Hey!

Happy slightly delayed New Year- it's been a gooden, sharing it with family, friends, party poppers you know the drill. And now we come to settling back into the swing of things, and that impending feeling of pressure begins to mount. We've all posted 'This year is my year', so now it's on, we've publicly stated we're moving forward and made ourselves accountable.

But didn't we all say that last year... the year before... oh... what if I have to say it again next year... Hello doubt. NO, STOP.

Why do we feel the need to make massive leaps and bounds and set unrealistic goals for ourselves only to doubt it and then beat ourselves up for not becoming a multi million pound writer or creative or the worlds strongest person over night. Then this makes us lose steam and figure it's okay.

Enough is enough (For me anyway). This year I am motivated, I am driven, and I am setting big goals, but I am focussing on one foot in front of the other, on the journey (Because after all 'the journey is the reward'). Yes, there will be slow times, yes there will be amazing feet off the ground times, but I'm going to take it as it comes, keep plodding forward in the direction I want to go and 'keep my eyes on my own paper'.

So my New Years Resolution is this: Be present, make decisions that take me in the direction I want to go and put one foot forward in front of the other- after all, isn't that how people climb Everest?

Let me know some of your resolutions!

Makenna x

So last week I was lucky enough to be asked by CarlLewis films to be involved in their entry to MK's 48 film challenge, and having worked with Carl & Lewis previously, and after experiencing their determination and dedication to the end product, I jumped at it.

So for those in the dark about a 48 hour challenge, it's a time thing- you're given a certain criteria for a story and then you have 48 hours from that point to write a story, plan shot lists, get everyone in, make up, shoot, move locations, fight the losing light, battle the wind, edit it, put some music to it, and get it back in all within the 48 hour period. Needless to say I've skimmed a lot of the jobs so the sheer enormity of this isn't justified in my description.

But it was so much fun. Having an amazing team put together, everything ran smoothly and we were pretty much running on time the whole day. And the entry won our category! So Congratulations to CarlLewis films & everyone involved- I really enjoyed the day, despite throwing hot water over my hand in the first take of the day we got it haha!

All awesome photos below are taken from the set stills photographer- Ben Gregory-Ring who can be found here.

Soooooo this is a little delayed I know but this week has been all kinds of crazy (Crazy exciting included) but those of you who haven't seen my actress Facebook page won't know I was lucky enough to go to 'The Intern' premiere  (basically an amazing friend had a ticket and invited me- forever in debt!!)

So I got into the swing of things, made a killer dessert (From Chocolate covered Katies' blog linked HERE)- chocolate cookie dough brownies (Which can I add were INCREDIBLE) and midway through cooking I linked up my phone to my speakers and started having a good old jam.







Instead of thinking about the other things on my list, I danced.... like an idiot... then and there chocolate spoon in hand, brownies half made and I laughed out loud at myself.




I sang, and cooked and danced and got so carried away in that moment I loved it!



Dinner got made, everyone liked it, dessert went down a treat and I got my emails done and my to do list with no stressing and no time pressure.

FOOOOOOD post!!!

Okay well recipe fitness post... thing... okay

Soooo I am a huge foodie- genuinely I am eating one meal planning my next one, looking forward to eating again- Crazy. I love snacking and have actually been called a 'Zebra' by multiple people because I graze on food all the time- hey I like food okay?!

Any way I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen recently and decided to try smoothie bowls.

Now I know what you're thinking because I was thinking it too- That's not eating. Will I feel full? Am I technically drinking breakfast? That's not breakfast, it's a drink and so on, but honestly this quick brekkie sees me straight through to my morning snack with ease.

Not just that, but they taste amazing and are so instagramable- what more could you want in a breakfast?!



Now I have experimented with throwing in spinach and the like and honestly I'm yet to figure out the 'ideal' to not have that tangy taste- but that just means I have to keep making them till I nail it... what a shame ey? ;)




Bascially I use a frozen banana, 1 cup greek yogurt, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop any flavour protein powder, SMALLLLLL handful of spinach (So maybe not a handful... maybe a teeny fingerful... can omit) and a handful of ice. whizz all that up with 2 TBS chia seeds and boom you have your base.


Then throw whatever you fancy on top! Berrys, cacao nibs, banna, almonds etc- go crazy!



Experiment with your base too- why not throw in some frozen berries or cacao- find what you like and enjoy making it! Let me know your base recipe so I can give it a go (Any excuse to keep making these!)


Have a good Monday lovely people
x

Hey guys!




So for those of you who have managed to escape my website and actress Facebook page won't know that I've just got back from a month of filming in France, Germany Switzerland and Cameroon for TV pilot- 'Lifeline'.





 I also was then lucky enough to be back in the UK for one night and then fly to Vegas with my older brother for business conferences for our latest family journey (More on this will be revealed soon). But how cool is that? Flying to Vegas (Or Disneyland for adults) for work... you can tell I'm still buzzing from that!












Any way while I was away on set, I got back into my routines of meditating and exercising daily (If you haven't heard of it, the free 'Headspace' app is an incredible way to get into meditation without the frustrations!), and it did absolute wonders for me. My clarity and identity came back as I left the 'rat race' and stopped wearing a watch- at times I couldn't tell you what day it was- what complete and utter serenity and freedom?! Bliss!!








So in this moment, I decided that I had no blog identity... I kind of dipped into a bit of this and that, but no solid plan, you know?... If you don't know where this is going- I now have one!!



I aim to use this as a platform for the 4 main parts of my life, to share with you guys my experiences as an actress (on sets, auditioning, character prepping etc), my fitness journey (including any gluten free recipes, training regimes, or body image epiphanies), my inspirations  (so everything motivational and mindset orientated), and finally the social elements of my life (friends, family, and experiences). Each one will be written about in rotation, 1 per week- that's right you lucky people now get 4 blog posts of my ramblings per month. I'm going to trial this for a couple of months and see how it goes, so anything you want to hear or read about, let me know!


Chal for now lovely people,

Keep smiling :D

Makenna x