Getting Creative

For the past couple of weeks I have been feeling the stress of Christmas looming closer and closer, with so much to do! I want to make this season more fun and relaxing, I'm starting to learn that I should have planned things a little in advance and so I will keep this in mind for next year. There are so many things that I want to do that could help to keep me in the Christmas spirit, I wanted to do so much last year, but I let the time slip away without doing hardly anything on my wish list. This year I am feeling slightly poorer as I get to grips with managing my money, so I am looking for cheaper festive alternatives. I have been snuggling up on the sofa and watching Christmas movies, we also purchased our Christmas tree last weekend from Ikea for £25! I love the deal they do as you get a £20 voucher from ikea when you take the tree back to be recycled, and I love to recycle! I planned my colour scheme this year using images on Pinterest, to go with my more retro themed lounge area, and I think the tree is looking awesome.

I still want to make some paper decorations and have a few more decorations to finish off, but so far I'm loving the look. In the past week I have been listening to 'Big Magic' by Elizabeth Gilbert, and I found it really motivating, (go and read/listen to it!) It's all about leading a creative life in whatever way you can, no matter your abilities, background or career and not being afraid to do so. So the first thing I started doing when I got home was create a Christmas wreath, we didn't have one last year and I really wanted one for this year, so I dug out one that I had started making a few years ago and completely remade it to fit in with my colour scheme. I used some old decorations I had from previous years, ribbons and wool I already and cut the wreath shape from some thick card you get on the back of lined paper pads. The only thing I bought new were the fairy lights, it took me a few nights and some time at the weekend but here it is!

It's Christmas!!!

Every year at around mid October when the clocks start to go back and the evenings are much darker, I start to get the ‘Christmassy feeling’, and I always tell myself it's too early and that I need to suppress those feelings until December. By the time Christmas Day rolls round, I'm over Christmas, because I deny myself to get into the spirit and put off everything Christmas until it is really too late. Although people moan that shops and TV always put Christmas on too early, there can actually be quite a lot to prepare! Especially if you have loads of plans like me! So this year my decorations will be going up on Dec 1st (I usually wait until 2 weeks until the big day) and I have already begun to prepare things, although I still feel like there is not enough time!

I have my ingredients ready to make 6 Christmas cakes for family, as they were so popular last year. I have given myself permission to buy decorations as early as October this year as all the good decorations go quick, and I think decorations like this are investments. This year I have taken more time in planning my Christmas decoration theme and I started this just by searching 'Christmas' on Pinterest and found that I love the 50's and 60's kitsch look, with lots of pink, dark blues, greens, gold and silver colours. I have also fallen in love with these mini trees that I found in an art shop in Camden, I looked at getting some online this year and they where so expensive! I couldn’t believe the price when I found them in Camden and bought quite a few! They make me so happy! I think they look so retro, and really capture the style that I am going for, I also got a few pieces in Paperchase, and some pieces from Hobbycraft that I can decorate in the style I want.

I next plan to decide on wrapping papers and bits and bobs to decorate the presents that I give, I like to make them look awesome, as I would love to receive a beautifully wrapped present. I also like to have fun with the decorations on the Christmas cakes I make, so I want to make something really nice to decorate those. I also intend on inviting family over for a little Christmas gathering between Christmas and New Year, oh and I am also going to a wedding on New Year's Eve and need to plan what I'm wearing, I'd also like to make some decorations! Phew it sounds like a lot but I'm determined not to let the Christmas spirit leave me tot early this year, and I can't wait!

Getting Tidy

I recently read the life changing magic of tiding up by Marie Kondo. Everyone on the Internet seems to be talking about how amazing this book is, and I actually love tidying so I couldn’t wait to read it. Although it took a while for me to get into, it didn’t disappoint and the whole book is quite short. Anyway, I was too impatient to wait until the end and started to tidy while half way through – which she doesn’t advise! There is an orderly process that you must go through to do it well, as I found out – I didn’t want to throw away things that people had bought me as a gift or hand me downs given by family, or things that I knew I had spent a lot of money on. So I continued to read the book and I found the advice she gives very useful, about the really tricky things to get rid of like this.

So anyway, I began to tidy on the first free weekend that I had, she says that you only tidy once in your life and in one go, which can take up to six months for some people. I thought that as I keep my flat quite tidy and organised, that I could maybe do this in a week or even the weekend. I slightly underestimated the time it would take as I am still going through the process. So far I have tidied my clothes and accessories, books, papers, miscellaneous and sentimental items. All of the big stuff really, I only really have smaller items like looking through all my photos copied on CD’s. So far I have taken just over 20 bags of stuff to be recycled or thrown out! And that doesn’t include the bags of stuff my boyfriend has thrown out!

Whilst tidying I felt kind of silly for keeping some of the rubbish that I had ‘just in case’, and as I took all the bags of stuff out of my house, I felt I was in slight shock and kind of unsure if I was making the right decision. However, once I discarded the things that didn’t bring me ‘joy’ I was able to start to put all the things I have chosen to keep away. Everything must have a place where it can be put away for your space to be eternally tidy. I found the results of putting things away as Marie says awesome! I got up the next day and opened my underwear drawer to start getting dressed and I actually said “Wow!” I kind of forgot what I had done, and it was so nice just to be able to see all the clothes that I own. Now I can easily choose an outfit, and there is nothing left that I don’t love.

After

Before

So I advise even the tidiest of people to read this book and go through the process, as it has made my home so much calmer and organised, and thats also how I'm now feeling inside.

Thanks for reading!

Lian 

Holiday Blues

(Blue Lagoon, Latchi, Cyprus)

This blog has been of to such a rubbish start! I think it's been nearly half a year or more since I last posted on here! there always seems to be something I find to do that takes up my time. It’s not even things that are really worthwhile, and mostly I have been lazy :/

So I am very lucky to have recently returned from a trip to Cyprus. As I was away from my home/work routines and anxieties, I felt like I got back to being me. All of things that crowd my life at home had completely crowded my mind, and my stress levels had got so high, because I put unnecessary pressure on myself to do things before doing any activities I enjoy.On the plane home and a few days at the end of my holiday, I was so stressed about returning back to normal home life, and couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that make it feel rubbish; like the car drive commute to and from work, traffic, mess in my flat, washing up, cleaning clothes, ironing and all of the monotonous things that I have created routines for so that they get done every week. A routine that I loath, not making time for the things I want to do like this blog. So I started to problem solve my anxieties, and I wrote down loads of solutions to my personal ‘problems’ to make daily life a little bit more worth living. I have also reorganized my time so that I have at least one day a week to concentrate on my blog.

A little while before I went away, I made quite a nice looking personal goals mood board sort of thing, that I created using images of things that inspire me. I had sort of forgotten about it, and was reminded when I returned from my holiday and randomly turned on my laptop, and saw it as my desktop background. I was kind of gutted that I had forgotten about it, but since returning, I feel really motivated to do something about it. And as soon as we can afford a printer, I would like to have it out somewhere I can permanently see.

I want to share my ideas and experiences on here, not only for others to see, but also as something that will keep my goals moving forward and keep me motivated.

I welcome your comments and feedback and be nice as I am new to this!

Thanks for reading

X

Lian

Sundays

I used to hate sundays when I was younger as they always seemed so long and boring, but now I love them! I always try to do something creative if I have the time and energy. Last Sunday was a bit mad as I done a lot of baking. I love parisian patisseries, and how beautiful all the different desserts look, especially the strawberry tarts! anyway I had been dreaming of baking one myself for a while so I thought I would try on Sunday. I think it came out looking quite good! and tasted good, although the creme patisserie was a bit runny.

It took 9 egg yolks to make the creme pat and the pastry, so I used the leftovers to make meringue kisses, and a pavlova. I also had a bit of pastry leftover to make some jam tarts, and as all my ingredients where out and at room temperature, I made a 3 layer victoria sandwich cake too. 

I want to get really good at making an impressive dessert so that I can wow people when they come over for dinner parties. I better get practicing! 

Hello!

I have thought about creating a blog for a while now and haven’t been able to pinpoint a common theme or interest that I have, as I have so many hobbies and love to try new things. So this blog will just be about what happens in my life lol; that’s a common theme! So enjoy! And feel free to comment…