Little things that make me happy

Little things that make me happy

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

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As I’ve said - many, many times at this point - this year my focus is entirely on me. Selfish? Undoubtedly. Necessary? Absolutely. I've mentioned it before but, at the risk of repeating myself, my time is not renewable, everyday that number runs down, so, as fatalistic as this is, if I don’t care about it or if it doesn't make me happy, I’m not spending my time on it, ‘kay?

Now I realise that it’s not realistic to only do things that make me happy, and despite appearances I'm not a terribly selfish person, self-involved sometimes but mostly not selfish, so I can accept that sometimes I’ll have to do things I don’t want to, like getting the bus to work, but what I can do is incorporate little things into my day to day that make me happy. Here’s some little things that make me disproportionately happy.

Fresh flowers 

Audrey (my dog) 

Candles

Kat Von D lipsticks

Drinking a cup of tea while it’s still hot

The Sunday supplements

Live music

Having too many books to read 

Guitars

Biffy Clyro

Sleep

Music
 Crumpets

Records

Biker boots

Long walks listening to podcasts
Fresh notebooks
Netflix

Dog walks 

Magazines
Good pens

Ducks 

Skincare 

Baking

Aromatherapy Associates shower oils

Food 

Really good journalism 

Trashy crime thrillers 

Costa dates with my bestie

Chocolate brownies

Daffodils 

The seaside
Cool mugs
Lego
Documentaries
The Simpsons
Musicals
Instagram
Lamps

Hot donuts

What little things make you happy? Let me know xxxxx

Mini Book Haul

Mini Book Haul

Tuesday, 22 March 2016

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Lately I've been making a conscious effort to be more positive. Naturally I'm a bit of a pessimist, I'm definitely more of a glass half empty kinda girl BUT I'm trying to train myself to be more optimistic and positive because, honestly, being negative hasn't really gotten me anywhere. These are just some of the books I've picked up to help me see the glass as half full.

Pretty Happy by Kate Hudson - Paperback £8.00, Kindle £9.99 from Amazon

I've had a bit of girl crush on Kate Hudson since forever and was desperate to get my hands on her new book Pretty Happy. I haven't had the chance to have a proper read yet but, after a cursory flick through, I can tell you that it is stunning and full of tips and tricks on health, happiness and well being.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert -  Hardback £7.50, Kindle £8.99 from Amazon

Elizabeth Gilbert is the incredible woman behind Eat Pray Love. Like EPL Big Magic is about chasing after your dreams by embracing, and ultimately conquering, your fears. Unlike EPL there is very little pizza. Still definitely worth a read.

Radical Self-Love by Gala Darling - Paperback £8.99, Kindle £7.49 from Amazon

I've been following Gala Darling's blog for a few years now, she was one of the first blogs I ever read, and I find her message of radical self love very inspiring. Self-confidence is something I really struggle with so I can't wait to get stuck into this. 

What books have you been loving lately? Any recommendations? Let me know in the comments below, on twitter, or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin', snapchat - search lolarocknroses - & pinterest for regular updates.

Lola Rocks #6... The Summertime Playlist

Lola Rocks #6... The Summertime Playlist

Tuesday, 19 May 2015

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Technically it's Summertime here in the UK, if only the weather would act like it, and despite the fact that I'm still taking a hot water bottle to bed with me I'm really in the mood for happy, summery music. These are my favourite songs to get me ready for the (eventual) hot weather.

You Always Make Me Smile by Kyle Andrews



Accidentally In Love by Counting Crows

Ugly Heart by G.R.L 

Summercat by Billie the Vision & the Dancers

Love is Endless by MoZella 

I Wish That I Could See You Soon - Herman Dune

All these songs are really happy and summery and leave me with the biggest smile on my face. They're such good summer time songs.

What are your favourite summertime songs? Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com. Also check out my instagram, facebook, bloglovin, pinterest & snapchat - my username is lolarocknroses - for daily updates. 

Hope you guys are having a great week, I've got to get back to my essay but I'll be back soon. Hopefully Sunday but we'll see. 

Love love love xxx

*Disclaimer* I own none of the videos used in this post. All videos were used for entertainment purposes only. 

The Cheer Up List (from damn unpretty to pretty damn happy)

The Cheer Up List (from damn unpretty to pretty damn happy)

Wednesday, 5 February 2014

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So this post is a follow up to my last post Damn Unpretty (read it here). I thought I would share with you the list of things I do to cheer myself up when my self esteem or my mood goes on the down swing. Try any of these when you are having a particularly bad day and I guarantee you will feel better :)

 

Nails in Hip Hop by Rimmel London Salon Pro Plus
      

Paint my nails - Usually red, red is the colour of confidence and it seems to be my signature colour (I love that). I love painting my nails it's really therapeutic and I like looking at them when I've finished, it gives me a small sense of pride (particularly when I don't smudge them) and seeing the pop of colour on my nails makes me happy.

 

Put on lipstick - I think my lips are my best feature. Elizabeth Taylor famously said 'Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and  pull yourself together.' I love that. Whilst I'm not a big drinker, I feel like I can face anything if I've got the right lipstick on. My favourite winter lipsticks are: #1 Seduction by Collection 2000, #500 Diva Red by Rimmel London & Pom Pom by Soap & Glory. I am also obsessed with Apocalips by Rimmel London in Apocaliptic (pictured).

Happy Place :)

Go for a walk - I live a five minute walk away from Bedford Park, which during the summer is absolutely beautiful. Whenever I feel myself stressed to the point of breaking I put on my iPod, listen to happy music and walk round Bedford Park until I feel better. It's so peaceful and secluded that even though I am in the middle of the park it feels like I'm the only person in the world. It's my happy place.

Listen to music and dance my face off - I defy anyone not to feel better after dancing around and getting out of breath and silly. My personal favourites to do this to are: ACDC's You Shook Me All Night Long, Journey's Don't Stop Believing,  Amii Stewart's Knock On Wood and Grace Potter's Something That I Want.

Read - There is nothing I love more than forgetting my troubles and immersing myself in a good book. I don't have a definitive favourite book because I love so many but some of my favourites are: The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, How to Love by Katie Cotugno, The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins, Harry Potter (obviously) and The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. I love anything by Jodi Picoult, she's a fabulous writer. I also just finished reading Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by the gloriously funny, beautiful and amazing Mindy Kaling, I strongly recommend it.

  

                 

Knit - Knitting is my therapy, and I'm not alone Amanda Seyfried, Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschannel, Julia Roberts and Tom Hardy all enjoy knitting. It's so therapeutic and calming because you have to concentrate and can't think about anything other than what you are doing. It really quiets a frantic mind and I always get something cool out of it. Win-win.

Baking - Is amazing and when done right results in untold deliciousness. It is simply not possible for anyone to feel sad whilst baking and then getting to eat chocolate fudge brownies. I'm not the world's best baker (I'm trying to get better) but I love it so much.

Have a bubble bath - Normally I prefer showers to baths, I have to really be in the mood for a bubble bath but when I am there is nothing quite so relaxing as a hot bath full of gorgeous smelling Soap & Glory Calm One Calm All bubbles (my favourite bubblebath). My flat only has a shower, so whenever I go back home to see my mum for the holidays I make sure I have as many bubble baths as I can to make up for it.

Wear super fluffy slippers - I was originally going to say wear high heels around the house just because. But I wore heels out last night and my feet have not forgiven me yet for subjecting them to shoes that torture them no matter how beautiful. So instead I'm saying slippers. Slippers are one of man's greatest inventions, closely followed by Smartie cookies, the iPhone and MAC make up. These beauties are currently adorning my feet.

Honestly it is not physically possible to be down about life when I have the plush, yellow face of Homer Simpson's face looking back at me. Plus if I wiggle my ankles it looks like he's eating my feet, there are literally hours of fun to be had in these slippers.  

 

Go swimming/for a run/to the gym - I will be the first to say that exercise SUCKS. However the feeling of accomplishment when you have finished coupled with the endorphin high does not. I personally prefer swimming because it's like a form of meditation. I just zone out and before I know it I've been swimming for over an hour and am exhausted. Before I came to uni I used to go to the gym at home twice a day. There were 2 reasons for this 1. There was an instructor there who was so beautiful and amazing I was hoping he would become the next Mr. Lauren (he didn't) and 2. I got a little bit addicted to the rush I got after, which is not the healthiest thing in the world.

SING - Singing has been scientifically proven to improve mood. On days where I am feeling ugly or sad (and I have the house to myself) I love nothing more than expressing my sorrows through the medium of song. My favourite songs to belt out are Barbra Streisand's Funny Girl, On My Own from Les Mis, Don't Rain On My Parade again by Barbra, Idina Menzel's version of Let It Go from Frozen, The Rose by Bette Midler, My Man (Barbra again), Defying Gravity from Wicked, Don't Stop Believing by Journey and anything by Queen or Meatloaf (as you can see I do this a lot). No matter how bad I sound I always feel so much better after. It's really therapeutic. I find it's best to choose a song where you have to belt out the notes, because you can let all your emotions out with the song and afterwards you feel so much better.

I have loads more - including a Pinterest session involving animals wearing hats/pyjamas, watch a film or a entire TV boxset (I strongly recommend Scrubs) in one sitting, facemasks and surfing youtube but I think I might be starting to bore you now. Hopefully this list helps you go from this...

to this...



Until next time lovelies check me out on twitter, facebook, Bloglovin, instagram & pinterest :)

Love love love xxx