Recipe | Tapenade

Ask anyone who has ever met me and they will probably be able to confirm that I am obsessed with olives. I've been shamefully eating them with a spoon, straight out of the jar for as long as I can remember. Lovingly nicknamed the Olive Queen by my father and often gifted fancy olives it is the food obsession of a lifetime. I've noticed recently that olive tapenade is fairly difficult to come across in your regular grocery store and up until Christmas I had no way of making my favourite dip myself. After receiving a food processor for Christmas last year, of course an olive tapenade was the first thing I made. Enjoy!

Ingredients
200g pitted kalamata olives
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp red wine vinegar 
1 lemon, juiced

Place the garlic in the food processor and, if the option is available, hold down the chop button and if not use your regular pulse setting, for about 10 seconds. Add the olives into the processor and continue for another 30 seconds. Add in the liquids and continue to pulse for another 10 seconds. 

Voila! Thats your tapenade finished. Decant from the food processor bowl into whatever vessel you desire, cover with a tiny drizzle of olive oil and put it in the fridge. I've put a small portion of mine into this super cute little jar and may or may not gift it to an olive loving friend depending on my generosity. 

Let me know if you make this super simple tapenade and if you enjoy it. I am going to see how I like capers and/or anchovies in it next time. 

Erin xx

Skin | Loved in Spring

Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser - available here

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream - available here

L'Occitane Shea Buter Lip Balm - available here

After participating in Buy Nothing New Month during October I made a decision. Being a beauty blogger who purchases enough products throughout the month to be able to select favourites is not something that I want to be. It isn't sustainable for the environment or my wallet. And so, once a season (probably towards the end) I will let you know products I have really been enjoying in their own categories. Headed towards the end of November (and Spring) I thought I'd share the cream of the skin care crop for this season. 

Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturiser: after acne treatments as a teenager my skin was left incredibly dry and the part of my face that has noticeably never recovered is the skin surrounding my eyebrows. Since the medication, I haven't been able to wax my eyebrows without fear of losing skin in the process; this may be explanation for my brow obsession. This product has totally helped with adding moisture back into my skin. I apply it liberally to my brows, brow bone and under eye area every night and wake up with super soft skin. I still haven't felt confident enough to get my brows waxed again but I'm thinking when the pot runs dry it is a definite sign that they are ready. 

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream: as October came to an end so did my supply of Heel Genius from Soap and Glory. I was on the hunt for a new heavy duty night cream that could double for both my hands and feet. When I stumbled across this in Coles I had no hesitation in trying it out. Palmer's is well known for super hydrating moisturisers and this product is no different. It really is a concentrated product and I only need a small squeeze that easily covers each foot and both hands. If I have enough time in the morning I like to put it on under my socks as well. 

L'Occitane Shea Buter Lip Balm: as the most expensive lip balm I own I save the use of this beautiful product for once a day use and station it with the rest of my makeup products that I apply in the morning. I have been a long time user of Blistex Lip Conditioning Balm (and will continue to be) but the shea butter in this product is such a nice way for my lips to start the day. As I don't wear anything but Blistex at work and because I work in an air-conditioned environment the small addition of this heavily moisturising L'Occitane product into my daily routine has been very beneficial. I received this balm as a gift and am unsure as to whether or not I will repurchase but if I can, I will. 

Thats all of my skin favourites for Spring. I'm noticing as we venture through this blogging journey that I am expanding my collection of skin products a lot more than I thought I would. Summer will probably see my SPF collection expanding. If anyone knows of a good oil free (non-comedogenic) high SPF moisturiser please let me know! 

Erin xx
PS. Cheers to Jess for posting on Wednesday as I have been fairly under the weather of late.  

About Face | Satin Taupe

Hi lovelies! Back when I first became interested in the whole beauty side of things, all that anyone could talk about was Mac. Now my skin is extremely sensitive and does not get along at all well with their skin products, however over the years I have built up a stash of eyeshadows. And lipsticks, but I think it's more than a stash of those. 

OOTD | Wall Flowers

Floral Day Dress - thrifted and altered / Belt - White Ribbon from Spotlight / R.M. Williams Lace-up Boots / Sunglasses - Sporsgirl

Like Jess, my outfits have been getting more and simple during these warmer months. Being a thrift addict I am always prepared for summer with a plethora of easy to throw on dresses. This is one the first thrifted dress I ever purchased and also the first second hand garment I altered to fit my own style; and it still fits my style to this day. 

It is a lightweight cotton fabric sewn in a very simple pattern. When I found it on the rack it was a lot longer and had a drop waist. I fell in love with the floral detail and knew that if I raised the dresses waist line to match my own it would be much more wearable. 

Everything else in this outfit are such basic staples for me. I have too many more dresses of similar shape and colour that these accessories would work for most outfits. Keeping it simple all summer long. 

If you'd like to know how I went about altering this dress please let me know in the comments. 

Erin xx

OOTD | Sunflower Power

 Dress Thrifted / Denim Vest DIY / Shoes UNIF 'Grim Creepers'

Hi lovelies! Sometimes the easiest way to get dressed is to stop thinking and throw on a dress. The summer heat still precludes me wearing any layers so I have taken to thrifting to find some comfy 'throw on' dresses.

Monthly Round-Up | January

Eat and Drink
Boutique Ginger Beers

Strangely, I only recently discovered that you could buy alcoholic ginger beer. The whole 'beer' part of the title was really lost on me. It is a great alternative to regular beer as the ginger makes it spicy and refreshing but it doesn't have the overly sweet taste often common in ciders. These local boutique brews are two of my favourites but surprisingly hard to come by. I have purchased them before as a local bottle shop but after discovering they were sold out haven't been able to find them elsewhere (hence stock photos). If you see either these two around make sure you give them a whirl; they're not just a pretty label. 

Watch
Girls

I arrived late to the Girls obsession but am so glad that I finally have. After months of recommendations to watch this highly relevant and addictive program, I have been glued to my laptop for two weekends straight. I am almost through the second season and can't wait to catch up to the most recent episodes from the hyped season three. If you're yet to be converted to this brilliantly hilarious and heartbreakingly true-to-life series there are plenty of reviews around the interwebs but this is a good way to start (click here).

Are you obsessed?

Read

How To Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

Two books have captivated my attention this month. I received Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman for Christmas and could not put it down. I devoured the hilariously apt auto-biography during some downtown after Woodford Folk Festival. Moran has turned various phases of her life into life lessons with an empowering feminist twist for women of all ages at all stages of life. As a 20-something confused with parts of her semi-ignorant generation it is always refreshing to read such a loud voice expressing exactly that I feel in coherent yet entertaining manner. 

     "So here is the quick way of working out if you're a feminist. Put your hand in your pants.

     a) Do you have a vagina? and

     b) Do you want to be in charge of it?

     If you said 'yes' to both, then congratulations! You're a feminist.” 

Caitlin Moran, How To Be a Woman

Bewitched & Bedevilled by Samantha Trenoweth and others

The other work that I have been absorbing like water is a collection of essays written by Australian female political commentators about the years of the Gillard Goverment. Australia's first female Prime Minister had a short three years in office wrought with the perils of a country not ready for a leader who diverged from the norm; white, Christian males with a nuclear family. Despite passing a ridiculously high number of bills through the House of Representatives, (the most efficient Prime Minister and government Australia has ever seen) sexist bullying and negative portrayals by conservative media outlets has a large portion of the public viewing her as the worst thing to ever happen to this country. 

This book explores all facets of her Prime Ministership, from strident feminist perspectives through to analysis of some fairly negative and hugely disliked pieces of policy that Gillard's government actioned. It highlights and constantly reiterates that a man in the same position, the highest in the land, never has and will never be disrespected and bullied in the same way that Gillard was. 

If you're looking for modern and relevant feminist titles, I definitely recommended these two. Let me know your favourites in the comments. 

Listen

Thelma Plum

I've been seeing and hearing little bits about Thelma Plum for a few months now on Triple J and music blogs but had never delved much deeper. That was until I had her music permanently stuck in my head after seeing her at Woodford Folk Festival. This young Brisbane girl has tapped into the veins of the the flourishing Australian female singer song writer market. She picked up the award for National New Talent of the Year at the National Indigenous Music Awards late last year for her cute sounding angry folk pop. Its fairly obvious she has been through a difficult relationship recently and has found success in this emotional output. I really hope she continues to bloom this year and releases a full length album sometime soon. 

Tech
Sleep Bot for iOS and Android

Sleep Bot is the most intuitive and effective alarm clock I have ever had. It starts working from the moment you tell it you are sleeping right until you actively turn it off in the morning. Instead of letting the several consecutive alarms that I know some of us have Sleep Bot has a smart alarm that not only starts to go off 30 minutes before the one you have set but goes off according to the part of your sleep cycle that you are in. You are also able to track your movement and sounds while sleeping. 

I was fairly content with these functions but always put a slow soothing playlist on at the same time to help me sleep. I find that sometimes music can be great for sleeping but it can also be distracting and ineffective. A recent update of Sleep Bot now includes ambient white noises that you can play for up to 25 minutes while you try to sleep. Sounds include 'nature at night', 'wind in the trees', 'city ambience', and my personal favourite, 'ocean tides'. I find it much more effective to have white noise while I sleep. 

I hope you have all enjoyed the first post in my new Monthy Round-Up series. I have set myself a goal of posting a favourites post like this every month for as least the duration of 2014, if not longer. 

Please let me know if you liked it or if you have any suggestions.

Erin xx

Life | Eat Street Markets

Hi lovelies! Bit of a change in today's post. I have been lugging my camera around much more frequently lately. Over the course of owning my camera photography has become a big part of my life. Instead of just leaving photos like this untouched on a hard drive I wanted to show them off. 

A couple of Fridays back I visited the Eat Street Markets. These markets have been running for a little while and held at the Hamilton wharf. To fit the location all the stalls are housed in disused cargo containers. 

This isn't the place to go to stock up on fruit and veggies, but they do have a great selection of stalls. From vintage clothing, to jewellery to home wares it all makes for a very tempting browse. The food stalls are also fab. I had the most delicious fresh juice whilst there. Make sure to go with cash though as many of stalls don't accept card and the ATM line can be lengthy. 

With the wine and cocktail bars as well as the plethora of dinner options this would make for a great night with friends or your partner. 

When we went around 7pm it was jam packed with people, so you might be better off heading in earlier or later. The Eat Street Markets run every Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 10pm. For more info on parking and the like check out their website here. 

If you're Brisbane based I'd urge you to check it out.

Where are your favourite markets?

Jess x