Best Date Ever | The Positivity Diaries

Hello there !

I'm really sorry I couldn't post on Thursday, I have been feeling rather unwell the past week and needed to rest lots on Thursday so I would feel better for Friday because I was going on a date and didn't want to present myself as a tired, sniffing wreck and cough all over them ! But I'm much better now and the date went great ! So here's all the good bits of my week and I can't wait to read three good things from each of your weeks in the comments !

Monday : I FINALLY dropped maths. I'm not one for giving up but I was spending all my time that I should of been spending on my other subjects ( that I actually enjoy ) on maths and still failing and I'm already so so much happier :)

Tuesday : I had a refresher on that way to college . ( If you don't know what they are they're chewy, lemon flavoured sweets and the best things ever ! )

Wednesday : I've bought two new tops and love them both, ones a white blouse with blue/grey butterflies on and the other is a blouse with stripes on.

Thursday : I got my results back from my singing exam and have passed my grade five with a distinction !!!

Friday : I went on the best date ever ! We went out for lunch ( We had Chinese which is my favourite ) and while we were eating I was given a butterfly necklace that I'd said I wanted last time we went out. Then we went to the cinema and there was literally us and two other couples in there :) After that. we got the train home and there was this beautiful candle-lit picnic of all my favourite foods in my bedroom ! I couldn't be happier :)

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, it was dark and If you need telling then I'm the one in the cat ears... if you've been on this blog before then you probably don't need telling hehe :)

Saturday : I made some really yummy brownies with my sister.

Sunday : I finished a song I was writing :)

So my weeks been pretty great ! Let me know three good things from your week in the comments , no excuses ;)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

The Sparkle Box

You're a really lovely person. Well I happen to think so anyway . Every once in a while, you wake up feeling less than 100% and that's no fun is it ? You're worth way more than that ! Plus being happy and feeling good about yourself is far more fun :) So for those days I've made myself a Sparkle Box.

 I came up with the idea after I was going through a rough time just before Christmas and my best friend picked me up and said " Come on , lets go dress up so you can have your sparkle back ".  Being the wonderful person she is, she took me to my room, helped me do my hair and make up, fetched me my favorite feel good outfit and my cat ears headband and gave me back my sparkle. I felt good.

This got me thinking, everybody should have a box of little " Pick me up presents " for themselves filled with about five things that just make you feel a little sparklier. So I made one and I love it, so I thought I'd share it with you in case it might help :) Please show yourself the kindness that my best friend showed me. We all deserve kindness.

MY SPARKLE BOX : 

Here;s what I've got in my Sparkle Box. They're all little things that I put on to make myself feel worth it and give me an instant pick me up .

The Body Shop - The Sparkler ( £15.00 ) 

This little pot of spray-able body glitter is the literal way to get your sparkle back ! I always call it glitter puff and regularly wear it in my hair to cheer me up ... even if it doesn't cheer my best friend up when I stay over and there's glitter all over her pillow the next morning , oops !

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Drop Of Sherry ( £4.99 ) 

This bright dash of colour always gives me a confidence boost and I can't get enough of it :)

Lush - I Love Juicy Shampoo ( £5.75 for 100g ) 

I received a bottle of this fruity- citrus scented shampoo for Christmas from my sister and have used it everyday since ! It's brilliant on greasy hair and the scent leaves me wide awake and ready to take on the world :)

Something to make you feel good - Cat ears headband ( £1.99 )

Everybody has that accessory that always just makes them feel 10 times better and for me ( as strange as it my be ) it has to be one of my many cat ear head bands ! I rarely leave the house without a pair on because for some reason I'm always happier when wearing them . So why fight it ?

Lush - Vanillary ( £14.00 )

I've always loved Lush's vanilla perfume and I always get lots of compliments on it throughout the day whenever I wear it ! Plus, vanilla induces positivity so what's not to love ?

I really hope that this idea helps you out ! I'd love to hear all about it if you make one and let me know in the comments what you'd have in your Sparkle Box :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) Stay Sparkly ^.^

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Strangers In Cafe's | The Positivity Diaries

Hello !

This week has been a little up and down but hey, that's how life's meant to be :) So here's the good bits ! I can't wait to hear about the good things in your week in the comments :)

Monday : A lovely man ( with rather eccentric dress sense) came up to me in a cafe this morning and started randomly talking to me about how his train was early and then he noticed that I was working on college work. I told him I was struggling with college work and he said " Persist, where there's a will there's a way ".  It really made my day an gave my determination a push :)

Tuesday : Me and Georgie had a McDonald's for lunch !

Wednesday : A stranger said " Bless you " when I sneezed this morning .

Thursday : I had chocolate milkshake.

Friday : I did loads of blog planning !

Saturday : I re-organised all my college work into pretty new folders so I'm feeling much less stressed about where all my work is :)

Sunday : I got to use my lush " I Love Juicy " shampoo and oh my gosh it smells SOOO good !

I can't wait to hear about what's been good in your week in the comments, just leave a small list ( Perhaps 3 things ) of good things from your week and then we can all share the positivity !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Time To Detox

Helllooo !

I'm in an excellent mood because I've just come from a really good singing lesson and it's made me realise just how much happier I've been lately. But why ? I wondered for a while what on earth could I have done to make this much of a change. Then I realized that I'd been detoxing my life and I'm at the happiest I've been in .. way more years than I care to remember ! So I thought I'd just write a short post about how I've got to this point :)

As many of you know my boyfriend and me separated after two and a half years, a few months ago and for me this marked a fresh start to finally be myself and love who I love and suddenly as things began to come into light I naturally began to focus on the things in life that make me happy. I began to move things around. I stopped going to debating club and joined creative writing, I spent more time focusing on my french, I made a bucket list. I wore clothes I love but was always afraid to wear because I thought they were too " Quirky " . 

Bit by bit and somehow all at once I began to feel so, so much happier and when you start to feel happier you realize you deserve to feel that good all the time. I was adding more and more things into my life, simple, easy things that made so much of a difference and then it struck me. I could be even happier if I got rid of all the unnecessary toxic things and people in my everyday life that made me less than happy because what reason did I have to keep them ? So I detoxed. EVERYTHING. I switched my meals from junk to more healthy energizing options. I gradually moved away from people who made me feel bad about myself or just life in general. I began to work on accepting myself and who I am. There is no point keeping unnecessary things that don't make you happy ! It's not selfish, it's self love.  

The next step for my is, I'm going to make a list of things that make me happy and implement them into my everyday life. I might even post the list when I'm done to give you some inspiration if anybody is interested. I'm not talking massive things like going to the zoo ( as much as i would love to do that everyday hehe ) but little things like switching my shampoo to one from lush that smells really good and cheers me up in the morning or taking the time to practice piano or song write a little each day . I truly believe this will make such a big difference to my life because I've already started and I feel amazing :) 

Anyway, these are just my thoughts, what do you think ?

If you fancy trying something this week, here's a little challenge. Choose one small thing you want to do for yourself and do it ( paint your nails, start music lessons, wear cat ears ... okay maybe that last one just applies to me ). Think of something unnecessary in your life that doesn't make you happy and change it. ( hate running ? Get a membership at your local swimming pool instead or if you have that friend who's always moaning and making life seem rubbish, get rid ) and then make find something that makes you happy and find away to do it everyday !

I'm really interested to see how this works out !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Gym Bunny

So we're just over halfway into the first month of the new year and life's going pretty well . The new series of Call The Midwife has started, it has snowed, I've been leaving hopeful notes left, right and center and I've been exercising on a regular basis ! .... Okay, well maybe that last one was a tiny little lie . Caught up in the excitement of the new year, this is one of my new years resolutions that got pushed aside. Now I'm determined to start exercising more. They problem is ( and always has been ) motivation, or rather the lack of it ;). So to get us all going I thought I'd write a post of exercise motivation ! Here we go :)

You DON'T have to go to the gym.

There are so many different ways to exercise and you have to find a form of exercise that you enjoy , otherwise you're not going to keep going are you ? From swimming ( my favorite choice ) to Tennis to the gym . Find what you enjoy ! You could even mix it up. For example, if you do join a gym , you could join one in a leisure center that also has a swimming pool or offers other sports that you could try out :) I'm planning on going to the gym once a week and to swim each Saturday :)

Have a mantra

Yes... you will look like a weirdo and get very strange looks when you're on the Running machine , mumbling to yourself . But who cares ? That guy staring at you should be running too and you'll have the nicer bum in the end so ... Karma ;) I find repeating a motivating phrase over and over as you work out can really help ! Let me know in the comments what phrases motivate you :) I like "It already hurts, you're already tired, so get something out of this."

Make a motivating playlist

As much as I dislike admitting this on the world wide web ... I run to Eminem music. I fully blame my Eminem obsessed best friend ( But she's lovely and beautiful and the best so I'll forgive her ) but it really helps me to run faster and there's actually been studies proving that Eminem music helps you work out better :) But whatever music you love , then make yourself a perfect playlist so you don't get board ! Try to mix slower and faster songs so you don't get too worn out and die or anything !

Buy yourself what you need 

I mentioned that I'm starting swimming again, when I made this decision it was hard because I'm not very comfortable with my body soooo I went out shopping and brought home a very lovely, red and white polka dot swimming costume :) I'm now really excited to go and show it off ! Make sure you kit yourself out so you feel confident doing whatever it is you're doing because ... well I think you're wonderful so you deserve to feel as good as I know you are <3

Reward yourself

One gym session ... then one chocolate bar . Fifty laps of the swimming pool ... then that gorgeous nail varnish you wanted last Saturday :) Make it worth your while !!!

Pinterest it

There is nothing that pinterest can't motivate you to do ! Seriously, type in exercise motivation and you'll find millions of wonderful quotes. My favorite that I found is " No matter how slow you're going, you're running laps around everyone on the couch "

How do you motivate yourself to get excising and healthily :) When I'm exercising I tend to naturally begin to eat healthily and then I begin to have so much more energy because I'm treating my body well and as a result I'm happier. So I'm really looking forward to starting swimming soon and getting some endorphin's going !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

It Snowed !!! | The Positivity Diaries

Hello there !

I've been having a great week and am in an excellent mood because I just woke up to a tonne ( well maybe I'm exaggerating a lil bit , but still ) of snow !!! So here's my positivity diary for this week and I can't wait to hear yours :)

Monday : I had a really good drums lesson, it's crazy how much more I enjoy playing now that I don't bother with exams !

Tuesday : It was really cold and dark on the bus home and a lady smiled  at me and it just cheered me up.

Wednesday : I had a great piano lesson and then my dad got me a chippy for dinner ( Love you dad ! )

Thursday : I go to sleep in for an extra hour because I stayed at my best friends house which is a lot closer to college .

Friday : The man who served me breakfast in the cafe this morning offered to bring my crumpets over to my table because he could see how much work I had to get through :)

Saturday : Me and my best friend started making a motivation board... there was ALOT of sparkles involved !

Sunday : IT SNOWWWWEDDDDDDDD !!!!!!!!

I can't wait to read all the good things that have happened in your week in the comments, I love reading all your highlights, it;s like reading a newspaper that's made just to document the good things . Maybe I should start one of those hehe :)

Have a great week !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Disney | Quotes Posts !

Who doesn't love Disney ? Happily ever afters, a love story or two and a good old sing song. What could be better ? Most of us grew up watching Disney movies but don't have as much time to watch all our favorites again as we get older . But over the Christmas holidays I spent a good few days happily tucked up in bed watching all the Disney films I own. So today I thought I'd share some of my favorite Disney quotes with you !

"They can't order me to stop dreaming." 

- Cinderella ( I love this one, I've no idea why but I find it really motivating ) 

"I can't go back to yesterday, I was a different person then" 

- Alice in Wonderland 

"Why worry? If you've done the very best you can, worrying won't make it better." 

-Walt Disney ( I need to write this on all of my revision books ! ) 

"You're mad. Bonkers.Off your head...but i'll tell you a secret... all the best people are."

-Alice in wonderland 

"It never hurts to keep looking for sunshine" 

-Eeyore, Winne The Pooh 

"Life is not a spectator sport.If watchin is all you're gonna do, then you're gonna watch your life go by without ya " 

- The Hunchback of Notre Dame

"I don't want to survive. I want to live." 

- Wall-E , the captain. 

"Ladies don't start fights, but they can finish them! " 

- Marie in The Aristocats ( I quote this at least twice daily ;) ) 

"Where there is kindness, there is goodness. And where there is goodness, there is magic. "

- Cinderella 

"First, think. Second, believe. Third dream. And finally, dare ! "

- Walt Disney 

Ooo I'm feeling all motivated now ! I'm in such a good mood i might go to the gym and run to the soundtrack of Hercules aha :) What's your favorite Disney quote ? Let me know in the comments :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

How To ... Handle a Break Up

Break ups can be rubbishy. Whether you leave on good terms or bad. Whether you end it or they do. Whether you were together 2 months or 2 years. You're bound to feel at least a little sad and just not your best . After breaking up with my boyfriend of two and a half years recently, I've done my share of feeling sad. But there are definitely ways to make the experience easier and ensure a much more positive outcome in the long run.

Step One : Do what you need to do , but don't hurt anyone .

You're very likely to be upset, hurt or even angry and there is no point ignoring your emotions. Take the time to feel them fully . Give yourself the time you need because if you don't feel the pain now , it's going to drag out A LOT longer and we don't want that . But make sure you handle your emotion in a healthy way, for example if you're feeling angry , go for a swim or a run . If your sad, don't get drunk, cry and cuddle up in bed watching your favorite tv series :)

Step Two : Steer clear of social media 

It's probably best to steer clear of places like Facebook or Instagram because ,
a) If you're upset you don't want to post anything you'll regret or might hurt the other person in your break up
b) Your ex might not be being as considerate and may leave things on social media that could upset you , you've got enough to deal with right now . An argument over a drunk status isn't what you need

Step Three : Surround yourself with the people who love you 

The last thing you need at the minute is complete isolation. It's important to be around people who understand what's going on and make you feel good about yourself. No matter how rubbish you're feeling, there are people who still love you and they probably have a clearer head than you right now so listen to them when they tell you you're loved .

Step Four : Know when it's time to get up 

There comes a time when you need to pick yourself up, have a long shower , put some nice lipstick on, dress up and make yourself feel nice. You deserve better than being sad forever . Call a friend and ask if they want to go shopping or do something you enjoy. Let yourself feel good :)

Step Five : Self Date 

Take yourself out somewhere nice . Go to the local cafe for a hot chocolate and sit and read your book, Take yourself on a shopping trip, Go to the zoo ! I don't mind where you go , just spend some time getting to know yourself again and becoming more comfortable with who you are. You can lose bits of yourself when you're in a relationship for a long time and become reliant on somebody else to know you're beautiful . So this is a really good time to start practicing self-love . I'll link to a blog by Rainbow-Rose Blossom here , she's a brilliant woman with a lot of valuable things to say on self love !

What are your tips for handling a break up ? I'd love to hear them in the comments :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

I thought I'd leave this funny song here by Carrie Hope Fletcher on " How NOT To Handle A Break Up " It's pretty much garenteed to at least make you giggle :)

Do What Makes You Happy | The Positivity Diaries

I really hope you're all doing good and have had brilliant weeks. Even if they haven't been brilliant I hope that you managed to see all the tiny little good things that I promise were still there ! Here's my positivity diary for this week :)

Monday : Me and my best friend went to the cinema and I had such a brilliant time ! I haven't been this happy in ages and the film was brilliant ! If you get the chance to go see " Daddy's Home " then go, it's an hilarious comedy .

Tuesday : I got an my results back for my psychology mock exams and got an A !

Wednesday : I decided to make the changes necessary to make my life something that makes me happy by getting rid of everything that makes me miserable. So today instead of doing to debating after college I went to the new creative writing enrichment and had a great time and even made a few new friends , which was one of my goals for the new year so wooo.

Thursday : We started discussing the next book we're studying in English Literature , I always love hearing how even interpreted the book. At the minute we're studying Atonement and It's such an interesting book, I'd recommend it to anyone !

Friday : I spent a couple of hours with my best friend re-watching episodes of Orange Is The New Black :)

Saturday : I've cleared out loads of my stuff to send to the charity shop and have finally got a moving date !

Sunday : Finished off making the smartie filled cupcakes me and my best friend started making yesterday , the taste SOOOOO good .

This week I've really focused on getting rid of the things in my life that just don't make me happy because I've realised that I ( and everyone else ) deserves to live life feeling happy, strong and determined but most of all, full of enthusiasm . I'd love to hear all about the good things that have happened to you this week in the comments ! I really enjoyed reading through our little communal positivity diary in the comments of last weeks post :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Mid-Morning Motivation

Hey there !

Do you ever have days where you're just feeling a lil bit rubbishy like you lost a bit of your sparkle ? I definitely have these days a lot and i used to take the opportunity to be sad all day and just have a wasted day for no real reason. But I do not like wasting days. I like to be productive , full of good energy and have that bit of sparkle that makes the day seem brighter. So me and my friend started doing something we call Mid-Morning Motivation.

Whenever one of us has woken up and is feeling pretty rubbish for no particular reason or is just having a difficult morning, we go through Pinterest to look for uplifting quotes and motivation that we then send to whoever is having a difficult day at about 11am as a little surprise to lift there spirits :)

It takes less than five minutes and even just knowing that someone cares enough to send you something just to send you something just to make you smile, might be enough to pick them ( and their day ) back up !

Here's a few examples that you could use that I've made myself : 

I do this for my friends regularly so from now on I'll be posting the Mid-Morning Motivation onto my twitter for anybody else who needs that extra boost in the morning !

What do you think ? And what quotes motivate you ?

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

How to ... Achieve your goals

So ... were four days in . How are we all doing ? As long as nobodies in prison for murdering the annoying woman who sat right next to you eating that chocolate bar while you tried desperately to love the fruit pot in front of you that you swore four days ago you'd eat for lunch everyday ... I think we're doing okay ;)

Picking the right new years resolutions for you is an important task, you have to evaluate what you want to improve in yourself or your life and then find a way to do it .. but that's all relatively easy compared to actually sticking to the goals as I'm sure most of you have realized ... every single year.. at least three times over ! But I'm feeling very enthusiastic for the new year and the fresh start that comes with it and am determined to make a lot of positive changes ! So I've put together a list of tips to help sticking to those new years resolutions just that lil bit easier :)

Tip #1

Grab a friend 

You're far more likely to stick to something if you're not doing it alone, whether you share how it's going with regular online updates for your followers ( I've seen a lot of great bloggers do monthly goal review posts ) or you force a mate to sign up to the gym with you . Don't do it alone ! If you feel like you're going to let someone else down as well then you're way less likely to back out .

Tip #2

Equipt yourself 

Its the January sales, you can afford to give yourself a post Christmas treat. So instead of heading to Thorntons for half price chocolate Santas, go and get yourself a healthy cook book or the yoga mat you need or even some nice skincare products in the sale ! Get whatever you need to get started with you goals, it will make you a lot more excited to start if you feel ready :) 

Tip #3

Make an action plan 

It's easy enough to say what you want but how are you ever expecting to achieve it if you don't actually make a plan of how you're going to get there and start doing it ! Sit down and write down each goal for the year and underneath write what you're going to do to achieve it ( I did this in my new years resolution post ). Breaking things down into little steps makes them much less intimidating because they seem more attainable ! Perhaps even set a treat to give yourself when you complete a mini step towards your goal . 

Tip #4 

Dust yourself off and go again  

Not everything turns out perfect the first few goes but having one sneaky piece of chocolate doesn't mean the whole world is over and you can't do anything about it until January 1st next year , everyday is a fresh start, this one is just more highlighted and a great opportunity. So use it but don't be afraid to pick yourself up and start again if it slips up :) 

I hope these are at least a little helpful in keeping on track ! I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for achieving your new years goals in the comments and let me know yours are going . 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Feeling More Sparkly | The Positivity Diaries

This is the first post in a new series I'm starting called " The Positivity Diaries ". Every Sunday I'll be posting my weeks entries into my positivity diary ( One good thing that happened each day , no matter how bad the day ) and I'd really love for some of you to start your own positivity diaries and then in the comments each week share your with me and together we'll make a sort of communal positivity diary ! So I'll start shall I ?

Monday : I got to wear my new sparkly bracelet and ring that my best friend bought for me .

Tuesday : I made an Eminem cake for my best friends birthday and filled it with M&M's so when she cuts into it tomorrow they'll all fall out ... even if I was the only one who thought that pun was funny ;)

Wednesday : It was my best friends birthday and she really like the cake I made her .

I'm interrupting the post here to give a shout out to Georgie , I hope you had a great day baby because you really deserve it. You're the best and I really don't know what I'd do without you . I love you lots <3 

Thursday : I had a great time celebrating new years eve .

Friday : I spent half hour this afternoon playing with my friends cat, Murtle, who is so so so cute !

Saturday : I nearly finished the book for my English lit course, 20 pages to go !!!

Sunday : I finally started going back to the gym :)

So Let me know in the comments what good things have happened to you this week, I don't mind how big or small, everything counts as long as its positive !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx