Tag Archives: happiness

Things I’m Doing to Love Instagram Right Now

You know, it’s really starting to feel super cliche when I complain about Instagram; it’s just not what it used to be.

On the flip side though, I do have to think that back when our feeds were chronological and the dreaded algorithm didn’t really exist, I didn’t have the following that I do now, so truthfully I can never really compare engagement, and maybe even I wouldn’t have my 5000+ followers now if not for the changes. Who knows, right?

Despite all this, I honestly do still love Instagram. It’s my favourite social media platform because I feel it’s where I can be the most creative, and it’s gone from a place where I post occasional life and holiday photos and promote my blog, to all of this plus being the primary place where I promote my business and a place where I’ve made a lot of really good friends.

Over the last few weeks I’ve made a couple of changes in how I approach Instagram, and honestly they’ve all really boosted my positivity around the platform, and have also possibly contributed to an increase in engagement for me as well!

Getting chatty

I see so many rumours and theories flying around about what helps boost posts and I really don’t know where they come from or if they’re true, but supposedly comments really help. Whether this is urban legend or not, I’m actively making sure that if I scroll past a photo and have a thought about it eg ‘ooh I’d love to go to this place’ or ‘wow I need those shorts’, I put that thought into writing. If nothing else, I know how much I love getting comments so if all I’ve really done is given someone a little internal ‘yay’ then it’s a success in my eyes.

Now I don’t know if this is coincidental, or possibly that other people are having the same thoughts as me, but I have noticed since doing this that I am getting more comments and generally more likes, especially within the first few hours of posting, so I might be on to a winner. If nothing else though, I feel pretty good about it.

New editing software

I went from ‘what is this Lightroom thing that everyone’s banging on about?’ to ‘wow this is fantastic’ in approximately 2.5 seconds. Sure I still don’t fully understand it but I’m having fun winging my way through it! And yes, I guess it is just another additional step I’ve created for myself before being able to post to Instagram, but I really enjoy editing photos and I really love the results.

Planning ahead a little

I really take pride in my Instagram, so it does stress me out sometimes when I can’t find the perfect photo to post and sometimes that means I don’t post for days which makes me sad. I know this might sound ridiculous to a lot of people, but like I said earlier it’s one of my biggest creative outlets so while it may just be Instagram, it’s kinda like an artistic wanting to paint but not having any brushes. You get me?

Anyway, I’m tackling this head on with my handy sidekick, the app UNUM, which I’ve had for about a year now. I don’t religiously plan my posts, but I do like to know what I’m doing for the next day or two, with maybe a couple of blank spaces for ‘of the moment’ inspiration, just like I do with my blog posts, and it means I’ve always got something to fall back on if inspiration is lacking a little.

Staggering photos

I came back from my recent Disney trip with, no joke, THOUSANDS of photos. I posted maybe 2-3 photos a day while I was out there, but especially being on the cruise for a few days with no WiFi, I still have so many photos that haven’t seen the light of Instagram yet. Sure, I could post them all back to back, but I sometimes worry people will get sick of them and I also like to keep some content back to fill the gaps between trips (not that I’ve really got many gaps this year if all goes to plan!), so I spread them out between current photos for variety.

Not getting too hung up on numbers

No one likes not being liked, I get that, but Instagram is a weird and wonderful place full of bitchy politics and bots, and I’m just learning to accept that. Fact is, if you’ve seen your follower count drop overnight, it’s more likely to be courtesy of bots dropping out or accounts being deleted or deactivated that it is that many people making the conscious decision to take you off their feed. Hakuna matata.

As for people playing the follow/unfollow game, I just think that they must be having a really miserable time on Instagram if they feel the need to do that all the time, so they can do them and I’ll just be over here having a fabulous time because it’s so much easier than stressing over it.

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At the end of the day, I know its just an app, but its also an app that is very important to me for a lot of reasons, so its so much easier to enjoy what I’m doing on there, don’t you think?

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Its Okay That My Blog Has Taken A Back Seat

I’ve talked a lot lately (or at least it feels like it) about how I’ve been struggling a little with blogging; not finding the time for it, perpetual writers block and general lack of focus and motivation. I’ve blamed so many factors, then promised myself I won’t let it happen again, and then it does, and the cycle continues.

I’ve been thinking a lot of about it, and I think I’ve finally come up with an explanation that I’m happy with.

For so long, my blog has been my life. Its been the constant source of pride and happiness in my life when my life hasn’t always been perfect. I worked for so long in dead end jobs that didn’t make me happy, so I loved having something that gave me a sense of purpose, and so I dedicated myself to it; if I wasn’t working, I was working on my blog, and that made me feel like I was doing something worthwhile.

But things have changed now. My life feels fulfilled in so many ways. I have a house, I have a job doing what I love, and there are so many things in my life that make me happy now, so the happiness and sense of fulfilment that my blog used to give me is already there. I don’t feel like I NEED to blog to be happy.

Of course, I still love my blog. I love writing and it makes me happy, so its not something that I think I’ll ever really give up, but I think I can finally let go of the need to publish 5-6 new posts every week like I used to. I can let go of the pressure to create content and go back to just loving creating the content when I do.

Now that I have realised this, I have found a sense of peace with my blog that I think I really needed. I was starting to think that because I couldn’t keep up with my old posting schedule that I should just give up altogether, but it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, its whatever I want it to be, and I want it to be the thing that makes me happy again.

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10 Things Before 10am

Something that I, and many others, I expect, am more than often guilty of is focusing on all the things that I haven’t done or achieved, rather than celebrating all the things that I have done.

And d’you know what? It’s draining.

Whether it’s thinking about work or tasks that I haven’t done, or things in my life that I’ve left to achieve, it leaves a constant nagging feeling of negativity hanging over me, and quite honestly I’ve had enough of it.

So the other week I had quite a productive morning, and naturally as the millennial that I am, I tweeted about all the things that I had managed to do before 10am. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but then this week I found myself mentally taking stock of things I had done that morning and I had somewhat of an epiphany – I achieve so many more things than I don’t, I’ve just conditioned myself to overlook them all.

So I figured it’s time for a reconditioning, and that’s where the title of this post comes from. Every day, no matter how productive, or seemingly unproductive, my morning has been, I take a few minutes to stop and think of ten things that I have done or achieved. Sure, sometimes this list might be padded out with things like getting dressed, brushing my hair or drinking a glass of water, but all of these things count as successes, we just don’t tend to see them that way.

Today’s 10 for me are:

  1. Going for a 5 mile run
  2. Hitting 10,000 steps
  3. Washing my face properly with nice skincare products
  4. Eating a healthy breakfast
  5. Finishing up 2 skirt orders
  6. Scheduling my tweets for the day
  7. Writing this blog post
  8. Planned my meals for the day
  9. Brushed my hair
  10. Moisturised

Now obviously I’m not saying that you have to name ten things, or have to do it at 10am, that’s just what works for me and my schedule, but it’s just so nice to focus on something positive rather than letting that cloud of negativity float about.

I’m working a lot on creating a more positive mind-frame for myself, so watch this space!

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Sixty Seconds of Self Care

With mental health awareness increasing by the day, self care is becoming an ever increasingly more important part of day to day life. Quite simply, self care is any act in which you do something to look after yourself, either physically or mentally.

Too often though, we think of self care as a bit of a big deal, and I know that I for one am guilty of ignoring self care with the excuse that I don’t have enough time, when in fact we should always be finding the time to make sure that we are happy. Self care doesn’t have to mean spending 2 hours in a bath with £20 worth of Lush products, it can be as simple as a minute here and there, and sometimes the smallest things can make a big difference to your day.

Here are a few self care practices that I’ve been doing lately that take no time at all:

  • Taking a little more time brushing my hair after washing it, rather than just enough to get any knots out
  • Instead of gulping down my hot chocolate while I’m trying to get work done, I’ve been stopping to sit back and enjoy it
  • At the end of each day, taking just a small amount of time to write down, or just think about all the good things that have happened that day
  • Sitting to eat breakfast, rather than standing
  • Using an in-shower moisturiser to keep my skin happy with minimal effort
  • Drinking at least one glass of water every two hours
  • Deciding what to wear to work the night before so I don’t have to rush around in the morning and feel cuter
  • Taking a little bit of time each morning to comment on Instagram posts instead of just liking, and also replying to comments on my own posts
  • Using my Fitbit’s ‘relax’ feature for breathing exercises before bed
  • Applying BioOil to my stretch marks after showering
  • Reminding myself why I love what I do when I’m feeling stressed about it
  • Retweeting cute animal videos to brighten up my (and others) timelines

These might seem like insignificant little acts, but just by doing them and knowing that I’m making a little effort towards looking after myself, they have been making a big difference!

Do you take time to look after yourself?

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A Pledge to Myself, Right Now

The last few months for me have been a bit of a rollercoaster. Hell, the whole of 2018 has been a total blur. To say I’ve been overwhelmed would probably be an understatement, and the probably with that is the good old saying: something’s gotta give.

So I’ve been letting things slip. I’m not proud of it, but I know that its true, and the problem hasn’t so much been that I’ve been dropping a few little things from my schedule, its that I’ve been dropping some things that are actually pretty damn important, not necessarily for other people, but for myself.

My skincare routine has diminished to me just barely washing my face in the shower, and there are days where I don’t even fill in my eyebrows. My face has hardly seen any makeup in the last few months, with the exception of when I was on holiday, and when I went to a wedding a few weeks ago, and while I have no problem with not wearing makeup, I really enjoy doing my makeup, and not doing things that I enjoy has really been affecting me.

More recently, I’ve realised that I’m not even wearing the clothes that I love to wear. I’ve gone from wearing outfits that make me feel cute to wearing whatever I can throw together that morning and avoiding looking in mirrors. Suddenly I’m finding things like posting on Instagram feel like the biggest chore on some days, and my blog has been suffering massively because feeling under pressure really hinders my ability to write. I’ve also been neglecting my body; not eating well, avoiding exercise some days and feeling totally sluggish as a result. I’m not ok with this.

So here it is, a promise to myself:

I must remember to take time out for my own happiness. If something’s gotta give, then that’s ok, but don’t let the things I love disappear.

I will look after my body, from getting back on track with eating a balanced diet and remembering to stay active, even if that just means taking a walk at lunchtime. I will drink more water. I will take those extra few minutes each day to look after my skin.

I will not let myself get caught up in negativity, and spend more time reflecting on positive, happy moments in my life, and looking forward to the amazing upcoming events that the rest of this year has to come.

I will try to always be better than the person I was yesterday, because lots of small steps are just as effective as one big one.

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5 Things I Do To Stay Sane At Work

In case I haven’t harped on about it enough, its not been two solid months since I properly started my new job, and its safe to say that I am so much happier since then. But while I love being the person who doesn’t dread going to work every day, I’m still normal in the sense that there are places I’d rather be, and sometimes I do feel that little ‘is it 5pm/Friday yet?’ twinge every now and then.

I found it very strange transitioning from a retail environment to a call centre around 18 months ago, but having now transitioned away from a customer facing role into a standard office-y type job, again I’ve been thrown a little out of my comfort zone and having to adapt to a different working style, but I’ve come to learn that there are a few little tricks and tips that I do at work to keep me a little more sane, and many of these can translate to most work environments.

Don’t eat lunch at your desk

I used to spend at least half of my lunch break sitting at my desk, and even though I wasn’t working and my screen was locked, I still always found that there was a little niggle in the back of my head reminding me of whatever work needed doing, and so I’d spend my time thinking or stressing about getting back to work. Now, even if its just going down the corridor to our little vending machine area to sit with my lunch, I won’t spend my lunch time at my desk.

Stay active and step away from your screen

If you work in an office, you probably spend at least 90% of your working day sat down and staring at a screen – I don’t need to tell you that its not great for your posture or your eyes. As a Fitbit user, I have a little goal set on my Charge 2 to get in at least 250 steps every hour, so I always make sure that I’m moving around a bit, whether that’s going to the printer on the other side of the office instead of the closest one, going to fill up my mug with water, or taking a trip to a different floor to go to the toilet. I also like to get out of the office completely on my lunch break, even if its just to walk to the shops across the road or go and sit on the grass outside in the summer.

Spread some positivity

So many people find their work a little dull or maybe a little stressful, and its easy for negativity to spread in a working environment, especially when everyone’s feeling under pressure, so I try to be a little extra sunny on those days. I’m the newest person in my department, so I probably don’t understand some of the strains that other people are under with deadlines and targets etc, so I like to use that motivation to cheer others up. I wish everyone a cheery ‘good morning’ when I come in or see them for the first time that day, I make little jokes with people and have a chat at the photocopier; its the little things that can brighten someone else’s day and I feel so much better for it too.

Wear something cute

This probably sounds like the silliest thing but whenever I need a little push to feel more better about the day ahead, I always find myself reaching into my wardrobe for something special. Sometimes this means I’ll wear something quirkier like my Mickey Mouse blouse or galaxy print Black Milk shorties, and other times I’ll go for something a bit fancy like a nicer-than-everyday dress or the blazer that makes me feel all kinds of girl-boss-like, and it sets me up for the day, plus every time I catch my reflection in the mirror or a window, I get a little boost.

Work the right number of hours

Its so easy when there’s a lot of work to do to end up staying late, or cutting lunch short, but whenever I do find myself putting in more hours than I’m getting paid for, I always make sure I give myself the time back when I can, and this is a lot easier now I don’t clock in and out on shifts! On two occasions last week I ended up staying 15-20 mins late to finish up a few things, so on Friday I pushed myself to get things done a little quicker and left 20 mins early to have a good start to my weekend. I appreciate this isn’t something that everyone can do, but its the first time I’ve ever been able to do this in my working life and I’m taking advantage of it.

Do you do anything in particular to keep your head above at work?

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‘Celebrity’ Books That I Loved

When it comes to books, I generally don’t gravitate to those with a ‘celebrity’ author, and by that I mean a TV personality, film star, sportsperson etc. I’ve never really been one for autobiographies, and I’m a bit stubborn when it comes to famous people writing about stuff that they’re not so famous for. (Yes, I know they probably know the subject very well and all that, I just can’t help but think they’ve had some other person do most of the research and even if that’s not the case, I’ll still think it). Basically, I’m probably most celebrity authors worst nightmare.

That said, there are three books that fit this category that I completely worship, and I personally think that every girl – hell, anyone in general – should read, and here’s why.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

I will fight anyone who doesn’t like Anna Kendrick. I think she just so genuine in her personality, I think she’s crazy talented and she’s ridiculously funny, but also loves a big helping of sarcasm. When she released her book, I knew I wanted to read it straight away, despite my previously mentioned dislike for autobiographies. Well I took it on a flight from Gatwick to Orlando, and I’d read it cover to cover before the plane landed. I loved learning more about her career as a child – she was on Broadway as a teenager and was the second youngest person EVER to be nominated for a Tony Award for her role in High Society – did you know that? I sure as hell didn’t before I read this. The whole book just reads as Anna, like she could just be sitting across from you telling these stories. I doesn’t sound like someone just trying to plug their successes and just overall it gave me so much more respect for her, not that I didn’t like her already. Lots of fun, lots of sarcasm but ultimately lots of reality.

Girl Boss by Sophia Amoruso

I hate to be ‘that person’ but I actually read this book before it became the enormous hit that it is now, but I do think it deserves every accolade. As well as being an autobiography, this book made me feel like I could take on the world. Sophia’s story is so impressive and its the true underdog story of Subway sandwich artist to CEO. Again, the writing just felt so genuine and not at all edited or scripted in any way, and also quite incredibly humble for someone who achieved so much. And while the book itself and the story that it told was a fabulous read, its the culture that it has inspired that makes it truly amazing. #Girlboss

Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson is another celebrity that I admire hugely, but I definitely think even more so since reading this book. This isn’t an autobiography but I also struggle to categorise it as its combination of health, lifestyle and positivity. What I love about this book is that it doesn’t focus in any way on one particular method to be healthier. It teaches the thing that I find most important when it comes to health and fitness and that is that every body is different and its all about learning how to understand your own body and what it wants and needs and using that mindfulness and understanding to learn what to do to become healthier. I think that this is something that anyone can read, not just people who are trying to become fitter or healthier. Kate really nailed it with this one.

I’d love to hear any recommendations you might have for similar books, so please drop me a comment if there’s any books you really love!

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Creative-18

Have I mentioned that this year is going to be my year? Well, I’m certainly gonna try and make it that way.

One thing that will always make me happy is creating things. I’ve always loved turning my imagination into reality, and nothing makes me more proud of my creations than when I see other people loving them, but sometimes just taking time out from a busy day to sit and do something creative can make a world of difference. So I’m gonna try something a bit different this year..

I’m not calling it a challenge, because then I’ll feel under pressure, and end up feeling bad if I can’t do it, but it may just be that. I guess I could call it a goal, or an aspiration maybe. Hmm..

The aim is this: in 2018, I want to take time to do something creative every single day. 365 little moments of making. These can be however big or small, whether its spending a whole day baking a masterpiece to rival the GBBO winner, an evening spent cranking out Etsy orders or just taking 5 minutes out of my lunch break at work to do a quick little sketch or some colouring.

Its a way for me to keep my creative juices flowing, and obviously I also hope that it will benefit my small businesses, but primarily I’m doing this for me, so that I can spend more time doing the things that I love, from baking or sewing to drawing or photography, and of course I hope to share a lot of what I do on here too, so stay tuned to see what I produce!

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Dear Customers..

‘Have Courage and Be Kind’ Cinderella 2015

I have this real love/hate thing with customers. Given that I’ve worked in customer service, in one form or another, for the last 5 years, and haven’t chewed my own arm off yet, there must be something about it that does it for me, but as anyone who’s worked in a customer facing role knows, its not always a stroll in the park..

So consider this an open letter. We’re all customers and consumers, and whether you’ve experienced the other end of the conversation or not, these are all things that we can bear in mind.

I can almost guarantee that the first person you speak to is not to blame for your problem

The person at the front desk, the shopfloor staff or the person who answers the phone; unless its a teeny tiny company that only employs two people, the chances of that person being responsible for whatever it is that you’re not happy about is probably one in a million, so don’t start roasting them personally.

And just because we can’t do whatever you want us to do, it doesn’t make us inadequate, stupid, or bad at our job

We cannot negotiate fixed prices, go against store policies or make magic happen. We’re not being stubborn, and we’re not incapable of unique thought, the chances are we can’t do what you want us to do for a reason.

And if we’re short staffed, we’re definitely the last person responsible

We’re the person who didn’t call in sick, and we’re the person having to pick up the slack for the people who did.

Please remember that we are humans and more than just a uniform

Don’t think that your custom pays our wages and therefore you can treat us however you like. Please refrain from snapping orders (or fingers, which I’ve had before..), or speaking about us as though we’re not there. When working on a checkout once, a woman told her husband that I ‘wasn’t hired based on intelligence’. Oh, and she did that while stood at the checkout with me.

Also, if you see someone in a uniform, maybe stop and check if its a uniform for the store you’re in before you shout at them for help – a guy once yelled at me to help him on a self-checkout machine at Asda, and I have never worked at Asda..

Take a second to think about the day we might be having

I always try to think about how a customer might be feeling. If you’ve had a bad day, I don’t expect you to be a total ray of sunshine and I’ll try not to judge you for being a little bit rude, but I would hope customers return the favour.

In my current job, I sometimes deal with accounts where the customer or a member of their family has recently passed away, and it is never easy. I can’t just move onto the next customer without a care in the world when I’ve just been speaking to a grieving widow.

The reason we have limited opening hours is because we have our own lives and families

Please don’t bitch when we’re rushing you because you walked in the door 2 minutes before we were due to close. Chances are we stop getting paid from the minute the clock strikes shut, and we’re probably dying to get home after a 9 hour day.

Insulting us or being rude to us doesn’t help any situation

It does not encourage us to do our best work, and the number of times I’ve been personally attacked by a customer only to hide in a cupboard for 10 minutes, or even burst into tears then and there on the shopfloor is more than what is ok.

A little bit of patience and kindness goes a long way

A ‘thank you’ or ‘take your time’ means the world when we’re running around trying to help you and 3 other people.

We love being able to help

Our job is helping you, and with the best will in the world we can’t always do that. We don’t get any sort of pleasure out of not being able to help you, but when we can its such a good feeling, so please appreciate that.

When you’re lovely, you make our day and you make us love our job

Generally, people will always talk about a bad experience, but they will rarely share a good one. Its the same for me with customer experiences; I have a wealth of bad customer stories, but if you asked me to tell you about my best customer service experience, I think I’d struggle. That said, I genuinely do LOVE lovely customers, and if I spoke to the lovely ones all day I would 100% love my job.

Even if you may not be remembered for it, be the good customer.

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Do What Makes You Happy

Here’s the thing: I love being creative.

I love designing and I love creating things, and while I’ve never been much good with pen and paper, whenever I make something that I am totally happy with, and that loads of people compliment, it gives me such a great sense of pride, I can’t even put it into words.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a humble little Etsy store where I sell handmade magical creations from pocket tees to custom skirts and Mickey ears, and anything else that takes my fancy, and recently its this little store that has brought me the most happiness.

I also run two small business, the newest of which being The Happiest Fitness Co, where I design and produce magical inspired fitness and leisure wear. It combines two great loves of mine: Disney and fitness, and it just reached its 1st birthday!

My other small business is actually my longest running, while I find I rarely talk about it on my blog or social media. Did you guys know I’m also a cake decorator? I’ve been doing this since I was 16, alongside school and sixth form at first, and then alongside working.

I may not know exactly where my life is going, but I know I will always continue to do the things that I love for as long as I enjoy them, and I will work my little butt off to make a future for myself doing the things that make me happy.

What makes you happy?

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How To Take a Day Off Social Media

Taking a day off social media

As bloggers, our lives generally revolve around social media. Its not a bad thing – its how we drive traffic to our site, its the best way to communicate with other bloggers and its a great way to get exposure with brands. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s been told things like ‘you spend too much time on your phone’ and ‘you’re being anti-social’, while all you’re doing is chatting to other people and promoting your latest post, right?

All the same, sometimes a break from the screen is a good thing, but how can you take a day away without letting your blog suffer? Try a few of these tips:

Schedule all your tweets

I normally only schedule 5 promotional tweets a day, and do the rest by myself, but if I know I’m gonna be busy and away from my laptop or phone, I’ll stick a few more in for good measure!

Take a camera, not your phone

Its easy to justify needing to take your phone out with you in case you need to snap some shots, go out with your camera instead – it might even get your creative juices flowing more!

Tell people what you’re doing

Whether you just text around to let your nearest and dearest know you’re gonna be off the radar for the day, or drop a tweet to announce you’ll be quiet – it means you can be disturbance free and also the accountability will make it easier to stick to your guns.

Go old school

Instead of putting all your thoughts into tweets, write them down instead! Carry a notebook and a pen, and every little thing that pops into your head can go down on paper for you to use another time.

Use it as material

If you’re worried about what a day away might do to your blog, why not your experience as a blog post? Write about what you did, how you did it and how it was for you, and share it with the world!

Don’t worry, its good for you!

There’s nothing wrong with spending all your time on social media. There’s also nothing wrong with taking time away. Whatever you wanna do, do it!

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An Amazing Year of Achievements

Amazing 2016

2016 has not been an easy year for anyone. Its been full of all kinds of worldwide drama and negativity, but now I’m sat here looking back over it, the fact is, its really not been a terrible year.

So many amazing things have happened to me this year, which have made any troubles fade into the background, and while some may not be as major as others, here are some of the incredible things that have happened in my life.

  • I ran my first half marathon – and then my second and third..
  • I went on my first ever non-family Disney trip – my Disneyland Paris trip in April was the first time I’d ever been without my parents and sister!
  • I met some beautiful people – one of my New Years Resolutions was to get out and meet more of my Disney friends, and while I’ve not met everyone, everyone I have had a chance to hang out with have been amazing!
  • I flew solo – my trip to New Zealand in September was the first time I’ve ever got on a plane by myself – kinda threw myself in at the deep end!
  • I drove an automatic car – this one’s a little random, but I’ve never driven an automatic before, and I survived!
  • I stopped blogging for the sake of it – midway through this year, I decided to stop writing posts that I wasn’t 100% happy with. This meant I stopped a few of my old series that were becoming a chore to write, and freeing up more time for new content!
  • I’ve finally visited every Disney park in the world! – ticked the last two off the list with visits to Hong Kong and Shanghai this summer!
  • I hit some incredible blogging milestones – not only did this little blog of mine turn 3 this year, but its been the best year yet by miles! I’ve published just over 300 posts this year and smashed my follower goals on social media, and its so nice to see all these achievements after I’ve put my heart and soul into this blog all year.
  • I started a new business – its always slow progress at first, but I’ve loved creating The Happiest Fitness Co this year, and I have high hopes for the coming year!
  • I left my dead end job – I finally said goodbye to retail after just over 4 years, and found a job that has a lot more opportunities for me in the future
  • I started working full time and maintaining my blog – when I started my new job, one of my biggest worries was that I wouldn’t be able to keep writing as much as I was before, so I’m so proud of the fact that I can work full-time and still post 5/6 times a week!
  • I learned who my true friends are – 2016 has been the year that I’ve come to realise that you don’t have to see people every day for them to be your best and truest friends, and that life’s too short to carry deadweight negative people around
  • I started being creative again – I turned my sewing machine back on for the first time in almost a year, and getting back into making things has made me really happy!
  • I fell in love – it goes without saying that meeting Matthew this year has been the greatest blessing and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

I don’t think I’m sad to see the end of this year, but mainly because I’m so excited for 2017 and all the excitement and adventure I know will come with it. In fact, I don’t think I’ve been this excited for a new year in a long time!

Fight the bad 2016 stigma and tell me some of the amazing things that have happened to you this year!

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Positivity Accounts You Need To Be Following

Positivity Accounts

I love Twitter. Its full of amazing people and interesting things, but its also notorious for being a little negative at times.

To combat this, positivity accounts have popped up, with the aim of bring more happiness and cheer to Twitter feeds, and I’ve made an effort to follow a lot of these as their posts always make me smile! Here are some of my faves

Happy Little Thought @HAPPYLTHOUGHT

HLT is the latest account that I’ve followed, but despite being fairly new to the Twittersphere, already seems to have made a huge difference! As well as posting lovely things, they also host a positivity chat, #HLTChat every Tuesday at 8pm 🙂

Positive Strawberry @posistrawberry

Just another super account, PS always posts happy thoughts and great motivation – it never fails to make me smile!

The Girl Gang @thegirlganghq

Founded by the ever-wonderful Jemma, The Girl Gang is just over a year old now and has united so many people in the Twitter world, and is always full of lovely, colourful happy things!

The Bun @APositiveBun

This account is full of happy vibes and self care tips – happy happy happy!

Positive Plant @succulent

More happiness and positivity all round!

There are tonnes of accounts out there, so go get following, and let me know if you have any favourites that I might want to follow!

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30 Little Things That Make Me Happy

Sometimes life gets you down. It happens to everyone, and its ok; no one’s life is Instagram-perfect.

When we have these little moments, its important to focus on the little things in life that put smiles on our faces, even if we don’t realise it. If it ever feels like the world isn’t on your side, take a few minutes to sit and write down a few of these, and you’ll be amazed how many things there are to be grateful for.

Little Things

Here’s mine:

  • Scented candles
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Gerbera daisies
  • Tsum tsums
  • Lip balm
  • Pretty sunsets
  • Cute animal videos
  • Fairy lights
  • Red skittles
  • Hair bows
  • Blue eyeliner
  • Good morning texts
  • Drinking from mugs
  • New notebooks
  • Disney trip planning
  • Clean sheets
  • Collecting eggs from my chickens
  • Retweets
  • Getting post
  • Peach iced tea
  • Pop tarts
  • Custard
  • Next day delivery
  • Walking to the gym
  • Dancing in the kitchen
  • Hand-writing lists
  • Nail varnish
  • Oreos
  • Disney movies
  • Fabric shopping

What’s on your list?

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21st Century Random Acts of Kindness

Remember the good old days when letting a mother with a small child go in front of you in the queue for public toilets, or drunkenly telling another drunk girl how pretty she looks was considered the nicest thing you could do in a day?

Well, they’re still pretty nice things to do, and you absolutely shouldn’t stop doing stuff like that, but with our lives so often revolving around technology and its development, our everyday acts of kindness are a little different now, and here are a few that you can do!

Random Acts of Kindness

Send someone a bunch of motivational emojis

Next time you see a tweet about having a long day or being stuck in retail on a bank holiday Monday, throw a few colourful hearts and party popper emojis their way, maybe even a bulging bicep. Why not add a cat gif too?

Donate to a crowdfunding page

Whether its a charitable cause or a start-up business, why not give a couple of quid? You get to be the mysterious philanthropist, and someone else gets a step closer to something great

Offer to be the designated driver

Save yourself the taxi fare from hell and spend a night drinking diet coke while your friends are on their fifth round of shots. You’ll earn infinite friend points and better still: no hangover!

Switch your phone off around company

Whether you’re on a date or just hanging with friends, put your phone on silent, put it away and enjoy the company you’re with (and hope they do the same!)

Offer to sign for a parcel for a neighbour

We all know that feeling when you’re at work and DPD have text to say they’ll be delivering your parcel between 10:43 and 11:43, and there’s just no way to split yourself in half to get home for it, so next time Carl pitches up with next door’s ASOS parcel and has no luck at the door, be a good egg and offer to take it in for them and drop it in when they get back.

Go on an Instagram like spree

No, not the kind of spam you do to try and get someone to notice and follow you, just don’t be afraid to double tap as you scroll through your feed in the morning

Offer your carpark ticket to someone

There’s nothing better than walking up to the meter and being approached by someone paid for way more time than they needed – hello two hours free! Be that person.

Let someone use your student discount code

My Twitter feed always has at least one ‘anyone got a student discount I can borrow PLEASE’ tweet on it at any given time. Now I’m not saying go nuts and throw it around like confetti, but maybe if you see a friend in need and can help, make their day!

And to finish off, here’s just a handful of some of the kindest bloggers I know:

Drop me a comment to share some of the kindest people you know!

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Things I’m So Grateful For This Week

I am just a bundle of happy thoughts this week! Like can’t stop smiling, bouncing around kinda happy, and I’m loving it!

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I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details, but while I’m happy as a clam, I thought I’d share just a few of the things that I’m feeling particularly grateful for this week! Plus, with the result of the EU referendum today, I think its important that everyone tries to find something positive in today.

Wifi on planes

Remember the days when you couldn’t even have your phone on during a flight? Now we’re basically actively encouraged to use them! And no, I haven’t gone on a trip without telling you, I’m grateful for being able to keep in touch with a certain someone on a long haul flight!

Girly group chats

I’m always so grateful for my amazing girlfriends, and group chats can be the most loving, supportive environments!

Workplace banter

I’ve gone through a few tough months at work recently, but I’m so happy I work with such a funny group of guys who not only put up with my crazy girl moments but can also make me laugh no end sometimes.

Online shopping

After a stupidly stressful tsum tsum release last week, the Star Wars: The Force Awakens tsum tsum release this week was an absolute breeze! I also snagged some beauties from my Asos saved list in the sale, yay!

Talking Disney

Being able to share my love for Disney always makes me so happy, and whether its telling my parents some crazy WDW wait time or discussing upcoming trips with my friends, it never fails to cheer me up!

Good things happening to good people

Whenever I hear good news from a person I love, it fills me with warm fuzzy feelings that are just the best!

What are you grateful for right now?

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How to Say Bye to Negative Vibes

We all have those occasional (and sometimes not so occasional) moments of self-doubt and bad feelings about things in life, be it grades, blog stats, who’s snapchat story is more interesting than who’s..

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Now I’m usually one to let these things get to me, but in the last month or so I realised that I’m done feeling crap about myself, and rather than being the sort of person that gives in to silly life niggles, I’m striving to become one of those girls that people look at and think ‘wow, she’s got such a great attitude!’.

Turn jealousy into motivation

Instead of looking at someone else’s accomplishments and feeling sucky about your own, turn those jealous thoughts into drive to better yourself. Love another blogger’s photography? Don’t hate them, get working on your own!

Do something to make yourself excited

Worried about starting a new job? Go out and buy yourself some new stationery. Whatever it is that’s making you feel uncomfortable, find some little bonus that you can get out of it, and live for that. It could be something to look forward to once you’ve done it, or something that you do in preparation for it, but it’ll make the whole thing seem a lot better.

Don’t make enemies of people you don’t know

I used to follow this girl on Twitter, because lots of my friend did, and while I didn’t really know anything about her other than what I saw her post, I found myself kinda disliking her. So what did I do? I made the effort to talk to her, and she turned out to be so lovely! I think what I’m trying to say is instead of jumping to conclusions about people, take time to get to know them; don’t waste energy hating people that you could easily be friends with.

If you can’t do anything about it, stop worrying

Some things in life are simply out of our control, and once you accept that, you’ll find yourself feeling a lot less stressed. Now this doesn’t mean to say you should ever ‘settle’, it just means you can’t make that lemonade when the universe gave you strawberries. Get some cream instead.

Surround yourself with positive people

When you’re around people who project happiness, you’re gonna pick up on those good vibes. Don’t let anyone put you down or make you feel worse about your life; you rock!

Stop comparing yourself

There is no one else in the world like you, so there’s no point comparing yourself to others! This is even more important when you only know people through social media; everyone posts their best bits online!

Just remember, you’re never fully dressed without a smile!

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My Healthy Habits Box

You might remember that in my January haul post I promised you a review of the Happy Healthy Habits Box from Kikki K, so here it is!

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While Kikki K sells some of the most beautiful stationery I’ve laid eyes on, they place a lot of emphasis on wellbeing -they even run workshops on it! – and that is what this box is all about.

The box itself contains 6 mini books – Gratitude Journal, Habits Journal, Happiness Journal, Mindfulness Journal, Goals Journal and 101 Dreams Journal – a mini weekly habits pad, a sheet of quotes sticks and 4 quote cards, as well as habits activity book.

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Gratitude Journal – this is for writing down the things in your life that you’re grateful and why, and helps you to appreciate life’s little moments

Habits Journal – using this little book, you can look at your habits and evaluate what habits you’d like to change or stop, and even think about new habits you might want to bring into your life. I think this is my favourite of the mini books because it really made me look at myself and change my way of thinking about certain aspects of my life

Happiness Journal – in this book you can write down what makes you happy and why, and also what makes you unhappy and why. Looking into why certain things make you feel the way they do is a real eye-opener, and really helps your habits change!

Mindfulness Journal – this is a way of making you stop and think about how you’re really feeling. Sure, you might think you just feel good/bad/whatever, but in reality, you may have many different emotions and feelings that all add up, and taking the time to think about it can help you improve these feelings.

Goals Journal – this journal is about more than just setting goals. Its about looking at the reason behind your goals, the steps you need to take in order to reach your goal, the deadlines for these changes, and also rewarding your achievements

101 Dreams Journal – write down all your dreams, big or small. Once they’re on paper, you’re one step closer to make your dreams a reality.

Mini Good Habits Notepad – this is like a mini post-it note of positivity! Each week, I choose which habits I want to reward each week – I use my habits journal to decide! – then every day I check them off when I’ve done them. Being able to physically check off a good habit is great for my self esteem, and the desire for that tick makes me more motivated to achieve my good habits. At the end of the week, I get a little reward for a full house of ticks!

I’ve been using the box for a month now, and I can honestly say that its totally changed the way I look at a lot of things. Yes, at first I felt a little silly writing down some of my goals and dreams, but actually its helped so much, and not only am I improving my habits, I’m making sure I’m putting myself and my happiness first – its actually the reason I re-wrote my New Years Resolutions a few weeks back!

Do you have any habits you’d like to change?

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NEW New Years Resolutions

Tomorrow is March. MARCH.

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We’re already two months down this year, and in classic form, I’m looking back at my January New Years Resolutions and wondering what I’ve managed to achieve so far this year, and for a change, I’m pretty happy with where I am.

In the last few weeks though, I’ve been taking a bit more time to think about myself; improving my mindfulness, habits and general thought processes, and I’ve decided to make some new resolutions, which are a little more about me and my happiness.

Be more creative

I’ve always been a creative person, even if its not in the classic sense, and creativity makes me feel good, so whether it be spending my lunch break with a colouring book or taking more pretty photos for Instagram, I’m welcoming it. I’ve even started being more creative with my weekly organisation, and I love it!

Take more time for myself

Last year I took a pretty huge independent step going on holiday by myself, and it taught me that me time is totally ok and that I don’t always need company to enjoy myself. I spend so much time at work surrounded by people and helping others that its ok for me to take time out.

Improve myself in little ways

I always want to be my best self, and while going back to school holds no interest for me, I want to learn new things, even if its just something small like a new cooking technique, or something a little bigger like an online course; I’m planning on learning something new every week.

Keep dreaming

I have so many thoughts, ideas and dreams, but I’m also my own worst enemy when it comes to shooting them down, so I’m going to stop seeing all my dreams as ‘pipe dreams’. Anything is possible if you just believe!

Be positive and share it

I can often jump to worst case scenarios, but I’ve had enough of that! I’m going to be working on thinking more positively and sharing this positivity with those around me. Watch out guys, I’m gonna be throwing all sorts of happiness your way!

Be more open to change

Whether I like it or not, change is a part of life, and I’m working on being ok with that. I used to hate cheesecake and now I think its delicious, and if all change is like that then I’m cool with it!

Are you sticking to your New Years Resolutions, or are you rethinking like me?

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100 Days of Happy: 42-62

Happy Saturday everyone! Another 3 weeks have been and gone, and I’m here to update you all on my 100 day challenge!

These last few weeks I’ve been much better with photo updates on Instagram, although I still haven’t posted everyday, but it does mean I can share more happy thoughts today!

I’ve discovered the art of packing healthy lunchboxes to take to work with me!

The release of medal designs for Star Wars weekend has got me so excited for our upcoming events!

I treated myself to a Yankee Candle advent calendar!

I had the most fun guest-hosting the #DisneyBloggersChat! It was a huge success and announcing my Secret Santa has generated so much buzz!

A surprise parcel of this necklace made by a lovely friend of mine and sent to me by another lovely friend of mine!

I had a bit of a shopping spree for new gym/running clothes and got some amazing bargains!

We hit the 50 day mark, and the 40 day mark too!

The prettiest fabric EVER arrived and I can’t wait to create with it!

I made my dad a giant KitKat..

And I made him a caterpillar cake!

We shot our Lego family Christmas card!

My Baymax hat arrived!

A new fitness toy!

As well as all this, I’ve booked coach tickets to go and visit a very dear friend in London during my week off in December, I’ve hit some pretty awesome blogging goals and I’m feeling so blessed to have all my lovely Disney/blogger friends supporting me at the moment!

I’m also so happy that Christmas is sneaking up, and that also means Disney is creeping ever closer, and everything is falling into place!

Share your happy thoughts guys!

xoxo

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100 Days of Happy: 21-41

Doesn’t time fly on the run up to the end of the year?!

I can’t believe its been 3 weeks since I wrote my first update on my 100 days of happy challenge, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been slacking a little on the photo side recently, so to change things up a little, I’m just going to share some of the great things that have happened in these last few weeks that have kept a smile on my face!

• Halloween pumpkin carving!

• Catching up on Once Upon a Time, and starting a new Netflix addiction: Gossip Girl

• I’ve been back at my sewing machine running up some new creations, and toying once again with opening an Etsy shop

• Completing Blogtober, and my views are booming, yay!

• My Disney girls forever make me happy, and the initial success of my planned Secret Santa

• We hit another Disney countdown milestone, and are now under the 60 day mark!

• Storming ahead on my Christmas shopping (and being almost done, don’t hate me for being keen)

• Being past Halloween, I can properly get into the Christmas spirit, YAAYYY

So I’ll be continuing on my happy little challenge, and TRYING to remember to take and post more photos so that when I catch up with you next! In the meantime, keep smiling!

xoxo

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100 Days of Happy

I kicked off September with plenty of happy vibes for the month, and its been so good that I want to keep it going! It also just so happens that today marks exactly 100 days until I walk through the gates to my happy place – the Magic Kingdom!

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So with that in mind, today I’m going to be kicking off a 100 days of happy challenge!

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Ok, so its not really much of a challenge, but for those of you that don’t quite know what I’m on about, 100 days of happy is simply documenting something that makes you happy, everyday for 100 days. It can be as small as a pretty flower or a nice meal, or something bigger, like booking a holiday, reaching a milestone or getting a new job; its just about taking the time each day to remember how good life is!

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Everyday I’ll be posting my happy moments on my Instagram (@lottiedoesdisney) and Twitter (@lottiedoesblog), and then I’ll do a couple of round-ups on here to let you guys know how I’m getting on, the last of which being on the morning of day 99, when we leave for America!

I’m super excited for another great 100 days; I leave for Europe on Wednesday, then when I come back I’ve got the last of the pre-Disney prep, Christmas – my all time favourite time of year – and then off we go!

Join me in my challenge? 🙂

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