Five Easy Ways to Practise Self Care

Hello, Lovely People ! 

One of my Monthly Goals for January is to be kinder to myself. So, today I thought I'd share with you five easy ways to practice self-care. It has become very clear to me that very rarely do we show ourselves the compassion that we show to others, which is rather silly considering how much you do every, single day. YOU deserve to be loved and respected by yourself. Practicing self-care isn't selfish or a waste or time, it's essential. Let's get going, shall we?

What Are You Excited About ? 

Ask yourself every morning " What am I excited about today ?". There should be something that you're excited about every day. It doesn't have to be big, some days it might be going on a date and others it might be going to yoga class. If there's really nothing then you'll know that you need to add something that makes you feel happy and excited to your day. Perhaps you could make a list of things that you do that make you happy and you could pick something off this list to do on the days in which you have nothing that excites you. 

A Lil Bit of Glitter 

Whether it's your favorite lippy or a pretty new top, glitzing our selves up always give us that extra boost! I was feeling really rubbish about myself last week so I went shopping and spent some to me finding clothes that I feel good in and I felt so much more confident wearing my new clothes it was unbelievable! You deserve to feel that good, I promise. 

Healthy Body, Healthy Mind

If you look after your body and eat well and exercise well, you will be amazed on the improvement you feel in your mental well being in such a short space of time ( I'm talking days, seriously ! ). Making sure you're getting the correct nutrients that your body needs is key to making sure that you feel great from the inside out. Think of it this way, think of your body as a petrol car, if you keep putting diesel (ie.junk food) into a petrol car it won't be able to run and will feel awful and sluggish.However, if you give it what it needs and fill it with petrol then the car will feel great and be bouncing around like a bunny! My point is, if you give your body what it needs, it will give you what you need. ( But please don't actually try and drink petrol hehe ) 

Me Time 

In our busy lives it can be hard to find time to just be with yourself, so try to schedule some time each week to sit with yourself and do something that you enjoy. You could go to a yoga class or do some cross stitching or read a book ! How do you like to spend your me time ? Let me know in the comments! 

Learn to Say No ... and Yes 

Firstly, trust me when I tell you that you do enough. It's okay to say no every once in a while. Too tired for that night out? Say no and have some rest. Don't have time for another extra-curricular activity? Say no, you're doing enough. On the other hand, don't turn down fantastic experiences that will make your heart race because you're afraid. Take chances and let yourself explore the world. Fill up your time with the things you love and nothing else. 

I hope these tips are helpful, I'd love to hear how you practice self-care in the comments and perhaps we can always learn something! 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

lots of love, Marianne xxx

P.s. I'm very sorry for the lack of photography at the minute, I'm balancing A-levels with running a blog so I will sort this soon ! 

Self-Date Ideas

Hey !

Self-love has become a massive part of my life and is one of the best things I've ever practiced ! One of my favorite ways of practicing self love is to self date. All you have to do is take yourself out some place nice and spend some time treating yourself .  A lot of people find themselves really stuck for ideas for self dates because people are often too self - conscious to take themselves for dinner or to the cinema. So here are some ideas to get you going !

Coffee and Cake - One of my favorite self dates is one of the simplest. I buy myself a magazine or a new book that I've fancied for a while and then go to a cafe and get myself a hot chocolate and a slice of chocolate cake and take my time to enjoy my drink while I read my magazine. It's so refreshing to start spending some time with yourself, you'd be amazed at how good it feels :) This is a great way to self date if you're really busy and can only spare an hour.

Go Some Place Pretty - Sometimes what you need is to be in the great outdoors and there are many beautiful places that you can go and explore for free and if you live in the UK there are lots of gorgeous grounds and stately homes that are owned by the national trust that you can visit for fairly low prices !

Shopping - When I buy clothes I always ask myself , " Do I feel like I could take on the world in this ?" so how about going out and treating yourself to make you feel like you could take on the world ! . Or like a princess, I also like to feel like a princess... or both ! Yeah definitely go for a mix of both hehe ! It doesn't have to be clothes, just go out and treat yourself to a few bits and bobs that make you feel happy :)

Spa Day - Why not go and relax with a pamper session? There are always loads of great deals for money off spa treatments if you look online and it's so nice to spend a day refreshing yourself so you feel amazing when you leave !

Swimming - Even just going for a swim and spending some time with yourself can be a great way to feel good , plus the exercise means your body will release feel good endorphin's so you'll be in a great mood after wards .

Movie Night - For me, being cuddled up on the sofa in fresh pyjamas with chocolate ice cream and a comedy on sounds like a great night . You watch your favorite movie or box set and just enjoy nobody talking over the tv ;)

What are your ideas for self dates ? Share them in the comments so that we can build up a big bank of them for people to refer to :) For more ideas, watch Rainbow Rose Blossoms videos , they're filled with inspiration <3

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

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

DIY : Self Care Box !

Hello !

It's the last day of Self-Love Week ! I really hope you've enjoyed this past weeks posts and that they helped you in some way ! Today I thought we'd do a DIY because why not ? We're going to make a self care to help you pick yourself up when you're feeling a bit crap and need some TLC . Also this will prove to yourself that the only one you need to help you become happy again is you !



1.  The first things I put in my self care box were a couple of sweets because when you're feeling rubbishy .. you need chocolate ! ( If you're lactose intolerant please don't put chocolate in because I really don't want you to die ... that's not what I was going for with this post ) I also put I  what I like to call my hopeful note book. In this notebook I keep all my favourite positive quotes to write on hopeful notes ! I like to write hopeful notes when I'm feeling down because It's kind of therapeutic to write what I need to hear at that moment in time because no matter how rubbish you feel, you're not the only one and you can give someone the comfort that you need :) If you're not a hopeful then still keep a notebook in your box but adapt it to you ! You could use it to write down how you feel, if that's your thing. Or you could plan the future and places you'd like to go to get you feeling a lil bit more optimistic again ! Or you could even switch it for a sketch book if you like drawing :) The final thing I added to this layer was the lush massage bar - Soft Coeur. This massage bar smells so strongly of chocolate that I wanted to eat it ! It's brilliant for your skin and oh my gosh you have to try it. If you'd rather have something that would relax you then I recommended the Lush dreamtime bath melt . To be honest, you need something from lush in there... if for nothing else then because no everything in my box smells gorgeous !

2. Then I thought I needed some things to make me feel better. So I popped in some tissues to dry up any tears and then a face mask and some nail varnish to make yourself feel pampered and special .. because you are special :) I'm loving the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry nail varnish in the shades " Kiss Me Quick" and "Road Rage". They dry ridiculously quick , seriously if you're anywhere near as impatient as me then you need this in your life :) Then to get you laughing again , you need a comedy ! There's nothing like a good giggle to get you back on your feet and for me , Russell Howards Live DingleDodies never fails to make me laugh. No matter how many times I watch it!

3. Finally I added a few bits and bobs to put the smile back in your face. Like Louise Pentland's  ( Sprinkle of Glitter) new book , "Life With A Sprinkle Of Glitter " which my sister bought me for my birthday last Sunday and I've read to whole book. It's amazing and full of feel good talk and motivation ! If you haven't read it, you definitely should ! Of course, you could put any book you like in the box, even a colouring book if you don't feel like reading ! I also added some hot chocolate sachets .. hot chocolate will make it all okay , trust me :) Then, just to tip me over the edge, back into complete happiness .. BUBBLES ! I LOVE BUBBLES !!!! They're so much un and so beautiful and I'm going to shut up about bubbles now .. ;)

As well as all this I mixed in lots of quotes and nice messages to myself on scraps of paper :) My favourite quote that I put in my box is :

" Even the darkest hour has only 60 minutes "
- Morris Mandel

But you can put whatever you like in your box ! I'll list a few ideas to get you started and is you have some more then I'd love to hear them in the comments !

• Comedies
• Books
• Sweets
• Hot Chocolate
• Candles
• Bubbles
• Favourite recipe card
• Tissues 
• Facemask
• Nail Polish
• Quotes/Poems/Lyrics
• Bath Products
• Notebook
• Jar of favourite memories
• Photos of loved ones
• Something that makes you feel good ( E.g. Favourite jewellery or accessory )

Let me know what you'd put in your Self-Care Box and I'd also love to hear what you've thought of this week and if it's helped you at all and if there's any other similar things you'd like to see on this blog in the future :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Self-Love | Quotes Posts !

Heyy there !

Welcome to day three of self-love week ! If you've followed my blog for a while ( If not you can follow me on bloglovin here to let you know when I post ) then you'll know that I'm a bigger lover of inspirational quotes ! So today I thought I'd share with you just a few of the quotes about self-love that I well .. LOVE !

"Self worth is do vital to your happiness. If you don't feel good about you, it's hard to feel good about anything else "
- Mandy Male

"Always be a first rate version of yourself instead of a second rate version of somebody else"
-Judy Garland

"When I accept myself I am freed from the burden of needing you to accept me"
-Steve Maraboli

"Love people with all sincere attention, but don't over do it as if you are not special. Don't lose yourself in the process of loving other people . Remember, you are special too!"
-Israelmore Ayivor

" Love yourself enough to have a meaningful life"
-Millen Livis

"Love is who you are, don't resist it "
- E'yen A. Gardner

" Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway "
Eleanor Roosevelt

" Instead of wondering when your next vacation is maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from "
-Seth Godin

" Be very, very, very gentle with yourself. The world is very, very, very hard on you"
- Srividya Srinivason

" You are nature. You are already perfect, peaceful and powerful. You don't need to become anything. You simply need to remember yourself "

Which was your favourite ? Are their any other inspirational self love quotes that you'd like to share ? Let me know in the comments !

Come back tomorrow for lots of tips and tricks on how to involve self love into your day to day life, in lots of different ways !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

What Is Self-Love ?

Hello ! 

Welcome to Self-Love week ! I'm really excited about this project. It's such an important topic and I can't wait to talk to you about it :) I'm going to be posting everyday for the next five days about different things to do with self-love. From quotes to self care boxes and little ways you can incorporate it into your day to day lives, We've got it all ! I mean we even have a snazzy little logo for the week hehe :) 

So today I thought we'd talk about, what actually is self-love? First lets get rid of a few misconceptions, here's what self-love isn't :

• It's arrogant 
• It's pointless 
• It's vain 
• It's for people that are stuck up 
• Selfish 
• It doesn't matter 

Wrong, WRong, WROng , WRONg, WRONG ! 

Here is what self-love actually is, by dictionary definition :) 

self-love

noun

1. regard for one's own well-being and happiness.

Self-love is about being comfortable, confident and happy within yourself. It can be difficult to achieve, especially with all these horrible misconceptions surrounding it. But I'm glad to say it's becoming more accepted and more people are talking about it and coming to understand that it's not vain it's necessary. 

It can play a massive part in helping people ( male and female - many people think this is only important with women ) gain more self confidence as it increases their self-esteem and lets you accept yourself for who you are, making you more comfortable with yourself. This opens so many doors! Either to being happier doing the things you already do or to try knew things you never thought you'd have the confidence to ! . You can't tell me that's not important ?

When I broke up with my boyfriend for a while about a year ago, although it was a sad time for me, after a few weeks I began to notice something new. I started to look at myself in the mirror and think : "You know what ? I'm actually looking okay today .. no I look pretty .. I'm actually quite pretty!" This was a massive moment for me and I honestly believe it was because I became too reliant on needing somebody else to tell me I was beautiful and that should not be the case . Once I got back with boyfriend, although I was and am happy, that confidence again became reliant on him. I'm telling you this for two reasons:

a) People often think of Self-Love as something that only single people need. form of confidence so that they can see their happiness should not depend on being in a relationship ( which it shouldn't ) . But what people forget is people who are in relationships also shouldn't have all of their happiness and confidence depend on their boyfriend or girlfriend. This is something It took me a long time to get to grips with. Yes my boyfriend is lovely and sweet and makes me extremely happy and yes he regularly tells me I'm beautiful and all the rest. BUT there's also a lot of other things that make me happy that are completely separate from him and I am trying to get to a point where I have enough self esteem to not need his reassurance that I look nice . 

b) There's no reason that somebody else telling me I'm beautiful should be worth more to me than accepting my body and allowing it to be beautiful to me . In fact , I'm living in here ! Surely I should have more of a say than anyone else on what defines my own standards of beauty !

So , give yourself time to love and accept yourself. To stand in front of a mirror and say "You know what ? Its not that bad . Actually I'm kind of pretty looking !" Allow yourself to be comfortable, make a list of things you like about your personality and a list of things you like about your body ! You can find lots of little challenges like this in my " 30 Day Happiness Challenge " Let me know 3 things you like about your body and three good things about your personality in the comments !

You could ever take it a step further and use a sharpie to write positive words over your body ! I saw this recently in a post by Rainbow-Rose Blossom ( She's a brilliant blogger who frequently promotes self-love and you should definitely check her blog out )  that I'll link to here . I thought it was a really empowering thing to do !

Anyway, that's it for today ! It would mean the absolute world to me if you could share this around however you can because I think this is a really important topic and I'm so excited about raising some more awareness of it ! Check back tomorrow for the second instalment. It's all about how to make yourself feel good about yourself from the inside with lots of tips on everything from healthy eating to getting descent nights sleep !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx

Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com 

Self-Love Week !

Heyy!

I've been really excited for this project and really hope you enjoy it, share it around and most of all get something beneficial from it ! August 20th-24th will be Don'tBurstMyBubble's Self-Love Week !

There will be posts everyday for the next five days highlight different aspects of self-love and hopefully helping you feel better and more comfortable with yourself :)

I can't wait to share this project with you !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful

Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx
Email : MyHappyBubbleXx@outlook.com

Things I Like About Myself ( Tag )

Hello,

I was sitting in bed, not doing anything in particular ( specifically not being at the gym .. but shhhh ;) ) and reading through some new blog posts being a little too tired to be paying proper attention to anything, but there was one that caught my attention . A blogger called Spring Baby ( You should definitely check her out she's lovely and a great writer ) had started a tag. I don't tend to do tags because my blog is aimed at promoting positivity and well-being but I couldn't not do this ! This tag is very simple, you have to come up with 8 things you like about yourself . However it's not so simple when you're trying to do it, which ties in wonderfully with the aims of The 30 Day Happiness Challenge I posted the other week :)

I really can't express how important it is to find and recognise the fantastic, wonderful, incredible things about yourself ! It's not arrogant, it's being kind to yourself and honest <3 So without further a do,  8 things I like about myself :

One : I can see things from other peoples point of views 

Two: My eyes are a bluey-grey colour 

Three: I song-write and it makes me happy 

Four: I'm Short but not as short as my best friend ( I'm winning by a whole centimetre ! WOOO ! ) 

Five : I'm good at working out what colours look nice together 

Six : I can wear flower headbands and I think they look nice 

Seven : I can always find a silver lining no matter what :)

Eight : I can play drums .. I mean it's not very well but regardless, I enjoy it :) 

Wow ! That was a lot harder than I thought it would be ! Now, it's your turn :) So either comment eight things you like about yourself or if you have a blog, YouTube channel, newsletter or any other way of getting things out to the world then go do the tag :) I literally tag EVERYONE because this is something that affects everyone. You are worth compliments just as much as your friends.why do you highlight every wonderful detail of them but ignore your own beautiful traits ? If you do this on your blog or any other platform, I'd love to see it so leave a link in the comments !

Specifically I'd like to tag : Be Nice It's Tuesday and Never Grow Up 

I hope you have a lovely week,

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)
Lots of Love, Marianne xxx

Pinterest : Little Hopeful
Twitter : @MyHappyBubbleXx
BlogLovin : Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx