Merry Christmas 2015

For me this Christmas has been amazing, Dan got it off work and it's been a period full of family, feasting, bubbles, charades and lots of laughter, not to mention presents. 

Dan and I are lucky as we always get two Christmas's, one at my parents and one with his family, and although there is some travelling in between, it's so nice to see so much family over one period. 

So, here's a look at Christmas 2015, definitely one to remember. 

 A trip back home also means spending time with this cheeky chappy.

There sitting room was in absolute carnage come the end of the day.

The festivities won't stop for long though, soon it'll be NYE and dancing the night away, whilst planning how to make 2016 even better still!

Getting Ready For Christmas: Harry Potter and Home Decorating

Five days before Christmas and I am finally in the full spirit of Christmas. I've been to Harry Potter in the Snow, decorated the flat and wrapped all of my presents. Want to get in the festive spirit, grab a mulled wine, or hot chocolate with Baileys and flick through the below.

Learning To Be Good With Money

As Christmas is the buzz word on everyone's lips right now, I thought I'd go a bit left field and talk about how to save and prepare yourself for the financial strain. 

Tips on how to overcome Blogger Burnout

We've all been there, when Blogger Burnout strikes and all you want to do is unplug and retreat into something other than a cyber existence for a while.

Nine Tips On How To ReBalance After A Tough Week

In terms of work life balance, the last week or so has been totally off kilter. I'm talking so much going on at work that I ended up working on days off, and rescheduling plans to accommodate it. It was frustrating to say the least, but rather than get all Debbie Downer on it, I'm slicing those lemons, adding hot water and turning it into something good. 

What Feeling Sexy Means For Me

When it comes to feeling sexy, the most important thing is to feel sexy for you - you can't rely on other people to turn you on or off, you need to be able to do that for yourself. But for the record, I'm not actually talking about sex here, I'm talking about feeling confident in what yo mamma gave ya, working out what makes you tick and remembering that feeling of empowerment to feel good about yourself. 

Quick and Simple Chicken Dinner

I've been knocking this little beauty up for years, it's actually one of my biggest go-to mid week meals, because it's quick, simple and healthy enough to be eaten late at night. I also ensure I make enough for lunches during the week as it's a great topping for salad or to be heated up with some quinoa or rice.

Getting Back On Top - The Butterfly Effect

Chances are when you hear this phrase you’re thinking of an Ashton Kutcher movie circa 2004, but for me it’s totally different. For me, it is a term to define going through phases of feeling like a moth and taking time to reinvigorate my life and get back to feeling like myself.

Chase A Dream And Make It Reality

The mind is a powerful thing and can help you achieve pretty much anything you commit to, as long as you give it your all. Whether it's in your personal or private life, sometimes you can make your dreams come true!

A Relaxing Break In The Countryside, Bishopstrow Hotel and Spa

I need to tell you about my little weekend getaway at Bishopstrow Hotel and Spa in Warminster. Well, I say tell you, but as a picture says 1,000 words I'll show you instead. 

Kicking The Sugar Hangover - Throwing Down The Gauntlet

OK guys, I have a confession, I have totally fallen off the fitness and healthy lifestyle waggon into a pile of glistening, sickly, sugar and copious amounts of alcohol - yep I don't do things by halves! Suffice to say, it's not ideal and it's time for me to get my ass back into gear!

Breakfast Treats At Muriel's Kitchen

As far as I'm concerned, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and when someone says 'let's meet for breakfast'; there is nothing that would stop me, and we ended up at Muriel's Kitchen in Soho. 

Well Read: Books To Read This Autumn

I got a kindle back in July for my birthday and although part of me felt I was selling my soul to the technology world and losing touch with books, I am so glad I did as its helped me fall back in love with reading again.

A Busy Life - We All Have One

Has anyone else had the observation lately that we're all just stupidly busy all of the time? Regardless of who you speak to, as soon as you ask a partner, friend, colleague or family member,  'hey, how's things?', chances are you'll always get met with some iteration of  'yeah good, I'm just sooooo busy'. I'm not even excluding myself from this. I hear myself say it every time my mum asks, but it's just getting silly now. 

Relaxation Delivered To Your Doorstep with Urban Massage

Do you ever have those days where you just wish you could magic up whatever your heart desired? Great food, some sun, the body of your dreams….well, this week I was lucky enough to magic up a massage straight to my front room. Thanks to a company called Urban Massage, my wish was their command!

My Five Year Life Plan

About five years ago I made a plan. That plan involved my career and moving to London (with others thrown in along the way) and fortunately enough I made my dreams a reality, but now it's time to think about carving out the next chapter.

Carving,,,,and me in a tree, get it?

7 Tips To Help You Switch Off And Relax

Hey, did you know you don't HAVE to be busy doing something every second of every day? You're actually allowed to just sit back, relax and not be beholden to anyone if you don't want to be? Funny that. I know we know it deep down, but sometimes it feels like life is moving at 100 miles an hour and it can easily be forgotten! 

Lesson Learnt: How To Resolve Issues Effectively

Newsflash: being a grown up isn't always peachy! We all have those times when things don't quite go to plan, or we feel out of control of what's happening around us - but good news is, you will always come out the other side. Although it may not feel like it at the time, these experiences actually make us much more resilient as a person and as long as you learn from them - you are going to be OK!

Birthday Treat At Bob Bob Ricard

This year, to break from tradition we celebrated my mums birthday in London. Usually we do BBQ's back home, but this year dad and I decided to surprise her with a trip to a nice restaurant in London. Knowing my mum, and how much she loves Champagne - it had to be Bob Bob Ricard.

5 Tips On How To Focus On Your Ambition

Ambition is one of the most attractive qualities of a person. It shows determination, get-up-and-go, and a strive to better yourself / situation. But as we all get caught up with the hum-drum of life, it's easy to push aside our deepest ambitions to fit in with the crowd, or tell ourselves, 'it can wait, let's live in the moment instead'. 

A discovered beauty: Montjoi, France

One of my favourite things to do when I'm away, is to go exploring. Especially when we come down to see Dan's parents in the south of France. His mum is always suggesting new places we haven't been before and I love it. Especially when you find somewhere that is so cute and quaint that you just know the 'real world' hasn't had its chance to spoil it yet. 

A Cultural Performance In France

A trip to France was just what the doctor ordered recently and rather than just spend our time soaking up the sun (although we did do a lot of that) we managed to explore a lot of the local Gasques area and take in a couple of theatre performances too.

So, what you waiting for, hop in, there's a lot to see....

Over thinking - Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!

Over thinking a situation or feeling is never good. Regardless of what it is, what you think is so important that you can't help but spend at least 60% of your time thinking about it and working out every possible outcome or cause of a situation, you will just work yourself up into a tizz and likely make the whole situation so much worse (in your own mind anyway) than it needed to ever be.

5 Tips For Becoming A Morning Person

I never used to be a morning person, I used to drag myself out of bed at the last possible second and then it'd take me a couple hours of 'quiet time' to perk up completely. But then, things changed. As soon as I made up my mind, I made five simple changes that helped me turn my morning blues into successes and I haven't looked back since. 

Girls Who Helped Inspire Me To Succeed

I'm really lucky to know such a great group of girls, some I met growing up, some at uni and then some since I started working, but thinking about some of the things that they've done over the last year or so is so inspiring that when I was looking for inspiration and work motivation a while ago, I didn't have to look any further. 

28 Things I've Learnt About Myself In The Last 28 Years

You may have seen that it was my birthday recently and one of my friends jokingly asked me to name 28 things I'd learnt about myself now I was 28 - its actually harder than it seems to think about what you know about yourself - but here goes:

Birthday Brunch at Bourne & Hollingsworth and Golden Bee Boozing

This week it was my birthday, and to celebrate I made like the queen and had a double celebration; dinner with Dan on my actual birthday and then the main celebration on the weekend. It's only right when your birthday falls on a Wednesday right? 

When I saw Channing Tatum; Magic Mike XXL Pre-Screeening

This week I was lucky enough to get a first glimpse at Channing Tatum's pecs as he threw all kinds of sexy shapes around various dance floors in Magic Mike XXL.

Hache Burger restaurant, Camden

Sunny days usually mean salads and glasses of something cool and refreshing to drink, but today that wasn't quite going to hit the spot. Instead it was a tall hunk of steak burger and long delicious shake that wet my appetite, so if you're looking for some good burger inspiration - let me introduce you to Hache. 

Change Brings New Beginnings and Better Futures

Recently I went and landed myself a shiny new job, exciting huh! I've felt myself and my aspirations change over the last six months or so and I think I've become much more confident about identifying when something isn't working for me; and getting a new job was just part of that. A bit of a blossoming I guess. 

Launch of Iced Jems Shop, Birmingham

I've never been to a new store launch before, and going to one opened by one of your friends made the whole experience even more special! 

A Sunny Afternoon Back Home

Sometimes it's nice to get out of London for a bit and this weekend, with the weather being great, I heading home for a barbecue and some family time to recharge the batteries.