25 Things I Want To Do Before I Turn 30.

Happy Saturday my lovelies! This past weekend I turned 25 and got to join the quarantine birthday gang. Since I couldn’t (and still can’t) go out or do anything for my birthday I decided to chill out with a slice of cake, low-alcohol wine and an episode of the Great Pottery Throwdown; which honestly is probably how I would’ve ended my birthday anyway being an introvert and little old lady at heart.

One of my Christmas presents was a gratitude journal so I’ve also been reflecting on what I’m grateful for, what lessons I’ve learnt over the last 25 years and I’ve also decided to make a list of things I want to do before I turn 30.

Things I’m grateful for are:

• My body for getting me where I am today – even though I live with chronic pain, I’m grateful for what my body allows me to do.
• My imagination and creativity.
• My family and friends.
• My job – it’s honestly the best job I’ve ever had and that’s not only because I love me work family but I also love making an impact in the mental health and addiction sector.
• My newfound ability to not care what others think of how I look.
• Finding witchcraft.
• Music – it helps me find motivation, brings me joy and always helps me unwind.
• For finding myself again over the last year.

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So, onto the 25 things I want to do before I turn 30 (in no particular order):

Birthday Selfie! (Still baby-faced as ever)

Go to pride in London – I wanted to go last year but obviously due to covid we couldn’t, so hopefully by 2022 we can have an in person pride!

Buy my own home – at the moment I’m living at home with my family and saving up for a deposit so I can get a mortgage in a year or two.

Have a full diagnosis of my chronic back pain – if you didn’t know already, I’m a spoonie and have been going back and forth for over 4 years trying to find out what causing my back pain (you can read more about it here!).

Travel somewhere by myself – you always hear about these transformational travels people go on and I want to experience that!

Get a new car – mine happens to be slowly deteriorating on my driveway at the moment..but I’m also not going anywhere so it’s pointless replacing it until we can go out again.

Learn another language well enough to be able to actually have some form of simple conversation with others – I’m currently learning Spanish with the trusty ‘ole Duolingo.

Go to one of the sleepovers at the Natural History museum!

Get two more tattoos – a big one of peonies and another of a robin.

Learn how to code – I’m already learning this and know a decent amount, but it’s always good to keep learning and I want to be able to remember all of the different codes without needing to triple check them.

Take a fitness/dance class without feeling self-conscious – when I say that I look like a robot who has two left feet I’m not exaggerating.

Try throwing pottery – I’ve just never had the opportunity to do and love sculpting with clay in general.

Take a full life drawing course – I’ve dipped in and out of life drawing lessons over the years and I always absolutely loved them so I want to make them a regular thing when we can all meet up again.

Join or form a book club – I just need to read more to be honest and when I find a book I love I read it in about 4 days and then can’t find a book I like for ages.

Learn how to animate – I’ve made a start on this already by learning how to do basic animations in procreate but I want to get better at it!

Fully understand how taxes and all the other finance stuff works that we should’ve been taught in school.

Have a decent amount of money saved for emergencies.

Design and sew an entire outfit – I love the Great British Sewing Bee and I have an A-Level in textiles but I never give myself the proper amount of time to actually finishing sewing projects.

Sell some of my art – I’ve made art all my life and been too scared to actually sell it even when people say it’s great, so I think it’s about time I actually believe it when people say they would buy my work.

Have a solid morning and night routine.

Make more friends – I have less than 3 friends outside of my work family so I really need to learn how to make friends as an adult. If anyone knows how to do this please tell me hahaha.

Get better at swimming – I am an extremely weak swimmer.

Try more food – I’ve been a fussy eater all my life and I’m slowly getting better. Progress is still progress no matter how small.

Grow my hair as long as I can stand it now that it’s healthy – and then maybe I’ll shave it again and donate it for charity? Who knows?!

Do something that scares me.

Learn to stand up for myself when a boundary is crossed.

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And those are my 25 things I want to do over the next 5 years. One of the biggest things on that list is getting my own place, and I can’t wait for the time when that happens, not only because it’ll be my own place, but also because I love interior design and can’t wait to decorate and make the place my own. Another thing I can’t wait to do is go to pride because it’s just such an uplifting time filled with celebration, community and love and to be there in person will be amazing.

You may have noticed that there are two things I’ve missed from my list that people my age are quite likely to include which is getting married and having kids. Well, I’m currently single, and believe it or not over the last year I’ve realised that I don’t actually mind being by myself; that doesn’t mean there aren’t days when I feel lonely, it just means that I’m fine with being by myself if that’s what happens in the end. And on the kids front, I’ve always imagined myself having kids one day, in fact when I was younger I thought I’d have kids by the time I’m 25, but as time has gone one I’ve realised that I’ll just have kids when I’m ready instead of putting a proper timescale on it. And if I do end up not having the ability to have children by myself for whatever reason (whether it’s because I’m by myself or if I’m in a relationship and it’s not possible) then I’ll either adopt, get a donor or foster.

It’s funny to me how much I’ve changed over the last year. I used to think that I needed to have so many big life events happen before 25 or before 28 and I would put stupid time frames on events you haven’t always got control of; and that was because I kept seeing people on social media my age having kids, getting married and buying their own places already. But what I completely forgot is that photo of house keys or engagement ring isn’t the entire story, and the majority of people feel like they’re behind. I’ve also realised that I’ve actually done a hell of a lot in the time I’ve been on earth, and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve achieved so far!

So here’s to year 25 and whatever it shall bring!

Have a great weekend my loves!

Love,

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Before i Turn 30.

What I’ve Learnt From Having A Shaved Head So Far.

Happy Saturday my lovelies! This week has flown by for me, I think I’ve lost track of what day it is at least 3 times everyday, and haven’t actually been outside other than twice this week. Today was the first day I’ve actually allowed myself some time to actually have my daily walk, because all throughout the week I’ve just been way too busy to do so!

It feels weird being so busy now, especially because I know a lot of people aren’t working right now. I’m one of the very lucky people who can work from home, so I am working monday – thursday with my full time job and then I’m also running my own business in the evenings and on fridays, as well as writing this blog, trying to stay fit and doing some hobbies.

One thing that hasn’t been taking up my time, is doing my hair. Because as you may know from my post a few weeks ago and my insta, about a month ago, I shaved my head for the first time.

And since then, I’ve learnt quite a few things.

1 . I love not having to wake up and think about styling my hair. In fact, I have hardly thought about it at all since chopping it all off, and I’m a lot less stressed when it comes to getting dressed and ready for the day because I’ve saved about 40 minutes from my morning.

2 . My skin is thanking me. I don’t know if it’s related, but before I used to have my hair on my face all of the time, and due to having naturally curly hair, I always used products to tame it, and since having no hair to go on my face my skin appears to have cleared up a bit (I’m also trying out some new skincare products, so that might be helping too).

3 . I love a beanie hat. Or any hat to be honest. When I was younger I loved wearing hats in all forms, but as I’ve gotten older I always struggled to feel comfortable and stylish whilst wearing them. And I realise now that I think it was partly down to hat hair and not finding a way to wear a hat without feeling drowned; but now I don’t have to worry about hat hair, so I bought myself some beanie hats because I was getting a little chilly, and I now wear them nearly every day! They are just so cosy and I have a few colours which go with any of my looks for the day.

4 . Showers are so much quicker, and cheaper! We all knew that showers would become quicker, but I didn’t realise how little shampoo and conditioner I’d actually need. I haven’t had to spend any money keeping up with all of my hair products which is great!

5 . I didn’t realise how much of a comfort blanket my hair was. It’s one of those cases where you can’t see how something has affected you until it’s gone. For me, that was definitely my hair, it’s one of the things everyone recognised me by and knew me for. I think that’s why it took me so long to actually shave it off, I’d always wanted to do it of course, but it was the fear of hating how it looked and being judged and seen differently that stopped me. Now that it’s gone, in fact the second it was gone, I felt so incredibly free that I’m not sure why I hadn’t done it sooner!

6 . Hair doesn’t make you any more or less feminine. I was very paranoid that people would think I was a man or misidentify me. But I don’t know why I thought this, I think this is something that’s unconsciously ingrained in us since we’re young, that girls are supposed to have flowing hair and boys are supposed to have short hair. What I’ve come to see as I’ve gotten older is that I frickin love women with short hair and men with longer hair, and every other form of hair style on all kinds of people. When I had long hair I had days where I felt more masculine and then days where I felt more feminine and then days where I felt neither, and having my hair this short just reinforced that gender stereotypes are a load of bollocks and you should do what makes you happy.

7 . Your hair will grow back, and your hair grows faster than you think it does! I’ve trimmed my hair every weekend since I’ve shaved it, and I’ve had just over half a cm come off each week. It doesn’t sound like a lot I know, but when you think about it, it’s not bad!

8 . I’m not sure I want to grow my hair out again. I don’t know if it’s because it’s so comfy and freeing and easy or if it’s purely for the fact that I love it. Oh and the fact that head massages are even better with no hair.

9 . I’ve never been happier with my appearance. If you would’ve asked me 5 years or even 10 years ago if I would be my most confident self with a shaved head I would have laughed in your face. But who would’ve known! I love it!

10. I know myself better now. In shaving my head, I’ve finally began spending time actually looking at what makes me feel good and feel like myself. And over the last month and a half I have had days here and there where I’ve not felt my best self, but I think that’s pretty normal given the state of things, and then I’ve had days where I absolutely love how I look, but I can honestly say I have 90% more days where I live how I look. I’ve had time to actually look at my face, and I mean really look at my face; it’s not something we usually do, not when you really think about it, we get distracted by our hair and how that changes our face, so I’ve taken time to actually get to know myself better.

And that’s what I’ve learnt so far. I never would’ve thought simply having little to no hair would change me so much, and when I say change me, I don’t mean change who I am, I mean that I’ve changed in the sense that I’ve so much more confident, more accepting and less judgemental of myself and I couldn’t care less about what traditionally makes us attractive in society.

So, after all of that I’ll leave you with this:

One day I woke up and realised I was not made for anyone, I was made for me. I am my own.

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Powerful stuff eh? Anyway, look after yourselves my lovely! Have a great weekend and stay safe!

Lots of love,

It’s My 2 Year Blogiversary!

Hello my lovelies! I hope you’re staying safe and well at home and keeping busy, not looking at the awful news too much! The good news is that I am hoping to take your mind off of what’s going on outside with today’s blog post. And incase you didn’t guess it from the title of today’s post, ‘The Weight Of My Worlds’ has just turned 2 years old.

I can’t believe it! And since my blog has turned 2, I thought I’d reflect on what has happened over the last year on the blog and in my life!

111 blog posts, loads of fun photoshoots and tries so far and I can’t wait for so many more!

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So, I thought I’d keep last years theme going by having a look at my favourite blog posts I’ve written over the last year. And with that, let’s get right into it!

First up we have January’19 :

• Body Positive Instagram Accounts You Need To Follow – I couldn’t decide which blog post was my favourite for this month, because to this day I still follow and love so many body positive and body neutral instagrams, because seeing people of all backgrounds and appearances loving themselves is such a huge mood booster!

• Finding My Style – I couldn’t talk about January 2019 without mentioning my ‘finding my style’ post. I love expressing myself through my style, and I love seeing how my style has changed over time!

February’19 :

• A Year Of Blogging – That’s an easy one. It’s amazing how fast time has gone and I loved writing that post just as much as I love writing this one now!

March’19 :

• The Sun: Living With Our Star – London Science Museum Trip! I loved creating this post, going to London and visiting the museum was such an incredible weekend that I will never forget, and I can’t thank the Science Museum enough for having me, I’ve been back since and it’s always a great day out for everyone!
• Styling a T-Shirt 7 Ways – This was my first ever video, and it was so much fun to film! I haven’t done any style videos since, but that is definitely something I’d like to do in the next year!

April’19 :

• I Hate My Belly, So I Got My Belly-Button Pierced – It would be silly to not include this post; it was a scary experiment to do, but it was so worth it!

May’19 :

• I Tried Lush’s Henna Hair Dye – As someone who loves to switch up her hair, whether that be with colour or a haircut, trying henna was certainly on my list of things to try, especially since it doesn’t damage your hair, and it worked amazingly!

June’19 :

• Why You Shouldn’t Care If Your Clothes Are Made For Men Or Women – i love androgynous style, I’ve never really cared whether or not my clothes were sewn for a particular gender, and I will forever go by the notion: ‘if I like a piece of clothing, I’ll wear it, regardless of what part of a shop it’s in’.

July’19 :

• My Trip To Edinburgh – Everyone loves a holiday! And I had such a lovely time in Scotland, even if it tipped it down for most of the time; there’s so much to do, and has loads of great shops and cafes!

August’19 :

• Harry Potter Inspired Outfits – I love putting together outfits, and as you know, I love Harry Potter, and I love looking up cute outfits inspired by my favourite shows, films and books!

September’19 :

• My Fitness Journey – This post means a lot to me, mostly because I have struggled with weight and fitness for the majority of my lifetime, and finding a fitness routine that works for me has been incredible. And it’s all thanks to the be.come project!

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October’19 :

• Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony – How could I not include this when it is one of the best memories I have from last year. I’m still in shock that I was awarded ‘Apprentice of the Year’, and that I got to meet Warwick Davis!

November’19 :

• Everyday Makeup Tutorial – This was the second video I’d filmed since my black tee styling video, and it was so much fun to do as I’d never filmed my makeup routine before! And that video is up on my IGTV still to this day!

December’19 :

• Top 20 Christmas Movies! – Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Christmas, and in my household Christmas starts about 2 days after Halloween. So as you can imagine, I have quite a few favourite Christmas movies!
• Easy DIY Snowmen – I had to include these, I give these out as gifts around Christmas every other year, and people are always asking me how I make them, so this post was a lot of fun to put together!

January’20 :

• Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid To Change Up Your Hair – This post is great, and a prime example of how much I believe in not being afraid to change your hair is that during the current quarantine we’re in in the UK, my mum and I got bored and decided to give me an impromptu haircut. (If you want more details let me know and I’ll do a post on it soon!)

So much has changed over the last year, I’ve finished one apprenticeship, then continued learning by starting the next level up, I’ve started my own business (called Sociaglow if you’re wondering), I’ve bleached my hair to bits for fun, chopped most of it off for fun, I’m now single, and I have fully embraced who I am, in all of my weird quirky self.

And I couldn’t be happier with where I am right now. The last year has had ups and downs, but at the end of the day I have so many things to be grateful for and people that I love and cherish. And I can’t wait for what the next year will hold!

Oh, and be prepared for things to get weirder and so much more wonderful!

What’s your favourite post been from the last year? Let me know in the comments! Have a great weekend my lovelies, and stay safe out there (or should I say ‘in there’?). To keep up to date with everything I’m up to, go follow my insta’s @theweightofmyworlds and @sociaglow !

Love,

City Break Holiday Packing.

Hello lovelies! How’s everyone doing today? This weekend is pretty exciting for me today because.. I’m off on holiday! I’ve not been away for a holiday for way over a year, maybe even two, so I can’t wait for this break from reality!

So, where am I off to you ask? Edinburgh! Why Edinburgh? Well, if I’m completely honest, I’m on a budget, but also Scotland is absolutely beautiful.

Which leads me to this post. It’s summer. It’s raining. It’s then a heatwave. Then its raining again. So, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO PACK?!?

Well, I’ve been trying to decide what I want to bring with me for the last few weeks and I’ve finally come up with a packing list that has everything you’ll need for a Summer city break with unpredictable weather.

And since I am off to Scotland, the weather is probably going to be doing all sorts, which ultimately led me to the decision that layers and creating a capsule wardrobe are probably going to be good options. Plus I am a serial over-packer (and I love making lists) so streamlining what I’m packing is always a good idea.

Right, let’s get into it!

Here’s the sort of things I’m going to pack:

So, this is what I plan on bringing with me for 5 nights in Scotland! It may seem like a lot for 5 nights, but when you think about it, it’s nice having options for outfits; especially for me in particular because I always get dressed depending on my mood.

Here’s the run down of what I’ll pack:

• 4 x tops
• 2 x jumpers
• 1 x cardigan
• 1 x day dress
• 1 x pinafore dress
• 1 x night dress
• 1 x denim skirt
• 2 x jeans
• 1 x denim jacket
• 1 x colourful jacket
• 1 x heels
• 2 x trainers
• 1 x boots
• Accessories
• Oh.. and underwear and all that stuff. Nearly forgot about that!

I think it’s important to remember what you’re planning to do during the day’s and in the evenings because that’ll determine your looks and if you’d want to swap different pieces in and out. So.. onto a few of the different outfit combos you can create! I won’t show you them all, because we’ll be here a while!

1 . Comfy and casual, you cant go wrong with a jumper, jeans and trainers!

2 . Sunny day out, this look is great for when you’re off out shopping for the day, chilling out and you can even dress it up with heels for the evening!

3 . Casual date night, I love this outfit! It’s great for all times of day, and I would pair this outfit with polka dot tights too, I think this outfit is great for cinema dates and going to places like the zoo.

4 . Fancy date night, who doesn’t own a LBD?! (Little black dress) This is perfect for making you feel sexy, confident and it’s great for going out to dinner or drinks.

5 . Day to night, this outfit and the one coming up are great examples of how accessories and changing a few things can transform your look from day to night in a flash! This one I would consider the night look purely because I don’t know anyone who can go all day in heels, that can’t just me right?

6 . Day look, here’s another day look. Let’s be honest, floral little dresses and denim jackets are all the range right now, and I’m totally here for it! They’re cute, cool in the warm weather, and you can dress it up and down as you please!

7 . Let’s go to a museum! This outfit is super cute in my opinion, and you can dress it with tights when it’s chilly, or without when it’s warmer, and it’d be great for little touristy attractions like museum, gallery and theatre visits.

And those are just a few outfit options you could make from my list of clothes I’ll be bringing with me to Scotland. And the great thing is that you can use this as a guide for pretty much any city break anywhere with a few tweaks so things suit your style!

What’s your favourite look from the group? And are you going on holiday this year? Where? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great weekend everyone!! Love,

Packing For A Weekend Away

Who doesn’t love a trip away for a long weekend! Especially over the Summer holidays! Well next week I’m off to some gorgeous lodges in a forest for 4 days and I can’t wait. If you are going away anytime soon, and if you love being organised like me, I bet you’re already thinking about what to pack and what cute outfits you want to wear whilst you’re there. Which means I’ve already started writing my packing list for it.

I love writing lists about what I should pack and what I need to bring with me; I practically live my life by writing lists for everything. One list first thing in my bullet journal about what I need to do for the day, another list when I get to work for what I need to get done whilst I’m there, and then another list for what I need to get done by the weekend and then lists for when I’m off away anywhere.

Also, I need lists to function, I’ll forget way too much if I haven’t made a list. Oh and I’m naturally an over packer, I always have been, probably always will be. Which means: no list = everything I own will be coming with me on holiday. And I’ll forget the essential things.. like underwear. (It’s happened before.. haha)

Since weekends away in England have unpredictable weather, it can be difficult to know what to wear, so that’s why I’m going to make a list of all the essentials I’ll be taking with me!

Here’s the outfits I’ll be taking inspiration from!

I love cozy jumpers, leggings, jeans and scarves! Because I’m so indecisive and will want to pack my entire wardrobe, and partly because I love having options when I’m getting dressed in the morning, here’s what I’ll be packing for 4 days away:

The dungarees, both dresses, stone biker jacket, grey shirt and the scarf are all from New Look! The shoes, accessories, black jumper, waterfall coat, striped long sleeve top, white t-shirt, collared jumper and the two pairs of jeans are all from Primark!

Here’s the basic list of items I usually bring with me whenever I’m off for a weekend away, or any holiday! You can download it here and use it to help you remember everything you need!

What do you like packing for when you go away? What’s that one thing you can’t leave without? For me, it’s my medication for a start, and then my hair straighteners! One thing I love about planning what I’m bringing away with me is all of the cute outfits I’ll be able to come up with! Also, by planning what I’m packing, I’ll be able to actually be a bit more decisive about what I’m bringing with me.

Here’s just a few of the outfits I can make with what I plan on packing:

So that’s what I’m going to be bringing with me on my little mini break! Hope this helps any of you who love to over-pack like me! And let me know if you buy any of these pieces from Primark and New Look; if you see anything whilst you’re out and about that is super cute for English weekends away, feel free to send a link or two my way!!

Have a great bank holiday my lovelies!! Love,

Apps I Can’t Live Without

Living today in this time, we’re surrounded by technology. In particular our phones.. For me, I can’t live without my phone, if I go anywhere without my phone then I panic thinking what if I get lost? (My geographical skills are ridiculously bad.) What if I get in trouble and need to call someone? What if there’s an emergency at home? Etc etc etc..

So, what makes my phone so important to me that I can’t go anywhere without it? Well, that would be a selection of apps I use pretty much every. single. day. What are these apps that are so useful I hear you ask? Well let me tell you about each of them.

1. Messenger. Bit of a obvious one I know. But as someone who hates talking on the phone, I use this one daily.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
2. Swipes. This on is a to-do list app, and it has made being organised so easy! It sends you notifications and helps keep you on track for all your tasks, you can categorise stuff too!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
3. Asana Rebel. This one is for all of you fellow yogis out there. It’s a fitness workout app that has combined yoga with HIIT workouts and it works wonders!! The only downside to this one is that you have to subscribe after 7 days free, but in my opinion it’s totally worth it.                                                                                                                                                                              
4. WordPress. I manage my blog through the app when I’m on the go and can add and update content as I wish.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
5. Spotify. Because who doesn’t love a good dance around the kitchen when you’re making breakfast in the morning?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
6. NUS Extra. This one I use for online shopping. Being an apprentice means I don’t have a big income, so by signing up to NUS Extra Apprenticeships means I can get discount codes for online shopping and going out to dinner.
   

   

   

   
7. All of the socials. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Hey, they’re just easy ways to keep in touch with people.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
8. Pinterest. I go on here whenever I’m looking for a bit of inspiration, whether that be for clothes, makeup, hair or diy projects!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
9. Eve. This one is for the ladies. It’s a period tracking app which includes a forum of a huge community of women all empowering each other.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
10. Streaming apps. I’m an avid Netflix and Amazon Video user. It’s pretty much all I watch stuff on. And lucky for my lot, I’m the one who pays for it..                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
11. Homescapes. I’m not one for gaming on my phone really. But I have recently become very addicted to this game, probably because I love interior design and Candy Crush and this matches the two together pretty well.
12. Camera and Photos. I use my camera a fair bit, usually for photos of my nephew and food.. haha. But also for taking photos for on here, which is pretty important!!

Well, that’s the apps I use near enough everyday. I do wonder what apps other people use and if they use them to keep productive. What apps can’t you live without? Let me know in the comments below!!

Have a great week everyone!

Love,