You’ve probably already
guessed by now that I’m a big fan of Lush products and an even bigger fan of
Christmas. So when the two come together I’m certainly in my element! Recently
I decided to place a little *cough
large* order with Lush and thought I would share with you what I got in
my parcel.
I
decided to go to town on their Christmas range because there’s nothing I love
more than a bit of pre-Christmas pampering. I picked up a small bottle of Rose
Jam, which is a bit of a change for me as I almost always go for Snow Fairy (although
I am hoping I might get a bottle in my stocking!) It smells delicious and is
probably quite good for you if you’re not into the very sweet smelling scents,
as it’s a bit subtler. I also treated myself to a So White bath bomb, which has
an amazing apple scent. Next up is the Golden Wonder Bath Bomb, which looks
like a massive gold present. It’s got a sweet citrus scent and I’m looking
forward to seeing what will happen to my bath water. This next one isn’t strictly
a Christmas product, more bonfire night, but I couldn’t resist the Sparkler
long bath bomb, which has a mix of rose oil, Sicilian lemon oil and popping
candy – exciting! Last up in this photo is the Snowman Fun, which I actually
purchased to give to a friend’s little girls. I can imagine they will have
great bath time fun making snowmen!
Another
product that comes under the Bonfire Night heading is the Northern Lights long
bath bomb, which is apparently full of multicoloured swirls and little gold
stars. A favourite of mine is the Candy Mountain Bubble Bar – I love the sweet
smelling products so this one is great for me. I also love the Christmas
Hedgehog Bubble Bar, which is so moisturising and full of cocoa butter that it
melts in your hands if you hold it for too long. The Melting Snowman is another
Christmas favourite and is great as a little inexpensive gift at this time of year.
Last up is the Bubble Bar I use every Christmas Eve – very aptly named, the
Christmas Eve Bubble Bar!
If
you don’t like glitter then I would advise keeping away from this next product –
Holly Golightly Bubble Bar. It is covered in silver glitter and just gets
everywhere before you’ve even got into the bath! One of the cutest products
available this year is the Butterbear, who smells delicious and is so tiny and
cute that he would be a perfect stocking filler gift. Next up is another
glittery offering – Snow Angel, who’s back is covered in gold glitter, much
like the silver glitter on Holly Golightly. It’s also full of organic cocoa
butter so will be nice and moisturising. Next to this one is the Christmas
penguin, which I think is just adorable. There seem to be a lot of citrus
smells this Christmas and I’m surprised there aren’t more spiced products, but
I’m not complaining, as I love a good citrus scent! And last up, where would
you be without a Dashing Santa at the end of your Christmas Day celebrations?
What are your favourite Christmas products
from Lush this year? Or do you prefer another store for stocking up on your
smellies?!
So this week saw the start
of another month, but more importantly it saw the start of advent, which can
only mean one thing…Christmas is coming!! This year I decided I was going to
make my own advent calendar because I’m finding some days I just don’t feel
well enough to eat chocolate and I wanted to do something that would suit me a
bit better. So, I went on eBay and managed to find myself a plain wooden advent
calendar, which I quickly ordered. Once it had arrived I gave it a lick of
paint, put some handles on the doors, added a star, numbers and copious amounts
of glitter and this was the finished result. My Mum then very kindly said that
she was happy to fill it for me so that I had surprises, rather than doing it
myself, so obviously I wasn’t going to turn her down! I’m really happy with the
finished product and it’s something I will be able to use year after year now.
So far this week I’ve had chocolate on a couple of days, a Yankee candle, some
lip balm and some glittery nail varnish, and I’m excited to see what is still
to come!
Gran’s Birthday
On Friday my Gran (who
lives with us) turned 91, which I think is pretty darn amazing. Unfortunately
she has the end stages of dementia, so is really not too well at all, but we
tried to make it as special as possible for her. I bought her a beautiful
arrangement of flowers, which resulted in a beaming smile on her part. Then
today we had some family over for lunch and birthday cake and amazingly my Gran
was really alert and knew exactly what was going on, which was such a blessing.
We got some lovely photos of her with her family and I’m planning on making
them into a book for her for Christmas, as she does love to look at photos.
Asking for help
Overall, this week has been
pretty awful if I’m honest. I’m really struggling mentally at the moment and
recently asked to be referred to our local eating disorder service for some
help with coping with my eating disorder. I went to see them on Monday and
basically they are refusing to help me. To say I was devastated would be an
understatement. If I’m honest I was ready to drive my car into a tree, and I
have no idea how I managed to get myself safely home. I was quite frankly
disgusted with the way they spoke to me and subjected me to being weighed,
knowing they weren’t going to offer me any support. Their reasons for not
helping me are because they said they’ve already helped me once and that I don’t
fit their criteria (basically I’m not underweight enough). I just find it
ridiculous that someone needs to get to a point where they have compromised
their physical health to such an extent that their life is in danger before
they will be given help for a MENTAL illness. So, I’m at a complete loss about
what to do now. I’m still struggling and I’ve now been told I won’t be getting
any support, so I’ve just got to continue to struggle on my own. There’s only
so much I can do on my own and it scares me that I could potentially lose my
life because I don’t fit a certain criteria. You only have to look to the news
to see how much the mental health services in this country are failing
vulnerable people, but I just wonder how many people have to die before
something will be done.
Image from Weheartit
What has grabbed your attention this
week? I love hearing about people’s new discoveries and you may end up sharing
something that makes it onto my list next week!
As you may remember from
previous posts, I have started working with a great little company called Itty Bitty Book Company. They produce the cutest little books, filled with
inspirational quotes for any situation. In my work with them, I’ve decided that
every other week I will share a quote with you that I feel applies to my life
at that particular time. I love quotes and often turn to them when I need some motivation
and inspiration, so I hope that by doing this I can help to inspire some of you
too.
“Sometimes it’s OK if the only thing
you did today was breathe”
I picked this quote very
quickly this week. I knew I wanted to choose one from the ‘Strength’ book,
because the last couple of weeks have been incredibly difficult and I’ve needed
any strength I can possibly find. It just feels like everything is coming
crashing down around me right now and I’m feeling incredibly vulnerable. Doing
anything is taking me all the energy and strength that I have, so I particularly
like this quote as it makes you realise that there are some days where simply breathing
and staying alive is enough. I’m very self-critical and always put pressure on
myself to achieve highly, so this quote is something I find very difficult to
put into practise. But it’s something I definitely need to work on. I need to
realise that I don’t have to be perfect every day. I don’t even have to be
particularly great. I just need to give whatever I can and stay alive, and no
one can ask anything else of me. So, if you’re struggling to get through each
day right now, I’d really like you to take heed of this quote and congratulate
yourself for making it through today.
What quotes inspire you when things
are difficult?
I really hope you’re
enjoying this series of posts and that perhaps you’ve discovered a new blog or
two to follow. It’s so hard to just pick one blogger a month because there are
so many great bloggers out there – I’ve got a list longer than my arm of
candidates for my blogger of the month award! If you have a particular blogger
you’ve been loving recently, I’d love to hear about them.
So, let me introduce you to
my December Blogger of the Month; Charlie Joe over at SoFairIsShe.
I first discovered Charlie
via her YouTube channel, which I’m really enjoying following at the moment! Charlie
tends to upload more often on YouTube, but she does occasionally update her
blog as well, so I like to follow both, and thought I’d share with you a few
things that make her a blogger to watch.
Charlie
Charlie is a friendly and
warm 19-year-old from Suffolk, studying fashion in London and her personality
comes across really well, both through her blog and on her YouTube channel. She
seems like a really likeable person, which is probably why I enjoy watching her
videos so much, because I feel like I can really relate to her.
Make-up reviews
Like most of us bloggers,
Charlie loves make-up, and she does some brilliant reviews on both her blog and
YouTube channel. Her photos are beautiful and really capture what the make-up
is like, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do when it comes to make-up.
Eating out
Being a student, Charlie
likes to enjoy student life by eating out in nice bars and restaurants. Her
blog post about her visit to Bill’s restaurant particularly swayed me, as one
has just opened up near me and I’ve heard they are quite good at doing gluten
free options. Her photos definitely did the yummy food justice and I can’t wait
to try it out for myself!
Shopping
I think I can particularly
relate to Charlie’s love of shopping and she enjoys sharing her hauls on
YouTube for us all to see. She also gets invited to exclusive events, so it’s
always fun to see what she’s been up to recently.
Blogging
I always find it
interesting to hear about other people’s experiences of blogging, so I was
interested to read Charlie’s post about her return to blogging after having a
break. I’m really hoping she might do some future posts about her experiences
of blogging and perhaps pass on some of her experience to the rest of us.
Travel
Charlie recently did a
really helpful post about what she takes with her when she’s travelling – kind
of like a ‘What’s in my Bag’ but for travels. I really like this kind of post,
possibly because I’m so nosy! But it’s always fun seeing what other people
carry around with them in their bag.
Outfits
Some of my favourite posts
on Charlie’s blog are those when she shares her favourite new outfits. I always
find these types of posts helpful in finding things for myself to wear, and we
seem to have a similar taste in fashion so I feel that I can look to her for
inspiration. Her photos are natural and inspiring, which really help to lift
the posts off the page.
Make-up tutorials
I have to admit I’m still
pretty new to the whole make-up thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used make-up
since I was in my early teens, but I’ve only ever stuck to very plain and
natural looks and always stuck with what I know. But since I’ve started
blogging I’m trying to become more adventurous with the products I use, so I particularly
liked Charlie’s make-up tutorial for this gorgeous glittery eye. After all, who
can resist a bit of glitter?!
Videos
Although Charlie is a
blogger, she mainly vlogs these days, and YouTube is the best place to keep up
with her. I absolutely love her relatable videos about everything from fashion
and beauty to her daily life. I’m always checking back on YouTube to see if she’s
uploaded a new video and always make time to watch them when she has.
So, that just about sums up
my Blogger of the Month for December. If you’ve not checked out SoFairIsShe
before I really hope I’ve helped convince you to and that you’ve found a great
new blogger to follow.
I love to find new blogs to follow, so
if you have any recommendations I’d love to hear them.
Since I started blogging
I’ve come across so many amazing small businesses, and something I’ve tried to
do is share some of my favourites with you. I think it’s so important to
support small businesses and you can get some really individual products for
such a reasonable price. Whilst browsing on Instagram recently, I came across
Lilly and Belle and was blown away by the beautiful products they offer. So I decided to
contact the lovely Zuzana and ask her if she would be interested in working
with me on my blog, and thankfully she said yes!
A few weeks later I was
greeted by the most gorgeous parcel in the post, filled with handmade goodies
from Lilly and Belle. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of Zuzana and the
thought and care that went into making my products.
The toys came in little
mesh bags and were finished off with hand-drawn and coloured labels, which I
think are absolutely beautiful. Zuzana must spend so much time on her labels
and it really does finish the parcel off nicely.
I was sent three products
to review – a pink bunny, a gorgeous snowman and a doll bag charm. I can
honestly say they are simply beautiful. They are made to a really high quality
and would be great as gifts or just to keep for you. I see a lot of people
making crocheted products, but if you’re looking for quality and a nice size
then I would definitely recommend choosing Lilly and Belle. There are so many
other options available from cupcakes to dolls and from a wolf to a bunny
ballerina. Zuzana is also extremely accommodating and friendly, so I’m sure if
you had an idea she would be only too happy to work with you.
I thought you might like to
know a little bit more about Zuzana and her company, so I asked her a few
questions and found out that she is from the capital of the Slovak Republic,
Bratislava. Zuzana says she has always loved being creative – her Mum used to
create things with them when they were small kids and so it has been a part of
her life for as long as she can remember. She is currently a stay-at-home Mum
and has a 2-year-old son called Adam. Before this she studies Law and with her
work being not very creative, she decided to use creativity as a way to relax
at home. Since becoming a Mum she doesn’t have the time and patience to work on
sewing a piece of clothing over a period of days, so began to concentrate on
things she could do more quickly like wedding accessories, toys and
decorations.
Beside sewing and crochet,
Zuzana likes to knit, makes things from polymer clay and decorates cakes. She
only learnt to crochet this April and has loved it ever since! Her Etsy shop
was established in 2012, just to try it out at first. She says she would like
to be more successful in her shop, but with having a 2-year-old son her working
hours can be anything between 10pm and 2 am! So, needless to say, it usually
takes her more than one session to make anything!
From talking to Zuzana and
reviewing her products I have got such a good feeling about her shop, which is
obviously why I have decided to share it with you. With Christmas coming up I
thought now would be the perfect time to introduce you to her beautiful
products, which would make a great gift for anyone.
Have you ever ordered from Lilly and
Belle? Or do you have your own Etsy shop?
If you saw my last post
about ‘My Little Box’ you’ll know how much people are raving about this latest
subscription box service. They started off just sending boxes out to people in
France and Japan, but now they’ve come over to the UK and I mist say I’m
incredibly glad! I was so excited waiting for my next box to arrive, especially
after seeing some spoilers, so when the postman finally delivered it I was
quick to tear open the packaging!
As with the previous box, on
the inside lid of the brown box was a cute little illustration saying ‘Let’s
Stay Home.’ I think this is such a nice finishing touch and it’s something you
can keep to perhaps put in a scrapbook when you need cheering up. The November
Box is labelled the Cosy Box, which I think is perfect for this time of year
and I was intrigued to see what they had chosen to fill it with. As always, it
was displayed beautifully and tied together with a bow.
The first thing I found
when I undid the ribbon was another A5 print, this time of a lady curled up with
a good book and the quote ‘My favourite pastime is to let time go by, to have
time, to take my time, to waste time, to live out of time.’ I really love the
idea of these prints and it looks like it will be something they continue to
include each month. They would look great put in a frame and hung in an office,
or it might just be nice to keep hold of them to look through when you’re in
need of some inspiration. In this months box I also received the ‘My Little
World’ A5 magazine, which I’m really looking forward to flicking through. From
what I’ve seen so far, it seems to have a whole range of articles to read.
Underneath the print and
magazine was this microwavable wheat bag, which I absolutely love. I’ve
actually been meaning to buy a new one, because my old one went a bit funny, so
this came at the perfect time. I find these great for putting on aching muscles
or a sore tummy, which I seem to have a lot of, so this will definitely come in
useful.
A particularly cute
addition to this month’s box was this adorable little coffee cup, with the
phrase ‘How is your day gonna be?’ on the outside and on the inside it simply
says ‘happy.’ As you might be able to tell from the photo where my hand is
holding the cup, it’s a very small cup, probably made for espressos, so I’m not
100% sure what I’m going to use it for yet, but it would make a great
decoration.
The final thing I found in
My Little Box this month were the cosmetics. They came, like last month, in a
cute little cotton bag, which is always such great quality. The first thing I
picked up was the Star Liner Black Kohl Eyeliner, which I will definitely use
as I’m much happier using kohl than liquid! Next up was this gorgeous Essie
Nail Varnish, which I’m slightly confused about, as I’ve seen other people get
an eye shadow instead. But never mind, I’m sure I will use it! Then came the
‘My Little Beauty’ offering, which, this month, was a mascara, which I’m
looking forward to trying as I’ve really got in to using mascara recently and
can really notice the difference between a good mascara and a bad one.
So, that’s everything that
came in My Little Cosy Box this month and I’ve got to say it’s probably my
favourite box so far. I’m already so excited about next month’s box and I’m
keeping my eyes peeled for spoilers!
Are you a fan of My Little Box? Or is
there another subscription box that you would recommend?
A collection of things that happened in the month of
November
Here we are with my
penultimate monthly round-up of the year, and I honestly don’t know where this
last year has gone. I won’t dwell too much on what’s happened this year, as
I’ll leave that for December, so I’ll just focus on what’s been happening in my
life throughout November. I seem to say this in every round-up I do, but it
seems to have been another crazy busy month (well, for me anyway!) I began my
month by going on a little road trip to surprise one of my best friends who
lives in West Sussex. I tagged along with her parents and went to see her
perform in a concert. It was so lovely to catch up over some gluten-free pasta
in a cute little Italian restaurant afterwards.
November seems to have been
the month for medical appointments and I’ve racked up quite a few under my belt
over the last few weeks. It started off with an assessment with my local eating
disorder service, which unfortunately didn’t have a very positive outcome, but
more on that another time. The next appointment I had was a really important
one with a professor up at The Royal London. At this appointment I was
diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 3, which has left me with a lot of
mixed feelings. On the one hand it feels great to finally have some proper
answers, and a team who are happy to try and get to the bottom of my digestive
illnesses, but on the other hand it’s quite a scary thought being diagnosed
with a genetic condition that I know will never be cured. But there is research
being done all the time and they’re developing new drugs and treatments to help
people living with EDS, so I’ll be keeping up-to-date with all that.
I had a bit of light relief
a couple of days after my appointment in London, when I spent the day with my
friend Lilli. She took me for a little shopping trip in my wheelchair, then we
crashed out in front of the TV before driving down to watch some local
fireworks. I don’t get to have much of a social life due to my health not
really making it very easy, so I really do appreciate the times that I’m able
to get out and about with the friends I do have. I’ve always been quite wary of
using a wheelchair, but I’m beginning to realise that, without it, my life
would be even more limited, and to be honest it doesn’t really matter what
other people will think of me because only I know how I feel with these
illnesses.
This month I have also
finished going to all my University Open Days, which is good as I can now start
thinking about where I’d really like to go. I went to Bournemouth at the
beginning of the month, and really loved it there. I then went to Southampton
last week, and although it was completely different to Bournemouth, I got a
really good feeling about it as well. So I’m even more confused than I already
was now! I think a lot of it will depend on my grades at the end of my course,
but I’ve still got to get some thoughts together about which my top choice
would be if grades weren’t a factor.
I started this year with
one Christmas jumper, and thought that that was probably enough. But after
doing a bit of Christmas shopping, I’ve seen all of this years offering and
have been rather tempted I’m afraid! Firstly I picked up a Christmas pudding
jumper in Tesco when I went in with my Mum to get some food shopping – it was
all sparkly – how could I resist?! I then popped into our local Marks and Spencer
and saw this Percy Pig jumper. I knew immediately that I needed it in my life!
Then last weekend I popped into Primark and found a really cute gingerbread man
jumper, which just accidently fell into my basket as well. You’ll probably see
them making an appearance on my social media feeds if you follow me!
Things I’ve learnt this month…
+No matter how hard I try to live a normal life the
demons in my head won’t go away
+It’s amazing to finally find someone who believes
I’m not well
+Sometimes I wonder if there’s any point in asking
for help
+Having a chronic illness really makes life hard
+Some days I wonder if life really is worth fighting
for
+Some people have no idea how hard it is to be
chronically ill
+I never seem to be good enough
+It’s important to find something happy in every
single day
+I’m so tired of fighting
+I need a day between Saturday and Sunday!
What to look out for in December
Considering it’s coming up
to Christmas, there don’t seem to be many good DVDs being released this month.
Or perhaps I’m looking in the wrong places!? The only 2 I could find that were
of any interest to me were The Nut Job and The Inbetweeners 2. The Nut Job
comes out on the 8th and looks like your typical kids cartoon with
something for the adults type of movie. It’s got Liam Neeson and Katherine
Heigl in it, so I’m hoping it will be a good one to watch with the family over
the Christmas period. One which is perhaps a little less family friendly is The
Inbetweeners 2, which came out on the 1st. I’m a massive fan of The
Inbetweeners, so am excited to watch this film as I didn’t get the chance to
catch it in the cinema.
December is by far my
favourite month for TV. I just love all the shows they put on at Christmas.
From old favourites like your standard Christmas films or daily life in the
soaps, to new episodes of things like Doctor Who and Downton Abbey. So, what am
I looking forward to this December? First up is Doctor Who (BBC1) with Nick
Frost playing Father Christmas, which I can’t wait for! You’ve then got Downton
Abbey on ITV and I’ve heard rumours that both Tom Branson and Daisy are set to
leave in this Christmas special. I especially love Daisy, so I’ll definitely be
sad if the rumours are true. On BBC1 there is also set to be an adaptation of a
book by David Walliams called The Boy in the Dress. I remember Mr Stink last
year, which I absolutely loved, so I’m anticipating this to be just as good.
It’s also got an amazing cast with Jennifer Saunders and Kate Moss making an
appearance. We’ve then got Esio Trot (BBC1) which is Richard Curtis’s
adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic, starring Distin Hoffman and Dame
Judi Dench. There are so many other programmes I could tell you about, but we’d
be here all day, so I’ll leave you with the news that Miranda Hart has made two
final episodes, which will be shown on BBC1, and I for one will be sorely
disappointed if her and Gary don’t get their happy ending!
One of my favourite things
about December is going to the cinema loads over the build up to Christmas and
New Year’s Eve. And you’ll be pleased to hear there is plenty for you to watch
this month. You’ve probably already seen all the adverts for Paddington, so I
won’t talk about that too much. On the 5th the Penguins of
Madagascar will be released. I love the Madagascar series, so am waiting with
baited breath to see what this spin off will be like. You can’t possibly ‘do’
Christmas without going to watch a Christmas film, and this year there are two
offerings to choose from. First is Get Santa (5th December), which
tells the story of when Santa crashes his sleigh, ends up being mistaken for
fraud and is subsequently locked up by the police! The other Christmas film out
this year is Nativity 3: Dude Where’s My Donkey, which I’m excited to go and
see with my little sister. There is also another Night at the Museum coming out
this month, which will definitely be a good one to see in between Christmas and
New Year.
And obviously the last thing
we’ve got to look forward to this month is…CHRISTMAS! I’m really looking
forward to putting our decorations up, seeing family and friends and having
some time off from college. I’d love to hear all your plans!
Do you have any favourites or things
you’ve learnt in November? What are you looking forward to in December?
