A little bit of my world in a blog......from makeup and fashion, through to interior design and all things vintage. A blog of thoughts, feelings and maybe a few ideas! -enjoy.x

Sunday 31 December 2017

New Year New Me?

What a year 2017 has been, I had my last little bundle of joy and have realised that you need to live your life the best you can, being kind and being happy within your skin and not to rely on others to do that for you, you are your own warrior and your own rainbow on the  journey we call life. I feel that I need to do a lot of "finding myself" in 2018, and yes I am 32 with three children and a good job but its only until this point that I feel I have lost me and need to find myself and find a path of acceptance, accepting who I am and that I am great just the way I am. I need to learn to not allow people to put me down, to shut those people off and to not allow negative energy consume me.

I have always tried to put others before me, ensuring I am always checking up on how they are and doing things to make them smile, but through hard times you realise that most of those people will not be that kind of person for you. Life is a journey where you are always learning, learning about friendships and how these change and that some may leave and some may grow. I need to learn that its okay to let go of people and not to keep trying to hang on, if they want to be my friend they will be and they will accept me for who I am. I find I go very quiet when things aren't great, I exclude myself from everything and pretend all is fine but in actual fact its awful, those people who notice that and take the time to check how I am, to ensure they are there for me are those I will treasure. 

I have found some things I will change, some things that I will start to do to ensure I bring myself to a point where I feel better within myself. I have found some books that I will read and keep to inspire and  motivate me, as well as help change my way of thinking. I will make sure I start to think its okay to do that, its okay to have a night with friends, its okay to have a bath instead of clean the kitchen! IT IS OKAY! I always feel guilty and that I shouldn't be doing certain things because I am unable to, I need to start changing that thinking to YES I will do that and that its acceptable to want to see friends or to choose a bath over cleaning. 

Here are the books I am going to use to help me on this journey.

Kindness- the little thing that matters the most
Jaime Thurston

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A book to discover kindness in myself and others

The little book of mindfulness- 10 minutes a day to less stress, more peace
Dr Patrizia Collard


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A book to find peace within, filled with yoga and ways to feed the mind

The little book of Hygge
Meik Wiking


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How to explore the Danish way of life, by candlelight and changing your way of life. 

I can do a full review on each book so you can see which you would like to add to your collection.

I need to mend me and to make sure that I don't allow people to stop that journey, I hope you all have peace and happiness within, if not then join me and lets do this!!

What books would you recommend?

A xx
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Wednesday 20 December 2017

Affordable Christmas Gift List

I don't know about you but Christmas can be so expensive and I swear each year the gifts are priced higher! I have quite a few presents to give with my 3 children, family, godchildren and friends as well as many birthdays that fall within the month of December so finding great gifts at reasonable prices is something I need to do and shop around for. So sit back and shop or click on the links below to get that Christmas shopping sorted!
A girl can never have enough nail varnish so here is a beautiful set featuring a gorgeous red burgundy shade called Passion and Supermodel, a mink pink shade, they are divine colours perfect for the festive season!

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£10.00

I am really into books and especially adore books for self care, so when I came across this little gem I had to order some for gifts including myself! It has all you need to know to soothe and calm the mind including yoga and relaxation methods.


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£5.99

Bath treats are such a lovely gift to receive, my favourite has to be a bath bomb not only do they smell divine they leave the skin feeling uber soft so when I came across this gem in Poundland I had to grab a few to add to some gifts.

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Pop to your local Poundland for this bath fizzer
£1.00

Stationary is always a winner with my friends from pretty pastels to gorgeous floral prints. I popped into Home Bargains and found some amazing stationary! I couldn't believe the prices and what a fab range they had! Be sure to pop down to your local Home Bargains.

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Mug
£2.99

Last but not least are a pair earrings. I was kindly gifted these and my goodness do I love them!! They are bang on trend and affordable making it a great gift for any fashionista!

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Earrings

£5.00

What gifts do you like giving?
A x
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Sunday 17 December 2017

How to style dresses in winter

I am more a jeans and jumper kind of girl when it comes to winter, merely because its so much easier for me to throw on and not worry about with three children in tow. I love the jumper dresses I keep seeing with thigh high boots but to get these pasty bad boy legs out would shock the county so didn't even think about purchasing any dresses for this reason, yet the more outfits I saw the more I loved them so thought why not style some up and see how it looks so here it goes!

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how to style dresses in winter, winter trends 2017, highstreet fashion, fashion trends, how to style thigh high boots
how to style dresses in winter, winter trends 2017, highstreet fashion, fashion trends, how to style thigh high boots

I was recently gifted this gorgeous jumper dress from a site called Tobi. This dress is so comfy and teamed with tights, statement earrings and thigh high boots it is perfect from day to night. Click below for all items, if any are out of stock I have tried to find an alternative. 


I love the grunge look, the whole rock n roll where leather and leather ripped jeans meet, are my go to with shaggy hair and thick eyeliner so this jumper was right up my straight with the ripped details and worn grey colour. 

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zara earrings, primark fashion, fashion blogger, highstreet fashion, how to style jumper dresses, winter fashion, fashion trends 2017

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I teamed this comfy dress with tights, my Primark boots and again some statement earrings. This dress is such a great dress that you could wear without tights and swap the boots for some strappy black heels. 


I am obsessed with the colour mustard be it a jumper, bag or dress so when I received this dress I squealed! It screams autumn winter to me, a gorgeous mustard colour teamed with deep burgundy flowers. This dress can also be worn in spring summer so a perfect dress for all year round.

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Which outfit is your favourite?

A xx

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Sunday 10 December 2017

Ebay Finds: Stocking Fillers

Here are some affordable eBay stocking filler ideas for you...
 
 
 
£2.99
 
 


EOS Lip Balm
£1.55


Bath and Body Works Candle

£6.00

Hope you got some inspiration for some affordable stocking fillers!

Which is your favourite?

A x
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Saturday 2 December 2017

Acts of kindness 

Kindness
 
"the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate"
 
Its that time of year where its about family, friends, love and all those Christmas festivities we love. I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks with things being a bit tricky in my personal life but also knowing that there the world is full of sadness and misfortune. I aim to teach my children the importance of kindness so have started a kindness calendar where they have to carry out acts of kindness.
 
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My job shows me the sadness that surrounds us and that acts of kindness can make such a difference so whilst you are creating your Christmas wish list, tuck into your Christmas treats and drink your warm drink snuggled on the sofa please pause and think of those that live a life of sadness. The thing that shocked me when I started my job was that the sadness is on our doorstep, the sadness is in your street, your town and that people haven't a clue and neither did I.
 
 
Here are some acts of kindness I thought we could all consider doing over the festive season, as this season can be the worst time of year for many people.  
 
1. Volunteer- you could volunteer at your local soup run or see what charities are in your town and ring them or drop in to see what you could do to help them.
 
2. Collect food for your local food bank- over the festive period its always good to do a reverse advent calendar, so each day you add an item to a box and after 12 days or more give it to your local food bank.
 
3. Give to the homeless- buy bottles of water or cups of tea and some sandwiches and blankets and go around your town/city to hand these out to the homeless. Do be careful and don't do this alone.
 
4. Give to your local refuge- you cant know the location of your refuge due to safety reasons but you can ring the womans aid line to find out how or who or where you can give the box of treats. Go through your clothes and add these to the box, go through your childrens toys and books and donate some of these too as these children have barely anything sometimes nothing.
 
5. Write Christmas cards- write Christmas cards and hand these out at an old peoples home.
 
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6. Smile- yes that's right smile, such a simple act of kindness that can make a difference to a stranger. Smile at strangers, you never know how they are feeling and how your smile can help them feel better.
 
7. Compliment- it could be a friend or a stranger, compliments can change a persons confidence within seconds. If I see someone whilst shopping I will try to compliment then so if a lady held the door for me I would say thank you then take that opportunity to give them a compliment so for example, I love your hair or that bag is lovely and then watch how there face lights up! I always make sure I am genuine with it.
 
8. Social media love- if ever I see someone tweet that they are low I always make sure I tweet them to make sure they aren't feeling alone. Instagram is another platform I like to use to let people know that they are great so I will try to compliment peoples photography, outfit or makeup skills as I feel its important to lift people up rather then get jealous and drag them down.
 
9. Donate your old books or magazines- donate these to a local doctor surgery waiting area or some childrens books to a local school or childrens centre.
 
10. Make some cookies- even if you don't know your neighbours its still lovely to make some cookies and pop them on there doorstep with a little note, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors so this act of kindness could be just what they need as a pick me up.  
 
Let me know if you carry these acts of kindness by using the hashtag #velvetkindness and tweet me @lil_alessia I would love to know how they went.
 
Let me know what other acts of kindness you have done.
 
Outfit details:
 
Jacket: Zara but here is a similar one, click here
Trousers: Pretty little thing, click here
Tshirt: ASOS, click here
Earrings: Zara, click here
Shoes: New look but here are some similar shoes, click here
 
 
 
A xx
 
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