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 At the start of the year, I said I wanted to work with more brands on the blog... this blogpost is in partnership with Femme Luxe who kindly gifted my jeans and tee, how cute are they?! They're the perfect ripped high waisted jeans, and the tee is so easy to wear, both perfect for when I'm going for a casual look. All links will be at the bottom of the post!

Life has been full and fulfilling lately. I've been completing an internship with the sustainable fashion brand Lady K Loves, in hope that it will both teach me, and open doors. In all honesty, it's exceeded my expectations - I've learnt skills which I hope will help me improve this little website of my and be valuable in my career.

On finishing my internship, I've found myself with a new job, working for a Cruise company. I'll be doing social media, working from home, with flexible hours, which is exactly what I had been in search of. I'm really excited to throw myself into it (if you're into Cruises, I'll be sharing some pretty good deals on this facebook group)

Earlier in the year, I wrote this post about how I wanted to be more open to love, which leads me to my other big piece of news - I've found myself in a relationship. It's early days, but I am very happy. It's been a long time since I've had a romantic relationship, I almost forgot the magic they hold. Recently I've been living in a bubble with my boyfriend, soaking in the details of each other. It's been wonderful. I definitely don't think the romantic relationship is a requirement for happiness, I don't think I'd be in this one if weren't happy beforehand. But still, I feel like I'm floating now, floating and falling that is, and everything about it is enhancing my life. Unlike my usual approach, but I put blogging on hold for a couple of weeks because I realised creating memories mattered more. Because I knew, that the start of a relationship, this one especially matters, and I wanted to be present in that, rather than at my laptop.

I'm trying to figure out a balance. I definitely want to get back to weekly blogpost - and from now, you can expect them each Monday at 9.30am, but I also want to be present in my own life, and sometimes that requires not documenting and just living. I haven't come to a conclusion on this really, it's just going with what feels right at the moment, and making sure I'm organised enough to make sure that's possible.


So, there are my happy little updates, as my tee says

  Life's a peach.

Outfit Details

Tee: Femme Luxe (*gifted) | Jeans: Femme Luxe (*gifted) | Shoes: H&M (*affiliate link) | Lipstick: Sleek Matte Me in Shabby Chic (*affiliate link)




If there's any blogpost you'd like to see from me, please comment with your suggestions!


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 As midnight came rolling around on New Year's Eve, I found myself crying while the rest of the world was celebrating. It was not glamorous. On what normally is my favourite day of the year, I felt defeated and sad. Although not my usual for New Years, it was not unusual for me to feel this way, as though life was too much.

In the morning, I wiped away my tears and made a decision. The decision that I was going to like my life. I wanted to like my life when my dreams were coming true, and more importantly, I wanted to like my life when they weren't. I wanted to like my life when I felt lost, and I wanted to like my life while I figured things out.

On the most part - I like my life now. A lot of days I love it. My circumstances haven't changed, at all really but my mindset has.

Now, I'm not talking about moods, because moods are supposed to be changing, and we can't all be 100% happy all of the time. I'm prone to a bad mood every now and then - which I'm sure is relatable. I'm talking about living life to the full, not in the sense going on some great adventure, but to a standard of full for me. A life where the things I do, big or small speak to my soul. A life where the little things matter. Where ever I am at with my goals my life is serving me. Where no matter how big my problems are, I can still enjoy a cup of tea and appreciate the sunset.

Everything about it is cheesy and cliché,  but I'm happy, and if it's cheesy clichés which makes me happy, heck I'll go with it.

So here are my tips to shift your mindset:

Meditation 

I try to meditate daily, it doesn't always happen but that's what I aim for. I find using a meditation app the easiest way to do this. The meditation app Headspace first taught me how to be mindful. It was practising meditation when I hardly understood it, that made me realise I have control over my mindset. That my thinking, and breathing each moment is affecting how I'm feeling and acting. I wrote a full blog post on the meditation apps I love which you can find here if you're interested to find a meditation app which will work for you. At the moment my go-to is Happy, Not Perfect.

Create a to a routine:

A mindful routine that is. A routine which you like. Mornings should be more than rolling out of bed to the sound of your alarm which you hate, skipping breakfast and rushing out the door. If you want to have a great day the chaos of snoozed alarms and no time to shower is not a way to begin it. You want your day to begin it a way which makes you feel good and sets you up for whatever the next 24 hours might bring. If all hell breaks loose that day, you want to know, you at least had a nice morning. The same goes for the evenings. You should actually take some time to wind down - you owe yourself that. (If you're interested in hearing more about my evening/morning routines I'll have full videos on them on my Youtube channel in the next few weeks).

Use time wisely:

 If we don't pay attention, time gets away from us and before we know it, our day has been unproductive, and we feel like crap about it. I want a life where I value and make the most of every moment. Again cringe and cliché but true. I wrote this blog post a while ago on how to make the most of your time. I've found calendar blocking has been a great way for me to see where the hours in my day are going, there's a full video on how I do it here. Anything you enjoy, whether that's binging Netflix or going to the gym, it not a waste of time, as long as you're prioritising your time well.

Make friends and have friends who inspire you:

 I don't make friends with anyone. Go to events and clubs of the things you love, and you'll find people you have things in common with. Your friends should be picked carefully because you shouldn't be giving your time to people who don't make you feel good. You want your friends to enhance your life, lift you up and leave you feeling positive. Friends should feel like platonic soulmates, not someone you find spending time with exhausting. There's so much joy to find in new friendships. I will talk about how to make friends as an adult more in an upcoming Youtube video, so keep your eyes peeled.

Be creative 

 This year I've begun being creative, simply for myself. I started painting again, and began going to life drawing classes - and I've just enjoyed doing it for me. On the days which have been harder, sketching has been a great escape, and on the best days, it's just as therapeutic.

Exercise outside 

Somewhere along the lines, going running has become one of my favourites parts of my day - I eased myself into it by doing couch to 5k (which I'll finish next week!). I run outside, I use exercise as an excuse to be in nature and it feels good. It gives you a chance to take in the world, or listen to podcasts while getting a sweat on.

Embrace failure: 

When you fail, it's usually because you've been working towards something. It's not a loss, It's evidence of the work. For me, this year has been full of unsuccessful interviews and failed driving tests, which at times has been hard, but I've been trying to look at these failures as stepping stones to get where I need to be, rather than dwelling on the loss of something which I never actually had.

Second a day: 

I used the one-second everyday app, where you film a second of your day, and it collates the seconds into a video. I began it, not as an act of mindfulness, but after seeing this video and thinking 'that's cool'. But as I began to use the app, I noticed myself paying more attention to the lovely parts of even the most boring days in search of a second to film. I noticed sunsets more and appreciated the time I had to read. Filming just a second a day, made me pay attention to making the seconds worthy.

Savour moments:

 This year I've learned the small moments often matter more than we give them credit for. Life is better when you taste your food and read without wondering how close you are to finishing your book. I've been practising savouring moments with a cup of tea recently. Taking time out of the to-lists to sit with a hot drink and enjoy it. I was kindly gifted with plenty of loose leaf tea sampler boxes from Adagio Teas (and this amazing tea infuser mug which is bringing me so much joy!) I've been enjoying taking a break from my day to try the different flavours. I've particularly been loving the earl grey-green in the morning and the lavender lemon before bed.

Tea Giveaway!

I will also be giving away several sample packs of Adagio Tea's because they're adding an extra pocket of joy to my day, and I want to share that with one of my readers! I have begun trying and sharing teas with friends, so a lot of the boxes have been opened, as I've dipped into a few of the sample sachets. I have the boxes:  Orchard Herbals, and Teas of India and Sri Lanka which are completely untouched so you can win these, along sample sachets of many of their different black teas (including earl grey moonlight, blueberry, cream, mango iced tea and more), white teas (including white peach, white blueberry and more) and herbal teas (including lemongrass, chamomile and more) and oolong teas (including grapefruit oolong, almond oolong, and vanilla oolong)  you can choose which flavours appeal to your taste, and I'll box them up for you. From most of the boxes, you'll get around 40 cups of tea! I will, of course, send a full list of the teas I have to offer to the winner, so they'll get a full choice over flavours they receive! Make sure you leave a twitter/Instagram handle, or email address in the comments so that I can contact you if you're the lucky winner!

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With Valentine's day yesterday, I found myself reflecting on love. Valentine's day is one for couples. There are those who throw Galentines or anti-valentines day events, but all and all it aimed those in a relationship, those in love with each other. Single people don't tend to get a look in.

But why? It's about love. Just because I'm not in a romantic relationship, that doesn't mean I don't love. It doesn't I'm not familiar with the feeling of butterflies, and there isn't magic in my average day. Being out of a romantic relationship should not reflect that love is lacking for me because it isn't. 

I love as often, and deeply as anybody else does, despite my lack of a partner. Like those couples buying each other cards and planning their date nights, I deserve to celebrate the things I love, no matter how big or small.

So here are some things I really love:

1) Laughing until my stomach hurts

2) Capturing moments through the lens of a camera

3) Gilmore Girls

4) 500 Days of Summer

5) Harry Styles

6) Painting. Looking at a picture full of colour which I've created, and knowing that page started blank. The therapeutic feeling of mixing colours and making marks.
7) Reading in bed on a Sunday morning

8) Cups of tea

9) Reading poetry aloud, putting words in the air

10) Realising I've made a friend

11) Remembering I'm brave enough to attend events alone

12) Lattes and poetry writing

13) Natural pretty lighting that enhances everything

14) Sunsets

15) Watching a cheesy movie for the first time

16) Falling in love with the character in a book

17) Walking through nature with my friends

18) Receiving cards in the post, paper reminders that I'm loved.

Maybe it seems a little sad, that there's not a person who made the list. Sure, there's not other half me of me, but I'm whole without it. There is so much more to love in life, and my life is full of a lot of love, despite my single relationship status.

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I'm feeling a little silly. Silly because I made this video, where I was banging on about how I was going use the law of attraction to change my life, and how I was going to think nothing but positive thoughts. For a few weeks, I was more chipper than ever, and then I fell back into old patterns of negative thinking, of feeling defeated when I couldn't immediately see my life transformed when the bigs things remained as they were weeks before. I'm only human, so it's no surprise I can't keep up high energy and happiness all the time. Moods are supposed to be changing. One of the precious things about emotions is that they don't live in a constant state, feelings are fluid, with all emotion, there's always the option to tell yourself 'this too shall pass' and to know it to be true.

One thing I'm learning in my law of attraction journey is to take back the power, to observe how I feel and move on from it. Not to dwell. Although I built a house of sadness, I don't need to live in it.

When you feel you have little purpose, it's easy to eat up that sadness, to consume it, and live within it. Especially that lack of direction is enhanced by constant rejection, little money, loneliness and a wash of the guilt of feeling too much.

It's easy to abandon to-do lists when you feeling no one in the world would notice, you can find yourself not caring if you don't make it out of bed in the morning, and basic self-respect tends to go out of the window when you visit that house of sadness.

I'm not really sure why I wrote this post, what I was hoping to come from it. I wanted to get it off my chest, I wanted to let you know that, you will eventually knock down that house, even if when you visit the walls seem sturdier than ever.

I'm writing this as a reminder to myself. That little things count too, and as Dumbledore once said: “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

Happiness doesn't always have to be grand, sometimes if you search really hard, you'll spot a glimmer through the window of your house of sadness, and that glimmer is enough.

You need darkness to appreciate the light. Let not being where you want to, motivate you to move, there's no freeze and assume this is where you belong which is something I found myself doing. And if you do freeze, overcome by sadness, remember it's never too late to begin to move again.

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I wanted to write a blog post to go alongside my 'vision board with me' video which I recently posted to my Youtube channel (and can be found at the end of this blog post). I found myself wanting to continue rambling about vision boards, but twenty minutes for one Youtube video is already enough.

There are a few reasons I vision board. For manifestation, for clarity, for the creative process and for aesthetics.

I initially began vision-boarding when hitting a low led me to read self-help books, which led me to the law of attraction. One day I decided enough was enough and finally created a vision board as I'd noticed them popping up all over the place in the things I was reading and watching. I felt an urgency to create my vision board at that moment, so I made do with what I could find in the house, which was an old board for artwork.


When I removed everything from the vision board at the start of the year, I'd assumed most it would go back on, however, I wanted a fresh start, so still, I proceeded to take down the magazine clippings.
I was surprised when the majority of these pieces ended up in the recycling rather than back on my new vision board.

When it comes to choosing what makes the cut, I completely trust my gut. I go for what jumps out at me, and sometimes read things in my own way. The thing with going with your gut is that you end up pulling things from magazines that you didn't know you wanted. For me, a few things which unexpectedly made my pile centred around love and romance, something I was unaware I was looking for or rather convinced myself I had no interest in.

I was intending to write, to scribble quotes and the specifics of what I was after on my vision board, but once I finished sticking, I realised it said enough. The aesthetics of this mood board were different than before, it felt calming to look at, and that reflected mindfulness I'm trying to take forward into the new year.



All in all, I enjoy the process,  I find myself feeling grounded, and centred when creating something with my hands (it's what draws me to painting, drawing and crocheting). Coming away from the process I find a new self-awareness. It's somewhere to focus my attention. When I lose direction, it's somewhere to look, a reminder of what I want, and the journey I'm on.


I thought about writing a list of what I wanted from the year before beginning the process so I had some idea what I wanted to add to the vision board, why I was creating it. I decided against that, as I flicked through endless magazines, my gut told me, and that's something I've learned to trust.


It gave me clarity on some many things which I want to bring into my life, so I knew I was looking for, others I blindly chased, here are some of those things:
a positive state of mind
love
books
writing
to find my purpose
career success
and so much more.


I just wanted to discuss why I vision board and my process a bit more as it's something which changes both everything and nothing.


If you're interested in seeing my previous vision board and reading a little about it, it gets a little mention and some pictures in this blog post, and the video I mentioned earlier is below!

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As one year draws to a close, and we prepare for a new year, it becomes very clear people fall into two categories. There are the people who get excited for a new year, claiming this will be their year, and set endless ambitious goals. And then, of course, there are the people who take the piss out of their positive enthusiasm.

I fall into the first category. Something about the New Year fills me with hope, often I make myself cringe at how keen I am for a new year, and knowing set goals which often seem unrealistic because it's always better to try.

So without further ado - here is my list of goal which I'm hoping my make progress with this year:

- Pass my driving test and get a car. Finally. It's taking me a while I know, but I'm so close to achieving this one now,
- Get articles published in magazines. I've been pitching a while and I'm yet to have any luck, but that's only made me want to work harder
- Finish my book and begin my search for a publisher. I'm 45,000 words in at the moment, so the first draft finish line is nearing, it's just case of editing this draft until it's good, and finding somebody else that believes in it.
- Save £5000.
- Read 30 books.
- Reach 1000 subscribers on youtube. You can find my channel here if you want to help a girl out.
- Work with brands on blog content.
- Start taking Instagram more seriously. Build up my follow count, post regularly, document life on my stories, work with photographers etc etc
- Stick to a weekly work out routine. Go for a run/work out 3 times a week.
- Get up earlier, get into a good morning routine.
- Create more art. Paint, draw, doodle more.
- Document my life more. Take photos for me,  scrapbook, write in my diary more, vlog more.
- Start dating. I've been extremely single for years, not wanting to meet anyone, but 2019 will be the year I will brave putting myself out there (more about why it will be in an upcoming blog post, so keep your eyes peeled).


I'm excited to start working on these goals, and to see all the wonderful things 2019 will bring! I'd love to know what goals you've set yourself for this year!



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On listening to a Nobody Panic podcast, on happiness, I found myself thinking about little joys. I'm someone who chasing tends the big things. I've found myself wrapped in sadness because the big things aren't happening to the timeline which I've decided is appropriate, and when these things do happen, I've built them up so high, that they're often underwhelming.

My main focus has shifted recently. I'm looking for happiness in all the places it hides. I'm searching for the smallest joys in my most mediocre days. Yes, this blog post is probably up there with one of the most cheesy things I've written, but I'm okay with that because I think with gratitude we become a magnet of good things. Yes, I am a law of attraction wanker.

Places I've found happiness recently:

• One returning from babysitting one Saturday night, rather than heading straight to bed, I found myself, my mum and my stepdad crowded around a phone singing Robbie Williams Angels. I'm not sure how it came about, but it was the purest happiest moment. We're all terrible, like really terrible at singing. English is my stepdads second language so naturally, he was getting the lyrics wrong. The shambles of this heartfelt performance that my neighbours probably hated us for made me grateful, that at 26 years old, I still live with two of my favourite people. It doesn't matter that I'm an adult living with my parents when I have a bloody great time with them.
• Wearing my favourite perfume - Spritzing on a bit of Glossier You, or Laura Mercier Ambre Passion sends a smile to my face every time I catch a whiff of myself and remember I smell delicious.
• Listening to a good podcast - Nobody Panic Podcast never fails to make me laugh, and CTRL ALT DELETE  always leaves me feeling inspired.
• In exercise - Crazy, I know, but there's something about only focusing on my body and nothing more.
• In texts from friends - from chats about Joe Sugg on Strictly to messages to let me know they're proud, I've found myself smiling at Whatsapp a lot recently.
• In books - Recently I've got into reading YA fiction again and there's something nostalgic about reading about teenage crushes and friendship, it just feels very wholesome.
• In ticking off to-do lists - A wave of relief and the feeling of accomplishment always washes over me after a productive day.
• In cups of tea and magazine articles - This Sunday tradition of mine always leaves me feeling content, so much so that it's become more of a daily tradition than a Sunday one.
• A social media break - Things we're getting a bit much recently so I decided I needed a bit of social media-free time, because follow counts, likes and losing the day to Instagram doesn't always make me feel great, so I deleted the twitter and Instagram apps from my phone and had a few days without worrying about what to post next and scrolling other peoples lives instead of living mine. I'm not perfect, so I obviously slip up a few times and had a peak on the newsfeeds, but I spent so much less time glued to my phone and didn't check Instagram the moment I woke. I might have lost a couple of followers but it was good for my soul.

How I'm making my day to day more joyful:

- Getting dressed every morning, wearing clothes that make me feel good.

- No saving my best, for best. Every day I should be living my best life.

- Turning off my phone more.

- Buying what I want, not what's cheapest.

- Listening to my intuition.

- Taking breaks when I need them but not letting them lead to unnecessary procrastination.



Photography: madeleiinegraceblogs ... I know you've seen photos from this shoot again and again in posts, I'm sorry - but I love them, so why not get my use out of them!
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