Quitting The Game Before You Lose

When you were a kid you'd play games. Whether they were board games or computer games or something on the xbox that I don't understand ! Children play games. When you're a kid playing games on your mums laptop and it starts going wrong; you pressed the wrong button by accident or you made a move you regret and you know then that you're going to lose. What do you do? You quit.

You see you're going to lose, you get scared, you quit. Fresh start, clean slate, no one has to know.

Humans are obsessed with fresh starts and clean slates and have somehow become convinced that they're impossible to have unless you move away, scrap everything and everyone and create a completely new situation. But as you grow up you have to realise, I've had to realise. That just simply isn't always possible. Isn't that terrifying ?

As you grow up it's a shock to the system when YOU do something wrong and it is YOUR fault and you CAN'T change it and you have no choice but to stand by yourself to fix and make up for what you've done because there's no 'Exit Game' button in the corner and you can't always runaway and promise yourself nothing will go wrong in your new start because it will. Things go wrong and it's very, very hard but you've got to work through them, face the consequences and believe that one day it will be alright again because it will and probably sooner than you think.

It is so easy to convince yourself that you can't change anything, that you've gone to far this time and you're in to deep and you're drowning and you're scared ... you forget you can swim. Difficult and impossible are different words.

" When you're going through hell, keep going "
- Winston Churchill

Yes, it is difficult to persevere and own up to what you've done and face it head on because there's no other way, but it's necessary and you will get through it. Something I've found helpful in these situations is the Buddhist concept of impermanence. This reminds us that nothing is permanent neither good or bad, I find this very comforting .

At the minute I am in this situation. If this was a game I would quit and start again but I've ran way enough. I can't just keep moving on to get away from the problems . I must own up to them, I've run out of options, I have to face this head on and I am going to, this time. I need to accept that no where I go in life will be perfect, life isn't meant to be perfect but you have to admit that so you can accept , work through and move on from those imperfections and then be happy :)

I'd love to hear your thought and experiences on this because it's something very new to me !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I can almost people sighing and saying "Marianne ... honey .. you're confused... we've not even had Halloween yet ! " . I know , I know ! If you're one of those people that really celebrates Halloween and has no interest in Christmas until December 1st then well ... you're a normal person and well done hehe :) Feel free to come back to this post when you're ready for Christmas and I hope you have a great Halloween ! However for those of you that are like me .. OH MY GOSH IT'S CHRISTMAS !!!! ... nearly :)

I absolutely love Christmas because everybody becomes so much brighter and stranger wish you joy and it's finally socially acceptable to sing in shops ! I don't know about you, but I absolutely thrive in an environment filled with enthusiasm which is why I feel my best at Christmas and therefore love celebrating it . That's why today I was delighted when my mum offered to take me and my best friend to the garden centre to see what Christmas decorations and gifts they had out ! I imagine we got a few funny looks as I skipped around squeaking with excitement in my best pair of cat ears whilst my best friend ( Looking the exact opposite of me in her Eminem top ) tried to stop me running into everyone ! So as this put me in such a positive mood I wanted to share that with you and show you a few bits and bobs that I'd found ! These are all from Melbicks Garden Centre and if you want to feel Christmassy, it's definitely the place to go :)

 

I absolutely loved the delicate, vintage effect of this wreath shaped decoration :)

I could definitely see this in some form of fairytale themed tree !

This tealight holder was so lovely I couldn't help thinking what a beautiful gift it would be !

Guys .... IT LIGHTS UP !!! :D

 

The moment I saw this wrapping paper all I could think was how similar it was to the Cath Kidston range and what a great, cheaper alternative it would be to their cute designs <3

This candle smelt amazing ! It was sweet and vanillary with a hint of cinnamon ( A scent which is often over powering and that puts some people off but the balance was just right ) it smelt, to me, like Christmas in my mums house with all her delicious home baking :)

These were just a few of my favourites that I just had to share with you because of what a great mood this lil bit of Christmas spirit put me in ! I'd love to hear what you love about Christmas and when do you start getting into the festive spirit, are you an early bird like me or do you prefer to save the excitement until other celebrations like Halloween and Bonfire night are over ?

If you're not quite ready for Christmas yet then don't worry ! I'm not making Christmas a regular feature on Don'tBurstMyBubbleXx just yet ! I've still got a really cute Bonfire night recipe coming up which I'm really excited to share with you :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Instead of the normal hopeful notes I left some free smiles in a lift for  people to take with them :)

Autumn Activities On A Budget !

I LOVE Autumn ! I'm a brunette so all burgundy, fall clothes look much better on me than the pastels of summer and I get to spend endless nights snuggled up, next to the fire drinking Hot Chocolate while cocooning in a duvet that I've dragged downstairs from my room. But the main thing I love about autumn is that because the cold weather makes us inclined to stay at home more, I get to spend a lot more time with my family. There are plenty of ways I have fun with my family and friends, and there are tools which can help you manage your money better going into the holidays which would be especially useful in the build up to Christmas !

The first thing that springs to mind when I think about family activities on a budget is something that my mum used to do for me and my sister when we were younger . My mum is a brilliant cook and she'd often help me and my sister bake yummy cupcakes or cookies together ( Okay, I did more licking out the bowl than cooking but that's not the point hehe ) and then we'd decorate them to fit the season. While we were decorating, she'd put together a little picnic which homemade jam sandwiches and other yummy treats that she'd lay out on a blanket next to the fire place where we'd sit and enjoy it whilst cuddling up and watching a Disney film ! So today I thought I'd share a cake pop recipe that is really easy to make with younger members of the family and great fun to decorate at this time of the year especially with little ones and I guarantee they'll love enjoying them with a movie and an indoor picnic.

Ghostly Cake Pops  !

All you need to do for the cake mixture is cream 125g of caster sugar with 125g of butter together in a bowl. Then break two eggs into a cup and whisk the with a fork until they're, as my mother would say, " Light and fluffy" ( no, I don't know how a liquid can be fluffy ... but her cakes taste great so we'll go with it hehe ). And the eggs to the sugar and butter mixture, whisking it in a little bit at a time. Now just sift in 125g of self raising flour, stir it all together ( The mixture tastes really good at this point... just saying ) and VOILA ! A Cake mixture, done in about 5/10 minutes ! Making your own cakes doesn't need to be expensive, I always use the cheapest supermarket versions of the ingredients and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference :)

To make them into cake pops I used my cake pop maker which I'll link to here . But you can by silicon cake pop moulds for a few pounds at supermarkets and they do the same job !

Now all you need to do is decorate them ! I was inspired by a cake pop design I saw on a magazine a few weeks ago to make my cake pops look like ghosts. This would be a brilliant design for a Halloween party and will definitely amuse the kids :)

 So that the icing will still to the cake pops, you need to dip them in melted chocolate first ( I again used a cheap supermarket brand chocolate because you can't tell ! ).  To melt the chocolate I filled a saucepan about one third of the way up with boiling water and then break the chocolate in pieces in a bowl that you can put over the saucepan and stir until it melts :) Now just dip the cake pop stick into the chocolate and then pop a few cake pops into the melted chocolate at a time to cover them before popping them on the cake pop sticks and leaving them in a glass .  Roll out some roll out white icing and cut circles from it . Pop the icing over the top of the cake pops and let them fall into the shape of the ghosts :) Now use an edible ink pen to have loads of fun drawing different scary faces over on the icing and it's as easy as that !You have your ghosts :)

They look brilliant and are great fun to make with your kids or little brothers and sisters . Baking with your family gives a great opportunity to have a catch up and find out all the stuff in there lives that you'd miss if you were all out doing different things ( that all probably cost the Earth ) and sometimes you just need to spend some time together reminding each other of how much family means !

All that's left to do now is set them up as part of a yummy family picnic with marshmallows, sandwiches, some cut up carrots with dips and of course your ghost cake pops ! Then just one of your favourite fall movies like Hotel Transylvania, Casper the Friendly Ghost or Hocus Pocus and you're all set to go :)

Enjoy  !

Let me know in the comments what you love to do in Autumn to have a great time on a budget and be sure to check out Personal Capital for some great advice and help handling your money :)

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Music | Quotes Posts !

I love music. I play, piano ( well I try .. I don't mind being bad, I actually kind of enjoy it ), Guitar ( Badly to accompany my songs ), Ukulele ( because my sisters awesome and got me one for my birthday ), Drums ( why the hell not ;) ) and I sing . Singing is my passion and song writing has been my passion for a few years now as well as doing exams in musical theatre. I can't explain what a massive part of my life music is and I think it's also a massive part of a lot of peoples lives. Music is the one thing that connects us because it can be a million different things so can fit anyone :) So over the years I've collected a lot of beautiful quotes about music so today I thought I'd share them with you !

"Music is a safe kind of high" 

- Jimi Hendrix

" You know what music is ? God's little reminder that there's something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living things everywhere, even the stars. "

- Robin Williams 

" Some people have lives; some people have music "
- John Green ( Will Grayson, Will Grayson ) 

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

- Friedrich Nietzsche 

"A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. "

- Maya Angelou 

"I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everybody loves music. "

- Billy Joel 

"To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable."

- Ludwig Van Beethoven ( This ones my favourite ) 

"The only escapes from the miseries of life are music and cats.. "

- Albert Schweitzer 

"Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness."

- Maya Angelou

As usual, let me know in the comments; which ones your favourite or do you have a favourite that's not here ? I'd also love to hear what music means to you :) If there's any other quotes posts you'd like to see then just let me know !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx