A Weekend Away To Make You Feel Like A New Woman

Whether you’ve got kids, a hard-hitting career, or your schedule is simply jam-packed with things to do, it’s important you prioritise yourself by taking some time away to rejuvenate and feel like a new woman. Planning a great weekend away could mean returning home to your career/kids/husband/life feeling like a brand new person and ready to tackle whatever life throws at you.

Here are some pointers and ideas that can help you to plan this:

Take A Look At Spas In Your Area

If you don’t want to go too far but you do want a weekend filled with relaxation, then take a look at any spas in your area and see if you can find a great package deal to save some money. Alternatively, you could drop some hints to a parent, sibling, or spouse if you have a special occasion coming up, like an anniversary, birthday, or even mother’s day. Spa days aren't as expensive as you think - it’s only when you start adding treatments to your package the price begins to shoot up. With a good book in hand, you could have just as good a time at a spa using the facilities without having a single massage or treatment. Great even for those on a budget!

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Treat Yourself To A Stay In A Luxury Hotel

If you don’t want to stay in a spa, how about a luxury hotel? Many luxury hotels have spa and gym facilities anyway for their guests to make the most of. Dorsett City Hotel is a good example of what to look for in a high quality hotel that will meet all of your needs. Make sure you take the time here to pamper yourself, and spend some time getting to know yourself again. You don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to feel great, as long as you’re enjoying the time you’re spending with yourself.

Plan A Loose Itinerary

If you do like to have a few things planned, plan a loose itinerary so you can change your mind at the last minute if you need to. Maybe you could look at walking tours, see a monument, or go to a show.

Explore Somewhere Brand New

Exploring somewhere brand new can give you exciting butterflies in your tummy - there’s nothing more exciting than going on an adventure with yourself! It also increases your dopamine levels, so you’ll feel on a high for ages afterwards. The great thing about exploring somewhere brand new on your own is that you can do what you want when you want, and you have absolutely nobody to answer to. It’s so much fun!

Stay Away From Technology

Try not to get stuck on technology. This is about you spending some quality time with yourself for a change, so you can go home and feel amazing. You don’t want to spend your time scrolling friends news feeds even though you haven’t spoken to them in 5 years, or consuming the fake news that’s all over the internet these days. Stay in touch with your loved ones, but stay away from technology the rest of the time.

Read A Good Book

If you’re not using technology, then what can you do? Read a good book! Story books are great, but how about an amazing self help book if you really want to reduce stress in your life and get some actionable tips on how to feel amazing permanently? There are so many out there - just take a look at Hay House’s back catalogue if you’re stuck on ideas. There are books on learning how to love yourself, how to feel happier every day, how to be more productive, and so much more. Reading a book like this for the first time can really open your eyes to how powerful you truly are.

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Treat Yourself

If your budget can stretch, aim to treat yourself to something nice on your weekend away. If you’re used to spending your money on bills and treating the kids all the time, this can feel strange. However, it’s important you don’t feel guilty about spending some money on yourself for a change. You deserve it! Get your nails done, or have your hair done. You’ll feel great even if you can only get a trim, or a blow dry. Maybe you could even treat yourself to a new outfit, or a special piece of jewelry to remind yourself to love yourself always.

Do A Class

There are so many classes you can do, so think back to something you’ve wanted to try for a while and see if you can find one in the area. For example, yoga is a great form of exercise that also incorporates the spiritual, or you could simply de-stress by doing some x-biking. If you don’t want to exercise, you could do a still life class, a cooking class, or something else entirely. It’s totally up to you! Take this time to explore new things and see if you can find a new hobby while having some fun.

Write A List Of Realistic Goals For When You Get Home

Before you get home, write out a list of realistic goals that you want to stick to for the next few months. Here are some ideas:

• Eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg per day.
• Drink 2.5 litres of water per day.
• Get at least 8 hours of quality sleep per night.
• Put your physical and mental health first.
• Exercise 3 times per week.
• Read for an hour a day.
• Spend time on goals/hobbies for at least an hour a day.

It can be tough to fit everything in, but you can do it if you make them a priority in your life. Stop putting yourself and your goals on the backburner and realize how important you are. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and when you feel full and happy, your family will too. Thanks for reading!

3 Everyday Things Storm Emma Forced Us To Re-Evaluate

It’s at times like this that mother nature really shows us who’s boss. We strut around the planet, utterly convinced that we’re top dog. We bulldoze rainforests, we harvest crops, we raise animals for our agriculture, we lay down roads and we build vast jungles of concrete, glass and steel. It’s almost enough to give us an illusion of control. Enough to lull us into a false sense of security. And then the weather takes a turn for the worst and our entire world is plunged into chaotic disarray.

Image by Flickr

When Storm Emma hit the UK last week it seemed like everyone was feeling the effects, whether they were unable to get to work or school because of a decimated transportation sector, or because their job was rendered extremely difficult or next to impossible by the cold weather, or because they realised just how ill prepared their homes were for the sudden and ruthless cold snap.  It seems like we Brits are forever discussing (a euphemism for complaining about) the weather, and yet we never seem completely prepared for it, either at a personal or a ministerial level. Whether it’s inadequate flooding defenses or road salting the government have demonstrated that even with prior warning that they are ill equipped to prevent the life threatening fury of the Arctic storm.

While most of us have been personally unaffected (at least in any meaningful way) by this disaster we should not just send our thoughts and prayers to those who have been injured, declared missing or killed by the storm. We should solemnly consider those who’ve been more profoundly affected than ourselves, but we should also think about how adequately we prepare ourselves for extreme weather and re-evaluate the lifestyle choices that might see our lives negatively affected by the cold. After all, we’re not out of the woods yet and while the cold appears to have abated, we’ve still a while to go before spring sets in completely.

Here are some things that many of us have been led to reconsider in light of the recent extreme weather...

Our homes

I imagine most of us have given our home’s resilience to the cold some serious thought, but I’m are we’ve also considered how unfortunate the unforgiving cold must be for those who don’t have the luxury of a home, and must endure life on the streets in such harsh conditions.

If you’re lucky enough to own your own home, you likely didn’t give much thought to its ability to withstand the cold when you bought it. While this is perfectly understandable, it’s also led many of us to see out the past few days huddled up beneath a duvet, leaning into a fast-cooling mug of hot chocolate. There are many aspects of our home that we don’t realise are inadequate until it’s too late, and a lot of us have experienced the cold far more than we expected to within the cosy confines of our own homes. Since we never know when the next Storm Emma will strike, it’s worth giving some serious consideration to the little things around the home.

The chances are that your home has UPVC energy efficient windows and doors in line with regulations from the British Fenestration Rating Council (BFRC) which are compulsory in modern construction. This does not, however, mean that you’re getting the best possible protection from the cold. BFRC ratings go from A++ to E, and while the bare minimum quality of windows and doors is a C rating, there’s a big difference between an A++ and a C rated window. These ratings are based on how well a window or door is able to retain heat, prevent cold from seeping into the home and absorb solar heat energy. Whatever your style you can change your homes look and stay warmer (and save a fortune on heating bills) by upgrading. You can design UPVC doors online to get an accurate idea of what your doors (or windows) will look like before you commit to buy. If you’ve noticed a chill coming from your windows an upgrade may be long overdue.

On the other hand if you’ve felt that your radiators have been anemic in defending against the cold there may be some issues with your radiators or your boiler itself. Try bleeding your radiators and putting some radiator additive in there. This will increase the surface tension of the fluid in your radiator, allowing it to stay hotter for longer. If your radiators still don’t feel so hot there may be an issue with your boiler itself. If the pilot light is burning yellow instead of blue or you notice strange smells or noises coming from it, the boiler may have to go.

Our skincare

Is anyone else’s face still stinging from venturing out in the furious wind, ice and sleet? If the underside of your nose looks like a flapjack and your skin has taken on a flaky and blotchy tone you may need to reconsider how well you prepare your skin for the cold. While cold weather can actually be beneficial to the skin (it clears your pores, tightens your cuticles and keeps your blood vessels responsive) it can also impede the flow of moisture and nutrients to your skin, making it appear dry, dull and lifeless. Be sure to stay hydrated and moisturise regularly. Remember that on cold clear days your skin is every bit as vulnerable to UV rays as in warm weather so be sure to use a moisturiser with an SPF factor.

Image by PxHere

Our clothing choices

We all have a wardrobe full of outdoor coats but it’s at times like these when we realise just how inadequate most of them are to shield us from the ravages of cold weather. We tend to apply the same criteria to our winter coats as we do to virtually everything else… How good does it look? If you spent the past few days wrapped up like an eskimo yet still felt the chill through your clothes, you probably need to re-prioritize what you look for in a winter coat. Avoid cheap synthetic fabrics like acrylic and polyester as these will not give you adequate protection or let your skin breathe increasing your chances of unpleasant BO. Wool is the obvious choice but for the vegans amongst you, cotton, linen and hemp are equally good choices. Be sure to buy on the large side so that you can layer your clothes underneath.   

Thoughts and Prayers

Part One

I have been trying and failing to write this post for months.  But I have found it impossible.  For someone who has thoughts on everything and usually writes about them, why can I not put my words on to the screen now?

Which brings me to my first question.  At a time when there so much going on in the world, when did we go onto this auto pilot, merry go round from hell of "thoughts and prayers".  Has social media desensitized us to tragedy?

I remember joining Twitter in the beginning of 2010.  I remember being mocked at the time for joining a site that talked about "what you were having for breakfast".  I joined because I heard there was a great Formula One community on there and I wanted to check it out.

Twitter will always mean a lot to me because it introduced me to that great community.  In time it introduced me to the blogging community and to start my blog in earnest.  It enabled my words.  It encouraged them.  It introduced me to new ideas, new perspectives, causes and campaigns that I have never contemplated before.  It enriched my view on the world and what was happening in it, it educated me and opened me up to new ideas.  My journey into confidence started on Twitter.

My interest in politics started as a result of reading articles and the thoughts of people on Twitter.  It checked my privilege.  It showed me what others face in their lives every day; just for being how they are, for what colour their skin was, who they loved and what they believed.

Fast forward to 2018 and Twitter, and the world, is a different place.

ISIS, bombings, refugees, suicide bombers, school shootings, people being shot and killed by police just because they were black, the rise of Donald Trump and the far right.  Katie Hopkins calling refugees who die in the sea while trying to escape as "cockroaches".  We live now in a place where incels think they should be allocated women and celebrate mass shootings.  Where neo Nazis march the streets screaming "white power" and run down people where they stand.

We live in a time where death threats and hate speech is common place and any objection to them is called "taking away free speech".   We live in a time where an MP can receive 600 rape threats in one night. 

A place where Donald Trump can label anything he doesn't like as #fakenews which his followers lap up and escalate.  Where actual fake news stories can lead to a man shooting up a pizzeria because he was told that it was a pedophile ring.

A time when family members of the Manchester bombing victims are trolled and accused of faking their sibling's death.  Where conspiracy theories run rife about the shootings at Sandy Hook and Las Vegas.  Where children who have survived a school shooting are being accused of being crisis actors.

Something seems to happen every damn day and with each new tragedy, the desensitization seems to escalate.  A tragedy happens, we post about thoughts and prayers and wonder, blindly, how this could happen whilst simultaneously, subconsciously, waiting for the next thing to happen. Then the cycle begins again.

How did we get to a place where the right wing media, politicians and gun lovers are attacking and ridiculing children, who have survived a horrendous school shooting, for making a stand for gun control.  Where instead of fire drills, children practice what to do if a school shooting happens.

I don't recognise this place; yet it is the world we are living in.  We bounce from one tragedy to another, without some seemingly understanding the implications, the scale and the seriousness.  We say "thoughts and prayers" without registering anything.

Is this what we are now?  Have I articulated this how I want?  I'm not sure.

What I do know is that there is still good in the world.  Voices that will not be drowned out.  People helping people.  People rising up, standing up and saying "No".

Talk about this comes in Part 2 of this blog.