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Thank you for being my best friend and my Mum, but knowing how to separate the two.

Thank you for having the instinct to know when I really need a phone call, even when we are 12196.5 kms apart.

Thank you for proving that a lady can be both elegant and goofy, and that the two can be pulled off at the same time.

Thank you for raising me up to send me into the world, for allowing me to spread my wings all while knowing the nest will always be there. 

Thank you for teaching me to be strong, for showing me the true depths of a mother’s unconditional love.

Thank you for the memories, the moments of childhood. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mum. I love you!

Now that I am back in the U.S and have pretty much slept off the jetlag I thought I would share one of the last (and one of my favorite) meals I had while back home with the fam: fish and chips sea-side!

Growing u

p, both sets of my grandparents lived on the coast while my family resided in-land in Albury, New South Wales at the time. Visiting the grandparents during the holidays always made for lots of beach time which equaled just as much fish and chips. I guess this is one of those smaller memories I mentioned in last week’s Thankful Thursday post. Whenever I go home I always make sure to enjoy fish and chips at least once.

The meal’s nutritional value is probably that of deep-fried cardboard but I am quite ok with that. Everything in moderation people

My Mum and I picked up the parcel of fish and chips while my Dad and Mitch headed down to the Strand to secure a table.

I have never been a fan of fish or seafood in general. It is definitely something I am working on as I know the huge health benefits it can offer. So when I say we had fish and chips, I kinda only had the chip part…

…along with two potato cakes (aka potato scallops). They are basically just thick, round slices of potato also deep fried.

You can probably see grease oozing through your computer screen by now

We sat and talked for a while, it was fun enjoying similar moments together as adults that we enjoyed 10+ years ago as kids.

We then rounded out our night down at the beach with Juliette’s, a really popular gelato shop/cafe that opened during my freshman year of college. I remember going

home over the summer and making frequent trips down to cheap car insurance quotes the Strand to walk with Mum which would be followed by a cup of gelato. We have continued our ‘gelato walks’ each summer I have returned home.

I always try to get a different combo each time we visit Juliette’s and this time was no exception. I went for a small cup, half honeycomb and the other half coconut.

It was definitely one of those “food coma” nights but I have absolutely no regrets! I believe balancing healthy meals, fitness and nights with foods like those listed above is key to a healthy weight/healthy mindset when it comes to your health and eating habits.

Do you have a particular meal/memory that always reminds you of childhood and family time?

the family time, we headed out on the boat over to Magnetic Island (aka “Maggie” by the locals), to enjoy some sunshine and snorkelling. Maggie Island is just off the shore of Townville (in tropical North Queensland) and is about 5 miles in length.

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By ferry, the boat trip is only about 20 mins. Approx. 2000 people reside on Maggie Island. It’s definitely a favorite getaway spot for both tourists and locals alike.

We drove about half way around the island before deciding to anchor in a small, private beach called Arthur Bay.

The house you can see in the picture above is a holiday rental. A few years ago my hairdresser had her wedding there. Although I didn’t attend the wedding, she showed me pictures and they looked absolutely magical. Does it get much more romantic than a private beach wedding?!

After anchoring the boat we snacked on chips, veggies and dips before getting to work on lunch. We had planned to eat lunch on the island but the water was calm and we were quite happy sitting on the boat so we just ate on-board.

My Mum had packed up a big cooler full of bread rolls and a variety of salad toppings. I had cheese, tomato, cucumber and lettuce.

Since I couldn’t eating the bread rolls, I brought along some multigrain Sol Bread. So yummy and satisfying

We let our lunch sit a little (we probably broke that “no swimming within 30 mins after eating rule ) before suiting up in stinger suits to go snorkelling. I’m not the best at breathing through a snorkel, I even had a mini freak out thinking there was some weird sea creature brushing up on my leg. Turns out, it was only Mum’s flipper. Pretty sure there are much scarier things out there then a

rubber flipper!

You may be wondering what the heck is a stinger suit?? Well, in North Queensland we have what is called “Stinger

Season” from November to May each year. This is when there are a large number of stingers in the waters because the water is soo warm. It is still safe to swim, but to protect yourself it’s best to wear a full body lycra suit. If you brush up against tentacles the lycra will protect you from the sometimes deadly effects of the stinger.

They aren’t the sexiest things to be sporting but you can bet I wasn’t dippin’ my big toe in the water without having a suit on first!!

My Mum was wearing my Dad’s suit. It is pretty intense – offering a hood and hand gloves so that 98% of your body is protected. This is mainly for when my Dad goes fishing out on the Great Barrier Reef. Like I said, not always the sexiest, but safety first

My Mum and I stayed pretty close to the boat while snorkelling. While I didn’t see any stingers, I did see a few small jelly fish.

If you look closely at the two photos above you can see the two whitish/clear looking jelly fish toward the middle of the photo. I spotted these right over the side of the boat while having lunch.

After spending a few hours out on the water we headed back toward the mainland. I told Mum that she and Dad are not allowed to move away from Townsville, as each time I come home it’s just like a tropical holiday!!

me too. On my birthday last week Kevin surprised me with tickets home to see my family for a few weeks before st

arting my new job mid-April. Because I only found out about the trip four days before I flew out of the U.S, I decided to keep the trip a secret from my parents and surprise them too.

I left Phoenix on Tuesday afternoon (U.S time), landing in L.A about 6.30pm. My international flight wasn’t due to depart until 11.30pm so I arranged to have dinner and catch up with my bestie from college, Nikki. Nikki picked me up from the domestic terminal, we had a quick girly dinner date at P.F Changs before she dropped me off back at the international terminal.

I was lucky enough to score a window seat on the international flight with a spare seat next to me – a bonus for someone with long legs like mine . While settling into the plane and waiting for take-off I browsed through the in-flight entertainment, looking over the movie selection that was offered. To me, this is one my favorite parts of the trip. The 747 plane I was on was a newer one, the entertainment system was all touch screen with the light and call buttons both on the screen instead of being overhead. Pretty fancy if you ask me!

I have always been able to sleep pretty well on the airplane, and I proved this once more – the flight is 13 hours straight through from L.A to Brisbane and I slept for the first 11 hours!! So needless to say, I didn’t watch any movies or listen to any of the music on the plane. I think I felt more rested landing in Brisbane at 6am Thursday morning (Aus time) than I would have had I not just flown half way around the world; it felt great! After clearing customs and immigration I headed to the Brisbane domestic terminal to wait for the third and final flight of my trip. Flying into Townsville, I couldn’t believe how green the landscape was from all the recent rain

When I first found out about the trip I arranged with one of my Mum’s good friends Kim to set up lunch with my Mum as they both had the day off work. That way I knew my Mum would be home when I arrived in Townsville around 11.30am. Kim picked me up from the airport and we headed home. Once we got there, I stayed in the car while Kim went inside. Kim then returned to the car to get a homemade quiche she had cooked, only I walked back inside with the quiche instead. My Mum turned around in the kitchen and there I was, standing there with the quiche! It was SOO fun to see my Mum so surprised and happy. She had absolutely no idea I was coming! Kim got it all on video and once I get it I will try and post it on here, it’s definitely a good one  

After jumping around in excitement and lots of hugs and laughter, the three of us sat down to enjoy some quiche and salad. Home cooked meals are always pretty darn good, but this one tasted especially good after all that travelling.

Once

Kim left, I spent some time unpacking and settling in. My Mum and I then devised a plan for how to surprise my Dad. My parents had already arranged to meet for coffee for their regular Thursday night date night once my dad finished work. When he arrived my Mum said she was going inside to use the bathroom and then walked back out with me. My Dad also got the surprise of his life when I sat down at the table! Unfortunately, my Mum’s phone camera didn’t switch over to video so we weren’t able to capture his reaction like we were with Mum’s.

This was hands down the best birthday present ever, I haven’t stopped thanking Kevin for giving me the chance to be home for two whole weeks with my parents! My older brother is also flying up for Easter, it will be the first time all four of us have been home together since 2009, I can’t wait!!

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The cupcakes were from Kevin’s parents. They know my big love of cupcakes, red velvet especially. I had never tried the cream filled chocolate one that I enjoyed for breakfast and after eating it I decided there probably won’t be a Sprinkles cupcake I won’t enjoy I still don’t know what it is about the Sprinkles kind that are so gosh darn good!

Before I ventured out into the kitchen I woke at about 6am to Skype with my Mum back in Australia. She stayed up late

and I woke early so she could watch me open my presents. I had absolutely no idea what was in all the boxes that arrived earlier in the week but promised my Mum I wouldn’t peak until we could open them together.

I got quite a surprise!

I have always enjoyed scrapbooking and card making, but since I have been in the U.S I haven’t been able to do any as all my tools, stamps, die-cuts etc. have been back home. I fell in love with the Big Shot die-cut machine last summer when I was home visiting and my Mum had a scrapbooking party where her friend brought over her Big Shot. My Mum thought that now I am done with the internship I will have more time for hobbies such as scrapbooking. I cannot wait to bust this thing open and start playing with all the different die-cuts!

The surprises kept on coming throughout the day, with a bouquet of flowers being delivered from Kevin

For Dinner I went to a local winecafé called Postino with a friend I met during the Internship. Heather is a local Phoenix gal and knows some great restaurants that I have never heard of. I love locally owned, unique restaurants that aren’t the normal chain

restaurant type as I feel they provide such a different dining experience.

We decided on the bruschetta plate and chose four different options to share

We went with

• Brie & apple with fig spread
• Ricotta with dates and pistachios
• Roasted peppers with goat cheese
• Prosciutto with Figs and Mascarpone

They were all equally delicious but Heather and I both agreed the Brie & apples with fig spread was our favorite.

After enjoying lots of girl talk with a little wine (Riesling for me, Rose for Heather) we headed to pick up some frozen yogurt from Mojo’s.

My birthday was filled with so many surprises and lots of love and laughter from family and friends, I know there are great things ahead!

st year and had a great time chit-chatting with her over lunch.

The rules of the post are as follows:

Rules:
1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about “you are tagged if you are reading this.” You legitimately have to tag people.

So although I am supposed to abide by the rules, nearly every blogger I follow has already been tagged and posted their “11 Random Things”, so I will just do steps #2 and #3. Anyways, sometimes it’s good to break the rules, ya know?!

11 Random Things About Me!

1. I like long road trips but hate daily traffic and commuting. Driving 30 minutes to work seems like an eternity for me – this was one of the hardest things to get used when I moved to a big city.
2. When I applied for university in Australia I applied and was accepted into Law. It wasn’t until I was recruited to play in the U.S that I decided I wanted to study nutrition/dietetics. I love my field of work and couldn’t imagine studying anything else.
3. I have to shower as soon as I get done at the gym. I sweat buckets while working out and can’t even stop off at the store on the way home, I just hate the feeling of having cold sweat on me!
4. I like to refer to pinterest as ‘productive procrastination’
5. If I could wish for a talent, it would be to sing, or at least carry a tune
6. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast. I can’t even make it to brunch without having a snack first, otherwise my cranky pants come on and usually stay on for most of the day.
7. I am a worrier and stress pot. I’m working on this though.
8. I’m a sucker for American Reality TV, especially Real Housewives
9. I am moving in two days and haven’t even begun packing up most of my bedroom. Usually this would stress me out like crazy. Apparently I’m doing pretty well with #8!
10. I love the spirit in the air around Christmas, it is by far my favorite holiday.
11. I love getting all girly and dressed up for a night out, but give me sweats and a movie at home and I’m just as happy

Kristen’s 11 questions for me:

1. What is your favorite color? Pink of
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   course

2. Do you have any pets?  If so, what kind? No pets!
3. What’s your most embarrassing story? I snapped the high jump bar in high school. When I was in 7th grade I was doing high jump at the school sports carnival. I ran up, jumped, one side of the bar stayed up on the pole while the other side fell down to the mat with me coming down on top of it. It even ripped a small hole in my shorts
4. What is your favorite season? Hmm… Probably summer because I love warm balmy nights. I love when seasons are shifting from one to the next though. You can still feel one season while getting a taste for what’s coming.
5. Are you a morning or night person? Definitely morning! I have no problem waking up at 4.30-5am, but by 10pm I am a zombie.
6. What is your biggest pet peeve? Fakeness and lying
7. What is one of the favorite things you love about blogging? Connecting with others and continually interacting with people from all over the world with amazing stories to share
8. Black or white? I’d have to say both. Although I always think black provides the perfect canvas for anything.
9. What is one of your favorite blogs? Why? J’s Everyday Fashion. I love the outfits she puts together and how she makes you think about what you already have in your closet to create outfits. I think it’s also one of the only blogs I read that isn’t aren’t health/food/fitness related.
10. What is your favorite joke? This is one of the only jokes I remember from childhood and for some reason it still makes me giggle: What do you call a donkey with 3 legs? Wonkey!
11. What was the last good movie you watched? They weren’t too recent but I loved The Help
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    and Water for Elephants

So there you have it! Hope you learned a little bit more about this Aussie

Since moving to Phoenix in late October, I have been eager to explore the city and nearby towns. Kevin doesn’t return to Colorado until next week so we decided to take a day trip to Sedona, a town about 120 miles north of Phoenix, and hike the town’s most famous landmark – Cathedral Rock.

We left Phoenix about 8.30am and stopped off at the Rock Springs Cafe for a late breakfast.

The cafe

is apparently known worldwide for their pies, but being only early morning we decided to skip the pies and instead I ordered steel cut oatmeal with cranberries and pecans while Kevin ordered a country style breakfast skillet. The cafe has some great history to it so it was fun reading about how the business developed from a canvas-covered store in 1918 to the operation it is today that also has a gift shop and saloon attached.

After breakfast we continued onto Sedona where we planned to hike Cathedral Rock. The landscape and views were truly awe-inspiring.

Once we got to the trail head we read the map and decided to take Baldwin trail which would then meet up with the steep climb to Cathedral Rock.

The scenery changed throughout the hike from red dirt to a calm running creek to greenery and shrubs

Although we didn’t have the correct hiking gear to get all the way to the top of Cathedral Rock, we made it about 2/3rds of the way before taking a short break, snapping  a few pics and heading back down.

Sedona is very famous for their “vortex’s”, areas of the land that are said to bring energy and peace. Kevin and I joked about ‘feeling the energy from the vortex’s’ on the hike.

Personally, I think you could find peace and gather energy just by enjoying and marveling at the views, no vortex needed for me!

Last

week I went to Paris! Well…not the the real Paris but the closest thing I’m going to get to the real thing for now anyways While I was in Las Vegas with Kevin and his family we had dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a classic French

Bistro located inside the Paris Casino on the strip.

While musing the menu I sipped on the restaurant’s signature cocktail, the Frangria “sangria french style with iced beaujolais, grand marnier, fresh fruit, and a hint of rosemary”  It definitely did not disappoint!!

Although the menu offered a tremendous variety of steaks, I was really in the mood for lots of vegetables so settled on one of the Gabi’s Classics, the Market Vegetable Platter

Many people ask how I can simply eat a whole plate of veggies for dinner. Well quite honestly, sometimes it’s the only thing I feel like and I often crave big servings of fruits and veggies. Although I will happily eat meat, it’s not a food item that I miss if I decide to go without Each vegetable was prepared in a different way and they all tasted simply amazing.

We decided to hold off on dessert at Mon Ami Gabi as we had something else in mind to fulfill our sweet tooth… The Chocolate Lounge in the Sugar Factory!

All I can say is holllyyy yum! I attempted to take pictures and capture just how good the fondue and dessert cocktails were but unfortunately the lighting in the chocolate lounge didn’t want to cooperate with me. Boo. The fondue came with strawberries, bananas, gummy bears, fudge, red velvet cake, marshmallows, and white cake. Talk about dessert heaven.

Big smiles & full bellies = happy campers

But first things first. Last night my roomie informed me that Aspen Leaf now h

as red velvet fro-yo! After dinner Kevin and I made the stop to try out the new flavor. I have been talking about red velvet flavored fro-yo for a few months but have never found it anywhere. So when I heard this news, I was on a mission.

I mixed the red velvet with cake batter, my all-time fav flavor

The end result was, of course, ahhhmaazing, espeically with my usual mix-ins.

Mission accomplished!

Now, onto the giveaway. Last week the fab team at LARABAR sent me a box of various flavors of LARABAR and Jocalat products to try. I absolutely love these bars for a number of reasons:

• Most bars are gluten free, dairy free, soy free, non-GMO, vegan and kosher. This means the bars are made from foods in their simplest, most natural state.
• They actually taste good!
• They have sooo many different flavors to try (19 LARABAR and 4 Jocalat)
• The company only uses Fair Trade Certified chocolate in their Jocalat products and LARABAR products containing choc chips.
• Each LARABAR has no more than 9 ingredients. Each Jocalat bar has no more than 7.
• You can actually pronounce every ingredient listed on the wrapper. No mystery foods or chemical reactions are involved in these lil’ beauties!

I was pleased that I had only previously tried 1 out of the 6 bars in the box. The flavors I was sent to review were:

• Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte (new flavor)
• Blueberry Muffin (new flavor)
• Ginger Snap
• Coconut Cream Pie
• Chocolate Mint Jocalat bar
• Chocolate Jocalat bar

As for the LARABARS, I was a little skeptical about how I would like the Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte as I am not a cherry fan at all. Any cherry flavored dessert is probably the first thing I would skip given the

choice, but this was really yummy! It was definitely more chocolatey than cherry so I think that helped. I would for sure try this flavor again.

The Blueberry Muffin and Coconut Cream Pie were delicious. The Coconut Cream Pie seriously tasted just like better than the real thing, mixed with an almond joy. Yum. The Ginger Snap definitely has a different taste to it. Although I wouldn’t go as far as saying I didn’t enjoy it, its certainly not one I would choose on a weekly basis in the grocery store. It’s more of an acquired taste.

Now for the Jocalat bars! I was super excited to see what these were like as I hadn’t tried any of the flavors before. The texture for both the bars was really similar to a LARABAR, although I would have to say the Chocolate Jocalat bar was a little drier. The Chocolate Mint flavor however, was really moist and definitely sweet-tooth satisfying

What I like most about these bars is that you know exactly what is in them, you don’t need a dictionary or chemistry textbook to look up ingredients etc. What you read on the label is exactly what you get. They are the perfect on-the go bar, they don’t melt or get mushy and even hold up rolling around the bottom of the biggest purses – this one I can attest too

And now it’s giveaway time!! One reader will score their own box of LARABAR and Jocalat goodies. All you have to do is:

1. Leave me a comment below telling me about your favorite snack bar OR which of the LARABARS is your favorite
2. Follow me on Twitter
3. Send a tweet mentioning @LexieBoyceRD2Be including the link for the giveaway

The giveaway ends next Wednesday, September 22 2011 7pm Mountain Time.

ons as much as America does – we don’t even have Halloween. But I still love this time of year in the U.S and would never turn down an offer to go trick or treating (especially if there was chocolate involved ) or sip on pumpkin spice lattes.

Last weekend I happened to stumble upon the Savory Spice Shop while waiting to have drinks with a friend in Old Town, Fort Collins. It was actually the aromas from the shop that caught my attention and beckoned me in. Once inside, I felt like a kid in a candy store. I didn’t know which way to turn and what to look at smell first.

While in the store I got talking with the owner and another employee. Turns out the Savory Spice Shop is a franchise founded by a husband and wife team right here in Colorado. Their main factory is down in Denver and offers tours of the blending rooms. That would be such a fun field trip!

And then I found the baking spices. Ohhh my was this a good corner of the store

After looking over this section a little more closely, I settled for these two spice blends

Pumpkin Pie Spice & Vanilla Bean Sugar!!

I just about did a leap of joy when I saw the Pumpkin Pie Spice!

I have never baked a pie before so this could lead to a baking first! I also thought it would be good on oatmeal, with plain yogurt, in pancakes, muffins etc. Other than using it for food purposes the jar smelt absolutely delicious. If I could bottle up the smell of Fall, it would be in this little bottle

I want to know! What is your favorite season?

Anyone have any good pumpkin pie recipes? Remember…I’m a newbie pie baker here

P.S For all the Australian readers, Savory Spice Shop also ships internationally.