Hello lovelies, hope you are having a great Sunday! My week has been a good one, I got those lovely flowers from my colleague Donna on my last official day in the office on Tuesday. It’s also been a fairly busy week as I had the last session for one of my community groups on Monday, two of my regular community groups on Tuesday and then on Tuesday evening I put on a healthy pick n mix for a local art centre event. I had the chance to look round a Norman Cornish exhibition in the dark with just a head torch! I hadn’t been a huge fan of his work before as it’s very entrenched in local mining heritage which isn’t my thing, but I had not seen some of his more personal portraits of his family, they were just beautiful and I loved the unusual twist on viewing the exhibition. Then on Wednesday I was off to town, but more on that in a mo!

Eat

I’ve had some lovely food this week, here’s a few highlights:

Green smoothie with spinach, banana, coconut oil and almond milk

Brown rice puffs with home made hazelnut cashew chocolate nut milk and strawberries

Chia seed pudding with hazelnut cashew chocolate nut milk and strawberries

Chilli with beef and kidney beans on top of steamed summer greens and broccoli

Chickpea, green bean and new potato coconut milk korma

Salad with lentils, roast veggies and feta

Courgette crust pizza with roast veggies and cheese

Fresh beetroot, celery and apple juice

Doing some planning with a treat from Starbucks, light coffee frappe

Move

Workouts this week

• Monday – Gym, 10 minutes step machine, 10 minutes bike, strength training using machines, pilates pelvic exercises
• Tuesday – Rest
• Wednesday – Gym, 10 minutes step machine, 10 minutes bike, squats, seated chest presses, overhead extensions, pilates pelvic exercises
• Thursday – Yoga, just doing my own thing for about 20 minutes
• Friday – Rest
• Saturday – Housework, loads of it and according to Twitter that totally counts as a workout, especially when pregnant!
• Sunday – Walk

I ended up missing my usual Friday gym workout as I had to wait in for a delivery which was a pain in the butt! I’m looking forward to another walk later this morning, I really enjoyed my walk to the shops last week and it’s something I’m trying to incorporate more often. 

Wear

Floral dress: Topshop Maternity, gold arrow necklace: Etsy, black maternity leggings: New Look, tan leather sandals: New Look

I wore my new Topshop maternity dress that I’d bought in the sales last week. I hadn’t been sure if it was worth buying a proper maternity dress in a style like this but having tried it on I can definitely say it was worth it as the cut felt really comfortable and flattering. 

Love

On Wednesday I thought I’d treat myself to a morning out as I had been invited to the Yogalilles press day. I had some time in Starbucks to sit with my note pad and do some planning beforehand which was great. I used to go to Yogalilles, a great yoga and pilates studio in the centre of Newcastle, quite often a couple of years ago so it was lovely to go back. I was treated to some delicious food and a reflexology taster session and sent home with a little goodie bag! If you live in or around Newcastle I would highly recommend it and I’m hoping that post baby I’ll be able to fit in a class again. It was brilliant to connect with Lissa the owner and fingers crossed we might have some collaborative work coming up. Also…

Giving my desk a make over with a new big inspo board // my new drawers in the bathroom // so many kicks and movements from the little one // just one week left of my second trimester! // gorgeous baby boy clothes // recipe testing going well // generally feeling more organised and focused // sweet n salty popcorn and 85% dark choc 

Link

• My pretty DIY kitchen shelving project
• My June reviews and a THE PROTEIN WORKS GIVEAWAY
• Recipe for blueberry, feta and buckwheat salad with orange dressing
• A practical way to meditate with the Mindfulness App – seriously check this app out because it’s great!
• Something for the weekend: home made nut milk
• The California Almonds 21 Day #snackhappy challenge 
• Get your period back – a brilliant guest post from Laura from Ancestralize me on Chris Kresser.com
• Honeydew, mint and cucumber pregnancy pops from Pure Kitchen
• Marilyn Monroe’s Top Shelf from Into the Gloss, love how she was eating whole foods paleo style way before her time!
• How to be a better public speaker from Emma Cossey

This coming week is shaping up to be another busy one with more recipe testing and working at a school health and wellbeing day with 50 odd year 7 students, wish me luck! How has your week been? Have you been to see any unusual art exhibitions recently?