food. We went to Ed’s of course :) I had my favourite- the bean burger combo (bean burger, fries, onion rings and coleslaw) with a diet coke. Dan had his favourite- a slick dog combo with a root beer and chocolate mint malt milkshake. So unhealthy but soooo good!

2. Trip to London with my Mum

I hadn’t been to Central London for ages so this was a really fun day out. We went on the London Eye (where my mum bought me a cute I <3 London hoody), to Covent Garden market, Leicester Square, Chinatown and Oxford Street. I was so exhausted for days afterwards, we did about six hours walking! I ended up doing yoga on the Wii Fit at midnight to try and loosen up a bit so I could sleep!

3. Enjoying the weather

We’ve been having plently of BBQs in the goregous weather we’ve been having! I love having a garden and we’ve been making the most out of it. It’s so nice to sit out in the sun, having friends over or even to just have our morning cup of tea! Snowdrop has been loving it too!

4. Dad and Grandma visiting

Saturday was the first time my Dad or Grandma had seen the house since we moved. It had been way too long since I last saw them. We went for lunch at this really nice resturant which is right by our house. I had a goat’s cheese and mushroom burger, expecting it to be a veggie burger but it was literally a slice of goat’s cheese and a whole mushroom in a bun with relish! It was really good though (and I’m not usually one for goat’s cheese). I had a soda and lime with it, that’s only the second time I’ve ever had that drink and it’s really growing on me. The perfect thirst quencher for a hot day!
Afterwards we went shopping. Dad and Grandma got me a blender, hand blender and iron as house warming gifts :)

I’m so excited about the blender as it’s means I can now make home-made soups and smoothies! Nom.

5. Getting into fighting shape!

Recently I’ve been trying to give my lifestlye a healthy makeover. I’ve started eating a lot better and been trying to exercise regularly. It’s been hard and I’ve had some setbacks but I feel so good for it. Dan said this morning that he was starting to see results and my skin is much clearer. If you want to read my fitness blog, leave a comment and I’ll email you the link.

6.Work as usual

After a nice few days off over Easter and some fun weekends it’s been back to work as usual, except with lovely warm weather!
Here’s a video of us on our way home from work one day:

7. New Shower!

After being broken for AGES we finally have a working shower! It was so nice to have one yesterday after I can’t remember how long. I do love a nice bubble bath, but not every single day. I almost forgot how quick showers are compared to baths! lol

8. Taking Photos

The warm weather and clear blue skies has really got me back into photography! Dan drove the country lanes route to work the other day especially so I could take photos :) We had some extra time another day so grabbed some lunch from a supermarket (I got sushi NOM!) and went to one of our favourite spots to eat it. It’s this little lake hidden down a quiet road which always has loads of ducks and an ice-cream van! It was so nice eating lunch in the warm weather whilst watching the ducks. Another day we went to these gardens I love so I could take photos of the blossom. I’ve also been using my tripod in the garden to take photos of the blossom. I edited the last two photos in Paint Shop Pro.

[edit]This is why I love blogging and taking photos! If I hadn’t make this post I’d probably have forgotten about everything mentioned in it. I really need to blog more often and definately take more photos, especally of people![/edit]

 Beautiful.

Posted by Dannii on 25 March, 2010

Dan and I found these amazing gardens. There’s a river, ducks, flowers bed and a tropical greenhouse with a pond. It’s so beautiful, I absolutely loved walking around it and took loads of pictures (see my flickr). I definately want to come back here for picnics and to just relax.


I’m been MIA for so long! I am really sick of this layout and want to get a new one up ASAP. I’m not going to want to blog much until I’ve changed it, I just know it. I need a new layout to inspire me! I’ve got so much to write about and so many photos (check out my flickr). We have now moved into our new house, are all unpacked and settled, and we love it! There are plently of photos on flickr, I may even do a vlog tour soon! Anyways, until I get a new layout up I doubt you’ll be hearing much from me! Hope you are all well.

P.S. I have a new fitness blog to help me in trying to stick to my new, healthier lifestyle. If you want the URL email me or leave a comment on this post :)