Summer, Strawberries, Sun and Specials!

Hey you,

Daylight Savings has started!  I hope you all have remembered to turn your clocks forward an hour.  Summer is so close - I can almost smell the sunscreen, the BBQs and the freshly mown lawns. 

And I’m really excited because strawberries are making a comeback into the supermarket!  Strawberries are my favourite berry, they are amazingly good for you and super versatile.  Did you know that strawberries are the only berries with seeds on the outside?  And that they are actually a member of the rose family.  If you are worried that you might have had a strawberry overindulgence episode, think again!  One cup of strawberries contains just 188 kilojoules (or 45 calories for you calcounters).  They are high in vitamin C, which is the new thing in anti-ageing and also phytochemicals that contain immune-boosting and other health promoting properties.

So, with that in mind, what better way to get all that good stuff into your body than by making a super delicious Strawberry Daiquiri cocktail!  This is a recipe that I love to make:  get yourself 50ml of white rum, about  10ml freshly squeezed lime juice, 5 or so ripe strawberries and some sugar syrup* to taste.  Stick it all in a blender and serve in a margarita glass with some mint leaves to garnish.  Tastes just as good in a virgin version as well ;)

Finding out that strawberries are anti-ageing was a true bonus.  I’m just had another birthday and to be honest, I am really beginning to think about the ageing process and looking/feeling my best in this stage of my life.  With so many products on the market, it’s really confusing what is good and what is a total gimmick.  Retinol, night creams, eye creams, day creams, sunscreens.  So I asked my beauty guru, Jenna from Beautique what she recommends to someone like me:  “Products containing vitamin A and C products are the most effective in terms of anti-ageing.  And from the inside, Omega 3 and 6, so lots of fish and seafood.  A have regular facials using trusted, recognised brands”.

All potions and lotions aside, one recipe for the Fountain of Youth still remains:  lots of sleep, lots of water, lots of exercise, lots of fresh fruit and vege, sunscreen and happy thoughts.  And quit smoking!  Wow, that’s really easier than it sounds.  I’d be lucky to do two of those in a week!  Perhaps I should just be happy with ageing (dis)gracefully.

One thing I won't be doing this summer is showing off my winter coat!  With the weather warming up and hemlines/shirt sleeves getting shorter, I've been casting a (rather critical) eye over myself and I have decided it's time to get in shape for summer.  No more of my favourite food groups for me - pastry, chocolate, chips, WINE.  And a healthy prescription of daily exercise.  I bet my resolve lasts all of one day.  The diet choices isn't too much of a problem, I actually find that I prefer healthier options most times, especially in summer.  There is nothing better than fresh veggies and fruit.  But it's the exercise that gets me.  Walking/running really bores me, I can't commit to the gym or a program (because of the nature of my job)....so what can I do?  This season, I have banned myself from the lift.  It's my mission to use the stairs 90% of the time.  Let's see how I go. 

In saying that, if you can find a buddy that is keen to exercise with you then exercise is generally much easier.  And more rewarding.  Hit up your workmates, friends, family, neighbours and get motivated this summer!

Now, we here at LHIFTG are very excited because we have just launched our exclusive registration system!  By registering pre-event, you can book yourself into all sorts of amazing treatments at show only prices.  Honestly, you can’t get these specials, even at the show!  AND you are guaranteed a super special speciality goodie bag, crammed full of exclusive treats.  It’s almost too good to be true!  Click here and register yourself right now! 

Until next time,

LHIFTG Team x  

PS.  Look out for our new billboards, they go up this weekend!

* (Quick sugar syrup recipe:  stir 500g sugar into 250ml water and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cool and refrigerate.)

Rugby World Cup - outfits and eye-candy.

Hi there,

You have probably looked at the title of this particular post and turned up your nose.  Fair enough too, the Rugby World Cup is something distinctly un-Let's hear it for the girls-ish.  It's so hard not to get caught up in the hype though!

I guess you could say I am into rugby - in as much as I like sitting down with my Dad at home and watching him freak out, yelling instructions to the players and insulting the ref.  But that's as far as it goes for me.  On the opposite end of the scale, I have a close girlfriend who is totally rugby mad, she even has a rugby memorabilia room in her house.  Each girl to their own of course, I know that there are heaps of awesome ladies really excited about the rugby!

It's a huge event and a great one for New Zealand.  Being the patriot that I am, I am going to attempt to get excited about it, but in my own special way :)

I am very lucky to be hosting the parent's of one of the American players at my house over the time that they have their games in New Plymouth.  I don't know a lot about the American team, so I decided to do a little digging to find out more about them.  It's not that I am interested in player stats or how many international tests that they have played.  It's a little embarrassing, but I am only really interested in how nice they look on the field.  The USA Eagles are playing the Irish lads on Sunday, since I am now bias by association to the USA team, I started thinking about an appropriate outfit to wear to show my support....

A red and white striped merino, paired back with some skinny denim jeans (blue of course), some black boots, a cosy jacket and perhaps a white hat, like a beret or cosy beanie would be the perfect outfit to wear to the rugby.  Warm, stylish, chic and very Americano without being overly Uncle Sam.  Check out this merino from Glassons.  And this hat from one of my all time favourite websites Etsy.com. 

Before anyone crucifies me for supporting any team other than the All Blacks, can I just say that I will be absolutely behind them 100%, like any other good Kiwi girl.  Rugby is our national game and while I may not be able to explain the rules of a line-out, I can definitely appreciate the dedication and talent our boys have.  Win or lose, I will still be proud of them.

With rugby royalty in town, it would be fair to say that us New Zealander's will be in the presence of some pretty famous faces.  And their girlfriends!  Check out some of the hot couples arriving on our shores.  I bet these ladies can explain what a line-out is!  It was nice to see our very own Dan Carter and his lady Honor in amongst the names.  

Tomorrow is the big day, the kick off!  There are huge parties happening all over the country and I hope to be at the New Plymouth one, being held at Puke Ariki.  I might see you there!

Love from the LHIFTG Team x 
     

TGIF and hi, how are you? 

There has been so much going on at LHIFTG, it's overwhelming!  We've finally got the proofs through for our fabulous new billboards and posters, we can't wait to get them out there!  I've been working flat stick on the programme, making sure that it's totally jam packed full of really cool seminars, performances and demonstrations.  There is going to be so much to see and do at the show, you are definitely going to need to get together with your girlfriends and plan your day. 

Talking about planning your day, have I told you that soon you will be able to register online and book yourself in for treatments at the show?  And that all of these treatments are at amazing prices, only available for those of you that register?!  AND you will be guaranteed one of our specialty goodie bags as well....oh my gosh, watch this space!  I will definitely let you know when we open the registrations so you can jump in and secure your spots.

A girlfriend and I were having a coffee together recently and noticed a young lady walking down the street.  Both of us noticed her and commented at the same time: she just looked so full of life and confident!  She there was nothing really remarkable about her, but the way she carried herself got me to thinking:  what can we as woman do to boost our confidence in ourselves and our bodies?  And this is what I came up with....

1)  DON'T COMPARE.  We are bombarded everyday with images of beautiful, stick thin woman with amazing skin/hair/teeth.  It's all airbrushing and not at all a representation of reality.  We need to stop torturing ourselves!  Put down the beauty magazines and give your lovely body a hug!

2)  GET CONFIDENCE FROM WITHIN.  Allow the beautiful person you are on the inside to be what everyone else sees on the outside!  Loving yourself just the way you are, warts and all, will give you confidence in everything you do.   

3)  DRESS YOURSELF CONFIDENT.  Spend some time researching what looks good on your particular figure type.  Take a girlfriend shopping, someone who will be honest with you and veto your choices.  Don't get into fashion ruts!  While black is always in, take a risk on that gorgeous cobalt wrap dress and work it girl!

4)  HEALTHY.  NOT WEIGHTY.  A healthy body is a confident one.  Step off those scales, forget about the kilos and focus on being healthy!   

5)  RUN SKIP JUMP!  While we are all probably a little bored of hearing about how amazing exercise is, the truth is it really does work.  Try just a couple of minutes, dance to The Wiggles with your kids, make those chores part of your workout, park your car a little further away from your destination and walk! 

6)  BE NICE.  When we feel bad about ourselves, we generally project that onto others.  Whether it be through gossip, snarky remarks or just generally being grumpy around others, it can really bring the people around you down.  We are most critical of in others, that which we are most critical of in ourselves.  If you are feeling down, try giving someone a compliment.  Their happiness will ultimately rub off on you, turning that frown upside down! 

I really do feel like I need to mention New Zealand Fashion Week and our very own Kerry Wanoa's Whiri label's showing at fashion week.  Taking inspiration from traditional Maori designs and giving them a modern twist, Whiri is a truly unique label, one that I am in love with.  Whiri is going to be showing on the catwalk at LHIFTG and I can't wait to be front at centre at the show!

Enjoy your weekend! 

LHIFTG x

Our promo's last day, so let's take a look at ourselves.....

Hi lovely LHIFTG Fans!

It's a beautiful day here in Taranaki, windless, mostly cloudless....it almost feels like spring is here (here's totally hoping).  A perfect end to the last day of our Let's hear it for the girls Pamper Prize Facebook promotion.  To win this fabulous prize, ladies have been writing their favourite winter pick-me-ups on our Facebook wall.  I am really going to miss reading your words, there are so many lovely, inspirational ideas - a few that I have even decided to try myself!  It's the little things that make our lives so special in these busy days:  a brisk walk in the morning, a cup of hot chocolate by the fire, cuddles with our loved ones, watching a DVD in bed.  I know that's what I will taking away from your words throughout this promotion, no matter how stressful life gets or how busy I am, there is always 5 minutes in a day to do something for myself.  And for that I would like to thank you! 

Since I couldn't take part in the promotion, I thought I would write about my winter pick-me-up in here.  My winter pick-me-up is a new pair of shoes.  I love shoes, shoes are to an outfit like icing is to cake for me!  The right pair of shoes can change my mood instantly: they can make me walk taller, feel inwardly stronger and change a good fashion day into a truly amazing experience.  Okay, so I might be a little bit obsessed.  And having a job where I am constantly researching online trends does not help!  Let me share with you some trends that are key for the 2011/2012 seasons: colour blocking, wooden heels, sky high wedges and platforms.  I am one of these women who likes to wear a lot of neutral tones (and black, much to my mother's dismay) and the chance to bring big, bright colours into my outfit through colour blocking is just oh so ....YAY for want of a better word!  I'm also a huge fan of wedges.  For those amongst us that have teetered around on a stilettos and rolled ankles, a wedge gives stability and support, while not compromising on heel height.  On my wish list at the moment are these wedges from the Heels.com website and these colour block platforms from Top Shop (who, incidentally, now ship to NZ!).

Oooh, I love online shopping.  Shoes are easy, but clothes are harder.  Sure, there are plenty of online size guides, but it's so easy to get confused as to what a garment will look like when it is on.  I find that I have a very different view of what I think my body looks like, to that which it actually does.  I am sure every single one of us out there has this particular problem.  There is this new website to help with that - mybodygallery.com.  My Body Gallery allows women to post images of themselves on any old day, wearing any old thing, and put a black square over their face so we don't know who they are.

The goal of this, the site says, is to help women see themselves for what they are. "A recent study found that 95% of non-eating disordered women overestimate the size of their hips by 16% and their waists by 25%, yet the same women were able to correctly estimate the width of a box," the site explains. "Two out of five women and one out of five men would trade three to five years of their life to achieve their weight goals."  Try it by putting your details into the search engine and see what comes up.  I GUARANTEE you, you will be surprised. 

Whew!  See you next week!

xx

A sad farewell, a learning experience and some celebrating!!

Happy Friday LHITFG fans!

I hope you are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am.  It's been a busy week and I am certainly looking forward to getting off my feet and relaxing a little this weekend!

Sadly this week we farewelled the hugely talented chanteuse Amy Winehouse.  I remember the first time I listened to her second album, Back to Black.  I was instantly in love with this little lady's huge voice and amazing Billie/Ella-esque sound.  The CD stayed on repeat for a long time,  Me and Mr Jones and Tears Dry On Their Own were hits for me - for a listener to be able to experience raw emotion through music is the mark of a truly talented artist.  And that is what I hope that Amy is remembered for.  Not for her battle with addiction or her slurred performances or public meltdowns, but for the amazing musical gift that she shared with the world.  RIP Amy.  You will be missed.     

So!  Because LHIFTG is all about celebrating everything YOU! meaning that we are all about what makes us women celebrate being just exactly what we are and what we love, it was decided that our new billboards for this year should show that.  On Monday night, I dragged some of the team and some friends down to a local studio for a photo shoot!  And I tell you what, I will never again criticise models or think that modelling is easy - it's absolutely not, it's really hard!  We all stood up in front of the big lights and just froze, what exactly are you meant to do, how are you meant to pose?  How do you stand?  There is much more to it than meets the eye.  So much thanks has to go to the fantastic Jenna Hitchcock from Beautique Photography, it was only with her art direction that we managed to get through it!  Here's a sneak peek from the night:

I've been on a mission in the last week to get healthy again after a few weeks with a cold.  I trudged out last night to try Power Plate Vibration Training.  Has anyone else tried it?  It is a very basic 15 minute workout - you do sets of exercises or stretches on a vibrating plate, apparently this amplifies the exercise, meaning you get much more benefit in a shorter amount of time.  I was sceptical, of course.  But I am happy to say I am definitely feeling it today, especially in my abs!  I've got 5 more sessions to go, so let's see if anything comes of it. 

We had a great YAY! moment in the office this morning!  Our beautiful event manager Bonny got engaged last night to her man Bijan!  It was a very romantic proposal, dinner followed by a "fake falling over" moment.  When she bent down to help him up, he was on one knee with a beautiful sapphire sparkler!  Ah love and congrats to you both from the team!  It's been a pretty big engagement/wedding/love news week in the world, Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford, Jesse James and Kat Von D split (right after she tattoo'd his face on her ribs....oh dear) and New York councillors narrowly voting to allow same-sex marriages be performed in the state (hooray!), which saw one officiant preside over 100 marriages in a 24 hour period!  

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, see you next week!

LHIFTG Team xxx

Inspiration from you inspiring women!

Hello LHIFTG fans,

We have been running our new Facebook promotion for just over a week now and we have been overwhelmed by the response!  I can't keep away from our Facebook page, I love reading you winter pick-me-ups, in fact I find them absolutely inspiring.  Your words have really got me to thinking about inspiration and motivation, where that comes from and what is inspiring in life.

Many of you talk about spending time with family on Facebook, which I am sure is a hot topic for all of you with school holidays in full swing!  Keeping those active bodies and minds occupied, while still keeping the cogs of everyday life turning is an absolute mission. I find Mums truly inspirational, especially their innovative ways of amusing the chidlets during the holidays.  Here are some cool ideas that some of my friends have come up with for school hols activities:

• Sidewalk Chalk - you can buy the large sidewalk chalk buckets for as little as $8 from Warehouse Stationary.  Find a big piece of sidewalk, wrap the kids up warm and let them go a little Michelangelo! 
• Make A Hut - even I used to love doing this as a kid, move the couches to make walls and use an old rug as a ceiling.  Seriously, you won't see the kids for hours as they play in the pirate lair/castle dungeon/secret cave!
• Homemade Playdough - for the littlies, here is a recipe to make your own Playdough.  Get them to help you mix it all up, then watch what they come up with!  Keep your Playdough in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
• Weird Science - for those with kids 8+, do you remember making a volcano when you were in primary school?  It's so much fun, quite a big project as well, which will keep them occupied in a hands on way for a couple of days.  Or try some of these ideas.....make a bouncing egg, some static electricity or a wormery!

I find stylish women really inspirational.  Jackie O, Audrey Hepburn, Gwen Stefanie, Alexa Chung - these beautiful women all have the gift of being able to put an outfit together, an outfit that suits them and that is on trend.  But it's the women that manage to do it on a budget that I really, truly admire.  Check out this blog:  http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/.  Recommended to me by a workpal, I haven't been reading her blog for long, but I find her style so inspirational.  Fashion isn't about how much you paid, what it says on the label or where you got it from.  Fashion is about expressing who you are, in clothes that fit your body and that you truly love.  This blog is an inspirational read and definitely makes me closely regard how I am spending my money on clothes. 

And lastly, but definitely not least....the people that I find most inspiring are my friends.  So I would like to dedicate this blog to friends - the friend who drives 5 hours to come to your party, the friend who tells you the truth when you put on that dress that is really too tight, the friend that listens to you gush about the new guy in your life (on and on and on), the friends at work that you spend 8+ hours a day with.  Without friends, our lives would be grey.  Thank you for being so inspirational!   

"Wherever you are, it is your friends that make your world" - William James.

See you back here next week!

LHIFTG xxx

Win with us!

Hey girls!

We are running a Facebook competition for Let's hear it for the girls this month.  Like us on Facebook here and you will go in the draw to win a fabulous Pamper Package for Two!  The prize includes brunch and bubbles at Arborio Restaurant, a cut and blow wave from Misse Hair Boutique, facials from the fabulous Beautiful Hush and acrylic nails and a gelish toenail treatment from Mystique Nails!  Double your chances by writing on the Let's hear it for the girls Wall and tell us what your favourite winter pick me up is!  I hope you win it! 

Love has been in the air (or on the wind) this week.  And lots of different types: weddings, loving thy self, friendship, family, a most loved article of clothing.  It seemed that no matter where I went there was something that made me think about love and its huge impact on us and our lives.   

"When you are in love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." - Dr Seuss

I was watching E! Channel recently and managed to catch an E! Special on Wills and Kate, their love story and the wedding.  It was very easy to get caught up in the hype of the wedding at the time and I have to admit, like so many of us now, I had totally forgotten about their love story.  It was kind of cool to revisit their courtship (when we called her Waity Katie) and remember that these two aren't "royal love by numbers".  They have a true-to-life love story that has really stood the test of time, under such intense scrutiny by the public.  Here are the beautiful couple, hobnobbing it with the stars at the 2011 BAFTA Awards.  Even Jennifer Lopez looks starstruck!

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart - Helen Keller 

Loving Thy Self - I have to share this article that I found on sheknows.com!  This is the Top Ten WTF! Beauty Rituals and I have to tell you, the lengths that someone women will go to achieve whatever it is that they believe beauty is, are rather terrifying and completely hilarious!  Imagine smearing bird poo on your face as a facial, like some women do in Japan!  It really did make me think about my beauty routine and how I really love doing just the small things, just for myself.  Like putting on lipgloss or using my favourite face scrub.  Giving yourself little treats doesn't just have to be beauty related either.  It can be as small as just making someone at work a cup of tea.  Here is 81 little presents you can give yourself, try and do one today! 

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage - Lao Tzu

Don't forget to check out the Facebook competition!  Until next week.

Love from the LHIFTG Team x