It wouldn't be a birthday in the UK without a caterpillar cake, and whilst it's not my birthday, my baby aka my blog celebrates it's 16th birthday today eeek. When I clicked publish on that first post, I never thought that I would outlast so many of my favourite blogs, and still be churning out posts (all be it sporadically!) 16 years later, and what a 16 years it's been!
So much has changed in that time, not only in my own life but also in the worlds of fashion, beauty and of course social media. Blogging to be honest now is a bit passe, people, advertisers and brands, now seem to want faster, simpler content like Instagram and Tik Tok which I can completely understand, but whilst I do dabble in other mediums (check out the links in my sidebar), blogging is the place where I feel really at home, using all be it rambling words to express my feelings, views and frustrations, as I muddle through life.
I'm not going to lie the last few years have been rough not only personally but also blogging wise. Although I am partially to blame, lack of engagement and lack of progression has all made me wonder if it's all worth while, but I still love writing and creating content, and blogging gives me an outlet and a place I can escape to when life gets a little bit too much. Not only that but my stats show that there are still some of you out there that continue to read my blog even when I haven't posted for an age, which is still pretty amazing to me and I really can't thank you enough.
So I guess the gist of this is that I'm not going away anytime soon, I'm trying not to look too far into the future (one of my very bad habits!) instead focusing more on the here and now, and despite several blips at the start of this year, LouLouLand will continue into 2023 and hopefully beyond that.
This year has had a slightly delayed start because, and yes this is the main reason, my mam ordered me a new bed as part of my Christmas present. My old one as you can see was well past it's best, and it was starting to interfere with my sleep, and my pain levels, so I asked for something practical from Santa. We managed to get a really good price on one in the after Christmas sales but we couldn't get it delivered till the end of January - annoying but on reflection it was the best thing that could have happened. My room had to basically be gutted, to get the old bed out and the new one in, and believe me it was hard work, especially for two people with chronic illness but the room was cleared, the bed base was removed and yes I ended up sleeping on a pretty wrecked mattress on the floor for about a week which did nothing for my back.
Eventually we got both the mattress and the bed frame outside for council collection, the new one arrived, and thankfully the fabulous delivery guys took it upstairs for us so it just needed minimal assembly, and voila, new Orla Kiely bedding, and a new duvet, and already my sleep had improved at least 90%, and my back feels less achey when I wake up - result!
Getting the bed back in was the main thing, but we're still unpacking boxes and try to find homes for all the shoe boxes that were under my bed, the furniture is all back in now but since I've decided to go through my belongings with a charity bag in hand as I'm bringing things back in, I've still got quite a way to go before every is back in and in it's correct place - arghhhhh! why is nothing in my world ever simple?
There is no question that I've been doing too much physical stuff so I'm seriously lacking in spoons at the moment hence I haven't really had the energy to do much of anything else, including blogging. That been said I do actually have a couple of posts that are just about ready to go up, so you'll hopefully see both of those next week and I can actually start 2023 properly.
I have no idea in all honesty what direction the blog is really going to go in this year but I'm going to try and live a bit more in the moment and post about what I want, when I want. I have lots of ideas flying around in my head about things that I want to do but as per usual it's about putting them into practise x So Happy Sweet Sixteen LouLouLand, it's been a journey and thanks to your support, and my own bloody mindedness, it's not over yet x
As much as I love buying clothes and beauty products at the moment I'm really enjoying buying and choosing things for the home and more specifically things for my bedroom. Because of my ME and Fibromyalgia even the simplest task like reorganising and tidying my room seems to take a lifetime, At last though I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and although I still have a few things to do before I move onto my craft room / office, it's time to start buying pretties.
My bedroom really is my sanctuary - I want it to be cosy, and comfortable and I want it to smell nice, hence my obsession with candles, and room fragrance.
I love Yankee Candles but in my room I want quick, and easy fragrance and whilst I still burn candles, I really love wax melts for speed and for intensity. The last time I was in the Metro Centres I went to one of my favourite Yankee retailers Collectables and bought a few melts / tarts. I got one of my all time favourite Lemon Lavender, and a few more seasonal fragrances, Christmas Memories and my current my have fragrance Pain Au Raisin.
I'm a huge fan of Christmas fragrance and whilst Yankee always do some amazing spicy and foodie fragrances, my favourite Christmas fragrance is actually Next's Festive Spice. It's the perfect mix of spices, orange and red fruits, and I always stock up while I can.
This time round I got one of the Festive Spice Fragranced Candle Jars which £6 and one of the Next 70ml Festive Spice Fragranced Diffusers which was £6.50.
As much as I love proper candles, you can't leave lit candles unattended, and sometimes with pets they just aren't suitable. Although I haven't really started on my office / craft room yet I though that this Set of 3 Festive Spice Flameless Candles would be ideal for my festive windowsill.
For just £16 you get three substantial wax candles, which are fragranced with the Festive Spice scent. They are battery operated and they come with a remote control, with 2 different timer settings and you can also alter the appearance of the flame. We have flameless candles all over the house and they're are safer, and cleaner way of enjoying candle light, but unlike the rest of them, these ones have a bit of fragrance.
I'm all about mood lighting at the moment, I love candles, tea lights and fairy lights and for a while now I've been trying to embrace the LED star light trend but I haven't had much look. I never managed to get my hands on the Primark one and the only other ones I could find with around £60. that was until I saw this one from Studio for just £14.99.
I wasn't expecting much for the price but this is actually really nice for the price. It's battery operated and made out of a sturdy cream, coated metal, and it features 10 warm LED lights. I was going to hang it on the wall but I've tried it in a few places and I like it best on top of my Muji make up storage.
As well as my star light, several strands of fairy lights, a lava lamp, and some lanterns I also have a set of twig lights, that I originally bought in Primark, which have been quite happily living in a tall lilac vase from Asda. Louise is a clumsy person though and a couple of months ago I broke this vase - sad times :( Since then though I've been looking for a replacement without much look - they were either too small or the necks weren't wide enough for the battery packs. Eventually though I found what I was looking for in this gorgeous silver, mercury glass vase that I got from B&M Bargains.
I'm not sure how much this was but I think it was around £6.99 - £7.99 which isn't the cheap for B&M, but it's definitely worth the money and it's something that you would probably pay way more for elsewhere. The picture below isn't the best but it looks so pretty with the lights reflecting through it.
I love my bargains and I got another lighting piece from another bargain tastic store, Home Bargains.
I'd wanted a one of these for the longest time, but when I first saw them they weren't that cheap. This one was only a couple of pounds and it came with batteries.
I only picked up another one of Mason Drinking Jars, which was on special at just £1. I already have a Kilner one but it didn't comes with a lid so I was happy to add this one to my collection :) I would really love the shot glass versions of these so if you know where I can get some please leave me a comment and let me know x
Ever since I was a tiny tot I've loved stationery and over the last month or so I've become obsessed with it all over again, and I can't seem to stop buying pretty notebooks and office bits. The first stationery item that I got was this notebook from Home Bargains.
I love the black and gold combination and what's not to love about polka dots. Again this one was just a few pounds and I believe they also sell one in a black and gold chevron design. I love my polka dots so I also got this pocket sized brown, craft style notebook, with tiny gold polka dots from BHS. This should have been £5 but I got 20% off.
In the picture you can also see a lovely Orla Kiely Stem Print notebook that I got from TK Maxx. It was £6.99 was is pretty pricey for a plain notebook, but it should about £14 so I still want bargain hunting credit ;)
One of the highlights of going back to school or university after the Christmas or summer holidays was getting a new pencil case, I must of owned dozens over the years, but although I don't have as much use for them as a once did I had to get this one from ASOS.
Eat Sleep Blog Repeat really needs to be my mantra but sometimes real life gets in the way ;) This comes from a brand called James & Friends which I'm lead to believe is Jim Chapman's range. I think I might use it in my newly sorted office but it is big enough to be used as a make up bag so we'll see.
Poundland is one of those shops where you go in for one thing and come out with about a dozen. If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen this cute stationery set.
Yes I know I'm an adult but come on Hello Kitty as Elvis what is not to love. For just a pound you got 2 pens, 3 pencils, 3 erasers, a pencil sharpener, a ruler and a metal pencil tin :) You all seemed to love it on my Instagram and a few of you couldn't find it so I went back and bought another one to giveaway :) All you need to do is be a follow of my blog and fill in the Raflecopter form below before the 1st December 2015. This giveaway is open worldwide so if you're a Hello Kitty or an Elvis Presley fan get entering x
As well as my Hello Kitty bargain, I also managed to pick up an adult colouring book. I love the idea of these to promote mindfulness and relaxation but I really can't justify some of the prices. This Natural Wonders Colour Art For Everyone book contains a variety of beautiful and intricate floral patterns and for just a £1 I'm looking forward to trying to giving it a go.
The minute that Halloween is over, out comes the Christmas things, and Poundland as per usual have a pretty substantial festive selection. This item though doesn't scream Christmas.
There seem to be a lot of these inspirational type signs mixed in with Poundland's Chritmas offerings this year, in both wood and ceramic. These three ceramic hearts come suspensed on a red ribbon, and feature the words " Live Laugh Love" in a red type. I don't think these have to be for Christmas so I'll be displaying them all year round.
Speaking of love, I am the typical crazy cat lady, I don't mind the stereotype at all and there is nothing in life that can't be improved by putting a picture of a cat on it.
This luck black cat from the H&M Divided line is in fact a sticky tape dispenser. Sticky tape annoys the hell out of my but dispensing if from this little guy will hopeful make my Christmas wrapping less of a chore.
Cats seem to a pretty popular motif at the moment and I also got this mug from H&M, which is covered in a montage of cat pictures and features the phrase "You've Cat To Be Kitten Me Right Meow". Slightly cheesy but the perfect pressie for a cat lover.
The final thing that I'm going to show you in this rather large haul, is another item that I was inspired to purchase after looking at instagram pictures, reading blogs. and reading tweets.
Deliciously Ella by Ella Woodward is probably the perfect cookery book for me, it's full of healthy vegan, gluten and sugar free recipes, that sound and look amazing. I'm still trying to eat healthily at the moment but I'm taking a break from the diet thing for a little while x I'll explain why in a post on Monday but as soon as I can I'm going to be working my way through all the recipes in this book, and I already have the sequel on my Amazon wishlist x
I know there was quite a few items in this haul for you to contemplate, so I've an accompanying You Tube video so you can have a better look at your leisure. You can find the video below or via my You Tube channel here x
If you have any questions on anything that I've bought please leave me a comment and of course don't forget to enter my Hello Kitty giveaway x
