Friday 3 February 2017

Paving My Path


It's already February!!!

How time flies.

Everywhere I look, there's hints of what I want.

Insider's Guide to Australia

Sketch out my vision

I can't believe I'm TWENTY FIVE in a few weeks.

Booked tickets to Amsterdam. First holiday of the year. YIPPEE


Monday 2 January 2017

My New Year's Resolution Locket List



Making New Year’s resolutions is a ritual I like to sustain. In the end, new years are for new beginnings, new and better habits, fresh starts, (after-all that January diet didn’t last til Autumn did it?) and ultimately, a better you and who wouldn’t want that?

This year I’d like to do the whole New Year res slightly differently. Why don’t you join me? You’ve heard of bucket lists I’m sure. How do bucket lists make you feel when you check each one off? Sense of fulfilment? Accomplishment? Achievement? Satisfaction? Or maybe you’ve never made one and I’ve just reminded you that it’s a good idea. I’m right aren’t I. (wink face)- *smiles*

I wanted to create some sort of bucket list for my year ahead. A Locket list. So rather than creating a list to accomplish over a lifetime, it’s a list you can work for during the year ahead so you finish the year and walk into the new one feeling totally and utterly fulfilled.

Clause- I’ve named it Locket list because it’s something you WILL hold on to for life even if you’ve checked it off in the space of a year. It’s hopefully not something you just tick off and forget about. Personally, I would like a checklist that will have a ripple effect on my life.

Bit of background:
So I am not super spiritual, I don’t go to spiritualist churches. I don’t hold rocks for healing purposes. I don’t sit in groups to meditate with candles. And I certainly don’t hug trees. But..my Nana is very much into this way of life and owns her own healing centre in the quiet hills of Welshpool, Wales and so I’ve been around spiritualism to an extent and understand its benefits.



I particularly like to believe in psychic abilities and I very much do so. I don’t care or need to know how it works but I am certainly open to listening to people with these capabilities and what they can offer.

Two years ago, my Nana took me to see a psychic she knows in Wales. Although I sat there, listening to the half hour reading willingly, I left her house crying and upset with what she had just told me. She had lied. She was either saying things that were completely obvious based on my age or things that could and would not possibly be true. Within two years everything she said came true. Remarkable. In that time I had seemed to attract everything she mentioned whether I thought I wanted it or not. She drilled into my love life, my work life, my character, my outlook on life.
One thing that hasn’t exactly come to life yet was ‘travel’. She mentioned Australia to me and talk of Australia. I nodded along with her, telling her my sister really wanted to go and she was right, there was a lot of talk of it.
She replied firmly, not your sister, you.

I left feeling disheartened with the reading, knowing that everybody goes to Australia, whether it be for a few months-to a year. It’s a very popular place for many young people to travel to. However it had never crossed MY mind. But a year after seeing the psychic, Australia kept popping into my head and I pictured myself there, going there, even working there. It was food for thought. And sometimes that’s all it needs to be. (Inspiration).

In two years my life changed drastically. I moved house (and cities), changed jobs and felt fully single. I was inspired and this all lead to my below Locket List.

Health & Fitness
I’d like to eat healthily again. I’m talking the way I ate when I first left uni, trying to get my original pre-uni bod back. I was no Gigi Hadid, but I felt happy in a bikini. By the Summer time, I’d quite like to have abs of steel and a bubble butt. (It will be a first but determination and willingness will get you far). I’ve bought myself a kettle bell. It’s a start. But I’m joining the gym. It’s time again.



Wealth & Work
I’d like to work hard in my job, the kind of hard that deserves a pay rise. I don’t mean working ridiculous hours or working so hard that you jeopardise other areas of your life. But I’d like to use my new motivation and ambition- to focus, learn more and build my skills to hit targets for all the right reasons.
On the side, I’d like to start my own business. I have a few ideas and my first step would be website creation. I’m feeling all business like and I’m seeing pound signs. I’m feeling optimistic. If you believe you can achieve, you will achieve. The mind is a powerful thing and we all know it.

Love & Happiness
What I have come to realise through experience is that nobody should enter a relationship unless they are completely happy with their life alone. That means entering a relationship for all the wrong reasons and it’s not something I would personally want to do.  Another person won’t make you happy, happiness starts with yourself. Emotions and energies are contagious and a broken you will equal a broken relationship. (This works both ways). Over the past year, unconsciously I’ve realised I have taken this perhaps too extremely in the sense that I have pushed people away. However, I have also learnt not to settle, not to let men disrespect me. I totally respect myself and know what I deserve and I won’t accept any less.
I know never to regret anyone in my life. The good people will give happiness, bad people will give experience, the worst people will give a lesson and the best people will give memories.
So I am open to meeting a new man. (As long as he looks like Sean Faris, kidding). I know that if the door doesn’t open, it just wasn’t my door. (wink face)- *smiles*

Time & Travel
I’d like to take up my writing again. I’ve missed it. This is my first post in two years.
Never say you don’t have time. Guilty.. But excuses don’t exist. It’s simply about priorities. If you want to, you’ll find time. And so I will...
I’d like to start saving on food and cutting back on going for drinks. I’m foods biggest fan, but lunches and treats will have to take a back seat as I save to see more of the world. I’d like to take more city breaks, weekends away, book holidays to places I’ve always wanted to go.
I also realised that blogging about experience is an exciting way to remember it. Sure, a picture can tell a thousand words but sometimes the best memories aren’t caught on camera and you can’t always rely on memory to reminisce. Reading back my posts about a city break to Barcelona had me smiling. Blog it! Document it, diarise it. You’ll thank yourself later.



They say,, you travel because distance and difference are the secret tonic to creativity. When you get home, home is still the same. But something inside your mind has changed and that changes everything.

Money can’t buy you happiness but experience sure can.

Happy New Year people, enjoy it xxxx

Sunday 4 January 2015

Get Fit For February

So it's January, you're feeling a little blue. Christmas is over and so is what is supposedly one of the best nights in the year- New Year's Eve and to add to that you now feel pressured to make a new year's resolution? What's that all about.

Well for me, I'm feeling optimistic, eager - like a beaver and raring to start the New Year with a bang.

My New Year's resolution is: GET FIT FOR FEBRUARY. Kind of catchy right? Precisely.



I'm a February baby so this time limit made perfect sense for me and also doesn't scream 'impossible'. I'd quite like to say that when it comes to my birthday- 22nd Feb, I'd be feeling a new and hopefully healthier woman.

People set those 'almost unreachable goals' and aim for something which is unrealistic for their resolutions.


  • Lose 2 stone by the end of the month.
  • Cut out all things tasty- sweets, crisps, chocolate!
  • Quit smoking on the 1st Jan.
  • Dry January.
Ring any bells?

First of all, those wanting to lose weight takes time and commitment, setting a dedicated amount to lose in a certain amount of time might seem clever and give you that all important goal to reach, but when you start witnessing that it is harder than you initially thought or unachievable in the period set for completion, all motivation deteriorates and we all know this can sometimes give the reverse effect (over indulgence and weight GAIN).

Secondly, we do see people achieve quitting their most prized possessions during the time of lent so this has certainly been done before. However, for the average individual- cough* me...it is extremely difficult to give up one thing that I love, let alone a whole bunch of similar treats. Ever heard of the term: Eat in moderation? Crash dieting is bad for you? It all makes sense. When you cut out everything, a sudden urge to eat it again will result in an entire binge, again reversing the effects of all that hard work. That is why I choose to give up perhaps one thing at a time and try to reduce my intake of the others?

And for Dry January...yes it's possible. You can watch your friends unwind and let loose in the club, while you stand there with a glass of water in hand- perhaps throwing shapes on the dance floor- but this time, with no excuse to blame your terrible moves on the alcohol. How about reducing your intake? Don't cut it out completely. You deserve a little relax time. You little rebel, you. 

Quit smoking on the 1st of January- I am ALL for quitting smoking. I have never been a smoker so maybe I can't speak for smokers out there. However, both my parents smoke and I know how insanely difficult it is to quit. You can't just wake up one morning and tell yourself that today is the day and that last nights ciggy at 11pm was your last. It takes months to slowly reel yourself off the nicotine addiction with the use of multiple products; patches, gum.... (whatever takes your fancy).

My point? Set realistic goals, the vaguer- the better. The opposite of what I would usually do. Keen for change.



I always seem to break my resolutions early. (I like my chocolate, sweets and crisps too much).

GET FIT FOR FEBRUARY can mean what you want it to mean. And because it is so vague, you won't be disappointed. Genius!

This is how I plan to go about it:

  1. Cut out fast food. It's merely a month and a half- I CAN DO IT.
  2. Eat more fruit and veg- TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SMOOTHIE MAKER
  3. Spread out chocolate gifts from Christmas and don't binge- SHARE 'EM.
  4. Squats, lunges, sit ups, push ups every night- ONLY TAKES 20 MINS OUT OF YOUR DAY.
I managed to make it through the whole Christmas holiday, avoiding the germs of everyone around me who attracted the bug that was circling around. I simply felt- 'invincible'. I was wrong- the lurgees caught up with me and I've spent the last 2 days stocking my body up with cold and flu tablets and strepsils- (extra strength) don't you know it. This resolution will be a great thing!

Good luck with yours and HAPPY NEW YEAR xxxxxxxx

Friday 14 November 2014

Battle of the Christmas ads 2014

So you are sitting there, by the fire, toasting your little toes as you unwind in front of the TV after a long day. You're probably anticipating Christmas (as I always feel round about November), eager I know but its the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is just within reach and that my friends is an exciting statement.

So back to the image of toasting your little toes by the fire in front of the TV...you see for the very first time, the advert you have been waiting for.

The Christmas John Lewis advert.

It's been the ad on everyone's lips this season. Last year's bear and the hare advert saw many of us clasp our hands in that very 'awww' moment, which truly had us feeling that warmth and emotion that Christmas should bring and we all looked forward to experiencing the same festive sensations this year from John Lewis.

Doe this years Monty the penguin advert give the same effect or live up to expectations? To me, I love it because it is cute and to be quite frank, funny. What's funnier than a penguin waddling? It doesn't give me the same emotions as last year but nevertheless it put a smile on my face and that's good enough for me! It has been noted to have received 2.5 million views in less than 12 hours and set to surpass the success of last years ad but don't take my word for it...

Take a look for yourself.

Watch me

Sainsburys is competing and running in line with the best Christmas adverts out there, bringing the past to the present as we re-live the history of the one of the most moving moments of World War I.  The trench scenes of the war were reconstructed and the famous 'truce' between the British and German soldiers was recreated.

The ad is truly touching. It not only brings the poignant historic moment to the forefront of the media, but it does it with respect and authenticity. When the soldiers are only metres from each other in the midst of the battle, they agree to stop for a game of football, knowing that following this, they will go on to fight one another. It's heart-breaking.
In the Christmas advert, after the game of football, the British soldier secretly slips a gift into the pocket of a German soldier who later unwraps it to find a chocolate bar when he returns to his side of the battlefield.

Sainsbury's message; Christmas is for sharing.

Within a few short minutes, the emotional depth conveyed is astonishing. But this ad hasn't just portrayed beautiful cinematography to the public, it has dragged along with it, controversy too. The advert fails to represent the true living conditions of the trenches, failing to show the blood and entrails and the reality of the War.

Is it disrespectful to neglect such significant details?

For some this may be the case and it is important to acknowledge these opinions. However, I disagree. It was one of the most beautiful moments within one of the most horrific periods in history. The Royal British Legion worked in partnership with Sainsburys to reconstruct such a time and produce a powerful message that Christmas is all about sharing (as we sometimes forget) and this is all that we should take from it.

Watch the advert! My mum shed tears!

Watch me


And to end on a lighter note...

My favourite advert this Christmas is for Marks and Spencers. Spread a little magic and sparkle. I absolutely love Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year. (and what's more magical than fairies?)

"I BELIEVE IN FAIRIES"
and I also believe in Santa. hint hint. (I'll leave you out an extra mince pie Santa, I promise).

Watch the Marks and Spencer's Christmas advert for a little touch of sparkle!

Watch me

Hope you are enjoying the lead up to Christmas... I know I am xxxx

What's your favourite Christmas TV ad of 2014?