The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

Christmas is by far my favourite holiday of the year. I start feeling the Christmas spirit months before everybody else it would appear, yes I said months, and so it seems crazy to think that it is Christmas tomorrow! Despite my weeks and weeks of preparation, I still can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that Christmas has arrived already! None the less, I am still very very excited. 

Winter Outfit || OOTD

Westonbirt Arboretum in Autumn.

Westonbirt Arboretum is a popular location for my family. We have our annual passes and enjoy many beautiful walks over the year. We walk our dogs, enjoy the stunning scenery and sometimes even have a cheeky hot chocolate too. The arboretum is always such a gorgeous place to be, but in Autumn it takes beauty to a whole new level. I could spend hours and hours just taking in all the vibrant colours and enjoying the view. A couple weeks ago, my mum and I went on a little autumn walk at the arboretum and of course I had to bring my camera. Here are some of my favourite photos from the day...

For the love of storytelling...

I have loved storytelling for as long as I can remember, and yet it took me 19 years to really realise this. Like most people my age, I am at this point in my life when I am trying to figure out what to do next, where I want to go and even who I am. Personally, I am in a little different situation than most as I am being treated for the debilitating illness that is lyme disease (click here to read more about that). However, despite this I am still trying to figure out 'my life' so to speak. I have found that the best way to go about this is simply to start looking into what I enjoy, what makes me happy and what doesn't. 

Cowden Support Programme || Week 6 & 7

Check out my video talking about getting diagnosed with Lyme disease, as well as weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the programme!

These past two weeks I have failed yet again as a blogger. If you have been following my blog then you will know that I have been posting weekly updates about my journey with the Cowden Support Programme/Protocol in hopes of treating my Lyme disease. However, these past two weeks have been really quite rubbish. I basically got sick...er. 

Cowden Support Programme || Week 5

Before reading this post feeling free to check out my Lyme story, as well as weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4!

This last week has literally flown by but I am beyond happy to be finished with week 5 and moving onto week 6. This last week has been a bit of a tricky one and I had a massive blogger fail and completely forgot to update this post daily. However, I still wanted to write this and give you a general overview of what my week looked like. 

The week started really quite well. I sat down with my new agenda (which I am so very in love with) and planned out my entire week. I planned all these blog posts and videos, designated days to editing and even planned in some more social activities. I felt organised and excited for the week. I was still feeling a little groggy from this never ending cold but it was nothing major.

Cowden Support Programme || Week 4

With only 2 day's left of month 1, I am beyond impressed with the results I am seeing in myself. If you looked at me a month ago and compared it to myself now, you would struggle to believe it was the same person! I still have a long way to go until I am back to full health, but just knowing that each day I am a step closer, is very re-assuring. 

For anybody who may be new to my blog, I have Lyme disease. You can check out my post about that here or watch my video here. Almost a month ago, I started a new treatment called the Cowden Support Programme/Protocol. Each day I document how I have been feeling and each week, I post about how my week has been. This makes it easier for me to look back on and also helps to show people how I am getting on with the protocol, and if it is working for me. Feel free to check out my previous weeks here...

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Now for week 4! Here is what my week looked like... 

Egypt || Summer 2016

On August 16th I had the please of going to Eygpt for 10 days. It was a family holiday and was honestly one of the best experiences I have had. We stayed in a lovely hotel that had lots of waterslides, cute cats (all of which we named) and really polite and helpful staff. There were also a few neighbouring hotels that were all owned by the same person, meaning we could go and use the other hotel's facilities too! Unfortunately, we didn't realise this until the second half of the trip, but we spent the last few days enjoying the neighbour hotels massive pool! 

Our hotel had the better waterslides, nicer grounds and was a lot less crowded meaning you really felt like the staff personally knew you. We really enjoyed that aspect. One night we went to the Asian restaurant. Our hotel was all inclusive and there were a couple buffets, where we usually ate. However, you could book a table at these specific restaurants for a more formal dinner. The Asian place was not only the best food but the staff were incredible. They spent the night joking with us and even took us back into the kitchen, where one the staff jumped out and scared me! It really felt like you were friends with all the staff and made such a difference to our trip. 

Lyme Life || Getting Diagnosed.

I have had Lyme Disease for about 18 months now. I've tried sharing a little about it on this blog but not only was it extremely daunting, but it is very difficult to explain everything in a little blog post. I have been wanting to make a Youtube video explaining my situation for quite some time. However, I always made some excuse as to why I shouldn't. 

BUT, I finally did it!

Last night I posted my very first video talking about my struggle with Lyme Disease. It was kind of terrifying but I did it and now I can't wait to make my future videos. Please please please check out my channel HERE and subscribe if you are interested in any future videos. I plan on making a few more videos talking about

Cowden Support Programme || Week 3

3 weeks down and 1 to go until I have completed month 1 of the programme! The first couple weeks were pretty rough but I have really noticed a difference this week. Unfortunately, being the germ magnet I am, I went and nabbed myself a cold. Yet despite this, I felt better than I have in weeks! 

If you are new to my blog, feel free to check out this post I made last year about getting diagnosed with Lyme and check out my posts for week 1 and week 2 of the programme. Today I wanted to share and reflect upon my experience with week 3 of the programme. Like everything, there were good and bad days, but overall, I would say that this week has really been a pretty good one! I am so so SOOO excited to be getting on through the programme and to be feeling the results already. It is very encouraging and gives me great hope that this will give me my health back!

Cowden Support Programme || Week 2

I can't believe that I have already finished week 2 of the CSP! It's been a little rough but I am beyond excited for when it's over and I have my health back. For anybody new to my blog here is my post about getting diagnosed with Lyme disease, and here is my post  about week 1 of the Cowden support programme. Today I wanted to share and reflect upon week 2 of the programme and my experience through this whole journey. Week 2 has definitely had it's difficult moments but looking from a general sense, I am 100% seeing improvements in my health which is so so reassuring. I still have a long long way to go but I am feeling very hopeful with how things are going. 

Throughout week 2, I wrote down each day how I was feeling so I could document this entire process. Here is what my week looked like...

Cowden Support Programme || Week 1

In November 2015, I wrote this post about my struggle getting diagnosed with Lymes disease. Today I am going to be briefly updating you on where I am now and most importantly the treatment I am undergoing.

Firstly, let me apologise for abandoning my blog. It wasn't planned nor intentional but I feel I should explain what happened. Firstly, life got a little hectic. Between finishing school and trying to decide my next steps, holidays and my deteriorating health, my poor little blog got put aside. Even at times when I wasn't feeling too bad and nothing else to do, I felt a little lost with my blog. I felt my posts moving in a direction I wasn't happy with. However, I am back now and plan on continuing to post personal content I am happy with when I feel I can do so.

Now that that's out of the way, let's move onto this post...

Spring Walks || Westonbirt.

With winter finally coming to an end, I was beyond excited to be getting out of the house and enjoying some of the lovely spring weather. England's sunny days are relatively rare so when the sun decided to appear, I grabbed my camera and went on a lovely walk with my mum and brother. With my current health situation, I can't walk very far. However, the weather was just too lovely to miss. 

We are very fortunate to live close to an arboretum and it's a great place to go, no matter what the weather is. On this particular day, it was nice and sunny. However, the air was still pretty cold and when the sun disappeared behind a cloud, it got rather chilly. Besides the occasional cold spells, it was still a lovely walk and I cannot wait for even more sunny walks over the spring and summer. Here are a few of my favourite snaps of the day...

Overall, it was just such a lovely day and I absolutely love being outside. Do you enjoy being outside?

Have a lovely day and thank you for reading.

Holly X

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

I absolutely love all holidays and as a fellow chocolate lover, Easter is definitely up there with my favourites. So, today I just wanted to write a quick post wishing you all a wonderful day and sharing a few pics from my Good Friday. We had my grandparents come over for a delicious roast dinner followed with a homemade lemon roulade. It was full of great food and lots of laughs. After dinner, we went on a little walk to see the lambs before heading home to enjoy the last few rays of the sun. All in all, a lovely day! 

I had such a lovely Good Friday and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend. Eat lots of chocolate and laugh a lot and remember the true meaning of Easter.

Holly X

Bunny Bunting.

My last post featured some homemade easter inspired bunting and it appeared to go down a treat. It was a really easy and inexpensive way to decorate for the easter holidays and so today I decided to share with you a slightly different type of easter bunting. In comparison to my last bunting, I made these with a kit I purchased from hobby craft. I love hobby craft and when I came across this adorable kit I just fell in love. Usually, when I see something like this, I will just try and adapt it and make it from scratch for less money. However, this kit was only £2 ! It would have cost more to make it from scratch so I decided to go ahead and buy it. 

Included in this kit was some sparkly string, 7 little pom poms (for the bunny tails), 8 sticky bow ties, a sheet of double sided stickers (to stick the tails on) and 15 pre-cut card bunnies in 5 different patterns. There were also instructions on the packaging.

First up, I lay the bunnies out in the order that I wanted them. I chose to keep them in a similar order to the order they came in. However, you could totally mix them up more and get creative with it. I then had to thread the string through the pre-punched holes in the bunny ears. This was the most time-consuming part of the whole process, especially when I came missing a hole meaning I had to undo it all again. If anybody choosing to give this kit a go, take your time with this bit. Make sure the string goes in and out the same way as the others and make sure not to miss any!

The next and final step was to add on the tail and tie. The bow-ties peeled off super easily and stuck on very well. I always worry when purchasing things like this that the sticky part doesn't actually stick very well. However, these stuck on great and looked so cute! The tails were a little more tricky. The double sided stickers were super sticky, which was great for ensuring the tails didn't fall off. However, this did make the handling a little more challenging. Thankfully I have some longish nails, making the peeling off the stickers easier. However, it was a little harder trying to position them in order to get the tail in the correct place. Despite it being a little more challenging, it wasn't too difficult and was still a lot of fun.

Voila! We have some super cute, very easy, wonderfully cheap and perfectly festive bunny bunting. I half expected them to turn out horribly with them being such a good price, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

I decided to hang mine in my kitchen, just in time for Good Friday! They completely transformed the room and everybody has been loving them. I always find that decorating for the holidays and seasons just transforms the house. It's always so much fun to do and I find it puts the whole family it more festive mood. 

Has anybody else been decorating their home for Easter?

There probably will not be another post until after easter, so I wish you all the happiest of Easters. I hope you eat too much chocolate and laugh until your belly hurts. Have a lovely time and enjoy it!

Holly X

Easter Inspired Bunting.

As you may know, I absolutely LOVE decorating for the seasons/holidays. It's such a fun way to get involved with the festivities and brighten up your home. Of course, you can easily just purchase some decor from a shop. However, this usually is pretty expensive. So, I like to try and create my own decor for a fraction of the price. Today I wanted to share how I made this ridiculously easy and super cheap easter inspired bunting. I actually already owned all of the necessary materials, but if you don't already own them, you can purchase them for a very reasonable price in a range of stores.

Equipment/ Materials Needed:

- Coloured Card (I chose four pastel colours for mine.) 

- A Hole Punch

- String 

- Scissors (Craft scissors work best but normal will work fine too.)

First of all, you need to take your craft scissors and cut out equal triangular shapes. In order to create equal shapes, I recommend measuring a rough outline before cutting. The craft scissors will create this wavy edge. However, my scissors broke meaning I had to use normal scissors and manually create this wavy edge. I think this worked just as well.

Next, you need to take your hole punch and punch two holes into the top of each triangle. Try to make the holes in roughly the same place each time.

Finally, thread your string through your card and voila! You're done! This is literally one of the easiest crafts ever and it looks amazing. If you wanted to make this specifically for easter you could add some more details such as painting on little eggs or chicks. However, I wanted to be able to hang mine throughout spring and summer, so I left them as they were.

I was so so happy with how this worked out. The colours really brighten up my home just generally make the house look more springy. On top of looking super cute and being really easy, it really didn't take that long. The only part that was moderately time-consuming was cutting out the shapes. However, if you place more than one piece of the card together and cut multiple at once, this takes next to no time at all.

This is definitely one of those simple decor pieces that just make such a difference to your home. I definitely recommend giving this a go!

Does anybody else love decorating for the holidays/seasons?

Thanks for reading!

Holly X

Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Soup.

Sweet Potatoes are one of my all time favourite foods and I am pretty obsessed. In fact, I am actually eating sweet potato fries right now! There is so much you can do with them, they taste amazing and are actually good for you! What's not to love?

So, the other day, with my deep love for sweet potatoes, I decided to make my very own sweet potato and red pepper soup! It was pretty magical if I say so myself. Word of warning though... it's deliciously addictive.

We are lucky in that we have a soup maker in our home. I totally recommend getting one if you love soup like I do. It makes soup making super simple and does all of the work for you On top of that, it can be used for way more than just soups. For example, you can also boil eggs, make smoothies e.c.t. It is pretty damn cool if you ask me. However, if you don't own a soup maker, you can roast the veg, blend and then simmer (so I hear, I can't say I have actually tried this technique). 

I used a recipe on Pinterest for inspiration but adapted it to be more my taste. On with the recipe...

Ingredients: 

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut small

1 red pepper, cut small

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 medium onion, cut small

1 vegetable oxo stock cube, dissolved in water

salt and pepper

A pinch of sage

A pinch of basil

Method:

1.Add all ingredients to the soup maker. 

2.Turn On and press smooth.

3.Leave until the machine beeps, signaling finish. 

Yes, it really is that easy.

This has to be one the quickest, simplest and more delicious soup recipes I have even tasted. I was beyond happy with how this tasted and 1000% recommend giving this a go.

The following week, when I had devoured this batch, I decided to make another load but with carrot instead of the pepper. Also very delicious.

So here we have it, my all-time favourite soup. I hope you give this a go because it really is amazing. If you do, I'd love to hear what you thought about it. 

Thanks for reading!

Holly X

The Beauty Of Instant Photographs.

It's no secret that I love photographs. I am always snapping up pretty pictures of everything and in the whirlwind, that is technology, the beauty of a physical copy of a photograph often is forgotten. In the last year, I have been making much more of an effort to print off physical photographs of my favourite images. I typically use an app to get my photographs sent to me, meaning it is a super easy process and I get the beauty of having a physical copy of my photo's. I absolutely love it! 

Taking a photograph digitally is great, don't me wrong. You can take a million and one photo's just to make sure you get the right one, can't do that with instant photos. You can edit an image digitally, can't do that with instant photos either. However, there is just something about capturing a specific moment in a single unchangeable image that I just love and that is something you just can't get from digital photography. 

So, after many years of wishing and wanting, I finally decided to get my hand on one of these wonderful instant cameras. (When I say that I mean my lovely mother got me one for Christmas) I decided to get the Instax mini 90 as I really like the more 'old fashioned' design it has over the more modern models. 

The only trouble with these is that the film is pretty pricey but in some ways that make the moments you do use it, even more special. The fact that you only have a certain number of images you can take, kind of forces you to really think about what you are taking and makes the actual image even better. 

Along with all of that, they just look so cute! I decided to hang mine up on my bookshelf  and I am obsessed with how it looks. It makes my room feel so pretty and cosy and I love having little memories lying around my room. 

I understand that things like this are not for everybody but personally, I love it and just HAD to share it! I totally recommend it for any photography lovers because I have become obsessed.

Thanks for reading! Does anybody else have an instant camera?

Holly X