I HAVE A NEW BLOG...

Hello,

I have a new blog!! It's basically this one but on a new site with a new design and LOTS of new content. I will still leave up my previous posts on this site but I will NOT be posting again on here.

Head on over to ww.katrinawhite.co to see my new blog and enjoy!! x

Top Tunes Of August

Now that August has come to an end, It is time again for me to share all my favourite songs that I have been listening to for the past few weeks. The month of August definitely wasn't my best month music wise but I did find 2 specific songs that I am practically obsessed with. I mean I obviously love every single song in this playlist but there are 2 that I loved enough to play on repeat and learn every lyric to so those are the ones that I am going to tell you about.

The first song that I want to mention is for sure my number 1 song for the month of August and is called Guillotine by Jon Bellion and Travis Mendes. I discovered this song towards the ending of August through a Youtuber that I watch who goes by the name Simply Kenna (if you haven't heard of her then I suggest that you go and watch her videos because she's really fab). When she first mentioned the song I listened to it and really didn't like it but she mentioned it again in her Autumn playlist video a week or two later and after listening to it for a second time I liked it just enough to go and download it. The song grew on me VERY quickly and now I am obsessed with it. It is pretty different to what I usually listen to but I can't deny the fact that I love this song and everything about it.

My second favourite song of August actually isn't in this playlist because it sadly wasn't on Spotify. It is called Like Sunday, Like Rain by Ed Harcourt and is actually from the movie Like Sunday, Like Rain (which btw is one of my ultimate favourite movies). It is a classical piece which I know is not everybodys cup of tea but it really is so beautiful so don't judge it until you give the whole thing a listen. To make things easy for you I am going to have the youtube video for the song underneath this so it's easy for you to listen to.

What is your favourite song from the playlist and what do you think of Like Sunday, Like Rain?

                                                    

Listen to Like Sunday, Like Rain here.

Choc Coconut Balls

As a child I grew up eating my mums special home made golf balls (some people call them rum balls, oat balls, bliss balls, date balls, etc.) which I used to love as a child but could no longer have since going vegan as her recipe contained condensed milk so I decided to try and make some of my own. They taste almost exactly the same as my mums which just goes to show that you don't need things to like milk, eggs and butter to have delicious, tasty snacks. This recipe is super easy and quick which is great for those of you who are super busy and don't usually have the time to bake for 3 hours. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Bonny Rebecca's Carbolicious ebook although I did switch out and change a lot of the ingredients to make it my own.

Ingredients
1 cup of rolled oats 

7-8 medjoul dates (pitted)

1 table spoon of cocoa powder (feel free to switch this out for cacao powder if you would like a healthier alternative)

1 table spoon of rice malt syrup (you could also use agave syrup, maple syrup. Basically you want something to sweeten it)
desiccated coconut (to roll in)

Method 

1. Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until well combined but not too gooey. If your mixture is too dry after blending then you can always add a dash of milk or some more rice malt syrup. 

2. Use your hands to roll the mixture into balls and then roll into desiccated coconut. If you don't like coconut then you could always leave them plain or roll them into something else like cocoa powder, crushed nuts or even drizzle some melted chocolate over the top.

3. Pop all the balls into a container and then into the fridge to set and voila! If you prefer them to be squishy and gooey then feel free to skip this step.

Lets Get Inspired

I think we all come to a point in our lives where we lack inspiration and if your like me and are a creative type then you probably hit this point on a regular basis, maybe even too regular. Recently I have been lacking inspiration to blog which is funny in a way because now I'm doing a blog post on inspiration, the thing I have been lacking all this time, funny how things like that work. Inspiration is always there but we just need a little push in the right direction to find it so here are all the things I like to do to get my creative juices flowing again. How do you find inspiration?

Reading

Reading is always one of my go to ways to get inspired because you never know whats lurking inside the pages of a book and sometimes what you find is exactly what you were searching for. I highly recommend that you read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert which is all about creative living and anything by Lang Leav as her poetry is lovely and leaves me with goosebumps.

Quotes

If you didn't know already, I have a slight obsession with quotes. We Heart It is my go to app to find the best quotes and I use it on a daily basis. Feel free to follow me here and have fun scrolling through my all my hearts.

Talking

I think its safe to say that as technology and social media are evolving no body talks to one another anymore (me included). We're all caught up in whats happening on our phones and forget to have real life conversations. This can be detrimental for all creative people searching for ideas and inspiration. When I'm sitting on a train 95% of people are either listening to music, sleeping and reading and you rarely ever see two strangers having a conversation. This deeply saddens me and I think we all need to make the effort to interact with one another and share stories, life experiences, what we had for breakfast, anything because you never know that what someone might say to you could spark an idea or a wave of inspiration.

Music

Music is something that as of recently has become very close to me. I never had a huge interest in music growing up and I think that maybe be because I wasn't listening to the right music but now I am and I love it. The feeling of finding a new song to add to your never ending playlist is one of the best feeling out there and I yearn for it. As J.K. Rowling once said "If you don't like to read, you haven't found the right book," well this works the same for music "If you don't like music, you haven't found the right song."

Write in a journal

Ive had countless moments in my life where I have told myself that I would right in a journal every single day but I think we all know that it never lasts (but if it does for you then tell me your secret please). If you are feeling creatively blocked then journaling could be your saviour. Don't pressure yourself to write everyday because sometimes the pressure is what burdens you but leave a note book on your night stand, in your handbag, on your desk, in the kitchen and when ever you feel like writing or get a idea it will be there so you can jot down what ever you need to.

Other people

Finding inspiration in others can be a very win, lose situation. There are two paths that you could possibly take if you decide to find inspiration in others. One is the path that you will find inspiration and feel fantastic and the other will lead you to comparing yourself and will dig you into a deeper hole than when you started. This is actually believe it or not something that I struggle with on a daily basis and its a nasty habit, worse than chewing your nails. It destroys your self esteem and makes you feel like a failure. I am slowly trying to push the habit out the door and once I have, I will have a whole blog post on it. If you do decide to take this path of finding inspiration in others then remember that you are not them and you will never be them but that under no circumstances means that you can't be amazing like them.

Don't force it

Remember, don't force the inspiration, don't force the ideas because it won't work and it will only make you more annoyed and frustrated. Just relax and let the inspiration come to you naturally, it may take a while but be patient and always leave the door open for the opportunities.