Travel: Prague Petrin Tower (Rozhledna)

The Petrin Tower located in Petrin Hill Park is Prague's version of the Eiffel Tower allowing a panoramic view from the top.

Easy to walk to over the Charles Bridge into Mala Strana and up to Petrin where there is a funicular railway up to the top of the hill. (Handy tip if you have a days travel pass this is included on that ticket.)

The Worst Holiday Experience I Have Ever Had

I want to do a wonderful post about my holiday in Nice and talk about the culture, the food and the stunning views, but before I can do that I feel I need to get this post out.

There was one major thing that put a dampner on the whole holiday, there are many ways it could have been avoided but the main thing is that it is not what you expect staying in a 4* hotel.

If you were looking for a happy holiday post this is not the one, wait for the next one.

I want to note that this was purely my experience and if you have been there before you may have had a different far better one.

5 Blog Goals

I have been using my blog alot more reccently and I'm really enjoying creating posts and having people actually read and comment on them. I thought i would share with you some of my goals for my blog hopefully within the next year:

1. Reach 50 followers. (im currently at 14 on blogger and 21 on google+  which amazes me that even this many people want to follow and read my ramblings.)

2. Create better quality photographs for blog posts. I can be abit lazy with photos and just upload them as they are. Id like to start editing them abit more and make them a higher quality.

Blogging Olympics Tag

Thanks to Martin from Martins Virtual Blog for nominating me to do this tag. I will admit I'm not an avid watcher of the Olympics but though this would be fun to give a go.

The Rules:

-Publish a post with the questions (you can add your own)

-Thank the blogger who tagged you

-Tag others

-Use the Olympics post image (attached) or create your own.

Where Have I Been?

Things have been absolutely manic as of late with a lot of personal issues cropping up that have just left me feeling drained, down and frankly not wanting to do anything at all.

Amidst this drama I have visited Aberystwyth for a week! (Hence the artsy photos above.)
Why you may ask? I agreed with my work that I would complete a distance learning degree. It has been a long time coming but I have finally completed the first week of the study school.

Lifestyle: The Benefits of Drinking Water

                   

It's recommended that you should drink 8 glasses of water a day. I know eight glasses seems an incredibly hard thing to achieve - yet I can go through 4 cups of tea in a few hours easily.

I set myself a challenge to up my intake of water for a week and see if I have any benefits from it.

I'm not a big drinker in general I don't often feel thirsty and that must mean I'm hydrated right?

Apparently not the main benefits I found from having at least 4 glasses (I couldn't manage 8) of water a day:

23 Things That Make Me Happy at 23

A couple of weeks ago it was my birthday I turned 23. Yikes with each coming year it feels like I should be a fully functioning adult by now. Instead I still need around three alarms to get up in a morning.

I thought to mark this occasion blogwise I would share with you all 23 things that make me happy.

1. Family - it is the most important thing. They are the people that are always there for you through thick and thin.

2. Friends - I really do have some wonderful friends in my life that are always only a phone call away.

Random Fiction

He was like fire

Entrancing to the eye

Painful to the touch

It began on a normal Saturday morning, there was nothing infinitely special about it other than it was the beginning of March and a light film of snow covered the ground.
It was colder than usual for the time of year because of this she had headed to the nearest coffee shop to get her morning coffee.
That's where she had first seen him, they'd caught each others gaze, it was like current passing between them charged and compelling hard to resist.

They saw each other there every Saturday morning it began as gazes across the shop, drawn out glances meant with intention but coming to nothing, until the day he sat down next to her. Then everything changed.

The romance was whirlwind Dates, lazy mornings together, hand holding, shopping, holidays all spent together.

They were infatuated! It was the fairytale romance you see in the movies! The thing is no one ever talks about what happens after the movie ends.

The problem with the brightest of fires is that they burn out the fastest.

That's when the fairytale ends and the real story begins.

CLOSED: Pandora Valentines Competition

 

Valentines Day is almost here and to celebrate this the wonderful people at Gift and Wrap are hosting a giveaway!

They are offering a chance to win the Unlock my Heart Pendant Necklace from Pandora's Valentines range.

This dainty silver necklace would make the perfect gift for someone special! Be that your other half, a family member or even yourself.

Easy Dairy Free Sweet Potato Curry

I've found a new food obsession lately in the form of sweet potatoes, not only are they tastier than normal potatoes, they contain a lot of vitamin A and are even classed as a vegetable!

This to me is perfect as I am currently trying to eat healthier foods and cut out dairy from my diet again (I'm lactose intolerant and I still over-indulge on the dairy products!)

Before I give you the ingredients to make this I will admit one sin - the sauce is package bought. I know blasphemy! It's the korma sauce from Sainsbury's free from range. I'm sure I could make this quite easily myself but the package bought one is insanely tasty, it also makes this a quick recipe to create after a long hard day at work.

Little Acts of Kindness

As part of my resolutions this year I have been trying to make more time in my life for the people that I cherish. Be it family I don't see very often or a close friend I haven't spoken to in awhile. I wanted to show them how glad that I am to have them in my life through small gestures of kindness.
Be it sending them a random gift, inviting them round and cooking tea or even something as simple as making a cup of tea!

Things to do on Valentine's Day if You're Single

Valentine's Day is almost upon us!
The time of year where we're all force fed romance, couples and cutesy Facebook status's. Where if you're not loved up or in a relationship you're reminded increasingly of this fact.

For all you singletons out there like me here is a list of a few things you could do on Valentine's Day:

My Skincare Saviours

I'm sure we all have those days where our skin decides to fight back from all the products we use on it!

Or those times a mini breakout occurs when we're stressed, it's that time of the month or if we dare eat too much chocolate!

For me it can happen on all of the above and I've spent years trying different products to combat this and I FINALLY feel I've cracked it.

Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins with a Chicken Concoction

If I had more time on my hands cooking is the one thing I think I would really enjoy! I love experimenting and trying different things especially food wise! If any of you follow my instagram it is mostly all pictures of food (and the occasional selfie.)

This evening I decided to be creative and attempt a somewhat healthy but reasonably quick meal.

This ended up being Sweet Potatoes stuffed with bacon and cheese with chicken, carrots and parsnips with tinned tomatoes.

I have to say I impressed myself with how everything turned out - I'm sure stuffed potatoes are an easy feat but having never cooked them before I was expecting some sort of kitchen disaster.

The New Makeup Products in my Daily Routine

This month I have added a lot of new products to my daily make up routine - I have even found a new make up brand obsession!!

I figured I would share these with you all!

Mixed Martial Arts for Beginners First Impressions

Before Christmas me and my friend took part in a self defence course which lasted six weeks. It was fun, challenging and a good way to start keeping fit.
So after all the fuss of Christmas and the endless amount of food as part of my resolutions I decided to continue with the exercise in an aim to get fit in 2016.

2015 Recap and 2016 Resolutions

2016 is upon us did 2015 really happen that quickly!? It doesn't seem that long ago that it was January 2015 and I was planning my trip to California.

This year has had ups and downs in many different forms and while I will not be carrying the negatives with me into 2016 I have learnt alot about myself as a person and will be taking this strength on with me.

What's Wrong With Being Single?

This is a topic that has been brought to my attention recently what with the majority of my friends being loved up or in relationships.
This being the case most people seem to think that because you are the single one you must be looking to date or find a relationship.

My answer to this is no!

This added with the ever more frequent "Don't worry you will find someone!" Leads me to think there is a massive stigma especially on females that if you are single you must not be happy!?

I'm going to give you a list of reasons why I am happy being single:
- I can do exactly what I want when I want
- No relationship drama
- More time for hobbies, friends and family
- You can get away with being lazy on the grooming (no need to be perfectly plucked and made up to impress anyone)
- You can be selfish have lots of 'me time' pamper evenings, watch girly films, eat that whole pizza to yourself!
- No heartache - cause isn't that the worst thing about dating?

Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-relationships and am very happy for people who are loved up.
I just feel content with being young and single at the present.
I have more time for myself, hobbies, friends and family and that makes me feel fulfilled.

I've had my fair share of heartache it would seem that dating in this generation either doesn't exist or isn't exclusive and being a person with old fashioned values I find that hard to get behind.

So I'm taking a break not because I am unhappy purely the opposite I am happy with how things currently are. This could all change dependent on the right person but let's get rid of the stigma

Single can mean happy!

Yankee Candle Advent Calendar

Who doesn't love advent calendars? As a child having a chocolate advent calendar in December was the most exciting thing!

This year however I have opted for a non-chocolate advent calendar and when I saw this Yankee candle one I knew I had to have it!

I'm obsessed with candles and scents so an advent calendar filled with christmassy scents sounded like heaven.

Drawing For Beginners Weeks 5 + 6

Drawing For Beginners - Week 5 - Dead Pheasants and Animal Skulls

This was not my favourite week of Drawing I have to say dead pheasants, ducks and animal skulls not the prettiest of sites!!

I chose to do the pheasants there were two of them tied together but I only got time to draw the one. Learnt a few techniques one how to create the feather pattern by shading in and rubbing out.

Before this we got to draw animal skulls - for some reason I find it very easy to draw bones as with the skeleton in week 2 (here.)