A Great Way To Chill Out Your Day...

Hello bambinos…

So today I saw this really cute picture

 

from cataddictsanonymouse (facebook)

And I know it sounds odd, but it really works and helps at keeping you “in love”.

So simply Glenn and I set our alarm maybe 10 minutes before we need to, who ever hears it first, turns it off, cuddles up to the other and gently wake them up. Then we lie in bed and talk about what we are going to do in the day, while having a “cwtch” (cuddly type snuggle thing, in welsh).

Hugging is incredible, it’s like medicine, not only is it good for the body but the mind, the soul or whatever you call your inner self, as well. However, maybe hugs are “too close and too personal” for you but don’t you think that maybe, given the odds, that this something to do with you and your inner self and not just due to the faults of each individual person that you can’t/won’t hug?

Now me, well I'm a "hugger", I'm just a big “come-here-and-give-me-a-hug-when-I-meet-you” kinda girl. If I know you, I’ll hug you, if I don’t, then I will hug you when I’m introduced. I hug when I say thank you in a happy circumstance, I hug to console others and myself, I hug when I'm bored.  I hug a lot, my family, boyfriend, his family (well some of them!), my pets, all animals really, apart from "dangerous" ones... Glenn won’t let me…. :(

Also I’m pretty spontaneous with hugs, they are a quick decision as to when and who I’m going to hug but as far as I’m concerned they are the best indicator of how someone is really feeling, you can feel their feels… if you understand me? Like when you hug someone you love and you can feel them love you too, or when a friend is grateful and you can sense that from the way they gave you their “thank-you-I’m-very-grateful” hug, yeah?

So basically, the best thing Glenn and I do to:

A.      start our day,

B.      connect us,

C.      coordinate our day,

D.      be totally surrounded by a loving warm snuggle for just a few minutes a day

E.       remind ourselves of how lucky we are….

is HUG!!!!

What you can do to try this is

1)      Set your alarm 5 maybe 10 minutes early

2)      Don’t hit snooze!

3)      Cuddle up to your partner to wake them up GENTLY!

4)      Talk about what your plan is for the day, step by step, organise when you will see each other again or if it won’t be until tea time or bed time or whenever, talk about staying in contact or whatever.

5)      Wake up and have a fab day!

Hint: Make sure your calm morning cuddle session is only for those 5 or 10 minutes as you don’t want to then have to dash about like crazy getting ready for the day, which admittedly we have done a few times, and it really does take away some of the calming effects of the cuddle!!

Take care Bambinos!

Claire xx

Live in a tiny pad like me?

Hello fellow space savers,

And I don’t mean “space saver” in a Whovian saving the world sense… I mean literally saving as much space as you can by adorning your home, flat, apartment or shoebox with the cleverest little things you can find. Well Alas, need you look no more for fab tips on utilising space? NO! Here I stand, well sit, before you promising to scour the internet and magazines to find brilliant ways to turn your teeny tiny peeky pokey little one bedroom apartment into a lovely home for you, the most important person in your life.

So far I have found three major tips, these are:

Mirrors

This mirror is beautiful and is available from www.mirror-shop.co.uk

As suggested by Messynessychic.com, they explain that mirrors are a great way to introduce more light into a room, which seems obvious once you think about it. By placing a mirror on a wall opposite it will essentially double the amount of natural light in the room. I have seen this work in a shared house I used to live in that had a long, narrow and dark hallway, but if you left the shower room door open, the mirror on the opposite wall illuminated the hallway and making it feel much less like a creepy allyway, with weird people and much more like the hallway to my room but the weird people were still there…basically it gave that space a nice glow.

So in my new place, a basement flat with a large bay window which is the ONLY window apart from the back and front door, I think I will be trying the mirrors on the opposite wall idea as I know that it could get rather gloomy in that little place especially as winter draws in.

Clever Storage

Clever storage seems like a rather abstract concept, and not clever as in can sovle problems of the algebraic variety but can solve problems as being more than one thing, for example a bed and a storage place for shoes clothes ect, removing the need for a set of drawers, you get me? Other really clever storage ideas I have seen are:

1)      Removing the need for a standalone full length mirror by having one on or in your wardrobe, which many now come with, also keeping a “jewellery dress” is a fab idea as this eliminates the need to have a surface to place your beautiful jewellery box in plain sight of a window, like my place as everywhere in the main room can be seen from the one window… and it’s a big ass window too. You can find your own jewellery dress on eBay! 

And it will stop the tangled necklaces!

2)      Vacuum pack your clothes and linen. Even though these products are usually hanging around with the granny slippers and apple corers on JML, they actually are amazing and will keep your fabric items free from mould, which is a biggie in many of the places I've lived.

Vacuum bags available on eBay

3)      Under bed storage really is the way to go when there is space available under the bed, it’s not a space that you would usually occupy with anything other than junk and mouldy plates anyway, so why not pop over to eBay and check out under bed storage boxes?

Vertical space

Make sure you utilise space vertically too! Big bare walls are no use to a student needing a place to store and stack books. Shelves, shelves and more shelves! Book cases too if, like me, you’re not allowed put up shelves… and book cases are brilliant because where there are book cases there are books!

 

Use your vertical space guys! its there just waiting to be used!

Ofcourse these are just the tip of the iceberg that is small space living and as I put these ideas to the test so I will write about them and what I like and dislike about their practicality and place in my home.

Take care kittens!

Claire xx

Foody Things

Hola fellow food lovers!

Here you can find original recipes, new takes on old recipes, restaurant reviews and so on. I really love food and hope you love my blog!
Take care
Claire xx

Student Life

Hello study buddies!

Here I hope to reveal to you my best tips and tricks for studying and revising or just things that I have found to be worth my while doing. Colour coding is crazy with this lady! From filofaxes to computer files and weekly food menus to excellent student savings, tips will be everything student.

Take care

Claire xx

Pretty me Please

Hello beautiful!
This label is for any hair and beauty related topics, such as tutorials, reviews of tutorials, reviews of products. Maybe they may help you to find your perfect look.
Take care
Claire xx

Home Living

Hello Lovely people!
This is like a half pinterest, half wishlist label, where you can see all the things I like and all the things I want.
However, it will also be a trial and error page to see the tips that are out there for things like, maximising space, tips for two people living in one tiny basement flat, tips for keeping things tidy, tips for looking after stuff!
I hope you find something useful!

Take care
Claire

Love

Hello Kittens!
This label is all about love, my love in fact. what works for me, tips for long distance, Tips for keeping that little spark alive. Really when I say tips, I mean what works with me and Glenn, but who knows, you may find something useful in it all!
Take care
Claire xx

Explanation of Real Family or "Pretend" Family

"Friends are the family you choose"

Hello, 
So, I know this is kinda odd, but I have extended family, and not in the normal sense.
I have been brought up to believe that being a part of a family is an honour, and you are lucky to be in your family and that families can break up and change and you can be considered as having no family at all just because one has ostracised themselves from their family, which is heartbreaking. 

Now I do have real actual blood related family, and I am not adopted regardless of what my sister tells me, however....

I have three people I call "mum"
1) my own mother, a small and mother like figure to just about everyone
2) Glenn's mum, Sue
3) my best friend Eleri's mum, Rosy

These are women I call mum, maybe not all the time but frequently enough so now they respond in a normal fashion. 

I also have a few people I call "dad"

1) my own father, crazy wild man of western Wales.
2) another best friend, Claire C's dad, Mike
3) Eleri's dad, Martin

I do actually refer to these people as mum and dad when discussing them in conversation, which often leads to a confusion, especially when those conversations are with people who are in my own "real" family. 

I also have a Sisters, of which there are too many to mention, but see here 
This little habit of "collecting" people to place in my own "family" and sometimes a clarification is needed of who is actually "blood" family and who is my chosen family. 

I feel the need to explain here that to me the word family does not mean the people biologically and legally bound to love or like or care for you. Family are not the distant relatives who make you feel unwelcome in their home or their lives. 

To me, Family are the people who will be there on the brightest and darkest of days, people who care for you when you need it, even if you don't want it, the people who love you when you're being a horrid person because they know that is not who you are and that is just what you are feeling. Family are the people who you can call at 11pm and talk for three hours because your frightened of being in a big house all alone, they are the ones who don't do things for you because they are meant to or have to but because they are the ones who unconditionally love you and will do forever. 

Some of the people in my family I rarely get to see, but when I sit at their table with their "real" family after months, even years, it's like I never left. 

To me, family are the people who will always make you feel they are family and they are more than just best friends or good people.

And for these people I would travel to the ends of the earth.

Take care,
Claire xx

Family

Hey There!
So here on this page is where I will be posting things about my family, the family as a unit both psychologically and socially. Basically it will range from fun family games to play on the holidays to the impact of a changing "standard family" on society. I hope you enjoy reading my posts!
Take care
Claire xx

Hi There!

Hi there, 
so here are 13 facts about my life. they may help you get to know me better. 

1. I am a Libra, not that I really feel that any star sign dramatically alters or defines one’s personality or personal qualities, I only brought that up because you may feel it’s important.

2. I love cheese. Like really strong cheddar is best, I also really favour the cheese you get in burgers it’s just so complimentary to the nommy burger taste and the way it melts into the bun.

3.Tea is usually consumed three to four times a day and is best when drank in a room with comfortable sofas and good conversation. Especially among wondrous people.

4. I have few but excellent friends, as always its quality not quantity. The main ones are Glenn <3 Eleri, Lianne, Morgan and yes many more.  These are people who have not only been there for me in times of need but are the ones I know will be there in the unknown future.

Clockwise from Me on the left (thumb/duckface!) me, Lianne, Rachel
and Eleri

5. My parents divorced when I was young and I grew up with my father when my mother was at university in Swansea and then stayed with him in west wales until I moved to the “big” city to study my A levels where I met my current boyfriend.

6. I am a cat and a dog person, I have never been able to choose, and I don’t see why I should, I mean no one ever makes a farmer chose between sheep or cows, or a zoologist pick a snake or a beaver, just love them all okay?

7. My middle name is Louise, it’s a nice but incredibly common name and then to have Claire and Thomas as first and surnames means I must have a super common name but my parents chose it and that is the name I have been given. Did someone say something about life and lemons?

8. I play guitar, I can play the trumpet, cello, piano and flute to an acceptable standard, nothing special but I would get into a school orchestra, put it that way, not like a solo artist but somewhere around part 3 or 4 and I would be fine!

9. Singing is like a part of me, when I walk I sing, when I dance I sing, when I cook I sing, I  mean I  even make songs up out of my revision for uni so I can sing then too! Like I'm there just dancing away to the theme tune of my imagination just having a private party in my head while in the library looking for a book. I mean I'm that girl you see dancing while looking for the right type of cheese in tesco!

10. Glenn, my other- no, better half.  Tall, handsome, and as ive discovered recently can easily look like Matt Smith, I don’t need to go on about him because I will in the coming months tell you more about him and our relationship and the things we do to make it work, its not as easy as it looks you know!

Glenn and I as the 11th Dr and Clara

11. I am desperate to get a tattoo but I don’t know if I could do it! I feel I would be to scared of the pain, the quotes I’m wanting at the moment are “RYCBAR123” and “those who don’t believe in magic, will never find it”. But I’m just a massive prat when it comes to pain I just faint.

12. I study psychology, I love psychology. It is a weird part of my now that I have began to adore the more I learn about it, the more I love the questions I come up with and write down and research. I know I sound sad. But I really am a lucky person studying a topic that is so fascinating and so expansive.  And yeah I will be quiet now...

13. Ooooh last one. For now. Umm. So here is a bit on my blogging history. This is my third blog, I have two others that I have pretty much discontinued as they have really run their course they were both very topic specific blogs , however I hope that this blog will be helpful and inspiring on all topics in my life, from studying to styling, singing to cooking and being in a relationship and how to try and steer your way through stormy seas in a metaphorical and not literal sense. I do hope to get my own website up and running but I shall see the response from this first.

If there are any other things you want to know about me, message me at clairethomas1610@gmail.com or find me on Facebook,  Twitter: Claireyt13 or Pinterest: clairethomas1610 and we can have a fun chat or I can answer question in my next entry!

Thank you for reading this, I hope you have a wonderful day.

Take care

Claire x