Good morning and I hope you all had a spooky Halloween?!

I think wherever you are and whatever age you happen to be, there will always be negative people around you who make your life unhappy at certain times. But what I have realised lately is that they “make your life unhappy… if you let them!”

Life is too short to let insignificant people take one happy minute away from you and this applies to any issue you may have – negative or nasty people like mine or perhaps work problems or relationship issues etc. I know my biggest problem is that I tend to over think things and give the people/issue too much of my time – which naturally makes it all seem much worse!

Sometimes when you have things on your mind, the simplest things can sort you out – for me it was having lunch with one of my lovely and very wise friends who simply said the things I already knew – these people are not important, they do not deserve your time – absolutely right

It also reminds me seeing these pretty little printed reminders, which is why I wanted to share them with you. Remember – the things that worry us do not, most of the time, need to worry us quite so much as they do.

What do you think? Is the thinking about things too much bit ringing true to you?! What sorts you out when you are upset or worrying about something too much?

Have a lovely Tuesday and I shall be back soon xx

Images via Bits of Wisdom and She Takes Flight.

So, my 30th birthday is almost over and I have so far survived! I think I’ll be ok

What is everyone up to tonight for Halloween? We are going over to see the family who are doing a fancy dress Halloween dinner party for me – so quite looking forward to that!

I have my witches outfit and have just painted my nails a fab sparkly black, so looking forward to scaring a few trick or treaters later on!

Our house is in the sticks so we don’t get trick or treaters – so is nice that we will be somewhere else, so we can really get in the spirit of things!

Would love to know your Halloween stories from today and see pics of any costumes or impressive pumpkins?! xx

Images via Craftily Ever After and Grant Ethridge.

Afternoon all – how has your Halloween Monday been so far?

On Sunday my husband and I had a little outing to Arundel - a gorgeous little town in West Sussex full of antique shops, restaurants, cafes, galleries and it even has its own Castle!

One of the best things for me are the antique shops – I love just wandering around looking at all of the bits and pieces and trying to guess where they have come from and where they once lived.

As a lover of anything pretty I was in my element and not sure where to look first!

I could practically furnish my whole house and garden just from the few small shops in Arundel.

After a bit of shop wandering we stopped for lunch at Butlers Restaurant – we both had a lovely Sunday roast and built up some energy for the afternoon wanderings.

My lovely husband also bought me this beautiful antique ring for my birthday whilst we were there – I am so in love with it! It is diamonds and a very very pale green/aqua tourmaline gemstone on a gold ring – I must admit that tourmaline is not a stone I really knew that much about, but I have done a bit of research since and it sounds fabulous. The main thing though is that it looks great and sparkles away – which is perfect for the magpie in me!

I love that my birthday present is an antique and that it has a life and a story before me! I just wish I could find out exactly where it came from and who wore it… would love to know!

What do you think of Arundel – anyone else been? xx

Happy Halloween

Happy Monday and Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a great weekend and loved the extra hour in bed?! What did you all get up to – anything exciting? Apart from my Sunday trip to Arundel (more about that this afternoon) I also watched Paranormal Activity 2 last night and it was SCARY! Looking forward to seeing the third this week at the cinema!

As you know my first post of the week is always something cute to brighten up your Monday morning and today is no different – except for adding a bit of Halloween to the cuteness!

The super cute kitten pic was seen on Here Be Witches and the piglet filled pumpkin from BBC News.

So, its official… as of today I am now in my thirties! I have decided to just embrace it (!) so no more moaning from me! I will start my embracing with presents – hope my hubby has got something like this in store – I best go and find out!

Have a happy Halloween and I shall be back this afternoon xx

Present filled car image via on bluepoolroad.

Good morning and I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday morning? I am just catching up with a bit of blogging whilst husband is watching the Indian Grand Prix in the background. We are off shortly to Arundel, so more about that later.

I am in love with the new Charlene Soraia song, called Wherever You Will Go – you may have heard it on the new Twinings (tea) advert?

It is so beautiful – I really reccomend you just take a few minutes to listen to it. I am listening to it a lot!

Her album Moonchild is released on 21 November, but you can download this song on iTunes now if you are like me and can’t wait that long!

I have a bit of a habit of playing songs I like to death! Can’t help it – if I like a song, I want to hear it over and over! xx

Afternoon and I hope you all enjoyed my Friday Favourites post this morning?

As its Halloween on Monday and Halloween Week on the blog I thought it would be nice to provide a little Halloween inspiration for those having parties or going out over the weekend in celebration of the spooky event. So below I have set out some party/decor inspiration, some food & drink inspiration and then some costume inspiration.

1 – Lace pumpkin from Better Homes,  2 – Witches legs from All You,  3 – Magic spell from Maison Ded Lilas,  4 – Trunk from Here Be Witches, 5 – Glitter pumpkins from Wedding By Colour,  6 – Piano from Carina Gardner

1 – Drinks table from Better Homes, 2 – Cake from Disney Dreaming, 3 – Drinks from Martha Stewart, 4 – Eat It sign from Eighteen 25,  5 – Drink Me sign from Etsy

1 – Red rose lady from Visualise Us,  2 – B&W photo from Bing, 3 – Spooky nails from Flickr,  4 – Pumpkin Witch from Halloween Forum,  5 – Black faced lady from a8

So what are you all doing this weekend? Any spooky Halloween celebrations? If so, I hope by inspiration boards have helped – if not, they are still pretty to look at! Either way, have a good one xx

Afternoon all. For Halloween Week I thought it only right to look at what Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, actually is and where it comes from. Its more than just a day to dress up and go trick or treating for sweets – or a birthday in my case! I thought it may be nice to look at some pretty Vintage Halloween pics whilst we were at – history can be pretty! I love this one below from Vintage Holiday Crafts.

In 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church made the 1st November a holiday to honour the saints (All Saints Day) and it became customary to pray for the dead on this date. Another name for All Saints Day is ‘All Hallows’ (hallow is an old English word for Saint) and the celebrations began on All Hallows Eve, the 31 October – Halloween. This skull pic (from Flickr) is spooky and clever!

So how did modern Halloween customs come about? In England, by the 14th century, a custom called ‘souling‘ had started where the poor would go from house to house asking for soul-cakes. The more well off would give out small cakes or loaves in exchange for prayers for their dead relatives.

Souling continued up until the 20th century in some parts of Britain, though the ritual became increasingly secularised and was eventually relegated to children. Souling is no doubt where ‘Trick or Treating came from’.

Shakespeare uses the phrase ‘to speak pulling like a beggar at Hallowmass‘.

This spooky Halloween rabbit is not as cute as the bunnies I am used to, but just had to include it! Seen on Pinterest via This Next.

During the 16th century the Protestant Reformation put a stop to All Souls Day rituals in England (as they did not have the same beliefs as the Catholics) and people began to attach their own meanings and customs to it. Its not surprising then, that it took on associations with the occult and other scary things given the link to the dead and the strong disapproval of the Church of England.

On a lighter note – how about a love spell (from stacy corazon) for you singletons?! Hehe!

So what do you think – I hope you found this little bit of history interesting? Did many of you already know where Halloween actually came from? Halloween is my birthday and if I am honest… even I did not know exactly! I am a rubbish Witch!

If you want a few more facts go to A Heretical History of Halloween - where most of mine came from.

Have a fab evening and I will be back tomorrow – when its Fridaaaayyyy! xx

Good morning and I hope you are all well? I don’t know about you but I am struggling with these cold dark mornings. I have a lovely big, warm and cosy bed and when its still quite dark and icy cold as soon as you move the duvet, there is not much motivation to get up! I do it, but I don’t like it!

Anyway… the world has definitely gone crazy for all things vintage – and I must say, it has not passed me by! Also, obviously being a wedding planner (as well as a blogger) I am around vintage a lot, as it is a big trend in the wedding world.

For me the vintage thing started a while back when my husband bought me a vintage ring, from a little antique shop in Arundel - a very pretty little town full of antique shops, restaurants and galleries – love it. We are actually going again on Sunday for lunch – so more about it on Sunday & Me.

Heavenly Homes today is all about vintage suitcases and how they can be used in the home. I love vintage luggage and have recently started to collect it – despite my husbands complaints of hoarding! You can stack them and use as a table, make them in to chairs or pet beds or even just store stuff in them – a lot more interesting than a boring box!

1 – Craft storage seen on Pinterest (source unknown),  2 – White bedside stack from Eat Live Shop,  3 – Pet bed seen on I love my Apartment 4 – Bedside stack seen on Invoking Inspiration 5 – Suitcase chair from Underland,  6 – Bathroom cabinet seen on re-nest

I love the way they have made a chest of drawers by stacking them in the pic below and the wedding table plan displayed in the suitcase is always a popular one with my brides.

1 – Suitcase chair seen on We Heart It,  2 – Stack of drawers seen on Pinterest (source unknown),  3 – Wedding table plan seen on The Stockman Diaries,  4 – Bedside stack from Piorra Maison

What about you – are you a lover of all things vintage, or did it pass you by? Anyone done anything cool with vintage suitcases?

Have a good morning and I will be back this afternoon xx

As you know, its Halloween Week on the blog and what better on Wedding Wednesday than a spooky Harry Potter themed wedding?!

I love Harry Potter so think some of the details from this wedding are wonderful! Although, perhaps a bit weird and maybe a step too far to theme your wedding around it?! Fun to look at though

Love the Sorting Hat and Wand escort cards shown above! Would also love to get my hands on some of that Felix Felicis - if only it were real…

So, perhaps themeing your wedding is a bit OTT – but fab photos if you are a Harry Potter fan. What other crazy wedding themes have you seen?!

So I hope you have enjoyed Wedding Wednesday on the blog? Did you see the Sassi Holford post this morning? Have a good one and I will be back in the morrow xx

Images via Trendhunter

Good afternoon – how is your week going so far?

I don’t know about you, but I love a pretty bow! On anything really! Bows are one of those things that don’t really go out of fashion. The type and style of bow and the garments they adorn may change slightly, but a bow is a bow and I am glad! Fashion bows

1 – Hair bow seen on Hair Wars,  2 – Ring from Etsy,  3 – Gloves from Nonesuch Things,  4 – Skirt from Say Yes to Hoboken,  5 – Stockings seen on My Brother Mick,  6 – Dress from Martina Rosati 7 – Necklace from Marissa Barr

I could obviously not have a Fashion Bows post without looking at some pretty bow shoes! I love all of these and want a pair of each – it is nearly my birthday!

1 – Red shoes from Prepaganda,  2 – Brown shoes from Dust Jacket Attic,  3 – Grey shoes from Must Luvv Shoes,  4 – Nude shoes from Chiq,  5 – Sparkly shoes from This is Glamorous

All this talk of bows has made me hungry – I am off to find me one of these bow cupcakes! Seen on Pretty Little Dreams.

What do you think of bows in fashion? Any cool bow outfits of accessories to share?

Have a good afternoon and I shall be back tomorrow – got a great Wedding Wednesday lined up for you xx