Happy Little Things: March

One Year Anniversary

This month marked the day that my boyfriend and I decided to make it official and say we were boyfriend and girlfriend! This past year has felt both the quickest and longest (in the best kind of way) year! It just flew by, but I feel like I've been with him forever at the same time. For our anniversary we went for dinner to the Lemongrass, which is a downstairs restaurant and overlooks the river, and it's just so nice and full of ambiance. The lemongrass is an Asian styled restaurant and both myself and Kealan ordered the chicken spring rolls for starters and the pork in hoisin sauce for out main and oh my goodness it was so amazingly tasty!! My highlight though was one of the amazingly thoughtful presents I received, my May birthstone emerald Alex and Ani bracelet which is something I had wish listed since Christmas and I can't believe he remembered which made it so much more special.

Custard Cream Spread

Have you ever had custard creams the biscuit? It's a custard flavored soft cream sandwiched between two vanilla biscuits and Tesco have gloriously made these things into a spread very similar to Nutella, but in my opinion, it's almost better than Nutella (almost). It's the softest, creamiest, most luxurious spread I've ever tasted and although the only thing I can think to eat it with besides a spoon is biscuits, I still can't stop myself from reaching for it! 

Paddys Day

I have never really done anything for Paddys Day but this year I was invited with my boyfriend to go to Dublin, our capitol city, to see the great parade they put on for our national holiday. I wrote an entire post on that day with a ton of pictures to boot which you can read here.

Weather

We had some (and by some, I mean 4 days) really lovely weather here in Ireland this month. It was so nice to have a break from the rain and gloomy skies for even a few days and even though it didn't last long it just really put me in an amazing mood and got me so ready for the summer! 

XO 

Mental Health Mondays: Art Therapy

Last week I saw an advert for a magazine called Art Therapy which is a magazine that promotes creativity, positivity and relaxation and I thought this is right up my street! Art and positivity are two things that are quite close to me, so after spending the nice little starter price of €1.52 for a magazine, 6 basic coloured pencils and a pencil sharpener, I had a flick through it and saw that it's filled with pages of patterns in paisley/geometric/kaleidoscope type designs and little doodles and even colour by numbers which all promotes stress relief because you can pretty much get lost in the patterns and be so creative with them. 

 

I always find doodling or colouring very calming and something my mind kind of wanders off to. This book isn't just, what's essentially, an adults colouring book though! Oh no, it also has a weekly section on "ten minute mindfulness" which are little relaxation and meditation exercises along with tips on colours and how they can positively influence your life (for example this week is yellow and how it's a happy positive colour)  and other little tid bits. The pages are easy to rip out too if you wanted to frame them or hang them in your work space which is pretty cool.

XO

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread (or courgette bread, but lets face it, zucchini just sounds nicer) is a lovely, sweet but not too sweet bread or cake that can even be made into muffins (just adjust the time). It's so easy to make and it just tastes so good you're gong to have some restraint as to not eat the whole thing! Not too mention an extra vegetable in your day wont hurt! I got this recipe from a friend, who in turn, got it from a family member, and I can't thank her enough for this amazing, soft, tasty piece of deliciousness!


Prep time: 15 minutes     Cook time: 35-40 minutes     
Makes: 2 loaves     Calories: 150 per slice

Ingredients

402g/14.2oz of sugar
250ml/1 cup of oil
170g/6oz of shredded zucchini (one medium-ish zucchini)
3 eggs
256g/9oz flour
3tsp of vanilla extract
1tsp baking soda
1tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
1tsp salt 

This recipe is so easy! Begin with preheating your oven to 190 degrees Celsius or roughly around 374 degrees Fahrenheit, then put all of your ingredients (except the shredded zucchini) into a large bowl and mix them together with an electric whisk, I usually mix the ingredients together a little without turning it on first so I don't get a huge cloud of powder everywhere! 

Then once it's all mixed together add in your shredded zucchini and fold it in with a spatula until it's evenly distributed and you're done! 

I told you this was easy ;) Then spray some oil lightly on the inside of two loaf tins and divide your mixture into each one. Pop into the oven and keep an eye on them until a toothpick or knife comes out clean (but don't keep opening the door!). Wait for around 20 minutes until cool and then push them out onto a plate and enjoy!


XO

My 5 Current Get Up & Go Songs for the Gym

1.  Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

2.  Broken, Beat, Scarred - Metallica

3.  Jamaican Ska - Keith and Ken with Byron Lee & The Dragonaires

4.  Hit It - Deorro Ft. Dirty Audio

5.  Feet on the Ground - Nicky Romero


XO

Mental Health Mondays: It's nice to be nice.

It's nice to be nice simply because it makes you feel good. A few years ago I let go of a lot of anger and I started to work on myself, trying to become a better person. I found it did absolute wonders for my mind, my body and quite obviously my soul! To begin with my anxiety and depression disappeared almost completely for over a year, which in turn my body then stopped holding on to a lot of weight I found hard to lose previously because, when we become stressed or anxious our body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol which in short stimulates body fat and makes it a lot harder to lose weight. All of this because I was holding on to too much anger, which reflected on the people around me. I gave out about too many people, talked down about people if I was jealous, had a guard up, never said yes to anything. I was a negative little mess basically!
 
These days there are a few quotes I like to live my life by to make sure I leave an impression of the best version of myself that I can leave.

"Live in such a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe it"

"Be the kind of person you would like to be friends with" 

There are days that we will all have where we aren't in a good mood and everything is making us grouchy for no good reason! There are no excuses good enough to treat anyone in a horrible manner or to be just plain rude to someone. They could be having their own bad day, maybe  even a worse day than you, and here you come storming through throwing your bad energy out on everyone. Think about how it feels when someone is mean or rude to you in work, or school or college for no reason, it feels awful. So why make others feel like that? Even to a stranger who I may never see again I'd rather have them think nice of me rather than "What did I do to deserve that look? What a rude, nasty person" 

I always try to see the good in people (even though some people test that extensively...), I try my hardest never to say a bad word about someone out of spite or viciousness (no one wants a negative Nancy around, after all "What Susie says of Sally says more about Susie than it does about Sally"), I try to have compassion for people if they're a bit moody, if someone says bad of me out of spite or viciousness I tend to feel bad for them rather than angry. 

 

So just remember, be nice because it's good for you. I promise it will bring good energy and good luck your way! Contrary to what's said, good things happen to nice people.

XO

St. Patricks Day in Dublin

I know, I know! This post is a little late but I've been suffering with the worst migraine for the past two days and it's been hell. As most of you know this Tuesday was St. Patricks day, usually for Paddys day I don't really do much, I might go down to see the parade but I'm from a pretty small town so it's not too exciting to be honest. This year my friend, my boyfriend and I decided we would go to the country's capitol city for the parade, and I'm so glad we did! The costumes were so amazing and well executed it was so much fun. So I'm pretty much just going to throw in a ton of photos of the parade, so I'm sorry if you don't like photo heavy posts! 

 

 

 

 

 

XO

My Favourites for Feburary

Aussie Miracle Dry Shampoo Awesome Volume.
First let me say this dry shampoo smells so good! As a stand alone dry shampoo it's pretty decent, there's no white residue when I spray it, it doesn't feel super chalky and it keeps my hair looking clean. The main reason I love this dry shampoo is for the volume it creates! I love spraying this in my hair before I put it into a ponytail to give it some oomph  instead of having a flat, heavy looking ponytail, because my hair so thick and long it usually gets weighed down a lot, or in my fringe to make any quiffs looks high and voluminous, or even just to give my hair a little lift at the roots when I leave it down.


Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water. 
I've often heard this is a great dupe for Biodermas make up remover which is what really enticed me first, but since I've never tried Bioderma I really have nothing to compare it too. All I know is that this stuff is incredible, it removes all my make up with just one swipe with a large cotton pad (twice if it's heavy duty make up) and removes mascara, even waterproof, so easily! There's no smell to this either as there's no perfume in it so this could be great for anyone with sensitive eyes or skin. I also use this in a little bowl or on some tissue as a great spot cleaner for my make up brushes, and as a bonus it dries quickly too!

Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Wash Off Purifying Cleanser.
I love this cleanser when I'm looking for a really good clean after a day or night of heavy makeup. It melts right through most make up (I still need to go in with my Micellar cleansing water to remove my mascara) and it leaves my skin feeling so soft and really clean. The scent is something I got used to. I really wanted it to be like I had just dunked my face in a bath of peach juice but there's an underlying scent of menthol which is quite strange, not off putting but just not what I was expecting.

Barry M  Matte Nail Paint in Crush. 
This is the most amazing, deep burgundy/oxblood colour. When  I bought this nail polish at first, I bought it because I have a problem with nail polishes! (I've often bought colours only to realise I have two other nail polishes in that exact same colour...because I can't control myself) And when I brought it home I was still like "meh it's nice I guess", but when I put it on my toes I was blown away by how beautiful it really was! Since then I've reapplied this nail polish four times in a row. I knew it must be special if I didn't want to bother using another colour once Crush had chipped off.


Hask Argan Oil Healing Shine Hair Treatment.
I used this argan oil for around five years or so but for the past year I had forgotten all about it while trying out some new hair oils, but when I tried it again last week I realised nothing can compare to this! For under €5 this amazing oil works the best out of anything I've tried. I apply this by using a peanut sized amount, warmed up between my palms, and distribute it throughout the ends of my hair just before blow drying, whatever is left over I then lightly comb my fingers through the top of my hair and then I blow dry my hair as normal. After just one use my hair was noticeably shinier, sleeker and so soft, it really is amazing! 


KathleenLights.
KathleenLights is a youtuber that I discovered through the comment section on another youtube video around a month ago. I just love her video ideas, her set up, her personality and not to mention she's incredibly beautiful! She does mainly make-up and beauty related videos and I could just watch every video she puts up regardless of what it's about or if it applies to me, which in my books, is a great talent to make people want to watch your videos even if it's just sitting eating a bowl of cereal!


XO

The Netflix Tag

1. What are you favourite series' to watch on Netflix?

Orange is the New Black, Parks and Recreation, Roseanne and F.R.I.E.N.D.S (even though I own the special edition boxset), Bobs Burgers and One Tree Hill!

2. What are you currently watching on Netflix?

Roseanne, for some reason I like watching old TV shows, especially ones I can put on in the background while I do things!

3. If you could have any series, old or new put on Netflix, what would it be? 

Golden Girls! And Fresh Prince of Bel Air 

4. What is your one peeve about Netflix?

They're inconsistent and aren't up to date with their seasons of shows, for example some shows (like Kitchen Nightmares) only have seasons 3 and 4, and some shows like Bobs Burgers have seasons 1-4 but haven't got any beyond that (the show is currently on season 5).

5. What are your essentials for a perfect night in with Netflix?

Pyjamas, fresh sheets, a take away on one side, my boyfriend on the other.

6. Recommend one series or film for someone else? 

Bobs Burgers or Orange is the New Black. Soooooo ood and so funny!

7. Name a series on Netflix you keep meaning to watch but haven't yet?

 The Fall, I also need to catch up on Supernatural and Criminal Minds.

8. Did you discover anything awesome because of Netflix?

 Yes I discovered Parks and Recreation, Bobs Burgers and some pretty cool documentaries. God I love documentaries!

Mental Health Mondays: I wasn't allowed to have depression

It's okay not to be okay, but it's important to get help. A lot of the time I feel very guilty about the fact I have depression. I have always hated having to tell anyone or mention it that I, in fact, suffer from it, simply I felt like that person would look at me and think I was lying about it. 

I feel like I get judged over my depression, because in reality I'm quite a happy person, I'm relatively positive and I enjoy laughing. A lot. Generally the words that get said to me when I do mention I have depression to someone are along the lines of "I never would have guessed it! You never seem it". I guess I'm pretty good at putting on a smile and trying to enjoy my time and myself. The truth is when I'm around others I don't let it show a lot of the time and I think it almost looks like I'm lying about it.

I don't have any major traumatic events that have happened in my life to trigger any of this either and that's actually why I felt like I wasn't allowed to have depression, no one ever said it to me that I can't have it. I know other people have it so much worse than me, some people can't bear to even try to smile, and I always felt that I shouldn't be depressed, I have a good life, great friends, an amazing boyfriend and I'm not struggling with money. That doesn't mean I don't have bad days though. There are still days, even weeks, where I can't bring myself to get out of bed, where I burst into fits of tears for no reason or I don't even care about if I've showered in a week. I have tears pouring out of my eyes some days and I'm not even crying, it's almost like I have too many tears and they're all just leaking out of me, spilling out over the seams. Those days or weeks are the reason I decided that I don't need to feel guilty about having depression.

There's nothing I can do about the fact that it's there, I can do something to keep it at bay and to make sure it's not frequent but I have no reason to feel guilty about it. I have it and I never asked for this, I would never choose these feelings, but I have them and all I can do is try and help myself. It took me a very long time to realise that, almost too long.

XO

My To Do: March

1. Book holidays!

2. Buy Paolo Nutini tickets/ book hotel

3. Start running/jogging in the gym

4. Finish anniversary present shopping/making for Kealan. 

XO

Feburary Monthly Goals: In Review

1. Lose 5 lbs

I lost 3lbs this month but I also gained muscle so that's great! I can definitely see a physical change in my body even though I'm not seeing quite so much on the scales, I think I might stop trying to drop weight and just go with what looks right to me! Right now I'm pretty happy with how I look, I still have a long way to go but when I see results it motivates me so much!

2. Finish Reading Allegiant.

Ehhhm....fail!! Not only did I not finish Allegiant, I abandoned it and started reading Revenge Wears Prada, the Devil Wears Prada sequel. Well done Laura. Great job there.

3. Start jogging/running in the gym

Every time I went to start running in the gym, there were too many people and my anxiety started to get the better of me, and the 3 days the gym was empty, I was bloody hungover/injured...too many excuses I think, I just need to get on with it!!

4. Drink more water

This I have done! I've been drinking at least two 500ml bottles a day, which is a big difference to no water a day!!

XO