Sophie's Choice

2018-06-07T09:54:02Z

I’ve been thinking about doing a mini-series on my blog for a little while now. After speaking to one of my friends over a few gin and tonics she thought it would be a great idea because, as there is quite a lot that needs doing to the house; it would make a great few pieces. So here is it, first home update #1! It’s now been six months since we moved into our lovely home and so much has changed already. I think sometimes we forget how far we’ve come on in such a short space of time. The thing is, a home is something that will always need things doing to it, always need updating and always need improving. Let’s face it, we’re going to be working on the house for as long as we’re here for! I’ve pretty much come to terms with the above fact now, I think 🙂 so let’s delve into the nitty-gritty. When we first went to look around the house, we absolutely fell in love. It’s got so much character and charm which is exactly what we love. One thing we loved more than anything was the kitchen. Well…not the kitchen itself […]

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2018-06-04T09:33:01Z

If you’ve ever tried fat diets, extreme workout plans and all things in between, this ones for you! Have you ever been on a restricted eating plan? I’m willing to put a bet on that you have, and I have a feeling that at some point you packed in that diet. Any mention of diet to most people brings up thoughts like: “I can’t eat that”, “I have to eat rabbit food”, or “I’m going to have to spend my entire life in the gym”. Why? Why? The truth is, dieting is not a longterm approach. They are all short-term, which ultimately leads to no results, making you feel pretty crappy about yourself. If you think about it, in order for someone to gain weight, you have to live a lifestyle that caters to gaining weight. Whether that’s from excessive eating or lack of physical activity. The weight doesn’t just jump onto you overnight. It may take years of poor habits to get to your current level. If it took 5-10 years to pile on all that weight, it won’t just fall off in a single week or even 12 weeks for some. There lies the answer, if it took a […]

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2018-05-31T08:27:17Z

Hi my lovelies 🙂 Now this is a question I get asked a lot, how do you make money being a blogger? There are so many ways to monetise your content and so many grey areas surrounding it. My main source of blogging income is through sponsored posts. For those of you who aren’t aware what sponsorship entails, essentially it’s where a brand/company pays you to include them on your blog. I only started accepting sponsored posts in April of this year. Sponsored posts can be anything from a brand wanting you to review their products (please remember these need to be unbiased of course, brands pay you for your honesty and value your opinion) or including a specific link. Link-related sponsorship is where I have the most success and this is just where a company wants to boost their SEO so ask you to include a link to their site in a relevant blog post. Link-based sponsorship is a great, fairly easy way to start making money from your blog. I’m also a member of GetBlogged which is a website where bloggers can apply for specific assignments if it fits in with their style of blog and also with their Domain […]

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2018-05-29T08:43:10Z

Blogging a couple of times a week means I have to stay super organised and on top of my game to keep this space running smoothly. Having a good range of blogging tools allows me to get my work done much more efficiently and stay somewhat “sane” in the creating process. I always love reading posts where the blogger shares what they use on a daily basis for work, so today I thought I’d share my everyday essentials for running a successful blog. My Blogging Tools & Essentials My MacBook Air This, obviously, is the most important tool that I use. My MacBook is where I do everything, from editing photos in Photoshop to writing posts to updating social media. I currently use Adobe Photoshop to edit all of my photos, self-hosted WordPress as the platform for my blog, I use SiteGround as my host, and Bloglovin’ for readers to subscribe and get updates about each post. Old English Company Notebook To keep somewhat organised with posts and things that need to be done every day, I use my notebook from the Old English Company. This is where I keep my daily to-do lists, important dates and deadlines, and a rough draft of my editorial calendar. It’s so good and […]

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2018-05-23T16:20:39Z

Hi you gorgeous lot 🙂 It’s me again, harping on about fitness and all things healthy living… When I first started taking my fitness seriously, the thought of going to the gym was daunting, to say the least! The idea of people looking at me and judging how I looked on the machines, if my form was good enough and how I looked in gym leggings, was horrible. Before I signed up to the gym I started to do little bits at home. Yes working out at home isn’t easy in my opinion, there are so many distractions it’s unbelievable. So if you’re serious about starting your fitness journey at home, here are my top tips for starting… Be consistent Figure out what schedule will work for you. Write it down on your calendar and keep it on there. For me, I prefer to workout in the morning, for example, every morning, I get up half an hour earlier and either do a quick HIIT session or some Yoga. Right now, if I workout in the evening it’s at the gym, but I still stick to my “at home” morning schedule. But, don’t worry when life gets in the way, […]

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2018-05-17T08:50:18Z

Hello beautiful people! 🙂 Any foodies out there? Yep me too! So James and I recently decided that with the house bits and pieces starting to calm down that we’d treat ourselves to a good meal out. Now if you’re from Harrogate or know Harrogate well (ish), then you know there are tonnes of restaurants, cafes and eateries to choose from. Almost too many. Instead of spending god only knows how long choosing where to eat, I decided to take the plunge and pick myself. This isn’t easy as James absolutely loves his food! I decided on The Fat Badger Grill, which is based at the bottom of Cold Bath Road in the centre of Harrogate. We’ve been to the pub part many times, however have never tried the restaurant. So I thought, why not! It’s got great ratings on TripAdvisor and when we looked at the menu at work, we both got pretty hangry… The grill menu comprises of nibbles, starters, fish, grills, classics and sides. A lot to choose from I know! It was especially hard for us to pick as everything sounded so damn good! We ended up speaking to our lovely waitress, (sorry I cannot remember […]

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2018-05-12T07:51:15Z

Happy weekend my lovelies! Oh my days I’m so excited to tell you about my new giftware and stationery brand crush 🙂 If you’ve never heard of the Old English Company then where have you been! I can only assume it’s been under a rock or something 😉 all jokes aside though if you’ve never been on their website head over there. They stock the single cutest bits and pieces ever! If you love calligraphy, stationery and all things instagrammable, then they are the brand for you. The simplicity and crispness of their designs is the thing of dreams, and trust me when I say, I plan on kitting my new office out with loads of their products. As someone who is completely stationary obsessed, I cannot wait to give my home office a new lease of life! I’ve always been interested in adding little pins to my workspace, and I was over the moon to discover they have recently added enamel pins to their collection. To celebrate the launch, they’re holding a competition to win a trio of pins – you can enter this at the bottom of my post….trust me it’s so worth it 🙂 They may be small but boy do […]

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2018-05-09T15:59:18Z

I am 25 now. I don’t think about the past or regret things much these days. But sometimes I wish that I had known some of the things I have learned over the last few years a bit earlier. That perhaps there had been a self-improvement class in school. And in some ways there probably was. Because, some of the things in this blog post, a teacher probably spoke about in a class. But I forgot about them or didn’t pay attention. Some of it would probably not have stuck in my mind anyway. Or just been too far outside my reality at the time for me to accept and use. But I still think that taking a few hours from all those German language classes that no one ever enjoyed and use them for some personal development classes would have been a good idea. I’d honestly love to go back to my old school and speak to kids about this. Perhaps for just an hour a week in secondary school. It would probably be useful for many students and, on a larger scale quite helpful for society in general. So here are some things I wish they had taught me […]

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2018-05-02T08:20:58Z

Hey lovelies! Today I thought I’d talk about what I’m currently doing to make changes not only to my lifestyle but also to the way I view food. My relationship with food has always been a difficult one. Like most, I eat when I’m sad, upset and stressed. I hate and love it. I absolutely love food but unfortunately, I don’t have the type of metabolism that loves food…sucks right. Honestly I wish I was one of those people who could eat for days and never put on weight. Unfortunately I only have look at a chocolate biscuit and I put on a stone… OK, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but you get the picture. Recently I watched a vlogger who had been discussing how she’d been tracking her “macros” for eight weeks during a fat loss cut and it had really helped. Personally I’ve tried tonnes of diets, fads and different tricks to try and lose weight, but nothing has truly ever worked for me. But what are macros I hear you ask?! That’s exactly what I thought! So macros are your micronutrients. By tracking your macros you are keeping a tally of your Carb, Fat and Protein intake […]

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2018-04-27T13:20:29Z

Hello beauties! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays as good as it has been recently. I don’t know about you but I’m so ready for the sunshine to last longer than a day 🙂 I’ve been super excited to write about this for a while now as I’ve now had my second box. I’ve never been one to want to have a monthly subscription box. If I’m totally honest I’ve never seen the point in them or their worth. That was until I discovered My Glam Box. I was going to write about the first box but wanted to wait until I’d had my second one too. It wasn’t that the first one wasn’t amazing, because it was, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fluke 😉 Now I’m not a makeup artist by any means but I know the value of having a good makeup collection (thanks to my mother). My Glam Box isn’t like any other subscription box. It is the FIRST and ONLY makeup artist recommended discovery platform in the UK. Every month, they deliver makeup artist recommended, hand-picked makeup and skin prep products straight to your doorstep! Talk about a super easy […]

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