Is it really possible to be a new me, this new year?

We’ve all been there, every new year we are bombarded with propaganda telling us that if we buy this, eat that and wear these trainers, we can uncover a new, improved version of ourselves.

And a lot of us fall for it. We believe that there is something wrong with the person we were the previous year and we try our damnedest to fix ourselves. We throw money at the situation left, right and centre and yet somehow we usually fail. Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t aim to improve ourselves, because I am one of these many people trying to do this every year, but I wonder to what extent it’s really possible with the approach we tend to take.

Here’s what I mean…

Say you want to lose weight, it’s likely that you wanted to lose weight prior to January 1st and it’s also likely that during the preceding year, you had several attempts at doing so. “Diet starts Monday.” “After Easter, I’ll stay off the chocolate and I WILL lose weight.” “The summer is a great time to eat salads, so I’m sure I’ll lose weight then.”

You don’t do it, or you do it for a very short time, otherwise you wouldn’t need to make a resolution to do so the following January. So what is different about January?

Well, I’m not sure anything is except that there’s an increased focus on improving yourself in the media.

In my opinion, we can’t change things just by saying we will change them and subscribing to a few products and services to help us, we have to make a conscious decision to change our mindsets. And that is where I have a question mark. Have I really changed my mindset? There’s nothing about January itself that dictates my mindset has changed, so how do I know I’m not wasting my time?

How do I test my mindset? Am I really dedicated to the change I have publicly stated I will make?

The only answer I have is to give it time and if I fail, I guess my head’s not in the right place. If I succeed, even if only partially, then perhaps I’ve started consciously making better choices that lead me to my goal. If my head’s not in the right place for success, then I’m not quite sure how I get it there and that’s where I’ve fallen down time and again before.

And there begins the conversation again – to what extent is it really possible to uncover a new me and how would I do that if it is possible?

I’d love to hear success (or otherwise) stories from people who’ve managed to make a change for good. Let me know if you have any winning tips! x

2017: I can do this!

Hello one and all and a happy new year to you!

I absolutely love new year’s day because it feels like such a fresh start, when the world really is your oyster and you can achieve anything you want to.

Despite the Brexit debacle, I feel extremely fortunate to live in the UK right now, this whole blog post is entirely indulgent. It’s me documenting trivial things I would like to achieve in 2017; please read it as such, or don’t read it if you will find it offensive on that basis.

Over the last few years, I seem to have become rather busy with being a grown up and I’ve lost my way with blogging and other creative outlets that used to guide me through the days. I feel a bit like that part of my brain is slowly shrivelling up and I’d like to begin the process of reversal this year.

So, as in former years, I have laid out my personal objectives for the year and I’m hoping that by having this reference point, I’ll feel compelled to achieve them.

Here they are:

• Get back to blogging
  • Between this blog and my narrow shoes blog, I will write 52 blog posts in 2017
• Perform in 1 show
  • Playing Shelby in Steel Magnolias was the highlight of my 2016 and I’d like to feel that proud again
• Dine in 12 new restaurants
• Try singing lessons
• Read at least 12 books
  • Should be easy but time really does fly!
• Finish the year at least 1st lighter in weight than I begin it
  • Gotta get this health thing under control – old age is massively catching up with me

I’d love to hear any of your objections / resolutions for 2017 so please share if you’d like to and remember that they have to be achievable or you’ll give up before you’ve even started!

Have a FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC year everyone! x

2015- BEST YEAR EVER!

Here we are, it’s 31st December 2015 and I have to say this year has been the best year of my life so far. It’s been simply amazing and if 2016 is even half the year that this one was, I’ll be one lucky girl.

I know everyone does it but I can’t resist bragging a bit because here are some of the things that have made this year fantastic:

Adding Lexi to our family* Moving in with the boy* Paris* Warsaw* Greece* France* New York* Dog walks on the beach* Turning 30* Buying a house* Winning an award at work* Hanging out with friends* Great food* Family*

I’m unbelievably grateful to all who have contributed to making my year what it’s been. I’m on cloud 9 and appreciating every moment of it.

Here’s to a super 2016, may it bring you everything you could possibly wish for! x

2014 – My Year

As 2014 draws to a close, I’ve taken some time out to reflect on what an awesome year this one has been. I couldn’t possibly describe all of the brilliant things that have happened so I’ve picked a few snapshots which sum up my year and popped them into a collage. For me, this year has been about new beginnings; I’ve been lucky enough to attend 4 weddings, get together with my amazing bf and spend a huge amount of time with friends and family. I have so much to celebrate and I can’t wait for 2015!

Here’s my year in pictures. I encourage everyone to try this as it made me smile so much thinking back over the memories associated with these pictures 🙂

2014 In Pictures

Have a wonderful new year, everyone! xxx

Friday Lust

Welcome to the first Friday of 2013!!!

I thought about picking an awesome sale item for this week’s Friday lust and then I decided that would be aiming too low. The new year is all about aspirations and how we are going to beat the previous year. So… I have gone for something at quite the other end of the scale but it’s a purchase that I am hoping to make providing I am good at my new job. Here it is:

Marni Studded Bi-Coloured Tote, £875

Ok, so the bag may be £875 in Selfridges but who cares!?! I’ve fallen in love with it’s beautifully simple yet quirky design. Neutral colours aren’t normally my thing but somehow, with the addition of some gold studs and the gorgeous boxy shape of this bag, I’m loving neutral right now. You just know this is a bag that will last and last and looking like that, it’s sure to be a classic that will carry you through many years. Have I sold it to myself enough yet???

Just as soon as I have earned at least half the price, the rest can go on the credit card because I have never had a bag crush like this! Right there is my motivation to work REALLY hard this quarter!

Happy Friday my lovelies 🙂 x

 

Budget Friendly Skin Miracles – Tea Tree Oil

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful  night celebrating the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 last night 🙂

If you are anything like me, your skin is probably not naturally at it’s best at this time of year; the cold outside, heating inside and all the junk food we feed ourselves lead to a whole array of skin-based challenges. One thing that I really struggle with is finding a product strong enough to give my skin the moisture it needs to stop that itchy feeling whilst not clogging up my pores too much or giving me a greasy sheen for the whole day! Well, I have found my miracle product at last and it’s not expensive, it’s not full of chemicals and it’s not difficult to use. It’s tea tree oil, pure tea tree oil!

The oil is a strong moisturiser whilst the astringent properties of tea tree oil help to keep my pores in shape at the same time. You don’t need to use the exact product I have shown in the picture, that just happens to be the brand that mine is. Tea tree oil is available in most beauty shops, certainly mine came from Boots and it only cost a few £s.

Now the product says that you shouldn’t apply it neat to the skin and it should be diluted but I’ve ignored that. I’m not advising you to ignore it too, simply saying that so far, this has worked for me. I cleanse as normal and then use a cotton wool ball to smooth the oil over my skin before bed. In the morning I just use my usual moisturiser after cleansing.

So there it is, a budget-friendly skin solution to help you through the tough month that is January! Wishing you all the best for your back to work week, hopefully you have something fabulous lined up for next weekend to get you through! x

Reflections on 2012

Well, well, well, what a year of highs and lows! I started to write a post which ran through all of the goals I set myself this time last year and tallied up my progress against them and then I realised that those goals aren’t as relevant as they used to be.

At the beginning of 2012 I was pretty darned miserable so I set myself a whole bunch of goals to achieve to distract myself from the reality of being so blue. I can’t lie, the goals were good and working towards some of them means I’ve had a great time; I’ve seen far more theatre shows than I usually do in a year and I did manage to leave the country 3 times but actually I failed on a number of those goals because I was too busy just living my life.

This year, 2 really significant things have happened to me. The first is that my ex and I split up. Initially this sounds bad and it was painful but from where I stand now, it’s a purely positive thing as it’s given me a whole new perspective on that relationship which will really help me in future. I still don’t regret that relationship at all and I thank my ex wholeheartedly for being such an amazing person, he taught me a lot about myself and gave me all the confidence I needed to get to where I am now.

The second really significant thing that happened to me is that I have made a career change, fuelled by the confidence my ex has given me 🙂 I’ve only just started on my new path but providing I succeed, it’s going to open a lot of doors for me in 2013 and it’s finally given me that feeling of independence I have been craving for years.

So for 2013 I do have goals and things to achieve but the main thing for me is to hold on to the feeling I have right now. The last 3 months of 2012 have seen incredible change in my life and now I feel happy, in control and really excited to move into 2013 with all the fabulous friends around me who shared the highs and lows of 2012 🙂

Bring it on! In a week I will be sat at my desk shattered from an amazing weekend in Paris and in a year I will be an auntie for the first time! I can’t wait to see what the next 12 months hold!

Enjoy the last day of 2012 everyone and I’ll see you in 2013 for the best year yet! x

Out with the Old!

With the new year finally here and all of my sale shopping to be found homes in my wardrobe, I decided a clear out was well overdue and that included all of the items that have managed to narrowly escape the last few clear outs. Here’s the pile of items I’ve prepared to move on to their new homes:

In total 34 items are going – most to a charity shop, some straight to the bin and a few to eBay which are worth a bit more money. A few items do also still have their tags on – bad Sam! Some of these items have been worn and loved, quite a few have come from Primark and the vast majority represent bad shopping choices. There are lessons to be learned from this little lot but for now I am just proud of myself for making the decision to throw this stuff out rather than just adding to the pile 🙂 Anyone else having a good clear out? x

Hello 2012, Year of Financial Freedom and Travel

Being the imaginative individual that I am, I feel it necessary to write a post on my goals for 2012; just the same as most other bloggers out there have done or will do. I’m not so much calling these resolutions as goals because there is still a degree of flexibility in what I am about to set out, these are not hard and fast targets. This year I’ve spent more time than ever thinking about what I want out of next year, mainly because a lot has changed this year and I want to continue along that path next year. What I’ve really contemplated is what makes me happy. I’ve always been led to believe that money and material possessions make me happy; this is what others around me have noticed. Whilst I agree, I have also now worked out that to a certain extent this is incorrect or by now I would be starting to feel pretty darned happy when actually I’ve been feeling like something is still missing. Until now!

I’ve worked out that with me, material possessions do make me happy, but only the ones I really enjoy, not the ones I feel I should have to be happy. My case in point here is my car; I started 2011 driving my beloved 2004 Mini Cooper, or Reggie as he was affectionately known. Unfortunately, Reggie was getting on a bit and needed more and more expensive BMW repairs so we had to part ways and Frank joined me. Frank was a 2002 Fiat Punto, (orange no less!) who filled the time when I wasn’t sure which car to buy next. He was basic but reliable and I appreciated him every day apart from the one when he melted the Easter Egg I had spent days making for my bf before he even saw it. However, he was a temporary measure and soon came Stanley, (or Seamus as the bf calls him) my 2008 Vauxhall Corsa VXR. Now Stanley is a ball to drive, his acceleration is immense and he’s so small I always nip into those tiny gaps everyone else is too scared to fill. BUT… I haven’t warmed to him. I want my Mini back. I rarely get to use Stanley to his full acceleration capacity and whilst he has more knobs and dials than Reggie, I haven’t even bothered to look up in the book what these knobs and dials are or how to use them; I’ve had this car for 5 months now!

The Beloved Reggie

You may be wondering where this is going and questioning if you really care that much about my car to continue reading but here comes my point. I bought a faster, more expensive, generally flashier car and it didn’t make me happy. A year ago I would never have imagined this could be the case but I have lived and learned and now know myself a little better. So this year one of the things I plan to do is sell Stanley and find myself a new Reggie – the replacement may or may not be a Mini but it will definitely be cheaper than Stanley. Then, I will use the money I save to start paying off my credit card – yes, I seem to have matured in the last year and I can’t quite believe it.

Here are my goals for 2012 in full:

• Weight 9st7 (or less) by March – somehow have managed to reach 10st…oops!
• Weigh no more than 9st at the end of the year
• End the year with £3,500 credit card debt or less (fair chunk to pay off to reach that!)
• Read 10 new books
• Star in at least 1 theatre show
• See 12 theatre shows
• Spend 3 weekends away with the bf
• Eat in 6 new restaurants
• Leave the country 3 times
• Exercise for at least 1.5 hours per week (up from 0 hours)
• Make my eBay store self sufficient by June (i.e. have enough profit to buy next lot of stock)
• Have a trip to NY booked in (actually have at least deposit paid)
• Make and try 3 home made beauty products

Some of my goals are fairly ambitious but they are considered and I think they will lead to increased happiness so here’s hoping I’m right! Anybody got any suggestions or links they’d like to share to their own goals for 2012??? BIG LOVE, I’m super excited about 2012, it’s going to be a good one! x

Related articles

• Tips to Keep your New Year Resolutions in 2012 (moneyexpert.com)

How Do I Set Realistic Resolutions for 2012?

Like most people, at the end of one year I start thinking about the next and what I want to achieve over the course of that year. In the Western world at least, this is programmed into us from birth. Personally, I think a good starting point is reflecting on the previous year and what you have achieved to work out how you can build on that for the next. So here are some of my highlights from 2011:

• Jan – moved out from the parental home into a room in a shared house
• Feb – promotion at work
• Mar – completed run of Teechers at Progress Theatre
• Spring – sold my beloved Mini Cooper which kept breaking and bought a rubbish old Punto for cost savings (moment of previously unseen maturity)
• Spring – started my Candida blog
• June – moved back home for a month, before…
• July – moved into a house with the bf
• July – went on my first girly holiday
• July – sold rubbish old Punto and bought sexy Corsa VXR
• September – further pay rise at work
• October – took bf away for a holiday, (our first one) though just in the UK
• November – made redundant
• November – started eBay shop
• December – secured new job at big global company!

All in all, it’s been a pretty busy year and my bf was not wrong a year ago when he said 2010 had built the foundations for 2011. This year has been insane, so much has changed! However, you’ll notice a few steps backward along the way, as is often the case in life and it seems to be these that I dwell on. Despite having made significant progress towards my goals overall, I still feel like I have wasted my year and like I’m way behind my peers in sorting out my life. Now, I confess this is partly because I happen to have especially successful friends but actually, I think it’s mainly down to me.

The bf and I had a conversation about what we had achieved this year and he could clearly check off 2 of his 3 goals and has set similarly achievable goals for next year…as has my sister. These are both people who I admire for being “sorted”. I however realised that I never break down my goals, I simply have huge ambitions which I can never achieve in a year so I am left feeling like a failure when I don’t get there. The problem is that I’m so impatient that short of achieving all of my goals in one hit, I’m not sure what success for me will look like in 2012. How do I set myself some resolutions or goals for 2012 that I can actually achieve and still feel like I’m moving fast enough? What if I set the bar lower and still fail?

Is anybody out there good at setting personal goals and can offer me some advice or do most of us live this way? It’s a vicious cycle I’d like to break some I’m on the hunt for some advice from those who are in the know…I’ll let you know what I find! x