Guest post on Alice Kate!!

Woohoo!! I'm so excited to share with you guys a guest post that I have done for a very lovely lady called Alice. It's all about my summer essentials and what I can't live without during the sunny months. It was so much fun to do especially given it's practically snowing at home right now! Anywho if you want to have a little looksie at the post you can get there here and whilst your there have a sticky-beak at Alices blog; it's a great read!

MONA | Museum of Old and New Art

Little disclaimer: There may be a bit of talk about inappropriate stuff {willys, bottoms ect.} I'm sorry! But if you've ever been to MONA it's so in-your-face its hard not to mention it !  

A couple of weeks ago an old friend and I visited Mona. It was her first time {Que ticket attendant who was very, very excited about someone loosing their MONA virginity; She actually said that!!} and I hadn't been since the opening week. There's quite a few words that come to mind when people mention MONA; Crazy, Exorbitant, Weird, Amazing, Beautiful and maybe a little revolt. The last refers to a photo of a rather un-clothed David Walsh that has possibly scarred me for life or maybe it was the wall of 150 plaster cast bits of womanhood! All that aside if you ever find yourself in Tasmania it certainly is an experience to say the least!

Once you walk into the metalic/reflective/mirrored building you purchase tickets, or show second head if your a local {Very inappropriate Tasmanian joke, I'll forgive you if you don't get it} and get in for free. Your given an Ipod and this is like a fuss free map. It gives you information on what bits and pieces are around, who the artist is or how the exhibition came to be. Pretty cool hey!

                                       

We then went down the stairs to an amazing under-ground section with hundreds of meters of sandstone. This is where to good stuff is! Ever wanted to see a mummy in his tomb? That's there, you just have to walk over stepping stones with water underneath in a very dimly lit room! A completely white room full of books that are all blank? A little bizarre mind game but cool nonetheless. Reflective toilet so you can watch yourself go? Why not just go check out the machine that has been recreated to represent the human bowel system. I KID YOU NOT, it stinks!! Don't let me scare you away though, it's not all bad, there are some amazing pieces of artwork to check out!

There's so many different types of displays and exhibitions going on at one time that even though you've gotten lost and walked around twenty times you will always see something new and exciting. I'm sure we still missed things after spending the good part of a day there. They also have a bar which we made a beeline for after passing the ahem, poop machine one to many times!



I'f your thinking of checking out MONA I'd probably suggest leaving the little kiddies at home; there might be some awkward questions that would need explaining if not! 



If you wold like some more info on MONA its all in here!

Follow Amy Grace on bloglovin'

                     

Wahhh. So as we all know on Monday Google is saying goodbye to GFC! But never to fear; you can still stay up to date with what I'm getting up to and loving at the moment without our beloved GFC. There's many blog-reading sites out there but I've chosen to go with Bloglovin' mainly because its so easy to use and stay updated with all you favourite blogs and its also where almost everybody else has gone! So by clicking on Amy Grace  your taken to bloglovin' where you can follow me; or not! It's completely up to you :)  

Lots of love,

Estée Lauder Daywear ❤

It's no secret that I am an Estee Lauder addict. Everything about their brand just screams sophistication and glamour! And who doesn't love a bit of that in their life ;)

I've been eyeing off their daywear moisturiser since last year after receiving a sample that just didn't last long enough. It was love at first, well application! The of all the smell is A-MA-ZING!! I will literally sniff the pot like some sort of addict ! So if you love the scent of cucumber then this is for you. 

It is such a luxurious moisturiser; it just sinks beautifully into your skin and leaves it feeling so soft! But not just temporarily as some moisturisers do, my skin will still feel great hours after applying.

The real gem of this purchase was the special deal Estee Lauder had going on at the time. For the same price as the Daywear Moisturiser alone you could get this whole goody bag full of generous sized samples to try out and a gorgeous bag to boot! The only down side is that it is quite pricey :( Being $65 for only 50ml { I think that works out to about £38 if my google currency exchange serves me right!} So if your thinking of buying it I'd definitely recommend asking for a sample of two from your local counter; I'm sure they will be more than happy to share some with you!  

p.s I've recently decided that photos look much better outside, so my deck table has become the new go-to photo stage! If you look closely in some of the backgrounds you can see my sister and I's pet cactus-shrug-succulent thingi - Im not quite sure what it is to be honest but his name is Carl and as far as pets go he's quite fabulous! Have a looksie for him :) 

YSL Shocking !

Ooh La Laa! If I had ever thought I was in love before I was sorely mistaken. There's just something about YSL that makes me giddy inside like a little schoolgirl going through my first crush. Maybe it's the flawless packaging or my slight fetish for anything gold but to me it's perfection. I must say that it's probably a good thing that my closest counter is far, far away; otherwise I would probably have to go to rehab, Make-up Rehab- it sounds like a heavenly place HA! 

I got both of these after seeing how amazing they can work on other people. The eyeliner I chose because its what Kendall & Kylie Jenner use; I know it seems a tad superficial but their eyeliner always looks amazing and being an eyeliner novice I thought going straight to the top would make it easier {I was mistaken, but i'm finally getting the hang of it after many late night, smudgy attempts!} The tip liner makes it a lot easier to do a wing or a cats eye but works equally as well for just lining the eye. Plus once its on there it won't be budging!

I also got the mascara because when I first started watching Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter she was always raving about Shocking and how much she loved it! It's such a fabulous mascara, super black so your lashes stand out and thick enough to coat every last bit but not to much that they get that spidery look. I don't use this as my everyday mascara but it's great for nights out where you want dramatic eyes without fake lashes. How Fab!! 

Have you got a favorite YSL product or have you tried one of these and loved it as much as me ?? 

Pass the Pasta !

When I think of winter its scarves, boots and delicious, oozy, home cooked meals that are first to thought. The colder nights are a fantastic excuse to dust off that pile of cookbooks that got shoved in the corner to make room for summer cocktails; or in my case a massive bowl of limes so that I was always ready for an impromptu margarita!

One of my favourite home cooked meals is fresh pasta. Theres nothing that compares to the taste and self-satisfaction of doing it yourself! Its not the quickest but it is super easy and so versatile. 

  

I'm going to let you in on my foolproof pasta recipe! Everybody feel very privileged, I haven't even told my mum this recipe!  Sorry Mumma :(

Pens at the ready?? 

For each person do one quantity, unless your super hungry then add another serve :)

-100g of Plain Flour

-1 Egg, Whisked

-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

-A Pinch of salt

And thats it!

Sometimes your eggs might be a little smaller or the flour might have a higher moisture content so you may have to add a little more flour or oil but this works the best; and I've had my fair share of failed pasta HA!

So here's how you do it...

Combine the flour, whisked eggs and salt in a food processor. Whizz it together for a few seconds until it looks like breadcrumbs. Then slowly drizzle in the olive oil until it comes together to form a ball. If it feels a little sticky add some flour and vice-versa! It should feel firm and bounce back when you poke it.

Once its feeling good, kneed it on the bench until it comes into a nice looking ball. Wrap it in glad wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours. This is the most important part. By letting it sit in the fridge the gluten strands in the flour relax which basically means it's going to be silky, smooth and yummo!

You could put any sauce you like with this, but I think the only way to go is homemade. So when people ask you can say ooh I made fresh pasta and homemade sauce last night! Yes, you can be jealous ;) 

My favourite is just a simple Naplolitana sauce.  

All you have to so is fry off a couple of shallots and three cloves of garlic in some oil until its golden. 

Roughly chop eight large tomatoes and add that to the frying pan. You can remove the skins and seeds - but really who has time for that! It all gets blended up in the end!

Let that all simmer together for about 15 minutes.

Once the tomatoes have gone mushy pop that into the food processor with a bunch of basil and blend that up till its as chunky or smooth as you like it.  

Now it's time for the fun stuff. The great thing about making your own pasta is if your into thick pasta like I am, you only have to run it through a couple of times or a few more if you like it thiner! Just a little FYI if you don't feel like running out and buying a pasta machine, although I highly recommend having one, I have quite successfully rolled out pasta using an old wine bottle and a pizza cutter- It was an interesting experience to say the least!

  

I went for thick fettuccine, the best way to have pasta in my opinion!

  Once the pasta is all cut, chuck it into a big pot of boiling water. It should only take three or four minutes depending on how al-dente you like it.

When its cooked strain it and toss the sauce through. Give it a generous shaving of parmesan, because let's face it, everything tastes better with a bit of cheese :)

If your not in the good books with your husband, wife, sister, brother or significant other this will definitely get you in there. If not I'll eat my shoe! 

Did you guys like this food post?? Has anyone been inspired to make your own pasta at home? 

I'd love to know if you do! xx

We got VIVID!

 Whilst I was in Sydney last week I was lucky enough to arrive smack-bang in the middle of the city's Vivid Light Festival.

The festival is in its second year and is a celebration of light, music and creativity! After dark selected buildings all over the CBD have amazing lights projected all over them. In Darling Harbour there was an insane water show complete with dancers on pontoons! Its still running for two more days, so if you have a chance definitely go check it out! Its completely free and if you have little kiddies they will be mesmerised :) 

 {Amazing water show at Darling Harbour}

 {We got drenched in a sudden downpour and had to seek refuge! Pizza and selfies were mandatory}

 {Que the awwing! What a gorgeous couple } 

  

 {The opera house was insane! }

{Scattered around the city were amazing hands on light-related activities. 

How cool!!}

If you want to check out some videos or get some more info {I've heard the final night is going to be cra-zyy} Check out the link below!

http://www.vividsydney.com/about-vivid-sydney/

Illamasqua my heart out!

WOW. 

I've been lusting over Illamasqua products for quite a few months now, but being in poor little Tassie we don't have a counter { Actually we don't have many counters down here HAHA } I also wanted to be very very sure when buying my first Matt lipstick and thankyou hesitation because if not I'd never looked twice at this gorgeous colour!! 

I've never been a red girl, the closest I've gotten is this!! and I don't think it counts as a lipstick. But WOW, just wow! I had picked out five or six pinks and Nudes to try out and they were all super pretty but the lovely lady at the counter was insistent that Liable was my colour and she was so right! It's got a gorgeous orangey undertone so it's bold but not in an overpowering vampy way! It goes on so well, doesn't dry my lips out and stays forever. YAY!

And who couldn't pass by the amazing nail polish!  I picked up Fragile and Pink Raindrops. Looking at fragile just makes me happy, It looks like the speckled eggs you get at easter and almost looks good enough to eat. Then Pink raindrops has this gorgeous holographic effect and is packed with shimmery glitter, if theres one thing that makes me happy its glitter! And the baby pink colour just makes me swoon :)

{Colours clockwise from top left Slink, Focus, Queen of the Night & Forgiveness}

Then my guilty pleasure was the complement palette. Just look at it. Look. Ohh my is it not just stunning. It's like the perfect palette with the right colours to go from an everyday natural look to a smokey eye in seconds. Focus - the dark brown colour is a creamy based shadow that blends so so well, and is great all over the lid with a little bit of slink in the inner eye makes for a easy every day look. But if your a work-to-party sort of girl you can blend in some Queen of the night {which is more of a burgundy colour} in the outer corner and a swipe of Forgiveness under the eye for a gorgeous smokey eye. To easy!

So if you lucky ladies have a Illamasqua counter near you, just go look and be in awe at how amazing these cosmetics are, Plus if your in Australia they price match with the UK so you can feel a little less guilty about picking up that second lipstick :)