Wednesday 30 November 2016

Welcome To Blogmass | Blogmass 2016

Hello, Lovely People !

Welcome to Blogmass ! It's now officially Christmas, the advent calender's are up and the countdown has begun ( ... but I've been feeling Christmassy since November 6th, What about you ? ). This year I've decided to embrace Christmas in the best way possible in the blogging world , BLOGMASS ! For the next twenty-five days, I'll be sharing some Christmassy goodness every single day at 6;30 am ( UK Time ) other than on Fridays where 'The Yoga Diaries' will be up, as usual , don't worry I won't forget about health and well-being in the festivities ! This Blogmass we've got everything from budgeting and gift guides to OOTD and DIYs , I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and pushing myself forward this year ! I really hope that you enjoy the results.



Today I thought I'd kick things off by listing my favorite things about Christmas !


  • Advent Calenders, I think every day of the year should have the motivation of a small piece of chocolate to keep you going hehe ! 
  • Wrapping up warm 
  • All the sparkly lights 
  • Cuddling by the fireplace
  • Cooking/burning Christmas dinner with my dad 
  • Wrapping presents 
  • Writing blog mass
  •  Dressing up in pretty clothes 
  • Getting creative with handmade gifts 
  • Watching the Doctor Who Christmas special 


I'm so excited for the festivities to begin ! I love it when the Christmas songs come on in the shops and I can sing along while picking out gorgeous little gifts for my friends and family. Yay for the only time of the year that it's acceptable to sing in public ! What's your favorite thing about Christmas ? I'd love to hear from you in the comments. What sort of advent calendars have you got ? Let me know .

If you're doing Blogmass this year then be sure to leave a link in the comments and I'll be sure to check it out !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

Friday 25 November 2016

The Yoga Diaries | Week Two

Hello Lovely People !

So this week was my second yoga class and I had one notable thought throughout the class... OH MY GOSH EVERYTHING ACHES SOOOOOOOOOO BAD ! However it was bearable, I know this because I persevered and put up with the aching. I also learned that it's okay every now and then to let go of the pose and take a second to regather your strength. No one in the class is judging you, they're all too concerned with their own aching limbs so remember to listen to your body and do what feels right. My struggles with Downward dog continued, but a lovely lady in the yoga class moved her mat to be next to me because she saw me struggling and offered me some tips ( It turns out everything's easier when you're doing it right, who knew eh ? hehe ). She was really kind and helpful so I think I'm going to pick her up a box of vegan chocolates in the week as a thank you !

What went well : My Downward Dog is definitely improving.

What I need to improve : Being able to hold poses for longer.

How I'm going to improve : I'm going to do weights every day to improve my strength.

What've you done this week to improve yourself or make yourself proud ? Let me know in the comments !

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx

This is my current efforts towards the extended child's pose ... it's a great pose to relax into when you're struggling to hold more difficult poses for as long as the rest of the class ! 


Tuesday 15 November 2016

Appreciation Of Others | Tag

Hello Lovely People ! 


Recently I've been thinking a lot about how much I have changed over the last few years and it struck me that, as much as I am responsible for how I grow as a person, a great deal of who I am and my happiness revolves around my wonderful friends and family who keep me smiling everyday. It is unbelievably important to show your loved ones how much you appreciate them. So today I thought I'd write a little paragraph expressing my appreciation for the person who's changed my life for the better over the last few years to show how grateful I am. Originally I thought that we could all share our own paragraphs in the comments (which you're more than welcome to do ) but then I decided to make this into a tag ! The world needs a little more positivity and gratitude is a great practice to make you and everyone around you happy.

The Rules ( They're pretty damn simple )  : 


  1. Copy And Paste the rules.
  2. Write a sentence or two about why gratitude and expressing your appreciation of others is important.
  3. Write a paragraph about one person who's changed your life for the better or that you really appreciate having around and say why you're so grateful for them.
  4. Tag as many people a you like to spread the positivity! 

The Appreciation Of Others Tag 



For me, expressing your gratitude for the people who help you out in life is so, so important because it helps them feel valued and appreciated which is the least the deserve after being so lovely to you ! 

One Person Who I am Grateful for is ...

My beautiful girlfriend Georgie. Honey, you're the glue that sticks me back together when the world pulls me to pieces and you stand by my side no matter what. No matter how unreasonable or stubborn or stupid or distraught I am; you are ALWAYS there. Thank you for listening to poetry with me and listening to me go on .. and on ... and on ... and on about accidentally vegan food I've found ( I know that's kind of annoying ) you don't have to but you do. I love you because I knew your lips tasted like candyfloss two years before I kissed you and I love you because you waited so patiently, with such compassion through everyday of those two years whilst giving me the confidence to be who I a today. There's a quote in Wuthering Heights and I think of it when I think of you, it says " Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same" ... only minus the he because you're a girl and it took me a while to be okay with that but because of you I now am. Because of you, I am brave. Because of you I smile when I'm falling asleep. Because of you, I understand what forever means and I know that love doesn't mean anything without you. 

I would like to tag : Rainbow-Rose Blossom, The Thirty Something Life, A Cozy Space, Glass Of Ice, Love From Berlin, Shoes and Glitter and The creative Palette ! And of course if any of you would like to do the tag on your blogs then feel free to or you can leave your paragraphs in the comments. 

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 

Lots of love, Marianne xxx










Friday 11 November 2016

The Yoga Diaries | Getting Started

Hello Lovely People !


Welcome to the beginning of a new series that I'm hoping will motivate and inspire me ( and maybe even you ! ) to take up and stick with yoga. Yoga has a lot of brilliant benefits for both your mind and your body and I have recently become determined to improve my mental and physical health. In today's post I thought I'd share a little with you about what you can expect from this series and answer any questions you might have ! At the end of these questions I will write my first entry in my yoga diary for this week all about my first yoga session, but more on that later.



How does this series benefit me ?


I'm hoping that the series will be a good form of motivation to keep on track with Yoga and get to class rather than just getting the bus home and snacking on cake !


How will this series benefit you ?


Yoga can seem hard and unattainable when you first go to a session because it's made out to be so easy and in comparison everyone else in the class looks brilliant and the moves seem effortless. In reality they're practiced a lot and worked very hard .. but as a beginner that can leave you feeling a little useless and disheartened. In this series I'm going to give you an honest account of yoga and how your skills and strength can develop from the very beginning so nobody will feel alone or disheartened.


Can we work together on this ?


We're all beginners here, so maybe it's something we could do together. If there's any point in the series when you feel inspired to take up yoga then perhaps you could leave a few sentences about your journey in the comments.

Why Yoga ?


Yoga is a fantastic way to focus on mindfulness and develop a connection between your body and mind that has endless benefits on your mental and physical health. It can be a great reliever of anxiety and for any mental problem, the focus on a goal of improving your yoga skills can be real motivation to get out of bed and in turn improves your health.

What will be in each post ?


Each post will only be a short paragraph. You're busy people with busy lives and I understand that so have adapted this series to fit in with your everyday life. I will give a brief summary of that weeks yoga class, talk about what I struggled with and what I enjoyed. I will also talk about what I need to improve and how I'm going to work on that in the week. At the end of each post I'm hoping to include a picture of me in a yoga pose that I've got to grips with that week ( these will be very basic at first but I'm hoping they'll develop with my skills ) .

I really hope that this answers any of your questions about the series but if you have anymore questions then feel free to ask away in the comments !

The Yoga Diaries | Week One | 07/11/2016


This week as I ventured into my first yoga class I was a lil bit apprehensive, everyone was dressed in expensive yoga clothes and was so flexible that I was worried I was going to tear a ligament just watching them ! However the teacher was lovely, she smiled at me and said hello. There was an incense stick burning which made the room smell gorgeous ( I'm definitely going to burn one when practicing at home ). I enjoyed the floor work but I found I struggled with downward dog, I don't seem to have enough strength in my arms to hold myself in the position. I also had trouble with keeping my balance and successfully fell flat on my face in almost every pose ( Honestly it must have been quite beautiful to watch hehe ) apparently I don't have very good balance

What I need to Improve : Downward Dog, I think my main problem here was my strength

How I'm Going to Improve : I'm going to start doing weights in the week. I realise this will take a few weeks to take affect but I'm feeling determined !


Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :) 


Lots of love, Marianne xxx


Sunday 6 November 2016

Yoga and Well-being

Hello Lovely People !

For the last year every so often you'll of heard me say things such as " I really want to get into yoga" or "I went to yoga on Friday and really enjoyed it so I'm going to go every week". I'll only give you one guess to work out which half of that statement was true ( spoiler alert , it was a lie that I was going to go back ). However it wasn't that I didn't want  to go back it was that I simply wasn't dedicated enough to make the effort to keep going back, plus ... it kind of hurt. Yoga is hard work and I'm inflexible and very good at comparing myself to others. So I gave up.



However a few weeks ago I was talking with a wonderful woman who focuses a lot on yoga and well-being. She told me that yoga is about listening to my body and learning to give it what it needs. If the hardest pose is hurting my body then I need to stick with the less advanced and build up my strength. That conversation about looking after and listening to my body as a way to increase my mental and physical well-being inspired me to change my eating habits ( I've become vegetarian and gradually transitioning to vegan , let me know in the comments if you'd like to read some posts about that ) , focus on mindfulness and start doing yoga .

As a way to keep me focused on Yoga I'm starting a series called "The Yoga Diaries" and if you have any better ideas for names for the series I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments. It's going to be an honest documentation of my journey with yoga and mindfulness. I will share new poses I've learnt, breathing techniques, resources and how my strength gradually ( hopefully ) builds up . These posts will be up every Friday. I will be also be posting on another happiness and well-being based post on Tuesdays as part of my new posting schedule. If there are any posts that you'd like to see as part of these please let me know !

I can't wait to start this journey with you ! I'd also love for you to leave your suggestions for amatueur blogs ( under 1000 followers .. preferably under 500 ) that posts about well-being, positivity and health ! I really want to start reading more blog in that area ! I can't wait to read your suggestions.

Stay Strong <3 Stay Smiley :)

Lots of love, Marianne xxx