Manic Monday #107

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Happy Easter! 

I hope you've all enjoyed a wonderful extended weekend. 

I've spent the majority of the 4 days sorting and moving all of my belongings and feeling nostalgic, there was obviously a bit of pub and drinking action too...but moving has been my main aim this weekend as our lease ends on Thursday. 

Moving definitely made me realise how much stuff I have that I was hanging on to for no particular reason other than I'll use that one day, or I used that so much at one point, surely I'll need it again...

 I've been very strict with myself and have organised huge amounts of my belongings to go to charities or other family members. 

I had another huge sort out of clothes as well and donated several bags to Oxfam, I find sorting through my clothes much more cathartic than any other sorting. I feel like a huge weight is lifted off my shoulders when my clothes are more condensed and look more me. 

We took a small break today and visited Ben's aunt for the annual Egg Hunt Extravaganza.

It's my favourite Auntie Carol holiday. 

I turn in to a child for 15 minutes and run around the garden with our nieces and nephew battling it out to get as many eggs as possible. 

I thought I'd be slightly more generous to the little ones this year...but I still managed to get 14! 

It's always so lovely to see Ben's family as we don't see them as much as we should, the kids are all at such great ages and have amazing personalities that I love spending time with them and watching them all interact together as a little unit. 

 I think I'm going to treat myself to a relaxing bath this evening before the return to normality tomorrow!

How have you spent your Easter weekend?

Toodles

x

Manic Monday #106

[Image Source: Stylist]

We are due to move out of our first rented house in just over a week, I can't quite believe it's been a year since we all moved in. It's been such a great experience, sharing with friends as well as partner for your first rented property can be a little trying at times but overall I've really loved living here and will miss this house!

I'm currently trying to sift through all of my possessions that I've bought with me with the hope of slimming down the amount of stuff I've got. In some areas I'm being quite brutal, such as my ridiculous stock of make-up and body butters but in other areas I haven't got the heart to get rid of things; the books.

I've still got that image in the back of my mind of my future library. 

With my recent penchant for sifting I've managed to whittle down my wardrobe quite considerably, which had then left me questioning my personal style and to be perfectly honest, if I have any style at all. 

I'm not looking to throw myself a pity party, but I really struggle to put an outfit together. I never know what to piece together to make myself look 'outfit ready'. I'm definitely not a trend follower and would rather streamline my wardrobe with more classic pieces.

I know I like simplicity and comfort, but I struggle to take that step to feeling pleased with what I'm wearing. 

I may take the capsule wardrobe route and slowly recondition my entire style self, maybe this will help me feel a little more comfortable in my clothes. 

I'm definitely an impulse buyer with clothing but never think about how what I'm buying will fit in with what I already have. 

Have you ever attempted a capsule wardrobe? Do you have any tips or any recommendations?

Toodles

x

Having A Niche...

[Image Source: Lydia Makepeace]

I once again am finding myself at a crossroads on my blog. If anyone were to ever hit me with the question of "What type of blog do you have?" I honestly wouldn't know. 

I'm not 100% sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. 
On the one hand if you do have a niche your readers will generally know the sort of content that might appear on your blog and will keep coming back for that reason, but I feel that you then have to explain or write a disclaimer if you feel you want to explore other avenues.
On the flip side having a blog that doesn't conform to a specific genre you are free to explore, experiment and write to your hearts content about whatever strikes you that day (generally somewhere I feel I sit in the spectrum) but where does that leave my readers? 

Do you come to my blog with safe in the knowledge that I'll have a post up? And will you have some sort of idea what topic it might be on?

If you do know, well done you. Cause I don't even think I know that much! So, will you be my PA, dear reader? 

I did start out with a vision, I'm quite certain 90% of people do. But I had to be a little brutal, as much as I love the beauty industry, I cannot afford or justify splurging 90% of my wages each month on make-up, skin care and body care to come up with content and I always knew someone could do it much better than I could!

I am enjoying writing about thoughts and different subjects that are present in every day life. Whether I'm good at voicing my opinions and trying to see things from others perspectives is a different matter. 
I do feel that certain subject matters come when they do and scheduling seems a bit odd to me at the moment; I'm not sure if I could wrap my head around that, unless I over thought my every day existence. 
Maybe that comes with time?

I hope this ramble made some sort of sense, it helped me a little more with knowing how I want to proceed with my blogging space.

Toodles.

x 

Manic Monday #105

[Image Source: Andre Torres]

A bump back to reality was in store for me today; the first day back after a week off. It's never as bad as I think, but it's definitely not nice to be woken up by an alarm at 6.30!

During my walk from my car to the office I was wolf whistled, my head flicked around as a knee jerk reaction and I found an older man, who looked old enough to be my Granddad, leering at me as I walked through the car park. 

I instantly felt uncomfortable and ashamed, my thoughts went immediately to my outfit, was I wearing or doing something to attract the unwanted attention? 
No, I was in black trousers and black jacket and was marching to work. 
Please note - I am not in anyway condoning this sort of action if a woman is wearing 'a certain kind' of outfit, you do you and rock whatever the hell you like; I was also surprised by my immediate thought pattern.
I then wanted desperately to say something to the man, who was still leering at me, but my useless brain could think of nothing better to do than to flip the V's in his general direction, not something I'd have been particularly proud of doing! So, I stayed silent, bowed my head, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in my own skin and scuttled off to work.

I've been battling with myself all day on this;
what could I have said to him to make him realise how uncomfortable he made me feel? 
I wanted to say something witty and clever to make him think about his actions, without him just resorting to conclusion that "she's just one of them mad feminist-types."

I'm sure some of you will feel the same as me, yet some others will be thinking "he's just paying you a compliment" - I'd like to point out he absolutely wasn't. Compliments shouldn't make my skin crawl. He was objectifying m as a womanand was making it known what he thought of  by attracting unwanted attention to me.

 It has been mentioned in the media the past few weeks about the unwanted attention that women receive on a daily basis by men and I am in full support of it being noticed and acknowledged. I think IWD des a great job of highlighting such actions.
Why should I be made to feel embarrassrd to walk to work? Why should I turn around and spot a man leering at me in a disgusting way?

Three times today I felt uncomfortable to walk towards different groups of men and made a point of even crossing the road as I was dreading the fact that they might make a passing comment to me.
I know that, in general, the majority of men probably wouldn't say anything but the thought is always prevalent in my mind.

Please tell me what you might have said in my situation, I'd love to hear your thoughts and reasonings!

Toodles.
X

Short Break; Chateau Impney

 

 

        

This Valentines day, I was trawling through Groupon looking for a bargain getaway deal to treat Ben and myself with. I scrolled past Chateau Impney and was sucked in by the gorgeous building, after some scrolling I managed to find the deal again. 

We spent two very delightful days at Chateau Impney located in Droitwich Spa, it's a beautiful 19th Century house, a Chateau-inspired build with amazing bright red brick that you can spot for miles around.

It was great to get away for a couple of days and we got the chance to visit Sudeley Castle which is found close by in Winchcombe in the Cotswold's. 

We wondered around for the day on the same stomping ground as Henry VIII and Katherine Parr, learning so much as we did.

 Ben and I haven't ever done small, weekend getaways before but I will definitely be scrolling through Groupon more frequently now!

If you get the chance to visit Chateau Impney, I would highly recommend it; the building, both exterior and interior are lovely, the grounds are luscious green, you are swallowed up by surrounding hills and valleys and the staff based at the Chateau are lovely.

Have you bagged a bargain recently? What has been your best find?

Toodles

x

#InternationalWomensDay

[Image Source: Flickr]

“I think every woman in our culture is a feminist. 

They may refuse to articulate it, but if you were to take any woman back 40 years and say, ‘Is this a world you want to live in?’, they would say ‘No.’”

Helen Mirren

Today is International Women's Day.

A day to celebrate women globally, a day to discuss the issues still present in every day culture and to educate those who fail to understand. 

I always have a great sense of empowerment on International Women's Day, not because I need just one day to feel proud to be a women, but the great things that women are doing all over the world are shoved in to the spotlight and celebrated as they should have always been celebrated. 

The push for gender equality is still going on and I am under no illusion that it will be an easy or quick ride to the end.

We still need women to stick together as one, as so many women are quick to stand in the way of our genders growth and belittle the changes that other women are trying to make. 

The promoters and international speakers like Emma Watson are named and shamed as 'feminazi's' for promoting the equal rights of women, when they should be wholly supported and celebrated for their bravery to speak out against the oppressors. 

'Lad culture' and the acceptability of belittling and degrading of women's status needs to be challenged. It's so sad that it's still such an acceptable part of every day life. If a women dares to degrade a man, they're labelled as man-haters, but men are never labelled as women-haters. 

 Discussion, communication and education are always needed for equality to finally become true for every woman in the world. 
Feminism needs to stop being a dirty word and for it to be understood for what it actually stands for;
'the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.'

Stylist have a great collection of empowering quotes by women fronting the feminist movement, have a read here. 

 What is your stance on International Women' Day? Do you think a day of recognition is enough?

Let me know your thoughts!

Toodles.

Manic Monday #104

[Image Source: Bs0u10e01]

I'm feeling a little lost for words today, I've been thinking about today's post for some time now but I'm not too sure which direction to take it in. 

I'll get this out the way first, I feel like I'm getting a throat infection. 

*throws hands up* 

I've spent most of my life suffering with throat infections and to say I get bored of having them in an understatement. 

Both Ben and I are off this week, we've started packing a few things away today in preparation for our lease ending at the end of the month. It's quite bittersweet starting to deconstruct the house we've lived in for just over 11 months, I've only very recently started to feel comfortable here and will miss living here. 

(Something I never thought I'd say a few months back!)

But I'm excited for the future and am pleased with the experiences I've had while living here with friends. 

Ben and I are off to Chateau Impney (above) in Worcester on Thursday which I'm looking forward to! We haven't been away since last September when we visited Norfolk with our friends; it'll be nice to get out of our town for a couple of days. I start to suffer with cabin fever if I don't have an adventure in a while. 

 Chateau Impney is a gorgeous 19th century manor house, which my inner architecture nerd is desperate to see and take pictures of. 

 We're based near the Malvern Hills as well, so walks galore are planned; here's hoping to amazing weather!

The house hunting is still going on.........

Toodles.

x

Manic Muesday #103

[Image Source: Catherina Amor]

So sad to have missed this post yesterday, during writing I suddenly started feeling incredibly ill so took myself to bed. 

Yesterday marked the end of Bloguary.

Or rather, a particularly failed Bloguary, I missed 8 posts in total but I suppose considering how much I had been posting recently it's quite a triumph. 

I do have to say that I have enjoyed posting regularly this month and if I wasn't in the mood or didn't have anything of note to post; I just didn't post. 

 I think the pressure I put on myself tends to cripple me more than it would if I just posted normally.

I think my second blogging month has proved that I'm not as organised as I like to think I am! Also that I definitely do not allow enough time to deal with the unplanned situations in everyday life, such as friends coming over for an evening or making spontaneous social plans. 

If I decide to attempt another blogging month, I will be allowing much more time for preparation (at least longer than a week, like this time around...!) and I will attempt to pre-write many more posts. I was sorted for my first week of Bloguary, but soon got behind with one thing or another getting in the way. 

They key to executing daily content is, for me at least, in getting draft posts organised, they don't even have to be fully written, the filler can be added on the actual day!

I would like to improve with my images as well, if you're a regular reader, you'll know a lot of my images are sourced rather than my own. With Spring and Summer coming, I'm hoping to stock up on images that I can use for general posts as well as product posts.

I hope you enjoyed Bloguary! If you missed any posts, you can find them all here!

Toodles.

x