goodbye, 2015.

2015, you've felt like a decade. There have been many changes and challenges, as well as beautiful and happy moments. I feel like I'm ending this year so much happier than I started it. I feel more myself, more calm and at peace with life.

Here's what happened.

merry christmas!

Just a quick one to say that I hope all of you are happy, safe, content.. I wish you a lovely day, whatever you may be doing! 

After not feeling very festive this whole Christmas period, it finally hit me yesterday during a frenzy of baking. I shared a few photos of this on my Facebook page & Instagram! It's unlikely that I'll be posting here for a couple of days, as I want to enjoy some more special time with my special people, but you can keep up with what I'm doing over on those platforms instead!

Huge hugs, kisses, hand-holds, affections of all kinds.

xxxxxxx

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have a cosy christmas!

Oh my goodness, Christmas is soooo soooooooon!!! Does anyone else live in loungewear over Christmas, or is it just me? I mean, I hate getting dressed at the best of times, but at least over the holidays it feels acceptable. 

Here are some of my cosy festive plans and traditions. 

getting that festive feeling.

It's been tricky getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I think recent life stresses have put me a little off kilter, and usually by now I'd be listening to Christmas tunes, wrapping all the lovely gifts, decorating my lounge, having Christmas meals and mulled drinks at any opportunity.. but I'm just not feeling it. 

In order to feel more positive about this festive season, I thought I'd share all the things which ARE making me feel happy and jolly!

my new do & how to keep it healthy.

Soooo I got my hair did about a million days ago now, so I thought I better show you my new 'do in all its glory, and share my hair routine with you too - how I keep it soft and healthy!

8 ways to get a more restful sleep.

Aaahhhh bed. My favourite place. I get in there every night hoping to sleep through the night and wake up refreshed. More often than not, I fall asleep too late, wake up very hour or two, and in the morning I feel even more exhausted than when I went to bed. 

I don't think recent stresses, excitements and Christmas-related stuff has really helped, but there's no excuse! Let's all try to sleep better! Starting now! 

a pastel christmas.

Last night was the #BlogClub Christmas party with Bath & Unwind, and it was so much fun! Quite often, you catch me wearing dark colours, but blogger parties (especially Christmas ones!) are a very good excuse to crack out something shiny, sparkly, or special.

books for everybody!

Is there much better than escaping into a book? I loved reading when I was younger, but in my early 20s I was poorly and it affected my concentration - I could barely read a sentence, let alone take it in. Now, I'm getting back into it. 

Books are such a lovely gift - they are something to keep and treasure, something to flick through again and again. 

Here are five lovely books that would make great presents for all sorts of people! 

goodbye, happy home.

This was my home.

through new eyes.

This post has been a long time coming... whoops! But finally, I'm getting around to showing you my shiny new glasses. 

I don't think I've ever actually been to an optician, and every time you've seen me wearing specs on here, they've actually just been prescription-less lenses. So when Vision Express invited me down to get my eyes tested & to check out their new collaboration with Joules, I was weirdly excited to see how well my eyes were holding up.

give with love - the big reveal.

I mentioned recently that I was taking part in a bloggers' secret Santa, and today I'm sharing what I got sent, and who sent it to me, in a little video! 

4 christmas cocktails!

A Very Merry Christmas! 

Cocktails are great, aren't they? I love that sometimes they taste like they have no alcohol in at all.. and they can mix unusual flavours into something crazy delicious! Aldi sent over a whole bunch of spirits and challenged me to make some Christmas cocktails... and here's what I made!

#AutumnTimeSurpriseProject !

I mentioned this little project the other day in my blog post about alternative ways to give gifts, and today I get to reveal what my secret sender sent to me... in a little video! Yay! Hi!

taking care of number one.

Sometimes that means running a bath and eating cereal. Sometimes it means going for a run or a walk. Sometimes it means doing what will make YOU feel better, and not worrying about what everyone else thinks.

cosy on up.

a little bit of love - self care box.

I am no stranger to mental health issues, and I think it's important to talk about it whenever appropriate - you've probably seen me mention it on here multiple times! One thing many of us do to ease depression and anxiety is practise self care. I have a whole blog post on that coming soon, but today I'm going to focus on the self care subscription box.

There are a few similar subscriptions boxes out there aimed at self care, but I was sent this new albobox to see what the deal was.

authentic indian street food in bristol.

If you live in Bristol, you've probably heard of The Thali Cafe - authentic Indian food which started on the festival scene & then they opened up a restaurant in Montpelier, followed by Clifton, Easton, Totterdown and (my local) Southville. 

They've recently got a new Indian grill which is actually on the restaurant floor (you can just about see it in the left of the photo below) which I love, because it means you get to watch your food being cooked! 

I was invited down to try the menu on a quiet Sunday evening, and it did not disappoint..

6 alternative ways to give gifts.

Gift giving season is lovely, isn't it? But it's not just about wrapping presents to put under the tree for your loved ones - at least not for me, not this year! Here are a few of my favourite alternative ways that you can give gifts.

healing & warming chicken stew.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you've probably noticed that I've been feeling rather poorly lately. A horrible cold has morphed into a chest infection, and I'm feeling very sorry for myself. On Tuesday I managed to haul myself out of bed and cook this really easy chicken stew, which has been keeping me going for a few days, and it feels like it's healing me.

what to wear to an autumn wedding.

Ooooh I do love a wedding! But I've never been to a chilly one, as they've always been in the summer months. This Friday, I'll be heading to a wedding a few miles north from here, and this is what I'm thinking of wearing. 

TGIF!

Ohhhhh my god writing this blog post is making me so hungry. Is it ok to eat a hotdog at 10am? Maybe don't read this if you're currently on a diet, having salad for tea, or you're patiently waiting for lunchtime to FINALLY arrive.

A little while back, we were invited down to TGI Friday's to try a few new bits and bobs on their menu! And it was gooooooooood.

cosy colour.

Yeah, I'm still banging on about it.... COLOUR!! I've actually been wearing quite a lot of black over the past couple of days in Manchester, so it's nice to be looking at these colourful photos of one of last week's outfits. I liked this ensemble so much, in fact, that I wore it 3 days in a row. Kind of gross but.. I changed my underoos and my top so it's ok, right? RIGHT?!

sk:n.

Now that my skin is starting to actually calm the heck down, I'm more inclined to try out different products. I used to have skin that would break out in spots over the tiniest little change, but now - whether it's due to diet, my Clarisonic, or just being a little older - I can use different brands' cleansers and moisturiser without too much fear of that happening.

Despite my skin behaving a little better these days, I still make sure I use products which are suitable for sensitive skin. I've had reactions in the past that have left me with a red, itchy rash on my face, and I like to try to avoid that, funnily enough! 

All of sk:n clinic's cleansers, moisturisers and serums are meant to be fine for sensitive skin, so I gave four of them a go! Here's how I got on..

national chocolate week with waitrose.

Mmmm.... the perfect end to a busy week. As I mentioned the other day, it's National Chocolate Week! Here's a delicious chocolate mousse & double chocolate cookies recipe, and some delicious wines to pair with it!

bugs & boots.

Feeling like these bare legs will have to be hidden away very soon, or at least covered with some nude tights! This actually also involved a coat in reality, but I am not quite ready to be completely covered up in my outfit posts yet..

3 favourite chocolate recipes.

I really don't think you need an excuse to eat chocolate, but if you do, you're in luck! It's National Chocolate Week, OMG. Get that chocolate in you, quick! It's the law!

If you fancy whipping up some chocolatey treats for yourself/friends/family - who am I kidding, you're not ACTUALLY going to share, are you?! - here are my three favourite chocolate recipes.

how to heal your chapped skin.

It's not even really that cold yet, and my skin is already suffering. My elbows and hands especially. They get so sore and dry, and no matter how much moisturiser I slather on, it just disappears into my skin and doesn't seem to make much difference.

9 things to be grateful for this autumn.

Hey you, sorry I disappeared there for a while. Life can be tough, and I'm dealing with some issues in mine right now and I'm struggling a little, as are many of the beautiful people I know. Here are some things that are making me smile lately, and maybe you can find the joy in them too.

how to wear colour on a rainy day.

I'm guilty of it, and so is much of the world, it seems... on a rainy, grey day, everyone is dressed in their dark coloured coats and boots. Well, you know what guys. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF IT. 

This autumn and winter, I'm doing my best to live a more colourful life. This includes not letting myself get stuck in the rut of wearing black and dark colours all throughout the cold months. 

accessorize @ #bristolfashionweek

Bristol Fashion Week is coming around again, kicking off on 30th September! As with the event earlier in the year, us bloggers were lucky enough to have a special preview - this time at the beautiful Accessorize store.

an autumnal lounge make over!

How I got to this bright, colourful, put-together space, from this -

santa ponsa, majorca!

I thought I'd share some holiday snaps with you while it's all still fresh in my mind, I'm feeling fresh, and not too sad about leaving it all behind. This was mine & Nick's first holiday together, and it was full of sun, swimming, and sangria! 

all we do is pretend.

I don't talk about music enough on my little corner of internet, which is silly because I LOVE music. It's a very important part of my life. And I'm lucky enough to know a lot of wonderfully talented people, like these chaps - Tourists.

here in my room.

You know when you're reading blogs - do you ever want to picture the blogger writing it? Where they're sitting, what they're wearing.. not in a creepy way, mind. Admittedly, I do often write from bed, but on this sunny Sunday I was working from my desk. 

the mall chocolate challenge!

Yep, you read that right - chocolate challenge - and yep, that IS a sausage roll. But hear me out! 

Hotel Chocolat at Mall Cribbs challenged me and a few other bloggers to create a recipe using some of their products. What I didn't expect was that the products they chose for me were cocoa pesto and cocoa ketchup!!

last few drops of summer.

Just a quick one to say I'm off to soak up the last of the sun over in Majorca! I'm off with my boy for about a week - but fear not, there are some blog posts scheduled here, and I'll hopefully be sharing some holiday snaps over on Instagram! 

Byeeeeeeeee!

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