Inspired

Hi there friends, once again I have been caught in the whirlwind that is life and have had no time to blog.

Ok, I lie. I had time to blog last week when I took a week off work to get stuff done and to take a break but the urge to blog did not come over me. Sometimes you've just gotta go with the flow... you know?

Anyhow, this week has been a busy one, and as I sit at my office desk I feel mentally and physically tired. I have not been treating my poor body that well on the food front - I haven't been eating takeaway junk or anything like that and have been working out hard as normal but I know when I get busy and stressed I rarely cook proper meals for myself and I get by on the old bowl of cereal or smoothie for dinner here and there.

I can tell I need to nourish my body better next week so meal prep this weekend is crucial. Not nourishing your body with good amounts of food can be just as bad as eating a truck load of junk - I need to remember this.

In light of all of this 'exhaustion' talk, I wanted to share a couple of things that are inspiring me at the moment. All this talk about food brings me to a fantastic blogger and business woman who I mentioned in my last post.

Sophie Hansen of Local is Lovely released her book this week, (titled the same as the blog) and I am super excited to read it. Her blog is beautiful and she shares so many great pictures of her life on the farm, recipes and the amazing food she produces and makes into glorious meals. I just placed my order and cannot wait for it to arrive!

This cooler weather is making me miss working on my parent's veggie patch which sadly has now died. The summer was brutal to the patch and I was battling to keep it alive last year and my parents have not had the time to keep up the maintenance since.

Now that I live in the city and have no yard I am having to resort to 'patio planting' inspiration! I have sighted the cutest planters on The Block Shop's website. (Yes I am addicted to that show!) These jelly planters are about $55 or so and would look super cute hanging on the patio (they also come in different colours). I'm not sure they'd work for veggies but I'd settle for some yummy herbs or a pretty weeping plant.

I am heading off to Bathurst this weekend to attend my godson's baptism. I have never been asked to be a god parent before so I feel so honoured and excited that my friend would ask me! It should be such a great weekend. The weather forecast is looking a little chilly so I need to be thinking about stocking up on a couple more winter knits! I love a change in the season!

Stay happy!
E, x

Why do I blog?

I was reading a blog post by another lovely blogger today and her post sparked me to think about my own blog and why I blog at all.

I have been blogging since about 2010 and originally started blogging as a way of showing my crafty side when I was taking crochet and knitting lessons. I have been off the needles (and hooks) for a little while now due to work and uni commitments (although I am starting up again in March over at Jellywares' seasonal yarn club - check it out if you're keen to join!) but continued blogging anyway.

Source: Pinterest

Some weeks I have nothing to blog about, and some weeks I have lots, but I keep asking myself - why do I blog at all?

I think I mainly blog for myself. It's an outlet for my thoughts and my creative side. I am able to jot things down and document events I think are special or worthy of mention. It's a great way of looking back at all of the things I have been doing throughout the years.

Sometimes I think I blog for my readers - if there are any out there.... is there anybody out there???

I never really know if what I write goes out into the interwebs just to sit there, un-read and un-noticed. Unless I get a comment or two, but even then I think - did what I wrote matter? Or does it just matter to me?

I've contemplated closing the blog down before and have just never done it. I love to blog, I love reading blogs and I love the blogging community there is out there.

I need to blog more, I know that, because there are times when hearing from like-minded readers and other bloggers out there really makes my day and that's a bonus!

Who are you blogging for? And what bloggy stuff do you like to read about?

If you're out there...... anybody.....

Everyday grateful

Last year was a big year for me in so many ways. Moving to a new city, starting a new job, moving in with my boyfriend... just to name a few big events. I have been on a mission for some time now to become a more positive person as I have previously been known to be a pessimist and being negative is no fun!

Don't get me wrong, trying to be super happy and smile about things when all you want to do is cry or sloth around with the grumps is hard. Making a conscious effort to wake up everyday and not groan about going to work is challenging, but I've found just focusing on the positive and good things in my day can make facing each day that little bit easier.

I think it is so important to try and be as positive and happy as we can be because we are constantly reminded everyday that life is too short to be anything but happy.

A friendly reader of my blog contacted me about compiling a post about what I have been grateful for over the holiday period and to share a little bit about her inspiring story.

Heather Von St. James was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma at age 36, only three months after giving birth to her daughter. Pleural mesothelioma is a disease which affects the lung's protective lining in the chest cavity and is a life-changing condition. She was given 15 months to live!

Heather with her husband Cameron and daughter Lily Rose.
Photo courtesy of Heather's Facebook page.

Heather and her husband set out to find the best doctor possible to help her fight this condition and she found Dr David Sugarbaker whom is a renowned mesothelioma surgeon. Heather agreed to have a new surgical procedure with Dr Sugarbaker that would bring hope to her and her family.

Now, seven years on, Heather is a mesothelioma survivor hoping to spread word about this disease and her story of courageously beating it.

Heather has a wonderful website which you can view here and you can read more about her story and mesothelioma.

Now, for my 'grateful' today...

At the risk of sounding corny and all mushy, I wanted to mention how thankful I am to have my boyfriend, Travis.

Trav has been my biggest support and rock for the past two years. He has come to know me very well and knows when I am  sad, anxious or stressed and why. He and I started our relationship as a long distance one (as most might know if you follow me on Twitter and/or have read my blog before) and it was super hard.

As anybody who has been in a long distance relationship will know, we really had to focus on getting to know each other over the phone. Building a relationship mostly on conversation is hard. Travis is not a big talker either so that proved to be even more difficult! (Luckily I can talk ALOT! hehe)

Despite the distance and the tears and tantrums (mostly from me) about being apart, he stood by me and we pushed through it. I am more happy than ever to be in my relationship and I know we can talk about anything together. He is my biggest support and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

I would love any readers to post something they are grateful for in the comments if you feel you want to share! It may be something small, or something a little 'corny' like mine, but it's nice to reflect on something or someone that makes us happy.

Thank you Heather for contacting me and reminding me that life is so precious and we should be grateful everyday for our health and happiness.

E, x

Tried & Tested: Amazing veggo recipe!!

I follow a few blogs that post about food and amazing recipes. I am a bit of a foodie, and when I find the time and inspiration I like to try out new recipes for myself or my family and boyfriend (my guinea pig! lol)

This week I tried out the most amazing vegetarian dish by an awesome blogger called "The Good Plate".

Jackie posts lots of yummy recipes, and this is the second recipe by her that I have tried and have fallen in love with! Soooo yummy!

The recipe is called 'Haloumi and  veg couscous with Za'atar, pistachio and yogurt dressing' and it is amazing!

Here is the recipe link  .

Because of my location (living in the bush of NSW) our local supermarket didn't have all of the ingredients that the recipe called for so I left a few things out, but it still tasted super yummy.

 Yummy!!

Blog Love: The Beetle Shack

I have decided that every Wednesday (if I manage to find a great blog that I love each week!) I am going to write a post about them and spread the blog-love around!

This week I am loving "The Beetle Shack".

I know I am probably so behind when I post about some of these blogs, and I apologise if you have been following them for 'like...ever!' but I have only just discovered them and have developed a new-found love affair! :)

I have been flicking back through Emily's (author of The Beetle Shack) posts and am loving everything about them! She takes great pictures, everything seems very natural and she posts some killer recipes and yummy looking food!

Here are some snap shots from her blog:

 

(All pictures have been copied directly from The Beetle Shack's blog)

Emily does a whole mixed-bag of posts about her life, her kids, eating ethically and my favourite are posts about her awesome collection of what she is wearing. She has some funky-as clothes this mumma! I am really digging those turquoise shoes up there!

Plus I am loving her hair!! For short hair style inspiration, she is it! It makes me want to re-think my long locks?! lol

Check her out if you're not already following!

Blog love: Harper & Harley

Sometimes I find some spare time to cruise around the Internet and read up on cool stuff or find an awesome new blog that I love.

This week I found a couple of new blogs (all are completely different and I love them for totally different reasons!)

The one that has stuck in my mind the most this week is a fashion/style blog that maybe some of you have already heard of or are subscribed to!

It's called Harper & Harley and I am addicted to it. For starters this chick has got ah-mazing style! (and probably a decent wage to support her impeccable taste in fashion!)

Here are some snaps of her featured on her blog:

Amaze-balls sunnies anyone? I want these soooooo bad!

Check her out! She's only 23 and based in Sydney so its nice to keep our blog love local! :) I'm off to drool over more of her amazing outfits and cry at how low my bank account is knowing I cant afford any of this stuff! (LOL)

Show me your MO!

If you're like me you may have noticed that there are a lot of guys walking around this month with those funny looking moustaches (or "mo's" as I like to call them).

 That's when you know it's "Movember".

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Usually I'm not one to like a mo on a guy (I grew up with my dad who has a strict "shave every day" kind of policy and I have never seen him with facial hair before, so it's kind of been instilled in me to think this way too I guess!) but when it comes to Movember I think I am warming up to it.

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Even though a lot of my guy friends are starting to resemble Mario and Luigi, or some greasy looking Italian guys that I met at some beach parties in the Greek Islands earlier this year I have to say that I am kind of proud of them.

Movember is such a good cause and even if the guys participating don't really know why they have taken an oath not to shave their faces for the entire month of November and just want to annoy their girlfriends and wives for the month, I am  still throwing out a big "Good on ya!" to all of the guys involved.

In my experience its almost impossible to get any guy to take an interest in their health so the more mo's the merrier I say!

To donate to Movember click here.

Show us your Mo's boys!!! hehe

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tgif!!!

I am channeling some Katy Perry today!

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Thank God it's Friday!!!

I have had a killer week of exercise, my body is in so much pain from my first "pump" session back after my big holiday and I am stiff as a board trying to hobble around the work office! lol Its quite sad how sore I am really! I'm determined to whip myself back into shape for summer!!

Anyhow, I am so glad that it's the weekend! Yay!

What are your plans??

Blog Overhaul!!!

If you haven't noticed already (and I hope you have because its pretty darn obvious lol) "You, Me & Miss E" has had a makeover!!!

I love it and I hope you do too!

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Thanks to the very talented Katrina from The Media Maid, my blog is looking fresher than ever!!

Thanks again Katrina! I LOVE IT!!

What do you think?!

I'm still here!!

Hey there Bloggy friends, I am just dropping a quick note to say I am still here and hope to be updating my blog with some more piccies of my travels very soon!

At the moment I am in the gorgeous Holland countryside and am falling in love .......bad!

I can absolutely see myself living here, its so green and beautiful, the little squirrels are running around the garden along with the rabbits and birds and the horses and cattle grazing are just beautiful! I can't believe how much of a contrast this farming place is to our little dry spot of land back at home in Australia!!

I am off to take a bike ride into a small nearby town to take some more piccies of this beautiful place. I m currently having troubles uploading my photos but hope to sort this out soon. I think it may have something to do with the fact that most of the settings on this laptop are in Dutch!!! haha

I hope you are all happy and well! I hear the first day of spring in Australia has been beautiful in some areas. Bring on the new warmer weather I say!!!

Ellie...........x

Wordless Wednesday

What a sunset, on a day when I was trully happy... Ahhhhh paradise!

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday over here. Link up!

Ellie..........x

Missing in action...

Whoa it feels like forever since I have been hanging out in Blog Land, and poor You, Me & Miss E has been neglected slightly, SOOOOORRY!!

I have been one SUPER busy girl over the last couple of weeks. I've visited friends, been out of town, worked my butt off, been to birthday parties and tried to get my butt in shape!!

I thought I'd better drop by and say "Hello!" and let you all know I am still here!!

I have been a tiny bit crafty lately, (not as much as I wish I had been) and have started a gorgeous new project with some yummy yarn and will be posting more about this tomorrow!

See you then!

Ellie.......x

All things chunky!!

Lately I have been very busy and slack on the Blogging front and I must apologise for this!! My life has been very hectic with uni and work stuff going on that I just haven't had the opportunities to sit down and Blog about creative goodness or even do anything creative for that matter!! How sad! :o(

So... on my mind at the moment I've been thinking of all things winter-y. Sounds silly I know! Especially since the weather around here has been sooo far from chilly or winter-y its not even funny!

I can't help it though! I've been scrolling through the pages and pages of Ravelry patterns and have been finding some very cute and fun looking patterns that would be perfect for winter. I have also fallen in love with CHUNKY yarn all over again!

I used some Nundle 20ply chunky yarn for my first ever crochet project and last week (when I felt like I had some more time on my hands) I whipped up a gorgeous chunky winter cowl out of some Cascades 20 Ply Magnum. Yummo! I love it! You can get the pattern from Jodie for FREE when you purchase a skein of chunky yarn in Jellywares on Marshall (here in my hometown). I will post pics as soon as I've taken some!

I fell in love with chunky yarn so much that I needed some more of it, and my online shopping junky urges kicked in and I attacked the Nundle Wool Mill online shop and purchased 2 more skeins of the Nundle 20ply!

I love this yarn and after purchasing my first skein from Jodie, I have been hooked! I have some big plans for these two skeins (... if only I could find some time!! lol)

I've been lusting over these cute patterns in particular...

"Leaf" scarf by Susan B Anderson

"Drifted Purls" scarf by Jennifer Lang

I'm thinking I could definitely make the Leaf pattern with the caramel coloured chunky I just purchased! How exciting, I hope to get this little beauty started soon!

Also... (I'm nearly done talking your ear off! hehe) you've probably noticed that I've been making a few fiddly changes to my blog set up as late. I LOVE blogging and really enjoy feedback so if you're not digging the new "simplified" version of You, Me and Miss E please feel free to let me know! I'm thinking simpler is looking good and I have now managed to widen my post sections so I can fit more in along the page! Yay!

Let me know what you think! What have you been up to lately?

Stylish Blogger Award...

I was recently contacted by a lovely Blogger friend (Tamara) who nominated me in the Stylish Blogger Awards!!

I am very surprised to have been nominated and have been seeing LOTS of awesome Bloggers all around Blogland being nominated so I feel very lucky, thanks Tamara!!

So according to the rules I have to do a few things...

Firstly I need to link back to whom ever nominated me (Tamara of One Craftee Mumma! Thanks again, You're very sweet!)

Secondly I have to mention 7 things about myself.... Okay here goes...

1. I was born and bred in a small country town and have always LOVED the country. I've moved away a couple of times but always find myself back here and now I have a reason! I met my lovely partner Roger here at one of the Mines where he works as an Engineer.

2. I have 2 sisters, (one older and one younger) and we are all SOOO different! During our schooling, kids at school didn't believe that my older sister Kate and I were even related because we look so different!

3. I am currently studying a science degree at university (a BA in Equine Science to be exact) via distance education, but have always loved craft and arts and design. In fact when I left school I started studying at a private arts college in Sydney in an Advanced Diploma of Communications and always thought I'd end up working in design... but here I am today!

4. I LOVE to travel! So far I have spent time in India, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Fiji and New Zealand most recently.

5. I spent my 18th birthday in India teaching Kolkata children to speak English whilst on a Pilgrimage in 2007

6. I am a huge worrier. This is probably my biggest struggle, I tend to worry about unnecessary things and jump to conclusions before I need to! I'm currently working on this bad habit!!

7. I LOVE to Blog! (In case you hadn't noticed!!) When I learnt to crochet and knit last May I became so inspired to craft and share my crafting and everyday life I guess and I love it!

Okay... I think that's it for the "7 things about me". Lastly I need to pass this award on to somebody else who deserves it so I'm going to throw it to Jodie at Jellywares!!

Jodie is an awesome blogger and a good friend and I have been following her blog for quite some time now so I definitely think she deserves this award! If you don't know of Jellywares, head on over and check it out!!

That's all from me for tonight. I'm having a quiet night in, catching up on some study tomorrow morning and then off to another knitting "Stitch and bitch" session in town! I can't wait to craft up a storm and share it all with you tomorrow afternoon!

See you then!

What I'm reading now...

Today I swung by the local newsagent and noticed a magazine advertised that I'd never seen before, I popped in to the shop and bought it! It was called "Notebook:" magazine. In between study procrastination and actually doing some reading up on my exam topics I read through the mag and fell in love instantly! Where has a magazine like this been hiding?!

Its fresh and quirky with awesome "How-to's", book and movie reviews, crafty bits, homey bits, fashion and advice, its like your usual girly mag but sooo much better! It talks about tax and health and gardening (which I love) and all things fresh and lovely! I can't believe I haven't noticed it before! This months issue also came with an adorable little makeup bag - bonus!! I sound like I'm working for the magazine in the marketing dept., but honestly I recommend to check it out!

As I read through the pages I noticed they mentioned their website which is super cute and helpful too! Its http://www.homelife.com.au/ and has a link to the website's "blog" which is www.notebookmagazine.com/blogs/handspun

Also, (before I quit ranting and raving about my new favourite read) the magazine "Craft Room" is a group that organises awesome craft classes for readers and creative interested people to attend in Sydney and Melbourne, including crochet classes! Naturally I'm bummed because I can't make it to the classes (cake decorating, jewellery making, quilting ... the list goes on) because I'm ages from the city, but I just think that its so cool that there are so many crafty people out there! I love it, homemade is so the way to go!