Review: Valentina - Elephants Bracelet

It has been way too long since I did a jewellery post on this blog, where has the time gone? Today, I am introducing you to a company called Valentina. The company was founded recently in 2015 and they pride themselves on creating beautiful yet sustainable jewellery. Everything is assembled by hand in England, and it's always great to support a growing business. 

Valentina have kindly sent me their beautiful Elephants Bracelet* and I absolutely love it. I don't own any charm bracelets so this is a very welcome addition to my jewellery collection. It features various animal charms alongside some very pretty blue beads. The bracelet comes in three sizes and is fully adjustable. It is also silver plated and free from nickel. All Valentina items come packaged in fully recyclable material in order to protect the environment. 

A portion of all sales are donated to a charity so if you're not sure which bracelet to go for, why not check out the charities instead to see which one you'd like to support? With this bracelet, 10% of the sale goes towards the World Wide Fund for Nature, a charity dedicated to looking after our environment and the wildlife, whilst tackling climate change. I think that protecting our planet is so important not just for ourselves but for future generations, and it's great that Valentina helps to support that. 

They have also kindly offered my readers a discount code to offer you all 30% off all of their items. You can use the code linda30 at checkout. Hurry, it expires on the 16th of March 2016!

What are your thoughts on this bracelet and the company behind it?

Self-Love

Here we are again, the 14th of February, a day that most of us know as Valentine's Day. Some people love the day filled with soppy romantic gestures, whereas others could not think of a more pointless day of the year. Nevertheless, today has been a great reminder for me that before anything else, self-love is so important. 

Appreciate yourself and everything that you do. It's okay to give yourself a pat on the back for finishing that drawing you've been doing. It's okay to tell yourself "well done" for running that extra mile. 

Likewise, don't beat yourself up for not completing a task. Tomorrow is a new day and you can start again. We are always taught to forgive others that we sometimes forget to forgive ourselves. 

Live your life with intention. It can be monotonous to stick to the same routine day in day out, not knowing why you're doing what you're doing. Find something that you're good at, find something that you enjoy.

Cherish your body and mind. Feed your body with good food, feed your mind with inspiration and new knowledge. 

Being alone is not the same as being lonely. Use your "me-time" to gather your thoughts, to assess your dreams and goals, to reflect on what's been going on. Pamper yourself, read a book, do a puzzle. 

Independence is cool. Learn how to do things for yourself even if it scares you. Being able to carry yourself is one of the best feelings. 

Find your happy place, the place that makes you smile and the place that makes you feel as though all your troubles just drift away. 

Stop waiting for someone to love you. That person is you. Anyone else who comes along is just an added bonus. 

Stop waiting in general. Be patient, be persistent, but don't stop moving. 

The best person in this wide world to transform you into a better version of yourself  is YOU. 

Happy Things #5

Weekends. I've taken my weekends for granted for way too long and I feel like I've finally taken control of them again. The weekends are mine. They are my time to do things that I love and see people who I care about. It's amazing what a happy weekend can do to your mood for the week ahead.

More healthy baking. I'm pretty sure that my last Happy Things post contained healthy cookies but you can never have too many healthy cookies, right? This time I baked some banana and oat cookies, a recipe from the Deliciously Ella cookbook. They tasted so good and I didn't add a single drop of refined sugar in there. 

Sports. As a child, I wasn't into sports at all but now I love getting involved in sports, mainly anything with a racquet. You can't beat a game of badminton or squash to perk you up on a Sunday morning.

New boots. I've been lusting after a pair of Ted & Muffy boots for ages, some of you may know them as Duo Boots. After trying on the brown Somerset boots in store, I ordered them online a few weeks later. They were originally £220 but I have just seen that they are on sale for only £85, and I highly recommend Ted & Muffy as the boots are so comfortable and you can purchase them in a variety of calf widths. 

Getting organised. Ever since getting my Filofax, I've been jotting down all my plans and appointments and making sure that I'm super organised. From a reminder to service my car to a mini-break that I have booked for this year, being organised is such a great feeling. 

I hope that you have all had a wonderful and happy week!

Follow me on Instagram to keep up with what I'm to!

5 Lifestyle Habits To Adopt In 2016

First of all, I hope that you all had a very Happy New Year and that you welcomed 2016 in style. I was curled up on the sofa in my pyjamas, watching Bryan Adams belting out his amazing songs on BBC before very enthusiastically joining in with the Big Ben countdown and watching the spectacular fireworks display that followed.

Now that all the festivities are over, the talk on everyone's lips are about New Year's resolutions. Whilst I stopped making those a few years ago, I prefer to talk about goals and habits, and concrete activities that can be carried our regularly such as "go for a run once a week" rather than "lose five pounds".

So today, I am going to be sharing with you my top lifestyle habits to adopt in 2016.

1. Be an early bird

Unless you do night shifts, it's always good to wake up early in the morning because it can really improve your mood. It's a great feeling to wake up and know that you have the entire day ahead of you. Also, I love the feeling of heading out for some fresh air knowing that most people are still fast asleep in bed. Shopping also becomes a much more manageable task when it's early. I find that anything between 7am to 8am is a pretty good time to get out of bed but try to make the time constant. Set your alarm if you have to and don't be tempted to hit that snooze button, it'll only make it harder to get out of bed. Don't forget to sleep earlier too! I love getting up early on a weekend to go for a run or to head down to the sports centre. It really wakes me up and refreshes me for the day ahead.

2. Strive to improve, not to be perfect

No one is perfect, and there's no point beating yourself up trying to be. It's unlikely you're going to be the top of absolutely everything, learn every language in the world, and be world-class at every sport. If you could then you'd probably be King or Queen of the world. Instead, aim to be a better you. Put more time into practicing your favourite piano piece, spend more evenings improving your tennis skills, grab a notebook and draft out some new blog post ideas. Improvement feels satisfying and gives you something realistic to work towards.

3. Cherish your body.

It's yours. Look after it. Feed it well. Exercise it. There is nothing wrong with indulging every now and then. I love food but I also make sure that I cook healthy foods most days and I workout at least five times a week be it going for a run, a game of squash, a fitness DVD or a home-made workout. You don't need a gym membership and you don't need a subscription to any of these food-to-door services. Just be more mindful of what you eat, and get moving every day. The best workouts I do are in the comfort of my own home with my favourite music turned up. And if I want an apple pie with ice-cream on Sunday, I will. It's about moderation, not restrictions.

4. Say goodbye to the people that bring you down.

Surround yourself with positivity and inspiration. Let go of the people who drain the joy out of your life and those who fail to see your value. They are not worth your effort or your time. Do things that you enjoy, and spend time with those people who make you smile just as much as you make them smile, and those who are there for you just as much as you are there for them.

5. Gather your daydreams, then stop dreaming and start doing.

There is no dream too big and there is also no dream too small. You don't need to aspire to be the next famous make-up artist to the stars, it could be something as simple as perfecting the perfect red lip. I have lots of mini dreams such as learning a nice piano piece that I heard the other day. But instead of sitting around thinking "gosh I wish I could play something so beautiful", I got myself a copy of the sheet music, sat myself in front of my piano and started practicing. Daydreaming is a wonderful thing but it's ten times better when you take steps into making those dreams a reality.

I hope you've enjoyed this post and perhaps you might implement some of these lifestyle habits today. The world is your oyster...

P.S: I have recently found my way onto Instagram so come and check out my page: www.instagram.com/IAmLinderella