A rather belated Happy New Year to you all! As January draws to a close I figured it was about time I made an appearance on here. I had intended on blogging weeks ago but sometimes life just gets in the way. Talking about makeup & clothes as per usual didn't feel right without doing this post first. So for me 2015 was a pretty crappy year overall. At the beginning of the year there was a lot of drama which resulted in me spending several months on self-help courses to deal with my anxiety & anger issues. I also spent some time in hospital to better diagnose my stomach problems. I felt very depressed & my weight ballooned which made it harder for me to carry on with blogging when I felt so low in myself. I'm trying my best to put self-loathing behind me so that I can get on with doing what I love. Obviously the lack of posts this month isn't great but I finally feel like I'm ready to go. Just like last year I've set myself five realistic goals instead of full on resolutions. Goals are more achievable than resolutions & I won't feel like a failure if there are any slight setbacks. Wish me luck!
Reach my target weight
Back in September I came to the realisation that I had put on quite a bit of weight. This was further cemented to me when a little shitbag at my nephew's birthday party called me 'fat lady'. I'd only gained about a stone & a half but that was enough to make me feel uncomfortable in my clothes. Every year I say I want to lose weight but this time I actually did something about it. I decided to join Slimming World & since September I have already lost one stone as well as earning my Club 10 award. I'm only 10lbs from target now & feel confident that I can get there in the next few months. I might even try to go that little bit further just so I can get my two stone award before returning to target. I've also been going to various exercise classes at the gym so hopefully I'll be getting a few body magic awards too!
Take better care of myself
My eating & exercise habits have certainly improved already but there are definitely other aspects of self-care where I don't put in as much effort. I've become quite lazy with my skincare routine lately. Terrible, I know! I haven't been wearing makeup very much so I often can't be bothered to wash my face at night. My skin has improved loads but it's important that I don't become complacent & carry on with my current skincare regime twice a day. I also stopped bothering with all my vitamins & supplements which definitely had a negative impact upon my hair, skin & nails. My immune system is completely shot at the minute & it seems like I get another cold every week. I've started taking all the pills & I already feel more like myself again. Some other things I plan on doing are more hair masks, more face masks, more manicures & more teeth whitening strips. It's those little things that make you feel so much better & we should all strive to do them more often.
Do a full KonMari-style home makeover
I love Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up & have also bought her latest guide to de-cluttering, Spark Joy. I've always been a bit of a hoarder so her books have been really helpful to me. I've already sorted through my wardrobe, cosmetics & toiletries but I want to carry on with tidying the rest of the house. When you're a parent you tend to accumulate so much extra clutter. There are toys everywhere in the living room & I've kept hold of all the artwork Chloe does at school. It's hard not to be sentimental about those kind of things but you have to draw a line somewhere. This year I plan to fully de-clutter my home using the KonMari method. Having a tidy home is really important to me but it's something I don't think I've ever managed to achieve! There's always a mess somewhere. With Marie Kondo's books by my side I'm positive that I can clear out all of the extra rubbish over the next few months. After all, a tidy house makes for a tidy mind.
Get a new job
The whole childcare situation didn't really get resolved last year so I didn't get a new job like I had hoped. At this point I'd be happy to just get a part-time retail job. It might not be related to graphic design but without proper childcare I don't think I'll ever get a full-time design position. Sad but true. Becoming a full-time blogger who accepts sponsored content is always very tempting but it's also quite lonely if you can't get to events in London & I miss being able to socialise with new people. I think it would also do wonders for my confidence & self-esteem. It's all too easy to sit in your pyjamas every day, bare-faced with your hair scraped back in a ponytail if you work from home but it's making me depressed & I need to do something about it.
Make a proper start with YouTube
I made some YouTube videos a few years ago but it was never something that I fully transitioned into. To be completely honest I hardly read blogs these days as I much prefer watching YouTube videos. It gets on my wick when bloggers don't show how products look on their faces so it can be hard to find informative reviews. It's much simpler to watch someone applying a product to their face in real time & hearing what they think about it. Although I do always make an effort to fully swatch makeup on both my arm & my face in blog photos I feel that videos often showcase products more accurately. They're a much better format for makeup tutorials so I plan on making a real go of it this year & will get a few videos filmed very soon. Of course I plan to carry on with blogging & aim to write at least 100 posts this year. It's coming up to my blog's 6th anniversary soon so I really appreciate all of you who still read my posts & continue to enjoy the content I put out. I plan on doing a giveaway to celebrate as I'm also nearing 5000 followers & want to properly say thank you. So here's to 2016! Let's hope it's a good'un!
Reach my target weight
Back in September I came to the realisation that I had put on quite a bit of weight. This was further cemented to me when a little shitbag at my nephew's birthday party called me 'fat lady'. I'd only gained about a stone & a half but that was enough to make me feel uncomfortable in my clothes. Every year I say I want to lose weight but this time I actually did something about it. I decided to join Slimming World & since September I have already lost one stone as well as earning my Club 10 award. I'm only 10lbs from target now & feel confident that I can get there in the next few months. I might even try to go that little bit further just so I can get my two stone award before returning to target. I've also been going to various exercise classes at the gym so hopefully I'll be getting a few body magic awards too!
Take better care of myself
My eating & exercise habits have certainly improved already but there are definitely other aspects of self-care where I don't put in as much effort. I've become quite lazy with my skincare routine lately. Terrible, I know! I haven't been wearing makeup very much so I often can't be bothered to wash my face at night. My skin has improved loads but it's important that I don't become complacent & carry on with my current skincare regime twice a day. I also stopped bothering with all my vitamins & supplements which definitely had a negative impact upon my hair, skin & nails. My immune system is completely shot at the minute & it seems like I get another cold every week. I've started taking all the pills & I already feel more like myself again. Some other things I plan on doing are more hair masks, more face masks, more manicures & more teeth whitening strips. It's those little things that make you feel so much better & we should all strive to do them more often.
Do a full KonMari-style home makeover
I love Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up & have also bought her latest guide to de-cluttering, Spark Joy. I've always been a bit of a hoarder so her books have been really helpful to me. I've already sorted through my wardrobe, cosmetics & toiletries but I want to carry on with tidying the rest of the house. When you're a parent you tend to accumulate so much extra clutter. There are toys everywhere in the living room & I've kept hold of all the artwork Chloe does at school. It's hard not to be sentimental about those kind of things but you have to draw a line somewhere. This year I plan to fully de-clutter my home using the KonMari method. Having a tidy home is really important to me but it's something I don't think I've ever managed to achieve! There's always a mess somewhere. With Marie Kondo's books by my side I'm positive that I can clear out all of the extra rubbish over the next few months. After all, a tidy house makes for a tidy mind.
Get a new job
The whole childcare situation didn't really get resolved last year so I didn't get a new job like I had hoped. At this point I'd be happy to just get a part-time retail job. It might not be related to graphic design but without proper childcare I don't think I'll ever get a full-time design position. Sad but true. Becoming a full-time blogger who accepts sponsored content is always very tempting but it's also quite lonely if you can't get to events in London & I miss being able to socialise with new people. I think it would also do wonders for my confidence & self-esteem. It's all too easy to sit in your pyjamas every day, bare-faced with your hair scraped back in a ponytail if you work from home but it's making me depressed & I need to do something about it.
Make a proper start with YouTube
I made some YouTube videos a few years ago but it was never something that I fully transitioned into. To be completely honest I hardly read blogs these days as I much prefer watching YouTube videos. It gets on my wick when bloggers don't show how products look on their faces so it can be hard to find informative reviews. It's much simpler to watch someone applying a product to their face in real time & hearing what they think about it. Although I do always make an effort to fully swatch makeup on both my arm & my face in blog photos I feel that videos often showcase products more accurately. They're a much better format for makeup tutorials so I plan on making a real go of it this year & will get a few videos filmed very soon. Of course I plan to carry on with blogging & aim to write at least 100 posts this year. It's coming up to my blog's 6th anniversary soon so I really appreciate all of you who still read my posts & continue to enjoy the content I put out. I plan on doing a giveaway to celebrate as I'm also nearing 5000 followers & want to properly say thank you. So here's to 2016! Let's hope it's a good'un!
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