Summer Solstice

Happy Summer solstice today is the longest day of the year and the official start of Summer here in the UK 🙂 The summer solstice is celebrated in many ways by many different people I won’t bore you with all of that though I am sure that you can google all about Summer Solstice yourselves 🙂

I like to think that I am quite spiritual and in touch with the earth I am an earth sign rising in water so I always feel incredibly connected to nature I love being outdoors barefoot surrounded by plants and trees that I have grown myself. To mark summer solstice I always set out my intentions for the rest of the year and do a crystal cleansing of my body 🙂

One of the folklore tales of Summer solstice is that on this day the veil between our world and the fairy world is meant to be at its thinnest and so you know your girl here took the opportunity to let her inner woodland fairy come out 🙂

How stunning is this dress?? It cost me £1.99 from the Barnardos store and I just had to have it as soon as I saw the print!! It is originally from H&M its so comfy AND it has HUGE pockets!! I brought this in my recent charity shop haul if you missed that post it is linked here for you to see what other goodies I got!! SHOPPING HAUL Part one what I got

I then accessorised with this flower crown headband that I brought from Primark Years ago. For my makeup I just threw all the colours on my face!! I did Mutli-coloured freckles, a purple&gold lip and a sunset inspired eye look with some sequin hearts to just finish it all off!!

So there we have it Happy Summer Solstice

I know this wasn’t the post I had promised I will be styling up my Leather Mini skirt for Tuesdays post so come back then at 8pm to see that 🙂

Speak Soon

Natalie

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Summer Bucket List

Summer, you automatically want to make plans the weather is nice the days and nights are longer just that one little word brings with it so much promise. I now have 10 weeks until I start my new job well….74 days to be precise and in those 74 days I have a lot of plans including two holidays some local gigs and festivals weddings and BBQ’s! However there are other things I want to do with my time off and so I thought I would share with you what I want to get up to this summer.

1. Read 1 book a week. I find in summer that I don’t read as much I’m either out doing stuff or its too hot to concentrate! I have made such a good start in my reading challenge for 2018 and I don’t want the summer to let me down!
2. Visit the Beach. I really hardly ever visit the seaside which is crazy considering I live an hours drive away from one!!
3. Go for more walks. Again I live 5 minutes away from a beautiful nature park and I never take advantage of that which I 100% should.
4. Do a Movie Marathon. I have always thought about doing this yet never have! I could either watch all the Harry potters or All the hobbits&LOTR or all the Hunger Games, Maze runners etc.
5. Visit the Cathedral&Museum. I want to immerse myself in the culture and places that are in my home town. I have visited the museum&Cathedral before but not for such a long time!!
6. Get lost. I want to either walk or drive somewhere with no destination in mind to see where I end up!!
7. Try vlogging. Maybe….perhaps I may just do more Instagram stories/live streams.
8. Get a tattoo or piercing. Well as I have ten weeks for a tattoo or new piercing to heal it would be rude not to take advantage of that fact right??
9. Get through my Netflix/sky/amazon prime watch-list. I need to start watching all the films and TV series I have put on my watch-list and I know that it would make more sense to do this in Autumn/Winter but I find that TV is so much better in Autumn/Winter so I always end up watching new stuff instead of all the stuff on my watch-list!
10. Do something new every week. Whether its trying a new food/drink, going to a new place, trying a new hobby I need to do more new stuff instead of being in this rut!

So there we have it my summer bucket list lets see what I get up to!!

See you tomorrow night at 8pm where I will be talking all about the Leather Mini Skirt

Natalie

Find me on my other social media sites

Instagram @_Natalie_church_ (Personal)  @_natalie_blogs_ (BLOG)

Email: Nataliechurch@hotmail.com

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Ch Ch Changes

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Turn and face the strange
Ch-ch-changes
There’s gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

Apologies for the random Bowie Tangent  Hello my loves I hope you are all well. Did you see my shopping haul on Thursday? If not I will leave the link here for you to see what goodies I got!

This post is a little different but I thought that I would share with you some changes I either have made, am currently making or want to make to my lifestyle and routine. I have put it in the changed category if I have already made this change for 3 weeks or more. If it is less than 3 weeks it is in the currently changing category as I feel you need to leave it a few weeks to see whether it has actually made any real difference, lastly fairly self explanatory there are things I haven’t yet changed that I want to by the end of the year and will require some help and recommendations from you guys!!

So things I have already Changed

Workout routine I used to workout at night, when I say workout at night I mean I would workout on a Monday night and then that was that. I also had got stuck in a rut doing workouts that I just didn’t like so I could easily talk myself out of not working out! So I had a look on Youtube and I found a 10 minute morning yoga and a 10 minute morning workout video (20minutes in total) and I have been doing this every morning and I feel brilliant! It really sets you up for the day and its nothing too strenuous I actually wake up looking forward to doing my workout!

Sleep. I have a messed up sleeping pattern as it is with my illness and I never get a decent rested nights sleep BUT I have made some changes to my night time routine that I am hoping will actually be doing some good internally even if I wont ever feel the benefits! I turn off the TV my laptop tablet and phone at 9pm I then put my salt lamp on, read a few chapters of my book and attempt to stop reading and be ready to go to sleep at 10pm.

Reusable items. So I already have and use reusable bags when shopping. I have invested in a water bottle, a ceramic travel mug, steel straws and I want to get some cutlery to have in my bag at all times. This is in an attempt to stop the overproduction of unnecessary plastic that is ruining our planet particularly our oceans. I also don’t use as much kitchen towel, cling wrap, kitchen foil as I used to as it is so unnecessarily wasteful

Social Media. I have deleted Facebook, messenger and Instagram off of my phone I don’t want to be accessible 24/7! All I found myself doing is at every little opportunity i’d be scrolling through my news feed and it was so unhealthy! I have also logged myself out of Facebook and I check Instagram once in the morning and once in the evening when I have posted a photo. I have also deleted twitter. I feel SO much better for this!!

Things I am currently changing

No phone/tablet/laptop in the bedroom. I watched ironically a Youtube video on my phone about a guy that gets up at 5:30 am and in talking through why and what he does etc he said about the benefits of leaving all his electrical items outside of the bedroom. He turns his phone off and doesn’t turn it on until 3 hours after he wakes up! So I have managed to keep my phone tablet and laptop out of my bedroom for 10 days now, I wake up at 7:30 and I don’t check my phone until 9 am. Since I deleted all my social media apps there really is no need to constantly check my phone!! I then at 9 am turn it onto ringer so I will hear it if it goes off again eliminating the need to keep checking it and I then turn it back to silent at 9 pm when I go to bed.

Mindfullness. I love the calm app its free to download and has free meditation walk through’s and it is just a super helpful app. However now that I am keeping away from my phone I need to put into practice everything that I have learnt through using the app to truly practice mindfullness and be in the moment with myself.

Sustainable Food. I am trying to eat less meat and less processed items. I don’t know as I could go full vegetarian I guess if I tried hard enough I could but I am more conscious of food waste and sourcing products in a friendly sustainable way.

Vitamins. I have an immune deficiency disorder so my immune system is……well zero I don’t have one haha. So I have decided to be adult and start taking vitamins to give my body a fighting chance when germs come calling!!

Things I want to change

Sustainable fashion. You know that I already love a good charity shop bargain however there are still some shops that I purchase from that are in the fast fashion industry (mainly primark) I also want to look at the way that I shop, I don’t just buy things because they are cheap but there are certainly pieces that I buy that I could do without i:e things that are similar to items I already own. So I need to start looking into the way I shop.

A cruelty free Makeup bag, lotions&potions and household products. I was horrified to read a list of companies that still test on animals I mean its 2018 for goodness sake!! I went through my make up bag and cosmetics and thankfully only a few items that I purchased are from companies that test on animals some companies really surprised me!! By December this year I want to only have items that don’t use animal testing so if you have any suggestions for me please please please leave them in the comments!!

Composting. I have a mini compost bin but I want to upgrade to a larger composting pile to use on my vegetables and flowers.

Reducing my Carbon footprint. I just think we need to start as a whole looking after our beautiful planet. I know there’s conflicts and wars and poverty and daily struggles but this is the only planet we’ve got and there are animals, wildlife and younger generations that are relying on us to get our shit together and start making changes!! I don’t need to drive 5 minutes up the road to the shops. I can walk to so many places from my house!! I also don’t need to have all the lights on in my house or use my tumble dryer in summer just there are so many small changes everyone can make to start looking after this planet.

So there we go maybe its because I reached a milestone this year and I’m becoming more reflective and conscious of my choices but I feel very positive about everything I have changed and everything that I want to change so yeah that is all for today my loves 🙂

 

 

SHOPPING HAUL Part one what I got

I needed to capitalise that because honestly we SHOPPED!! we were out for 7&1/2 hours we visited 4 new charity shops we found half price sales 99p sales we hit the jackpot!! I know i said this would be a try on haul but 1-I got SO much stuff it would make this post too long and 2- I just didn’t have the time to wash&dry everything and then style it for this post to go up so Monday will be the try on part of the haul 🙂

First up our favourite £1 Sue Ryder store I actually only got one thing from there and it was this basic grey roll neck top originally from AsosNext up we went to a new charity shop that only opened Monday which was an RSPCA shop I found this really cute dark wash denim mini skirt for £3.50 originally from New LookThen we headed over to the first Barnardos store of the day they had an offer on dresses all dress £2.99 so i picked up this beautiful floral and butterfly print dress it should have been £8.99!. I then got these Black H&M trousers for 99p Lastly I brought this pair of sunglasses for £1.49

Then we headed to another new charity shop ( new to us anyways) that were having a Half price sale day the salvation army charity shop, firstly my mum found this really cool grey leopard print mac it was £4.00 Reduced to £2 and is originally from Miss Selfridge. I then found this cool khaki green pair of jeans they were £3 Reduced to £1.50 originally Primark. I also found this amazing pair of patterned trousers  they were £5 Reduced to £2.50 originally F&F with the tags still on!! Then at the till I found this beautiful orange stone ring was £1.50 reduced to 75p!Then we got into town and our luck began to dwindle!! We didn’t find anything before lunch! Then we went into the salvation army and I found these two rings for 50p each and this beautiful brooch for £2Then we went to the cancer research shop and I brought this cute black denim waistcoat for £1 originally from Miss Selfridge. Then in Age UK I found this cute black and gold star print scarf for 99p. Then we went to the British heart foundation and they had selected items on sale so I found this gorgeous purple printed dress for £2.49 was £4.99 originally Jane Norman

We then decided to head to the Barnardos outlet and boy did I find some GEMS! First up I got this purple Ralph Lauren Polo for 99p Then I found this cool star wars T-shirt originally from Primark again for 99p Next up is this velour style T-shirt again 99p Then I found this beautiful pair of Navy trousers they are by DrDenim Jeans makers and they are SO soft!! I did some google research and their trousers retail from £40-£90! I got these for 99p Then I saw the print of this dress and just HAD to get it!! Its originally H&M and was £1.99 Then I found this Jacket that I had tried on in one of their stores before but it was £8 and I couldn’t justify that on a Jacket I will wear occasionally! I then saw it in the outlet for £1.99 and snapped it up!! Again I did some google research and to buy new you need around £700 on Ebay even old stock goes for £100!! Lastly in this shop my mum found the best bargain! A brand new Denim Jacket from Miss selfridge with the tags still on should have been £39 I got it for £2.49Then the last shop we went to was another Barnardos store and they had a deal all women’s clothing 99p!!! First I got this pair of Primark Jeggings for 49p I missed the sign that said all trousers 49p! So they were even more of a bargain. Next up this simple Primark summer dress for 99p Then I found this beautiful hot pink floral dress again 99p Then I found this velour style skater dress 99p Simple leopard print tie waist top H&M for 99p I then found this gorgeous botanical print top originally H&M I wanted to buy it when it was in H&M but couldn’t ever find it in my size so again I snapped it up for 99p Lastly I found this simple Black H&M cardigan for 99p

The only thing I didn’t take a photo of was this gorgeous vintage dress that I picked up for 99p I have left it with my mum for her to wash for me as I was scared I would shrink it or damage it in some way!!

So there we have it my HUGE shopping Haul coming in at a grand total of £43.05!!

Which was your favourite piece?

 

 

 

 

 

May Review&Roundup

Books: I took a while to get into a book this month I didn’t read my first book until the 11th I then read a short story called Paris for One by Jojo Moyes whose books I love! This was a really nice little read and got me out of my slump!

I then read a book that I have wanted to read for a while called Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine. This book wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be about it really shocked me and I just wasn’t expecting the storyline and its direction. The ending was…odd not in a bad way you kind of got gratification but it wasn’t what I would call a storybook happy ending but I wasn’t annoyed about it, it added to the story and made it more real!

I then read a YA novel called 45 pounds more or less. Its about a girl called Anne who is 16 years old and a size 17 and she wants to loose 45 pounds in 2 months to be bridesmaid at her Aunts wedding. It was a nice little heartwarming story that really resonated with me about how hard being a teenager is ( yes i was a teenager many years ago but i still remember exactly what it was like!!)

I then read Coraline by Neil Gaiman I have wanted to read this for SO long as I like Neil Gaiman and the concept of this story had Alice in Wonderland vibes but I just hadn’t got round to reading it! It was only 170 pages so I finished it in a day it was FAB!

So 4 books again thats a total of 17 for the year which I am so happy about as my target is 30!!

TV&Films

Film wise I watched The house whilst we were at Center Parcs it was actually really funny! I really enjoyed it Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell play the parents and the ensemble cast are all familiar faces including Nick Kroll who is my weird crush I just LOVE him!!

I also watched Game Night which was hilarious! Its about a group of friends that have game nights at their houses but one evening a game of murder mystery goes hilariously horribly wrong!

Then after reading Coraline I just HAD to check it out on Sky movies and it was brilliant and insane and colourful and has fast become one of my favourite films!!!

The last film I watched in may was The Death Cure and as predicted I sobbed like a baby 😦 It was a really good ending to the trilogy and I just can’t believe it is over 😦

Tv wise I watched the Euro-vision song contest I watch it every year with my parents we print out score sheets and make a proper night of it its brilliant fun!!

I have also been watching a programme called Glam masters Laverne Cox is the host and its a make-up artist competition I really enjoyed it and I hope they renew it for another series.

HUMANS series 3 EEEEEE I feel like I have waited SO long for the third series when I saw the first advert for it I screamed and jumped up and down!! I love this programme and I am so glad that it has continued so well!

Another programme I have seriously loved is Back to the Land. Kate Humble is the Presenter and basically she goes across the UK visiting businesses and entrepreneurs that are creating and running businesses  based on the land and nature E.G farming, Wild Floristry, Seaweed farming its brilliant I missed series 1 and I am actually incredibly gutted!

Something I am going to be adding to my roundups is something I put in my diary and that is my song of the month and my quote of the month 🙂

So this months song that I just loved and played a ridiculous amount was, Something that I want by Grace Potter from the Tangled soundtrack. I re-watched Tangled and cried AGAIN and then at the end this upbeat song comes on and I thought OMG I need this on my spotify and I have played it several times a day everyday!!

My quote for the month of May is….

Be a Warrior not a worrier.

I have had a lot on my plate lately and it has just messed with my head and my body I have had a huge identity crises I have had a huge amount of pressure piled on my shoulders and things have just been a bit CRAP 😦 so I allowed myself a whole mental health week, a week of no exercise, poor diet, pjs all day re-watching my favourite films and not talking to or seeing anyone then after the 7th day I got up started my new morning routine started making an effort and showed the HELL up!!

That my loves is May over and done with!

Speak Soon

Natalie

 

 

Being Bold

I have been in a rut, sticking to the same colour palette and outfits not really venturing too far out of my comfort zone. I had a huge sort through of my clothes shoes and accessories I tried everything on and I pieced together some outfits with pieces I wasn’t sure about and if I could make at-least 3 outfits with the piece that I liked and would wear then it got to stay, if I couldn’t style it up it went into the charity bag!! I now have a wardrobe filled entirely with fun pieces that I love and it has made dressing so much easier and so much more fun! I have also been trying out more fun makeup looks and I am feeling bold and powerful and thought that I would show you two of my favourite looks from this week that reflect this new bold me 😀

 

30 days wild challenge

Hello and a Happy Thursday to you all. This is a bit of a different post for me but its something I not only feel incredibly passionate about but its something that has helped me with my mental health and as it is mental health awareness week I thought it was the perfect time to talk about this 🙂

The wildlife trust are doing a 30 days wild challenge throughout the month of June. It’s basically a challenge to get you to reconnect with wildlife and wild places in your surrounding area whether it be going for a daily lunch time walk, planting wildflower seeds (which they provide in your welcome pack) building a bug hotel or a hedgehog highway its all about reconnecting with our wildlife and appreciating what we have. They send you a welcome pack with a wall chart of ideas, some stickers and some wildflower seeds 🙂

I will leave the sign up link below. I think this is a brilliant idea, I have found that being in nature has such a calming effect on me i love listening to the birds and insects seeing the trees and flowers sway in the breeze the smell of dew on the blades of grass the trickle of streams its just bliss!!

So I am going to be taking part in this throughout the month of June and would love for you guys to join me!! I will be posting everyday in June on my Instagram to update you all on what in the wild activity I have completed that day 😉 Follow me here: @_Natalie_church_

Some ideas I’ve had are to create a little wild flower section in my garden, build a bird bath,make a bug hotel,look into bird houses,make sure I put out bird feed, look into volunteering at my local park, go for a walk everyday at a different time of day, bird spotting, breakfast dinner and tea outside one meal a day for a week. There are so many ways you can get out in nature and help our little wild friends out!!

Sign up here :http://action.wildlifetrusts.org/page/20877/petition/1

So who is with me?

Speak Soon

Natalie