Reply from The Lassies

Every year I attend a Burns Night with my Dad put on by a friend of his in Codicote, Hertfordshire. We've gone for the last 3 years now and last year I was asked if I would do 'The reply from the Lassies'. 

For those who aren't familiar with Burns Night, its a celebration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns birthday on 25th January each year. Traditionally its an evening filled with his poetry, a meal of 'haggis, neaps and tatties' washed down with whisky. Its increased in popularity in the last couple of years and is now something of a thing, even in small south English towns. I for one am quite glad, because its a different and enjoyable evening. Anything that perks up January gets my vote. 

Part of the evening includes 'A Toast to the Lassies' which is a thank you to the ladies from the men of the evening and 'The Reply' is the ladies response. 

I wasn't sure about doing the Lassie's reply as I've never been much of a public speaker (get me 1:1 with a cup of coffee and you won't shut me up however). Its only really being a Run Director at parkrun that has got me used to and *almost* alright with speaking to a large crowd. 

I thought I would post my reply here as a little reminder to myself that I did something last year that I have actively spent my entire life avoiding and for future reference for anyone else. 

With a good slosh of prosecco and wine down me, here was my reply:

My name is Holly Finnigan and I am a millennial. 

*Pause*, now I have purposely left a note to myself saying ‘pause’ to leave a moment for a reaction as I wasn’t sure what reaction I would get this evening to that statement.

I am actually a terrible millennial. I can’t stand avocados and and when I checked this morning, my one and only cactus was definitely dead.  True story. 

I was born in 1986 so I am a millennial, but it has not escaped my notice that this is something of a dirty word in the press and in groups of people that are, I shall politely say ‘predecessors’ of millennials. But I hope in my short reply this evening, that you may see that actually we are no different to any other generation.

Imagine the world today without women’s sufferage, the women who kept the country going and didn’t want to just get back in the kitchen after WW2 ended, the invention of the pill, the Beatles, changes to marriage laws to make the right to marry the person you love equal for all, the people who said this happened to me so we could say metoo! Imagine if we all just listened to those who don’t want change, where would we be? Probably stuck in Robert Burns time, in fact we probably wouldn’t as the average age in Rabbie Burns’ time was 35. So we’d all be ‘deid’ as the Scots would say.

Both as a millennial and a woman, I’m told that ‘we don’t know hardship’, that we’re ‘snowflakes’ who are too easily offended and can’t cope in the real world. Like the generations before us, we’re not always going to get it right. But we want to try. We want to learn from the past and celebrate what is good and improve what isn’t.

My generation has shown me that it is ok to challenge someone who is treating me unfairly due to my gender, to challenge men at work who address me differently because they are being lead by woman. In 2019, this is still a challenge that I face personally and I know theres plenty of others that would say #metoo

My generation has shown me that we still have a long way to go in terms of equality and educates me on how I can use my white privilege to challenge inequality and stand with those that face oppression.

I also see equality in action in my generation, with no better example than my beloved parkrun. Whether I’m running or volunteering the challenges are the same, the expectations are the same and I’m not treated differently because of my gender or anything else for that matter. It is one of the most positive parts of my week, largely for these reasons. I believe that one day the rest of my week will catch up.

The desire to grow, make positive change and our world a better place doesn’t belong to millennials, it belongs to us all.

I hope that my reply has give you a little smashed avocado on toast for thought. They say the future is female, but I like to think the future is us all. Men, we need you. We need you to cheer us on from the sidelines, love us and support us and we need to do the same for you. A toast to the wonderful laddies in our lives, may we know them, raise them and love them.  

Happy Burns Night

Best wishes

Holly

x

#hollyruns10002k18

(Almost) a new year and time for a new running challenge!

I tend to do some kind of running challenge every other year, 2014 was running the London Marathon, 2016 was running every day and 2018 will be running a total of 1000 miles for the year (yikes).

I've been thinking about where I can take my running next and I had a few ideas. However when a couple of #ukrunchat friends said that they were thinking of doing 1000 miles and asked if I fancied joining them, it lit a small but wild fire in my running soul and I knew quite quickly that it was the right challenge for me. 

I'm also going to be raising a few pennies for Stevenage Haven along the way so my challenge benefits not only myself but others too. Haven is a homeless hostel in Stevenage that I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of weeks a go through work. It was a particular moment I had there that confirmed that I needed to take on this challenge and do some fundraising. I won't be sharing my experience here but I'm happy to discuss it individually with you if you're interested. 

If you're interested in following my progress, the best place to find me is on Instagram and Twitter, I'm @ohhollygosh on both. 

If you can spare any pennies and would like to see 2017 out with a good deed my fundraising page is: 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hollyruns10002k18

Thank you and best wishes for 2018...here goes!

Holly

xx

Westminster one week on

This time last week I was in Westminster, this isn't an unusual place for me to be as the organisation I work for's head office is based there. But last week, on the 22nd March I was there when the attacks took place outside the Houses of Parliament.

I want to start by saying that I was fortunate enough not to be involved in or witness the attacks, but being in the vicinity affected me in a way that I still can't describe but more deeply than I thought it would. I wanted to write this blog post to remind myself of how I felt that day. 

However, one week on the shock has subsided and I have made my way through what I can only describe as the 'fog' that I was floating in in the days following the attack. I've been sitting here, fingers poised at the keyboard ready for the words to come out as freely as they did last week. But they won't. In the days following I found it difficult to simply just 'carry on as normal', but my Britishness has caught up with me and whilst this has helped me look forward it isn't helping me with what I set out to do.

After sitting here for a while I remembered an email that I'd sent to BBC Radio London the day after. I don't normally listen to Radio London but my Mum does and she told me that they were speaking about the attacks all day the following day. You may think its strange to want to keep going back to an event that was so unpleasant, but hearing others talk about it felt comforting and made me realise that it was ok to feel as deeply as I did. It compelled me to write in to Jo Goode's show with my experience to remind others that it was ok to feel however they felt, even if they weren't directly involved. It felt odd at first and I spent an hour or so deliberating over whether I should, but I did and I'm glad. My email got read out on the show, which you can can listen to BBC iPlayer for the next 24 days (my email is read out about 1 hour and 25 minutes into the show).

So I hand over to my last week's self, she can articulate what I wished to say much better than I can:

Hi Joanne,

I live and work in Hertfordshire but was working in Westminster yesterday in my organisation's head office which is round the corner from where the attacks took place.

I was fortunate enough not to witness or be involved in the attacks but to be so close to it and see such horrific events take place somewhere where you visit frequently has shaken me considerably. I walked past Westminster Bridge and The Houses of Parliament on my way to work and was in the area on my lunch break an hour prior to the attacks

I can't stop thinking about PC Keith Palmer and the fact that I probably walked past him a couple of times that day, both of us with no idea of what was to come. Thinking of PC Palmer, Aysha Frade and the others that lost their lives, are critically injured and their families has moved me to tears many times over the last 24 hours and I'm finding it difficult to carry on as normal.

I have felt silly at times feeling so affected by something I wasn't directly involved in, but to those who are also feeling like me. There is no shame in feeling compassion and loss for your fellow human beings. Compassion, kindness and love are what makes us good human beings.

My heart goes out to the people that have lost their lives, their families and those who are still fighting for their lives and my gratitude goes out to the emergency services who looked after us all yesterday and every day. It reinforces my opinion that first aid should be taught as standard in schools and is a skill that we should all have. Inspired by MP Tobias Ellwood I will be renewing my first aid certificate.

Many thanks and have a great day

Holly Finnigan 

As I said in my email to the show I did feel silly and even not 'entitled' to feel how I did. But I know that I'm right and that compassion, kindness and love are what makes us good human beings and we should all strive to live these values in our day to lives, even if others do return it.

I know that the 22nd March 2017 will stick with me for the rest of my life and my heart goes out to all those whos lives have changed forever as a result of that day.

Holly

x

March Goals

I was inspired to write this post by Essbeevee's Sarah's Instagram post this morning about making some March goals.

I have quite a few goals this year, some I've started and are ongoing and some I'm yet to start. Looking at them on paper, its quite an overwhelming overview of things I want to achieve this year. So inspired by Sarah I have decided to break them down month by month starting today (how is it already 1st March?!)

I've broken them down into personal and work and have limited them to 3 each to keep them SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time bound, those who work in care will know what I'm on about here ;) I'm only going to list my personal ones here though, because lets face it they're more interesting and no one wants to hear about my paperwork woes.

Personal

• Listen to one new band - I used to be so in to music in my early twenties and LOVED going to see live music. Its not that I've lost my love for it, but the older I've got and the more 'adulting' I've had to do and some of my interests changing and growing the more its taken a back seat. Plus also, now I've hit 30 its time to admit that I now purchase seated tickets over standing (comfort all the way folks). However, last weekend I went to see Me First and the Gimme Gimmes which is a band my boyfriend likes. I was feeling a bit non plussed by the whole thing at first, however since they are a covers band and I fancied a bit of a dance I switched my seated ticket to standing ticket and ended up being right at the front with my boyfriend's friend. As much as I didn't enjoy being dragged into circle pits and being squashed I forgot how much fun gigs can be. I'm making it my mission this monthly to properly listen to one new band I've never heard of before.
• Stick to my triathlon training plan - at the end of January I joined a new gym. I'm a runner and love to be outdoors, however I need to get to grips with cycling and swimming more as I'm doing my first sprint triathlon in July (eek) so I joined a gym. The first 3 weeks were great and I was kicking my training plans ass, the last couple of weeks...I've had to be a bit flexible with my working hours so my ass has been getting kicked rather than the other way round. I've also not been getting enough sleep so getting up to go in the morning has, well, sometimes not happened. This month, that will change. 
• Sort out the spare room - I know, *yawn*. We're planning on (fingers crossed) buying a house next year so I'm prepping way in advance by slowly but surely having a good sort out and getting rid of stuff. I know that we will be exchanging our 2 bedroom cottage in town for a tiny 1 bed flat on the outskirts so things need to go to avoid sharing a bed with a shelving units. I'm also trying to make the upstairs spaces a lot nicer, staring with the spare room.

So there we go, a little bit of accountability. I'm hoping that breaking down my goals into bite size chunks will help, I'll let you know how I get on. 

Happy March everyone, do you have any goals for this month? 

Love from

Holly

x

Writing

Back to the start…

(Nearly) 365 days later…

Fast forward a few months...

These are just a few title ideas for this blog post that I had before I settled on one. At what point do you pick up a blog that you haven’t posted on for nearly a year? The last post was when I had just started #hollyruns3652k16 and I’m now only 33 days away from completing it.

I didn’t really plan on blogging about my challenge and I didn’t really have any goals with the blog as a whole as such, but I didn’t plan on it being this long before I posted again.

This year I’ve started reading a lot more than I had done previously. I have always loved to read but as I’m sure anyone with a full time job and other responsibilities can relate, its one of those things that tends to fall by the way side of this thing called life. I’ve been doing my best to make sure I make time for this though. Some months have been harder than others to make sure that I’m making time to pick up a book but I have knocked through some of my reading list.

As I have been reading, my thoughts have also turned to writing. Until right now when I am writing this post, these have just been thoughts. As a child and teenager I always used to write. My friend and I used to write a magazine when we were young and had plenty of time to play and create, then when I got older this turned to writing a journal and eventually an online diary. I’m actually trying to regain access to my online diary from all those years a go, I’m not holding out much hope as we’re talking 10-12 years since I last logged in but I’ve contacted the administrator as it would be great to read it again.

Very boldly for my 16 year old self, I shared my online diary with my friends and a number of them read it and followed suit by starting their own. On the one hand its seems strange that as a 16 year old I was happy to share some of my innermost thoughts and what was going on with my life with my friends and strangers, something I don’t always feel comfortable doing now so publically as a 30 year old. But the internet and social media (which wasn’t even a thing then) has changed so much that it seems quite a scary and alien concept to share the sort of information that I used to.

I never fell out of love with writing but my feelings for it definitely changed. I did a degree in English and was very much made to feel like I needed to write in a certain way, and of course about certain things to meet the criteria of my course. I guess it just became a bit of a chore and once my degree came to an end and I didn’t need to write anymore, I just stopped. It wasn’t intentional but it happened. For me, university wasn’t the most positive experience of my life and I got used to hiding how I felt about a lot of things. I’d stopped sharing in real life so I stopped sharing online, I also didn’t want to acknowledge that a lot of the time I wasn’t having as much fun as everyone else or feeling about university experiences how everyone else felt and wanted me to feel. I felt that ‘if I didn’t write it down, it wasn’t true’ so my online diary stopped when I was about 20.

I regret that I stopped using the written word to document my life but I compensated with photographs, another medium I want to include more in my life next year.  

Whilst I don’t think I would share to the level that I used to before, I would like to start writing again and its definitely on my list of goals for 2017. I’m not entirely sure what it will look like at the moment, but I read a lot of blogs and I have some ideas about what I want to mine to look like. Last night I read some of my past blog posts and I enjoyed it, so if I enjoyed it I can only hope that maybe others will to (though its not my main reason for writing a blog).

I’ve written this post over the last 20 minutes and the words have flowed easily. I have felt how I want to feel when I write so I’m hoping that this is a positive start. Fingers crossed for 2017.

Holly

x

Holly Runs 365 2k16

So, 2015 wasn't my greatest year of running. I completed the London Marathon in 2014 and it was one of the biggest achievements in my life. However since London I felt I'd achieved my goal that I'd worked for 3 years to get to and I struggled to stay focused as I didn't know what was next.

I spent a lot of 2015 wondering what my next challenge could be and it came to me a few days before the new year. 

I know I can train for a marathon but I don't know if I can run every day for a year. I needed a new challenge and now I have one, run a minimum of a mile every day for a year.

Can I do it? Well if there's 366 vlogs at the end of 2016 then I'll know I've got there. Its Day 13, I'm  25.4 miles in and doing pretty good so far.

I'll be doing 1-2 minute vlogs every day to document my year, come along with me? Follow along here.

Happy 2016 and Happy Running! 

Holly

x

Its December the First

Happy First of December!

Yes I am one of those people! December is officially here so my family, friends, colleagues and especially my boyfriend can no longer tell me off for being festive. I've been window shopping all the Christmas decorations and drinking all the coffee shop's festive drinks since the end of October but now it is well and truly an acceptable time to crack out the Christmas jumpers and turn up Michael Buble. 

I absolutely love December 1st and always try to make sure I have something fun and festive to look forward to on the day. As you read this I will be on my way to a conference for work in London. As snoozy and unfestive as that sounds, I've actually really been looking forward to it as its a day of showcasing all the wonderful work that people in the organisation do and seeing people being recognised for what they have achieved (and of course, free lunch). I also get to see some lovely colleagues from other parts of the business that I haven't seen for a while and we're all going to go out for drinks after the conference. So all in all a happy happy day.

And just incase you need to kick start your festive cheer, here a picture of my Mum's Christmas tree that I helped her to decorate yesterday...

And a super cute little tipple of sherry (mandatory when decorating Christmas trees) with the glittery Christmas lights...

Whether today is a normal day, you give it a nod by opening the first door on your advent calendar or you go full on Slade and Christmas jumpers, I hope it is a great one for you!

Holly

x

Forever Living: Clean 9

Is it just me or has Forever Living just sprung up everywhere over the last few months? One minute I'd never heard of it, then the next thing my Twitter and Facebook feeds were filling up with post boasting the health benefits of all the products and friends becoming distributors.

Incase your social media accounts have managed to filter out Forever Living posts, the products are aloe vera based products that promote and support health and wellbeing. 

I have to say, at first I was a little sceptical. As someone who's spent much of her twenties overweight, I finally learnt that when it comes to losing weight and maintaining (thats the hard bit folks) a healthy lifestyle its very much about playing the long game, theres no quick fix. However after success with Weight Watchers a couple of years ago, one thing I do know about myself is that I'm more likely to get to where I want to be with a plan. 

I literally gasped out loud in my bathroom when I stepped on the scales recently and found that I'd put on nearly a stone, I know that in the last six months I had put on some weight but I was a little shocked to find out that it was that much, After this revelation I found myself clicking on the Clean 9 links to see what it was all about. I still wasn't 100% convinced so I read some blog posts on it, including one written by a medical professional. I still wasn't entirely convinced, but slightly against my better judgement I decided to give it a go.

My old school friend Jen from High Heels Baby Wheels has recently become a distributor so I got in touch and purchased my Clean 9 kit from her online shop.

Away we go...

Day 1: I thought this would be the hardest day but it turned out to be one of the easier ones. I think the feeling that I was back in control and a 'fresh start' vibe largely aided this but I was happy to ride on the quest of that wave. I didn't need any of my free foods and the day went without a hitch.

It's true what they say though, aloe vera gel...there's no way to sugar coat it (if only), it's not good. 

Day 2: Definitely one of the tougher days. One day without food was fine but my brain was starting to catch up with the rest of my body and started demanding to know where the food was. 

It was this day that I realised how much extra bits and bobs pass my lips on a daily basis. One of my clients gave me a rock cake that she'd made at college (it quickly went into a food bag into the freezer for a post Clean 9 treat) and there was a box of homemade biscuits made by another client on the side in the office. On a normal day I would have tucked into these without a second thought, I felt quite inwardly smug at shunning the goodies with relative ease. 

By the evening...man was I ready for some food. I stayed strong, had some cucumber and strawberries and held on to the thought of day 3's 600 calorie meal. 

Day 3: This was my first weigh in, I was thrilled to see that I'd lost 4 pounds. Seeing such a good result definitely set me up for the day.

Day 3 was also shake day. I tried Herbalife once and quickly realised that it wasn't for me, a shake in the morning just didn't cut. I was always starving by 10am which entirely defeated the object. However after two days of no food, a shake hit the spot nicely.

I made sure I drank plenty of water to stop me feeling hungry over lunch and the thought of my 4 pound loss plus my first proper meal in the evening kept me going.

We had Zizzi takeaway for dinner and I had a lovely king prawn and roasted tomato linguine dish for my 600 calorie meal.

Days 4 and 5: So I would be lying if I said there weren't times when I wanted to sneak a slice of toast or nibble on one of the oreo cupcakes I baked for my boyfriend's Mum's birthday, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I could see my body shape changing and my skin felt amazing. Even the aloe vera gel started to be 'ok'.

Day 6: Second weigh in day. I lost another pound and I was well into the swing of 2 shakes a day plus a 600 calorie meal. 3 days to go...

Day 7: Today was a tough day, it was my boyfriend's mum's birthday so we all piled round to his sister's house for birthday tea. I had my 600 calories ready and raring to go but I knew I wouldn't be able to indulge as much as I normally would (I confess that I did sample my oreo cakes, I couldn't not). Happily though I was full far quicker than I normally was so I was able to enjoy the evening without ruining my cleanse. Bonus points for saying no to a glass of wine when offered!

Day 8: 1 day to go. Today felt like I was so close but yet so far. I was starting to feel quite ready to finish but with two days to go I knew I just had to push through it.

Day 9: Final day. I felt good today as I knew that it was the last one. I thought I'd be desperate for a Dominos, however as much as I was looking forward to eating proper meals, I couldn't wait to do a healthy food shop and focus on a better lifestyle.

In total I lost a total of 5 pounds and 4 inches round my waist so I was pretty chuffed with that.

So here we are, Clean 9 done. Now for the crunch, would I recommend it. If you're someone that needs a kick start to get you going or gets better results with a structure (like me) then I would definitely recommend Clean 9. I had the added motivation of an important wedding come up at the end of this month so I wanted to feel better about myself and more confident in my dress.

Even if you're feeling a bit sludgy after over indulging on holiday (those breakfast buffets *heart eyed emoji*) then Clean 9 would be a great holiday detox.

Not sure if you've quite made up your mind yet? Here are the pros and cons...

The pros:

Just incase any of you were wondering, I picked the vanilla flavour pack, purely because it's all or nothing with chocolate for me, I can't stand chocolate 'flavoured' things

• Better skin, hair and nails, mine were glowing!
• Weight loss (though this isn't a guarantee)
• More energy, perfect if you do early morning shifts like me
• Motivation to continue with a better lifestyle
• Water intake, its easy to mistake hunger for lack of hydration. Clean 9 ensures that you taking on enough water which helps stop you reaching for the snacks

The cons:

• It is important to say that this is a cleanse and not a weight loss programme, though you would be forgiven for thinking it is. If your rep has added you to the Facebook group 'The FIT Group' then you'll see all the posts saying how much weight people lost. Clean 9 is about cleansing your body which isn't always about loosing weight (I would be very surprised if you didn't shift a few pounds though)
• The cost, it is a little pricey £108.95 so its important to make sure its right for you
• I didn't think it was as bad as everyone made out but Aloe Vera gel does not taste good. If you do decided to continue with the gel after Clean 9, Jen has told me that there are more flavours that are a little easier on the taste buds

Have you done or are thinking about giving Clean 9 a go? I'd love to know what you think or if this post has helped make your decision.

Thanks to Jen for all your support, if you're thinking about Clean 9 please check out her shop.

Have a happy and healthy week ahead...

Holly

x

A little update

So this is going to be a quick one...

After initially doing quite well on the old blogging front, June was somewhat of a wash out. I'm going to use the excuse of life getting a little hectic.

Whilst I love my job, it is both mentally and physically draining and there are a lot of demands, often at the last minute. It has been a slightly turbulent time over the last six weeks and I have been feeling tired a lot. I really hate being tired, I feel a lot of people use being 'tired' as an excuse to be lazy. However that is how I have been feeling.  

I am also moving house on Saturday (eek). My boyfriend and I are moving in together and I cannot wait (2 sleeps to go). However what with viewings, handing over silly amounts of money, signing here there and everywhere and worrying about the endless amount of furnishings and utensils that we still don't have, the blog has very much been on the back burner.

I don't want that flame to go out however, so I'm hoping that I can post more regularly very soon as I have some posts planned.

I shall leave for now on a positive note...a few weeks back I went to Hitchin Bid's Midsummer Ball Midsummer Dinner with my Dad, on the way a very lovely lady called Jasmine came up to me and told me how great I looked in my Myleene Klass dress that she'd seen on my blog post. Apologies if I seemed startled Jasmine, it was totally unexpected but I really appreciated it. 

Here I am in the dress in real life, not just twirling round in my living room. Unfortunately this is 'Dad Photography' so my legs are not in it and its a little blurred (poor posture as well Hol, sort it out). I'm hoping I'll get a few better snaps when I wear it to my friend's wedding in August. For those of you who read the original post...I wore the colour block shoes!

I hope this post finds you all well.

Heres to being back.

Holly

x

100 Happy Days: Day 56 to 65

Day 56: Doing my first ever parkrun at Panshanger...I'm now a little bit addicted

Day 57: An impromptu glass of wine and risotto at my Dad's, I love those sorts of evenings

Day 58: Sampling lunch at The Old George in Ickleford, conclusion...I think I might have to go back and try their grilled cheese sandwich again, just to double check that it really was good!

Day 59: A glass of fizz in my Mum's garden, bliss

Day 60: A day off chilling out in the sun on Windmill Hill

Day 61: Finally plucking up the courage to brave the weights area of the gym #thisgirlcan

Day 62: Funny texts from friends

Day 63: Reminiscing on my London Marathon 2014 experience, this photo of my red and sweaty face will forever be one of my favourites

Day 64: Stopping the car outside Hitchin to appreciate the view

I love how this 9 days of the challenge really represents the small things in life that are making me smile. That's what's it's all about really. 

I'd love to know if any of you have done/are doing #100happydays or perhaps this post has inspired you to start? Send me your Instagram/Twitter name and I'll check it out. You can see all my happy moments by following me at @ohhollygosh on Instagram under the hashtag #ohhollygosh100happydays

Holly

X

A VERY pretty dress

I don't know about you but when I'm looking for dresses I NEVER see anything that I like. My best finds have always been something I have happened upon on browsing my favourite stores online or on blogs, this little beauty was no exception.

I first saw this dress over on Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter's YouTube channel and knew I had to check it out. I have an important wedding of two very good friends coming up in August and I wanted to start planning my outfit early. 

I've looked at the Very website many times but I've never committed to buying anything. However after this purchase the Very website is well and truly saved into my favourites (did you see what I did with the title...sorry). 

This dress is from the Myleene Klass range and I could not be happier with this. The material and quality of the stitching feels like it should be a lot more than the £65 price tag and its the sort of style that would suit absolutely any shape. How gorgeous are the colours and pattern?

Myleene Klass for Very.co.uk Floral Print 50s dress, £65, available in sizes 8-20

And of course I had to do some token silly photos...

I'm sure after a few glasses of fizz at the wedding I will be doing a lot of this, so its just practice really!

Originally I ordered a 12 but it didn't quite close at the back so I exchanged it for a 14 and it fitted perfectly so I would recommend sizing up. 

So the shoes...

These are currently the contenders for choice of shoes. I got the top pair of couple of years a go from Primark, I think they're really unique and its very unlikely anyone else is going to have them. On the other hand, I love the rose gold ones. They're pretty and super comfy as well. I'd love to know what you think, answers on a postcard...or in the comments would also do :)

I do love a good wedding, are you going to any this year?

Holly

x

This is not a sponsored post and this item was not gifted to me. All items were purchased with my own finances. 

100 Happy Days: Day 47 to 55

Day 47: Sitting down to dinner at work, homemade butternut squash and parmesan sauce with homemade bread

Day 48: 50 days till Ibiza (41 when this goes live), the excitement is building now

Day 49: Cheese and wine night at my friend's house last weekend, how grown up we've all become

Day 50: Sunday brunch in the new Wetherspoons with my boy before heading to work. I can't believe I'm half way through this challenge already.

Day 51: Reliving running the London Marathon last year, I still can't quite believe I did it. I'm looking forward to watching it next weekend knowing that I've done it (and got the t-shirt)

Day 52: A gorgeous falafel wrap from Chef Martin Burke's stall on Hitchin Market. If I'm off on a Tuesday or Friday thats my lunch sorted!

Day 53: A post work Starbucks in the sun with my Mama, one of my favourite ways to spend a sunny afternoon

Day 54: Experimenting with the humble baked potato, do I feel a recipe post coming on?

Day 55: Starting personal training, my face after doing intervals. I absolutely loved it though.

Over half way now, what will the next half of the challenge bring?

Holly

x

100 Happy Days: Day 38 to 46

Day 38: 60 days (now 48 days as this goes lives) days till my girly holiday to Ibiza with my two best gal pals

Day 39: A spontaneous Wednesday night of Mexican food, 90s songs and selfie sticks

Day 40: An Easter graze box gift from my bestie

Day 41: So apparently 11pm the day before Good Friday is not the best time to go to Tescos and expect there to be shelves of Easter eggs...getting creative making some creme egg brownies for my boyfriend's family for Easter

Day 42: Hot cross bun pudding for Easter Saturday dinner

Day 43: The Easter Sunday dinner table at my Mum's

Day 44: An Easter Monday walk on Barton Hills

Day 45: Joining the gym and my reasons for doing so (I feel another blog post coming on)

Day 46: Hanging out with Isla, my Dad's friend's gorgeous choccy lab

Whether you do the church thing or just like to chocolate egg, roast dinner and family time bit, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.

Holly 

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Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

I've always been in Camp Make up wipe for as long as I can remember. Every few years I've bought a set of cleanser, toner and moisturisers after feeling inspired by a beauty evening (think Virgin Vie parties for those who remember them) or a well meaning magazine article. Admittedly my skin always felt much cleaner and better after a full 'cleanse, tone, moisturise' routine, but really...who has time for that (or the care when you're tired or *ahem* have had maybe one more glass of wine that you should)? When I'm taking my make up off, its the last thing I do before I get into bed so I'm normally sleepy running the wipe across my face whilst getting all my bits and pieces sorted. I know its not the best beauty routine but unless someone was willing to be my personal make up removed, the make up wipe it was destined to be...until micellar water came along.

I first sat up and took noticed of micellar water when Lily Melrose spoke about the Nivea version in one of her blog posts. I was intrigued by the talk of one product and one cotton pad to take off all my days make up but not 100% convinced. I made a point of swing by Boots the next time I was in town to try it. I couldn't see the Nivea one but the Garnier one was on offer (and the bottle was a tad prettier, yes I am that girl) so I decided to give it a go. 

The first time I used it, the sceptic in me told me to use no less than 4 cotton pads to take all my make up off, however as time has gone on I can truthfully say that 1 pad takes off both my face and eye make up. I was also pleasantly surprised to wake up without any excess eyeliner or mascara smudged into an accidentally smokey eye under my lower eye lid, the way it always does with make up wipes. You also don't need to rinse your face afterwards.

I have been using this product for 3 weeks now and my skin is much better for it. I'm removing my make up properly and my skin has felt much more hydrated. Even better, its all in one product. No more excess bottles of product clogging up your dressing table or having a separate eye make up remover.

Obviously, a bottle of micellar water has cost me more than my usual £1 pack of make up wipes but as you only need 2mls of the solution plus a cotton pad the cost per use is far less.

The only negatives is it did sting a little when I got a bit in my eye so make sure you keep them shut when you're using it, there is also one for sensitive skin as well so if you're particularly prone to this then maybe consider purchasing that one.

Have you ever used micellar water? Did you like it or are you sticking the cleanse, tone, moisturise or make up wipe routine. Let me know how the other brands compare if you've tried them.

Holly

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Please note that this is not a sponsored post and I have not been gifted this item. I purchased this item with my own finances after reading about it and all opinions are my own. I have not received any benefit for writing a positive review.

100 Happy Days: Day 29 to 37

Day 29: Doing my best to find my running mojo again

Day 30: Belated birthday treat of Pizza Express takeaway and cava with my mamma

Day 31: Discovering the lunch of joy that is Itsu

Day 32: The best delivery, is a delivery of Quest bars

Day 33: Heading to Edinburgh for my friend Lucy's hen do

Day 34: School girl fancy dress for the hen night out

Day 35: Hotel breakfasts are the best

Day 36: I have found my dream shoes...and they will be mine!

Day 37: Post hen do/'I have nothing in the fridge' dinner

The last 9 days have been a good 'un!

Stay happy

Holly

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Sweet Potato Smash

Tell me what is better than carbs and cheese? Not much in my view. Budget friendly, versatile and just damn tasty (and probably the reason why I was a few pounds heavier than I should have been during my university years). 

I happened upon this healthier little alternative by accident when searching through my cupboards for some lunch the other day. I love cooking and quick and simple, throw together type recipes are my absolute favourite. Behold the sweet potato smash...

Ingredients 

One large sweet potato (Waitrose seem to do the biggest ones)

2 small/medium eggs

A sprinkle of hard goats cheese (I'll leave the exact amount to you depending on how healthy you want to be, although remember goats cheese has a full and powerful flavour so you really don't need that much)

Seasoning to taste (I used Schwartz Italian seasoning)

Method

Preheat your own to 200 degrees and pierce your sweet potato in several places

Place your sweet potato on a foil lined baking tray and bake for 40 minutes

Score the top of your potato into a cross shape and gently squeeze the sides so the inside of the potato begins to come out

Gently mash with a fork and create a small well in the centre, keeping the fluffy insides in the skin

Crack two eggs into the centre

Sprinkle on your goats cheese and seasoning

Bake for a further 10 minutes until the eggs are cooked

Voila...a healthy, filling and tasty meal for happy tastebuds and a smiley waist line. This went down very well on my Instagram feed, so please do let me know what you think if you give it a go! 

Happy Friday

Holly

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100 Happy Days: Day 20 to 28

Day 20: My favourite sandwich from Chilli B (aka the best sandwich shop in Hitchin), if in doubt its always an Italian Job from Chilli Bs

Day 21: Lots of happy memories with my Mum in a little post for Mothers Day

Day 22: My first attempt at Topped With Cinnamon's sweet potato gnocchi and pesto recipe (also click here for a great cooking hack I came up with for this recipe) #nomnomnom

Day 23: Finding that a tidy home made for a tidy mind during a stressful week

Day 24: Then and now, me in 2009 and 2015. Sometimes I need reminding how far I've come.

Day 25: A meal out at my favourite Chinese restaurant

Day 26: Exploring Westminster on my lunch break whilst spending the day at Head Office. I managed to find a lovely little market tucked away down a side street so I'm looking forward to my next visit

Day 27: Saturday snuggles with my boy

28: Sunday fun at Top Golf (and I actually won a game) 

Stay Happy

Holly

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Meat Free Monday

So I did this post with with National Vegetarian Week in mind as I'd seen lots of articles about it, however as soon as I clicked 'publish' I discovered that its not actually till the 18th-24th May (note to self, must pay more attention). However I thought I would still share with you a variety of veggie meals that I have either made recently or cook regularly to give you some inspiration if you're planning giving the old veggie thing a go for a week in May, theres nothing like a bit of forward planning anyways (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it *insert wink face here*).

Spaghetti with Butternut Squash and Parmesan Sauce from Skinny Taste

Photo credit: Skinny Taste

This is my absolute go to pasta sauce, I'd say I eat this at least once a week. If you're a lover of all things cream and cheesy but want something a little lighter on the cals, trust me this one is for you.

Broccoli and Quinoa Casserole from Eat Good 4 Life

Photo: Eat Good 4 Life

This one may change your mind about broccoli and quinoa its that yummy. Make sure you use decent mozzarella.

Blue Cheese Pesto Pasta Bake from Essbeevee

Photo credit: Essbeevee

Real comfort right here and only 9 Weight Watchers Pro Points for those who are watching. Also perfect for batch cooking.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Wild Garlic and Sage Pesto from Top With Cinnamon

Photo credit: Top With Cinnamon

This is a nice one to do if you're cooking for someone and have a little more time but also great to freeze and keep as well. If like me you can't get the dough to roll out, all is not lost because I have a little hack. Put the dough into ice cube trays and freeze...hey pesto (sorry) gnocchi made easy 

From ice tray...

To pan...easy peasy!

Potato Mushroom and Aubergine Curry from J for Jen

Photo credit: J for Jen

A nice simple curry recipe if asian cooking isn't your forte (like me)!

Whether you're a long standing veggie like me or just planning on giving it a go for a week in May (life without beef burgers is not that terrible, I promise), I hope this may have answered the 'so what do you eat' questions. Do let me know if you give any of them a go.

Happy Cooking

Holly

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100 Happy Days: Day 11 to 19

Day 11: My first ever Krispy Kreme, stuffed and topped with Lotus biscuit. I shouldn't but I did and I don't regret a thing

Day 12: A slight contrast, my new addiction to smoothies from my Blend Active blender

Day 13: Enjoying a coffee from The Ground Works in the sun with my bestie

Day 14: Bread and cheese for lunch, need I say more?

Day 15: Working for 10 days straight equals 7 hours in the kitchen to make sure I have lots of healthy  but yummy meals to hand

Day 16: Hanging out with Ambrose at my friend Tom's new house

Day 17: Finding other uses for my Blend Active bottles. Slices of lemon + a few sprigs of mint = healthy flavoured water

Day 18: Saying goodbye to my friend Mel who's moving to Turkey with tea and churros

Day 19: A post work glass of fizz with my Mum to celebrate Mother's Day

So its looks like I didn't do too badly on trying to branch out from food posts wouldn't you say? Even on a week thats been work work work, its great to look back and see the snippets of happiness and fun in amongst it.

Stay happy

Holly

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Get To Know Me Tag

I've been reading blogs for about 4 years now and I feel like I know some bloggers very well just by reading their posts. As much as a blog gives away someones interests and personality, its always the little things you learn that help you really get to know a person. I've decided to do the 'Get To Know Me' tag to share a few little extra pieces of me.

1. Are you named after anyone? Nope, my Dad wouldn't agree to Paloma or Scarlett so Holly it was!

2. When was the last time you cried? I'm not really sure, you'd think that this is because it was a long time a go but it probably wasn't. I'm not one for crying after a few too many gins (though I can't lie, it has happened) or in public. However I am an emotional person so I do in a sense get upset easily. Things that normally upset me are the injustices in the world and seeing people suffer. In my line of work I'm more likely to see these things and that can be upsetting, I feel its made me stronger over the last 18 months however. I have also been known to cry over a particularly emotional episode of Eastenders. A long answer for a short question, the short answer...my brain is telling me the last time I cried was over a song that provoked a memory.  

3. Do you have kids? No, not quite ready for that yet!

4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? I think so, I am a chameleon friend in the sense that depending on who I'm with and my environment can bring out different colours of my personality so I think I could be friends with me.

5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? More so when I'm work but not as a general rule.

6. Will you ever bungee-jump? I know its really boring, but theres not much that I'd want to do less than throw myself off something!

7. What’s your favorite cereal? I eat most cereals except Frosties or Weetabix, but lets all be honest cereal is not the most riveting of breakfasts, but about 4 years a go I tried M&S cereal with the Belgian milk and white chocolate curls. It was so good that I never ate it again as I could probably eat chocolate for breakfast every day but I don't want to tempt myself as I like to be healthy and save the naughtiness for real treats. Alas, a love that will never be. 

8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Their clothes I think, I know it sounds a bit superficial but I really think you can tell a lot about a person by what they're wearing.

9. What is your eye colour? I was once told 'sludge', I prefer a mix of green and hazel

10. Scary movie or happy endings? Happy endings every time and I'm not ashamed to say it.

11. Favorite smells? Clean Cotton Yankee candle, Christmas trees and 'Miami Glow' by J Lo as it reminds me of holidays...a mix of suncream, sea, warm air.

12. Summer or winter? This is a toughy, I love the feeling that summer brings. Everyone is in a good mood and its much easier to dress in the summer. I also love winter though, snuggling up on the sofa, eating comfort food and Christmas of course. I think I'm going to perch on the fence here.

13. Computer or television? Computer, I'm not a huge TV watcher and I can watch telly on the computer anyway

14. What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? Either India, Thailand/Vietnam or America

15. Do you have any special talents? Most people don't believe me when I tell them I can tap dance to quite an advanced level. I'm not too shabby at running I suppose, I'm no Paula Radcliffe but I did manage to run the London Marathon last year in under 5 hours which I'm very proud of.

16. Where were you born? Stevenage, England

17. What are your hobbies? Running, Pilates, yoga, reading, fashion, cooking, travel and eating out

18. Do you have any pets? No, but I grew up having dogs and love snuggling up to my Mum's little Jack Russell. I'd also love to have guinea piggles!

19. Favourite movie? I'm not a huge film watcher but I'm a sucker for chick flicks, other than that Chocolat always warms my heart.

20. Do you have any siblings? Nope, I'm an only child. People ask me if it was sad or lonely not having any brothers and sisters. To that I say no, it rocked and still does.

21. What do you want to be when you grow up? I'm already pretty grown up but I feel very privileged to say that I love my job and my life and I'd like that to always be the case.

I hope you've enjoyed getting to know a little more about me, if you've done this tag recently please link your post below. I'd love to get to know you too.

Holly

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