It's not been easy to get in the Christmas spirit for me this year. Leaving the flat at 7am, getting back at 7pm, spending half my life on a crowded Tube train and the fact that I've been ill for approximately 2 months. But when it comes to it, I think that all I really needed was a little Christmas sparkle in my life.

Once again, Talking Tables know exactly how to jump in on time and fix everything. What a surprise. The babes. This post is a relatively short one but I have more bits and bobs going on with them over the next while so keep your eyes peeled!

 The trouble is, living in a rented place that I will (hopefully) not be living out the rest of my years in, I don't have a great deal of things I can actually do without wrecking my walls and losing the deposit. Which is probably worth more than my left kidney. Also, my room is smaller than some peoples wardrobes so the idea of getting a tree or any large things is hugely laughable. So all the things I have up in this post can be done without ruining the chance of getting your deposit back, whether it's blue tack, free standing or can be pinned into the side of a door frame (sneaky).

Everybody knows that fairy lights make anything feel Christmassy and overall more snug and cosy, which is something a small cupboard/room definitely needs. It's lovely to sit and blog under them, or even just cosy up watching Netflix with the boyf. These copper ones from Talking Tables are especially wintery, they're such a subtle and soft light it's the flat equivalent of having a fire burning.

 Something to make your shelves, or desk, or on top of your chest of drawers more festive are these cute as anything Nordic Christmas Trees. They have wood trunks and you could mould the tree-y bit around a bit to how you want/make it stand up. I also had some great fun making up some fake snow I got from Winter Wonderland. I go to that bloody stand every year and it's so much fun and now I have it in my house and it's just amazing. I hope you all know what I'm talking about here.


A final thing to do to get your room in the Christmas spirit is pretty obvious, light some candles. I have this Yankee Candle which is called Snow in Love and is such a clean but Christmassy scent, it get everywhere. With the fairy lights it makes for such a nice lighting and with this to get all snuggly with (but never fall asleep with candles on, I'm such a fire freak) I do feel a lot more relaxed at nighttime.

So there it is, some ways to make your rented cupboard apartment feel all cosy and festivey without throwing away your deposit! Let me know what you think about it down below!


*I was sent the Talking Tables items in this post in return for a review, but all pictures, thoughts and love for them is absolutely my own*

So as my first post in the most mismatched series of posts ever, I'm starting off with some goals for 2018. I've mentioned approx a thousand times before that I love the optimism of starting a new year all fresh, so here we go eh. May as well just jump right in then...



1. Blog more
I mean I said this last year, and I blogged a lot less. But ya know, what you gonna do? I've been through a lot of jobs this week, a lot of things have gone on (wait for the next post, I'm a tease) and I have been very busy. I don't think I've really had a break since I went to Florida and even that wasn't the most relaxing holiday. But I do feel a bit more settled now and with a long commute on my hand I wanna learn to use that as productively as I can in the New Year. Ideally watching new stuff on Netflix whilst blogging (so if anyone wants to gift me an iPad Air that'd be great). Anyway I really wanna put a lot of effort into my blog and not see it trailing into nothingness like it kinda has been.

2. Try being Vegetarian
I am a meat lover. For the first 23 years of my life I strongly believed a meal isn't a meal without meat. I couldn't understand why anyone would be a vegetarian because that would mean you can't eat bacon. But over the first month or so I have really cut down my intake of meat. To be honest, it was nothing to do with the environment or anything ethical, more that a) meat is expensive b) I painful bloat a lot (TMI) and was convinced it was coeliac like my Mum, but since I cut down it's got a lot better. So I'd like to give it a go. Even if I only last a month I'd like to just try. Also my Dad told me a really cute story about a pig at his monastry the other day and it made me very emotional.

3. Join a Class
I was so tempted to write 'get fit' as a goal, like I do every bloody year and every year I get to December the 18th and end up fatter than I was in the first place. This year is no exception. Back in January/February I lost a tonne of weight (thanks to night shifts), got really happy with how I looked and then got in a relationship and promptly put it all back on again. Thanks. When I was younger I did dancing classes for 15 years and loved it, and it's something I really want to get back into. I'd love to do tap dancing again but for some reason it seems harder to find an adult tap dancing in London than on the Isle of Wight.

4. Take more short trips around Europe
It won't be hard for me to improve upon that for this year, seeing as I didn't take any short trips out around Europe at all. My friend Sophie and I have been planning a day trip to Oslo for approximately the last 12 years but we seem to have gone another year without taking our relationship to the next level. I know there's so many cheap flights around at the moment (Thanks to Ryanair no doubt) and I'd love to take advantage of them even if it's only for a day here and there. Though to be fair I did have a nightmare the other night that I went to Oslo and got mugged by some nurses dressed as pigs and ended up sleeping rough on the street. So who knows.

5. Learn new things
I really want to become one of them really cool well rounded people that appears to have knowledge in everything. Though tbf I also want to be one of those people that likes to run and chooses fruit over a doughnut but I tell you thats not gonna happen. Anyway, realistic goals, I want to take some new courses. I'm going through an NVQ online right now, I do Japanese on Duolingo and I just wanna become cool. Because who doesn't love cool?

So there we are, my goals for the next 12 months. A pretty generic post but I for one feel motivated now and I'm hoping I've passed that on to you!

Ha, I started my last post of 2016 with exactly the same title. With exactly the same sense of optimism, motivation and breath of fresh air that comes with a New Year.



And did it change things? Actually, it was a pretty progressive year.
And do I regret it? Absolutely not. I still love, and will always love the excitement that comes at the end of the year. The thought that anything is possible, you're starting a new page, a clean slate, a breath of fresh crisp January air.

Anyway, I'm digressing as per.

A lot of people do Blogmas this time of year, or their own different series of Christmas posts. But, I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit Scrooge this year. I am currently sat in a cold flat, listening to the door slam for the 60,000th time, knowing I should get some sleep because I'm up in 8 hours for my two hour commute. And this isn't me moaning (shocking). This is just me struggling to look past the next day to a time where I can sit around all day eating Pigs in Blankets and doing cartwheels with Jack.

But there is one thing that is kind of making me keep going.

A NEW YEAR.

So I decided I'm going to do a little mini series about basically reviewing the year, goals for the next year and just maybe telling you a bit more about myself.

Not gonna lie, it's not planned at all. It won't be every day, maybe twice a week (hopefully), one post a week reviewing and one goal-ing. I know that's not a word.

So basically, bare with me, keep reading and I'm kinda hopefully back to blogging. 

So I can't really remember if I've mentioned this before, but I have a sleeping problem. Yes, like everyone else in the world I don't get enough of it. But also, I sleepwalk, sleeptalk, sleeptext and have such realistic dreams I feel like I haven't slept because I was too busy having my flatmate turn the flat into a light show and tidying my bedroom because I live in Disney World and my Mum was coming to stay.

True stories.



When I tell people I sleepwalk it's normally met with a 'REALLY?' and a laugh. Because, yeah I get it, it's funny to imagine me walking round like a zombie putting my socks on at 3 in the morning because I think someone's coming to get me for a bike ride. But in reality, it means that I live the rest of my life (deep) as an actual zombie and constantly feel exhausted because really, I've never actually slept.

I was actually in the Sun about all this (10 bonus points if you can find that article because I am defo not sharing it) which made everyone, including me, think it was super funny. I wasn't going to post this because I wasn't really too sure if it would be an interesting post but Gwennan persuaded me that she'd like to read it, and I do everything she says because she is Queeeeeen.

So here we are, have a list of things I've sleep text various people throughout the course of 2017.

- Lol msomdellmmsldepe

-  Can I
Come
Downs (from me during a nightshift)

- *Picture of me in bed*

- Come is blending ad the time

- Do you wanna sleepwalk?

- Nah j wanna go to Scotland

- I meant why are you such a dickens

- I meant two wybfamdenv

- Can we go on Supermarket Sweep

- And the cupcakes? You know the cakes

- Oooooooh thanks Gwennan!

- *Image of a meme about the longest dominos chain being knocked over by a bird* (I still to this day have no idea where I got this from or where it went)

- That' dnnöhn

- It's a trip though

- Are you here??

Nobody whos number I have is safe, muhahahah.

We've all seen the Instagram feeds of Londoners haven't we? The beautiful houses, the parks filled with autumn leaves and the late night lights of Tower Bridge twinkling. It's easy to think of London life as glamorous, but really, I will never be able to afford to houses, the park is cold and the only reason I'm at Tower Bridge to see the lights is because I was working till 1am.

The whole thing of not believing everything you see on social media has been said a thousand times before, but today I got thinking about an even more shitter side of London that nobody really talks about.



I was sat on the Tube on Friday, when an announcement came over the tannoy saying that the central line (aka the depths of hell) wouldn't be stopping at Bond Street or Oxford Circus. There wasn't a reason given and you could see everybody looking round edgily on the Tube. Apart from the drunk man who didn't even realise anything.

Someone else got on the Tube and told someone else (yes, strangers were talking on the Tube, that's when you know it's going down) that there'd been a shooting in Selfridges and then there was this weird kind of atmosphere across the carriage.

There was a look on everybody's face, but it wasn't the look I was expecting, or thought I should see. There wasn't really any panic, or shock, it was a kind of acceptance and pity.

I think that's what scares the most about this whole thing is that nobody is shocked anymore. I feel like everybody kind of expects it. I've been working in Central London now for a year and a half, and I've sort of pushed away the thoughts in my head that each day something could happen on my journey, or something could go wrong, because, quite frankly it's not worth worrying about.

But today it made me realise just how much it does scare me. And how much when you put everyone in a situation where it's right in front of them, it scares them too. I think everybody has become numb about the risks we put ourselves in every day. Nobody is shocked by anything anymore, it's become kind of acceptive and I think that's what scares me even more.

Whilst it turns out it was just a stampede on Friday (I believe), it does kinda show just how something can turn so quickly, clearly people on the platform were scared and the first thought in everybodys mind was terrorism. Because, well, thats what we think about a lot these days.

I don't really know what the point of this post was, but it kinda felt good to write it...

I know that it's officially November and in the majority of bloggers minds that means it's time to be wrapping up presents listening to Michael Buble with a Christmas hat on.

But you're all wrong.
(And I am the grinch)



I mean I love Christmas but not yet. But that's the point of another post.
My point was that I know I'm probably a bit late with this autumnal post but I think A/W is a difficult time for looking after yourself, but it's important to still do it.

It gets dark a lot earlier, it's cold (especially when your heating still isn't working), and everyone is missing that sunshine that 6 weeks ago we were all moaning about. But here's my top tips to make sure you still look after yourself for the rest of the year (and beyond).

Get Outside
I know, it's cold. It's so much easier to stay cuddled up inside your bed watching Parks and Rec (my new obsession) and drinking 50 cups of Peppermint Tea. But getting outside in that fresh crisp air can be exactly what your mind needs to brush away those cobwebs. It is literally like doing a little spring clean on your brain... in the wrong season. But seriously, is there anything better than the sound of crunching leaves between your feet?

Do Cute Outside Things with Cute People
Bit vague. There's lots of little events and stuff around Autumn that you can pop in your Bullet Journal to keep yourself busy. There's Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas Markets and Christmas Lights. I'm going to Alexandra Palace fireworks this weekend with a bunch of people, and I'm buzzing. Whilst a lot of displays are ticketed I know there's loads of fields local to me that do free displays and I'm sure there's some near you too. Last week I went round a local market with Sam and for a nice walk and I also went to Gods Own Junkyard with my buddy Sophie.

Do Cute Things Inside with Cute People
Ha. You got me. I know I'm saying it's good to get out, but it's also nice to stay in and be cosy. Do some baking, invite your bffl over for a cute film session with popcorn and chocolate, have the boyf over for a cuddle and binge through Stranger Things together. Build a fort. Sit in with fairy lights and candles and hot chocolate.

Eat Healthy Food
I actually find it easier to eat healthy in winter than in summer, but I think I'm weird in that way. I'm just not a salad eater. I get it's a lot easier to eat chocolate when you're all snuggled up, but there are alternates. Right now, I am obsessed with making soup. I'm probably going to do a recipe post soon but there's loads online, and I basically boil up all the vegetables I want for about 30 minutes and then blend them up with a hand blender. And it's loads of veggies all in one go. Eating healthy really does make you feel better about yourself and soup is great to give you a nice little warm up.

And that's it!
That's the things I'm doing in these colder months to keep myself feeling as positive as possible!

Do you have any top tips?

WOOHOO
Am I a real blogger? I've officially posted 100 posts (miserable attempt in a year and a half, I'm fully aware).
I also realise that I probably should have done this for my 100th post, but I didn't realise until I'd scheduled my Londoner post and scheduled all the tweets, and ya gal isn't about redoing all that.



So for my 101st post, I thought I'd write a little list of things I want to do before I get to 100. I know there's the 1001 before 100 post but I don't have enough time on my hands to do 1001 things. Man, I barely have time to do 50, I'm of course procrastinating tidying my bedroom now.

Anyway, enough of the rambling. Here we go:

- Do another skydive
- Go back to Lapland (with kids probably omg)
- Ride a hot air balloon
- Travel more of Europe
- Do some day trips to different countries
- Become comfortable in a career
- Become comfortable in myself
- Get married
- Take my little old blog somewhere good
- Go in a shark tank
- Beat my phobia of mice/rats
- Teach myself to be confident with HTML
- Become more brave
- Not be out of breath running to the bus
- Run a 10k
- Improve my baking
- Go to Pompeii
- Go on a TV show (Like a quiz or something)
- Learn to actually live in an organised room
- Stop procrastinating
- Never regret anything
- Help people
- Stop being such a fussy eater
- Learn to live in the moment
- Ride an elephant
- Visit Japan
- Improve my (currently non-existant) Japanese
- Visit the Dead Sea
- Go to Oslo with Sophie
- Spend a night somewhere very different
- Take my children to Disney World
- Go zorbing
- Become a Guinness World Record holder (fun fact, once I almost was because I applied being the loudest 'tongue clicker' - sounds weird but it's very loud - but turns out there's a whole language based on it)
- Visit home more
- Go on more staycations with the blog squad
- Explore the UK more (spesh Ireland helllooooo Irish accent)
- Get my hair in good condition again
- Donate my hair to people who need it
- Island hop in Greece
- See ABBA perform if they were ever to reunite
- Learn to stop being so bitter
-  Fly first class
- Roadtrip round America
- Do flyboarding jet packing (I think that's what it's called)
- Visit Canada
- Get that thing where the fish eat your feet
- Have another white Christmas somewhere
- Do the Groupon holiday where you don't know where you're going until you get to the airport
- Attend a flm premiere
- Be happy

(This was actually pretty tricky, when I got stuck I googled Bucket Lists and I'd already done quite a lot of them, whoops)

Is there anything you think I've missed? Or anything you'd like to add to your bucket list?