Tuesday 23 April 2013

Something different...


So all of my past blogs have been about something pretty I've bought or making something out of nothing. This post is going to be a bit more about me and I'm thinking about blogging more about life more often. I used to blog quite a lot when I was younger, I found it quite therapeutic and sometimes it's nice to randomly share your inner thoughts with strangers. 

I'm going to jump straight into it. Over the last 6 or so months I've been feeling all over the place, mixture of mood, stress and anxiety. I began to argue more about stupid little things, I've been getting tired easily and just lost enthusiasm for a lot of things in life really. It's been tugging at me so I thought it would be best to seek help as I just couldn't put my finger on what was actually wrong with me. I returned to the doctors after getting blood tests the other week, sadly all of that was clear. I say sadly because I was hoping it would be something that could be fixed sooner rather than later. 

My first option is to possibly go on a 16 week therapy course to basically help turn all of my negative thoughts into positive ones. Therapy to me sounds odd, I have no idea why and I know a lot of people that have it for various reasons. I guess I personally think that I don't need it as I haven't yet had a mental breakdown, I've had no suicidal thoughts, but it's not really all about that. I met someone last week who was as bubbly as can be and she admitted that even she had been seeing a therapist. It's obviously a lot more normal than I first thought. 

I think I'll check out the couple of websites the doctor recommended first before I call up for the course. Apparently you have to do some sort of phone interview to see if you fit the course anyway, bit random. Sites suggested were livinglifetothefull.com and Mood Gym, I'll give them a shot I think. If anyone else knows of some great guides then please comment. 

Will have to see how this all goes really, need to learn to just chill out a lot more. Easier said than done for me and it's not like I've not tried! I've always worried since I can remember, I worry that I don't do enough and that I won't please everyone. In reality I take on far too much and then end up worrying because I don't think I'll be able to complete it all. Learning to say No instead of Yes to EVERYTHING would be a good start. Part of me refuses to think about myself as I feel selfish for doing so, I shouldn't feel like that of course but I do. In my head there is always something that can be done but really I just need to train my brain to switch off and reassure myself that it's not the end of the world if a certain task doesn't get completed.

Positive thoughts, that's what I need. To get excited about the adventures that lie ahead and not to panic about every single element so that I don't actually enjoy them. 

I'd like to thank all who have supported me this last week or so, people who have sent messages with help, advice and reassuring me that it'll be okay. I even received a wonderful card and gift (earrings in picture above) from Rachel, which put a warm smile on my face.

At least I will always know, no matter how I feel, that I have loving people around me who do care. I appreciate that so much, I really do. Also I thank Jerry for putting up with me lately, with my random strops, I'm doing all I can to be that Helen I was once before :)

Also one last thing... finally we have warm weather, woohoo!!

Saturday 20 April 2013

H&M Cardigan Frenzy



Made the possible mistake of popping into H&M during a lunch hour again. But who could resist the amazing 50% off selected cardigans offer, making them only £4.99 a piece! Obviously I took this opportunity to visualise my wardrobe in my head and think of the colours I was yet to own.


These will now be added to the multiple cardigans I already own, including the collection of long ones seen below. 


There are more, but I didn't want to show the mass collection as it might look like I've become a collector. Some women collect shoes, some bags, but I'm a collector of cardigans. Now can we please have some decent weather so that I can simply pop one of these neatly over a spring/summer top.

Click here for more H&M basic cardigans. 

Monday 8 April 2013

Bag and purse delights

£24.00 from Debenhams with 20% off



Finally have a decent back for my work laptop that's also shower proof. Before I used to have everyday cotton tote bags, these are fine but with the weight they tend to dig into your shoulder a little. This lovely bag by Kangol looks great and fits everything I need perfectly. Even an added extra of a pocket on the front, along with a zipper and phone pockets on the inside. 


£16.00 from Debenhams with 20% off

After getting my hands on that lovely Mantaray bag the other week, I thought it would be nice to go out with the old and in with the new of the purse side of things. Current purse is a lovely multicoloured striped one that I picked up in the Paperchase sale for about £3 many years ago. The zipper on the inner coin section keeps coming off, so I thought it would be wise to upgrade.

Even though this purse has many more card sections, I still think I might have to get another little card holder for all of those store bonus cards!



Thursday 4 April 2013

Floral Season




One of those lunchtime walks again, this time I popped into Apricot. I got distracted by a floral pencil dress in the window which unfortunately did not suit me when I tried it on. I did pick up this little skater dress ready for the (hopefully) warmer months for £15 in the sale.

Here are some more floral pieces from Apricot I liked.
(Click on images to go to their page)

  

  

  

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Tea, Battenberg and a Jammie Dodger



A year or so ago my lovely friend Dawn gave me this lovely set of earrings
created by Layla Amber
I wanted to share them with you and point you towards her amazing website.

 

I think I might be adding these two to my shopping basket real soon. 
£4.00 for the Custard Creams and £5.50 for the Acorns.
Fantastic prices for handmade jewellery!

Earring Tree


After purchasing another IKEA wooden draw unit for my jewellery in the bedroom, I didn't want to just put all of my earrings in a mess in one of the draws. So I jumped onto eBay and came across this lovely vintage looking earring tree.
Great deal at £5.99 with 85p P&P


If you're looking for something simular then simply type in 'Earring tree' into eBay and your find many different designs. 

Monday 1 April 2013

It's a wrap



I had 3 frames that I bought from IKEA a few years ago, two of which had been poorly put on the wall in the bedroom in my current flat. They had some Penguin books wrapping paper in them, but I felt like a change and I also wanted to put all three back up.

Whilst plodding around town today I got distracted by the huge SALE signs in Paperchase and popped in for a gander. I came across some lovely sheets of wrapping paper, of which I thought would be perfect for the frames. 






Here you have it, some fun on the wall.
Small cost of £3.75 for the papers, with lots to spare for wrapping and card making.