These are a few of my favourite things: Jan-Mar ’22

Hi there it’s been a hot minute on my blog. Sorry for being away life has just gotten away with me! Busy with working mainly and still trying to get through this thing called life! Whilst I’ve been away though I’ve been thinking about writing a post about all the things that I have enjoyed over the past 3 months of this year. I felt at the beginning of this year I started to get my mojo back in certain aspects of my life and as we move through spring I can feel myself getting more towards a happier version of myself. Some of these things may sound a bit random, but some have also been a game changer (don’t roll your eyes at me when you read what it is because it is magic!) tried and tested by my besties and they love it too! So let’s get on by telling you then….

1) This Works (and it really does!) deep sleep pillow spray!

Now first things first, I must tell you about thisworks deep sleep pillow spray aka the magic spray as I call it! Being a nurse with dodgy sleep patterns I’ve never really slept well anyways and I am a very light sleeper. I find it hard to get to sleep my mind wanders and I also wake several times a night (still battling this issue). However, I was desperate to find something to help me at least settle to sleep. I have a diffuser that is lovely, but didn’t help and I have also tried other sleep pillow sprays. I’ve always wanted to try the deep sleep pillow spray, but never got round to buying it and thought maybe it’s another fad! Not this time! If you have trouble sleeping run, don’t walk YOU MUST GET THIS PRODUCT! If you’re not a fan of lavender smells maybe not for you as it’s quite strong, but this maybe why it works so well. I spritz quite a lot myself (definitely need to repurchase soon and I most definitely will!) but it’s made me drift off so much quicker and I feel like I have had a better night sleep because of it. I’ve raved about this to my best friends also that are nurses and struggle to sleep and brought them each one. They both agree that I’ve given them in some degree the gift of sleep and that it really does work! Also my evening routine goes hand in hand with the next favourite I’m about to mention…

2) Between the pages of a book is a lovely place to be!

I have become a proper bookworm lately and think I have a serious addiction to buying books! But hey it’s not drugs (as my best friend Alice would say!) I’ve got into the routine now where I get into bed and read whatever book I’m on at that time. Then I spritz my magical spray on my pillow and I am in for a good sleep! If I don’t do both of these things at night I really feel the effects of not having a good sleep! I really enjoy logging my progress into Goodreads as well, so I can sort of tell how far away I am from finishing. I am one of those people if I’ve started a book I really have to finish it even if I’m not enjoying it soo much. I think only once I’ve given up on a book. I have so many books to read and want to read that I feel a sense of accomplishment when another has been read. I am really loving buying actual paperbacks or hardback books as sadly my kindle died :(. Only problem with that is having the space to store them! Though I am dreaming about having a nice reading nook in my house (moving this April! AHH!) with a nice bookcase. So I need to be really selective with which books I keep and the ones that can go to charity which I love doing! Although going to charity shops also means I’m tempted to look at more books! It’s a problem! You’ll actually find some books in charity shops that are much cheaper if you were to buy them new so it’s worth looking! I love though once you’ve read a book you can give it to charity (and in turn buy more books) but feels like you are doing a good deed and then someone else will pick up that book and love it! I would like to start doing book reviews on here and will do this soon! I love how Goodreads also allows you to do reviews on books and you can give them a star rating too. I will try and link my Goodreads on here if I can so you can have a look what I’m reading and what I want to read (there is a lot of books on there).

3) Function of Beauty Shampoo and Conditioner!

This make of shampoo and conditioner I actually discovered back in December 2021 and ordered, but it comes all the way from the USA so only started to use it in January. I was having the trouble with my hair getting greasy very quickly, which I’ve never had this problem before. I put it down to going a bit darker recently, as before when my hair was dyed a very light blonde I never had the problem of it going greasy. The good thing about function of beauty is that you can tailor it to your needs and your hair type. They also have a range of different scents (first one I choose was Strike a Rose and omg it was divine) you can pick how strong you have the scent as well, which I always pick strong! You can also pick the colours too and the bottles are 100% recyclable which is great! It also comes with cute little stickers you can decorate the bottles with! I’ve noticed a massive difference in my hair, it’s a lot softer and feels a lot fresher for longer. No more grease!

4) Park runs in the sun!

Just completed my 25th Parkrun last weekend (2nd April) super proud of myself for achieving this. If you remember from 2 of my previous blogs I mentioned I wanted to achieve 50 parkruns in total this year! I am halfway to my goal and I am very much motivated to getting to 50 now! They have changed the milestone t shirts now so you can now get a T shirt if you complete 25 park runs! I can now wear this with pride and have a collection when I meet the next milestone. I am fully loving getting up early on a Saturday morning and putting on my running trainers (especially in this lovely sunny weather). It gives me such a boost and I look forward to going each time. There is such a lovely atmosphere and everyone supports each other. It’s great to meet new people and everyone is really friendly and cheers everyone on!

5) Doc Martens

My very generous boyfriend got me a pair of Doc Martens for Christmas 2021. Since then they have been my favourite shoe to wear! I had been going on about them for a couple of years now and Liam had always said to me I’ll get you some for Christmas. They aren’t cheap either. I was afraid I wouldn’t get the wear out of them as people say they are hard to break in (I’m talking a couple of years to break in. I mean what!?). For me they have been really comfy and all I do is pair them with a thick pair of socks (above in the picture I’m just wearing tights and they were fine so I don’t get what people are on with this 2 year breaking in period! Haha). As January to March was still pretty cold I could still wear them and they pretty much go with everything too! I still may even wear them going into spring with some midi dresses. A great pair of boots to invest in, in my opinion!

5) Quote books!

Now this might seem like I’m writing the same point as point number 2 but I’m not. I have a few quote books that often have a flick through in the morning on a day off or if I’m off work. I flick and then stop on the page and it gives me the positivity I need throughout the day. I also send them to my friends to help keep them positive too. My favourites are Charlotte Freeman – Everything You’ll Ever Need you can Find Within Yourself and currently I am flicking my way through Nikki Banas – Along The Way. I have also written quotes myself in the past and paired it with pictures I’ve taken on my instagram and maybe I will do this again soon. I follow both of these writers on instagram too for some positive quote inspiration! It honestly puts you in a good mood for the day!

6) Charlotte… Queen baker pending!

I’m still loving baking at the moment! I really want to do some more bakes and I am trying out new things that I’ve never baked before. My most recent being Mini Egg NYC cookies and I have baked some scones! The recipes that I have tried so far have been from the book that I have which is Jane Patisserie if you don’t follow this lady on instagram where have you been!? Whatever she bakes looks amazing and I find they are so easy to follow it makes baking for amateur bakers like me look easy!

7) I like to ride my Pendleton I like to ride my bike

I am so pleased to say that recently I got out on my Pendleton and fully loved it! I recently brought a Pendleton bike that I have wanted for years and years! My boyfriend found me one off I think either eBay/Facebook marketplace the lady selling it hadn’t ridden the bike at all so it was in such good condition and for a good price too! I was thrilled to bits when I got it. I am a bit wobbly at the moment as I haven’t ridden a bike for years! I just rode up and down my street for a bit of practice, but I’m hoping to get more practice in when I move house with my boyfriend who also has a classic Raleigh bike that he did up! Where we are moving is a little village in the countryside so I’m hoping for rides to little local pubs/cafes and also farmer markets I cannot wait!

8) Chai Lattes!

I don’t why but at the moment my fave coffee shop order is a chai latte! I am obsessed! Its just nicer than getting a regular latte and has a bit of spiced to it! I’m sure I will switch to iced coffees again when it comes to the summer , but otherwise this was my favourite coffee to drink throughout these months.

9) Photography dates!

Recently me and my boyfriend Liam went to Hengistbury Head where we went and took our cameras for a photography date. We love doing this and I have done this before at Hengistbury Head where you can take nice photos of all the different coloured beach huts. These photos are all on my phone, however I hope to do a photography blog post where I can upload all my photos from my camera as they are better quality and I can show off my skills that I have probably learnt most from Liam. He is very into cameras and is constantly on the lookout for a new lens or camera. He has both a film camera and a DSLR camera. I have a Canon 1300D DSLR camera and I recently brought a Canon Powershot G7x Mark ii as I would like to have a go at taking videos. Who knows what these videos may be, but would just like to look back on them for memories. I may have a go at putting them on a vlogging channel if any one would be interested… watch this space!

10) Charity Shops

I absolutely love having a nose through charity shops! You can find some right bargains! I find looking at books is a dangerous game in there as there are so many and even some are brand new and super cheap! Got this book for a pound which I have seen before and I think is fairly new its sadly still in my to be read pile so can’t give my opinion on it yet. Also got this cat mug which I think also was a £1. I also like a good sort out myself so I can take stuff to charity a great way to get rid of stuff you don’t want, but I’m sure someone else out there would want!

That is all of my favourites from Jan- Mar this year! Sorry this post has been very late, I’ve been super busy! One other favourite that I should mention is a massive favourite for April which is that I have moved into my first house with my bf Liam! I am loving being in my new home so far and hope to share some house content soon! It was also my 30th birthday in April so there will be a birthday post coming soon too!

Hope you enjoyed reading all about my favourites for the first part of this year! Is there anything that you’ve been loving lately? I would love to hear! Whatever they are the weirder the better in my opinion! If you enjoyed this blog post please let me know and I can write another favourites post soon 🙂

Thanks for coming to my scrapbook!

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