O WEEK

So my favourite part of the Uni year has officially finished! And that ladies and gentlemen, is O WEEK! For those of you who don't know what ' O week' is, it stands for Orientation week and is basically just a week where you attend lectures only (unless you're unlucky and a tutorial is running), sign up for clubs at uni, attend back to uni parties sand get to collect a lot of free stuff #heaven.

It was a good week for me. I went to classes, discovered I have some awesome new lecturers (one of them acted out the opening scene from How to Get Away With Murder- I think he is my favourite simply because of that), ate free food, collected freebies and signed up to a few random clubs. I also went to the official welcome back to uni party called "Summer Haze" and it was alright (apart from the fact I stood in line for an hour and had been at uni for the last 9 AND was starving).

I'm looking forward to this uni semester (ask me again in 2 weeks and I'll probably be eating my words) but I enjoy meeting new people and having new experiences and learning new things which is exactly what I plan to be doing this semester. 

I have lots to blog about and lots of things to share so I will update regularly and keep everyone posted! (because I know there are lots of people who read this and possibly some who even care what  I have to say haha).

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

Minion Cupcakes

So today I spent a few hours baking. Fun fact about me- I love to bake and cook! I find it relaxes me and well you do end up with some pretty good tasting food at the end!

I thought I would share my minion cupcake recipe with you all in case any of you wanted to try it out! *I made this recipe myself, I usually would throw a bunch of ingredients together until I got something that worked, and this is what I have figured out works*

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

4 eggs

2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon vanilla essence 

1 cup caster sugar

200g butter (soft)

chocolate chips

Decoration:

white mini marshmallows

500g box white fondant

yellow food colouring

chocolate chips

sugar/water paste (2 parts sugar, 1 part hot water)

black icing pen

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius & line a tray with muffin papers

2. Combine butter, vanilla essence & sugar in a bowl. Mix with electric mixer until combined

3. Add eggs one at a time and then continue to mix

4. Add half the flour and half the milk and continue mixing. Then add the rest of the flour and milk and mix until a smooth consistency and all ingredients are combined. (The mixture should be thick, not runny). I add the chocolate chips here once it is all mixed together

Mixture combined (before adding chocolate chips)

 5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through (I usually check with a skewer in the middle cupcake on the tray to see if they are cooked the whole way through aka. the skewer comes out clean with no mixture on it. If it comes out with mixture, they cook for another 5 mins and then they should be ready)

Cooked cupcakes (if the surface is too uneven, cut the top off to flatten it)

6. Let the cupcakes cool down completely before decorating

7. Once cool, you will need to knead the fondant until it is smooth. You then add a few drops of yellow food colouring (to however dark/light you would like the yellow to be) and knead the colour through the fondant

8. Then you will roll out the fondant with a rolling pin and cut the appropriate size circle out to cover the top of the cupcakes (I used a glass that was roughly the same size as the cupcakes to cut my circles out)

9. Cover each cupcake with a thin layer of yellow fondant. I like to try and use the back of a spoon to smooth it over and get rid of finger bumps if I can

Fondant covered cupcakes (before being smoothed over with a spoon)

10. Make the sugar/water paste by mixing 2 parts sugar and 1 part hot water. This will act as your glue for the marshmallows and chic chips. 

11. "Glue" marshmallows for eyes, chocolate chips for eyeballs and then draw on a black line for the minion goggles and a mouth. 

12. You now have mini minion cupcakes!

My final product! They were a bit rushed so not perfect, but they taste amazing

There's my recipe and tips everyone! If I were to make these again I probably would have used regular sized marshmallows simply because I like bigger eyes. The cupcake recipe itself tastes amazing and the decoration is just for something fun. I made these for my boyfriends birthday (which  is tomorrow and he is 19 lol) so I hope he likes them!

Thanks for reading, 

Stelle xx

Kiama

I was so happy to get away. Get away to my (second) favourite place. Not quite home, but home enough that I didn't want to leave. 

A week ago I went on a 'get away from life and life's drama' trip down the South Coast to Kiama. I sipped alcohol, I floated in the pool, I explored the towns along the Coast. I took photos (lots and lots of photos). I got lost so many times and I watched my boyfriend get his nose pierced. I ate lots of food and watched the clouds float through the air. I cooked, I cleaned, I camped. I sang. I danced. I laughed and I cried. I kissed and loved and I felt loved. It was a weekend where I felt at ease. 

I'm not much of a writer and I don't know if anyone out there even enjoys reading my blog but I just want to let you all know that I enjoy writing these feelings and capturing these memories. My life isn't perfect but it's an adventure.

Loving on him from the lookout near Gerringong. Most beautiful sight (and a lovely bush/beach background too)

Again, I love this

Our typical selves. Not much else to say

Shoalhaven Heads. I love this picture I took of him

Kiama Lighthouse at night

The trip with my favourite person was great. Our padlock near the Blow Hole was still intact (if still very rusty). We ate ice-cream and snuggled up under trees in the park. Ate lunch in the RSL surrounded by old people where he told me "this will be us one day Stelle".

Thanks for reading everyone, not much to read but a single picture does tell a thousand words.

Stelle xx

50 Shades of Grey

Starting off I would like to say, yes I "read" the book. More specifically I read about 3/4 of the first book because I could not bare to finish reading it. I didn't have high hopes for the movie. I just wanted to see it pretty much so I could say that I saw it and see what all the hype was surrounding it the '50 Shades of Grey' fandom.

My reactions during this movie ranged from:

I'm hungry

LOL

For some reason this reminds me of Twilight

I don't get it

Why did she keep going back to him

She never actually signed that contract

Why did they even keep bringing the contract up if she wasn't signing it??

Is that abuse?

Yes I think so

How did this turn people on

Bad acting

What is sexy about someone basically abusing you

Why did all the characters except for Anna and Christian disappear halfway through the movie?

Why 

If I saw a 'Red Room of Pain' I would run

Run for the hills

Nothing sexy about that

Bad choice of words

Could've phrased that better to actually sound sexy

I know why I keep thinking of Twilight

Male character who wants dominance over smaller, weaker female character

Female character thinks being controlled is sexy

Feminists all over will be going crazy over this

This is weird

Why are these people in my cinema screaming about how sexy this is

I'd like a new car

Okay the tie thing is the only normal thing so far

Where is her independence

Why does she like this!!!!

Where did his tragic backstory go?

He just seems creepy

This is all very contradictory

If he has 'singular' tastes then why does he keep doing things not in his 'tastes'

This movie doesn't make sense

Okay it's ending

Wow, okay I know there's more books but bad ending

That movie went for a reaaaaaally long time

I still don't get why it's sexy

Aaaaand that's pretty much what I thought. Mainly I am gathering that I just don't think it's as sexy as it's meant to be. A lot of people I know really enjoyed the movie and book. Personally I 1. can't enjoy the book on the simple fact that it is written horribly and I have read so many amazing books it just doesn't compete. 2. The badly written book translates straight through to the big screen and I just don't think bad books will ever make good movies. Maybe I am too critical. I would love to hear what anyone else who saw the movie/read the book thinks.

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xxx

BBG Lifestyle

For a long time I have struggled with my body weight and self-image. When I was younger (13 years old and below), I was extremely skinny. I was in to all kinds of sports and I loved netball and athletics above everything else. I was fit and I was a young girl. I had muscular, yet skinny legs and I even had abs (looking at photos I still can't believe it lol).

10 year old me loved little athletics

 I kept with the sports through high school, but as I got older I became more and more self conscious about how I looked. I didn't really know how to handle it at times either.

During Year 11/12 2012

There were times when I got extremely skinny and I was underweight for a period of time (I won't post these photos). My first year out of high school was difficult for me. I went through a lot and I ended the year about 5-7kg heavier than I started. Out of shape. Unfit. Untoned. 

Then I decided it was time to purchase Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Training Guides. I purchased the Training Guide and the HELP Nutrition Guide. I am motivated to try and get back into shape. The workouts are amazing and I haven't been seeing much progress yet (then again, we are all our own biggest critics) but I can feel it in my body and I just feel more energetic and happier after I have worked out. 

I try and maintain a healthy balanced diet. It is hard at times and I try not to give myself a hard time when I eat something I shouldn't. I don't necessarily go out of my way to eat bad food (i.e. I have stopped eating McDonalds). Having a balanced diet is hard. But it's a lifestyle change for me so it is going to take time. 

I love looking at all of the transformation photos of other people, it gives me so much hope and makes me happy. I really am starting to feel better about myself and I can't wait until the day I can write my blog post and post my transformation photos. I am happy to say that I am enjoying the BBG Lifestyle.

Thanks for reading, 

Any tips + recipes + advice anyone has I would love! Feel free to email me at kristellemaytee@homail.com if you want to talk about your fitness journey with me !

Stelle xx

Valentines Day

I want to start this post by wishing everyone out there a very happy (late) Valentines Day! I have always had mixed emotions about this day as I believe we shouldn't need to be told there is a day that we show our boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/partner/family/friends/fiancé/person that we love them. We should show it all the time. But it is a day to celebrate love. And for that, I can stand behind it and join in.

I don't need extravagant gifts and flowers and chocolates and teddy bears to know I am loved. I enjoy seeing how happy these things can make everyone else, but it's just not for me. Last year my boyfriend and I agreed on no gifts and instead spent that money that we would of bought presents and dinner on a weekend away camping together. Each other's company and the beach were all we needed (beach was a bonus).

Down at Monoooooooo (inside joke, Kieran please laugh if you read this)

It was a good view up here even if I felt like I was going to fall off a cliff

I was lucky enough for my boyfriend this year to plan a day with me full of things we both love. Together. I enjoy the beach and going places and doing fun things, but doing this with him makes it an adventure.

We sang (loudly) the whole trip and rediscovered that Anaconda is literally our jam. I laughed so hard at times I nearly wet my pants. We lounged around in the sun, went for walks, swam in the ocean and ate Subway and chips for lunch. I was on top of the world and even better it was all our home.

We went driving after lunch and went to the lookout (pictured above). We took a bunch of photos. He insisted it was a yolo moment and we should take topless pics (we did but lets leave them off the Internet). He took me to a beautiful place where his family friends got married and talked about what our wedding would be like. I don't know if it is possible to fall anymore in love but I did.

That night he had booked a table at our favourite restaurant and he took me out to dinner. We ate so much and laughed when we told the waiters we didn't want wine because we feel like we are fifteen again. We spent the entire day and night together and it was beautiful.

I hope everyone else had a magical day filled with love and laughter the way I did. Life is too short to not love. People have always mocked me for being so 'in love and whipped' but I say if it makes you happy just do it. Go crazy. Love too much. Wear your heart on your sleeve because love is the best feeling ever. 

Thanks for reading,
Stelle xxx

University 2015

So even though I am not a fan of doing homework, assignments or studying (who really is??) I am a fan of expanding my mind and gaining new knowledge and furthering my education. This is why am I excited to go back to university this year (I am not 100% certain whether excited is the right word I want to use, but it will have to do).

I have finished enrolling in the classes I will be taking in both semester 1 and semester 2 this year and I thought I would make a little post about what I am choosing to do and why. So if you would like to know, read on!

Semester 1

- HRM107: Introduction to Human Resources

- ISYS100: IT & Society

- PHL137: Critical Thinking 

- MKTG204: Integrated Marketing Communications

Semester 2

- BBA111: Organisational Behaviour

- BBA220: Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management

- BUS201: Introduction to Global Business

- HRM250: Human Resource Management

Why these classes?

- HRM107: I'm considering a double major in Marketing and Human Resources, so I need to take the foundation Human Resources classes (plus I enjoy Human Resources)

- ISYS100: At my uni we have to choose some random classes outside our faculty of study (mine is the Faculty of Business and Economics) so I chose this computer class in all honesty because it looked interesting and not overly challenging

- PHL137: I feel strange about taking a 'Philosophy' class because in all honesty I don't see the point of 'questioning' everything. But hey, the point of these classes is to expand upon my horizons and open myself up to new things. Also there isn't a final exam

- MKTG204: Marketing is my major and this was one of the options I could choose between for classes. I decided that this coursework looked the most interesting and I would enjoy this class the most (I almost chose marketing management, but this looked better)

- BBA111: Same as HRM107, its a foundation Human Resources class

- BBA220: I'm interested in entrepreneurship and I think this class could teach me some valuable things if I was to ever open my own business in the future. If not, it seems like some useful knowledge to have

- BUS201: Coursework looked interesting and I feel I would benefit from learning about international business as I very well may have to work in something relating to this one day and I wanted to expand on the basic knowledge that I currently already have

- HRM250: Continuing with my interest in Human Resources, I feel a Human Resource Management class would be useful to teach me skills I may need in the workplace if I find a job in Human Resources in the future. 

I enjoy business. For some strange reason I also enjoy structured essay writing. I am good at it (my English teachers would be proud I admit that because I despised English in high school, despite toping the grade. I hope this is a good year at uni and I can walk away from it knowing I gave 150%, learnt a lot of valuable knowledge and have enjoyed what I studied. 

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions, feel free to comment or message me on my Tumblr blog!

Stelle xx

Spontaneous

I'm not quite sure why (but then again who ever knows why they make spontaneous decisions) but I have been making a few 'spur of the moment' decisions lately. Whether it was in anger, sadness or drunkess or simply 'just because I can' I've done a few things recently that I though I would like to share. 

1. The belly piercing
2. The plane ticket to Cambodia
3. The random trip to the beach by myself
4. The "lets get my life together right now"
5. Let's buy anything (and everything) I want that I see in the shop 

Well. I'm sure some of you will look at that list and be like 'pfft no big deal' or have the other view 'umm are you crazy'. But the way I am choosing to look at it is living. Life is too short (although ironically it is the longest thing we will ever experience) to go through it worried about everything. Normally I am a very rational person and I will not make a rushed or hasty decision. Everything is well thought out (for the most part) and the most extreme thing I will normally ever do is decide I want to eat some bad food and go and get it.

I have quite literally wanted my belly button pierced since I was about 14 years old. I turn 20 this year. One morning last week I simply woke up and said to my friends, "let's go and get my belly pierced today". After 2 years of waiting to be old enough to get my belly pierced by myself (legal age is 16 without parental consent where I live) and then another 3 years of being too scared to do it, I finally did it. Yes it hurt and yes it was probably a dumb thing to do but I am happy I did it. 

The second one is a funny story. I have been wanting to go on an overseas holiday for quite some time. I have been saving up a lot of money but I am very cautious about what I spend it on. I don't know many other people my age who even think about "what about when I want to buy a house I need savings" but... that's just me. So when my bestfriend's dad asked me (when we were all slightly tipsy) if I want a ticket to Cambodia with them next year I simply said "what the hell, yes just do it". That's pretty much the whole story of how I got the ticket to Cambodia. Another decision I am quite happy with. Have to be young and reckless at some point.

Feeling lonely and sad definitely warranted a beach trip by myself. I don't think that one had much thought process other than "do I need petrol right now? No, good let's go". It was peaceful, it was nice and I got to clear my head and be alone for a while. 

I thought I was happy with my life but I have been growing tired of some aspects. My working aspect has become dull and I need a challenge in my life. More will be on this later but this is what I am working on right now (not sure if this is classified as a spontaneous decision, but I did decide I wasn't content with things so I am making a drastic change???)

Now last but not least, I am all for spoiling yourself. Just normally I wait until I have an extra large pay week before I can justify going out and spending maybe $100 or so on things for myself that are wants. But this time, no. Let's just literally buy everything that I can see that I want. And I did. And I didn't feel guilty. And I didn't check my bank balance afterwards to see how much I spent. Because it was spontaneous and I am happy.

On the most positive note I am happy to say that my spontaneous decision making is helping me to achieve things I actually want to cross off my bucket list for the Summer. I am proud of myself.

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

Online Shopping

Let's talk about online shopping shall we? 

How many of you are students and shopaholics like myself? Well just before you go back to being sad about everything you can't buy because you don't have the money, I have something great I need to share with all of you! It's called UNiDAYS. There are basically just a whole bunch of different stores (places like Glue Store, The Iconic, ASOS etc.) that gives you a discount code to use when shopping (ranges from about 10%-25% off). It is literally the best thing ever. All you have to do is verify your student status and then you're free to redeem the codes when shopping. You can sign up here if you're interested!

 I am a sucker for online shopping. Not only do I find it the most convenient thing in the world to do (I don't have to leave my house, I don't have to put on pants, I can literally just grab my laptop and spend as much money as there is in my bank account). I always spend hours online when online shopping though, because I need to make sure I am buying the best bargain (duh).

The other day, for example, I was bored at home and I decided to make a list of all the essential items I was going to need to buy for myself this Winter (I don't really own a lot of winter clothes because I just try to ignore the fact it gets cold and also I was used to just wearing school uniform, so last winter I alternated between basically 2 pairs of pants, 1 jacket, 1 coat and 2 pairs of shoes). I genuinely needed winter clothes. My list consisted of:

- mid rise jeans

- knee high boots

- cream/white jacket

-black coat

- denim jacket

- comfy jumpers

- hooded cardigans

- infinity scarf (red, black or grey)

- beanie

- low white converses

- high top black & white converses

- pleather tights

- handbag

- flanno

A bit of a list but like I mentioned, I don't really own anything warm and last year I wore the same thing constantly or I would freeze. My converses broke recently (after 5 years, bless you my white converses) so that was the starting point for my online shopping experience. 

As I sat at my computer and opened up 10 or so different tabs with shopping sites, I started my shopping adventure. I created carts with the items I needed, compared the prices over different sites and then (so far) settled for making purchases from 4 different websites all because I either:

a) got a good bargain on the items

b) they had free shipping

c) both of the above

I started off on Glue Store because of the 15% student discount and I figured this was going to be the best place to buy my converses. I was happy with the $27 saving because everyone knows that the popular, classic converses never go on sale (and they're the ones that I wanted). Then I ended up scoring an amazing black coat from ASOS for only $45 and a lovely knit cardigan. I then went shopping on the Cotton On website because they always have such good bargains. I ended up buying jeans, a jacket, some shirts and a beanie. I also bought a denim jacket and another cardigan from city beach.

I am pretty happy with everything I bought and now I just can't wait for all of my items to arrive.

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

Motorbike riding and Rodeoing?

Anyone who knows me will know that I am a bit of a princess. Not in the sense that I sit around and expect everyone to do everything for me (I am a hard worker and do almost everything for myself), but I am not a huge fan of getting 'dirty' and doing activities that involve that. I love the beach. That is the one true place I will call my home and I will go far enough to say that I belong there. I like that there are wide open spaces, water and it's peaceful. But at the same time I appreciate that all I have to deal with is sand and then sun and that I am still extremely close to the city and the area is.. populated. 

What I was not prepared for, was a weekend away in the bush (aka. the middle of nowhere to me). There was no phone reception, no electricity (everything ran off gas), wide open spaces, lots of trees and dirt and only being able to have a 3 minute or less shower (any girls who care lots about washing their hair and taking their time would feel my pain at this). But as I am all one for new experiences and adventures (and to stick to saying yes more instead of no, I sucked it up, packed a backpack and went for the weekend adventure. 

I rode on the backs of motorbikes, I rode a quad bike, drank alcohol. I didn't wash my hair for three days, I ate the biggest chicken snitzel I have ever seen. I did the dishes, I read books, I sat around and watched the riding of motorbikes (no one warns you how much your bum will actually hurt afterwards). And strangest of all things... I went to the rodeo.

New experiences all around but I am honestly surprised to say how much of a good weekend I had. I gave it the chance but I honestly didn't expect it to be so much fun. That was a typical bogan weekend (or I see it as one anyway). But it was fun and I'm glad I had the experience. 

Bucket hat selfies at the rodeo 

This is what a rodeo looks like, lots of horses and bulls and baby cows and sheep. Oh it also smells sort of funky because of that

I should mention that this weekend was the Australia Day long weekend, so yes this post is a tad delayed. I don't even know why. And although there is no photographic evidence of me on bikes I promise I rode them (the GoPro died and my motorbike outfit aka boyfriends trackies and an old T-shirt was definitely not cute). 

Thanks for reading,

Stelle xx

My Bestfriend is 19!

Much of the last week for me has basically been spent at my bestfriends house. Why? Because well other than being my bestfriend, it was her birthday! Like me, the birthday celebrations seem to have to last a whole week. With everything from staying in our pyjamas all day and being ugly, to clubbing, to partying in her backyard, to spending $70 on 'Frozen' balloons, to finding penis straws and even to going grocery shopping in our onesies. It was an amazing week and I would like to wish my bestfriend Amber a very happy 19th birthday!

Here are some happy snaps from our week of adventures (mostly just her party because the rest was documented on snapchat). I'm glad she is my bestfriend!

Dani, Amber and I

Again, obviously very pretty

we had a good night

They stuck stickers on my face and I felt like a fairy. Doesn't help my case of proving I'm an adult, I look 15

We all know there were many things said and done this past week that we can't post pictures of or talk about because that would just ruin it (and also a lot was way too embarrassing).

But cheers to the girl who will without fail come to Maccas with me (again bogan jokes queued) and eat our body weight in food (McFeasts and Big Macs for all!), help me with every crazy scheme we can come up with and let me steal her clothes when I have "nothing to wear". The girl who needs me to sit in the bathroom with her when she has a shower because she will get too 'lonely' and who will laugh at even my lamest jokes. The girl who's driving makes me feel like I am going to die, but I will get in the car with regardless. Thank you for being you.