Tuesday book update

Oh how I love a good book.To throw myself into another world for a few hours and take in the stories of others. Sigh. Since I have been on holiday for five weeks, I've had a lot of time to read. And I have read a lot. Some good, some not so much. So, here is the list of the books I have read this summer, in case you were wanting to take a trip to your local library.

 1. Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

I'll start by saying I don't read a lot of historical fiction but I was so engrossed in this story I nearly finished it in one sitting! It's about two young girls, Andi who is living in the 21st century and Alex who's living in the 18th century during the time of the French Revolution and how their destinies become intertwined. If you haven't read anything by Donnelly before I suggest you fix that. Now. This book is seriously good. 

2. Divergent by Veronica Roth 

This book smelt like the Hunger games, which I loved but, sadly I did not end up loving Divergent so much. It wasn't bad but it had some serious faults that I just could not get over. I would still recommend you read it if you are into Dystopic novels. Oh, and I can guarantee you will fall in love with the main boy character- Four.

3. The Ten pm question by Kate De Goldi 

This book was 75% awesome, 25% zzzz waiting for something to happen. It is set in New Zealand so I seriously wanted to like it more than I did. It summed up NZ life well... evverryythhhinnngg waasss veerrrryyy sllloooww. Cute story, cute main character Frankie so I still recommend it. 

4. Almost home by Jessica Blank 

I didn't finish this book- which should tell you what i thought of it. The story is told through the eyes of seven very different teens ( that's right SEVEN narrators) with one thing in common. Each of them has opted to leave their abusive  home life and try to make a life for themselves living on the streets in LA. I recommend this book to anyone working with "at risk" kids, but my stomach couldn't handle it. 

5. The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein

This has been my favorite read of the summer. I am shocked by how much I loved this book.
The narrator is a dog. There is a  lot of mentioning of car racing... and the narrator is a dog.  I liked this book so much that it made me want a dog. No, it made me want THIS dog. And I don't even like animals! This story is largely about Enzo's owners and their lives which was incredibly touching and will leave you in tears. If you read nothing else from my list- read this. 

6. The Devil's star by Jo Nesbo 

A lot of publishers are trying to promote Jo Nesbo as the next Stieg Larsson.  Based on this one story I have read I would say he is definitely close. It is a gripping, fast paced crime novel full of mystery and suspense. It is the third of a series, so I read it out of order but the story stands alone so well I don't think it matters.

7. The adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson


I love my Sci-fi books. Jenna's story is completely bizarre and borderline insane, but it is very good.  Who is Jenna Fox? Throughout this book I was asking myself the same question along with Jenna Fox, a seventeen-year-old girl who has woken from a coma after a terrible accident. It is hard to rave about this story without giving too much away. So just read it. 

 
8. We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shiver 

This book attacked my brain like a virus. It is narrated by a mother who is trying to come to terms with the school massacre her son committed two years ago. Each Chapter is another letter written by Eve (the mum) who flashes back to her son Kevin growing up and the aftermath of his  actions as a 15 year old murderer. Kevin's character is so disturbing and well draw, that I think it caused some kind of chemical reaction in my brain. He gave me nightmares. Seriously, every time I picked up this book grey clouds covered the sun. Read it, before the movie comes out. 




Have you read anything great over the summer? If so, tell me what I should pick up!

Happy birthday to ME!

It has been about a month since my last post and I realize I left you hanging with the end of my juice detox. I managed to finish the three days and felt incredible afterwards- I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to kick start their healthy eating.

So- with that being said today is my birthday and I had fudge for breakfast and a doughnut birthday cake... woops! But surely a little of what you fancy now and then is ok.

I have had a wonderful birthday week. We spent most of it up at Coopers beach with our good friends the Thompsons and Grahams.  We spent almost all of every day at the beach because it was so beautiful and sunny. We also decided to take a trip up to Cape Reinga ( the northern most point in NZ) as it was only an hour and a half drive from our Bach. 

We returned home late on Thursday night and today, like i said we celebrated my birthday. Tuks organized a masseuse to come to the house and give me a 90 min massage right in my living room. It was heaven... we then had lunch, off to the flicks and out for tea.  It was the perfect end to a perfect week.

Now.. time to go and finish that fudge!

Raw revolution Day 2

The second day of my juice detox is coming to a close and I am grumpy. I was told that the hunger pangs would go away, but I am desperately craving something with a crunch!


Here are the recipes for the Juice's I had yesterday and today:

• 2 apples
• 2 kale leaves
• 1 stick celery
• 1/3 long cucumber
• ½ beetroot

• 3 carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 bunch watercress
• 1 large handful spinach

• 3 carrots
• ½ apple
• ½ orange
• ¼ beetroot
• 1 stick celery
• 2 large kale leaves

I am not going to lie. It has been a hard couple of days. On a positive note I DID make it to the gym yesterday, and I did 90 mins of Bikram Yoga this morning to further my detoxification process. I also snuck in a cheeky facial this afternoon which made me feel a ton better. Time to pop a DVD in so I can escape my reality.

Raw revolution

I love the Christmas season. The smell of pine trees, the presents, the carols and the summer. What I don't love so much are the endless rounds of parties and BBQ's, tables groaning with irresistible delicacies, limitless drinks and a general feeling of " Come on, it's Christmas time!'.

During the final weeks of school I almost went to one social function a day... and I was very naughty. I ate and drank till my heart's content.  And inevitably, as always, I regret it afterwards for the way it makes me feel. Sure all of that junk tastes great at the time; but the bloat and sluggishness that follows lasts a lot longer than the enjoyment of comsuming.

That is why today I begin a juicy journey. After the last month of poor eating habits I have decided that a raw juice detox would do my body good. I have just finished my breakfast which consisted of:

8 Stems of broccoli
4 Stems of celery
1 Pear

I am feeling pretty good, but then again it is only 9:30am. I am hoping to make it to the gym this afternoon ( even though you are not supposed to excercise while on the detox) and hope that doesn't upset things.

I'll keep you posted x

Ma wee bonnie child

This morning I was awoken by the distinct strangled screech of bagpipes. I know that most people would rather listen to an orgre play their spine like a xylophone than listen to the agony-bags but I like to think that the love of bagpipe music is in my genes.  I suppose it is.  My ancestors, the Mackay's, hail from a small town outside of Glasgow.

After sending Tuks outside to investigate the source of this racket music, I was delighted to learn that people were setting up for a Scottish festival in the park opposite our home. Later that afternoon I took Daluwyn over to watch the Highland games. As I perused the stalls selling jewlery, flasks and haggis I found some tiny baby kilts. Of course, I could not resist.

William Wallace, eat your heart out!

The Mighty All Blacks

Over the past month I have seen Auckland come alive as we have watched the Rugby world Cup play out. Tuks and I spent many evenings down at Party Central cheering on the All Blacks with other Kiwis and it was amazing every time.

Last night was the final. All blacks Vs France. We watched the game at home with Tuks brother Wiremu and his wife Kristen and our good friends Rachel, Richard and Atah. The game was such a nail biter, we were on the edge of our seats the entire eighty minutes. Thankfully, we came out victorious winning the game 8-7 and ending our 24 year spell of bad luck. 

We were all so excited that we ran straight out onto the road waving our NZ flag at every car that drove past. At 11:30pm we decided to head into town to join in on the celebrations. The atmosphere was electric. People were cheering, singing, hugging and I was mostly screaming. I have never seen so many people fill Queen street, or so many Kiwis celebrate like that before. This is really a special time to be a Kiwi in New Zealand.
Go the mighty All Blacks!

Daluwyn

There is nothing I like to do more on my weekends than hang out with my nephew Daluwyn. He is just so much fun! At 18 months he can now say a few cute things like " up" when he wants to be picked up or put on the couch, " bubbles" when he wants to play with his bubbles " dog" when he sees a dog and of course " cupcakes" which he sure loves to eat.

This morning Tuks took him to the playground next door, and then we went off to the Scottish festival in Remuera. Daluwyn got to play in the bouncy castle, listen to bag pipes and watch some Scottish dancing. He was jealous of the balloons all of the other kids had, so we ended up having to steal some that were on display outside a pharmacy. That was quite tiring so we had a big nap when we got home. Then, it was time to go off to Cameron pools for a swim. Daluwyn really loves the water and is not afraid to put his head under. Lots of the bigger kids at the pool were crying and hanging onto their parents- but not Daluwyn, he wants to swim on his own already.

We just finished eating dinner, and we are watching Tangled as I write this. Hopefully he has had a big enough day to fall asleep nice and early.

I love my little man. Can't wait to do this again.