Advice

What makes you happy

Advice, Personal Experience

I think is pretty simple what makes me happy.

Gin

Friends and Family

Frank and Manhattan

Honesty and kindness

Nights in and nights out

My home and garden

Planning

Traveling

All about my tummy

 I think by know you know how much I love food. I will try anything twice, I say twice because you should always try something. Just because you don’t like it one way doesn’t mean you wont like it another.

I always try tofu, why I don’t know. Its gross. I have tried it fried, in soups. I will always try it but I just can get my head around it. Sorry, its just not worth the calories.

Lie no more

I love my bed. I used to lie in till 10-11 most Sundays. That was until we got frank. Who is happy to sleep in too but only if its near to you and he snores. So every weekend I am normally up at 7-8am which is completely unlike me. I love my bed. Its huge and high and my bedding is mostly from Jigsaw because they do the best linens.

My future Husband

Gav loves how simple it is to please me. He doesn’t bring me flowers home. He brings me La Duree macarons, blocks of cheese, Chinese buns, Portuguese custard tarts, BBQ Dreams noodle salad, tea stained eggs. We love food. We love eating out and he loves me to cook for him. I cooked a chicken aubergine curry the other night with baked cauliflower and he loved it. Said was the best aubergine he had ever had. As he hates aubergine. Now I have to make him eat courgettes again because they are my favourite.

He knows that although I have my eye on a few designer bags that actually what I really want is an amazing backpack. That is smart enough, but also if I want to run home with it is fits me well and doesn’t open or jiggle about too much. Gavin likes to tease.

He loves to torture me constantly in fact, this means that we end up laughing all the time. Not chuckling but belly laughing. He can also be very sweet and sensitive when he needs to be.

The fur babies

Manhattan was a rescue cat, she is the sweetest most loving cat anyone would want. Unfortunately she disappeared and I still can’t really talk about it.

She has got me through a lot in life and has been with me for 10 years which puts her age at 12 ish the vets didn’t know. Hopefully she will come back.

Frank was also a rescue. He didn’t come from a bad home but he does have some behaviour issues. We think something may of happened to him when he was a pup. He is joyful and sweet and completes us as a family.

Just the four of us is pretty perfect!

Honesty and kindness

I sound like a sap, I know but being good and kind is all that matters. People smiling makes you smile so why wouldn’t you want to perpetuate that!

Nights in Nights out

am not much of a social bunny.i live my friends but I don’t need to make more. Making time for you friends is so important. I do love going out but we generally tend to go for a nice meal then cocktails! We do dress up but we are not clubbing people.

I left my dancing shoes after university. I did go out a bit in Edinburgh but most of the time we just went down to the local which always closed when we were ready to leave!

But I always loved going home to my bed!

Home and Garden

I am a home bunny. I love going home from work. I love my nights, get home walk the dog, make dinner, eat watch Netflix. Talk about the wedding, I put on YouTube, Gav plays some games online. Wash my face and do my skincare and head to bed!

Although at the moment there is a lot more writing and photography involved.

Rinse, repeat and love it.

Me walking home has ended up with us meeting for a quick pint before we head home and then planning the weekend!

Planning

Oh how I love to plan. My bullet journal is my life. I have mentioned it before so I won’t keep harping in about it!

My favourite movie,

Uncategorised, Advice

Day 19, favourite movie, 30 day blog challenge!

There is a few

Calamity Jane, is probably my absolute favourite!

Princess Bride is a close second!

I love watching films! There is something very satisfying about being transported into a different time and place! I love transformation films.

When Calamity Jane gets a makeover as well as her cabin to the sound of ” a women’s touch” I love it. Even the feminist in me doesn’t care so much about the meaning of the song but Calamity Jane was the ultimate feminist not that this is what this film was about.

I live a makeover in a film.

If you asked me if I liked musicals I would say no, not really my cup of tea, but I do love them.

  • Calamity Jane
  • Moulin Rouge
  • Guys and dolls
  • Funny face
  • Fiddler on the roof
  • Hello Dolly
  • Half a sixpence
  • My fair lady

I loved them when I was younger, I guess it’s just the next step in Disney movies!

I loved Calamity so much because she was fiesty and a story teller. She was happy being lonely with her crush on Lieutenant Dan. And then she makes a mistake which turns into a friendship and the man who loves her finally steps forward and tell her he loves her.

He always did.

I am a big romantic.

I love love

I think it is completely precious and rare. So when you find it you need to either be good to it or let it go.

Movies about love are always just the beginning never the end. The beginning is the magical bit. The rest is the work and making it work part. Which has it magical moments thrown in.

I am lucky. All my closest friends have really amazing partners who I like, love and respect. We are a lucky group!

I even though I really love love and romance I do think it’s a private thing. Grand gestures mean nothing to me.

Nothing

Grand gestures are all show and no work. They are a bandaid on an amputation. If you need to do a grand gesture then there is a massive fault in your relationship.

Sorry

This was supposed to be about my favourite film and it turned into a rant about love!

Bloggers that inspire me!

Advice, Personal Experience

Blog 18, bloggers I read, I read a lot of blogs I love them so I am just picking my top 5 that I read the most!

Jungalow

I found this blogger on Instagram. Her pictures where insane. It turns out I am definitely more of a boho vintage interior designer than Scandinavian. I love her use of colour and prints and she intern introduced me to some other accounts that are obsessed with plants as I am.

Her blog and shop are successful and she has a book out and sells printed textiles all of which I love. She is not afraid of colour and her house and office is the stuff of dreams!

Anna Edit

Love Anna, love her blog, bought her book and follow her on YouTube, and Instagram. Does that make me a stalker?

I just love her life ethos and how grateful she is. She is definitely a friendly writer. She writes a lot about organising and decluttering life. She has made me think about my wardrobe choices on more than one occasion.

Less is more are definitely words to live by! Considering I am a bit of a hoarder is weird that I like her so much. Perhaps she is escapism to me.

Productive and pretty

She is a planner and has some lovely posts. Her images are what made me start following her blog and I read pretty much everything that comes into my inbox.

She has a very nice organised mindset that is a little too perfect for my life even though she talks about bad days and unproductivity. Plus I can get lots of bullet journal inspiration from her photos and blogs.

Emma hill

Maybe the funniest YouTuber out there. Emma is like a good cup of tea, it wouldn’t be right without a biscuit. Emma is way cooler than I am but with all the blog I read I probably identify myself with her the most.

She loves food, her husband, doesn’t want or need to talk about children ( it’s nonsense that people think they can ask about your reproductive parts) I love reading her blogs they can be in-depth about fabric as they are about her personal experience.

Emma is a fashion blogger which may shock you as I am not very fashion forward but she loves clothes, has a muted palette and lives in jeans and blazers! My hero! She is also the reason I posted my first blog. She did a YouTube video on how to start it and that’s why I am here.

So that’s another reason why I love her!

Gothamista

Renee is a skincare goddess, I love her because she is so fresh faced and doesn’t appear to have an agenda. Her blogs her so informative it is ridiculously good. She is my go to skincare lady.

Because she is also on YouTube I can here her voice when I read her blogs. She has literally thought about everyone’s skin type. She makes recommendations and I find myself writing them down.

I send my mum her clips and she loves them!

Hmalcorn

Was one of the first followers I had. Her blog isn’t like anyone else’s it’s more like a diary entry and sometimes I feel a little nosey when I read it.

She writes from a wounded open heart and it is easy to hear her truth in the words. I read her blog because I subscribe and her words pop up in my inbox. Sometimes I want to hold her and tell her everything is going to be alright then sometimes I was to shake her and tell her that’s not the way the world works.

Reading her blog is like listening to a younger sister talk.

I love a good blog

so I do read a few more blogs and I am happy to take your recommendations about bloggers I should follow. This would be the longest blog if I listed them all!! I love a good blog. I like that I can read them on my phone and screenshot photos and words of wisdom I love.

What are my 5 Goals…… making me plan and think!

Advice, Personal Experience, Planning, Travel, Wedding

Day7, 5 year goals, 30 day blog challenge.

So this has made me think, think about what I want for myself, my work and my relationship.

So in 5 years I want to achieve…

1 get married. I know you already know I am achieving this goal this year but it still a big one for me!

I love Gavin I want to be his wife. I can’t wait for our wedding day. Hopefully it doesn’t rain but if it does we will have to go out and buy wellies and umbrellas!

For my home

2, get a new kitchen. Can that be a goal, yes well we will have to save for it so it isn’t something we can just splurge on willy nilly. It will take time to plan and find the right bits.

Our kitchen is nice it’s just tired. The bottom of the cabinet have spit due to water issues and I really really want a dishwasher!

I also would like a cabinet next to the sink and maybe french doors that go out into the garden but we will see.

I would also love a little toilet and sink upstairs but Gavin is really against that for some unknown reason.

There a few bits around the house that are tired and need a bit of TLC and after the wedding is a good time to focus more.

3 my blog being successful

I am so greatful for every single follower it means the world to me that for some reason you would read my blog. Gav gets an update with each one I get, and I punch the sky, John Bender style.

I would love it to be even better where I can have a proper website not just a page. I would like it to reflect me a lot more. My friend is a super talented graphic designer and after all the wedding craziness is over I will be looking to her for advice.

If it was a success I could spend a lot more time on the photography. Carefully planning layouts rather than the snaps you get right now.

4 travel

Japan is on my bucket list along with Vietnam, Laos and Singapore. I would like to have visited all of these countries in the next few years. We are honeymooning in Japan and plan to stop of on the way at another destination. So that will be two ticked off my list.

I have a fair few countries in Europe I really want to go to. I have never been to Italy, there is so much I would love to explore there. I feel like Italy’s city’s deserve destinations of there very own! I have also never been to Ireland and need to visit as we have ancestors there.

Iceland, Norway and Sweden are places of such beauty that are not far away but expensive to visit so this will definitely be a highly planned exciting schedule.

So travel is a big one!

5 Working less and earning more

Is that possible? I meaning working 4 days a week instead of 6. Maybe doing my dream job/ jobs…..

I wouldn’t mind working from home once a week so I could look after my dog. Currently I work 5/6 days a week. But I set the Rita so at least I decide when I work even if it is 6 days straight. I don’t mind but it can be draining.

Perhaps in5 years I will achieve my dream job and be a blogger full time. Travelling the planet, renovating my perfect little house and writing full time.

Who knows?

I always struggle to think of answers to these questions but so far this challenge has been more about a challenge for me to understand what I want rather than a challenge of writing a blog everyday!

I am really enjoying this!

My proudest moment

Advice, Personal Experience

Day 5, proudest moment, 30 day blog challenge

I have a few proudest moments

  • Getting myself through Uni
  • Getting myself together after Australia
  • Buying my beautiful home
  • Starting my blog

University

Four years of fun, drinking making friends that are still some of the best people I know. Designing and making I really did have a wonderful time.

After Australia

I won’t go into too much detail. If you have ever had your broken up with someone you truly loved. Heartbreak is a powerful thing that consumes your nights, replays every wrong thing you did and empties your heart. If you have been there then you know how strong you have to be just to wake up. I was also in the unfortunate situation of being heartbroken without a home.

My parents had moved to France and had split up so I had no base to stay. Luckily my best friends looked after me and I sorted myself out. Within a few months I had a new job at Jigsaw and a new home in Wanstead, London.

Putting yourself back together after you felt worthless and had to start your whole life over is hard. Moving back to England was mentally exhausting. I learned a few things.

  • You can live without them
  • That you cant make them love you
  • You are worthy of love
  • That rock bottom is a dark place but you can get out of it.
  • That I am happier now than I ever was with him.
  • That you know when you are ready to love again and that you shouldn’t rush it.

A home of my own

I am an army brat, used to moving from place to place. A home is where your family are, it is not a building. And yet buying my first home has been wonderful.

Me and Gav decided to house hunt together after 5 years. This is our first home and first time we have lived together. We fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. Every room, every feature.

We own a small but perfectly formed 3 bedroom Edwardian/ victorian terrace house. It has a small garden that catches the sun for most of the day and is a short walk from the station.

So owning my own house is definitely my proudest moment. I have taken great care to put beautiful pieces and plants in my home.

Starting this blog

I wrote my first piece about our long engagement. About when you are with some one for so long and them not being ready to marry you. I still think it is the best thing I have ever written.

Gavin didn’t like it, he said it cast him in a bad light. So I asked my family what they thought. My mum was upset that I didn’t really talk about it, my brother thought it was great and said I should do it. So I talked to Gav again and he just sighed.

So I posted it.

It is the most brutally honest painful thing I have written. But it is also my proudest moment. I will link it here in case you want to read it.

Proudest moments

So that’s it my proudest moments. I am sure in a few months I can add marrying Gavin to my list but until then!

What are your proudest moments?

Every Day Kindness

Advice, Personal Experience

Day 3, My favourite quote, 30 day blog challenge

Hmmmm

Not really a quote kind of person.

So I live be these word

“Kindness costs nothing and means everything”

I am not sure if I made that up or if I heard it or something like it somewhere. be kind to others especially your loved ones and most importantly yourself!

I am not religious and I am a good person or at least try to be. With each year that passes I see so much kindness.

A bus driver stopping the bus because his passenger who can’t bend to tie her shoelaces. He gets off the bus and ties them for her.

For the 3 people who stayed with the man who fell in the street.

To the cashier who tell their confused customer to take their time and not to rush.

News

We are drenched in the atrocities in the world. Stabbings, acid attacks, guns going off in sacred places, Mother Nature attracting with vitriol and flooding, earthquakes and fires that last for weeks.

But then look at the kindness afterwards. People looking after one another, looking out for each other.

I believe that people or incessantly good

They is less than 10% of people that are cruel but we give them to much power in this world.

Living in London means that you are aware of the threats, the dangers but most of us are lucky enough to avoid those horrific things. Sometimes we see bits and pieces.

And fear controls us!

Have you ever been in a situation of fear and panic? There is nothing like it. Feeling fear rush through a crowd before people panic is really scary. Accidents happen is situation like this.

I don’t want to focus on living in fear in this post. I want to focus on Kindness. I want you to remember that with every small bad thing that happens there are 3 good things that happened before that!

A lady helped me today remember the name of a flower, agapanthus! It was on the tip of of my tongue I just couldn’t remember what it was called. She stopped and told me and I thanked her. It was a small gesture of kindness. I hope I remember it everytime I look at them!

People are good.

But sometimes patience runs out, people have bad days then I get out my favourite pin. Which is basically the same thing.

Don’t be a dick!

20 Things you probably don’t need to know about me

Advice, Personal Experience, Planning

Day 2, 20 things about me, 30 Day Blog Challenge

Okay Day two of this blog challenge and I am feeling positive. So far I have struggled to get two blogs out every week so 7 a week for 4 weeks will be a complete challenge for me. Can I do it, we will see.

Hello I am Dana and here is me revealing some home truths.

  1. I am nervous to do this
  2. I have issues with completing challenges ( ha ha)
  3. I am 5″7 and have a lot of short friends
  4. I can’t bend my toes ( Gav calls them flippers)
  5. I miss my cat
  6. I love my dog
  7. I have apocalyptic dreams most nights
  8. Half my art supplies have never been opened
  9. I don’t draw or paint enough
  10. My travel list gets longer every year
  11. I am a dreamer
  12. I have terrible self doubt
  13. I don’t push myself enough
  14. I love sleeping, my bed is my a haven every night
  15. I am obsessed with food even when I am eating I like to think about my next meal
  16. I have random thoughts and ask random questions
  17. I am lazy
  18. I don’t drink enough water
  19. I trained as a theatre designer
  20. I am happy

In summary

So I said that I am really am worried about this challenge I am a bit of a quitter but I truly want to do it. 30 day planking (failed) 30 day sit ups (failed) 30 day 4 litres of water failed.

My cat is missing, it’s been a month and I still can’t talk about it.

I am a big dreamer, I dream about what I want to be. I dream about interiors, about gardens. So my dreams and goals are all intertwined and I am not sure of my future. I love my day job and in many ways it is perfect, but I still have dreams.

Food and travel for me are intertwined. I have always loved Turkish food, their breads, salads and marinated meats. When I went I didn’t have high expectations but I was blown away. I love Turkey and I would visit in a heartbeat. I just have a lot of countries I need to visit first. I have a travel list and I aim to complete it in the next 20 years!

I believe in my talent as an artist but I rarely push myself. I don’t know if it’s laziness or just nervousness. I teach art to children and adults and I am so confident with them and about them developing their art and own style.

But when it comes to me…

All my confidence goes out the window! It is easy to give advice and even harder to listen to it. Or something like that.

So this is something I need to work on, something I can improve!

Oh well is that enough for a beginning blog!

Hope so.