Things I wish that I never gave up

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Sorry for a lack of posts, I've been struck down with endless revision... ugh. But it somehow got me thinking completely out of nowhere. Through all my boredom it made me realise there are so many things that I've done throughout my childhood that I did as hobbies, both in and outside of school, that I somehow manged to get bored and grow out of each of.

Looking back now, I wish I never gave some of them up and that I could do those things again without feeling sick to my stomach. Going back to those things can be really nerve wrecking, despite the fact that it might have been something I once loved. I mean I left for a reason right?

Despite this I do feel in the back of my head a bit of regret and guilt that I gave up so easily and didn't push myself forwards. Instead I admitted defeat. Here are some of the things I wish I never gave up.

I wish I never gave up playing netball and rounders. I was in the school team for both sports and I enjoyed it so much, I always loved the adrenaline and the thrill you get winning a match; I'm like the most competitive person ever and I'm pretty sure people hate me for it. However I always felt disheartened, because when picking the school teams, teachers always prioritized the popular girls, so trialing for the team always felt like a waste of time and energy. I eventually gave up, because I never felt like I could live up to the teachers standards. But I still love those sports so much, I just wish I could play it now, more for fun than anything else.

I went to dance lessons for a long period of time, and even though I'm not a great dancer, there's always a great feeling you get from moving to the beat of a song and feeling the rhythm in your body. The first time I quit was because I got in an argument with my best friends, I still went but it just felt so awkward so I eventually gave in because I knew inside that they were laughing at me. Despite this, I still loved dancing so I rejoined the group a year later, to find out they left (which was great news). I went for a couple of weeks but once again something didn't feel right, I just wanted to stay at home and avoid speaking or talking to anyone. It sucked. Sometimes I go onto YouTube now and watch choreography videos and want so bad to be able to dance again, but I don't think it's anything I will or could restart. I guess I'll just stick to lonely dance parties in my room.

I never took an instrument lesson in my life, I still have no idea what the grades mean and I cant for the life of me read sheet music. But I did have a keyboard that I was obsessed with, and despite my lack of musical knowledge I was good at it! I could learn to play songs with ease, and would often be found watching video tutorials on how to play the most popular song at the time to go into school the next day and play it for my friends. Music was one of my best lessons in school that I did really well in, until I had to pick my options in year 9. I couldn't take it as an option so was cut off from everything I loved. I stopped playing the keyboard and now it sits unloved on my bedroom floor, I probably can only play two songs on it now... I'm sorry Mr keyboard, I should have never given up on you. However Mr drums, I have my eyes on you...

I'll have to write a part 2 to this post because I've come to he realization that there are too many things I wish I'd stuck with. I've also come to the conclusion that I need to go out more, jeez my life is so bland and boring now! Maybe I should start yoga? Who am I kidding I'd give up on that too.

Is there anything you wish that you had never given up?

Lauren xx

Enchanted Prairie Pizzazz Box!

Happy days!! My Prairie pizzazz box from Prairie charms came last week and I was super happy and excited that I finally had it in my possession.  LOOK HOW BEAUTIFUL! I'm going to cut the dilly dallying and get straight into what was inside my box!!

First of all, can we talk about the beautiful packaging? I didn't even know fairy and mushroom sequins were a thing but now I do I want some for myself! Before I ripped away the tissue paper, I was greeted with this beautiful card above that listed all the items that I was about to discover. It was so exciting to finally have the box in my hands and it was so worth the wait! You know that feeling when you're waiting eagerly for a package and it finally arrives? The excitement? Yeah well I felt that on an extreme level.

Firstly I received the "Hazel Custom Knot Tie Pack". This is a pack consisting of 3 bands, in a strong teal blue, another that is white with gold hearts, and my absolute favorite: a pink one with cute white reindeer. I'm obsessed with these and always have one on my wrist. I mean, you never know when you'll need them and they always come in handy.

Secondly, I got this beautiful print! The quote "she believed she could so she did" is a quote I dream to live by. Straight away I placed it inside a frame and now it sits happily on my desk for me to look at whenever I'm overcome with revision or when I feel sad. I believe it will help me to push on to achieve greater things, and it's one of my favourite additions to the box!!

I was extremely intrigued by this next item, it was like nothing I've seen before! This is actually a "Sweet Hostess Sugar Swizzle Stick",  which is a cluster of crystallized sugar. It says on the contents card that it can be ate straight off the stick, added to soft drinks, cocktails and even hot drinks! I personally used it for my tea and it tasted beautiful!!  

I had never seen a midi-ring made with a chain until now and was more than happy to have found this little gem in the box! It's so cute and dainty on! I'm a massive fan of rings and it was a great addition to my collection; it's also so unique!! All the exclamation marks!!!!!!

What you see above are not just cute little skulls, but adorable wax melts too! The scents came in pumpkin, nectarine and gingerbread! Personally I'm not a big fan of wax melts as I find them a bit too overpowering, but my Mum loved them so was more than happy to use them for herself!

This Pandora Evil Eye bracelet was my overall favourite in the entire box! Apparently it's to protect myself from the dark arts and evil spirits. That sounds pretty cool in itself right? Oh and it's absolutely stunning of course.

I used to wear bows all the time, but grew out of my phase as I got older. But now that I've got this gold bow in my grasp, I can just imagine all the cute buns I could pull off! Also, I love anything in gold so I'm very pleased with the choice of colour, thank you Prairie Charms!!


This may sound strange, but some say I used to look like Hermonie Granger when I was a young lass, so it cant have been a coincidence that I happened to get this Hermoinie wand necklace. A sign maybe? Who knows, but it's super cute and adorable, I can't wait to wear it out and show it off!

Isn't everything great and beautiful and stunning and just generally AMAZING?! I've already pre-ordered my Christmas box and  I'm so so so excited for that to arrive too! Prairie Charms is such an amazing company, such a joy to work with, and they produce the most amazing items ever. I'm kind of in love with them... I feel no shame.

What's one piece of jewelry that you always where? I'd love to know!

Lauren x

World Kindness Day: Part 2

Evening chums! Friday the 13th November 2015, was world kindness day! In Mondays post, of which you can read here, I talked about the special day and ways you can spread your kindness in many different ways! 

Yesterday I did my part, and wrote around 25 notes of kindness. Hey, that might not sound like a lot, but I spent an hour writing and I was just too eager to dish them out to the locals. I walked around the estate for an hour, in the freezing cold, my fingers numb and yellow, posting each individual note into people's letter boxes. I thought my fingers where going to fall off but hey, to make just one person smile is so worth it. It was later that night when the terrorist attacks in Paris happened. Everything felt so so wrong. It was supposed to be a day of kindness around the world, however innocent people were being killed and I witnessed the death toll as it grew. My boyfriend text me constant updates of what was happening, to keep me in the loop, and with every message I received my heart ached and ached. If I hurt so much, imagine how the families of those who had people they knew in Paris, those who lost people, and even those who live in the city who now live in fear!

However, kindness did follow. I think everyone's heard and seen about the different monuments around the world being lit up in the colors of the French flag. Taxi drivers in Paris turned off their meters and too everyone home or to safety to free. Some people even opened their doors, letting those who needed it to sleep in their own home and seek safety! The hashtag #PayForParis started trending all over twitter, and I don't think I've ever seen so many people come together and unite, and it felt so good to see how many people cared. Kindness still lingered through the darkness, not all hope was lost. 

The next morning I woke up to be treated with a beautiful box sent by Cotton Traders UK, full of cosy goodies. It all was sent free for the sake of promoting world kindness, and I felt so blessed to receive such beautiful items, and it was so selfless and caring of them! In the box I received many goodies such as a hot chocolate spoon, a hot water bottle, and my personal favorite: fluffy socks.

Now, Cotton Traders UK told me I could do whatever I wanted with the box as long as it involved kindness and giving to others. As much as I would love to send packages to all those affected by the recent tragedies, that's unfortunately not possible. However instead, I will pick packing it full with food, sanitary items, and warm clothing such as gloves and scarves, to my local charity for the homeless which they will then pass on to one of their clients so that they can have a better Christmas despite having to live in the streets.

I was also surprised to see these to images on Facebook and Instagram:

I made two people happy. And that made me happy too,like,  really really happy. The post on Facebook, since I last checked, reached over 100 likes, which may not seem like a huge number, but to me it means so much. The person who posted the note onto Facebook may never know who I am, and I don't know who they are either since the posted anonymously, but I feel like on some weird level we both made each others day that bit more better. 23 over people will have received these notes too, and I hope that I've managed to make each and every one of them smile.

Despite all the hard times the world is facing now, especially in Paris, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, and Baghdad, I've witnessed unity, and togetherness. People in my town have lit candle lights as a memorial to those died, another person is raising money to send flowers of condolences to Paris (you can donate here), and almost everyone on my Facebook paged has a french flag overlay on their profile picture. I'm witnessing kindness and solidarity everywhere I look.

I now sit here in the safety of my home, with the socks I was gifted comforting my feet, reflecting on how lucky I am. The world is a scary place right now, but we can take steps to make it a better. Kindness is needed more than ever, and I push each and every one of you to do something everyday, no matter how big or small, to give someone a reason to smile.

 You can read Cotton Traders UK's post about world kindness here

Have a lovely day

Lauren x

#PrayForTheWorld

*This post in collaboration with Cotton Traders UK, who sent me the box of kindness for free, to promote world kindness. All opinions are completely honest and my own

World Kindness Day: Part 1

World Kindness day is this upcoming Friday, the 13th of November (Friday the thirteenth, ooh spooky), and there's so many things you can do to make that day count, to make someone smile. You never know how someone could be feeling, and the smallest action could instantly pick up their mood for a good five minutes if not a whole day, or even a whole week!

There are so many things you can do, and here are just a few:

• Donate some money to charity.
• See a homeless man/woman on the street? Don't just walk past, give them some money, or even buy them something to eat. It doesn't take much.
• See someone selling balloons in the street? Buy one and give it to a kid, their face will light up and be so happy, trust me!
• Go sit next to that old lady or man on the bus or train, have a talk to them, ask how their day has been!
• It doesn't take much to give a busker a bit of your loose change. 
• Got a few pounds on hand? Put a few coins towards the coffee for person behind you.
• Write a note with a happy quote or a nice little message and leave it where someone can pick it up or see it.
• Offer to take a picture for the group of people struggling to get a good selfie, those people always come in handy. 
• Tell that girl who's really pretty what you're thinking! Like her lipstick? Tell her!

To do my part, from today I'll be writing as many small and happy messages as possible and post them through a load of letter boxes in my local estate. Thinking about it now it sounds a bit creepy, but hopefully a reminder to be happy and kind will make people smile.

What are you going to do to spread kindness?

Much love,

My head wants to live in the future

My head is always living in the future, I'm always wondering what's next. Instead of focusing in the now, I turn to spending hours googling University courses, picturing my dream house, considering the steps I want to take to pursue my dream career, when I've still got so much time ahead of me to get all that stuff sorted. I'm constantly thinking what can I do to do this and that, to be this, to achieve that, when in reality I'm not sure if I'm focused on how I'm living my life now. Instead of thinking of all the grades I need to get, why aren't I thinking of how I can push myself to get there today, rather than worrying about my future? I'm so worried about things that aren't going to happen for years to come, but it's like an obsession. It's like I'm consumed by the thought of success, happiness and growth, like I want to be there right now. I'm in a rut. I'm always thinking bigger and better, and it makes me wonder, will I ever be happy with now? Is this a problem or is it normal? I don't know, but I need to take a step back and relish my life as it is now.

Do you dwell in the past, you live in the now, or are you focused on the future like I am?

Much love,

Two Favourites Tuesday #5: Babbling some beauty nonsense

Happy Tuesday!! I almost ran home last night to take a photo for this post before it got dark, and I'll tell you that as much as I love Autumn I'm fed up with not being able to take decent photos because I'm rushing. Any how, on a more positive note it's Tuesday so that means another of my two favourites!

I love the autumn berry lips trend,but just too scared to try it for myself,so I use a safer alternative! When on holiday in Spain my Dad told me to pick something out and he'd buy it, so I spent ages at the Mac lipstick counter looking at all the different shades and swatching them on the back of my hand (because that's what all the beauty guru's do). I finally picked out this beautiful shade in "Kinda Sexy" and I think it's a really good shade for this time of year, as well as it being very subtle, so I've been loving wearing it recently! But i'm no beauty blogger so don't quote me on that.

Continuing on the talk of beauty (what am I getting myself into?) I've been really enjoying the Infallible 24 hour Foundation. It's a teeny weeny bit too dark for me so I mix it with a bit of moisturiser and then it's fine! I can't describe it in a professional beauty blogger style way and pretend that I know what I'm on about,because I clearly don't, but it was suggested to me, it's good, it does the job, and I like it!

Any lipsticks that you adore that you could suggest to me? I need to brave up!!

Much love,

10 Reasons why November is great

1. Bonfire Night, my second favourite celebration of the year! Who doesn't love pretty fireworks, a toasty warm bonfire, and endless amounts of food? Also being able to spend time with your family, it's a great excuse to bring everyone together and enjoy yourself!

2. After Bonfire night is over, there's nothing else to look forward to (apart from birthdays maybe), so what's next? With Christmas upon the horizon it's totally acceptable to start celebrations early! Well at least I think it is! Christmas is over before it really even starts so if you start getting into the Christmas spirit early you've got loads of time to enjoy being festive!

3. It gets dark so much earlier now, which can be a burden for us bloggers, I mean have you tried squeezing in taking photos before the sun sets? It's hard work and 50% of the time it's too dim and nothing seems to come out how we want it. However it does make the season feel much more cosier, being able to come back from a long busy day and sipping on your favourite drink with your best candles lit when only half 5 is the best.

4. Movember! Some sexy men are going to be growing out some even sexier moustaches and all for a great cause too!  Moustaches can transform people, for better and for worse and it's a lot of fun to watch.

5. World kindness day is in November!! I've got a lot of big plans for it this year, and I really wished it was more recognised because I don't think it's something that many people take into account. There's so many way's people can put their kindness into action, even just donating a small amount to charity it good enough. They'll be a big blog post about the day and how you can do your bit in the forthcoming future so watch this space.

6. It's still Autumn, aka the best season ever, so there's still time to rock your autumnal outfits and not have to wrap up too warm until the chilling winter reaches us. You still have time to tick off the activities from your Autumn  Bucket lists so don't fret!

7. Costa start using their cute cute Christmas cups this year and release their Christmas drinks! Their Christmas hot chocolates are TO DIE FOR,  and the cups just make it so much better! (unpopular opinion: I think they're better than the Starbucks cups to be honest *gasp*) Think of all the great Instagram opportunities though!! Relish it boo.

8. Mocking Jay Part 2. I am not ready, I am not worthy, I don't know how I will cope. I'll probably being a sobbing mess throughout, but I'll have to deal with it. I'm so freaking excited.

9. Garden centres are bliss this time of year! Christmas decoration will be out and if you're like me you'll be spending hours looking at all the different baubles, wreaths, and adorable winter villages. My goal in life is to become rich so I can create a room for my own winter village like this couple, they are who I want to become in life.

10. Christmas markets open. I know this whole post is Christmas but I couldn't care less, Christmas markets are the best! In Birmingham they do German Markets through the streets, the whole place is completely transformed and the smell is something of a dream! Carousels,  a massive Christmas tree, homemade candy canes, German sausages, fruit dipped in melted chocolate, it's like a beautiful holiday haven.

I'm in the most festive spirit and I'm LOVING IT!

What's your favourite part of November?

Much love,