Bananaberry Smoothies (Or as Grace likes to call them, Grace's Summer Spectacular!)

Hello all!

So, we are not the most amazing cooks, nor do we aspire to be chefs, or even mixologists, so who are we to post recipes? BUT it is summer, and summer means smoothies! This Bananaberry smoothie (if you can call it that with the amount of ice-cream we put in it), is our go-to flavour and is super easy to make. They are also pretty simple, so feel free to mix and change the ingredients as you wish.

(None of these brands have paid us for using their products. Use what you want. We aren't that famous yet)

INGREDIENTS: 

Milk
Boysenberry Ice Cream - Vanilla is our usual flavour, but we just had boysenberry in the freezer today

2 Banana's
Strawberry Yogurt

PROCESS:

Basically, just judge how much of each thing you want, pop them in a blender or your blending tool of choice. For example, we have a stick blender our mother bought us from Big W when we moved out, especially for this purpose. We just place all of the ingredients in a jug and combine, and voila! 

TO SERVE:

We love our mason jar mugs, like the common white girls we are. The clear one is from K-Mart and the yellow one is from the South Melbourne Market. Add a cute straw for #aesthetic

Let us know if you try it out. And don't forget to follow us on our social media's!
 Instagram: @gracefulandclaireblog
Twitter @graceful_claire
Facebook: Graceful and Claire

Stay cool, friends!

- Claire and Grace

Award Season & Claire Really Loves Movies

Hello, all!

You may have seen on our Twitter that our second favourite time of the year is upon us: AWARD SEASON! And my oh my, do we love Award Season. This probably comes from our love of beautiful gowns, celebrities and watching things on screens aka Movies and Television. 

Award season came at such a convenient time for us when we still lived at home, since all the ceremonies and red carpets were televised on Austar/Foxtel, during the school holidays, while Grace and I were sitting at home bored and/or avoiding doing holiday homework (a plus about University: No more holiday homework!)

Unfortunately, since we no longer live at home and we must stay in Melbourne for work etc, we cannot watch the award ceremonies this year (except for the Oscars, which is televised on free-to-air tv thank goodness), we shall be doing what Claire (me) did for the Tony Awards last year: Constantly refreshing twitter as each of the awards are given and wait for Buzzfeed to update their Winners post. This method worked quite well for the Golden Globes last Monday.

The Golden Globes are very exciting to me, because it celebrates TV AND Movies at the same awards show! And Tina Fey & Amy Poehler hosted 2 years in a row.

Also, it can give you a good indication as to what might receive Oscar nominations. So, there was I last Monday, computer on my lap, Twitter and BuzFeed open and constantly refreshed and 2015 planner by my side, listing which films I need to see, the release dates, and where I can see them (As well as documenting what won Best Motion Picture Comedy/Drama, TV series Comedy/Drama as well as the acting categories. It's a very detailed system. 

Today the nominations for the 2015 Oscars were announced, and I am making it my mission (and by default, Grace's) to see as many of the films nominated for the Best Motion Picture Oscar as I (we) can before the award ceremony (which, thank goodness, is on the week before Uni starts. Last year I had classes and had to avoid all social media and wait until the repeat at 9pm to watch it).

The films are:

- Whiplash

- Birdman

- American Sniper

- Grand Budapest Hotel

- Selma

- The Imitation Game

- Boyhood

- The Theory of Everything

(What a sausage fest. Where are our ladies at? And how come Selma wasn't nominated for any acting awards? The Academy/The Oscars are very problematic.)

Now, we have already seen Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game, so that leaves us 6 films to go. We are also adding to the list Reese Witherspoon's new movie, Wild, which she is nominated for Best Actress (by the looks of the trailer, we feel like it might have been snubbed, but we will see)

Now, going to the movies these days is so expensive. Like, as dedicated Village Cinema's people, it costs us $25 for snacks alone. Insane. 

BUT here are some tips to get discounts/see as many movies as you can for a cheaper price:

Find out what day your cinema offers a student discount (most of them do)

For Village Cinemas & Hoyts, these days are Tuesday's. 

At Cinema Nova in Melbourne, on Monday's you can get tickets for $7 for any session before 4pm, and $9 for any session after. 

It's amazing. On Monday Grace and I are planning on going to see Whiplash AND Birdman just because $7 tickets.

So there is our second tip: If you are trying to see a lot of movies like us, take advantage of the cheaper prices and make it a double feature. Cheap tickets, yo!

Award season is also about the fashion! Who can forget Lupita N'Yongo absolutely slaying the red carpet last year? What a goddess.

As the season continues, we'll be sure to share with you our favourite looks, (just because) and keep you all updated with our film viewing progress.

You can also keep updated with our Twitter and our Instagram account.

And this has been our longest post, yet! 

I just really, really, REALLY love movies, guys.

Stay fab!

Claire x

Viola Davis, what a Queen.

Emma Stone

Anna Kendrick

Blame it on the Summer Rain

Not even going to hide the fact that I used a Jonas Brothers lyric for the title of this post. (JoBro's for life <3 )

When they say that Melbourne experiences 4 seasons in a day, they are seriously not kidding. The weather this Summer has been unpredictable, changing from 38 degrees and sunny, to clouds and rain. However, even when the days are overcast is no excuse to start wearing dark colours. It is still Summer, people! This outfit is one of my faves to wear when it is a bit on the cooler side, with the rains and the winds a-blowing. Plus, when it gets like this I cannot help myself but be excited for Autumn, no matter how much I do love Summer. I was so happy to be able to pull out this scarf from H&M from storage. 

The rain is always welcome in my eyes, as it gives me an excuse to use my big, yellow umbrella! Obviously my choice of umbrella is How I Met Your Mother inspired. When I found it at IKEA last year, there was no question about whether I should buy it or not.

Umbrella: IKEA | Jumper: Target (Similar) | Scarf: H&M Australia (Similar) | Shorts: 'Audrey' shorts from Factorie | Shoes: Rubi Shoes

Stay Fab! 

G

15 Things for 2015

Happy New Year! (Again)

Claire, here! As you can probably tell, this week we are really digging into this whole "new year" thing, here at Graceful and Claire. Now, I'm not one for making new years resolutions, and even then, 15 seems a bit much. That's why this post is all about things. These "things" are not resolutions, but rather, reminders of things to do and remember during this year that is 2015. 

2015 for us means moving out into our own apartment, our second year of university, more blogging and more of experiencing what Melbourne has to offer!

**** This has been edited. I found the original 15 things I wrote in our notebook, and I like these better *****

1. See more movies (obviously)
2. Get involved more at Uni
3. Glee is finally ending (this is a good thing)
4. Parks and Rec is ending (this is a bad thing)
5. Shop more (Treat Yo' Self)
6. Hold onto old friends
7. But make some more friends, too
8. Take Your Passion, and Make It Happen
9. Find a Bar (go to bars)
10. Branch out more (in what, who knows)
11. Good Vibes Only
12. Be less bitter about those who travel (Seriously. Your time is coming)
13. Go to the Melbourne Museum, festivals, markets etc. Experience what Melbourne has to offer
14. Slow down
15. Blog Blog Blog Blog

We look forward to seeing what this year has to offer!

Claire x

14 Things I Learnt in 2014

Happy New Year!

Today I bring you a reflective post on the year that was 2014, very much inspired by (*cough* copied *cough*) A's post on fellow Melbourne blog, Mosaik. Last year was quite a whirlwind. It was definitely one of the biggest learning experiences of my life. Plus, reflecting on the year that was is something I like to do every New Year's. So, here are 14 things I learnt in 2014.

1.It is possible to be both a One Tree Hill, and an OC person.

2. Moving out of home at 18 is not as common as I thought.

3. Pasta takes approximately 12 minutes to cook.

4. Keep your friends close, and your family closer.

5. Not everything will turn out the way that you planned it, no matter how much you had imagined every detail.

6. "If you're not scared, you're not taking a chance" - Ted Mosby. Taking chances are how you move forward in life.

7. I now know how to use 5 different styles of footnote referencing.

8. When it comes to Rory Gilmore's love life, I prefer Logan Huntzberger.

9. On weekends, the city loop trains arrive every 20 minutes on the Sandringham line.

10. It is important to just do you. Do not worry about what other people may think, or about living up to stereotypes.

11. You will miss high school. You think that you wont, but you will. (At least once.)

12. At Uni, you can write your essays on anything (as long as it is relevant) -- long live my World Religions essay discussing the portrayal of Mormon missionary life in the Broadway musical, Book of Mormon, and the official scripture.

13. Moving to the Melbourne was one of the best decisions I made in 2014.

14. I have not yet peaked in life, which means that the best is yet to come.

- Grace

Our Inaugural Annual Christmas Party

Hello all!

For our 19th birthday the other week, we threw a Christmas Party (of course). We are planning on making our Christmas party an annual event. Considering that this is our final year of being official teenagers, this will be a great tradition to go in to our twenties with. Christmas parties are not just work events, they are a great way of getting together with friends and celebrating the holiday.  

So, with the help of Pintrest, a couple of our parent's wedding presents and $2 shops, here are a few photos of our celebration.

Our Pimm's Punch was a great hit with everyone! 

Homemade Peanut Butter, and Hazelnut chocolate truffles

Shout-out to Alice for making peppermint chocolate bark. It was delicious!

Of course, we needed something savoury, and this mix of popcorn, pretzels and Christmas M&M's was popular. Especially when the night ended in a viewing of Love, Actually.

You cannot celebrate Christmas without some festive bon bons! Also, we had our Spotify playlist filled with hours upon hours of Christmas music in the background to set the mood. 

Gotta love this chalkboard from Typo which you can purchase here.

The night was wonderful spent with our lovely friends. It also ended with us watching Love Actually and playing a Love Actually drinking game. #wildnight

Merry Christmas! 

Once: A New Musical

When the Melbourne Theatre Company's (MTC) 2014 season was announced last year, Claire and I were excited beyond belief to hear that MTC will be bringing the new, Tony Award winning musical Once to Melbourne. In November, along with our good friend (and go-to Musical buddy), Miriam, we attended the Wednesday matinee of the show with the usual elderly matinee crowd, (AKA our people!). My breath was taken away by the beauty of the staging and set (and perhaps, also, because of Tom Parsons, the actor playing the leading man, 'Guy'). There my have been some major swooning coming from all three of us girls throughout the show. 

The show is called 'Once: A New Musical', and rightly so. Yes, it has that title because it did open on Broadway in 2012. However, the experience of watching this show was something I have never experienced with a broadway show before, and that is something that makes this musical new and refreshing. Of course, as musical theatre fans, we love a good spectacle as much as the next show-tune belting fan. There is something about the intimacy of the show that for once in our lives, makes us feel like a part of the show.

I have been obsessed with the soundtrack (both motion picture, and Original Broadway Cast recording) for quite some time now. So much so that I must admit, I started crying during the first song. #classicgrace. The songs are filled with so much emotion! I have listened to this soundtrack on rainy days, before I fall asleep, on days where I have felt down, or even just as the perfect background music while on the public transport commute to Uni. Walking in to the theatre, I had no idea what to expect from the storyline - I only had the songs memorised.  

Turns out that Once is set in Dublin, and is a story about a man about to give up his music and a Czech girl who convinces him to continue. Cue a heart-tugging and refreshing story orflove, loss, passion and music. Truly amazing. Our love is real. I could go on forever talking about each scene in detail and the journey of my emotions, the perfection of the cast (did I mention that they play all of their instruments live on stage?!), but I believe I should leave some mystery and leave you hanging until you go see the show for yourselves. Walking in without having much of an idea of what I was about to witness just added to my experience.

Tom Parsons and Madeleine Jones are flawless in the lead roles of Guy and Girl

Once: A New Musical by MTC is currently running at the Princess Theatre (our favourite of the heritage theatres) until the 1st of Febuary, 2015. For the month of December, Once is having student rush tickets (can I get an amen?!) which means if you go 2 hours before the show, with a valid student id you can purchase tickets for $40. Hella. yeah.

-Grace

***(GRACEFUL AND CLAIRE DOES NOT TAKE ANY CREDIT FOR THE IMAGES USED IN THIS POST)***