Life’s not a competition

Happy Thursday everyone i hope you are all well and enjoying the new year so far.

This year i am wanting to improve on myself and my goals and ambitions yet struggle when it comes to comparing myself to others who seem to be excelling in life and going from strength to strength.

I can be really hard on myself at times and worry that i am not good enough and doubt my ability to do things which shouldn’t be the case as i know thinking these negative thoughts only prevents me from being happy and following my dreams and goals in life.

The worst place for comparing ourselves is to what we see on social media sites like Instagram, twitter etc and this is so unhealthy to do but judge people on the images they chose to share with their followers and leading them to believe there life’s are perfect, this is far from the truth (Not everyones life is as glamorous as they lead us to believe on social media and we need to stop thinking it is) Photos lie and so do people.

If you look at friends or people you went to school with and compare yourself to what they are doing in life we are all at different stages for different reasons not everything works out the way we planned in our minds things happen to change the direction we go.

• So what one of your friends married a footballer and have a range rover and a designer wardrobe (who cares).
• So what your friend got married before you and her wedding cost £15k and they honeymooned in the Maldives (who cares).
• So what someone you know moved to another country and landed a great job and go on yachts every week (who cares).
• So what someone you follow on Instagram has more likes on a photo you also put up or have more followers than you (who cares).

What i am trying to get at is comparing ourselves to others just frustrates us and prevents us from being happy with what we have achieved in our lives so far it doesn’t matter if you haven’t reached the goals you had set in life, the only person putting limitations on them is ourselves and we are our own worst enemies for that.

”  on your own grass without looking over your neighbours fence to see how there’s is growing, it’s not a competition who’s is the greenest or grows the fastest.”

I am 30 and ;

• I still don’t know what career i want in my life.
• I don’t have a mortgage or own my own house.
• I am not married.
• I have no children
• I don’t go on 4 holidays a year.
• I haven’t got expensive clothes hanging in my wardrobe.
• I don’t have a luxury car sat on my drive.

Because i haven’t got any of these things doesn’t mean i have failed, it just means i am not settling for less than what i want in my life, this year i want to focus on me and what i want.

This year we all need to focus on ourselves and stop worrying that others are doing better than us in life, thats what life is, there will always be someone with more money than you or has a bigger house, newer car, multiple holidays a year it doesn’t matter we create our own life’s to fit around us (it’s never to late to make a change).

Thanks for reading and following my blog x

Blogmas day #10 (Christmas on a budget)

Happy blogmas day number 10.

Christmas for most people means spending far too much money to the point they get in debt, spend all there monthly wages and struggle to live for the 1st couple of months in the new year, i know i have been guilty of this before.

The last 3 years i have realised its not about spending loads of money on presents, the older you get the less you want as most things cant be bought.

When i lived in Dubai my Christmas day was quite sad as i wasn’t with my family or the people i loved, the only gift i opened was a pair of flip flops and i spent Christmas with my Dubai friends who i had known 2 months, i realised that it wasn’t about how many presents i got under the tree it was about being with the people i cared about and who cared about me making new memories and being content with what i have got.

Christmas can be done on a budget and i will never go over the top as its a waste for 1 day, why on 1 day of the year do we all go over the top with spending and having the tree flooded with gifts, children get so many presents now they don’t remember half the things they get, its like a competition who gets the most gifts and who’s spent the most money.

• Set a budget and don’t go over
• Save money throughout the year o you aren’t short over Christmas as you still need to live and pay bills
• Buy presents throughout the year save on the big expense in just 1 month
• Buy 1 main gift
• Look for offers and deals
• Stocking fillers less than £5 each
• Buy from independent stores or small businesses
• Make your own cards to give out more personal

What i did last year was set a figure of how much i would spend on people i was buying for and not go a penny over or get side tracked along the way, me and Dan don’t spend loads on each other as when we want things throughout the year we will buy them for ourselves or save up for them.

I spend no more than £100 on Dan for Christmas to some that might not seem a lot of money but to me i don’t see why spending £500 on someone for 1 day is necessary, the older you get items become more expensive and some things just aren’t worth the money and i wont put myself in financial struggle to go over the top on gifts, maybe if i had lots of money i would view it differently but like most people in England who are paying for rent, cars, food, kids etc each month and struggling to get by its just not worth it.

I love this quote from Dr. Seuss in the film The Grinch, I believe this is very true Christmas cant be bought from a store and it does mean a little more.

Appreciate what you have got like your family, love and health because if material items make you happy then how happy are you really inside, they always say money doesn’t make you happy.

Thanks for reading x

Recap on the last week 4th Dec – 11th Dec

Happy weekly blog number 13 everyone, 

The last week has been filled with shopping, lots of Christmas films, playing a game for the 1st time ever and finally finding the best gluten free bread i have tasted in the last year.

Monday; My aim today was to find a Christmas jumper that i had seen advertised online at Aldi, yes Aldi they had loads of nice Christmas jumpers in for men, women and children priced better than the ones in Primark at only £7.99 each, I got my hands on the one i wanted which was a flamingo skiing Christmas jumper, i love flamingos and for one to be on a jumper i knew i just had to have it.

• Here is a photo of my Festive Flamingo jumper.

Tuesday; Today we decided to have a chilled day at home and for the 1st time ever i played the board game Monopoly, I had this game for Christmas back in 2001 and i never opened it as i wanted to keep it as it was The Disney edition anyway me, mum and Dan all played it for a couple of hours however i didn’t win but i did enjoy it and no doubt we will play again over Christmas.

Wednesday; We went to Mansfield as i wanted to have a look in the Primark they have there, it’s not as big as most Primarks but i did manage to get some bits i liked, i got a new jumper, a Mickey T-shirt and some rose gold sequin slippers i wanted we then popped to M&S as i wanted to look in the food hall at there Gluten free range and i was impressed with the selection, I picked up some gluten free chicken coujons, a small loaf and some chilli crackers it was quite pricey for these 3 items coming to £8.40, but it is the BEST GF BREAD i have tried all year as it doesn’t have that smell gf bread has and it taste like bread not metal.

Thursday; Today we went over to dans parents house to take the Christmas cards and get some bits from his childhood he wanted to keep and store at my mums house, we then went to see his Gran and took her a nice Christmas plant a poinsettia and a card she was really happy to see us and loved the gesture of the plant, we then come home and wrapped the last few presents we had stacking up and we watched The polar express with Tom hanks voicing most of the characters I love this film i watch it every December.

Friday and Saturday; 2 super chilled days i caught up with vlogmas on youtube and then wrote my blogmas posts, we watched a film Miracle on 34th street and i managed to watch Hairspray live which was better than Grease live they did early on in the year, i would recommend watching this if you haven’t seen it yet, last night i went to bed early as i wasn’t well with my stomach it bloated up and was so painful it made me cry, i am back to logging and tracking everything i eat as there is something making me poorly again.

This is what happened to my stomach last night, let me know if anyone else gets this with allergies to gluten and wheat as i am interested to know how it affects others.

Keep a look out for Mondays Blogmas as its a fun on for anyone who loves makeup.

Thanks for reding x

Blogmas day #9 (Christmas sale shopping tips)

Happy blogmas day number 9, 

This will apply to anyone who loves a bargain without having to leave your home.

The past few years (few being 5) i have always done my sale shopping online on Christmas eve morning, most stores go into sale ONLINE on the 24th December and the shops themselves will be in sale from BOXING DAY onwards some opening as early as 5am like Next for instance, i worked at Next throughout my college years and i always worked a 10 hour shift on sale days and we would always get 1st pick of all sale items the day before they went on sale to the general public.



• MY TIP; If you know someone who works at a Next store then get them to get the items for you as it saves you que-ing in the freezing cold to be pushed and shoved and fight over a £4 top, your better off getting the item code and writing a list of what you want and see if the person you know who works there is kind enough to pick them up for you.

The 1st site i go on christmas eve morning is always Boots as they have all the christmas perfume sets half price aswell aswell as all the 3 for 2 items, over the years i have gotten so many bargains and saved lots of money, i am more than happy to go without any presents from boots on christmas to open as i have saved myself a fortune shopping online in the sale the day before, i got 5 perfume sets last year and some Ted baker makeup all for less than £70.

• MY TIP; If you have seen something in Boots you like for yourself or maybe to put away for gifts for next year then buy them on the 24th online, as people are getting wise to the half price offers on boxing day and all the good stuff has gone by the time you get to the shop and you would have missed out.

Retail stores like River Island, New look and Topshop start to do offers and mark downs on clothes before they go into sale on Boxing day, but these shops are sneaky as they know in advanced whats going to be in the sale, they mark on the price tag in PENCIL what the sale price will be (for example; 0025) in the corner of the tag, if the item is £50 then its very likely its going to be reduced by 50% which is a huge saving and means you can buy more items in the sale and are getting more for your money.

• MY TIP; Keep a look out the week before christmas if you go in any of these shops and have a look on the labels and i guarantee they will have numbers in pencil written on them with the new sale price, shops can’t sell you these items until the day they officially go into sale at the pencilled price, so don’t make the mistake of buying it the week before when you could save yourself money the day after Christmas, I think we are all guilty of doing this once. 

My favourite shop of them all is Zara which unfortunatly for me they don’t go into sale online and instore until the same day, when it comes to the end of certain seasonal stock warehouses tend to have a lot of items left over they haven’t sold aswell as they hoped, these are the items that are normally reduced 1st, Zara sales aren’t as good as the others straight away as they only take a small percentage off items to start off with and then the bigger reductions tend to happen in January and thats when you can get some great bargains.

• MY TIP; When it comes to sale shopping online with Zara i always add the items to my basket a couple of days before the sales due to happen and then once the sale has started i go back into my online basket and see whats been reduced or sold out because i missed out, If you wanted to go into a Zara store when the sale is on then you are brave as its like a jumble sale gone wrong, its messy, untidy, unshoppable, ques for days and instantly puts you in a bad mood.

I hope this helps any of you that love a bargain as much as me and getting more for your money when it comes to shopping in the winter sales.

Thanks for reading x

Blogmas day #8 (Christmas memories as a child)

Happy late blogmas day number 8.

I thought i would tell you about Christmas for me as a child, as the older i have gotten the christmas magic has dissappeared and its doesn’t feel the same anymore, don’t get me wrong i still like christmas but its not what it used to be. 

I would always get so excited to go to bed early Christmas eve and leave out a mince pie, carrot and a glass of milk ready for his arrival in the night, i would always wake up in the middle of the night listening out for santas sleigh on the roof and the bells ringing from the reindeers, except this never happend, i used to ask my mum “How does Santa bring my presents?” as we didnt have an open fire place, as growing up it was a retro gas fire, my Mum used to say that he Used magic dust and that would make me more excited for his arrival.

Being an only child christmas for me was always a lonely time as i had no brothers or sister to play with Christmas day or share my toys with, i didn’t mind though as it meant i got spoilt rotten with lots of lovely gifts from all my family, I remember 1 year i think i was about 6 or 7 years old i got a Playmobil mansion house and it was my favourite present ever, i would play with this for hours on end and i still have this now in my Mums loft as it was something i never wanted to throw out.

I always knew it was nearly December when my Mum would give me the Argos or Index catalog to ring around the toys i wanted, i also used to be treated to some toys from the Early learning centre which is no longer around, i was allowed 10 toys and i always got 1 main present either a bike or my 1st computer, here are a few toys i remeber getting over the years.

Here are a few of the toys i got at christmas growing up in the 90s; 

• Cabbage patch kids
• Dream phone game
• Disney severn dwarfs
• Car mat
• Polly pockets
• Aladdin electronic game

Christmas for me was always quite boring the older i got as what i wanted became more expensive so i would get less and less presents, i was always given £100 from my mum and £100 from my dad they always got me seperate presents and they still do now every year even though they are still married to eachother, I have a huge family when it comes to aunties, uncles and cousins but i have never been close to them growing up and they would always give me crap thoughtless gifts or give me something i alredy had.

I am so glad i got to grow up in the 90s without social media and ipads as i was happy playing on the street with my friends on Christmas day with our new bikes, scooters or roller blades, The generation of children now are receiving ipads for Christmas or smart phones and they are ages 4 plus, they probably don’t write letters to santa, instead they just go in a toy shop and know what they are receiving as they have asked for it with no eliment of suprise Christmas morning.

Thanks for reading x

Blogmas day #7 (What to buy the woman who has everything)

Happy blogmas day number 7,

What to buy the woman who has everything? and the answer isn’t NOTHING! 

Today is all about buying that present for the girl/ woman who has everything, here is my picks, tips, do’s and don’ts on what i suggest to buy them.

Firstly i am that girl that has everything and never needs anything, some would say i am hard to buy for, which i would say is sometimes true but if people made the effort to ask or find out what i liked they would have a better understanding and know not to waste there money on things i don’t use, like or need.

Do;

• If they have social media i would look on there to get an idea of what they like or are into as there maybe some clues. If not ask someone who’s closer to them than you are or make an effort and find out for yourself as there is no harm in asking. 
  
• Get a figure in mind of how much you want to spend on them, whether its a secret Santa gift at work or a relative you don’t know so well or even your mum,sister, wife or daughter.
• Research into there interests, hobbies, shops they like, if they like coffee, reading, collecting anything.

Don’t;

• Buy them chocolates; this is too easy and simply quite a boring gift, unless they specifically like a box of milk tray or thorntons, don’t get them this.
• Bath products are a no no; this is up there with the worst gift you could get, people are more than capable of buying bath creams and shower gel in a supermarket, so when they get it for Christmas its a thoughtless gift, as some people are allergic to certain brands, i am allergic to soap and glory and imperial leather as it brings me out in rashes and makes my skin itchy, so bare this in mind for other people.
• Money; this is an easy way out for someone who doesn’t know the person they are buying for very well and hasn’t taken the time to ask or find out what they like to make an effort in buying them a nice gift.
• Wasting your money; don’t waste your hard earned cash on a meaningless, thoughtless gift for it not to be wanted or kindly appreciated by the receiver, take the time to get to know them or ask someone who knows them better than you do.

Here is a few ideas i came up with for the perfect present for the person who has everything;

• If they enjoy going to Starbucks or Costa or both, I would recommend a gift card to spend in the shop as it would be used on there favourite drink or a travel coffee mug, here are 2 i found from Argos online.

• The Costa travel mug is £10.79
• The Starbucks travel mug is £8.63 

• High street shopping vouchers, this may seem like a cop out gift but i asure you money is worse than vouchers, as its easy to waste money on things we don’t need i.e fuel in the car or paying for some milk and bread in the shop as the money was kept in your purse and before you know it you’ve got nothing to show for that £20 that was put in your Christmas card from your auntie. Lots of vouchers can be bought from supermarkets for all kinds of stores and restaurants, if they enjoy Nando’s get them 1 for there or Topshop, Debenhams and so on, plus with vouchers everything always seems free when you buy the items and they last for ages too.
• Candles, who doesn’t like a candle? I am yet to meet anyone without a candle obsession, this is a nice gift if you know what kind of scent they like whether clean cotton smells, fruity sorbets or vanilla scents, there are so many places to pick nice candles up from nowadays, i would recommend either Yankee candle, tk maxx, Next or The white company all depending on your budget as most of these will start from £5 plus.

• Top photo are from the white company and come in a set of 3 at £35.
• Bottom left are from Next starting from £4 each.
• Bottom right are from Yankee candle and start from £7.99 plus. 

• A new phone case; everyone has a phone and everyone needs a phone case or a selection to swap and change or is that just me? Anyway i think this is a nice gift especially for secret Santa, find out what phone they have and get one personalised with their initials or with something they like on the back, ebay is the best place to look for these as there are so many to choose from you will be stuck for choice.

• Marble phone case to fit most phones available from eBay starting at £5.99, these are nice and personal and a great gift in my opinion as they are bang on trend and a fun/stylish accessory. 

• A new mug / cup – who doesn’t drink hot drinks? Everyone loves a new mug i know i do, lots of shops are doing them now with initials on or if you want to spend a little more you could have one hand painted with a name on from Emma Bridgewater, which is a lovely keepsake, here are few i found online which would be a great gift.

• Top left mugs are from Anthropoligie, they are priced at £8 each.
• Top right are from Bombay duck company and they range from £13.95.
• Bottom left are from Emma Bridgewater, they are personalised starting from £22.
• Bottom right are from Matalan priced at £5 each (I have one of these and i love it).

This concludes my ideas on what to buy the person who has everything, if they have one of each of these gifts i recommended, then ya stuffed.

Thanks for reading x

Recap on the last week 17th – 24th October

Happy Tuesday everyone, Yes i am sorry i am a day late writing my weekly blog but thats because i have finally MOVED HOUSE…

The last week has been a emotional rollercoaster, I have moved 8 times in the last 4 years and i still hate it, moving house has got to be one of the most stressful things in life to do.

Me and Dan had been so busy all last week packing and more packing, as we have moved from a 3 bedroom house to a double bedroom at my parents house until we move to America next year, Its going to be cramped and hard work but it is free and we can save so much money living there as we aren’t paying out over £1,000 a month in rent and bills now, so thats a huge positive for us.

We have recently decorated our room at my parents house as well as the lounge as my mums had our sofa and a few bits of furniture we where getting rid of, it looks like our old home to be honest and its super cosy, i will post pictures of the process of us decorating it as its still got a few bits left to do, i.e mirror and pictures to be hung on the walls.

This is a picture in the process from painting my mums living room all ivory to get the walls lighter as they where very dark before in terracotta and dark green colours, this made it easier to apply the classic cream and cookie dough paint as it needed 2 coats which is less than we anticipated, My mum had a new carpet throughout the house too which is this lovely mink colour in the bottom right photo, its called rodeo drive in the shade Oyster from B&J carpets in Sutton.

This is a picture of our room at my parents house before we started putting furniture in it as its cramped and snug for 2 people, we have the same carpet as the lounge and ivory walls with my old curtains from our house, i have listed below where the items are from.

• Curtains; The Range 
• Tie backs; B&M
• Lamp shade; Dunelm 
• Curtain pole; Jysk 
• Hanging heart; Brambells
• Carpet; B&J Carpets in the shade Oyster

Over the weekend we tried to chill as much as possible as we had a busy week redecorating and packing, so we wanted to do nothing and be lazy as we knew Monday was going to be manic and tiring, and it certainly was that, I am so glad we have moved now and all settled for a few months before we do it all again “oh the stress”.

This week will be back to normal for blogs and i am off to Meadowhall this week so i will do a shopping haul next week.

Thanks for reading.x

How to get more likes and followers on Instagram

Happy Thursday everyone.

I am going to give you some tips and tricks on how my Instagram account has grown by 100 followers just from taking good photos in a week.

I have a normal account nothing special about it my main image is my brand and logo which is Natural Blonde and i always write in the bio what my Instagram page consist of and what kind off followers i am aiming my page towards.

The bio is important as it tells people what they can find on you page and if thats something they would be interested in (on mine i have Gluten free, wheat free, fashion, Interior design, style, makeup and much more) I also have my link for my blog on their too for people to go and view.

Tip

If you are adding images of a mouldy banana or a crisp packet this isn’t appealing to your followers and not what your page is about, some people have personal accounts just for friend and family and then one for taking pictures of their home or fashion, makeup, quotes, avocado on toast on a marble table with freshly squeezed orange juice and beautiful flowers as a centre piece (Take pride in your photos and what you post).

Its key what image goes in your main photo as this is what people look at when they are searching through liked images or recommended followers plus the first 9 images on your account are what makes people want to add you as a friend, as people get bored of looking through more than that to keep them interested.

Tip

Tag and hashtag everything in the image whether it be a cup of tea using Yorkshire tea bags or the cushions on the sofa from Next as these may get a liked by the company or used on their page which has more followers and this enables more people to see your image and view your instagram account and follow it.

Here are some screen grabs from my Instagram page and the images i post.

I use apps for my photos to make them more clearer or to add other filters depending on the image, these are a few i would recommend getting if you are wanting to expand and create better photos on your page.

Here are some i use everyday; They are all free and available in the app store.

• Snapseed
• Repix
• Ps Express
• Picmonkey

Instagram do have some good filters and features, i tend to use Valencia or Clarendon a lot as they give the most brightness to the images, Editing your own on Instagram is good too as i always use the brightness filter i at +20, the contrast at + 15 and sharpen at + 50 these make the images more clearer and crisp, here is an example of an image i used with these filters from a selfie i took yesterday.

Tips

Its all about the staging of the photo and the placement, where has the best lighting in the house or making sure there is no socks on the radiator when taking a photo in the bedroom or pots and pans in the sink in the kitchen when showing off your new Emma Bridgewater mugs, use natural light as its the best or the HDR feature on the iPhone i find is really good.

Make sure the area you are taking the photo is clean and clear, who cares if there is loads of mess behind you nobody can see that, place the items side by side or take the image looking down on them, it all depends what your photographing, this is an image i took last week and got over 175 likes in 1 day and its only lipstick.

It is the new lipstick from Youtuber Tanya Burr in the shade Birthday cake and i wanted to take a photo of it on my iphone 5s using my new xmas hanging star decoration in the background and i used a filter on Repix called Flares and then the filters i always use on Instagram with the brightness and contrast.

Some people delete images if they havent received enough likes and thats bizarre to me as i post these images as i enjoy capturing these moments, products, places i’ve been etc plus for me blogging and vlogging i am trying to find my niche of who like my images and follow me on my social media and YouTube.

Enjoy what you do and capture images to look back o memories once forgotten.

Hope this has been a little helpful x