January Sales Shopping Haul

I got some lovely things in the sales this year, so I thought I would share them on my blog. I bought the Whittard hot chocolate set in December actually, as they were doing sales remarkably early. I find it frustrating that their postage is so pricey, so don’t buy from them too often. I’ve actually had this gift set before a while back, it was as lovely as I remembered it. The packaging is stunning and the selection of hot chocolate flavours is really good. There’s mint, chocolate orange, caramel flavour etc. Whittard hot chocolate is out of this world, if you haven’t already tried it, I recommend you do.

I bought two pairs of winter boots from Store Twenty One in my local town. This was about the second week in January and I was surprised to find there was still loads of bargains to be had. I felt both pairs of boots looked more expensive than I paid, and the styles seem really versatile and easy to wear. I’m so pleased I finally have them as I was searching for something similar since autumn. The shop I got them from isn’t as heard of as much in comparison to other highstreet shops but I’ve bought some lovely things from them in the past.

How did you find the Jan sales this year? What shops were the best for you? :-) Xx

Store Twenty One

Brown riding style boots £35 down to £20 (Buy here)

Grey buckle biker style boots £35 down to £20 (Buy here)

Whittard

Hot chocolate selection box (Price approx. £14)

My 2017 Personal Goals

Hope you are having a nice weekend/day so far. I wrote these goals at the beginning of the year and realised I hadn’t yet blogged them. These are ideas for myself for 2017, and I’ll be happy to complete even just some of them. I have a totally mixed batch of themes such as blogging, personal, philosophical etc. I’ve already started achieving a few such as wearing up fashion pieces I already own, making more family lunches and investing time into reading/Goodreads. So here we go…

• Remember forgotten items already in my wardrobe and wear them up.
• Research more into affordable cruelty-free beauty, and find some products from this I love.
• Buy gifts in advance throughout the year for birthdays/Christmas to get good deals and leave
     more time for later.
• Enjoy being in the garden and make it look neat.
• Invest time into reading other blogs, and make new connections online.
• Be consistently more active of Goodreads and talk/learn about books.
• Keep the interaction up with friends and make time for them.
• Get into listening and reviewing current music, make it a new hobby.
• Develop card making business, and make lots of sales in 2017.
• Be more open to new things, in small manageable steps.
• Explore local places and find interesting places to visit.
• Explore new photography genres such as street, product and portraits.
• Experiment with new achievable baking recipes.
• Offer to make more family lunches including salads and sandwiches.
• Smile often and appreciate the good things in life.
• Focus on positive changes and less on things out of my control.
• Introduce more budget-friendly blog posts on my blog.
• Develop new and different content on my blog.
• Listen and learn from others.
• Continue to read books regularly throughout the year and discover some amazing reads in 2017.
• Make enough sets on Polyvore to become a ‘Style Icon’

Do we have any similar goals? Have I sparked a few new ideas for you? 

Please let me know if you have done a similar blog post, I would love to see! :-) Xx

December Beauty, Fashion & Lifestyle Favourites

December was quite a nice month for me, with the lead up to Christmas and some lovely outings with my family. I also made some Christmas stocking biscuits and had some chill time at home catching up on reading etc. I have a few things to share with you today that I’ve been loving in the month of December. Any Christmas presents favourites will most likely be featured in my Jan favourites, just so I have time to test them out and enjoy them properly. I treated myself to The Sanctuary beauty advent calendar which I appreciated very much, it was so nice to have a treat door to open each day. I’m still in the process of testing out each product as there are so many. Initial ones I was drawn to include the white lily damask rose body wash and body lotion, I’ve had experience with the brand before but have never tried this scent. But let me tell you it smells incredible and so far these two products have been my favs.

I’ve been trying to wear up things in the back on my wardrobe and bring things out I’ve forgotten about. These diamanté jeans seemed very festive so I wore them quite a number of times in December and I’ve had a few comments on them too. I got them in the New Look sale a good while ago. With the colder nights I dug out my owl hottie, which you heat up in the microwave and use it to keep you warm. I just love the owl design and it’s been very useful this winter. I made a cheeky purchase on Whittard around the end of November, I bought a hot chocolate set heavily reduced in the sale and have slowly been working my way through it. Christmas pudding, and caramel are two flavours I’ve been reaching for.

Finally I have two books that I just adored, both Christmas fiction that I was pleasantly surprised by. The two had a few similarities in the plot, which I only realised afterwards. I gave Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin 4/5 stars for its genuine likeable characters and heated romance around the festive period. Maybe this Christmas by Sarah Morgan blew me away, and although the book started off slow, as the romance developed it became a complete page-turner. I rated it 5/5 stars!! So that’s been my month, how was your December? I’ve had January blues a bit, but as the New Year has progressed I’m looking forward to whats to come.

Do you like Christmas themed novels? What has been your favourite fashion item lately? :-) Xx

Higher Living English Earl Grey Tea

Last summer I tried a new tea brand for the first time called Hiving Living and picked the super fruits variety, review here. Although I discovered the super fruits flavour was a bit sharp for my liking there were other flavours I really wanted to try such as Sweet Dreams and this one English Earl Grey. Although it’s quite a common kind of tea, until now I had never experimented with it before. The taste was lovely, and quite unusual but the floral quality really grew on me. Just like perfumes, I find the scents/tastes of teas remind me of memories. I’m sat sipping on the last teabag on this tea, and it takes me back to September last year when I started drinking it.

It explains on the packaging, this tea works well with a splash of milk or iced with a slice of lemon. I found with milk, it was a lovely drink to have on an afternoon. It’s a nice compromise between herbal and regular tea I think and might even repurchase it sometime. It’s a little pricey at £4.99 so quite an indulgent treat, and even great for gifting. Happily it’s an organic brand plus the packaging is pretty especially the illustrations. Overall I found it very luxurious, and I want to carry on working my way through the range. Buy online here.

Have you ever tried English Earl Grey and was it your thing? 

Do Hiving Living teas interest you? :-) Xx

January Stationery Haul. Diary, Calendar etc.

Happy New Year to you all! It’s nice to be back blogging after I gave myself a short break. Today is a stationery post from Paperchase and also WHSmiths. For several years now I’ve been shopping for a diary at Paperchase as they just have the most current and classy designs. This pink ombre style one is gorgeous, I fell in love with it straight away plus the twenty seventeen type is in a perfect gold tone. I was browsing their website and came across this marble and rainbow desk planner which you can write things on a page per day. The way it was set out looked really useful, and there were lots of boxes to write things into.

I’ve always been into crafting, and after spotting these gorgeous patterned craft papers I knew I had to have them. They come up really big so I figured they would work well for blog photography backgrounds and I might make some cards with them when I get bored. My obsession with postcards in slowing growing, especially with Paperchases selection, they have so many pretty ones. I couldn’t not buy the “Hello You!” marble and tiger pattern designs. Lastly I went into WHSmiths after seeing this butterfly calendar on their website, it goes with my room design amazingly. I feel a bit more set for the New Year now!

What diary did you pick up? 

Do you enjoy collecting stationery and if so where do you shop? :-) Xx

Paperchase

Pink ombre A5 flexi linen 2017 diary £14.00 (Shop Alternative Here)

Marble daily desk planner £6.00 (Buy Here)

Hello You Marble Postcard 70p (Shop Alternative Here)

Tiger Design Postcard 70p (Shop Alternative Here)

Pastel Designs Paper Pack for Crafting £4.00 (Shop Alternative Here)

WHSmiths

Vintage Butterfly Slim Wall Calendar 2017 £5.99 now £2.99 (Buy Here)