We're Going Through Changes

Hello Everyone!

So bit of news, I have changed blogs!!!

I will no longer be posting on this blog as I've decided to have a fresh start with my blog with a new direction and a new title. I will be posting a lot more with the new blog, I've decided to go down a lifestyle/fashion/product review route.

You can find my new blog at

http://alittlebea-utiful.blogspot.co.uk/

Expect lots of posts from me!

Thank you and see you over there

Bethany xo

Monthly Goals | July

Hello everybody!!

So I have been a bit M.I.A recently, I went on holiday for 2 weeks (Italy, was so beautiful and amazing!) and have been trying to catch up on work and Uni since, so blogging hasn't really been on the radar. However, I feel I have gotten back into the flow of England living, only took me 2 weeks to recover!!

I've decided to start doing a monthly goals post, every month (obviously, ha) and at the end of each month I will talk about how I got on with my goals. Hopefully I will keep up with posting and actually completing my goals, sometimes it's good to have them written down so you can't escape them.

So the beginning of July means the beginning of Summer, as the weather has been actually alright in my opinion and the hay fever has been unbearable I have decided I am definitely a Winter person. Seriously what is fun about being sweaty a lot, especially when trying to decide on what to wear! Suffering so badly from itchy eyes, itchy nose, runny nose and constant sneezing, hay fever is a BIATCH! But anyway I don't want to be a Debby downer because I know how much people love Summer, but it just isn't for me. Give me a cosy jumper, hot chocolate and Christmas any day ha!

 

1. Find a job - I am currently still on my Uni placement which can finish at any time really, however I am not being paid nearly enough and I am so desperate for a new car (specifically a Mini Cooper) that I need to save up for and with what I'm getting at the moment, it's kind of impossible.

2. Buy less - I am a sucker for weekly retail therapy! I don't work Friday's so I go shopping almost every Friday, whoops!! This is definitely not good for my, non-existent, bank balance. I have come to terms with the fact I DO NOT need any more clothes at the moment and I have enough bags and shoes to last me quite a while, so I'm just going to stop, cold turkey style.

3. Spend more time with my Dad - I would include my Mum in this too but we went on holiday for two weeks with my sister so a lot of quality time was spent with her. My Dad and Brother are in Brazil at the moment (World Cup, hence the separate holidays - girls vs boys) and I haven't seen him now for a little over a month as our holidays clashed, they left when we came back. It's his 50th on Sunday (Which he is not back for) and I've just been thinking how I never spend time with him anymore, so more trips to the cinema and meals out is needed!

4. See a difference in weight loss - I am lucky enough to have a fairly fast metabolism and a tiny stomach so I can't eat large quantities of food, which is all good and well as I stay the same weight practically forever. However in second year of Uni (last year) I ate soooo much, this was due to my house being disgusting so I never wanted to go in the kitchen let alone cook in there, so my diet consisted of take-aways, ready made sandwiches, lots of treats (to make living there more bearable, didn't work) etc. so my weight seriously piled on, I gained around a stone and a half so now I am the heaviest I've ever been, and now I'm staying that way, because I've gone back to eating normally. So I need to kick start this weight loss just so I can get down to what I weighed before second year! Damn Uni.

5. Have more day trips - I spend the weekend with my boyfriend usually as he doesn't live near me, and we usually just stay in watching TV (Prison Break to be specific) and I would really like to start going out more for picnics etc and maybe take a day trip to Brighton or London, especially when it's a nice day.

6. Capture memories - this is linked to goal number 5 in a way as I would like to start taking more photos of days out etc. so I can add them too my memory pile, and in the end I would like to have a photo album with lovely memories inside.

Well that is all the goals I can think of at the moment, fingers crossed I can complete at least one of them!!

Love Life

Hello everyone!

Today's post is a sort of quote of the day type post/talking about life in general. The reason for this post is purely because I am feeling really good at the moment and I am seriously loving my life and have learnt to really cherish it. The truth is, life is short, really short and you only have one chance to enjoy it. This quote really stood out for me as I just thought it was really true and a bit of an eye opener.

'The trick is to enjoy life. Don't wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead'
                                                                                                       - Marjorie Pay Hinckley

I admit, I am guilty of wishing my days away, I've been wishing for Uni to just finish now (I have one more year left) I've been wishing for my work experience placement to just finish. But really what am I wishing for, what is going to happen that is so bloody good I can't wait for Uni, an amazing life experience, to finish?
Ok so Uni is a lot of hard work but it is also something I will remember for the rest of my life and do I really want to remember it as a horrific experience when really it is an amazing one and one I am lucky to have.

If you just keep wishing your days away life will become just one big blob of unhappiness, live for the day because you never now when it might be your last.

And finally, another quote so summarise this rather deep post (sorry about that).

'Life's for the living, so live it, or you're better off dead'
                                                                           - Passenger

All images in this post are courtesy of my amazing Mother, she is a fantastic photographer and I am very proud, unfortunately she hasn't got a website!

Anyways life is beautiful, cherish it.

Sweet Potato Brownies

Hello everybody!

The other day I had a go at making some healthy sweet potato brownies (well healthier than normal ones) and they were so delicious I thought I just had to share it with you. I would definitely recommend these brownies, they are just as easy to make and taste better than the sugar filled normal brownies. So here it goes...

Ingredients

150g Sweet Potato (one medium - large)
50g Honey
2 Medium Eggs
50g Coconut Oil
100g Ground Almonds
30g Raw Cocoa Powder
1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of Salt
75-100g Walnuts

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a square dish with grease proof paper for the brownie mix.

2. Gather together all the ingredients to make it a bit easier for you. Then peel and chop the sweet potato into chunks and place them in a pan of boiling water, I only put a little bit of water at the bottom of the pan so the potatoes will steam and cook. Make sure the potatoes are cooked through. Drain and cool.

3. Whilst the sweet potatoes are cooling, blend the eggs and coconut oil by either mixing in a bowl or using a food processor, I just mix them in a bowl as I don't have a food processor unfortunately. Mix until slightly combined.

4. Add and blend in the honey and sweet potato, again you can do this in a food processor, however I put the honey and potatoes in the combined mixture and mash the sweet potatoes and honey into the mix with a potato masher. This seems to work fine for me :). Mash until the mixture is combined to make a not so attractive orange baby food looking mixture (stay with me here, I promise they are yummy).

5. In a separate bowl mix the ground almonds, cocoa powder, bicarb of soda and salt. Then add this to the wet ingredients and mix until combined to make a nice chocolaty brownie mix. Add the walnuts, I break the walnuts into pieces, makes it less walnutty.

6. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 20-25 minutes, this time is based on the shallowness of your dish, if it is quite a deep dish I would cook for 20-25 (keep and eye on it) if its more shallow then 15-20 minutes should be enough time. I would just keep an eye on it and stick a knife into to see if its cooked.

7. Let the brownies cool for 10 minutes and enjoy your brownies with a nice cold glass of milk!

Hope you enjoy these brownies, if you end up giving it a go please let me know if you enjoyed them. I'm going to scoff my face now :)

TBT | Childhood in a Nutshell

Hello Everyone!

Hope you are all well and enjoying this crap weather we have been having lately in the UK... Ugh please, it's May I think it's time for the sun to STAY out!

Today I thought I would do a throwback post as I have never done one before, nor have I ever posted a TBT photo on instagram. I'm loosing my TBT virginity, how exciting. Instead of showing you embarassing and majorly awkward photos of me growing up, I thought a throwback of a few bits and bobs that were basically my childhood in a nutshell, would be more fun - who doesn't love a bit of nostalgia. I've narrowed it down to a mix of 10 things that were a big part of my childhood, I could literally go on forever, there was so much - I feel lucky to be a 90s/00s kid, the best timezone to grow up in fo'sho!

Lets crack on then - in no particular order...

1. The Babysitters Club: Movie - This film is AMMMAAAZING, seriously underrated I think. I actually found this on Netflix the other day, seriously I have been searching every single website trying to find this film on DVD but had no luck, so you can understand my extreme excitment to see it on Netflix (Netflix - what would life be without you). Also watching it the other day for the first time in yeeears I noticed that the fashion was seriously on point, a lot of which has come back in nowadays.

 2. Dream Phone - This was so much fun, I use to play this a lot with my two childhood besties and whenever I think of this I think of them and it makes me feel very nostalgic - I love it!

 

 

3. Doll Maker - I really hope other people played on doll makers, I was so obsessed I could spend hours dressing up dolls in different outfits with different hair etc. I loved it and the picture below is a 'doll' I made earlier to show you, this was a princess one and I actually ended up playing on it for a few hours - rather sad actually.

 

 

4. Old School Disney Channel - Ugh why did they have to go and change something so damn perfect! This was my favourite channel EVER with the best programmes, such as - Lizzie McGuire, That's so Raven, Recess, Kim Impossible... The list could go on. Also they use to show a movie every Friday as a treat and they were always so good - like Recess School's Out, amazing film.

5. The Sims - I think this was a part of everyones childhood, I could spent all day on this like literally all day, wake up get on it - fall in love a few times, kill a few people off, have a few babies etc - and it would suddenly be bedtime. It consumed my life but was so bloody worth it.

 

6. Rugrats - Cynthiaaaaaa!!! God this show was great, I love this little gang and the films were pretty blimen good too. I think everybody has watched and loved Rugrats - if not there is something wrong with you.

7. Spice Girls - If ya wannabe my lover, you gotta get with ma friends... Very self-explaitory here, Spice Girls were seriously cool, Girl Power always! Oh and their film was the best.

 

 

8. Britney Spears - Of course it's Britney Bitch! Need I say anymore, Britney was with me through thick and thin with some brilliant tunes, like all of them, they were all brilliant.

 

 

9. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen - God I wanted a twin so badly! Everything this pair did I loved, the films - Passport to Paris, Our Lips are Sealed, New York Minute etc. and their TV programmes - Two of a Kind and So Little Time. They were amazing and bloody gorgeous!

 

10, Bring It On - 'I'm major! I roar! I swear I'm not a whore!' I could quote every word from this film I loved it that much, I watched it constantly and new all the cheers. Oh and it made me seriously want to be a cheerleader - shame its not a 'thing' in England, dammit!

There we are theres my top 10 Throwbacks of my childhood, I'm feeling very nostalgic now and I think I will be watching Bring It On tonight for sure!

Thank you for reading!

10 questions Frozen forgot to answer...

I'm afraid, this post is about Frozen, not sure if you've heard of it, oh wait... EVERYBODY has heard of it duh!

I love Frozen, but I feel it needs to answer a few questions.

1. Does Kristoff have any parents? If not (which I am assuming is the case) why has he not got any?

2. Was Kristoff completely homeless that he was able to be adopted by trolls in a split second?

3. Why does Elsa have magical powers and is she the only one in the world ever?

4. Why doesn't she want anybody to know (everyone seemed pretty ok with it at the end)?

5. Elsa stays in her room and does not talk to Anna or see her for 13 years!?! Yet they live in the same house? Does this also mean both Anna and Elsa have not been outside for 13 years!? And Anna still treats Elsa like they've been the best of sisters for years, yet they only spoke up until Anna was 5, when Elsa nearly killed her. Like what??

6. Why, when Anna and Elsa see each other after 13 years, whilst living in the same house, does Anna not ask Elsa 'WHAT THE F WAS UP WITH THAT!?'

7. Since when can Elsa make life (Olaf)?

8. Now that Anna knows about Elsa's powers, why is Elsa still being a biatch and not talking to Anna?

9. Why did they include the troll's song? Like really, worst song ever, bad move.

10. Why, after all these unanswered questions, is Frozen still one of the best Disney movies, with THE best Disney song EVER - you all know it!

Anyways - gotta love Frozen really.

Summer is Coming...

Game of Thrones reference there as the 4th series starts Monday (OhMyGod YES!)

Summer is on it's way everybody, I don't know about you but I am blimen excited!

I seriously can't wait for Summer to finally be here, usually I am a massive Winter person but this year I just can't wait to be baking in the sun, going for little adventures and wearing pretty Summer dresses.

Although my brain is ready for Summer, my body, lack of motivation and laziness definitely is not. So I have decided to set myself some rules to get me prepared for this years sunshine. The earlier I start the better as I don't want another year of 'ugh I look horrible in this bikini/skirt/dress' I want to feel great rather than the blobbyness I'm feeling at the moment. Seriously I fell like a big lump, not a nice feeling. I thought I would put my 'rules' into a blog post as then they are set, they are on the Internet so basically I have to stick to them now.

Here are my 10 rules I will follow to get prepared for Summer, hope you enjoy!

1. Cut one 'bad food' out of my diet each week. The first week will be chocolate (Starting Monday - no diet starts on a Thursday duh!).

2. Drink at least 2 litres of water everyday and drink a pint of water before and after every meal. This should trick my tummy into thinking it's less hungry, therefore eating less (hopefully).

3. For my snacks at work I will have 2 pieces of fruit mid morning (Satsuma and Grapes) and 2 pieces of veg as a mid afternoon snack (Carrots and Cucumber).

4. Cut down on the amount of carbs I have after 5pm, I won't cut carbs out completely after 5pm, just some nights I won't have any and some nights I will - but not for every dinner.

5. No eating after 7pm, this will allow for my body to fully digest and burn off my dinner.

6. Walk to work everyday - the walk to my walk is about 40 minutes, and I always feel very fresh and energised after and it's an easy bit of exercise to put into my everyday routine.

7. Sit up straight at work - my posture at the moment is just terrible and I'm really paranoid I'm getting a hunch back so sitting up straight at my desk will definitely help with this.

8. Get a hair cut. As long as I can remember I've desperetly wanted long princess hair (Disney gave very false expectations of hair), now I have it - however it still isn't very long, but I've come to terms with that this is as long as it's ever going to be - I don't want it. I've decided to go for a fresh new look and have about 2-3 inches off so it will come just past my shoulders - hair grows back, I will get over it. But my long hair at the moment makes me soooooo hot and sweaty (ew sorry) so I think I need something short and sweet.

9. Moisturise my body, I am guilty of skipping this step far too often. I would love to have smooth soft skin for the summer so my goal is to moisturise my body everyday (if you have any recommendations as to what moisturiser, they would be most appriciated).

10. Go shopping!! I'm saving a bit of money at the moment to go on a big shopping trip getting all my Summer essentials, Summer make-up, Summer clothes, Summer shoes, everything basically. This one is my favourite rule I think.

Right, now my rules are set - bring on Summer!