Celebrating International Coffee Day (or every morning)

Such good intentions.

I honestly had such good intentions yesterday of writing a post about International Coffee Day and how this little drink has become such a ritual in my life.

But then I went and sidetracked myself with a few errands and a few coffees at a couple of my favourite Sunshine Coast cafes, and then a four-shot mocha at Bare slayed me.

  

 

Meh, it's a blog. It's one missed blog post about a day that rolls around every year. Let's keep things in perspective.

Don't forget to head back a couple of posts and get your entries in  to go into the draw to win one of two lovely fancy Flamingo Park cushions very kindly gifted from Design Art House - entry numbers are low, so your chances are high!

Head to the giveaway HERE!

Homemade Creamy Chicken Ravioli - it's easier than you'd think!

Pasta is my happy place.

Yes, I know that lots and lots of women say this, but it truly, rooly is. My husband works away often, and when I'm cooking for one, 99 percent of the time, I make myself pasta. It's filling and full of carbohydrates which I need to eat regularly to function. Don't believe me? Keep bread, potatoes and pasta away from me for a week, and I'm a mess.

For convenience, most often I use bought dried pasta, but I occasionally make my own pasta, as it's incredibly easy and quite therapeutic. One of these days I'll actually make enough to freeze and then I'll be super-organised-housewife of the year.

This is a pasta and sauce recipe which I adapted from a whole lot of others, so I can assure you that you can't go wrong with pasta and filling... just throw in whatever you like!

Basic Pasta Dough

serves 3-4 (Or two, if you're hungry people. I won't judge your portion size.)

200g white flour (I prefer to use 00 pasta flour)

pinch of salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tbsp olive oil

Sift together the flour and salt onto a work surface and make a well in the centre with your fingers. Pour the eggs and oil into the well, then using the fingers of one hand, gradually mix the flour into the liquid.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured bench until it is completely smooth. Wrap in clingwrap and leave it to rest for 30 minutes (if it's hot where you are, pop it in the fridge on the top shelf). If you're filling the pasta (ravioli, tortellini, etc), then jump on down to the filling and sauce recipe below. If not, then roll the pasta out through a pasta machine a few times, starting with the widest setting and finishing with a finer setting. How thin you like your pasta rolled out is completely personal preference, the Italians won't chase you down and shake their rolling pins at you.

Yes, I have a pretty red pasta machine. My husband is awesome like that.

Creamy Chicken Ravioli

1 quantity Basic Pasta Dough

115g cooked chicken breast, coarsely chopped

55g cooked spinach

55g prosciutto, coarsely chopped

handful of basil leaves, torn roughly

1/2 cup grated parmesan (NOT the powder stuff, although that has a special place in my kitchen)

pinch of nutmeg

2 eggs, lightly beaten

flour for dusting

300ml cream (regular, pouring, whatever floats your boat)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

115g sliced mushrooms (I like Swiss Browns because they look cute)

salt and pepper

Place the chicken, spinach, prosciutto and half the basil  into a food processor and pulse until completely chopped and blended. Transfer to a bowl, stir in 2 tablespoons of the cheese, the nutmeg and half the egg. Season with salt and pepper.

Tasty layered ingredients, then...

... whiz bang - it's all green and mushed!

Divide the pasta dough in half. Roll one piece out using your pasta machine or rolling pin (go muscles!), cover with a damp tea towel and roll out the other piece of dough to approximately the same size. I often use a ravioli press, but today I decided on cookie cutters because I wanted round ravioli. Place small mounds of filling, about 1 teaspoon each, in rows 4 cm apart on a sheet of dough. Brush between the mounds with the remaining egg. Lift the second sheet of dough on top of the first, and press down firmly between the pockets of filling, pushing out as many air bubbles as you can. Use your cookie cutter or a pizza wheel to cut the ravioli into individual pieces.

Your ravioli does not, I repeat, does NOT need to look round and even.

This is not MasterChef, people. This is dinnertime.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the ravioli in batches, return to the boil and cook for five minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel, then transfer to a warmed dish.

Meanwhile, pour the cream into a frying pan, add the garlic and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the mushrooms and half the remaining cheese. Season to taste and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining basil, then pour the sauce over the ravioli. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan, garnish with extra basil if you're fancy - I'm not - and serve to ravenous people.

Serve with wine. Wait, what am I saying? Serve every home-cooked dinner with wine.

Do you make homemade pasta? Or are you of the opinion that it's more hassle than it's worth? Can I change your mind?

Giveaway - welcome Summer with beautiful Flamingo Park cushions!

My goodness, what a response. Yesterday's slightly soapboxy post on how I feel about #comfywomfy really drew a lovely crowd. Thank you. All I wanted was to get you nice people talking about it, and it seemed that I did. So thank you.

To say thank you for your support, and to welcome the nice new folk reading this blog, I'm joining forces* with the very excellent folk at Design Art House to give away two of these super-fancy Flamingo Park cushions.

I mean, talk about body image. Flamingos are tall, gangly, a shade of pink usually only seen on the pouts of  Hollywood starlets, and they have such knobbly knees. So damn knobbly. Those poor birds. Fortunately, they're pretty on-trend right now, and just imagine how Summery you'll feel, mojito in hand, reclining on one of these pretties!

Would you like one these fancy cushions? Yes? 

The very generous folk at Design Art House aren't just an online store for homewares (although they are a very good one of those), they are also passionate Interior Designers with an eye for discovering exactly what their client wants. If you kinda know the look you want, but have no clue on how to actually achieve that in the space you have... these are the people you need.

As I've shared on Instagram recently, I'm always on the lookout for real statement homewares. You know what I'm talking about - that piece that gives you maximum appeal and bang for your buck. Cushions are one of my very favourite ways to change up a room. Either on a sofa or stacked in piles on the floor to entice guests to get really comfortable, cushions are a cheap and cheerful way to mix it up. Design Art House have some excellent cushionage, I can assure you. And wait until you see their Pinterest boards!

So eclectic and fabulous!

If you'd like to win one of two fancy Flamingo Park cushions from Design Art House, then do your Rafflecopter thing below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Design Art House have given me these cushions to give away, no strings attached. Just enjoy their loveliness!

Why #comfywomfy is the best hashtag I've seen all year

There is talk floating around this here interwebs of #comfywomfy. It's a hashtag created by the indomitable Mrs Woog after she was horrified by a recent callout by a 'journalist' asking online for unattractive photos of Samantha Armytage. Personally, I think Ms Armytage is one of the loveliest ladies on the box lately. But that doesn't matter. If she was a complete cow, it still wouldn't make it ok for a media commentator to publicly put a call out for 'sam armytage looking scruffy/too casual/not sexy/bad for asap please — OK to go back and send older pics'. I am not even joking. She did that. And it's not ok.

I have a wonderful job. There are parts of managing a women's activewear store that suck, but in essence, I really do have a wonderful job. (As a sidenote, if you know of any job that doesn't have parts that suck, lemme know, my resume is ready to go.)

I get the opportunity to talk to women of ALL ages, sizes and fitness levels, and I see their body confidence issues close-up. Really close-up. Behind that fitting room curtain, away from the neon technical fabrics and floral print tights, I talk to women about the parts of their body they are most comfortable with, and the parts that make them so, so sad.

I also meet lots of women who are kind-of a big deal. And they have hang-ups too.

A stunning Home and Away actress* was visiting Noosa for a friend's wedding during Summer, and fell in love with our gorgeous Noosa National Park. (Why wouldn't you?) She wanted to go for a run through the National Park but hadn't packed any workout gear, so popped into my store to pick up something. She was dressed beautifully in a maxidress and sandals and was completely makeup-free, with her quite-famous locks scraped back into a ponytail, and she looked like a regular woman, albeit a very pretty and petite one.

I recognised her immediately, but ignored who she was and focussed on what she wanted. This incredibly attractive size 6-8 woman was asking for running tights that would suck in her stomach and butt, conceal her muffin top, and be breathable because she sweats a lot behind her knees. All this she told me in a very hushed voice in the fitting room, and it was real. I could tell her a thousand times that my husband thinks she's gorgeous, and that women the world over would kill for her petite figure, but it was real. When she looked in the mirror, she only saw the parts of her body that she didn't like. 

I asked her name and introduced myself (it's a non-negotiable in my store, if I'm going to be pushing your bits and boobs into activewear, I need to introduce myself or buy you a drink first), listened and returned with a few styles. She tried them on, and ended up with the ones I was most reluctant to give her - the super-sucky-in ones that I love and wear because I am an overweight woman (according to my doctor. blah blah whatever). She bought three pairs of them. We chatted a lot, I mentioned that it was a thrill to meet her and that I was so happy that she was as personable in real life and I'd hoped, and she asked about good wine bars in the area. Clearly, she could see a kindred spirit in me. And as she was finishing and leaving my store, she actually said 'Thanks for not asking for a photo, I look horrendous today, I couldn't bear to see myself in the mags like this'. 

I was so sad for her. Here was a gorgeous woman on holidays, relaxed and planning her days of sunshine and wine, and she had to be concerned that sneaky naughty people might say 'Oh, look how she's let herself go'.

Just last week, I styled two very well-known healthy lifestyle advocates* who have a massive social media following. They were visiting the Sunshine Coast for a holiday and were picking up some activewear to wear at a massive Lorna Jane event to be held in Melbourne later in the month. They were itsy-bitsy tiny women with bouncy blonde locks, yet there was still talk of body parts and lines they'd like to hide. Fortunately, both had amazingly positive attitudes and were in no way unhappy and over-critical about their bodies, but I can imagine that it's taken a lot of hard work to get to that point, it certainly would for me.

And Mrs Woog. That arse-kicking blogger I mentioned earlier? You can read her here. She visited my store a few months ago, and was exactly how I'd imagined. Strong-willed, excitable and straight-talking. She also had a lovely shape. (Curvy is an excellent shape.)

Mrs Woog allowed me to bully her to try on tights (huffy-puffy pants in her lingo) that would stay up and stay firm during all her workouts (which she bitches about... which I like... because I struggle so much to find the enjoyment in exercise). I eventually had to tell her a straight-out lie to get her to try on a particular style, fibbing as I passed them to her that they were a larger size than they actually were. She flounced (the only word possible) out of the change room, showed us all (there were a bunch of very-famous-quite-awesome bloggers instore) her butt and announced that they would do as they sucked in some wobbles and smoothed out some bumps. 

My point is that women feel bad enough already about themselves and notice imperfections to the nth degree. Even (maybe especially) the successful, strong ones who are admired by other women. 

Yes, I have moles, big pores, ungroomed eyebrows and root regrowth. But it was a lovely afternoon spent with my husband and who gives a shit what I look like?

So why in the hell would we allow anyone to draw negative attention to how we look on work days, on holidays, on days off, on any day? Who are these people creating an actual career from this? And by boycotting and ignoring their tweets, posts and articles, can we make it stop?

We all have the right to choose how to present ourselves everyday. And we have the right to leave the house makeup-free in baggy pants and thongs if we so choose.

Blogging in a dressing gown in the middle of the day on a messy desk.

Real life. My imperfect life.

Are you ok with having to present your best self all day, every day, and being judged on it? I'm not.

Stand up for comfort, and share your #comfywomfy pics on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. (Another great hashtag I've seen floating around is #myimperfectlife - ideal for those regular non-fancy moments we snap photos of.)

*Name-dropping is so passe. I emailed those mentioned and asked for permission before I used their names. Some didn't get back to me... and that's ok. It doesn't reflect on their opinions, I probably just filtered into their spam box. I can seem a little like a Nigerian prince in my emails at times.

Also, stay tuned for tomorrow's lovely giveaway. There will be flamingos, so you can get excited now.

If you enjoyed this, you may like to read Wine Tours, the KP and Trainee Mama way.

Weekend Reading

1. Dangling from bags, necklaces, and wrists; when you start seeing tassels, you know Summer is on the way!

2. Contemplating blush pink homewares right now. I mean, if the cool kids at Resident GP are loving it, it must be awesome.

3. Could you, would you ever wear a Canadian Tuxedo? Firstly, I would and I do. Secondly, I'd like to look less lumberjack and more Courtney Kerr when I do.

4. Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection! Or we'll find the perfect rainbow smoothie recipes... even better!

5. Did your mother ever make you a birthday cake from the Australian Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book? If not, do you feel like you kinda missed out?

6. Vanessa of Style and Shenanigans often introduces me to fabulosity and fun stuff throughh her blog. But this time, she's introduced me to the best way to snap up Kate Spade and Michael Kors this side of the Pacific. Nicely done, Vanessa.

7. Planning your 2015 calendar purchase already? Well, you'll need to if you've got your eye on the most designer-y of designer calendars. The Stendig 2015 Calendar has hit selected stores already, and will be sold out well before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st. Get yours here.

8. Check out how one of my favourite friends stepped out of her Spanx comfort zone on her blog recently, and send her some love.

9. I'm betting that this blogger's view on having a birth photographer will be doing the rounds of the internet for years. Beautifully written, Jo. Just beautiful.

10. With talk in our house this week revolving around how to do the US best when we head over in 2015 for a friend's big birthday celebrations, I'm loving Kate Spade's greatest road trip suggestions. Now to plan the perfect drivetime playlist.

What about you? Discovered anything amazing cruising the internet lately?