Good Times and Resolutions

Hope everyone had as much fun on pancake day as I did! There was red wine and American pancakes a-plenty at our pancake party, easily the most enjoyable Shrove Tuesday to date :)

And in the spirit of Lent, I thought that now would be the perfect time to share with you my new resolutions for my happiness project. Ok, so technically I'm not giving anything up (like chocolate/men/alcohol - you know, the usual), but I will be giving up some bad habits and free time!

Following on from the book I blogged about recently - The Happiness Project by Gretchen Ruben - I indulged in a modest splurge (as she puts it in her book) and purchased a copy. In it she sets out the 12 areas of her life that she would like to improve; in the hope that the changes implemented will boost overall happiness, she focuses on one area per month and sets resolutions to keep.

I'm too dense to work out if you can share a document on a blog post, but heres an example of what mine looks like (poorly copied into Microsoft Paint - seriously, I'm not age 5 any more)...

You can only see a few months here, but I have managed to come up with an entire 12! My resolutions include things like focus on friendships, pursue a passion, giving, increase my potential, and focus on fun. If you can see my little smiley faces in the end column, these indicate the ones I've already completed - so I have already successfully completed all of February's resolutions and am making good progress on March!

I can already comment that I'm feeling much happier after following through on all of February's little tasks - just doing simple things like working out a repayment plan for my credit card and clearing out 5 boxes of stuff for the charity shop have helped to relieve some of the constant level of anxiety I was feeling!

And, as per February's resolution, I am off to Bristol for 4 days tomorrow to visit my friend Maxine. I can hardly wait for another drunken duet of the classic song Kiss (by Prince) in Mr. Wolf's bar, and Bristol's finest PieMinster pies. And later concluding that the obvious late night snack would be toast-on-prawns...or prawn surprise as we like to call it.



me and my pal in Brizzol





Post

Today's posting is rather imaginatively about...well, post.

This makes me happy for many reasons:

1) I like interesting envelopes
2) You can never have too many
    shiny silver stars
3) It is not a bill from 02
4) Declarations of love are
    ever-cheering
5) Receiving something that someone
    has thoughtfully taken time out for is infinitely
    better than a poke on facebook.

CUP-Cake

My wonderful friend Maxine bought me a very thoughtful gift for Christmas, which I only just got round to trying out a couple of weeks ago. This was the result...

They are cake moulds in the shape of cups. CUP-cakes! And they even come with these adorable matching saucers to serve said cupcakes on. Oooh...how terribly British.

I felt massively smiley when I proudly rescued these from the oven, and was doubly pleased to enjoy the tasting process :)

Scrub-a-dub-dub

There is nothing more indulgent than treating yourself to a nice hot bath or shower after a long day, especially if you've got a range of spa-worthy products that you look forward to using.

I've been a massive fan of Soap & Glory products for years now, but those creative geniuses just keep producing more gems for me to try out. And with 3 for 2 at Boots on all Soap & Glory products right now, what better excuse?!

This product makes me SO happy it's unreal. And while, yes, it does do a fantastic job of leaving skin silky smooth (in fact, this is easily the best scrub I've ever used), that's not the reason I use it. The scrub is heavily scented with an overwhelmingly delicious maple syrup smell, which means I absolutely cannot wait to jump straight in the shower every morning. It puts me in the best mood before work - there really is no way you can be stroppy when you smell like a pancake. Nom nom nom.

The Happiness Project

On my recent excursion to Waterstones, I stumbled into the 'dreaded' self-help section. I can never quite understand why it is imperative that I not be seen here, maybe because I'm not:

a) quitting smoking
b) a sex addict
c) recently divorced

But anyway, I was simply looking for another book to do with finding happiness. So far I've read The Power and The Secret (by Rhonda Byrne), and another book called Read Me, I'm Magical (can't remember author's name sorry). These have been great, but instead of reading someone laying down the laws of banishing negativity etc, I am really looking to find someone else's real life experience of looking for happiness themselves and how they set out to achieve it.

I really am finding that setting the goal of 'be happier' is quite ambitious if you don't know what you're doing!

In said self-help section, I noticed a book titled 'The Happiness Project'. Ooh, now I'm listening. And this very book looks to be exactly what I have been looking for. The author, Gretchen Rubin, has been on her own personal quest and tells us all about her experiences so far. Unfortunately I didn't have enough pennies at the time to make the purchase, but I've found the website today...

http://www.happiness-project.com/

and I am absolutely made up to see that Gretchen has started a campaign, The 2011 Happiness Challenge - I have obviously signed up :)

It's really great to see all the comments people have made about how they vow to make 2011 happier years for themselves and the goals they have pledged. Anyone can join, go for it!

Nom Nom Nom

Ok so the company's name isn't actually Nom - it's called Neom - but I can't help but have munching noises in my head whenever I see it.

Neom specialises in 'luxury organics'...basically, fancy bath and home stuff that helps the environment. They have a menu of holistic candles to choose from (which I plan to work my way through!), and each has a description of its benefits and the emotions that it induces/balances.

So far I've only tried Rebalance, which is a blend of mandarin, cinnamon and clove...

"Put away the Prozac. De-stress with this deeply warming, rich, spicy, earthy scent that acts as an antidepressant. The stimulating spicy oils also work as an antiseptic and natural disinfectant which helps when cold and flu are about. Also perfect for: Zapping germs when colds and flu are rife"

The scent is AMAZING. It smells like Christmas, but not so Christmassy that you'll feel a tool using it any other time of year. I leave it on my hallway radiator, and as soon as I walk through the front door I can smell it.

They are a bit pricey at £12 for a travel candle (which lasts 20 hours), but it's well worth treating yourself because they sure do work. I was feeling massively run down before the holidays, and an hour of this in my bedroom sorted me right out.

Nom nom nom.

Brekkie

Phew...8 days between posts - guess my New Year resolution of blogging every day is taking a hit slightly! In my defence, I have a shiny new man keeping me occupied. Which makes me happy. Which is what the blog is all about :)

I haven't had jam on toast in ageeeees, always makes me feel like a kid again. Today's breakfast did not disappoint...it was sticky, I made a mess all over my desk and somewhat in my hair. It was AWESOME. And the resulting hyperactivity sure brightened my day!

Small things...small minds

This. Blows. My. Mind.

A rubber Zebra with moving limbs.

I wish it belonged to me.

My Weekend

I love the weekend. I love that I can have a lie-in...though I never stop feeling guilty about it! And I love afternoon naps (as you may have guessed from earlier post). Yes, sleep does seem to be a recurring theme in my weekends. Couldn't decide what to blog about today, many things I have to be happy about - so I'm going to list them instead...

I had a cat chat with Maxypants, my best friend. This makes me immeasurably happy :)

I got to see my man - hugs, kisses and compliments aplenty. And we shared a great bottle of Italian Red...he's teaching me that there are many more choices around than just Echo Falls (no judgement)

I have caught up on 9 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, and had my toxic fix of Dr McDreamy. Like all McDreamy junkies, sadly I will never be satisfied.

I have made 5 servings of lamb and red wine stew and 2 servings of carrot and corriander soup. That's lunch covered for the week. High five!

And my friend finally got round to posting some pics on Facebook of our Christmas gathering - the highlight of which is this...

Joben is obsessed with bags of any kind. I wish I was so easily amused!

Black Orchid

Not just making me smile today, but making me smile everyday, is Black Orchid by Tom Ford.

There is nothing more uplifting and mood-altering than a damn sexy fragrance, and this by the infamous designer has 'vixen' written all over it. Only a suave gay gentleman could fully understand how to embody female sexuality in a bottle!

Firstly, the bottle is beautiful. I can't help but carry it with me everywhere, strategically placing it on my workdesk and waiting for colleagues' interested glances.

Secondly, my man said he loves the way I smell...which to me makes it all the more worth its exclusive pricetag!

Thirdly, the fragrance itself is powerful, alluring and striking - which is exactly how it makes you feel the moment the scent envelops you. £42 to feel like a million dollars? Maybe you can't buy happiness, but it would certainly seem that you can buy compliments ;)

p.s. I want to be this woman.