Hi my friends,

Whoa what a week it's been.

I don't remember the last time I felt this busy, excited, energised, exhausted, emotional, productive, behind, overwhelmed and calm all at the same time. Actually, I've never had a week this full on before.

To sum up just a portion of events that occurred in this short space of time, I had a birthday and my huge annual birthday sale which is always exciting and mega busy, my bestie threw us the most incredible and emotional gender reveal party (more on this next time), I took Tanya’s Cafe and book signing on the road for the first time ever, our dear friends and travel buddies got engaged, my first published book was officially released all over the UK, the massive competition with an insane amount of entries came to an end, prep for The Uncook Book launch was in full swing, followed by the exhilarating launch party itself and ending with travel outside of London for uncooking demonstrations and book signings.

Sounds super fun (and it really really was), but during all the celebrations, my inbox nearly exploded and I’m now weeks behind replying to everyone (if it’s you, now you know why, love you!), my sister’s flight was so delayed that she missed the gender reveal party which she was looking forward to since the moment she learned she was going to be an aunty, the wheels on my giant suitcase broke off on the way to the Birmingham demo which made the 30kg of equipment not only too heavy for helpful strangers to drag, but especially for me with a growing baby bump, which brought on a meltdown even I didn’t anticipate, and meanwhile ‘interesting’ events kept occurring at our cafes which needed my immediate attention.

The last thing I wanted to do is to write a post full of what sounds like complaints, but I hope you can see that I am just like everyone else 

I cry, I get tired, I experience stress, I forget to drink water, I worry, I think too much and I take off my cape when it needs a good clean.

Amazing how just one day, sometimes even one moment, can remind you that you do live the best life ever and that there’s nothing in the world which would have you trading it for another.

For me that moment was last Thursday…

The Uncook Book launch party with some of my favourite people in the world, at my very own happy place, with my dream publisher, blessing my pride and joy into the world, may have just topped all the best nights of all time!

Aaaand finding out that during the first week of its release, The Uncook Book has already gone into its SECOND printing. Just wow.

Thank you so so much, it's all because of YOU!

Here are some of the pictorial highlights from my best night ever...

The Uncook Book ready to party

Peanut Butter Cups from the Kid's Section (really, Adult's section, but it was going to sound strange if I had an 'Adult's Section' in the book)

Prep in full swing. Vodka Lavendade (less the vodka for a non-alcoholic version) and Pina Colada (scroll down for recipe), both from the Party Section

Here I am with my book baby and a 5 months baby bump

See? There really is a bump. I love it!

The adorable Hay House team, from left: Jo, Alexandra, Jessica, Julie (the incredible and talented editor), Karen and Ruth (the hard working cutie responsible for this awesome night). But where's Amy?

Here she is! My sweet editor Amy and her bright smile as always. Fab and Lauren in deep convo

No uncooking party without a cold-pressed organic green juice

And another super adorable Amy. I've come to a conclusion that the best and cutest humans are named Amy

Sister Party! From left: my soul sister (and the one responsible for introducing me to Hay House) Michelle, my sissy-in-law Saskia and my own sister-face Alissa

The stunning Nikki Salamony, PR for Tanya's Cafe

Serious chocolate talk with Kris from The Raw Chocolate Company and Richi Qi from The Wellbeing Now Conference

The always gorgeous Christy, American Girl in Chelsea

Food glorious raw food from various sections in the book

Alkalising Cucumber Rolls from the Party Section

My sis of Universe + Chorus , a Pina Colada (scroll down for recipe) and a summer roll

Luigi and my Goji Berry Trifles from the Party Section of the book

A few words turned into such a long gratitude list, you couldn't stop me talking

That little muffin inside was all blissed out and still with so much gratitude pouring though my body

The love squad. Thank you all so so much for your support

Happy times with the lovely Maxine there in the back ground and Bronwen from NZ Biz Women's Network here to support too

A tad proud of my cake, made using a combination of recipes from the book, especially having had my sister rolling the cute energy balls, my chef Eddie decorating the cake and Rebecca Campbell blessing it

The amazing Linda Barker of BBC's Changing Rooms

The Uncook Book launch

Blogger and co-creator of Plant-based Picnic, Natasha Lipman

The Uncook Book launch

My favourite human, personal recipe taster and loving husband, Elliot

And the prize for THE BEST goodie bag goes to... Can you believe how much goodness is in here? And all in support of the book launch! Thank you so much for such generous gifts: Superfoodies, Dr. Organic, Hay House UK, Neal's Yard Remedies, Udo's Choice, The Raw Chocolate Company, Planet Organic and Seasoul & Snow

And because I believe that every successful party post deserves a recipe, here is one you will LOVE...

It was a hit and a half at The Uncook Book launch (above), it's the first recipe of the Party Section in the book and it includes my favourite ingredient combination EVER. Introducing...

Pina Colada

(serves 1)

45ml (1.5fl oz) light rum

120g (4.25 oz) ripe pineapple, peeled and chopped, reserving leaves from the crown to garnish

90ml (3.25fl oz) fresh apple or pineapple juice (6 apples or 1 pineapple will usually produce enough juice for 4-6 servings)

2 tbsp coconut butter

2 tbsp manuka honey

handful of ice

-Blend all the ingredients, except the ice and garnish, in a blender until creamy, then add the ice and blend again.

-Pour into a chilled highball glass or a goblet, garnish with the pineapple leaves and serve with a pretty straw.

It may not appear this way, as I’m always on social media posting instant updates, but I’m a pretty private person.

I work away quietly in the background, I’m what they categorise as a hermit, prefer to do many things alone, I keep a ‘sometimes’ diary and often don’t share half of what’s inside even with people closest to me.

I have never showed my vision board to anyone.

So yeah- sharing it publicly is a pretty big deal.
Before I do the big reveal though, I wanted to tell you how I knew that IT REALLY WORKS …

The first time I’ve ever heard of this manifestation technique was when I was fresh out of uni, working in my dream job as a commercial leasing agent, already with two mortgages on investment properties, $25K in student loan debt (some of which went towards the investments), rent to pay in central Auckland and just $200 in my bank account. Being commission based, I never knew when I’d be paid next. Having to drive clients around (without knowing when I’d be paid next) was fun, but on a gas tank that cost half of what was in my account, not so much.

Then I got hold of a book called The Secret.

A certain visualisation exercise really inspired me. You had to focus on a word or image, which you desired and by doing so daily, you’d send out vibrational frequencies, that should eventuate into reality. That same night, I printed off my bank statement, twinked out the date and the summary balance (remember twink?) and changed them to $45,000 for a year from then.

It felt totally absurd writing down five figures, especially since I was so used to seeing only three or even two, and had absolutely no crafty plan or clue about how that would even happen.

Very soon, I was to learn this:

1. YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED A PLAN. THE WHAT AND THE WHY ARE YOUR JOB, THE HOW AND THE WHEN ARE UP TO THE UNIVERSE.

2. TRUST THE UNIVERSE. IT ALWAYS HAS YOUR BACK.

Almost a year later, it seemed that things got even worse and I was going backwards…

The big recession started to creep in. The property market dropped and so did the leasing demands, I was advised to sell my properties fast, but no one wanted to buy. Meanwhile, the ‘twinked-out’ aka ‘dream’ bank statement remained up on my dressing mirror. I still took note of it every day.

Then my business partner decided he didn’t want to sell our investments for any lower than our purchase price, instead we got a valuation and he bought me out.

Can you guess what I got for the deal? That’s right- $45,000.

Could it really be that easy? Does this really work every time? Is our potential really only limited by our own imagination? Does law of attraction truly exist?

There was only one way to find out… I need to experiment some more!

I put together my ‘proper’ vision board, which is basically a collage of pictures and words that you desire. I’ve done this now  for every new year and today will mark my seventh. I won’t say that every year, it all got ticked off, but the universe has a fascinating way of translating our little pictures into our big picture. Sometimes the result was even better than what I set out to manifest. Sometimes, it wasn’t in my spiritual DNA and I was guided to change my next year’s image that was nearer to my true calling.

Below is my 2014 vision board.

If you’re inspired to create your own, see the steps beneath it. If you’d like to know more about mine and what got ticked off, continue scrolling…

SIMPLE STEPS TO MAKE YOUR VISION BOARD

1. Play some good tunes, light a scented candle, clean your sacred space for creativity, load up on magazines or have the printer handy if you are searching online.

2. Cut out images and words, which inspire you. They may be feelings, desires, goals, specific targets or numbers, and as long as they aren’t so completely unreasonable that you don’t believe them achievable for a second yourself, then they belong on our vision board!

3. Place the cut-outs on a large cardboard or a stretched canvas. Continue to arrange them, until it feels just right, then glue them in place.

4. Now that your vision board is ready, place or hang it where it can’t be ignored. Take it all in, see it as a whole, see it as individual parts and then breathe as though they have already happened. Give it a little attention daily and celebrate with deep gratitude each desire that is coming true for you. Remember that you’ve done your job, so become an observer, let go of any attachments to it and let the universe do its job.

MY 2014 BOARD IN DETAIL

1. The office table represents a clean workspace where I can be more organised and creative. We moved house in 2014, got an extra bedroom for an office and a desk and chair for our wedding present. TICK.

2. The ‘my’ stickers over a kitchen represent a collaboration with myhotels group for a new cafe. When I put this board together at the end of 2013, we were just ‘chatting’, but i knew what I wanted. The result- Tanya’s Cafe inside myhotel Chelsea! TICK.

3. The living wall is actually part of the kitchen in the photo. For anyone that’s seen Tanya’s, you’d know that I got my living wall TICK.

4. My book deal with Hay House! There are so many authors whose work I respect and words I treasure, but the majority happen to be Hay House authors. I’ve decided long ago that this is a publisher for me but only added them to my vision board in 2014. [BTW note how being specific and putting a picture of yourself on the cover tells the universe that YOU are the author]. In July I received the most exciting email of the year, from none other than… HayHouse! In December, I signed a contract for The Uncook Book, out September 2015. TICK.

5. Interestingly- this was an empty area and I needed to find a picture to fill it up. I randomly chose the pic of these tigers as they seemed to fit in perfectly. Ha! We all know nothing happens randomly and the more I looked at it, the more I resonated with the spiritual meaning of a tiger totem:
“By affinity with this spirit animal, you may enjoy dealing with life matters spontaneously, trusting your intuition and acting fast when needed.”- Spiritanimal.info TICK.

6. Visa! In 2014, we were due for a visa renewal, which was the most challenging thus far. We’ve celebrated five years in London, which meant that getting this visa would give us Indefinite Leave to Remain. But first, there was studying for a Life in the UK exam, hundreds of documents to fill out and thousands of pounds in accountant’s and immigration lawyer’s fees. All totally worth it, because now we are only a year away from a British passport. TICK.

7. This picture to me represented open plan living, a bigger kitchen and a creative space to work. Interestingly, not only did we move to a new much-bigger flat, which TICKS these elements, but it also has an exposed brick wall!

8. I love this picture so much. Not only do I have the love of my life by my side, but we are facing in the same direction, doing the same thing, in the best city in the world, while being totally random and taking risks on such an iconic public bridge. It’s just a feel good image and a vision board is meant for feeling good. I wanted to create more memories with Elliot by my side and of course 2014 was the year we said ‘I do’. BIG TICK.

9. I love green and to me, this image means relaxing holidays in nature. We tied the knot in the most beautiful place best known for its outdoors- the Coromandel, NZ, our friends took us glamping in Wales as a wedding present, my 30th was on a beach in Barcelona and my retreat was in the most pure organic part of the word- Vilcabamba, Ecuador. TICK.

10. Here’s an obvious one. Babies, babies! 2014 was the year when Elliot and I settled on a plan, we are both happy with. TICK.

11. IIN x 55 was about getting that many people signed up to the health coach course in a year. I’m a proud ambassador for IIN and a big believer in everything they do, so this year I wanted to aim higher than the 13 people I referred in 2013. I’m a couple of people away, so would like to call it a TICK!

12. Family. I love my family to bits, but while my sis lives in New York with her husband, my parents live in Ecuador, I’m in London with my husband and his parents are in New Zealand- our wedding in March made it- THE family year. TICK.

13. My sis and I make hearts using our hands and yoga poses too, so this is the image which represented us together. She surprised me for my 30th with a trip to Barcelona! And it was on a beach too! TICK.

14. This was something I felt silly doing, but just goes to show how powerful a vision board can be. At the time I photoshoped the number of fans Better Raw has on FB, there were only 12,000 odd. The difference may not seem like massive ask, but it did take me 3 whole years to gather 12,000 fans and a whole lot of competitions, bribery, posting, sharing, liking, linking and commenting to get there. How I was to get to 45,555 in a single year, I had no idea, but remember the ‘how’ is not up to you, just know ‘why’ you want it. I knew I had too many inspiring healthy tips to share that would improve the lives of many. A year later and we are up to 47,480. Wow! TICK.

NOW YOUR TURN.

WHAT DID YOU TICK OFF IN 2014? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS BELOW…

One of the super cute things I had my girls help me organise for our wedding is this awesome mimosa bar. It got so much amazing feedback, that I decided to take note of everyone's favourite flavours and serve them at next week's SupperClub!

It will be such a gorgeous event- the dishes and flavours we are preparing for you require so much time, love and attention, that we came to a unanimous decision to not keep you wondering what they’ll be till the actual night!

Now that you know how worth it this menu is to get all excited for, your positive vibes will charge each living ingredient all the way to your plate and to your healthy cells! Take a look…

First Course

Sweet & Sour Marble Cocktail of lime, berries and flower infused vodka (non alcoholic available)

Second Course

Amuse Bouche of cucumber and herbed aged cashew cheese Immunity Booster Ginger Shots

Third Course

Family Style Dipping Platter of truly raw ranch sauce, soured cream and chives and smoked paprika courgette hummus with crackers and veggie sticks

Fourth Course

Mum's Secret Yellow Minestrone Soup, served with soft homemade onion bread

Fifth Course

Soft Shell Tacos with juicy walnut and oyster mushroom meat, guacamole and soured cream

Sixth Course

Rose Raspberry Cocktail with a spiced nut boat

Seventh Course

A trio of chocolates, including white orange cream, dark and decadent chocolate fudge and a peppermint slice with creamy tones. Served with loose leaf mint and rose petal tea.

Here's what I woke up to yesterday...

I know! I have the best life.

Yes Yes I do! And it’s about to get even better. I am in New Zealand with the best in-laws a girl could dream of, the most amazing parents I spent all of my previous lives searching for, my bestie all the way from London, tomorrow my soon-to-be husband arrives, then my sister and her husband land from New York, then more friends and family will be coming together for a day I’ve been dreaming up ever since I can remember.

During what everyone keeps telling me is supposed to be the craziest, busiest, out-of-control time of my life, I am feeling pretty calm and collected.

There are many reasons I could factor into this state of being, but one that stands out to me the most right now is a mini juice cleanse. I did it back in London to reboot my system, release the toxins, mineralise my cells and calm my nerves.

Here is the recipe which featured more than any others…

SNOW PEA SHOOT DETOX JUICE

2 handfuls snow pea shoots
10-15 snow peas
2 pears
1 apple
1 large cucumber
1.5 inch ginger root

– Slice all the ingredients to fit your juicer chute.
– Juice and enjoy.