iCharlotte.Emily*

Winter has crept up on me way too quickly this year, I was nowhere near prepared for the transition from dresses & skirts to jumpers & scarves; but it's not all bad, as winter is one of the best seasons, in my opinion, and here is why:

Errm how is it November already, the days just seem to be flying by! When I was younger my parents would say that all the time & I'd never understood up until recently how right they were bloomin' heck... 

Now because it's November for us English folk, and others who have to endure the horrible winter weather, it is starting to get very chilly outside which means the dreaded flu season is upon us!

Now I hate catching the flu, honestly I don't know anyone that does like catching the flu, but we all bring it on ourselves really don't we. Once I completely lost my voice on Christmas day, full on couldn't talk, just makes you want to lay in bed all day feeling sorry for yourself which is rubbish, especially at Christmas! Therefore I hunted around my little head, and online, for some tips and tricks for both you and I to follow this winter to avoid getting ill.

It's official Summer 2015 has ended. No more beach days, BBQ's and sunbathing, time to get used to more rain, Artic temperatures in the morning and darker evenings.

Some people may be happy about this, but others will be missing the sun a lot (i'm the latter); therefore i thought i'd give some of my tips on beating the summer blues!

Picture from OOTD post here

Black & white two layered feather print playsuit with open back;

Motel Rocks- £45

Motel Rocks 'Moonchild' skater dress- £48

Wore this on New Years & i'm in love with it, need to find an excuse to wear it again!

I know Motel Rocks can be a little on the pricier side but in my opinion it's definitely worth it, especially when you know you'll get a lot of wear out an item. PLUS you do get a £10 voucher when you sign up to their newsletter & they always have offers going on!

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Now if you're like me & are not always a fan of showing your legs off (either wear tights) OR do what I do and wear some funky trousers or a full length skirt

For example:

Black crop top- Missguided

Floral Maxi skirt with zip & slit detail- Miss Selfridge

Black crop top- Missguided

Patterned trousers- Missguided

haha i ran out of ways to pose at the end.

Black crop top- Missguided

Printed trousers- Missguided

Those trousers are only £8 at the moment what a bargain!!!!

So there we have it, me awkwardly attempting to look cool in my bedroom... Hope these ideas inspired you in some way. Maybe not for valentines but even for a date night or a night in town, whatever you're doing have a wonderful time and if you're lucky enough to have a valentine I hope you get spoilt rotten!

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Take care,

Charlotte 

x

But i've decided to change all that starting from today. It's a poisonous thing to have in your mind constantly and you can easily fall into a hole of negativity and it's hard to climb back out of that hole.

This sudden urge to become more confident and positive with my life only became apparent yesterday after watching one of my favourite Youtuber's Melanie Murphy new video targeting the key area of body confidence. I've watched a couple Youtube videos & read a few blog posts all about this sort of thing before, but never really thought into it too much until yesterday. I don't know what stood out so much to me, but the way she explains her thoughts about the issue is really eye opening, and it's reassuring to know you're not the only one and it does get better!
After watching it I had a lot of questions running through my head:

This also reminded me of videos i've viewed in the past by another brilliant Youtuber BeautyCrush , where she also spoke about body image, comfort zones, comparison to others etc. Re watching these too has really made me second guess myself. I'm not going to get too personal with why body confidence is an issue with me as it can be a very emotional & stressful thing to deal with. It used to really bug me when people would question me as to why I would get so down about it, but I felt like I didn't really have a good enough answer. If you don't understand why you're being so negative then others won't understand either, it can become extremely confusing but give it time. Don't give up on yourself, surround yourself with happy people & it will reflect onto you.

Now thinking back why did I allow it too get this bad, everyone's different, whether it be body shape, face shape, hair colour, how you dress, what you eat. Just do what works for you, if you want to lose weight or gain weight do it! If you want to dress a certain way what's stopping you? 

Nothing will be easy but why would you want it to be that would be boring otherwise. No one's perfect, everyone has flaws but someone will love those flaws, and so should you that's what makes you, you. Just think about you, no one else's opinion matters, nor should your's for other people feeling the same way.

I could go on for day's talking about this as it's such a wide topic but you get the idea, and hopefully it's opened your eyes up too.

How great are these quotes, I want them framed all around my house! haha.

(All found from pintrest)

Keep thinking positive.

Charlotte x

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30 inspirational body confidence quotes by Marie Claire. <- An extra boost of confidence for you.

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A couple weeks back I stumbled across a Buzzfeed post suggesting ' 21 delicious thing to eat in Canterbury', and seeing as i'm a short drive away from there I was very intrigued to check these places out, and as I mentioned before I love trying new places. 

With my boyfriend being a big foodie he quickly hopped on the band wagon too and we made a decision to try a place every month, plus it's an excuse to escape sitting in his room watching endless amounts of films on Netflix. Our first stop was at a bar/restaurant called 'Alberrys' where a company named 'The Burger Bros' situated themselves, along with other places around Kent.

Now both my boyfriend (George) & I are massive lovers of burgers, so we had very high standards for this place. When we received the menu I didn't know where to begin, I think I had forgotten what a proper burger was being so used to nipping down to Maccy D. I opted to play it safe this time however and kept it simple, as I didn't want to get too full and end up wasting what could potentially be an amazing burger. Plus I wanted a starter & many sides, George on the other hand went all out & went for the monster with everything crammed in... he doesn't hold back.

And here was the finished product. The above was George's, now it doesn't look the most appetizing thing but in George's words 'Corrr', so we'll take that as it was pretty dam good. Mine was pretty good too just regretted keeping it simple because honestly it just tasted like a posh cheeseburger. Guess it gives me an excuse to return though really doesn't it!

I just wish I took a picture of the nachos we had for starters, because oh wow! They were beyond amazing, I feel like I want to recommend this place to everyone just for the nachos but that's not meant to be the selling point...

Say cheese George.

I seem to have started my blog off by just recommending things to do haha, but why not? if you find a place/thing you love share it with everyone else to enjoy to! I'd appreciate it if someone did the same to me.

If you live in the Kent area why not check the place out, The Burger Bros.

OR follow me and George on our food mission around Canterbury if you want.

Take care,

Charlotte x

Oh hello! 

My first post... i'm kinda nervy actually, let's hope this goes A-OK.

So last night myself & my friend Laura took a little trip up to the fab city of London, but not just for a casual jolly to be our loser tourist selves, this time we had a real reason, but i'll get onto that..

Before we headed off to our exciting night out we obviously had to stop off for some food, and Laura was extremely keen to let me experience what the restaurant Giraffe had to offer over at Embankment. I'm always up for trying new things plus I was starving so I didn't hesitate, so off we shuffled like penguins in the artic weather. 

Now if you're like me & attempting to eat healthy as part of this whole "new year, new me" saga then this place is for you. I mean it's not the healthiest place in the world, but it's better than popping over to Ronald McDonald & demanding a double cheeseburger with a side of 20 chicken nuggets.

I opted for the 'Falafal Deluxe Burger' & sweet potato fries... along with some delicious cocktails. I recommend the 'Deluxe Pina Colada' it was deeeeelish, OH and definitely try the edamame as well you won't regret it. 

ANYWAY moving on, always distracted by food.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to the sold out Jessie Ware concert at Brixton's O2 Academy. To say we were excited wouldn't even cut it, we knew already this woman would be incredible live & she definitely didn't disappoint. The power of her voice is unreal and the vibe in the room was so welcoming, because i don't know about you but when i go to a concert i want to be surrounded by people who are there to enjoy themselves, not slump down in your chair and moan that you're blocking their view whilst you boogie to the music.

Unfortunately because we got distracted by food we didn't have the best seats, but who cares when you're listening to a voice this brilliant. I can't recommend you listen to her album 'Tough Love' any more or even just give it a little listen on youtube/spotify. My favourites are 'Champagne Kisses', 'Kind of, Sometimes, Maybe' and what was the highlight of the night 'Say You Love Me'.

Basically to sum this all up, Giraffe does amazing food.... & cocktails, and Jessie Ware is an incredible performer.

Speak soon,

Charlotte

xx