New Years Eve Nail Art

2016 is on the horizon so I thought I'd honour the new year with a little glitter. Barry M - Masquerade creates the perfect back drop for any party mani. I actually left my nail art tools behind when I came home to my parents for the holidays so used the end of a Bobby pin to write on top. 

Wishing you a very happy new year! 

ox Lucy

2016 Blog Goals

I've been taking blogging much more seriously of late and with the New Year approaching I've come to realise that most of my goals for 2016 were blog related ones. If I get them written down on here I'll be able to keep good track of where I'm at and revisit this post throughout the year to record my progress.

1Purchase my own domain. I'm pretty nervous about this one, I need to do more research into moving over from blogger and which domain hosts are the best. If you've any tips please let me know.

2Streamline my content. Now I'm used to blogging I know what posts I enjoy creating and which are most well received. Focusing my posts in certain topics will improve my continuity and provide prompts when I'm struggling for post ideas.

3Redesign. I love my layout from Pipdig but I'm planning a relaunch once I've sorted my own domain. I want it to be 100% perfect so it's not something I'm going to rush but I've got a few design ideas floating round in my mind.

4Improve photography. I feel like the quality of my images were getting much better during the summer but longer working hours and dark nights have really left me struggling.

5Invest in some equipment. Following on from my last point, I'd like to invest in a light box and tripod this year. I don't need anything expensive, just something that'll help me along the way.

6Rewrite old posts. I've read so much about improving old posts and promoting them again. It seems like a great idea for those posts I wrote when I'd just begun.

7Hold a giveaway. I'm big into comping and enter as many as I can. I'd love to be on the other side, hosting my own giveaway. I might do this when I reach a milestone or to celebrate my relaunch.

8Advertise on another blog for a month. When I'm happy with my blog and content I'd love to purchase an advertising spot on a blog with with readers who would potentially be interested in my content. I'll only do this when I have good quality posts scheduled and I'm happy with what I have to offer.

9Get to grips with SEO. I know very little and I've been learning as I go, picking up a few tips here and there. The beauty of the internet is that it's full of resources that allow you to become an expert at pretty much anything so I'm going to get my study on and become a pro.. or at least competent in SEO. 

10Host a Twitter chat. I love the idea of hosting a chat but I need to gain way more blogging confidence first. This is definitely a goal for the latter half of 2016.

11Expand to YouTube. I love craft and DIY but have struggled to find a format I like for these types of blog posts. YT might be a better option for me so maybe (and it's a pretty big maybe)I'll venture in to a whole new world.

12Write more personal posts. I'm always a bit conscious of putting myself out there and I've got a few draft posts I'm wary of publishing. I'm just going to bite the bullet and do it.

13Comment on more blogs. So often I'll read posts on my iPhone or iPad when I'm on the go and never end up commenting. I need to show more appreciation so I'm going to make the effort to share the love.

14Get ahead. I tend to be about a 2/3 days ahead with my posts. Usually on a Sunday I'll draft my posts for the week and take photos when I can. I tend to leave the final edit until the last minute though and this never makes for my best content. Ideally I'd like to be a week ahead at all times meaning if any emergencies come up or I'll be on top of my blog.

15Plan. To help me get ahead I'm going to start planning dedicated blog times each week. I plan my personal life thoroughly but I can be a bit lax when it comes to blog planning. Dedicated times will help me focus and will stop other things taking over.

16Post daily for a month. I felt a tremendous amount of disappointment in myself when I couldn't complete Blogmas as I was so on track and doing really well. My creativity was flowing and I was getting great feedback. I want to blog daily for a month in 2016 but I'm not sure when. I don't fancy waiting until next December though!

What are your blogging goals? How will you make sure you stick to them?

ox Lucy

What I got For Christmas 2015

After a pretty scary start to the festive season, my Christmas turned out really well. My family loved the gifts I'd bought them for each of them, I ate an ungodly amount of food and I got to spend my favourite time of year with the people I love. I was also extra lucky with the gifts I received this year. Most of them are pictured below - what isn't pictured is the stocking full of chocolates and sweets I'm making my way through as I type this post. I've almost polished off a box of toffee poppets and I'm making my way through a Thorntons' chocolate reindeer. Yep, I'm switching between the two whilst watching movies!

I've divided my gifts up into beauty, stationary, Disney, homeware and entertainment..

Just look at all those Benefits mini's! My parent's bout me a gift set and my BFF filled a Benefit stocking for me. I got my second ever Ciate advent calendar and once again wasn't disappointed. How awesome is the mermaid cosmetic pouch? I'm obsessed!

I'm a bit of a stationery addict so I always welcome new notebooks and such. I'm off to New York next year (61 days) so the travel journal, colouring book and map were all given with my trip in mind. As an organising freak I'll put the magnetic list notepad and weekly organiser to use along with the new additions to my planner stickers collection. Let's just take a moment to appreciate the pencils. You can't quite make it out but they say 'Living for naps and Netflix'. Yes yes yes!

My mum admitted that most of my Disney gifts she first saw on the Disney Find instagram account. I'm most excited about the collection of 90's snow globes that my mum tracked down. I shared a photo of my Cinderella watch on Christmas day and everybody seems to love it just as much as I do. You can check out the close up pic here.

Homeware bits excite me just as much as anything. On the bottom left is a face towel in the same design as my weekly organiser and bottom right is the cutest tea towel I have ever, ever seen!Candles and lights are just what I need in my room right now and everybody needs a calendar, right? I received the Everton FC calendar with the players in some cheeky poses all in the good name of charity. It's a win win as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, I received John Bishop DVD and the Grinch after losing my copy when moving house this year. I've wanted the Mad Men box set for month now and when I saw t on a super cheap deal on black Friday I did the right thing and emailed the link to Father Christmas. I'm saving it for the New Year - I think it'll brighten up those boring January nights after work. Oh and what's that? Yep, just a signed Pretty Little Liars' script. I'm hoping to put this on my wall but I want to display it on a cute clipboard. I have no idea where I'd buy one so the hunt is on! My main gift was this Crosley Cruiser. It's the exact one I've wanted for a while now and in the exact colour I would have chose too. Oh Father Christmas you know me so well..

I'd love to see what you got for Christmas, did we get any of teh same gifts?

ox Lucy 

Post-Christmas Update.

So December has been weird. I started off the month in good spirits with a trip to Dublin and powering my way through Blogmas. I was all organised for Christmas shopping, parties and NYE celebrations and then BAM a bus! Okay so I didn't get hit by a bus but I did get hit by a car. 

In the grand scheme of things I'm okay and it could have been much, much worse. The NHS were of course brilliant and I'll continue to be grateful for a service provided for us by individuals who strive to do their best despite such awful conditions and little funding. That being said, I has a nasty bout of concussion to overcome, badly bruised ribs and cuts and scrapes all over.

I tried not to let it dampen my spirit too much - after all I got time off work to watch Christmas movies (although concussion made them pretty difficult to follow) and my family were, as always, superstars. I soothed my aching muscles in Lush baths which, let's face it, is never a bad experience.

Needless to say, Blogmas went out of the window and Christmas shopping was left until the very last minute. I'd missed online delivery dates so had to battle it out in the high street on the last two days before Christmas. I won't be doing that again. Ever!

I'm still in lots of pain with my ribs and on some pretty strong pain killers but now I'm able to look at a computer screen without feeling dizzy I'm ready to get back in to blogging and plan to start 2016 with a bang!

I hope your festive season was enjoyable and you were surrounded by loved ones.

ox Lucy