Falling in Love with Rome...

The Trevi Fountain- currently under construction

The free part of the Vatican 

Vatican City 

Random Beautiful Street no. 287 

Cafe Ginger

Orange Juice at Cafe Ginger

Spaghetti at Cafe Ginger 

Cafe Giolitti

Pomegranate, Raspberry and Nutella Gelato

Laduree, Rome 

 Laduree Macarons

Some random old building called the Colosseum 

The Colosseum, obvs 

Roman Forum

Roman Forum 

City View from Roman Forum 

View of Roman Forum and Arc of Constantine from Colosseum

The Spanish Steps

Rome is a really exciting city to be in and one that I had been to once before when I was eight. As I walked throughout the narrow, cobbled streets bits of memory would come back to me or I would feel a vague sense of familiarity, and all of this just made it all the more exciting. 

It was hard to not fall in love with Rome's rich history and culture that makes up the foundations of this famous city. There seems to be an ancient statue or temple around every twisted corner or at the end of every street. It makes it difficult to know where to begin. 

We started with the Trevi fountain, currently under construction, but still impressive to behold and located in the middle of a beautiful network of narrow streets. Then it was on to the Vatican with its towering pillars, numerous statues and impressive fresco's, not to mention all the traditions that make the Vatican what it is. The next morning was spent walking around the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, imaging what it would've been like in its glory days and all the brutality that happened in the arena and all the discussions that were held in the Forum. 

I loved wandering through the streets around the Spanish Steps, looking at all the high end fashion stores, getting macarons from Laduree and eating traditional Italian spaghetti at Ginger Cafe. Then heading back towards the Trevi to get raspberry and pomegranate gelato from Giolitti, the oldest and best gelato parlour in Rome. 

The great thing about food in Rome is you don't have to go to the best, most expensive restaurant in the City to get amazing pasta, pizza or gelato. The more expensive places may serve a better meal, but the Italians have perfected their dishes and the ones you get at more affordable places are still pretty unbelievably delicious. 

Rome is a city to be enjoyed. Eat their food, absorb their culture, learn their history, laugh at their tiny cars and admire their beautiful buildings. It's hard to not fall in love with this city, so don't fight it. Just let it happen. 

Love, Rach 

Vatican City

The Best Valentines Day Hair and Makeup Tutorials! x

Hey girlies! Who's getting excited for Valentines Day? I don't have a boyfriend so it's kinda just another day for me, buuut i do love looking at all the V-day beauty tutorials on youtube. I love seeing all the looks different people create and trying them out myself for fun, let be real, who doesn't secretly love to do this shit for fun. Lot's of these looks can also be worn for different occasions, some as they are and others you can always tone down or up. Anyway I searched the internet and found my favourite five V-Day hair and makeup looks for you! 

1. Lauren Curtis 

This Australian Babe created a soft, flirty look that would be perfect for a day time date but can also be worn at night. It's simple, girly and romantic and not over done. 

2. Tanya Burr

Tanya Burr is one of my beauty faves and in her GRWM vid she created a simple, glowy look and shows you how to turn your hair into messy waves. Overall it's a beautiful yet perfectly understated look, also she only uses one eyeshadow! 

3. Carli Bybel

This babe shows you how to do two makeup looks. One is kinda flirty, kinda glam and the other is like late night romantic if you know what I mean. Like a little sexy but not slutty. 

4. Vivian V

Vivian's GRWM video has everything you want, some rad outfit insp, a killer hair tutorial and a romantic autumnal valentines day look. 

5. ItsMandarin 

This babe shows you how to do a simple, natural look with lots of highlight, and big voluminous curls! What's not to love about that? 

If you can't tell I love the more natural looks with a hint of glam for V-Day, what about you? Whats your favourite styles? I know I'd take a pink lip over a red one any day! 

Love, Rach xx

4 Little Reminders To Make You Feel Better About Your Blog

In todays day and age everything tends to be about numbers. A lot of importance is placed on the number of likes, followers, subscribers, comments and views you have and this has become the way in which we measure success for blogs or youtube channels among others. You, like me may have a very small blog and might find the small numbers discouraging.You might wonder why you bother to blog at all if not many people are reading your posts or commenting on them. This thing is, numbers don't have to be the thing that defines your blogs success. Here are a few little things you can remind or ask yourself she the numbers get discouraging and you need another way to view you blog.

Why did you create your Blog? 

I don't know about you but I didn't create my blog for the sole purpose of getting attention. I created my blog as away for me to keep writing and a place for me to be creative during my gap years. Sure it's great when a post gets lots of attention, but that isn't  the driving factor behind my blog. Reminding myself of this always boosts my motivation and honestly makes me feel happier about my blog. 

Every number is actually a person! 

What? Crazy, I know! But it's true, every number represents a person and they might not write a comment but that doesn't mean your post didn't affect that person. For all you know, what you wrote may have been exactly what they wanted or needed to hear, or maybe they just really enjoyed it. I know I've read lots of posts that I enjoyed or found useful and I didn't leave a comment. So for me, even if a post of mine only reaches one person than that's still pretty cool. A couple of months go I did a post on awareness for modern day slavery and I only got one comment. But that still made me really excited because that one person said she was going to look into it more. If my post only bought awareness to one person, than that's pretty amazing! 

Is blogging still fun?

Blogging may not be your passion, hell you might not even love it. But do you enjoy it? Or has belonging become a chore? If it has become a chore, is there a way you can make it fun again? And if you still enjoy it, remind yourself of all the little reasons why. It's crazy how much a positive outlook can change and the excitement it can bring. Being positive is a choice and focusing on the things that make blogging fun will only grow your appreciating for blogging and for your own little blog. 

Your not the only small blog!

Do you generally read only really successful blogs with thousands of followers who get dozens of comments on the reg? Well stop it. I don't mean stop reading those blogs. They obviously have great content and the people or person behind it probably worked ridiculously hard to get where they are. But what I'm staying is, broaden your blogosphere. Find smaller blogs who you can encourage and who can encourage you in return. Give your fellow struggling bloggers the support you would like in return. Plus it's always oddly satisfying to remember that not every blog has thousands of followers. Remember, everyone has a starting point and that's okay. 

Hope this post has helped you, I had loads of fun writing it! If you have any questions about me or my blog, leave a comment below and I will reply asap! 

Love, Rach xx

A very French Riviera Holiday

Nice has to be my favourite place in France with it's incredibly beautiful coastline and relaxed vibes. Like seriously I spent half of my time here imagining what it would be like to live along the French Riviera with its beautiful old buildings, clear blue water, cobbled streets and breathtaking sunsets. With Monaco only a short bus ride away, Nice is the perfect mix between relaxed and exciting. You can spend one day sunning at the beach in Monte Carlo and the next exploring Nice's Old Town. I think this is the one place in France where I feel like I didn't spend enough time and I really, really want to go back... 

Love, Rach xx 

Mango + Raspberry Smoothie Bowl

Hey! How's it going? The weather here is ridiculous, one week we had like eighty bush fires and the state was covered in smoke, then this week there have been massive downpours and flooding. So yeah, Tasmania is bat shit cray at the moment. 

Thankfully Australia Day was between the two, post smoke, pre rain, so we were able to listen to Triple J's Hottest 100 in peace. If you didn't already know Hoops by the Rubens made it to no.1, which is pretty cool as they're Australian. 

So this past week I've been back on the smoothie breakfast bowl train. I love experimenting with smoothies and making new ones with whatever fruit I have at the time. Most of the time they work and taste delicious although sometimes I don't exactly produce the goods.

 But the other day I struck smoothie gold and produced this pretty and delicious creation and of course I just had to share. There is just something so good about starting the day with a smoothie it's just so energising and such a positive way to start the day.

B L E N D

2 big spoonfuls of greek yogurt

1/2 a mango, chopped

1 cup of raspberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 an avocado 

1/2 cup of water 

T O P /  W I T H 

1/4 of a pomegranate seeds

A handful of blueberries

Chia Seeds 

Hope this gives you some smoothie inspo. You can check out some of my other smoothie recipes here and here. Let me know in the comments what gets you energised in the morning! Would love to here you thoughts. 

Love Rach, xx 

Homemade Raspberry Lemonade ✖️

When I was a kid making lemonade was always so exciting, i don't know why but it was always just so much fun and made me feel a little old fashioned. Let's be real, who doesn't love the idea of a cool jug of freshly squeezed lemonade. This recipe creates a fresh and zesty drink that will slowly turn from yellow to soft pink. I was sipping on a couple on these and some cranberry mocktails on Australia Day and it was the perfect beverage for the warm weather. Also, it just looks soo pretty and who doesn't love a pretty drink! x  

Anyway, here is what you'll need...

✖️ 400g of Lemons, washed 

✖️ 2 cups of Water

✖️ 2-3 Tbs of Coconut Sugar

✖️ Raspberries 

✖️ Sparkling Water

✖️ Ice

✖️ Lemon to Decorate 

...AND here is how to make it;

✖️ In a blender, blend the lemons (whole), the still water and the coconut sugar together for a couple of minutes, or until smoothish.

✖️ Then strain the puree until all the juice has been removed from the pulp. 

✖️ Fill a glass a quarter of the way with the juice and add ice, a handful of raspberries and top with sparkling water. 

✖️ Then you can decorate glass with a slice of lemon, a paper umbrella and a straw. Or don't, it's up to you x 

✖️ Hope you love it! ✖️

5 Ways to De-Stress During Work

Hey guys, so today I want to talk about stress. I had a pretty stressful day at work earlier this week and I don't know about you but while it's happening, I can normally manage the situation. I just focus on what needs to be done and don't really let myself feel the stress until after. I am a waitress in a cafe and so normally when I get stressed at work it's cause it's super busy and we're understaffed, or something has broken down, or it's just really really busy.

Anyway, after it has calmed down, that's when I normally start to feel it. All the stress from the last two hours hits me and I just feel exhausted and emotionally drained. Anyone else do this?

Well here is how I recover so I can get back into it for the rest of the day.

Drink Some Water

Drinking water always helps calm me down, especially when I've forgotten to drink something for the last two hours because I've been to focused on work. Drinking water helps you relax and often clears the mind and obviously rehydrates you. You might feel thirsty, but you probably are. So drink some water and try to remember to keep drinking for the rest of the day.

Eat Something 

I rarely feel hungry at work until it's like 3pm and suddenly I'm starving and I realise I haven't had anything to eat since 8am. You feel me? Anyway, we all know food gives us energy and when your stressed you can use all the energy you can get. Even if you only have time to eat a piece of fruit or some nuts, it will help you feel more focused and less like you want to crawl into bed and sleep for a year.

Walk Around

This one is more for people in office jobs. I have worked in a reception and I know it can start to feel very confining sitting at a desk. Instead of emailing or calling the person two offices away, get up and go talk to them, or go and fill up your drink bottle even though it's only half empty. Just find some excuse to get out of you little zone, stretch your legs and clear you head. One of my teachers used to tell us to wiggle our toes during exams to increase circulation to help us think better. So if you can't leave your desks at least wiggle your toes.

Go Outside

Getting fresh air is so good. Like there's a reason the dramatic girls in movies always say, "I need some fresh air" halfway through a confronting conversation. That shit helps you think. I'm currently writing this outside, cause there are always so many distractions inside. Like at work there's always customers, or phones or emails, coffees to make. If you can take a minute to go outside, do it. I always volunteer to do jobs that will take me outside at work, like clearing/cleaning outdoor tables, watering the plants or something along those lines. Being in the fresh air makes always make me happier and replaces the stress.

Ask For Help + Accept it

If shit is getting hectic, ask for help or accept it when people offer it. I know you might want to do everything yourself, or you don't want to trouble people by asking for their help, but get over yourself and be humble. You will be happier for it later. Also be grateful for it and toward the people helping, positive emotions will help you feel less shitty.

Hope some of this helped you, I know doing these things always help me when I'm feeling stressed. Anyone have any de-stress tips, cause I'd love to hear them! 

Love Rach xx