You’re everything that I hoped for, that’s why I gave you my all

I came to write about something exciting, but first I am going to vent about the crappy day I am currently having (the exciting bit does come, I promise).
Today began with wiggly anxious feet, which is never the way a lady wishes to arise from her slumber. With too much unsolicited adrenaline my extremities tingle and I need to release this, so feet wiggling like I’m in Footloose is my usual go-to. Checking the time on my phone I realise I still have an hour before my alarm insists I get up. So I attempt to go back to sleep but I am met with the anxious thoughts that accompany my eighties dance movie choreography. Great. Then I receive a text from my sister to inform me that Dolly (the dog) has been sick a lot in the garden. Yippee. By this point it’s clear that I am not going back to sleep. I drag myself out of bed, eyes still mostly asleep whilst I get dressed to walk the dog and face the day. As I head downstairs I am met with an odor of vomit and two huge piles of sick. One of them is a revolting tangle of green slimy grass. Oh joy. As I go towards the back of the house to let the dog in to the garden, what do I see? Oh yes, that would be another 3 piles (this time its the raw chicken from last nights dinner), slick and putrid. Excellent. Then there is more in the garden and more in the living room I discover. Poor dog, clearly shes unwell but also, gross. It’s not even half nine in the morning yet. After spending a fair while doing my best Cinderella before she meets the prince impression, I walk the dog; who spends most of her time eating more grass…
My shopping is due to be delivered between ten and twelve today, so I await its arrival and get on with a multitude of boring house chores. However, the shopping still hasn’t arrived half an hour after the time-slot has ended. Weird. After logging into my account it would appear that I didn’t finish the transaction yesterday so our shopping won’t be coming today. And I haven’t even mentioned my strange enchanted hand that keeps going a little numb every now and then. I get to climb into a dark hole and never come out again now, right?!
Okay, I get that worse things happen at sea and certainly worse things have happened in my life, but today’s morning has felt relentlessly bleak. Roll on tomorrow evening and being with the boy I am incredibly fond of in a place that helps me breathe a little easier (when I’m not feeling anxious anyway *monkey covering eyes emoji*).

Now, onto much better news. On Tuesday the seventeenth of May, this blog hit twenty thousand overall views! I am so excited about this. I never thought I would actually keep up blogging, and I certainly never thought many if any people would want to read it. But I did and you did and now I’ve hit a huge milestone for someone who has just written a whole passage about dog vomit.
Thank you to everyone who reads my blog regularly or if you are entirely new and you’re helping me on my way to thirty thousand. I appreciate every view, every comment and every share I receive. You are all lovely people and I am so pleased that anyone would want to read my work.
I thought that I would link you my Facebook page, so should you wish to keep up to date and notified when a new post is published you can do so. Or, if you are a fellow WordPress user, feel free to hit ‘Follow’.
Here are some of my favourite pieces I have published on here, in case you missed them:

• Hold your head high, heavy heart (- Dear teenagers, it gets better or at least different).
• I have the dance moves of a mustache and the singing voice that sounds like a beard on the inside of my cheeks (- for all that love those with a beard and those that have careless whiskers to tame).
• And I am finally seeing that I was the one worth leaving (- Inspired by Frank Turner and moving on from something that never quite fit).
• You hid there last time, you know we’re gonna find you (-My tale of always being the fat girl and how some builders harassed me).
• But I am a ghost, just haunting myself (- An exercise in dissipating writers block, melancholic whimsy at its best).
• I’m ready to hope, swing me out of the low; wide awake in the glow, can’t do it alone (- Sadness and hope combined in melancholia. My canary sings no more).
• And I kissed him back like and arsonist with a pocket full of matches (-romanticised romance).

Once again, thank you.

I’ll follow you down to the edge of this earth

Hello April, thank you for bringing more blue skies and sunshine. I love the Spring, it is by far my favourite season. The flowers are blooming and the weather has a touch of warmth, a sprinkle of magic dances through the air. My march was filled with lovely people and beautiful skies.

March, week one.
New bedding came my way when I could no longer resist not owning Purrmaids with all of the pretty seashells on the reverse. Anything remotely seaside related has my immediate attention, I have a nautical heart. I took Christopher to meet Erika and Theo in one of my favourite Pubs. It was so lovely to catch up after not seeing one another for over a year, drinks and conversation flowed, it was wonderful. I saw a recipe online for ‘healthy’ garlic Parmesan chips. They are so easy to make and even better to eat. I also made myself some blue cheese dip. This lunch was magnificent.

March, week two.
The second week brought me a sore throat and a horrible cold (that is still lingering!), Christopher bought me some Strepsils, and I was very happy to find out that they come in cherry flavour…almost as good as a cherry drop. It had been ages since I had done any nail art, probably almost two years. However I was feeling inspired and tried my hand at some galaxy nails; always a favourite of mine. I don’t think they turned out so badly considering it had been so long. And a selfie, with all the hair for lunch at my favourite seafood place and country drives with my Dad, Nan and Florence.

March, week three.
Snapchat filters are a guilty pleasure of mine, some of them are just hilarious – like this Kylie Jenner inspired one that makes your lips huge! My new favourite one makes me look like a baby…maybe more on that one next month. I took a trip with the polka-dot weekend bag to see Christopher for the weekend. I was extremely pleased that the train was much quieter this time and I had the Mister Asylum album by Highly Suspect to keep me occupied. We had a great Saturday and topped the day off with watching the ice hockey, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it; even if it did lead to numb hands and feet after three hours of being frozen.

March, week four.
Sunday ended with the most gorgeous sunset, in one of my favourite places with one of the best people. I had an amazing weekend and the sky showing all of its colours was a magnificent way to top it off. Another selfie, before making my way to the last night I would ever spend at Coleman Avenue. This is where Erika used to live and I spent at least half of my time there for years as a teenager. Erika’s parents had decided to move, so it only felt right to have drinks to say farewell. Such a lovely evening with Erika and Sam, and getting to see my teenage surrogate family again. After four hours of sleep and a mild headache it was time for the Easter egg hunt/quiz at my aunt and uncle’s house. Yes, I am in my midtwenties, no – I will not feel shame for still taking part (compering) an egg hunt that also provides me with family fun and chocolate.

All girls to the front

This post is late, I know. But I have been unwell on and off with various things for the past few weeks. My body decided to let down all protective barriers and the army of germs came storming my beaches. I have never sneezed so much in my life, even my tongue hurts… Anyway, enough excuses. This just means you get this post now, and hopefully another on Friday.
I wanted to write about International Women’s Day (eighth of March) last week and all of the women that inspire me. I have decided to stick to that regardless of the fact it is a week late, because these women inspire and empower me daily. They deserve celebrating every day. There are lots of women in my real life and my online life that support and encourage me; I couldn’t fit them all into this one post. However, I am working on a series for this blog that spotlights each woman individually – in the hopes of sharing with you why I think they’re so great. Keep your eyes peeled.

Lets start with the small independent business women.
Sarah, is one half of amazing jewellery and accessories company Sugar and Vice. Amazingly creative and stylish as well as showing all the quirky girls you can be successful and empower others along the way. Collaborating with and supporting other small female run businesses is how it should be done and Sarah is awesome at doing just that. If you know me or have read this blog for a while you will know that I am rarely seen without my S&V pentagram necklace. Sarah’s feminist pin and patch game is beyond enviable too.
Lucy is the very talented woman behind Bloody Mary Metal jewellery company. Offering the most beautiful silver and gold jewellery for the slightly more alternative of us all, women and men. BMM is another of my very favourite jewellery companies out there, I am rarely seen without my Little Bone and personalised stack ring (I’m still devastated that I lost my droplet stacker). Bloody Mary Metal are only going up from here, and this lady is killing it.
Sophie owns the, in my opinion, best flower crown and sparkly hair accessory business you will ever come across – Crown and Glory. I own a few pieces and they are all so well made and make me feel incredibly special every time I wear one. Not only does Sophie cater to your every whimsical hair accessory need, she will also provide you with some stunningly beautiful/unconventional wedding pieces. And just to make me love these independent women even more, Sugar&Vice and Crown and Glory have collaborated and come up with a rad set of hair accessories.
So ladies and gentlemen, get yourselves over to these amazing women’s companies and help support these impeccably talented humans.

Ladies of YouTube
Sanne, aka: Books and Quills on YouTube, is a self proclaimed feminist and she has read a whole tonne of books. Her YouTube channel is mostly dedicated to what books she has been reading recently as well as other fascinating bookish wonders. An intelligent and thoroughly interesting woman with well formed opinions on life and literature.
Formerly know as EssieButton on Youtube, Estee Lalonde has rebranded and become more of a vocal advocate for women. No longer just dedicated to beauty vlogging, Estee has opened an honest and inviting place for ladies of all ages to converse about all the things we encounter on a daily basis. With a new series called FemTalk on her channel viewers can talk about anything from ‘losing’ their virginity to period cravings.
Ingrid Nilsen, has been on YouTube for a long time now. Throughout her years on the site she has always sought to encourage women, but none more so than in the past year. Now in her mid-twenties Ingrid has finally accepted and embraced her true self, leading to a very emotional and heart-wrenching Coming Out video on her channel. Since then Ingrid has been really stepping forward and helping women and all other genders to feel more empowered and taking subjects previously seen as ‘awkward to discuss even though we all have/do it’ and made it less taboo. Ingrid is now also a UN Ambassador for change, representing the US, with six other women from around the globe.
So if you are looking for smart, funny and interesting women on YouTube, instead of another ‘back to school haul’ or ‘challenge’ video, give these awesome wonders a try.

A very small offering of my Everyday Heroes
I first met Christa when we were both doing nail art in a room that was also part of a tattoo and piercing studio. I liked this sassy and creative woman. Although the business all went to pot, I have remained in contact with this ever so talented woman. A fellow blogger, bookworm and Girl Power warrior, Mrs Bass often inspires and encourages my own writing and creative outputs.
Although a couple of years ago I didn’t even know Naomi, she has quickly become one of my very favourite people in life. She doesn’t mess about in her opinions but shes kind and compassionate to boot. A great friend and she’s proving to be a grand blogger too. Confident, sassy and funny she inspires me to be happier within myself daily.
My grandma and mum were my strong and wise pillars in life. In the last seven years, way way too early, I have lost them both. The women who taught me everything I know about life and helped shape me to be everything I am now. I will strive every day of my life to be as knowledgeable and steadfastly kick-ass as these women were. My ultimate role models and barometer on how to weather the storms of life. They showed me daily how to be strong and compassionate, and do small things with great love.

I wish I had more time to share with you all of the fabulous and enlivening women I am lucky to encircle myself with on a regular and daily basis. However, over the next few months expect my attempts to at least try and do just that.
And remember, whether they are female, male or anyone in between, love and encourage those around you to be better people.

(I do not own some of these images).