To Valentine or not to Valentine

This is for the singletons....for the besties....for those lucky in love.

So Tuesday will be one of the most controversial days of 2017 so far. It's valentines day.  The day is just like Marmite  (fellow Brits will know what I mean); you either love it or your hate it. It's a day of celebrating the love that you have for  a person in your life (or maybe even a few people if you celebrate it with your bestie/s like I do).

One size fits all

Over the years I have watched many people that I care about go through their own personal journeys, and thanks to this blog (and twitter) I have seen many of you do the same. One of the things that I think people struggle the most with when beginning to make changes in their lives is the process of changing in itself. We can all share our memories, the way that we have done things etc and that is great, it may just be what someone needs.

Through the web: Blogger love pt 2

One of the ways I am slowly getting some of my blogging mojo back is to immerse myself in the writings of some of my favourite bloggers. Since I have currently been ill for the past 3 weeks, I can confirm that I have definitely had the time in which to carve out for this mass reading. I did a post exactly like this last year but I wanted to share some more of my favourites with you all. 

A-Z of Recovery: Just one step at a time

 Just one step at a time

January is that one month of the year when most people around the world collectively say "I'm going to loose weight", "I'm going to become a regular at my local gym", "I'm going to do" this and "I will do" that. We make such large decisions in the heat of the moment, with the best of intentions and yet the likelihood of us sticking to such drastic changes aren't very high.

Recovery is a lot like our New years Resolutions, we say that we are going to begin recovery and completely turn our lives around. the thing is, it's not that easy. We didn't start off life feeling or living the way that we are, the change to the negativity and illness took time, it took years to create the mindset that we are in so why should we think that altering it would be any different?

Room inspiration!

2017 blog goals

Last year I shared with you all some of the goals for my blog, and I'm pretty happy to say that I met most of the goals before the year was even out! For some bloggers, my goals may seem very small but I'e only been back blogging properly for a year so I am happy with how these goals are looking. Let's hope 2017 is our year!

rise and shine: Morning affirmations

Ever see those pictures of people waking up with a huge smile on their face and a sunny disposition?  Yeah it's a load of pants. I've always felt bad for not waking up in the morning and not being as "happy always larry". But that's completely okay because this is an unrealistic view of starting the day. If you're one of those people where this situation is actually a reality then that's honestly great, I'm glad you can naturally have a smile to start the day with. At the same time, if you're like me and you don't then that's completely okay too. I work hard to get myself in a good mood and motivated to start the day, it makes me feel empowered to know that I can have such a big impact on my day. One of the ways that I do that is to repeat affirmations to myself throughout the day. These start from a little while after I have woken up and continue throughout my day.

8 ways to have your best morning

I've made it one of my new goals to be much more mindful and take care of myself both physically and mentally. One of the ways I am going to do that is to make some improvements to my morning routine. Typically I drag my button out of bed, make myself a cup of tea and read before rushing upstairs to shower and get dressed and do typical morning activities. I'm always running out of time and I'm left feeling frazzled so it's time for a change. Here are some of the things that I'm going to do every morning...and some that I've researched into that could be potential ideas for the future!

'Me time'

So in such a modern world, it is very hard for us to find the time to take a step back from the constant rush of life and actually have some "me time". There is always something that we find to do, some last minute piece of work that you forgot or you are suddenly expecting company so you have to quickly get the house (or your room) in order, which then causes you to panic a little.

ED recovery

Acknowledge that your behaviour is unhealthy and you need to make changes. Change is YOUR choice.

Christmas Eve special!

So this post is a little more centred towards those with small children because lets face it, one of the things that makes Christmas more magical is the things we get to set up for the little ones. They are the purest ones who still believe in all of the cheery figures that we often think of with this holiday. Here are some tips that I have found to make christmas eve a little more special for everyone:

Blogmas Day 12: My favourite Christmas traditions

Christmas is a time for family and traditions. I love it when I get to find out about all of the different traditions that different families so I thought that I would share mine with everyone. I don't really have a lot to share but some of them we don't do anymore so it is a nice trip down memory lane!

Blogmas day 11: Holiday outfit ideas

 It's party season! I love nothing more than getting dressed up for a good party, especially when I know I'm going to get to have a good dance around and spend some time with those I'm closest to. There's something about wearing a dress or making just that little more effort with my appearance, That makes me feel 100x better in myself. Here are some outfits that I would just love to be able to wear this year (even though, lets be honest I have zero parties to go to...so my bank balance is sighing in relief!) 

Blogmas day 10: The best Christmas Adverts of 2016

Not entirely sure if it's the same everywhere else but in the UK, our Christmas adverts are an important thing. It's usually a huge competition to see who manages to win the hearts of the people with the best Christmas adverts. This year, all of the companies seem to have pulled out all of the stops. There are so many different adorable takes on the Christmas spirit and what the season should mean to all of us. I have collected what I think are the best 5 Christmas adverts of 2016.

Blogmas day 9: christmas party playlist

Whats a way to make take your Christmas party up a few levels? The playlist. Whether you choose to go all out with the christmas songs or just add one or two in to create the mood, I have collected some of my festive favourites which are sure to be crowd pleasers. 

Blogmas Day 8: My favourite Christmas treats

Christmas is the perfect time for everyone to get creative with food, no matter what your skills. It's something that is perfect for including the little ones, which let's admit it, adds a whole lot more magic into the holiday. I went online and collected all of my favourite Christmas snack recipes that I love to create to share with you all.

Blogmas day 7: Winter bucketlist

I love the amazing things that we can do that are specifically targeted for each season. Winter means magic.  It means family, love and miracles. Some of the things that I have collected for my winter bucketlist are things that I have done before, while others are completely new. I cannot wait to try out EVERY thing on here. It's time to bring on the magic. 

Blogmas day 6: Best Christmas ideas for Instagram

I'm slowly becoming one of those people that don't care what the occasion is, and share about 30 photos on Instagram with all of you that probably couldn't care less. Whether it's the barely there snow on your plants in the garden, or your perfectly blurred Christmas lights on your tree, I wanna see it.  So I've gathered up some of my favourite festive photos to double tap this season.

Blogmas day 5: vlogmas faves

I love to watch the daily comings and goings of my favourite YouTubers. It's my favourite way to unwind and the relationships that can be formed between YouTubers and their viewers are a powerful thing to see. One thing that I love about December is that it marks the beginning of Vlogmas, which means daily vlogging for all of us fans. It's wonderfully festive and makes me feel all warm inside. I've compiled most of my favourite vloggers that take part in Vlogmas, some every year, others are from 2014 but I love to re-watch no matter what. Enjoy!

Blogmas day 4: The best Christmas jumpers

Whether you need one for the pure festive joy of it or just because of a Christmas jumper day at work, we all need a Christmas jumper. Some are just for the delight of the children but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy them either. Here are some that I thought were too cute not to share.