Facing The Facts...

Ever wonder if you're doing the right thing? If where you are right now, is where you are supposed to be? I've been fighting with thoughts for about a month now and I'm not gonna lie, I've had enough.

Most of the time I'm the one giving you advice and tips on how I have dealt with things in the past but unfortunately I've not mastered this one yet, so I'm not going to be much help.

I find myself thinking a lot about 'what if's' which we all know is such a stupid thing to do. I often wonder what would have happened if I had passed my A Levels and gone to uni, or if I had learnt to drive years ago, all of which are pretty harmless things. However, recently I've been thinking about other things, some of which are pretty big things, life-changing things.

Without going into too much detail, I just imagine what my life would be like if a few things changed and worryingly I think I'd be happier. Only problem is is that I'm scared to make a change.

I wonder if any of my readers have been through this? Or if you are currently? All that I can say is that I truly believe that things will happen if they are supposed to, so hang in there :')

Anyway, sorry if that was depressing, in other news... I've been missing for quite a good chunk of this month haven't I? I'm sorry for that!
Let me catch you up...

On the 9th of May, I traveled to Nottingham to take part in a Warhammer tournament and was there for the weekend. It was awesome! I always love going to Warhammer World, the atmosphere is amazing and you meet really lovely people there. For those of you who are sat staring at you screens wondering what the fuck I'm going on about, it's okay! I don't expect you to know what Warhammer is, it's a table-top game and only for nerds ;)

Apart from that, I've not really been up to much other than working. The only other exciting thing to tell you about is that I have finally bought my learner driving course and my Theory test is on the 11th of June! So that is underway at last!! :)

I hope you're all doing amazingly and that you're having fun in the sunshine! I promise that in June I will go back to doing weekly posts.
Thanks for reading,
Charlotte xxx

It's Been Too Long!

Hello everyone!

It's been ages hasn't it? And I am so so sorry for that!

I have been ridiculously busy and on top of all of that, my computer has died! It's been a HUGE deal as I use it pretty much all day every day, mostly for business purposes so it's been really hard without it. It is still currently down at the moment and won't be fixed for 2 weeks! So I am borrowing a laptop but unfortunately it means that I am unable to post as often as I would like to.

Anyway, besides that it was my brother's 4th birthday on Thursday so it's officially been party central here for the last week or so :)

My brother had such a lovely party on Thursday at a indoor play area. He invited all of his friends from Nursery and they had a brilliant time. I have to admit that even I had a go on the play area, and it was awesome! Then they had a little picnic tea with pizza's, smiley faces and sandwiches and after that the party host took us into another room where the kids enjoyed a disco and played with wigs and blow-up guitars. It was so lovely to see and my brother definitely enjoyed it! The place were the party was held was called 'Imagination Street' and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for somewhere to hold your child's party!

In amongst all these parties I have been working a lot of hours and sleeping the rest haha.. Work is going well but one of my fellow carers is leaving in a few months and so I have to learn to drive in order to keep my job. I am not bothered about this because if I'm honest, I should have passed my driving test a long time ago but I am also nervous to learn and that I won't get in done in time to keep my job. So, I have booked myself in for one of those crash course thingies.. You know the one's? Test ready in 5 days?! It seems crazy to me because most of my friends were learning for months on end but if I can do it, then I would be absolutely over the moon!

That's pretty much everything that I have been up to in the last 2 weeks and again, I am really sorry that I haven't been able to post but I promise, that when my computer is fixed, I will be back to posting at least once a week, if not more!
Thank you for reading and for sticking with me!

I hope you are all doing amazingly and are having a lovely bank holiday weekend :)

Keep smiling and stay positive,
Charlotte xx

My Current Faves!

I've been trying out a lot of new products recently. It's hard for me to find products, especially one's that are going to go on my skin, that don't irritate my eczema so when I do find the odd few I use them over and over.

1. Boots Simply Sensitive Deep Cleansing Face Mask - I like a pamper just as much as the next girl but I haven't ever found a face mask that doesn't make my skin feel like it's on fire. I decided to try this one out, for £1.49, what have I got to lose? This mask does have a slight burning sensation but only for the first few seconds after you have put it on, and it leaves the skin feeling very clean and super soft. It's cheap and will never be as good as the high end masks out there but for a budget buy, it works great!
2. Collection Fast Stroke Waterproof Eyeliner - Another budget buy at £2.99. This eyeliner stays on as long as you need it without it flaking off as you can often find with cheaper brands. I really like the brush as it makes flicks easy and gives a very precise line. Only grumble about this product is that it is maybe a little too waterproof? I know that sounds silly but it really does take some scrubbing to get off!
3. Nivea Creme Soft Shower Cream - Unfortunately I can't use any gel based washes so that's why I absolutely LOVE this shower cream. It has slight scent to it and feels really nice on the skin in the shower. It doesn't dry the skin out like you find with some shower creams as it contains almond oil. Again, another bargain at just £1.99.
4. Paul Smith Optimistic - I love this perfume, it's definitely my spring scent. It's such a lovely smell and people have been complimenting me on it nearly every day. It's currently on offer on the Superdrug website so grab it while you can! I'm absolutely rubbish at describing smells so I took this description from the Superdrug website: 'Containing an energetic top note of sharp mandarin and spicy black pepper, this fragrance really grabs your attention. The heart is a mix of sensations with the fresh note of mint and the softness of geranium. The base is a classic Paul Smith combination of aromatic and woody ingredients, with vetiver, cedar and the sensual surprise of amber.'
   
5. Primark Nails - Now these really are the buy of the month! Primark have loads of different designs for you to try; some are on trend and some, like mine, are just adorable. Considering these are only £1.00 they're not the best nails you're going to find but they are well worth the money and stay on your fingers pretty well! I suggest you pop down to your local Primark and grad yourself some! 

So there you have it :) I hope you enjoyed this post guys and I'll see you soon. Thank you for reading,
Charlotte xx

Liebster Award

Hey guys :)

I was nominated by The Life Of L for the Liebster Award. If you're not sure what this is it is an award given to bloggers by other bloggers in recognition of the hard work they do on their blog. The word 'liebster' comes from German and means sweetest, nicest, lovely, pleasant etc.

I think it's a pretty cool idea and I am definitely grateful to have been nominated :)

So the first thing I have to do is post 10 random facts about myself... Here goes:

1. I started my blog as a place to moan but now use it to spread positive messages! 
2. I can't yet drive but I do have a motorbike license. 
3. I have a rabbit called Luthor and a hamster called Orion. 
4. I have a younger brother called Oliver who is 4 next month :) 
5. I am a complete nerd and play both computer games and table-top wargaming games. 
6. I would really love to live in Japan and am teaching myself Japanese currently. 
7. I work as a Carer and absolutely love my job. 
8. I have a crazy obsession with owls. 
9. I moved out of home when I was 16. 
10. I absolutely love reading and hope to write my own novel one day. 

Next thing I have to do is answer the questions that The Life Of L has asked: 

1. If you had won the lottery, what would be the first thing you do? 
   Well, I would probably by myself a house. However, I think I would also give my parents both a portion of the money too. 
2. Where do you hope to be in 10 years time?
   In my own home and married, working in the same job I do now (hopefully) and happy and healthy! 
3. Snow or Sun?
   I do like the sun but I can't stand the heat so I would probably have to say snow :) 
4. What food could you eat every day and never get bored of? 
   Definitely pizza! I just can't get enough! 
5. What 3 items can you not life without?
   I don't really know because I'd like to think I'd be alright without all my technical objects but probably my phone, a good book and my rabbit. 
6. One thing that you love about your country?
   I'm from England and I'd probably say the countryside :) 
7. Favourite colour and why?
   I have two, is that allowed?! I like purple and green because they both just make me smile and I like bright colours. 
8. Favourite TV show at the moment and why?
   Game Of Thrones! Do I need to say any more?! 
9. Favourite subject at school and why? 
   I used to absolutely love History at school. I just loved learning about the past and how people lived and thought back then. 
10. What is one of your most embarrassing moments?
    This is a hard one. I don't really embarrass myself too often however, I went to Starbucks a couple of months ago with a friend and before I had even had chance to take a sip of my drink, I spilled it over my lap and had to walk around town with a damp crotch all day! 
11. Favourite thing to blog? 
    Positive messages and self-help ideas. 

My nominations are:

Hippies In The City

Pint Size Pixie

OliviaMulhearn

And if you read this and have your own blog then please feel free to do this too! If you do, then post me a link in the comments so I can check it out :)

Okay so here are my questions for my nominees: 

1. Why did you start blogging? 
2. Where do you see your blog in 2 years time? 
3. What is your favourite beauty product at the moment? 
4. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go? 
5. If you were to start your blog again, would you do anything different?
6. What is your favourite movie and why?
7. What is your favourite thing about Spring?
8. If you could give your younger self some advice, what would it be?
9. What is the one thing that you always wanted as a child, but never got?
10. If you could have any profession in the world, what would it be?
11. If you could learn any language, what would you learn?

Right nominees, here are your rules: 

• Provide a link back to the blogger who nominated you. 
• Post 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions set by the blogger who nominated you.
• Nominate some bloggers that you would like to give this award to.
• Set your nominees 11 questions and make sure they know the rules.
• Let the nominees know that you have nominated them. 

Thank you for the nomination The Life Of L and I hope that you guys all enjoyed this post! 

Charlotte xx

The Magic Of Mindfulness

So, I recently read a magazine article on the practice on mindfulness and decided to give it a try. Based on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness in meditation, it is the focusing of attention and awareness. Now don't worry if you are religious, although this comes from Buddhist roots, mindfulness is often taught independently of religion so you can still give it a try!
Put into layman's terms, mindfulness essentially gives your brain a rest and it can ease feelings of stress and anxiety.

The aim of mindfulness is to teach you to focus your brain on tuning out distractions and it claims that the easiest way to do this is a five or ten minute breathing exercise in the morning. In quite a similar setting to meditation, the idea is to sit with a straight, relaxing back and feet flat on the floor. Gazing straight ahead or with eyes closed, bring your attention to your breathing and wherever you feel it most. When thoughts crop up, which they undoubtedly will, refocus your mind onto your breath.
The great thing about this is that there isn't a specific way in which you have to do it. Experiment with the time of day that works best for you. Which room do you prefer to do it in? How long can you last before deciding what's for tea really can't wait any longer?

At first I will admit that this was impossible for me to do for longer than about 30 seconds but it does get easier and I can definitely notice the health benefits. The thing to remember is to just take it at your own pace, start at 2 minutes and build it up.

Some other ideas you can try, if you're finding the meditation-type mindfulness difficult, are:

• Have a mindful shower- Focus on the warmth of the water, and appreciate the smells of your soaps and shampoos.
• Take time to enjoy your lunch- Eat slowly, enjoy the tastes and focus on what you're eating rather than checking your computer or phone. 
• Savour a cup of tea and just relax. 
• Before you go to sleep as you lie in bed do a mental tour of your body. Focus on different feelings and areas of tension, imagine your breath soothing them. Doing this can lead to a better nights sleep! 

So there you have it :) I hope you enjoyed this and that it was helpful! Let me know if you try it and if it works for you. 

Thanks for reading,
Charlotte xx

My Hair History!

Hello Lovelies :)

I recently had my haircut and went for something a bit drastic, something that I didn't think I would have the guts to do. I chopped off all my hair! I always wanted princess locks for as long as I could remember, the kind that you could sit on y'know but I surprised myself the other day and when my step-mum asked me what I would like done, I replied with, "Take it all off!"

In celebration of my new hair cut, which I don't like by the way, I thought I would look back over my hairstyles that I have had over the years and share them with you.

So here goes..

1. Here I am aged about 14 (I'm on the left by the way). My hair is completely natural here and I believe that I was trying to grow it. I really liked this colour and wish I could go back to it now but I'm not sure how hard it would be to get there.

2. In this picture I am about 16 I think. This was taken on Christmas Day 2010 and it was my baby brothers 1st Christmas. I really hate my hair here and I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking haha. The majority of my hair is still it's natural colour but I decided to have blonde put through my fringe and front sections of my hair. Personally, I don't think the curls help matters haha. 

3. I'm 18 in this photo and I was going through a bit of a rebellious stage with my grumpy pose and lip ring. This is where my hair was at it's longest and I think if I could redesign my hair starting from scratch now I would have it this length and in my natural colour. However, here I have recently dyed all of my hair in what was supposed to be a purple colour but turned out more of a redish-brown. 

4. I very quickly got bored of my long hair after someone told me it made me look a lot younger than I was and so I cut a good majority of it off. It's still a redish-brown colour but I now have a short bob with full fringe and I do like this hairstyle a lot. I think I am still 18 here. 

5. As my hair grew out of it's bob, I started to train my fringe into a side swept style. I then dyed it a very vivid red and this is pretty much still the colour that it is today. 

6. This photo was taken just before Christmas 2013. As you can see I let my hair grow out of any style and was trying to grow it long again. It's still a vivid red but doesn't appear to have any real shape at all haha.

7. And here I am now that I've had all of my hair snipped. This is actually a bit long than it really is as after I had had it cut I decided that I wanted more off and so both sides are about an inch shorter than what you see here. I tried to take a picture of it again but I couldn't get as good a representation as this one. It is still red and although I would love to go back to my natural colour, I also know how difficult it is to get red out of your hair. I have tried several times to grow my colour out but after about an inch of brown roots, I just have to dye it again haha. 

Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and I hope that you are all having a lovely week!

Thank you and I'll speak to you soon :)

Charlotte xx

Let's Catch Up!

Hello lovely people!

I can't believe that it has been an entire week since I last posted! Even I'm in shock! I'm sorry that I haven't been very present on here recently, I have an awful lot of things going on all at once. So I decided what better way to sort through everything in my head than to stick it on here for all of you to read about.

So, although I work part time at the moment as a Carer, I am looking for something full time as, quite frankly, I need more money to live on. I have had a load of different ideas in my head about what I might like to do and I truly believe that any one of them would make me happy and so I have applied to about a million jobs and am now patiently waiting for replies. I have a couple of interviews lined up and I am quite excited for them but nervous also. Alongside this I have, of course, been carrying on with my current job and that takes up even more of my previous blogging time.

I have also been going crazy trying to find a good intensive driving course for myself. I now have the money in order to complete a driving course, buy a car and insure it, and all that is left to do is find a good company. If any of you know of any then please let me know below! I ideally need to sort this out before I start one of my prospective jobs as after this, I won't necessarily be able to get the time off work in order to complete the course which would be a huge let down!

On top of all this there is the usual. Cleaning, tidying, taking care of the animals and finding the occasional moment to throw in some yoga or reading my book! I am so grateful for everything going on in my life right now and I do love how I always have something to get on with but I do sometimes wish that I could find time to fit in yoga every day :)

Anyways, I hope this didn't bore you haha, I just wanted you all to know that I haven't forgotten about you and I will be back very soon with hopefully at least 3 posts a week for you to look forward to.

Thank you for reading and I'll speak to you all soon. Hope you are all doing great and having a lovely day,
Charlotte xx