I'M BACK

HELLO ♥

Sorry I went away for a while, life just got busy and things changed quite a lot which made me lose my motivation a little. But I'm back on track now and feeling good as I have just been offered a new job as a carer for people with mental health issues and learning disabilities. This is a complete change for me and more along the career path I want to follow, a start to my journey of becoming a counsellor one day. 

I have also moved house now and it's a much better location than where I lived before, plus there's a cute dog which I have a photo of on my instagram (@lilyy22), she is the most adorable thing you have ever seen. 

Anyway I hope you're all okay, let me know whats been going on in your lives I'm interested to hear about it. :) 

I have set myself a goal this month to cook more, and make sure what I do cook is healthy. People who know me know I'm not a chef and usually turn to the mircowave when it comes to meal times, so bad for me I know. But I plan on changing that starting from now and I will keep you updated on my progress. Another goal I would like to achieve is going dairy free so if anyone has any tips on how to make this easier please let me know! I also want to do more healthy snack reviews so expect some of those soon!

Just wanted to give you a quick update, new post will come soon, thank you for reading. :)

Love from Lily xxxx

SOMETHING FOR THE INTERIOR DESIGN FANS

Hey everyone!

I'm back! Hope you all had a lovely New Year, mine was pretty quiet but I didn't mind, I like drinking etc but I can take it or leave it. What did you all do for NYE? Anyway, today I'm going to show you some awesome design ideas for Christmas or any party season really, all the photos were taken at my mums house and everything you see was made by her.

So beautiful right? I think that taking the extra time to add personal and creative touches to your home really does make a difference, it makes you happy as well. I love that she uses natural materials such and pine cones sticks and flowers to create some of the displays, but I also really enjoy the colourful baubles all bunched together underneath a light or window to show the full effect.

Let me know if you would like instructions on how to make any of these things and I will do another post on it! That's all from me for today, not a very chatty post I know but I just wanted you to enjoy these photos and get some ideas for your own homes.

Love from Lily xxxx 

I WON

Hello everyone and merry Christmas!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day, I'm sat here taking a break from board games (I don't have the patience for cluedo with the grandparents) to write this little post telling you about some lovely beauty products I won a few months back and the trouble I had to go through to get them.

So it all started when I entered a competition on Twitter through FeelUnique.com to win the Yes To skincare range. I didn't think anything would come of it as I had entered competitions like this before and never won anything, but this time I did! When I got the notification on my phone I was so excited I called my mum to tell her about the goodies I had won. They DMed me to ask for my address and I sent it to them right away. A week passed and still nothing had arrived, I felt a little disheartened but told myself these things take time and they were probably sorting it. Another week went by and I decided to email them to check what was  going on and they said they were shocked that Yes To had not sent the products yet and would chase it up for me.

I started to feel hopeful again, but then another week ended and I thought that's it they are not going to sent it. I was pretty fed up at this point and took to Twitter to ask other people if they had received their prizes and surprise  surprise they said no! We mentioned  feel unique in our tweeting session and they decided to do something about it and explained they had a lot of prizes to send so that was why it was taking so long. That's fair enough but it shouldn't take over a month!

So a month and a week later I came home to a white box with snowflakes on it placed on my bed, I could not wait to rip that thing open after all of the fuss I'd had! Inside was everything shown in the photo above: yes to carrots day cream, yes to coconut shampoo and conditioner, yes to blueberries body wash, yes to cucumber facial wipes and yes to tomato face mask. I have tried out all of the products now and they all smelt lovely but for some reason my skin didn't like the wipes and day cream and they made it go all red whenever I used them. My favourite was the face mask it was a clay one which I find to be the best when it comes to masks and after washing it off my face felt so clean and refreshed. I think it was a nice range to try but choose carefully before splashing out on their products and be sure to get the right one for your skin type. If you don't know what type you are I have a post that explains them HERE.
That's all from me for today I'm going back to being festive, please leave a comment letting me know what you did for Christmas or if you have tried any of the yes to skincare range as I would love to hear about it! Thank you for reading!

Love from Lily xxxx

10 WAYS TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL HAPPY ☺

Hi Everyone :)

We all feel down from time to time and the worst thing is when you don't know how to deal with it. I'm no expert but I thought I would share with you some things which I do to try and keep my mood up and a smile on my face. So sit back with a cup of your favourite tea, get your cosy socks on and enjoy this post because no matter what things will always get better!

1. Put on your favourite outfit 

Even if you are just sitting at home not doing anything, take a shower, put on a full face of makeup and wear an outfit that you know looks good on you. This might seem like a lot of effort but trust me, once you have done it you will feel a little bit better and the process of doing this will take your mind off whatever is making you sad.

2. Get in touch with an old friend

It might not seem like it, but there are lots of lovely people around you that you might have forgotten about because of a problem you've had on your mind. Just send them a little message and see how they are doing, they will undoubtedly be happy to hear from you and once you get chatting who knows where it will lead. Surrounding yourself with positive caring people will make your life so much better and it all starts with taking a few minutes to reach out to them.

3. Tell yourself it's going to be okay

Say it out loud. I know this sounds a bit weird but just say it, regularly. Whatever you want from life tell yourself it's going to happen. Therapists say this works and at first I thought it was nonsense, but it really does help.

4. Call your Mum (or other close family member)

People come and go from your life, but the one person who will always be there for you is your Mum. You can shout, scream, cry and she will still be there so just let it all out.

5. Binge watch your fave TV show

Sometimes all you need is a distraction, get Netflix on and just watch an entire series of a show you enjoy, preferably something funny. This is not a long term solution, but if it gets you through the night with minimal bad thoughts then go for it.

6. Treat yourself

Buy yourself that thing you have wanted for ages but couldn't justify getting. The reason for buying it is because it makes you happy and that's as good as any! For me it would be some Benefit makeup or a nice fluffy jumper from M&S.

7. Go to the gym

It doesn't have to be for long but just venturing out and getting some exercise out of the way will make you feel like you have achieved something and little things are important to make you smile. Small steps working towards being in charge of your own happiness and not letting your problems and anxiety take over.

8. Say 'yes' to things you normally wouldn't

When we feel down it's so easy to just isolate ourselves and refuse any offers to do things. However this is just setting yourself up to feel even worse, so try and break out of your comfort zone and make that extra effort to agree to things, you never know you might even have fun!

9. Set goals for yourself

Make a list of things you want to achieve in the short term (for the week) and in the long term (by the end of the year) and tick them off as you complete them. This will make you aware of the things you are doing right in your life rather than dwelling on the things that are going wrong.

10. Try to keep a tidy living space

Now this one I struggle with following myself, but I know that every time after I've had a big tidy up I feel so relaxed and happy. It's true what they say 'tidy room tidy mind' or however the saying goes you get the idea!

So there's my list of things to make yourself happy, I hope it helps you and you can always revisit it when you need a little boost. See you next time!

Love From Lily xxxx 

MY FAV ASOS FINDS! ❤

Hi Guys!

We all know that asos.com is one of the best places to do you online clothes shopping and with Black Friday coming up what better time to do it! The only thing is there is so much to choose from you can be on there for hours, so I thought I would make it easier by showing you a few of my favourites that you might like too.

T-shirts

LINK

LINK

I'm loving slogan tees at the moment, they're such a fun way of expressing your style.

Knitwear

LINK

LINK

Every girl needs a chunky knit cardigan in their wardrobe for winter, personally I am a fan of grey or dusty pink/purple.

Dresses

LINK

LINK

I have always been a fan of shift and A-line dresses and the shirt dress trend is one not to be missed, it's one of those styles that looks good on everyone.

Shoes

LINK

LINK

If you're going to make a statement, what better what to do it than with shoes. Show off your personality with a pop of colour or a soft suede (faux obvs).

Bags

LINK

LINK

Black bags go with everything, and these two are super cute for everyday use.

That's all for now, remember to look for pieces that can be styled in several different ways to get the most use out of them. Don't forget to take full advantage of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals guys!!

Please let me know your favourite ASOS finds in the comments as I would love to see them :)

Love from Lily xxxx

Life Update #2

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all well, just thought I would do a little post to let you know what I've been up to lately. Firstly I have recently started a new job at Starbucks, I used to work there but I decided to come back when I saw that there was a new store opening close to me. I'm currently doing my training and it's so weird to be a new-old person if that makes any sense? I remembered quite a bit but of course there's plenty to catch up on and things that have completely changed that I didn't know about, but I'll get there! I'm so excited to meet the new team I will be working with but it will be a few weeks until that happens. I will keep you updated about how it goes when I start at my store.

The second thing I have been focusing on is trying to get sorted for Christmas. There is so much to do and I know if I don't make an effort to get on with it then it will creep up on me and everything will be done in a panic, which is not what I want as this will be the first Christmas I stay home and spend  with Jack. We have decided on a black Christmas tree with silver decorations, I have even got silver wrapping paper and tags to match the theme. I like that it's something a little different, I have never been into traditional style. So far present-wise I have two for Jack, my mum's and my nan's so I still have a few to get before I've finished! Plus I don't know if I am seeing my family in person to give them their presents after Christmas or if they want them posted, that part is all a bit up in the air at the moment. It should be good though, I have an image in my mind of our perfect day together, opening presents, having a lovely dinner and watching a film with a nice cozy blanket. Let's hope it goes to plan! I will be looking to Pinterest for my decor and foodie ideas, but more on that later.

Another thing I have been seriously considering for a while now is becoming vegan, after watching many videos about it on YouTube from people such as Freelee the Banana Girl and Kalel it made me realise how disgusting the dairy industry really is. The way they use and abuse those animals is heart-breaking and we basically choose to ignore it because the reality of it all is so unpleasant and people don't want to recognize they are supporting this. I admit I am one of those people right now, I still eat cheese, chocolate and yogurt. I no longer drink cow's milk and am trying to gradually stop eating one product at a time. I understand they are hard to give up, I really do. However there are alternatives for eeeeeverything so I am going to get those instead and see how it goes. Not preaching at you guys, I just feel people should be aware of what happens to the animals before they make their choice of whether to eat them/their products or not, a little bit of education never hurt anyone.

Anyway I think that's all for today I'm going to make some dinner and enjoy the rest of my evening, I hope you do the same. See you in the next post!

Love from Lily xxxx

HOW TO SAVE MONEY OVER CHRISTMAS

Hi guys!

I don't know about you but most of the time I avoid checking my bank balance (unless it's payday) because I'm scared of what I will see. That being said there are a few things that I do to try and save a bit of cash and thought I would share them with you.

1. Sell things on eBay - any old clothes that are still in decent condition, my boyfriend's PS4 games that he no longer plays, old phone cases that don't fit anymore, any jewellery or hair items that I don't use, you won't make loads but it helps when you need a little extra.

2. When buying things online always type in '[shop name] discount codes' into google and 9 times out of 10 you will be able to get a cheeky percentage off your shop.

3. Take advantage of deals when food shopping e.g buy seasonal fruit and veg (it's always cheaper, will probably be at the front) and don't be scared to buy store brand food, it's basically the same you are just paying extra for the brand label and if you don't believe me check the ingredients!

4. Sign up to stores emailing list - They have flash sales that only you will know about (tends to be week day evenings or lunch time), they will send you discount codes and its free so why say no?

5. Go points card crazy! Just get a points card for everywhere, make sure you register it and keep it in your purse at all times. They add up and you won't regret it when you get free coffees, money off makeup, clothing discounts and with a Nectar card for example you can spend your points on eBay so just buy doing a food shop that could mean a free xmas present for someone!

6. Don't be scared to ask - Staff of most stores will be happy to help you get the best deal and there could be something you've missed so don't be scared to check with them if there are any promotions on or that will be happening in the near future.

That's all I can think of for now, if there is something I have forgotten I will be sure to update this post or if there is anything you do please leave a comment and let me know! Thank you so much for reading and I hope this helped.

Love from Lily xxxx