Flowers in the street.

I was just scrolling through some of my photos and came across this one from a couple of weeks ago. Now I know that this is not the best photograph, but it was one of those 'I'm in a rush and trying to take a good photograph without stopping' kind of photographs. I took this whilst on the way to meeting a friend in a cafe and was kind of in a rush (I was running late, surprise surprise). I remember seeing them and just automatically becoming very very happy. Flowers are just one of those things that make me super happy. They are just so naturally beautiful and smell lovely too! 

Looking back on it, I kind of wish that I had stopped to appreciate all these lovely flowers and maybe even purchased some. There are often stalls in my town, especially when the market is taking place and I really must remember to appreciate the flower stall more often because it really is very beautiful. 

So that is all for today's rather short post. I just wanted to share these beautiful flowers and remind you to stop and smell the flowers from time to time, because it really is worth it. 

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day.

Holly X

Next Home Decor Haul

My bedroom is currently undergoing a makeover. I am the kind of person that is always wanting to move around my bedroom or decorate items, maybe I have a creative streak ? However, this time, I was allowed to completely redo my bedroom. This includes painting, having a built in wardrobe and even a couple of new furniture items (not new but new to me). This meant that the other day, whilst browsing through the Next home décor section, I actually could purchase some items. This made me a very happy bunny because home décor shopping is one of my favourite types of shopping! As well as shopping home décor, I also love viewing others home décor. Therefore, I thought I would dedicate a post to my home décor haul and share it with you... enjoy! 

The first thing that I purchased was this cushion. Now I absolutely love cushions! People always joke around about how much women love their cushions, but I honestly do! They just make an area look so cosy and comfy as well as adding a decorative touch. Now my room is painted 3 walls grey and one wall a light/minty green (I say minty because the paint was originally meant to be mint green. However it doesn't actually look very minty... but I still love it!). However, yellow is one of my favourite colours and I wanted to add a little more colour to my room as it was looking a little dark (I don't get masses of light through my window), so I decided I would attempt to add elements of yellow as you will see throughout this post. In order to do this, however, I needed an item that would incorporate all three of these colours. There was a beautiful picture that did this, but it was too big and I would have nowhere to put it. Then I came across this cushion, fell in love and threw it in the basket. It's the perfect size for my chair and I love the picture on it. I absolutely love this cushion and am super happy with this purchase. 

Next, up I got these long twigs with yellow flowers (I am not the best at describing things). I have always wanted some kind of tall plant to put in my room and when I came across this, it was perfect! As mentioned above, I was trying to incorporate a little yellow into the mix and not only did this have elements of yellow, it also fitted into my room theme perfectly. I then came across this very simple vase and thought it was perfect for my new plant feature. I originally intended to go for the clear vase as I thought the grey would be too dark. However, it turns out that this colour was perfect. It's practically clear, just with a tint to the glass and I love it! I think that this feature is perfect for my room and adds an element of elegance. I am already thinking of ways I can use this to decorate for the holidays!

A little while back I purchased a few mini cacti (which you can read about here) and have been looking for a better way to keep them ever since. The other day I came across the idea of using a jar and filling it with sand and stones. So, with this in mind, I began looking for a little tray and jars. However, there was nothing that fit this category in the store. That's when my mum found these adorable little mugs. They fit my room theme (which is kind of all over the place but looks really cute) perfectly and I LOVED them. So we decided to buy three of these for my mini cacti and use the jar idea for the larger cacti. I still have to buy the sand and mini stones but I think this is one of the cutest features in my room. I also got this tray from Sainsburys and think it works super well with the mugs. (P.S- Any fellow Once Upon A Time lovers out there? Do these mugs not remind you of Belle and Rumple or what? I LOVE IT!)

Next, in my haul, I have this absolutely amazing candle. Now, along with my deep loving of cushions, comes this deep loving of candles. My rather impressive collection just continues to grow and I am very much okay with that. The first thing that caught my eye about this was this the pattern and metallic feature of the candle. I am a big fan of this metallic trend and just fell in love with this candle. Then, when I realised that it was a three wick candle. I fell a little deeper in love. A single wick candle excites me enough, but add another 2 wicks and I go a little crazy. I am always seeing these three wick candles in America from Bath and Body Work's I believe, and every time I get a little jealous. So, when I came across this I got super super happy. I don't know if I have just been looking in the wrong places but I basically never come across three wick candles in England so I was beyond ecstatic. Now, in my deep love for this candle, even if it didn't smell absolutely amazing... I probably would have still purchased it, purely due to these other features and my obsession. However, just to top things off, it smells A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I feel like it might be one of those scents that aren't for everyone but I think it smells heavenly. Now I stupidly went and threw away the label but I feel like it was sandalwood or something? If that is even a scent, I don't know. I can't even find it online but you shall just have to trust me when I tell it is wonderful. Very happy with this purchase. 

 This next item is more of a practical item as oppose to decorative. I desperately needed a new lamp for my bedside table and thought this simple one was perfect. I was a little hesitant at first to go for the grey one, as I already had 3 grey walls and as mentioned before, didn't want my room to become too dark. However, my Mum and Grandma thought it would be fine and so I went for it, and I am very glad I did. The lamp is against the green wall and doesn't make it too dark at all! It's a perfect size and fits great with my room. Very happy with this too!

The final item in this haul is this amazing wall art (is that the correct word?). I have been seeing a few items like this lately, the whole '3D but behind glass' kind of wall art thing, and I love it! I think this looks super cool and again adds elements of yellow. The butterflies add to my kind of 'vintage, modern, elegant' theme I have going on. It sounds a little strange I know but I seriously love it and think it looks amazing. The more I look at this piece, the more I fall in love with it and I am super pleased with this find. I could go on and on about how much I love this piece but this post is getting rather long and I am honestly struggling to find words. 

So there we have my Next home haul. I still have a couple more items to add to my room and can't wait until it is finished so that I can share it! I hope you have enjoyed reading this haul as much as I have enjoyed writing it and maybe it has inspired your home décor shopping? 

I hope you have a lovely day and thank you for reading.

Holly X

My Braces Experience: Getting my braces tightened (the 1st time)

About a week and a half ago I got my braces tightened for the first time. So, I thought I would write the second post in 'My Braces Experience' series. The first post can be found here if you wish to read that first.

One thing that surprised me about getting braces was how much it hurt afterwards and for how long too. The majority of my friends had braces in the past and so I was aware that they would hurt afterwards for a little while, but my teeth were so so sensitive for an entire week and most people's discomfort only lasted a few days tops according to my research. Another point that I had taken away from my research was how much it hurt when you got them tightened. Most people had said that the tightening was worse than the fitting... and that made me nervous. Getting them fitted was a really unenjoyable experience for me, for at least a week and then to hear it was going to be worse this time. I was thinking 'Oh great! Will I be living off soup for 2 weeks now?!'. But as it turns out I was absolutely fine.

Getting them tightened

The actual process of tightening the brace was relatively fast and completely painless. If felt really weird and sounded funny in my head. I have no idea why but for me it was just one of those body squirming 'this feels weird' experiences, but not at all painful. It just feels unnatural. 

Post- tightening 

Considering that the actual tightening process had been painless, I automatically assumed that the pain would kick in afterwards. We (my sister, mum and myself) went over to a cafe for breakfast afterwards and I thought 'ooh I better eat quickly before the pain kicks in'. My teeth felt slightly more sensitive when eating but not painful. We then left and returned home where I continued to wait for the pain to kick in. However, the pain never arrived and I remained a happy bunny. I thought it was kind of strange that I had escaped painless, especially after hearing everybody else stories. But I can honestly say that it was a painless experience. Now apparently, this means my next appointment will be more painful but I guess we shall see. I have got 4 and a half weeks to prepare for it anyway.

How my teeth look now

Here is a photograph of my brother and I from the other day compared to a photo prior to getting braces. (I am aware that these are not the clearest or attractive photographs but they are the ones where I thought you could see the difference the most.)

I am honestly, so so impressed with the difference already. That one tooth (the main reason I got braces) is practically straight now and I have only had them 6/7 weeks. Even the dentist appeared to be impressed with my fast moving teeth. I am hoping that this means my braces can come off earlier than I first thought. However, I don't know and trust my dentist's opinion more than my own. 

So yes, here is my braces update. I am super happy with the progress and was very pleased how smoothly the tightening process went. I plan on doing another update in about 5 weeks time once the brace has been tightened again. 

Thanks for reading,

Holly X

My £10 Shoes.

As you read this I shall be camping but today I thought I would share with you one of my favourite recent purchases. These shoes.

 I love shoes. Despite having a million pairs and only wearing one, I still purchased more. You can never have too many shoes, right? This style of shoes is one of my favourites. I have been seeing it more and more recently and every time I see them I cry a little inside (happy tears of course.. and a little jealousy). So when I realised that I needed some new shoes to go with my dress for a wedding, I was more than a little excited. I had been looking online and was torn between this style and a pointed toe heel style. I recently had been loving both styles and was absolutely torn between them. However, last Thursday I was shopping for jeans. I had been needing new jeans forever and with this camping trip creeping up on me (the trip I am on now) I figured that having some comfortable jeans that actually fitted me were pretty necessary. So, we went shopping. 

We decided to pop into Dorothy Perkins. Now honestly, this isn't a shop where I usually shop. However, they had a sale on so of course, we had to pop in. Much to my delight, I found two pairs of jeans that I love but I won't go into that now. Now on the way to the fitting room (to try on the jeans) I came across the shoe sale section. When I found these shoes I just fell in love! They were so perfect and they were on sale ... perfect! However, I then realised they were a size too small and the last in stock. I tried them on in hope my feet has shrunk, but no such luck. Feeling a little defeated I left the shoes. Just as I was about to leave my mum just magically pulled out another pair (by magically I mean she found them hiding at the back) of these shoes but in my size!! I was beyond happy. Feeling beyond excited about these shoes, I took them into the fitting room to try them on. Honestly, they were a little too big in place and a little tight in others, but I didn't care. It was close enough and at only £10 I simply had to buy them. So I did, and I now present to you my wonderfully perfect favourite beautifully amazing shoes!!!

In case you didn't realise, I love these shoes. I am super duper happy with this purchase and will hopefully be sharing my wedding outfit soon.

Thanks for reading!

Holly X

Rainy Day Games.

Last Tuesday (I think) it was a very wet and grey day in England. Despite the fact that it is summer, we have been getting more than our fair share of rainy weather, not to mention the lack of heat. But despite this not so summery summer, we (being my brother and me) are on our school summer holidays. For me, this means I have extra time to blog and focus on other projects such as the redecoration of my room. However, my brother has fallen into the trap of video games. Now there is nothing wrong with video games from time to time. But I personally believe that it is not the most valuable way to spend your time if playing too often. With this in mind, I decided to give myself the task of entertaining my 10-year-old brother for this rainy afternoon, in an attempt to give him a slightly more stimulating and memorable summer. Overall, I think it was a success and thought I would share some pictures I snapped throughout the afternoon.

First of all, we decided to play some good old board games. We played a couple including Cluedo and some dice game (the one where you roll two dice and try get all the numbers down??). We had a good laugh and it was nice to see him enjoying something besides a video game.

A little later, once he was fed up with the games, we decided to bake some chocolate muffins. I thought this would be a good idea because not only would it teach him a little about cooking, but we could enjoy what we had made later on. Plus, children love getting messy!

It proved a little harder than I had anticipated to separate him from the game, but with a little perseverance, we did it. 

One of Alfie's favourite parts of the baking appeared to be the cleaning... as long as he could eat it!

Here is our final result. The baking was a success and the muffins were delicious! They were perfectly moist on the inside and the chocolate chunks were a great idea. 

We even managed to snap a silly little selfie. Overall I think it was a successful afternoon that we both enjoyed. I think it is very important to make time to do things together and make the most of the free time. I wanted Alfie to look back on the summer and all of the fun activities and days that we had, not just a video game. 

I would be interested to hear of any other rainy day ideas, as we do seem to get an awful lot of them over here in England. 

Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend. 

Holly X