Project Life 2015: January Pages

I've finally got round to uploading my January pages vlog for Project Life...

I hope you enjoy a little insight into my January and how I've 'Project Lifed' it, please let me know if you like the video.

Don't forget to watch my Project Life getting started vlogs here and here.

Holly

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What Sarah did

I've been feeling a bit nail bitey about this post, heres hoping it goes down well...

I've never done an outfit post before and I'm not really sure if its going to be something I do regularly. I do love a good selfie, however it felt a bit strange to move all my furniture around (my flat lacks a good backdrop) stand front of my camera and tripod to take photos of myself for my blog. However the aim of this post is not to be a posey pants, but to showcase my wares from a gorgeous little shop in my town.

What Sarah did is a lovely little independant clothes shop in my town of Hitchin. The owner Sarah ,opened the doors to her shop on Bancroft just over 4 years a go and has gone from strength to strength since. Sarah uses social media to showcase the beautiful brands she stocks and to reach out to her customers. As a social media and style fan I've been following her and her store for a long time, however it's only in the last year or so I've been shopping there. 

After being unhappy with my weight and appearance for a long time, about 2 years a go I decided to do something about it and lost nearly 3 stone (that's another blog post). After thinking that this would open a door to a whole new world of clothing that I'd never felt able to wear before, I was disappointed to find that the door was mentally firmly shut with me on the wrong side of it. 

I've always had my own sense of style and known what that was, whatever size I was, however loosing the pounds also meant loosing my style funk and it's taken a while for me to find it again. 

So where does What Sarah did come into this?

I've spent most of my teens and twenties as more of a 'quantity over quality' type of gal and assumed that independent stores would be out of my price range. I decided that rather than handing over my cash to Primark all the time I would try and spend more time thinking about what I was going to buy and if its something I would actually wear time and time again rather than just one occasion. I had so much stuff in my wardrobe that I'd only worn a couple of times before it was destined for the charity shop or I'd bought something and realised that I was buying for the old me and it lay unworn. Essentially my wardrobe no longer reflected who I was and I wanted to make a change, not only in my wardrobe but also in my buying habits. 

Every time I ventured into What Sarah did I just felt different, I always saw things for the new me (even when I didn't realise what the 'new me' liked) and everything I've bought I've worn over and over again and always make me feel good. I've discovered some new brands that I really love that have really transformed my wardrobe and given me back my style. What Sarah did has definitely taught me that spending a little bit more can go a long way. My new purchases also gave me the push to clear out my wardrobe and start afresh.

Here are some of my recent purchases.

I was very excited by this Mink Pink jumper, I've been searching for the perfect cosy knit for years. They never seem to suit me but this one is perfect. £35

I literally ran to What Sarah did when this Reverse tunic popped up on her Instagram account. The quirkiness appeals to my inner teenager but is still grown up enough for my twenty something self. I got this a little while a go but I saw yesterday that she has a few left at the bargain price of £9. 

                          

                                                     

This is the item that made me want to do an outfit post, I've been wanting a stylish rain coat for ages but the ones I found were either a little naff or more than I wanted to spend. I was sat on a plane waiting for my flight to Edinburgh to take off, flicking through my Facebook news feed and I saw that What Sarah did was having a flash sale on Rains raincoats. I sent a pleaing message asking to reserve one, I got a reply straight back saying one was on hold for me. All I had to do was phone up and pay later.

Rains are a dutch brand who specialise in Scandinavian style rain wear, I started lusting after a Rains jacket after seeing this video by Zoella but as these jackets normally retail around £75 it was a bit out of my price range. I couldn't resist snapping one up for £37 at What Sarah did's flash sale. When I popped in to pick mine up yesterday, there were some more in the sale for around £54 if you want to pick one up before the typical British weather sets in again.

Aside from the beautiful clothes, the customer service at What Sarah did is fantastic. If you follow Sarah on Instagram (the best platform to follow her on, especially if you like a funny post to brighten your morning), Twitter or Facebook you can't help but get caught up in the love Sarah has for both style and her shop. She really goes out of her way for her customers too, even when they're sitting on the runway of Luton Airport, ready for take off.

What Sarah did really is one of the little gems of Hitchin that make it such a great place, if you haven't already and you're local please check it out.

I hope you've enjoyed this slightly different post, if you did and want to see more outfit posts please let me know in the comments.

Happy Tuesday

Holly

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@HitchinUK Official Tweeter

I'm happy to announce that have been given the honour of being asked to tweet for a Twitter account for my lovely little town of Hitchin. 

I was approached by the team that run @HitchinUK who asked me to run the account for the week and tweet all things Hitchin. So if you're local and want to read some of my thoughts on our little town and see what I get up to then come on over and give the account a follow.  The account has 2,286 followers which is a scary thought compared to my personal account of 365 followers so fingers crossed I'm up to the challenge.

Whether you're a new business that wants to get yourselves out there, a well loved business with a great offer or a local with something to share about Hitchin please get in touch over the week. I'll be tweeting from now till 6pm on Sunday so I'd love to chat to you all.

Tweet tweet...

Holly

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P.S My personal twitter account is @ohhollygosh #shamelessselfpromotion

Project Life Part 2

The second part of my vlogs on starting Project Life (sorry its taken so long).

Apologies in advance for being in my pyjamas with no make up on...I film this on a Sunday (thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

My next video will be my January pages, let me know if you like the video or have started a Project Life of your own.

Happy Crafting

Holly

x

Trouble Sleeping

I wouldn't normally upload a blog post at this time, but given its content I thought it rather appropriate. 

I guess if you're up reading blog posts at this time that you might be having trouble sleeping? Me too...sometimes it because I'm anxious about something or sometimes (more annoyingly) it can be for absolutely no reason at all. 

I hate when I get to that desperate point of the night when the time I need to get up the next day is creeping up on me, I'm counting down the hours and I've tried everything from a cup of tea to counting sheep. We've all tried them and I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say nine times out of ten these methods are pretty rubbish.

I recently discovered the concept of 'yoga sleep', a method using yoga techniques to help you relax, forget about the stresses of the day and send you off into a good nights sleep. I know what you're probably thinking and I was a little sceptical too.

I've been using a download from Natasha Kerry Yoga which is a free 10 minute sample of a yoga sleep technique. I wish I could tell you about it from start to finish but I've never got to the end as I've always been asleep. Mission accomplished!

If this post hasn't sent you to sleep then enter you email address on the homepage to receive your 10 minute yoga sleep download or click here to download it onto your computer. If you try it let me know how you get on.

Sleep well

Holly

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N.B I'm not being paid or receiving any freebies in order to endorse Natasha Kerry Yoga in any way, I just like the download and it works for me.

100 Happy Days

I know I'm very late to the party with this, but after feeling a little down yesterday I decided to sign up to the 100 Happy Days Challenge.

If you're not sure what 100 Happy Days is, it is a a commitment to post one photo a day to a social media network of your choice (I'll be using Instagram) documenting the small moment in the every day that makes you happy. The idea is to find happiness and positivity in every day and remember that its not just the things we count down to such as holidays, weekends and special occasions that are important...it is also these small moments that make life worth living.

For me I'm hoping that this will help me refocus on a down day and remind me to appreciate each day as it comes...expect lots of coffee moments and food posts with the occasional view thrown in for good measure. 

From now until June 3rd I'll be doing this challenge on my Instagram account so feel free to follow me and join in if you fancy. 

Have you done the 100 Happy Days Challenge? Whether you're taking part in this challenge or not, I hope your next 100 days and beyond are all happy ones.

Holly

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A change of direction...Oh Holly Gosh

So if you're reading this you will have noticed that my blog has completely changed, I hope this hasn't put you off (especially the pinkness, don't worry I'm planning on changing it to something a little less Barbie). 

I've been umming and ahhing about this for a little while as the focus in my life and the things I want to write about have changed slightly since I started this blog back in June 2013. I started One Non Runner as a way to document my journey to the London Marathon 2014, not only for myself but for family and friends who were interested as well (and so I didn't Facebook bombard about long run Sundays...though this one was a gem). Now that the marathon goal has been achieved, One Non Runner has fulfilled its role and I feel its time for a change (though my finger did hover above the 'apply changes' button for a second or two). 

Running is still a part of my life and will be for as long as I can put one foot in front of the other so will always be a part of this blog. However I also want to write about others things that I now have time to do since I'm not having to put one foot in front of the other for such a long distance anymore. 

I have been writing about a couple of non runner things for a couple of months now such as Pilates and Project Life so I felt that One Non Runner wasn't really reflecting my content anymore. Sadly theres no interesting story behind the name Oh Holly Gosh, I just liked it and it also happens to be my Twitter and Instagram handles. 

So what will I be posting about? My new tag line for Oh Holly Gosh is 'A little bit of everything, all rolled into one' (yes I stole the line from this lady) and that is exactly what it shall be. 

Goodbye One Non Runner...Hello Oh Holly Gosh...I hope you'll stay with me

Holly

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