Royal Croquet Club Steals the Show in Melbourne

Royal Croquet Club sets up in Melbourne for 2 weeks of delicious foods, live entertainment, Pimm’s Cups and of course croquet games. The Croquet club was more than your typical festival. It was a full on lifestyle event that catered to the hearts of many. If you are into trendy foods like myself then you would have been in heaven. The festival had every type of food you could imagine and the best of all was Gelato Messina with their Campbell’s soup inspired gelato. Their were four different flavours of gelato all with funky names and packaged in a different colour “soup can”. From a marketing and public relations stand point, Gelato Messina absolutely killed it with their branding. If you attended the Croquet Club, there is a guarantee you have a picture with their cool soup can. If you haven’t seen the craze yet, search the hashtag #royalcroquetclub or #gelatomessina on Instagram for tons of pictures from the festival.

To go along with the great food, the decorations, the lights and the music were very on point. It totally made you feel like you were transported to an old school festival with a modern twist. Pimm’s was also one of the main sponsors which made the cocktail lovers jump for joy as they got to have a perfect summer drink in hand. Festivals like these are so important as I believe because it takes you out of your everyday routine and shakes it up with imagination. It made me feel like I was 6 years old eating ice cream at a fair. The best part about things like the Croquet Club is that you are never too old to go out and enjoy yourself.

If you haven’t checked it out yet you still have today and tomorrow to go enjoy some Pimm’s and Gelato Messina!

Carly Jensen xo

What Gets You Out Of Bed?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning? What drives you? What is that one thing that makes you face the day? Everyone has something. Maybe you have more than one thing. Maybe it is your kick ass job. Maybe it is the job you are trying to get. Maybe you get out of bed for someone in particular. I want you to ask yourself this question and if you can’t think of anything you ain’t trying hard enough. If you don’t have something why get out of bed? Do you do it because you have to or because it is what society claims as socially acceptable.

Why not get out of bed in the morning with a purpose. Brainstorm your reasons and see how far you can take it. If making money drives you to get out of bed then ask yourself why? What will that money do for you? Is it for your own self worth? Do you get out of bed to feel like you’ve made it? To help give yourself a feeling of success.

You have to have a reason, you got to have a purpose. I stress this so much because people everyday drift around without a purpose. You were not put on this earth to “drift” you were put on earth because you are powerful beyond belief and you DO have a purpose. Starting tomorrow I want you to wake up with something in mind. Whether you have 10 things your waking up for or only 1 it doesn’t matter. Waking up with a reason to be alive is not only good for yourself it will rub off on the people around you.

Carly Jensen xo

El Habanero Serves it Hot

Nestled away at the end of Clarendon Street is the newest Mexican hombre to join the Melbourne family. El Habanero is a fun modern and most importantly authentic Mexican joint that opened up about 4 months ago. Luckily for me I live right by it and get to experience their delicious tacos whenever I feel like it.

My two favourite things we ordered was the simple yet delicious chicken tacos. As well the suprisingly mouth watering deliciousness of the fish taco. Now normally I wouldn’t be open to eating fish but these tacos had some sort of chipotle cream drizzled over the top. Inside the taco you were presented with a cool cucumber salad, red cabbage, marinated meat all on top of a true corn tortilla.

To drink we had lime margaritas that had enough tequila in them to make me go loco. The best part about the meal was it was reasonably priced which obviously left us feeling content and not broke. For those looking for a new restaurant to try, why not check out El Habanero. Believe me, the hot sauce is hot so take at your own risk.

Happy Eating!

Carly Jensen xo

Finding Your Authentic Self

Everyone spends a lot of time copying the people around them instead of finding their own authentic voice. It doesn’t matter what you hope to do in life just as long as you are being you. This topic jumps around in my head a lot because in the blogging world everyone is trying to be like everyone else. I can admit I see the other bloggers posting photos of fancy smoothies then I think “oh I must post trendy smoothie pictures” Then after reading numerous articles on authenticty and finding your own voice I realised that just because one blogger is famous for their health smoothies and fitness doesn’t mean you have to do everything like them. Ask yourself what makes you happy? Are you a clean freak who obsesses over baking? Are you a sales maniac Type A personality? Whatever you are be that. Eat, sleep and breathe it because that is the only way you will get noticed.

You cannot sell yourself in a way you are not because people won’t buy it. My perfect example would be if I decided to blog about extremely healthy food. Every fitness blogger out there has already got that covered, I am here to tell you about the decadent things in life. For me to go on about kale smoothies would be a joke because you would know it wasn’t me. I could however talk you through a red velvet cupcake like no tomorrow.  The meaning of this post is to let everyone know to be themselves and be honest. People will enjoy your truthfulness more than they will want to see another kale smoothie. But if kale smoothies are your thing, then embrace that fully.

Happy Blogging – Be Yourself

Carly Jensen xo

Dinner Parties are in style for 2015

Looking for something new to do with your friends on the weekend? I got just the thing for you whether it is a special event or even just a Friday night catch up, dinner parties are your new go to. After the numerous bar nights one can tend to get a bit bored of their usual weekend routine with friends. This past New Year’s we tried something different and had a fabulous time. By having a fun dinner party at your house you get to enjoy everything from the food, company, decor and on top of that spend a lot less money then heading out to the club.

What we did was each couple had to come up with their own idea for a meal. Luckily we had 3 couples which meant one couple was assigned to appetisers, the next was the main meal and then last but not least someone had to tackle the dessert. For our dinner party we had bruschetta for an appetiser, halloumi (special type of cheese you fry), barbecue sweet chilli chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and lastly we topped it off with apple crumble, chocolate mouse and vanilla ice cream. The best part about the night was that we didn’t have to go to a restaurant to get top quality food. Everything tasted great and we had many laughs through out the night. Add some Moet and strawberries to your evening as well as pink roses for the table and then you are set to have a fun dinner party your guests will love!

Carly Jensen xo