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Saturday, 3 September 2016

My Favourite Posts of the Month: August Edition

It's time for the second instalment of the new feature I started on my blog last month. This post is dedicated to sharing the love and letting my fellow bloggers know how much I admire their work. I have chosen another seven posts that really stood out to me in August. Definitely go and check them out :) If you didn't catch the July Edition, find it here. Enjoy! 

My Favourite Blog Posts of the Month

All of the other photographs used in this post are taken by the bloggers mentioned. I share their photos so you can get a glimpse of the awesome post it's came from. Be sure to read their posts, too! 

Cattitude & Co

The first post that I really enjoyed reading in August was by the lovely Tara over at Cattitude & Co, and was all about '6 Important Lessons To Be Learnt From Friendship Breakups'. As someone who has also had to say goodbye to a close friend this year, I found it somewhat comforting to read about Tara's experiences and thoughts on friendship breakups. They are honestly so hard and it was good to be reminded that I'm not the only one who finds it a challenge to move on and to forget. 'Quality over quantity' is also something that I have definitely learnt over the years, especially struggling with both physical and mental chronic conditions. It's more important to me to have a couple of amazing friends who I know I can rely on and who accept me for how I am. 

X Love Leah X

I just loved this post by the fabulous Leah from x Love Leah x featuring her 'CowCow Kawaii Ghosts Plus Size Dress'. It accompanied a photo that Leah shared on her instagram, and as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with the dress!  As a plus size woman who absolutely adores kawaii culture, it is so disappointing that I've never been able to find really cutesy prints on dresses that will fit me. Even when I have found kawaii dresses in my size, the print usually stretches when I put it on and so doesn't make the print look the best. I'm so happy that Leah brought this dress to my attention, that I literally bought it on the same day I saw it. It looks great paired with the pink cardigan, too. I wore my new kawaii ghost dress to Manchester Pride last weekend and I love it, so thanks Leah! 

Thrifty Vintage Fashion

Another post by the wonderful Nicole Marie from Thrifty Vintage Fashion has made it onto My Favourite Posts of the Month again! I seriously just love her blog so much! One of Nicole's posts that I found really inspirational this month was on 'What It Feels Like To Be An Outsider'. I'm so very proud of you Nicole for writing this post  

Bullying and loneliness are both really tough things to talk about, and I found your words so relatable. I experienced a lot of feeling lonely when I was growing up because I was interested in things that my peers were not and I had to adapt myself to fit in with my friends, to keep my nerdy hobbies to myself. It wasn't until I met my best friend that I knew people would love me for me and that there were lots of fellow dorks out there :) You're an awesome person, and there will be lots of people in your life who will love you for your quirkiness and won't care about your mental illnesses. Be you unapologetically! That goes to all of my lovely readers too, you are all wonderful people! 

Northern Blood

The next post I want to mention to you all is by the awesome Joe over at Northern Blood. I don't know many people that didn't watch the new original Netflix series, Stranger Things, last month, and Joe's post '12 Questions Stranger Things Needs To Answer' discusses stuff that we were probably all thinking as we watched. Like so many others, I was pretty excited about Stranger Things! I wasn't expecting to like it all that much to be honest, just because it seemed to have a lot of sci-fi elements and well, sci-fi isn't really my thing. However, like pretty much everyone else, I was hooked after the first episode! 

I binge-watched the series and was literally obsessed by the end of it. I loved Joe's post because reading it brought the series back to life in my mind, and even tempted me into having a re-watch of the final episode. It was nice knowing that I wasn't the only one with so many bloody quesitons haha. Bring on Season 2! Definitely check out this post if you enjoyed Stranger Things as much as I did. 

Little Fickle

I first read 'A Life Long Stigma' by the fantastic Sammy from the blog Little Fickle when I was having a pretty bad mental health day. My depression was taking over, consuming my mind with thoughts of how much of a burden I am to people, of how much it must suck to be my friend and how much I feel like I would be better off not in everyone's lives.These may seem like extreme thoughts, but these thoughts are my reality almost every single day living with depression and anxiety. 

When I read Sammy's incredibly written post, it reminded me that I still deserve love and support, no matter how much gloom my illness carries with me. 'I've learned that people who can't handle my scars and the knowledge of my past, they aren't worth my time' - this line especially evoked my emotions, and made me for a moment feel unapologetic about this illness that is part of who I am, but not all of who I am. The people who can't look past that don't deserve to know the rest of me! Thankyou so much for sharing your words, they are so meaningful and helpful to read and it takes courage to post about what mental health is really like to live with

Sarah In Wonderland


Sarah in Wonderland is one of my absolute favourite blogs, so it's no surprise that another of Sarah's posts is being featured in My Favourite Posts of the Month. 'I'm not superhuman: not all disabled people can be paralympians' was such a fantastic post. Well said! It highlights how people are constantly comparing disabled people to one another. I can't list the number of times I've had people say to me, when I tell them about the restrictions that my health conditions cause, 'oh I know someone with that and they can still do X, Y and Z'. It's so irritating! It really sucks, the way the media separates the paralympians from other people with disabilities and causes the general population to form the opinion of 'well, if they can do that, everyone with that disability can'. They think that others are just lazy or don't put in enough effort, and this just further perpetuates ableism and the stigma that disabled people face. Everyone with disabilities is different and we all experience our illnesses in different ways, and it certainly doesn't mean you're a failure if you cannot do what another person with your disability can do. Everyone should go read Sarah's post :) 

Dorkface

The final post that stood out to me in August was one by the marvellous Jemma from the blog Dorkface. I thought it was really brave and awesome of her to share 'All My Insecurities' with us. It's not easy to talk about the things we like least about ourselves, and I admire Jemma so much for writing this post. Especially as bloggers, with our lives pretty much always on display in some way, it can be difficult not to compare both our lives and ourselves with other bloggers. It can definitely make you more self conscious when you are constantly looking at selfies on instagram and beauty/fashion photography on blogs. Remember though, we all have our own insecurities and none of us are perfect. It's easy to spread positivity, but it can be very hard to listen to those positive messages yourself. But seriously though, we are all unique and beautiful in our own way!


Thankyou for reading!


Tell me some of your favourite posts from August, and please go and give all of these brilliant bloggers a follow!  


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Monday, 1 August 2016

Favourite Posts of the Month: July Edition

I've been meaning to start this new feature on my blog for a while now, but I've never quite gotten around to it. I will start the month compiling a list of all of the awesome blog posts that have really stood out to me but because of stress or fatigue or forgetfulness, I'll never keep up with it. So finally, I decided to get my act together and share with you some of my favourite blog posts of July. Each month, I want to show my love for other blogger's posts, for all of the time and effort they put into their blogs, to say thankyou for brightening up my day with their words or sharing about a personal topic that I can relate to or learn something from. I hope you all enjoy reading!

Favourite Posts of the Month, Favourite Blog Posts of the Month, Favourite Blog Posts,

The rest of the photographs you'll see are taken by the bloggers who have written the posts, not by me :) I just wanted to show off their fabulous photography so you can have a snippet of the post itself. Be sure to check out the wonderful posts mentioned :) 



The first post I would like to bring to everyone's attention is written by the lovely Nicole Marie over at Thifty Vintage Fashion. '30 Things You Will Understand If You Went To A British Primary School' was a post that I really enjoyed reading. It was so nostaglic to follow the list whilst reminiscing about all of the awesome memories I have of Primary School. Seriously check out this post for a trip down memory lane. Nicole's blog is filled with such wonderful posts so it was a challenge to mention just one of them for you today. 


I absolutely love beautiful photography and this post by the awesome Sophie over at Shy Life Living has some of the best photos that I saw in July. 'Style Snippets: Edinburgh Botanical Gardens' is both a fashion and lifestyle post, including photographs around some stunning gardens and an outfit that I really like. The Edinburgh Botanical Gardens is now added to the massive list of places that I would love to visit. Go check out Sophie's other Style Snippet posts too; they're great!


Almost everyone I know is playing Pokemon Go right now and it's no surprise because it's bloody awesome! Fellow Pokemon fans like myself have obviously fell in love with the game but it's also been pretty interesting to see people playing it who have never watched the anime or even heard of Pokemon before. I love it! It's getting people out of the house more, and has been shown to be having a positive effect on people's mental health already. As someone who personally struggles with mental health conditions, I can say that it is definitely helping me become more motivated to go out which in turn is boosting my mood. 

As well as mental health conditions, I also have a chronic pain condition which can make it challenging to keep up with all of the other Pokemoners. The wonderful Tania over at When Tania Talks has written a really helpful post for fellow spoonies on how to make the most of Pokemon Go when you are living with chronic health conditions and disabilities. 'Pokemon Go Disability Hacks' is a fantastic post that everyone should have a read of. 



The photograph above just illustrates the gorgeous, cuteness overload that you will find over at The Flower That Blooms, which is run by the fabulous Rachel & Lauren. 'Paperchase Haul-Purr Maids Collection' showcases a beautiful new collection, including colourful, vibrant, girly stationery with the most adorable cat-mermaids. How can anyone resist a cat-mermaid!? Warning: when you read this post, you will want every single item in the collection! I know I do! I already have one of the notebooks and a sticker sheet, but I need the rest of this collection in my life as soon as possible. 


The photograph above comes from one of the most epic blog posts I've read, written by the fantastic Tara over at Cattitude&Co. It's so refreshing and super awesome to see photographs like the ones in this post, featuring masturbation and sex toy fun in the bedroom. 'How To Create A Sex Positive Environment In The Bedroom' is a great post sharing some of the important factors that can make your sexual relationships more positive, safe and fulfilling. More sex positive posts like this need to be shared to encourage people to talk more about topics that are considered taboo, especially when it comes to women, and to embrace their sexuality. Seriously, go check out Cattitude&Co


One of the most recent posts that I just enjoyed reading so much was shared by the lovely Claire from Fine & Dandy. 'My Tattoos and Me' was a beautiful read, about Claire's relationship with her tattoos. I love love love tattoos, and even though I only have one myself so far, I have a massive wishlist of tattoos for when I find the perfect artists to help bring my ink dreams to life. Tattoos are so gorgeous in my opinion and I would love to have a body covered in artwork some day. I do feel like it will help me develop a more positive opinion of my body and it will be wonderful to admire them. I always forget momentarily that the gecko just below my wrist is there and when I spot it in the shower or when putting on a bracelet, it makes me smile :) 

 
The final post that I thought was a fantastic read last month was written by the incredible Sarah over at Sarah in Wonderland. 'What disability? the adaptability of children' really highlights the innocent, curious minds of children and how quickly they accept the world around them without judgement. It is a lovely post about how educating children by answering their questions and not shying away from certain topics, which just creates a problem in the long run, will help them grow into accepting, understanding adults. Everyone should go read it. 

Thankyou for reading!


What were your favourite posts this month?  Also, go give all of the lovely ladies in this post a follow! 

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