5 Ways To Get Excited About The Future*

16th March 2020

From time to time, the future can freak you out. When you’re a planner, you may be someone that has all of these great ideas for what the future looks like. Maybe you have always known what you wanted to achieve and you’re very much on track to do that. Or maybe you feel a little lost and you have no idea where you’re headed? Or maybe you’re doubting yourself and the future is starting to scare you a little? That’s only natural. The future can be really scary – especially when you have no idea what’s in store for you. So let’s take a look at some of the ways you can start to get excited about the future.

Plan A Trip

To start with, maybe you should plan a trip? Maybe you can’t go right away and that’s fine – but it could be that you really want to think about putting something in place. That way, you have something to look forward to – no matter how far in the future it may be.

Change Your Career

If you know that you’re tired at work, maybe it’s time to do something about that? We all go through slumps at work – that’s for sure. But if yours has lasted for some time now, it’s time to look into new job opportunities. You’ll want to think about what you really love to do and what kind of career will be most suited to you. Then, start working for it.

https://unsplash.com/photos/PGnqT0rXWLs

Invest In Something New

Something that could be super fun for you is the idea of saving up for something that you really want. When you don’t really have anything in the future to look forward to or work on, it can seem really soul destroying. But when you know that you’re saving up for a car, with or without Direct Car Credit, or what you’re investing in new clothes, it can help. Just treating yourself to something new can really help to lift your spirits.

Work On Your Body

The next thing that you’ll want to think about here, is working on how you feel in yourself. If you know that you’ve been feeling lethargic lately, then it’s always a good idea to aim for health. Trying to build a better body or exercise more and eat right is always going to be a good idea for you. So make this a priority and give yourself something to work for.

Take Care Of Your Mind

Finally, something that you’re going to find really helps you, is for you to work on your mind. It’s not always that easy for you to do when there’s uncertainty in the air. However, when you know that you are working on your mind and you are proactively taking a look at your wellness, it helps. No matter what you’re looking forward to in the future, having a clearer mind and feeling good about yourself can help you to get there.

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De-stressing with Scentered*

18th February 2020

Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that I’m prone to getting a little bit stressed out and worked up. Despite years of therapy I’m still not amazing at calming myself back down under pressure, so the offer of this de-stress aromatherapy balm from Scentered turned out to be a bit of a god-send.

Scentered is a new brand on my radar and one I wish I had discovered sooner. Based on using scent as a mental trigger to get to your desired mindset, using three basic principles:

Stop – Apply a balm directly to your wrist, neck and temples or light a Scentered candle to purposefully fill the room with mindful meaning.

Inhale – Raise your wrists or candle to your nose and deeply inhale, visualising the mind state you wish to achieve in this moment.

Reset – Exhale deeply as you step into the next moment of your daily journey

There are a range of fragrances available to help you with many aspects of life (there’s one for love, one to focus, one for sleep and so many more).
The de-stress balm is definitely the most appropriate for me right now- although sleep wouldn’t go amiss either!

The main question here is did it help? At first I wasn’t sure, but the more I used it the more I realised that the simple act of breathing in and out was making me relax, and as soon as I applied the balm to my wrist I could feel my stress start to dissolve.

I did worry the fragrance might be over-powering, but I needn’t have worried. This particular balm contains camomile, neroli and mandarin and I’ve come to crave it’s calming aroma.

These balms are ideal to keep in your handbag for when stressful situations strike. Scentered also offer candles, gift sets and bundles (get ahead for mother’s day and give the gift of calm!) making it super easy to create your own little ritual and inject a bit of self care and mindfulness in to your day.

The balm sticks cost £14.50 each (far cheaper than stress led impulse purchasing) and last for ages. This balm was gifted to me by the brand but all thoughts are my own.

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Fitting In

03rd February 2020

The photos in this post have been on my laptop for ages; possibly since before Christmas.
I remember a time when I used to post pretty much my daily outfits, when my wardrobe was crazy and vast. These days I have the best of intentions but when it comes to it I hold back. My wardrobe could currently be described as repetitive, containing perhaps 25% of what it once did and with probably only 25% of that being worn on any kind of regular basis. I was trying to work out why this was the other day and quite simply it boils down to the fit and my acceptance of the idea of fitting.

Dress: Monki via ASOS | Boots: Office Shoes

This dress is the perfect example of that. I bought it back in October and I have worn it precisely twice. It’s a gorgeous dress that I had to have, it’s great quality and versatile but I’ve taken against it…why? Because it fits. It fits me exactly how this style of dress should fit me, and that’s what I hold against it. For years I have hidden away behind baggy layers, at times out of necessity (for warmth, because nothing else fit) and more recently because I can’t stand how it feels to have something fit me.

I’ve spent a long period of my life now “up-sizing” my wardrobe then wondering why my purchases look entirely different on me than they do on the model. I’ve spent time convincing myself that baggier is better, is more flattering. I’ve spent so long hating my body that I can’t bear to see it, or to feel it in clothes that actually make contact with my skin. One of my biggest fears, still, is that I’ll wear a fitted dress to work or to an event and someone will see that my stomach is no longer perfectly flat or that I actually have some flesh around my hips these days.

This was really bought home to me recently when shopping for a dress to wear to a wedding. Firstly actually finding a dress was a nightmare. Anything that looked body-con, or even straight up and down rather than flared was discounted on account of how it would make me look and feel. Once I finally found something that had an a-line cut and long sleeves to hide my arms I did my usual and ordered the larger size, my “safety” size.
Said dress arrived and looked quite frankly, ridiculous. It was clearly too big but otherwise perfect so after a lot of convincing I sent it back and ordered the size down. That size arrived and I tried it on and it took a lot of self-restraint not to send that one back too, this time for being too small. Was it too small? No, no it was not, but it fitted, I could feel it, it showed off my waist and didn’t gape at the back…physically it was the perfect fit and it looked a lot better but I’ve got so used to baggy and shapeless that I genuinely believed that this dress was too small for me. To an extent I still do but I’m keeping it.

I realise at the age of 32 that this is a ridiculous fear to have. I might not feel it, but I’m still young, I have a slim figure (despite what my brain would have me believe) and I don’t need to hide it away at all times. Skinny jeans should be skinny and not gape at the waist, dresses should nip in at the waist and skirts and trousers shouldn’t be falling half way down your arse.
This is going to be the year I challenge that. I have a wedding dress to shop for after all and I refuse to spend money on what could end up being a glorified rubbish bag if I insist on at least one size up to what it should be.

My one exception to this will be this perfectly oversized denim jacket that Bob bought me from Chinese Laundry in Hull when we were up for his Birthday in November. Sometimes baggy IS best, and this jacket, the denim jacket I have been searching for since my early twenties is a prime example.

Does anyone else struggle with buying clothes that fit rather than clothes that conceal? Any ideas for over-coming this would be most welcome.

*post contains affiliate links*

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Christmas at Castle Howard

02nd December 2019

A couple of weeks ago Bob and I took a trip up North for a week, to spend time with his family and friends and celebrate his 30th birthday. We packed a heck of a lot in to that week away, and one of the highlights was the visit we made to Castle Howard for their “Christmas at Castle Howard” event. The main reason for our visit was to show Bob’s mum some support for her first stint playing piano in the Great Hall, something she’ll be doing on various dates throughout the festive period. Not that she needed us there, she nailed it, and we were blown away by the grandeur of the house and it’s stunning grounds.

The theme for this year’s event was ‘A Christmas Masquerade’ and was created by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Bretta Gereke. It’s hard to explain how decadent the house looked, so I’ll let the photos do the talking, it was great to learn some of the history of the castle and imagine how incredible their Christmas parties must have been!

If you find yourself near York with a yearning to do something festive then I 100% recommend visiting Castle Howard, the grounds are breathtaking too, and with coffee and good food on offer you can easily spend a whole day there (and of course, the pianist is amazing!)

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Foodie Gifts from Sous Chef*

11th November 2019

Halloween and bonfire night have passed, which, according to just about everywhere now means it’s Christmas! I’m usually one of those people who is super organised and has most of their shopping done by now, but this year I am a bit stuck and therefore WAY behind myself. Am I panicking? Perhaps a little…but I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end.

I was recently sent a couple of gifts from Sous Chef which is one of my all time favourite foodie sites to browse, so to say I was over the moon would be a slight understatement. Actually, since these items arrived I’ve had further browsing sessions on the site and I do feel that half my Christmas shopping problems have been solved.
Anyway…

Anyone that knows Bob and I will be familiar with our chilli obsession; we curved our enthusiasm somewhat after a vegan chilli disaster last year (never before has a dinner gone entirely in the bin, it was literally glowing from the heat it contained) but are gently easing ourselves back in, so this Mexican Chilli Selection (£13.95) was very well received and is just one of many fantastic chilli options on the Sous Chef website.

The second item we were sent was this beautiful Ramen set (£39.50) which could not have been better timed as we had literally just a few days before decided we wanted to experiment more with ramen and noodle dishes in general.

This is such a beautiful set (there are several options available) and makes such an ideal gift for a foodie couple. It comes with a booklet full of recipes, and whilst we haven’t made anything yet you’d better watch this space (well, instagram) for what is to come.

Both items arrived impressively packaged and ready to give as gifts. Whilst these items were gifted to me by Sous Chef I honestly cannot recommend this website enough, I’ve been a fan girl for years. You’ll find everything you need for foodie friends and family, from stocking fillers and delicious treats to much grander gifts for super special occasions.

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A Daisy Chain Dream

Category Archives: lifestyle

5 Ways To Get Excited About The Future*

De-stressing with Scentered*

Fitting In

Christmas at Castle Howard

Foodie Gifts from Sous Chef*