Australian Jams

I'M A MASSIVE HIPSTER
Hi, my name is Chloe and I'm a hipster and proud. It's probably my hipster tendencies that have led me to listening a ton of Australian music that nobody else in England listens to, well that and it's really good. So I thought I'd compile a list (because who doesn't love a good list) of my favourite Australian artists. Here we go...

ONE // ILLY
Illy is the artist who originally got me hooked on Australian music last year and I have to thank him for that because it’s been a good year of music for me. Illy is a hip hop artist, with the distinctive sound of Aussie hip hop present in his music. My love for Illy started with the song Tightrope, and after learning ALL the words to that so that I can now rap along with it perfectly, I started listening to more of his music. My top 3 songs of his are: Tightrope, It Can Wait and Where Ya Been. (To the people I lived with last year, I’m not even slightly sorry for rapping loudly along to Where Ya Been.)

TWO // CHET FAKER
Chet Faker is definitely the height of hipsterness. It’s the sort of music you’d hear in a dark, probably wooden coffee shop that’s full of people with top knots, tattoos and beards and it's very cool. His music is a mix between alternative and electronic (but please don't take my word for that because I'm really bad at determining music genres...). He has done some amazing acoustic renditions of his songs too that are actually (if possible) more beautiful than the originals. And his cover of Sonia Dada's You Don't Treat Me No Good (on triple j for Like A Version) is just incredible. My top 3 Chet Faker songs are: To Me, Talk Is Cheap and I'm Into You. 

THREE // HILLTOP HOODS
I just saw the Hilltop Hoods do a show in Camden and so my love for them is extra strong right now because sweet jesus they were good. Hilltop Hoods are a hip hop band made up of Suffa, Pressure and Debris and their music incredible. My love started with the song The Nosebleed Section and has progressed from there. When they sang The Nosebleed Section at the concert I sang along so loudly and loved every minute of it (also I was in the nosebleed section of the venue so it felt quite apt). My top 3 Hilltop Hoods songs are: The Nosebleed Section, Cosby Sweater and I Love It. 

FOUR // THUNDAMENTALS
Thundamentals were supporting Hilltop Hoods at the concert and it was for this reason that I started listening to them, and after to listening to Got Love just once I fell in love. Their songs are so catchy and are full of lines that make me laugh (or in the case of Noodle Soup every line makes me laugh because what even is that song). They're another hip hop band made up of Tuka, Jeswon and DJ Morgs. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I listen to Thundamentals every day, I love them. Oh and their cover of Matt Corby's Brother is incredible and when they started singing that at the concert I was so stoked. Tuka, who is one of the front men, has some really good solo tracks too, I particularly like Tattoo by him. My top 3 Thundamentals songs are: Brother, Smiles Don't Lie and Got Love. 

FIVE // MATT CORBY
And finally we have Matt Corby. Now this is solely for his song Brother because it's so beautiful and I adore it. Unfortunately I can't find many of his songs on youtube so my knowledge of Matt Corby isn't very extensive, but I do know that he has a beautiful voice that has the perfect amount of huskiness to it. I guess I just need to search harder for more of his music. He does a gorgeous cover of Lonely Cover by The Black Keys though. (Plus he has the man bun and beard thing going on so y'know).

AN EXTRA SHOUTOUT GOES TO...
I feel like I should also mention triple j, which is an Australian radio station and it's thanks to them I know of all these beautiful covers and they've helped me discover so many new artists, both from Australia and around the rest of the world. Oh and Matt and Alex's breakfast show (that I actually listen to at 8pm because of time zones and that) is a constant source of enjoyment for me and they've provided me with many an evening of giggles and good music.

FIN
And that's it! These are the people I'll be listening to on a daily basis (I actually listened to all of them whilst typing this) and if you haven't heard of them then you need to go change that ASAP. There are links to all of them below to help you with that.

If you have any music recommendations for me then feel free to leave them in a comment below. I'll be taking both Australian and non-Australian recommendations ;)

Thanks for reading! Remember to follow me for weekly posts (except last week... sorry).

Have a rad day.

Love Chloe x


HAVE SOME LINKS YO

• Illy // https://www.youtube.com/user/Illyofficial
• Chet Faker // https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLcSym6gRtQqhxLZHvAwuDg
• Hilltop Hoods // https://www.youtube.com/user/Hilltophoods
• Thundamentals // https://www.youtube.com/user/thundamentalstv OR https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC5ASBr1UBE8BafxRO6lt1g
• Matt Corby // https://www.youtube.com/user/MattCorbyau
• Triple j // http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/
• Me on bloglovin // https://www.bloglovin.com/people/chloerogers5-7586623
• Me on youtube // https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGiddyElf

July In Photos

THE PHOTOS

THE STORIES BEHIND THEM

1. An open air cinema screening of Anchorman that I went to with my best friend, Amber. It was on the roof of a car park and was insanely cool.
2. Amber from number 1 was an extra in a little film that was shown at the cinemas! This was the premiere event for it. Amber is the one on the right, that's my sister, Jade, on the left and me in the middle.
3. At the rooftop cinema again, they gave us bags of retro sweets! 
4. And coffee.
5. We were seeing The Breakfast Club that night... I looove that film <3
6. The tickets to see Hilltop Hoods in august arrived! AHHHHHH.
7. My mum is a teaching assistant at the primary school I used to go to and at the end of every year they put on a play that the year 6's perform in. This year it was Alice in Wonderland and they made the hall look amazing. 
8. That night was also my parents anniversary so we went out for dinner afterwards. I had chicken breast with pasta and it was delicious!
9. My sister and I bought my parents a hamper of goodies for their anniversary and this is some of it. It had cheeses, crackers, breadsticks and some other little nibbles in it. Also scones that we ate at a different time, but were equally yummy. 
10. The stunning view from a pub lunch with my godmother and her children. 
11. My OOTD from that lunch. I bought this lovely dress from H&M :)
12. I'm clearly a professional chef, can't you tell by my pyjamas. 
13. Top Gun and angel delight night <3
14. I baked some breakfast bars, they were deliciousness.
15. Another open air cinema, this time it was at a fancy college I live near. It was so so cute! 
16. Coffee and scarves to keep me warm during the film. 
17. We were seeing Dirty Dancing that night, and I fell completely in love with the film and Patrick Swayze. 
18. I decided to be brave and try the blueberry spice drink at Wagamama, it was actually really nice.
19. Just about to devour a cupcake.
20. Look at them.... mmmmmmmmmmm
21. I won a competition run by Penguin in June and my books arrived this month. Most exciting mail ever.
22. The books I won!
23. Lunch at a pub before my parents went away for a day. This was a salmon and creme cheese roll and it was delicious.
24. Rum and coke with my sister. I look like a floating head :')
25. THEY HAVE OPNED A BOOST SMOOTHIE BAR IN A TOWN NEAR ME AND I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. They taste like Australia <3
26. It was national cheesecake day in America and I had to get involved because cheesecake. 
27. My very yummy lunch from the last day of July. Quinoa, tuna, cucumber and tomato, yummmm. 

FIN

How was your July? Let me know in the comments :) 

Thanks for reading, remember to follow me for weekly posts. And follow me on bloglovin too for even more blogging fun!

Love Chloe x

Nirvana Spa Haul #2

SPA DAY
Last year I wrote a blog post about my day at Nirvana spa, showing you what I'd bought whilst there. When Christmas came around this year my dad once again bought my mum, sister and I day passes to Nirvana spa and so after spending eleven and half hours in a constant state of chill at the spa, it's time for me to do another post about it.

We arrived at the spa just before 10am as my sister and I had a floatation session at 10. The floating is amazing! The pool is filled with water and salt from the Dead Sea which means your body floats in it, and the minerals from the water is great for your skin. The room itself is gorgeous, with a ceiling that has lights on it that look like stars and paintings of the different star signs around it. We floated for half an hour and I felt amazing afterwards.

Reading in the tepidarium.

The rest of the day was spent in various hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms and pools, and just generally feeling great. One of my favourite rooms there is the tepidarium, which has heated tiled chairs for you to relax in, and the only noise is a water fountain in the middle gurgling away. Other than that it's silent. We also had lunch, dinner and a cheeky slice of cake with a coffee during our time there, which all tasted amazing.

It's a health spa so cake is healthy right?

MY HAUL
The products they sell at Nirvana spa are beautiful, and I haven't used a single one that I don't like. So obviously I had to buy some things during my day there (also they had some new products that I couldn't not buy). Here's what I picked up there:

FACE MASKS

I'm a big fan of face masks and when I saw that they now had their own brand ones I had to buy them. I bought the deep cleansing mud mask, the radiance boosting mask and the professional peeling mask (which is three of the four masks they now have... you could say i'm slightly addicted to nspa products). The mud mask cleanses, the radiance mask moisturises and the peeling mask exfoliates. I can't wait to cover my face in this stuff!

SKIN GLOW MUD MASK

Another mask next, this one is the mud mask that contains clay and charcoal which helps to clear pores and draw out impurities. I always pine over the Glam Glow mud mask, but at £45 I really can't afford it. BUT then nspa came to the rescue; this product that looks exactly the same and only costs £7. I have quite a lot of blackheads on my nose (gross, I know) that I just can't get rid of, but I'm hoping this will help out with that. And even if it doesn't, it's still a mud mask so it's hardly going to go to waste.

OIL FREE MOISTURE GEL

I always have a bottle of this in my makeup collection because it's amazing. I have oily skin and this helps to moisturise my skin, but without adding any extra oil, which in my book equals perfection. It's not greasy at all, smells like a spa and just does the job. I can't get enough of it. 

NIGHT REPAIR CREAM
This is my holy grail product, and I gush about it all the time over on my youtube channel. It instantly improves the condition of my skin with just one application. It's so thick and creamy and oh my god, it's just amazing. I don't think I could live without it. Go buy yourself a tub right now.

OKAY TIME TO STOP FANGIRLING ABOUT NSPA PRODUCTS
I had the best day at Nirvana and I can't wait to hopefully go back again soon! But in the mean time I will be constantly recreating my spa day at home using these wonderful products.

Thank you for reading! Remember to follow me, and follow my bloglovin' page too for even more blogging fun.

Hope you're having a rad day.

Love Chloe x


YO, HAVE SOME LINKS

NSPA: http://nirvanaspa.co.uk
MY YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/thegiddyelf
FOLLOW ME ON BLOGLOVIN: https://www.bloglovin.com/people/chloerogers5-7586623

Smoothie Bowl Love

ALL THE LOVE FOR SMOOTHIE BOWLS
I've been really digging smoothie bowls recently. They're packed full of goodness, taste amazing and are great for getting those all important instagram likes, so I thought why not dedicate a blog post to them.

THE RECIPE
You can put basically anything in a smoothie bowl, but here is what I do most mornings to create mine...

• 1 banana
• 1 red apple, chopped (obvs, or it'll break your blender)
• Natural yoghurt, I usually put about tablespoon in, but I just pour it in until it looks about right
• Raspberries or blueberries, again just until you're happy with the amount

I chuck that all in my nutribullet, blend until smooth but still quite thick, and then it's ready.

THE TOPPING
My topping usually consists of a handful of granola, I have a super yummy one from Sainsburys that has raisins in which I love, and then whatever fruit I have leftover from the smoothie, which is normally just a few pieces of apple. I had some pieces of plum on top and in the smoothie once though and it was pretty damn delicious.

AVOCADO
I love avocados so much that I once stabbed myself in the hand cutting one and had to go to hospital to get my hand glued back together, and I was actually upset about the avocado going to waste. So obviously my love for avocados runs deep (you could say its in my blood... get it? Because I bled... okay, sorry) and because of that I want to try an avocado based smoothie bowl, but I don't really know where to start with that, like what else do I put in? If you know any yummy recipes, then let me know in the comments! Thank you <3

Thanks for reading, remember to follow me for weekly posts.

Have a rad day!

Love Chloe x