100, 000, Thank You!

*slides on to this post, screaming, jumping, stuffing face with cake, and singing at top of voice* 

Why you ask? Well...... 

It's been almost two years now since I started blogging and I just hit the 100, 000 page view mark. I know I am a little bit of a turtle, some have hit this mark in 6 months, others in 14 months, Don't Judge Me.

Coming from where I am coming from, thinking this thing will be shut down in about 2 weeks and 17 hours, and not having a clue what comes after "write new post", I am just so thrilled, ecstatic, amazed and overjoyed at the same time, that it even came to this. 

A milestone is a milestone. 

I opened up this blog at first as a dare to myself that I can do it, and keep it open, and now 100, 000 page views later here I am. I still don't know what I am doing with these pages, and sometimes I still go on a sabbatical, because the blinking cursor with no words following literally sets me on fire, but I know for certain that this little piece of the Internet is mine for the keeping and I have big-ish plans for the both of us. We have been baby stepping our way this whole time, and the more I read other blogs and pay attention to the voice inside of me that keeps pushing, I know what I want for myself and this blog. 

Which by the way...

Look out for creative of the week features and guest post features more often from now on, and MORE about fashion, style, women, love and health, and whatever else comes to mind. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has stopped by my blog, commented and became a follower, you guys are awesome! You keep the dream alive. 

I should probably thank Google too! Where would I be without their search engine. 

To 100, 000 more! 

Lu3Lu
Xx

This Winters Healthy Comforts

Hello all, 

Today's guest blogger is Michalah Francis who hails from Cape Town. She blogs over at My Style Memories, so do check her out. 

It is almost, (and I say that lightly) winter over here, and Michalah knows just what a girl needs to get through some of these winter days. Check it out. 

This Winters Healthy Comforts

In summer there was a fruit overload, health smoothies, organic fruit juice and iced lemon water was all that I drank and there was no shortage of salads in my life. Healthy eating just seemed so easy in summer, but now with the fast approaching winter I seem to be stoking up on the carbs and I'm excited about spending my cold days with hot chocolate and marshmallows. 

I'm sure many can relate to this, it’s a wet, cold weekend and you decide to stay in and re-watch all your favourite movies. Slowly but surely, as that movie marathon continues, so does the snacks your “nibbling” on, they continue to pile up in front of you, and before you know it there’s wrappers and papers everywhere. You’ll feel guilty for about 5 minutes but then a few weeks later this scene will repeat itself, and you’ll be comforted by the idea that you can hide any KG’s gained under layers of winter clothing. And as welcoming and cozy as this idea might sound, most of us will regret this winter binge when summer comes knocking.

When food is involved regrets is what we want to avoid as food is not the enemy. Instead, food is the best friend who we all need. This winter I have decided to beat the binge and climb back on my healthy horse. How? By making my own winter comfort foods! 

Allow me to introduce you to a good friend of mine, the Banana and Berry Oats Bake.

I love this recipe for multiple reasons. The most obvious reason being that it’s healthy and the oats keeps you full for longer, preventing unnecessary snacking. This bake lasts for about a week as the recipe makes a large portion. The bake could be eaten for breakfast, saving time and energy because nobody really likes preparing breakfast on a cold winter morning. With this bake it’s simply reheat and enjoy. It could also be a dessert topped with some of your favourite treats; my personal favourite topping is plain yoghurt. 

What you’ll need:

-          1 large baking dish

-          2 banana’s

-          2 cups of berries. Because I like variety, I used 1 cup of gooseberries and 1 cup of 

           raspberries. This choice is really up to you.

-          1 cup of uncooked oats

-          ½ cup of raw, sliced nuts. I used almonds as they are a favourite and blend well with the 

           oats.

-          ¾ tablespoon of cinnamon

-          ½ tsp of baking powder

-          1 cup of coconut milk. Here you could use any milk of your choice, the coconut milk just 

           makes it more delicious.

-          1 egg

-          1 tsp vanilla extract

-          Pinch of salt

Method:

-Preheat your oven to 180° C

-Spray your baking dish with a non-stick cooking spray.

-Slice the banana’s and then line the bottom of the dish. Top the banana’s with just over half of the berries which you have decide to use and then add ¼ of the cinnamon.

 -Cover this with foil and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes. 

-While the bananas and berries are baking, you now mix the other ingredients.

-So in a different bowl mix together the oats, nuts, rest of the cinnamon, baking powder and salt

- In a second bowl mix together the egg, milk and vanilla.

-When the 15 minutes are over, remove the dish from the oven.

-Now put your dry ingredients over the baked bananas, berries and cinnamon.

-Next you pour the wet mix on top of that.

-On top of this, place the rest of your berries.

 -Now bake at 180°C for 45 minutes

 Allow it to cool and enjoy!

Variations:

The best thing about this recipe is that it can so easily be changed.

-If you’d like the final outcome to be crisper keep the bake in the oven for up to 30 minutes longer.

-For a bake that’s perfect for breakfast 30 minutes in the oven will be perfect.

-You could serve the bake with yogurt, ice cream, or any topping of your choice.

-The bake should be stored in the fridge and just reheated as you please.

Happy Baking!

Michalah  

Guest Blogging & More

Hey ya'll

A little while back I mentioned that I would be interested in having people guest blog on Lu3Lus Crossing. I have fallen in love with a lot of blogs recently and I think that it is about time to get started with this series.

image 

So from now on, on Fridays I will have a guest post up, starting tomorrow. I just want to thank those who have been interested in taking part, the response so far to my quest for guest bloggers has been amazing, and  I also want to welcome anyone else who might want to join in too.

I think guest blogging is a great way to meet and get to know other bloggers and encourage and support each other. I for one am really excited to get started and looking forward to having them here.

I'm also starting a new series called 'Creative of the Week' in which I will be interviewing or 'getting to know' people in the creative industry here in South Africa. This series will be taking part on Wednesdays and hope to get it started this coming Wednesday the 1st of May. This is something else I am excited about because, being a lover of the creative industry and wanting to be a part of it myself I love getting inspired and learning from what others do.

So I hope you enjoy them both!

Lu3Lu
Xx

Get The Look

Even though celebrity red carpet fashion is a joy to watch, you know, seeing who wore what outfit, by whom and how, and OMG did you see her dress! But, it doesn't really tell me anything about a celebrities sense of style, other than the fact that they have a wonderfully talented team behind them, and of course I am only talking about those who actually look nice on the red carpet.
I'm saying, celebrity red carpet fashion is just glitz and glam, it doesn't go much further than the dress, suit and tie, and I can't connect, which is why I personally like to style stalk celebrities off the red carpet, because for me when they are going on coffee dates, heading to the club, running errands or dodging the paps, that's when you can kind of tell what their real fashion sense is like.

I have put together some of my favourite and inspiring off duty celebrity looks this past month, and although the past couple of months back there have been award season, these three off duty celebs caught my eye and made me want to GET THAT LOOK!

Khloe Kardashian

I love the shirt dress thing she has going on, and more so in print. I have been trying to find myself something similar for ages now and I just can't seem to come across the right kind of one. Khloe makes me want to steal hers which is why I think she looks so good here, and there is just no fuss or muss about the outfit, you can tell she didn't just get out of bed and throw the first thing on, but still looks effortless.

Katie Holmes 

Even though it doesn't really show in my choice of outfits lately, I am in a black jeans, black leggings phase and this is why I love what Katie is wearing. I feel like a pair of black bottoms takes the pressure off any outfit, because all I have to do after that is just find a cute top {which she did} to match it with, and what doesn't match with black?

I want this outfit.

Zoe Saldana 

Black bottoms again, what did I tell you? This is a look I want to keep in mind for winter. I find it hard to keep warm and stay stylish at the same time, and maybe because the cold has frozen my brain and I can't do two things at once, but this outfit just reminds me that I must, should and can.

........you can also get their looks......... 

Lu3Lu
Xx