nice things

♥ friendship bracelets. I know, I'm reverting to my 12 year old self, but my love for these simple little adornments will never cease. Ironically, last summer when they were all the rage my love for them waned, but now it's back stronger than ever. I made 7 in the space of a week, and I will wear them all the time until they drop off.

♥ chocolate Phildadelphia. Told you I wasn't going to shut up about it. It seriously is the food of the gods.


♥ Hotel Chocolat chocolate. Well, it is Easter, that's my justification for having two chocolate-related nice things this week. I bought myself a little easter egg from Hotel Chocolat as a treat to myself and ohmygosh their milk chocolate is the nicest milk chocolate I have ever had. Even nicer than Lindt, and that's a high accolade coming from me. Plus my egg came with a little pot of super-cute chicks and bunnies.

 ♥ British Summer Time. The clocks have gone forward, the evenings are getting lighter - things can only get better from here on in people!

nice things

Reasons To Be Cheerful (1, 2, 3)

♥ Reorganising my clothes drawers in a revolutionary way. It's the future, look!

why yes, I did arrange my tops by colour for extra OCD-ness.

My morning getting-dressed routine is now approximately 75% easier. Tip was generously provided by this awesome lady.

♥ Excellent and hilarious banter with work colleagues. I love my work buddies, they make my day so much more fun.

♥ Watching films in the bath. Safely!! I conveniently have a high chest of drawers well away from the bath where I can place my laptop and watch a film of my choosing. Seriously, people, it's the future. You just have to be mindful of wrinkly appendages.

♥ Living the high life by drinking an innocent smoothie every day at work for breakfast. It's good 'cause I buy the kids' cartons, so that I have some cute cartoons to look at before I start my day's work.

♥ Lighter nights! Seriously, it's so exciting just coming home from work in the daylight, knowing that spring is on the way and the weather can only get warmer and sunnier... well, in theory anyway. I can feel my energy levels lifting already, I think I will be bouncing off the walls by the time summer rolls around.

nice things (but not as nice as going out..)

Tonight I was supposed to go on a night out, for the first time in probably over a year (I can't even remember when I last went out). In a completely disappointing but not totally unexpected fashion,  my plans have been cancelled due to the heavy snow falling currently in the north of England. The local council is so organised (not) that I didn't see a single gritter until about 6 hours after it started snowing, by which point the main road in my village was so bad the police were in the process of closing it anyway. 

Normally I don't mind the snow, in fact I love it, but I do get really annoyed when it affects my plans in this way. Especially as this night was going to be pretty major. I was looking forward to seeing a crowd of people I haven't seen in ages, enjoying the freedom of being able to walk and dance, and wear two nice shoes instead of one nice shoe and an NHS ugly sister.

When I was in a relationship, going on nights out was not a major priority of mine. Frequently I'd make tentative plans and then, when it came to the crunch, I couldn't really be bothered, preferring instead to curl up on the sofa with a film or a book, maybe have a glass of wine and then go to bed. As well, we rarely had enough money to go on nights out - or, at least, there always seemed to be something else I/we would prefer to spend money on. Strangely, now I'm single I find myself wanting to go out more; it's not even something I've consciously made a decision to do, I just feel drawn to going out clubbing and, I suppose, being a bit hedonistic. Which isn't like me, with my middle-aged tendencies!

The below nice things are helping console me in my disappointment at not being able to go out tonight.

raspberry and apple bonbons. yumyum. 

 

 do I really need to explain this one? Keeping me in a good mood.

 got this DAB radio for Christmas and I love it. yes, it is playing Absolute 80's - and what?

 cosy socks, ohh yeah. These were another Christmas, but because of the bandage on my foot I've only been able to wear one sock until recently. They are lined with fleece all the way down, and are the comfiest things I;ve ever worn on my feet.

another gratuitous cat shot. He likes keeping me company on the bed. He won't know what's hit him on Monday when I go back to work full-time.

nice things....

...That perk me up and make life a little brighter.

Like purple shimmery nail polish to catch my eye with its sparkliness (and for once I've managed to make it look neat!)....

...Adding ridiculously girly sparkly stickers to my phone to make me smile whenever I see it...

....Living within driving distance of views like this

nice things

♥ this cardigan. It's comfy, slouchy, pink and sparkly. I got it from Primark a few months ago, and I adore it. I feel super-cosy in it, and it's my failsafe go-to option whenever I can't be bothered getting dressed properly (which happens more often than I like to admit, with me being off work currently), paired with leggings and a plain vest top. 

♥ sloe gin. I made a huge batch of this for the first time last year, to give to people as Christmas gifts. I totally forgot to take any pictures before the bottles were packed off to their various recipients, but I am pleased to report it tasted utterly yummy; I made so much there was plenty left over for me too! I followed this recipe; it's quite simple even though you have to make it ages in advance, and it tasted lovely served nice and cold with some tonic. If I can get hold of some sloe berries this autumn I will probably make some again, though I might add more fruit to the above recipe as I feel it could have done with a bit more fruitiness.

♥ my new red hair. Okay, it's not so new, it's 11 days old now, but this is a big deal to me guys. Five or six years ago, I would have scoffed at the thought of me dying my hair any colour; it was all about 'loving your natural beauty and hair colour' etc etc. Somewhere along the line, though, my feelings changed and I got off my high horse (I've probably found other high horses to climb on since then though), deciding that in the great scheme of things dyeing one's hair was hardly in the plain disturbing realms of labiaplasty. I still tred cautiously though, and played it safe with blonde highlights. Until my break-up/super-life-makeover happened, and then of course dyeing my hair bright pink seemed like a logical step to take. Fortunately I have a permanent sensible voice in the back of my head that I nearly always listen to, so I didn't go down the bright pink route (but only because I didn't want to faff around with bleach....) - but instead, here I am with red hair! I love it so much, I actually wish I'd taken the plunge sooner.

♥ my new tattoo. I am aware I dedicated a whole post to it already, but seriously, it's so awesome one post alone can't describe the scale of how fantastic it is and how much I love it. No really. It's amazing. In the interests of avoiding complete and total repetitiveness, I have at least shared a newer picture of it. The colours have faded slightly and it looks and feels more 'part of me' than it did at first. It's starting to look a bit scaly at the top, and I reckon in the next day or two it will start scabbing over. Lovely....

nice things

 ♥ Peacocks. What's not to like? They're absolutely beautiful birds, and I love the sound of their call. They are one of my favourite creatures, and I find it fascinating reading about the symbolism they have in so many cultures - particularly Hinduism. In fact, I love peacocks so much, I will shortly be having a tattoo done of a peacock feather. 

♥ macarons from Ladurée. I know macarons are going the same way as the cupcake and becoming overly hip, but I think they taste delightful, and I always feel a little bit decadent and indulgent whenever I have some. The last time I was in London I bought a small box for myself, and I came to the conclusion that the Ladurée shop is my version of Tiffany's. Truly, nothing bad could happen in there (possibly because it's so tiny), and it looked so pretty with so many macarons in a rainbow of colours.

♥ sparkly gold nail polish. Such a festive thing to wear, and glitter never fails to make me smile. Whenever I'm a little bit fed up, I just have to glance down at my nails and I always feel a little better. I also feel just a little bit glamorous wearing gold nail polish; for me, it's a step below wearing red lipstick. I love this nail polish, and the Model's Own brand in general. I might have to start building up a collection, I spied a lovely emeral green one on their website recently...

♥ leopard-print. Anything. I honestly don't know why I didn't love this sooner; perhaps the Bet Lynch connotations? I think it's because I've recently started to like the whole rockabilly look, whereas a year ago I wasn't into it at all. Again, as with the nail polish, I feel a little bit glamorous when I'm wearing it.

I was reading a blog a little while ago (can't remember where now) where the author said leopard-print is basically a neutral. And it's true! It goes with most colours, and I love wearing leopard-print to dress up what would be a casual outfit, e.g. jeans or a plain skirt. I didn't own a single leopard-print item this time a year ago; now, I own two pairs of shoes, a pair of boots, a dressing gown and a cardigan (both pictured above), and I am considering buying a dress as well if I can find one that I like. I won't wear them all at once though, I am well aware of its tack-inducing qualities!

nice things

♥ my new favourite t-shirt. The reasons it's so awesome: it's got a panda on it, it's got sequins on it, it's super-soft and really light, and it flatters me lots. I am aware I've already mentioned this in my previous post, but I just can't get over how much win it is.

♥ my cat, Basil. As much as I love cats, I have always found his character too dog-like and sycophantic to really warm to. He was never my favourite cat, and I was never his favourite person.
Now, though, with all the upheaval in my life recently, I love his constancy, his sweet affectionate nature and devotion, and his little meows whenever he thinks I'm near. What I thought of as clingy neediness previously,  I now think of as sweet and endearing. It's been nice to have someone who has gone through all of this with me, even though he can't speak English (he makes up for it by speaking lots of Cat, though - extremely loudly and whenever he thinks I should be awake).

♥ my journal. Again, with so much in my life changing, I've written more in my journal in the last month than I have all year. At the start of this month, in part to mark this as a significant occasion and the start of something new, I bought myself a new journal and made sure to buy the prettiest I could find. It pleases me greatly just to look at it, it's such a lovely shade of pink (slightly deeper than in the above photo). The pages are gorgeous, too, different flowers and blooms and leaves all around the edges.
I feel like a teenager again, tucked away in my bedroom, on my bed listening to music and writing in my journal; but, right now, I don't think it's a bad thing, and I feel like I need it.



♥ my fluffy, sparkly, leopard-print dressing gown. It's not quite as tacky as it sounds, but it's not far off. The sparkles are quite subtle, and it's soft and snuggly and so so comfortable. I never wore dressing gowns in my old house, but I realised I needed something to cover up with when I moved back home because my usual night attire is pretty skimpy to say the least. And it's nice to have something snuggly to wear on lazy winter mornings, especially around Christmastime.



♥ being off work for the next two months. Although I have been finding my job less of a struggle lately, I would never say no to some time off! I think this operation has come at a most ideal time, giving me plenty of time for reflection on my goals and my future, as well as for educating myself. I can focus on me and the things I enjoy, without being stressed about targets targets targets.



♥ glittery nail polish. I have some sparkly gold polish from Models Own which I like so much and looks lovely and festive right now. I want some more sparkles for my nails, and I bought another Models Own polish (in Champagne); I liked it at first as it had a nice pinky sheen to it, but I've completely gone off it. It looks a bit too grown-up for me, a bit dull and boring. I'm now lusting after a more vivid shade of pink, and may have to buy it next time I'm in Boots.
A few months ago, sparkly nail polish would have been far too outré for me, but I'm increasingly starting to warm to slightly more outlandish styles. I've also just ordered online a bright pink polka-dot dress, for much the same reason.