Healthy May - Introduction

(picture from my instagram - @herecomesthesunblog)

In December last year I hit an all time low with my overall health and fitness. I wasn't exercising, I wasn't thinking about the kind of food I was putting into my body and I was the heaviest I'd ever weighed. I realised I needed a huge lifestyle change and to become fit and healthy again. For me personally I do not believe in dieting (as I feel it's not long-term sustainable) but I do believe in educating myself about what I'm eating, in being active and taking control of my health and fitness. Four months later I made it to my goal weight, had reformed the kinds of meals I was preparing and was exercising 4-5 times per week. The next step for me now is keeping up with this lifestyle change and not becoming complacent or lazy.

This is where the idea of Healthy May kicks in! So many of the health and fitness articles I've read (and I've read a lot over the last few months) say that if you have other people keeping you accountable you're more likely to reach your goals. So I thought this might be something we as bloggers (or even if you don't have a blog) could do together! I will be posting once a week on a Sunday with a review of the week I've just had and splitting it into these categories: food, exercise, goal setting.

If you would like to participate in Healthy May here is what I suggest (these are just guidelines):

• One blog post per week covering the same cateogies (or more if you wish)- food, exercise, goal setting with an update on how your week has been - a healthy recipe you might have learnt, something you're struggling with, a goal you might have achieved or need help with etc etc.

• Use the hashtag #healthymay on your twitter and instagram

• Sign up for 'My Fitness Pal' on your smart phone or on their website. A great app for tracking food and exercise. If you'd like friends on the app tweet your username using the #healthymay hashtag so we can find and add each other. If you would like to add me my username is 'herecomesthesunblog' and remember if you'd like to share your food diary with others make sure you enable visibility in your settings.

• Use the "add your link" button at the bottom of this post to leave the URL to your Healthy May blog posts. This link will appear at the bottom of each of my Healthy May posts and will enable us to engage with each other easily.

Also I hate to have to do this but a little disclaimer: I am in no way doing this to promote weight loss or dieting. The concept of this is to encourage each other to live a healthy and active lifestyle - to share yummy healthy recipes, to think about the kinds of food we're putting into our bodies, to be fit and active.

So! I hope you guys will join me on this journey. Let me know your thoughts in the comments :)

Little Black {Polka Dotted} Dress

('Formally Known As' Minkpink dress c/o Market HQ)

Ilana from See Me Everywhere and I met up today to make a little video (more info on that soon) and while we had the backdrop out I thought I may as well make the most of the opportunity and snap a few outfit piccies as well. It's a bit of a change for me to have such a plain background instead of my usual backdrop of trees, grassy fields and flowers but quite fun to try something different!

This little black dress is a new addition to my wardrobe and one I'm quite happy with. I've found that over the last couple of years I've built up a huge collection of brightly coloured pieces in every shade and pattern, but now it's time for me to focus on creating a solid foundation of basics that I can mix and match with my statement pieces. Next on my list is a pair of blue jeans which is a bit of a scary step for me (I've never found jeans that are flattering for my shape) but I'm feeling up to the challenge!

A Slice of France

So far today has been a perfect day off. The husband and I slept in then took a drive to a small town not far from our city (same one featured in this post). We wandered around stopping for coffee and snacks at Panache- a sweet French bakery, browsed through antique and gift stores and swooned over all the amazing organic treats at the Farmers Market. So nice to break from routine, get out of the house and explore somewhere different. Hope you all have a lovely weekend xx

Recap: Insta-Life

Just thought I'd share a few recent pictures from my instagram feed. If you'd like to follow me my username is @herecomesthesunblog. I have to admit I love looking back on my instagram feed because I've documented so many little happy moments in life and it's nice to relive them. I'm thinking about using Blurb to make a coffee table book full of my snap shots. Have any of you done that yet? I'd love to hear your feedback!

Also while we're on the topic of smart-phone apps, what are your favourites? I have quite a few but the three I use daily are the twitter app (I'm @yourself_onfire), instagram (of course) and the My Fitness Pal app for tracking my food and exercise. I'd love to hear your favourites!

Giveaway: Little Treats

Prize One: Coffee table book full of inspirational quotes, sponsored by Sian Richardson Design

Prize Two: Vintage laced collar top, sponsored by Vanilla Berries

Hello lovelies! The winner of this giveaway will receive both the quote book and the vintage top - two prizes for one winner, yay :)

To enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post

2. For an extra entry share this giveaway on twitter or facebook & leave an extra comment

Entry is open to all readers, international included and will close on Monday 30 April. Maximum 2 entries per person. Good luck! 

Garden Party

One of my very best friends is about to have her third baby so this weekend Ilana from See Me Everywhere and I threw her a little garden party to celebrate and shower her with gifts. The weather turned out perfectly for it which meant we could sit outside soaking up the sun and enjoying cake pops, cupcakes and other sugary treats. Such a nice way to spend the weekend and a perfect excuse to spoil someone I love very much!

Other than that my weekend has mostly been consumed by Harry Potter. While I'm adjusting to Ziggy being gone I thought losing myself in the world of Hogwarts all over again would be a good coping mechanism (I was right). In fact I'm just about to get off the computer and start The Prisoner of Azkaban now, so excited!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend xx

Florals & Stripes

(MinkPink blazer & Stripe Tunic c/o Market HQ, Romwe bowler hat, vintage velvet skirt)

Hello lovelies! Sorry for the hiatus this week but it was nice to take a break from the blog and spend good quality time with the husband while we adjust to our home without Ziggy in it anymore. Also a big thank you to you all for your lovely comments, emails, tweets and facebook messages! You're all so kind and your thoughts mean so much to us.

Anyway just wanted to share a few pictures that the husband quickly snapped of me tonight. Some of the best outfits come together by accident and this was one of those times. I was getting dressed to meet up with friends for shopping and dinner and threw on the striped top when I noticed it was actually pretty cold out. I had the floral blazer on bed and hadn't tried it on yet (the package just arrived today) so I threw it on over top to see it what it looked like, before realising I actually quite liked this clash of prints!

If you've been following my blog for awhile you'll know mixing prints isn't something I've really experimented with before so this is new territory for me. Hope you guys like!

Ziggy - In Loving Memory

Hey guys. So as most of you will know my husband and I got two little kittens about a year and a half ago. Ziggy (the tabby) and Rocky (the black one) immediately became best friends and fit into our little world so perfectly. Unfortunately, over night Ziggy was hit by a car and killed on the road outside our home. We are so so sad and are going to miss the crazy little guy so much, but also can still smile at the memories of his larger than life personality and all the good times we shared. So this post is a tribute our little man and some of our favourite moments together.

Just a few of Ziggy's cute wee poses as he slept or snuggled on the bed. He was the type of cat that if you were home for the day would spend the day inside with you instead of doing his typical cat stuff. So many of my memories of putting together blog posts include trying to balance both him and and my computer on my lap and him distracting me from what I was trying to do.

Ziggy and Jeremy had a special bond. The photo on the right is a typical way Jeremy would carry Ziggy around the house and he would just stay there enjoying the ride.

Making himself at home in my bathroom sink! My phone is actually way too full of pictures of me catching him doing this. I'd always stop him and boot him out but couldn't resist snapping a few pictures first.

Some more funny memories with him and Jeremy. People food was always much more interesting and enticing to him than his own food and whenever we had something different he'd try his best to score a nibble or two. (Side note - his favourite people food was salt and vinegar chips)

This was my last picture with him taken just a few days ago. You can't see it in the frame but my lap top was actually on my knees as well and this was one of those balancing blogging and cat snuggling times I was talking about.

So today has been horrible. I was actually away on a girl weekend and got the phone call from my husband this morning to break the news. Such a sad time right now and Rocky - our other cat is very confused and running around looking for his friend. We had a burial with some close friends this afternoon and laid him to rest in the backyard.

He's left such a big whole in this family but I have a phone and a Macbook photobooth full of memories of the best times together. Rest in peace little friend x

Thoughts & Things

(credits: one. two. three)

Just a few little thoughts and things:

♥ If you don't follow me on twitter, then you might have missed seeing this. Um. Guys?

♥ I can't stop thinking about who is going to play Finnick Odair in Catching Fire. Please no more suggestions of Zac Efron (seriously people - no). But honestly WHO could do that role justice?!

♥ This weekend I'm getting away with a few of my best friends for relaxing, DVDs, good food and quality time. We're soon to all be living in completely different cities so moments like these are so precious and treasured.

♥ Someone painted me. I'm so blown away by the results! And this is only one in a series, there are more coming too. Once they're done I'll be sure to blog them all :)

♥ I had whipped cream straight from the can tonight. I just feel the need to confess this one because it felt so naughty and it was so out of character for me. Haha.

♥ Lastly, New Girl is seriously getting better and better with every episode. Schmidt's lines are golden and there are so many hilarious bits as well as just the right amount of touching moments too. I haven't been this excited about a show in a long time.

I think that was everything I wanted to get off my mind! Love x

Golden Sunsets

A couple of nights ago the husband and I took a little wander up the hill near our house and watched the sun go down. It's one of our favourite parts of the city but we don't often get to appreciate it like this because normally when we encounter it we're on an evening run and just passing through. So it was nice to take a moment to sit and appreciate the view and each others company. Also I just have to point out how much I'm loving this knit from Market HQ! I love the little pom poms all over it and teal is one of my favourite colours so I know it will be getting a lot of wear from me this winter.

Antiques & Icecream

How is your Easter weekend going? I hope wherever you are that you're having the best weather and the most relaxing time. Today a friend and I spent the day wandering around a small town just out of our city. We had plans to visit the cute French cafe there but sadly it was closed, so instead we wandered around in the sun browsing through antique stores, eating icecreams and soaking up the beautiful weather. It was the perfect way to end this long weekend and so nice to get out of the city and explore somewhere different for a change. 

Seeing Red

(Desert Dweller Dress by Somedays Lovin' c/o Market HQ)

Well so much for Autumn! Here I am in April with bare arms and legs and beautiful sunshine all over me. Yes I'm more than a little pale (especially my ghostly legs - eek!) but I couldn't pass up this opportunity of perfect weather to run around in lighter layers and to be free of stockings and cardigans. We had a pretty average summer here in New Zealand this year so if we end up with a mild Autumn I'll be more than making the most of it! 

I've been really looking forward to wearing this dress as well. I love the sheer neckline and hidden buttons down the front. It'll be nice and easy to wear in winter as well with some stockings and a blazer over the top. I'm always thinking of how I can get the most wear out of my garments and never feel confined by an item being "too summery for winter" etc. That's what layers are for!

Anyway enough from me, I hope you're all enjoying your long weekend so far :) Mine has been so nice and relaxing, just what I needed! xx