Non-alcoholic summer drinks with Luscombe*

Do you guys remember that way back in mid June I went to my first ever real blogger event, aka bloggers ball? On our way into the event, some PRs from Luscombe drinks invited us in with a cheeky shot of non-alcoholic fizz to get our taste buds tingling. I was so impressed by the taste and how kind they were, that I reached out to the brand to thank them for the welcome, and they were so lovely that they even sent me some full sized bottle samples to try out!
Although I do love a good glass of white wine or two, there are always times at which you want something a little more flavoursome than water, but you just can't drink alcohol. I'm talking about the ol' Sunday night before work on a Monday, or a picnic in the summer sun that you've had to drive to. Ugh. 
I love a good elderflower presse or cordial in the summer. Pair that with some ice and a long straw and you've got yourself a very happy, chilled out Steph. It's one of those drinks that actually makes me feel as though I'm doing this whole adulting thing correctly because y'know, it's a soft drink that isn't squash or lemonade. Luscombe's wild elderflower bubbly* is one that they suggest can be used as an alcohol-free champagne alternative for big events and honestly? As much as I love a good glass of champers (who doesn't?), I think I'd be hard picked to choose between the two.
I was super excited to get to tasting the drinks Luscombe sent over as they're all natural, organic and made in Devon. I've spoken before about how much I love supporting UK brands because it not only helps businesses here grow, but also cuts back on my carbon footprint. This collaboration even had the boyfriend excited. We split each bottle between us and even drunk it out of wine glasses to make it a special treat of an evening when we didn't fancy actual alcohol. 
The Sicilian lemonade* was his favourite, with its bitter tang and smooth consistency. This one was bubble-free and made for such a lovely soft drink when we had our little heatwave last week! Drinking real lemonade will always remind me of visiting Camden, as I usually pick up a glass at a stall there, so this had a little added value for me!
My least favourite of the four I got to try had to be strawberry crush*. I'm a big lover of strawberry flavoured anything, but this had a fair amount of lemon in it too, which gave it a tang that I just wasn't a fan of. However, it was still a refreshing drink to come straight out of the fridge, mmmm.
And, finally, I got to give the Damascene rose bubbly* a try. My boyfriend was really apprehensive about this one, and there were a lot of 'ew, why would they put rose in a drink, bleurgh I'm going to hate it'. But, in actual fact the rose flavour was fairly subtle, and I would definitely say this would be an interesting alcohol free drink to serve at a wedding or party. I know I'd be intrigued at trying a flavour that you rarely come across, and again, it was nice and bubbly, and almost had me tricked into believing it could have been alcoholic.
Have you tried any of Luscombe's range?
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Going Cold Shoulder and Feeling Sassy

This summer has seen me at my biggest weight of my life, and so I've been feeling a little under-confident to say the least. If you've read my dealing with weight gain and blogger confidence post, then you'll know that way back in February I promised myself that my weight gain wouldn't stop me from taking outfit photos. Fast forward six months and it's safe to say that it probably has had quite an impact. 

In fact, I haven't written any kind of fashion post in the last six months, since I wrote about styling winter colours in Spring. So, now that I've moved to such a picturesque location, and have been trying to get my confidence back step by step, I figured a new fashion post was in order. Now, I'm by no means a fashion blogger, nor will I ever be. 90% of my time is spent in leggings and/or dressing gown, as I work from home. I almost always go for comfort over style and I love nothing more than changing into my favourite PJs in the evening. BUT, when I do feel a little fancy, or want an extra confidence boost I do like to dress up, and make myself feel like an actual responsible adult, yaknow?

I've actually spent hardly any money on clothes over the last six months - what with my spending ban and life priorities (ugh, why is council tax such a costly thing?!), new clothes have been totally under my radar. BUT, I found a cheeky little gift voucher in the depths of my bedroom whilst moving house, so, basically all hail the gods of gift cards. I managed to pick up this bardot top in the New Look sale and I'm so gutted they don't stock it anymore, but I've found a really similar one of theirs here for you.

Paired with my favourite red lip of summer that I picked up in my first NYX haul a couple of weeks ago, this bold bardot has been my go-to for evening dates and daytimes in the sunshine when I want to feel a little cool, but don't want to get the vest tops out.  I actually have some pretty nasty scarring on the top of one of my arms, so this top allows me to bare some flesh whilst covering that all up, which makes me happy. I'm not saying that scars and marks on your body should be concealed - do whatever makes you happy - but sometimes I do like to, especially in the sunshine as it's so dangerous to burn them. 

My favourite thing about this top is that it's so easy to dress up or down. Here I was heading out for the day, to do a little Pokemon hunting (of course), so I wore it with some simple black skinny jeans and my white espadrilles. For an evening I've leaned towards wearing it with a black midi skirt and some simple black stilettos.

What would you wear it with? 

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Rimmel by Kate Nudes

Summer 2016 so far for me has been all about embracing the nudes. I definitely feel as though darker colours are much more an Autumn style for me, but this is the first time I've ever really considered the power of the nude lippy. I've always thought that nudes were, well, more than a little pointless, because obvious you may as well leave your lips bare if you're not going bold, right?! All I can say now is that I've definitely learnt the error of my ways. Nudes are my one true love and they make for the perfect addition to my daily work makeup.
Way back in March I told you guys all about my newfound love for Rimmel by Kate's lipstick range, and promised an update as soon as I expanded my collection. Rewind to almost the end of July now, and it's safe to say that life really did get more than a little in the way. But, I am back to talk about my love for two staple nudes in the collection: shade 03 and shade 08.
Having looked at shade 03 online I am so glad I always make sure to check any potential lipstick purchases out in person (when I can of course). Shade 03 is the first one I've pictured above, and as you can see there's a subtle orange tint to it, which is what makes me really love it. However, any images I've found online show it as being a totally pale pink colour, which it really isn't! 
Shade 08, which is a much more pinky nude with a hint of brown, used to be my all-time favourite. It's so easy to gloss on and it gives my lips a hint of colour without being too in-your-face. But, shade 03 may have just overtaken it with it's cool orange undertone.
All in all, I am more than a little in love with these lipsticks - they offer a subtle wash of colour and come in at an afforable price. My one bug bear would be that they really aren't that long-lasting, so you do need to reapply if you're going out all day.
Have you tried any of the Rimmel by Kate range? What are your favourite nudes?
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5 Reasons Why I've Fallen For Pokemon Go

If you haven't heard of Pokemon Go by now, then what have you been doing for the past few weeks (seriously)?! Within it's very short lifespan, it's become the biggest online game ever, beating the likes of World of Warcraft (or WoW as it's more affectionately known). I downloaded it as soon as it was available in the UK and have fallen totally head over heels for the game/app. 
However, there's been a buttload of hateful negative commentaries about the game all over the internet, which is such a shame. I'm all about promoting positivity here on Nourish ME, so today I'm going to be talking very quickly about why I think Nintendo's new release is actually fab.
1.) It's helped me overcome my anxiety and leave the house. Leaving the house is where my anxiety strikes me hardest, and I tend to avoid it as much as possible, but now I actually look forward to it in the hope of catching some new Pokemon.
2.) I don't remember the last time I walked this much, this frequently. In case you don't know, you can get eggs from Pokestops (usually historical/community places such as nature reserves, old pubs, museums etc) and you have to walk 2, 5, or 10 kilometres to hatch them. We've been heading out on special trips specifically for egg hatching and it's been fab.
3.) I love collecting things. I'm not going to lie here, in my daily life I'm a bit of a hoarder. I've got over 400 books (whoops) and have pretty much every Sims 3 game ever (no regrets there). So getting a chance to collect 250 different Pokemon without having to pay a penny puts a massive grin on my face.
4.) It's given me and my boyfriend the chance to spend a tonne of quality time together, that otherwise wouldn't happen. As I said, we've been taking special trips out to our local towns and have spent a few days just wandering around together, eating lunch in quaint tea shops and getting a good dose of Vitamin D. It's actually (oddly) been something that we've been bonding over, and we're always giving each other heads up for new Pokemon on the scene.
5.) It's made me thankful to live in the countryside. I hate living in the countryside - I only moved here about a month ago and there are SO MANY BUGS I cannot handle it. So, finding out that my current home is basically on top of a Pokestop because of the nature reserve just behind it has been heavenly. All the pokeballs for me. 
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it, and if you haven't yet downloaded Pokemon Go, then give it a whirl!
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Dealing with Weight Gain Part Three: On a Budget

This is the third part in my little mini series called 'Dealing With Weight Gain'. The first part was all about how to deal with it in general, the second was all about blogger confidence and this part is going to be all about not breaking the bank in order to handle your weight gain. I posted the former two way way earlier on in the year (in fact I think one might have just caught the tail end of 2015!) so this post is something that I've been thinking about for just about forever. 
I've been into the whole idea of 'clean eating' for quite some time now, and in fact my blog was originally based all around it, BUT after some time away from this life style, I came back to find that all of a sudden it was a lot more class based than ever before. I used to feel content eating my brown pasta with turkey mince spag bol - a meal that was both simple and, most importantly for me as a student, cost effective. However, in the last six months or so, all of my research into going back to 'clean eating'  showed me that the game had changed. Brown pasta wasn't a think to be used anymore, and turkey mince? Well, you may as well just use plain old beef mince. Instead, simple changes seem to have been replaced with smashed avo on toast (grim) and a need to buy endless amounts of cauliflower so that you can use it as a base for pretty much anything. It really seems to have become a game exclusively for the middle and upper classes.
I know, I know, it seems like I'm being really cynical here, but for a while I totally bought into it, in all senses of the word. Soon I was a proud owner of gluten free organic soy sauce, and a tub of organic brown miso paste. Because, you know, I NEEDED these to make the recipes I was coming across. At the time I was doing online shopping because of the shifts I was working, and I started to find that neither Morrisons nor Asda could satisfy my needs anymore - it had to be Ocado, because no where else was 'good' enough to offer a massive range of organic food, or all of the niche ingredients I was coming across. The problem was that I'm neither middle or upper class, so I was totally grinding my finances into the ground with this belief.
Soon I found myself almost doubling my food bill because I had become so wrapped up in the idea that I 'needed' to lose weight and this was the only way to do so. If you've read my overcoming food fears post, then you'll know how much I hate trying new foods, so doing this all of the time was making me miserable. And guess what I turn to when I'm feeling rubbish? Junk food of course! So I ended up half eating super healthy food, and half scoffing away on takeaway and chocolate. This in turn then bumped up my expenditure even more.
As well as this, I came to the 'realisation' that I needed a gym membership - because obviously if I signed up to a gym contract which took another hefty fee out of my account each month I would have to exercise, right?! If any of you have done something similar then you'll probably know how it went down: I rarely motivated myself to go to the gym, but because I had the membership I didn't want to exercise at home, so I ended up doing precisely nada.
After a few months of this I came to the realisation that I'd pretty much been duped by the media into spending a ridiculous amount on trying to lose some weight, but in reality, all my waistband was doing was expanding. Clearly something had to change if I really did want to go back to a healthy weight for my size. So, I took my mind back to when I first decided I wanted to eat healthy, and considered what I did that was different, and realised that everything was so much less toxic back then. I could make myself simple, cheap, nutritious meals without feeling like I was missing out because it didn't contain a so called 'superfood' ingredient. Now I've had the time to look at what I was doing however, I feel like I've come to an understanding with myself that I don't need to feel pressured into buying silly foods I'll never eat just because all the health bloggers on Instagram love them. And neither do I need to buy an expensive gym pass. So, here are my top 5 things I'd keep in mind in dealing with weight gain on a budget:
1.) Stay realistic with meals. I'm a big fan of meal planning, but if I plan a day in which I'm hoping to eat smoked salmon on rye toast with a quinoa and pomegranate salad in the evening, I'm probably going to be grumpy at the end of the day and end up ordering out. Think about what your body wants and needs and find a simple way to keep things a little healthy.
2.) Shop around. Did you know that Aldi actually have a massive selection of fresh fruit and veg that's incredibly affordable (and even has a fairly decent selection of affordable organic ingredients!). We did our main shop here for a few weeks and legitimately halved our food bills.
3.) Keep things simple. If you don't want to spend three hours cooking a meal that you might not even like, then don't. Find something easy and filling that will keep you going without slaving over the oven. Don't feel as though you have to over-complicate things just because you see other people doing it on Instagram - you can't see what they're eating off-screen, and besides, who gives a fuck what strangers do?!
4.) Remember that exercise doesn't have to be expensive. Heard of Pokemon Go at all? Seriously though, me and my boyfriend downloaded it as soon as it came out in the UK and we've done more walking in the last few weeks than we probably have done altogether in the last year. I'm not even exaggerating here. If you're not a fan, then remember that there are tonnes of way to get your dose of exercise in, and you can even create a mini gym at home with a set of dumbbells and some Youtube videos!
5.) You don't have to keep up with all the fashion trends. Starting to have fewer and fewer items of clothing that fit you really sucks, and there's no way about that. But, if you've been gaining bits of weight here and there, then buying a whole new wardrobe every month or two is really not going to be realistic. Instead, keep your comfy baggy tees for time inside the house, and treat you to a new piece of clothing or two every month, rather than ALL the clothes. Plus, you can find some rare treats in charity shops for a fraction of what you would expect to pay for new clothes!
I really hope you enjoyed this post - let me know if it's been helpful!
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Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

I'm loving sharing more recipes with you guys on here at the moment, so I thought I'd chat a little bit about this quick and easy chicken and broccoli stir fry. Just like my chicken fajitas recipe that I shared earlier on in the week, this has become a weekly staple for us recently as it's so quick to whip up. This actually takes a measly 15 minutes to get sorted, so if you're looking for a quick fix at the end of a long day, or if (like me) there are some days when you'd rather do anything than spend an hour cooking something, then this is a fab go-to. Plus, it's got about one zillion nutrients so, y'know, it really is a little health kick in a meal.

I use brown rice for this because, as I've mentioned in my overcoming food fears post, there are certain foods I haven't quite got round to finding enjoyable, White rice is 100% one of them. I prefer the flavour, texture and added health benefits of brown rice. The one downside? It doubles the time this takes to make. Brown rice tends to take around half an hour to cook, as opposed to the standard 12 minutes for white rice. So bear in mind that if, like me you want to make the switch to brown, you'll need to allocate a little more time.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

- 2 chicken breasts

- 1 bunch broccoli

- Grapeseed/extra virgin olive oil

- Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

- 3 tablespoons soy sauce

- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 1 tablespoon cornstarch

- 1 minced garlic clove

- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method:

1.) Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and the broccoli into small florets. Keep them separate.

2.) Boil water for your rice and put it on to cook.

2.) Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan. Place the chicken in and fry until it is cooked through.

3.) Whilst the chicken is cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a mug or small bowl.

4.) When the chicken has been cooked sufficiently, add the broccoli to the pan with a little more oil. Fry until the broccoli has gone a bright green colour (this should take roughly four minutes).

5.) Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli and cook for another 2 minutes.

6.) Serve.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe - if you do make it, please tag me in your pictures - I would love to see them! 

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First Ever NYX Haul

Oh MY word guys I think I've fallen in love with a brand. Is that a thing now? Can we do that? Because I picked up some goodies from NYX a couple of weeks ago and I've fallen head over heels for everything. You know when you do a little makeup haul and you end up hating half of the stuff you get? I was kind of expecting that, especially as I can be a bit iffy about going too bold with colours. BUT, NYX have done themselves proud because literally everything I picked up has been amazing.
I know I usually do a bit more of an introduction to my posts before rushing straight in. but honestly I'm so excited about this one that I couldn't resist taking the plunge. I've only just moved to a new town (well I've been here about a month now) and realised that there is a Boots with a MASSIVE NYX stand a five minute drive away from my house. So I had to go and check it out right?! I've been on the hunt for a physical NYX stand for months because I really didn't want to try a new brand out for the first time by buying stuff online. It's really hard to see exactly what you'll be getting that way, and you can't really judge the size of the products etc etc.
So, I gleefully headed off into the depths of Boots to discover a world of beauty. After about an hour of perusal (of course) I had finally decided on my products, and most importantly the shades I wanted! Although I'm super happy with what I picked up, I've definitely caught the NYX bug and I can totally see myself popping back in over the next few weeks to expand my new collection.
First of all, I wanted a good nude. Now, you can probably tell from my pictures that in the end I didn't actually get one (whoops), because I thought from the packaging that the Soft Spoken Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick was lighter than it actually is. Having said that, I would class it as an almost-nude, and for darker skin tones it would be a totally rocking nude. I included two pictures of this in the post because, as you can see, in some lights it looks completely brown, and in others there's a slightly pink hue to it. Ultimately it is brown based, and even reminds me a little of Kylie's range!
Next up I went for some brighter colours. I've been keeping almost wholly to nudes this summer, as I've discovered an unforeseen love for them. But, bright weather needs bright lippy right? I picked up the NYX soft matte lip cream in both Morocco and Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a dark purple liquid lipstick, and is fairly similar in colour to MAC's Sin. However, it comes in at almost 1/3 of the price, and doesn't dry my lips out anywhere near as much: all in all this makes it a winner in my eyes. Morocco is a very orange-toned red and has possibly become my favourite lipstick ever?!?! It's such a gorgeous colour and you can bet I'll be wearing it for the rest of the summer.
All three lip products come in at under £6 and the quality of them makes this an absolute bargain. They've survived the summer heat, a long day at work and eating and drinking without coming off completely. In fact, all I noticed was that the half of my lower lip closest to my mouth (if that makes sense) had lost the colour, but the rest of my lips were a-okay after a good 6+ active hours. These goodies offered me my first glimpse into the world of liquid lipsticks and honestly? I'm not sure I ever want to go back to traditional formulas.
And finally we have a little brow product. Moving to a new town means I don't have access to my old trusted brow queens, and honestly I haven't been able to find a place that I think I can trust yet. So my brows are in a little bit of a state. I picked up NYX's sculpt and highlight brow contour in ash brown/medium beige. I've been using this with my MUA brow kit (to fill in the centre of my brows) and this combination has totally changed my opinion of my brows. Suddenly they seem acceptable to go out in public with and I am so glad to have this extra boost of confidence. 
Have you bought anything from NYX? What would you recommend? Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube 

Daily Summer Skincare Essentials

It's that dreaded time of year again - the annual week long UK summer. As of Sunday I started to notice my face getting a little melty, and by Tuesday I was basically competing against the sun to keep my makeup from downright sweating off. I don't know about you, but we whacked out the oscillating fans and took to thrice daily showers to keep cool. 
As with any weather change, your skin will tend to react. A lot of us get slightly chapped (hopefully it's not just me?!) skin in winter on their face, and summer can have an effect too. The combination of excess sweat and the fact that my makeup doesn't have an opportunity to settle basically means that not only has this been heatwave week for me, but it could have been breakout central week. So, I made sure I stuck rigorously to my skincare regime and finally (hopefully) I've found a way to keep heat-induced skin issues at bay.
So, what's my miracle formula? Well, I've got combination skin, that's usually dry to combi, but there's been hardly a sighting of those little cakey-foundation inducing patches of horror recently. I used to be super lazy way back in those teenage years, and you were lucky if I actually washed my face in the morning, let alone had a full on routine for this stuff. Although I do have a routine, teenage Steph is still inside their somewhere, so it's by no means a full on 20 product every day kind of thing, but just takes a few minutes in the morning and evening to keep my skin happy.

Now let's get chatting this routine! First up I start my day off with a quick cleanse using my Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Cleanser. I've actually got a whole post on this range and why I love it here. I just use water and the cleanser here to get rid of any grease that's built up overnight. If you've got dry skin I probably wouldn't recommend this, as sometimes it can leave my combi skin feeling a little tight. 

Then we move onto preparing my face for the day. Usually I only include this step in my routine if I'm wearing makeup - on other days I just let my skin be free and do its thang to give it a little bit of a break. First up I spritz my face with LUSH's Eau Roma Water, which is an aroma-therapeutic toner water. It smells like lavender and rose so totally helps me to feel relaxed in the morning. Then, if my skin is feeling a little on the dry side I follow it up with Simple's Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. This is basically my fail-safe anti-foundation-cake product. 

In the evening, I like to incorporate my skincare routine into my pre-bed ritual. Like a great many sufferers out there, my anxiety is worst at night, so having a set routine before I go to bed really does wonders in helping me get off to sleep. I don't actually take my makeup off until I'm already in my PJs and sat on my bed with just the lamp on. I use LUSH's 9-5 cleanser on some cotton wool to get the majority of my makeup off, especially my eye makeup as I find it is gentle enough to not aggravate my sensitive eyes. 

Next up is the beauty blogger favourite: Garnier's Micellar Water. I pop some on a cotton wool pad again, and use it to get rid of any of the last dregs of makeup that I might have missed with the first cleanse. I follow this up with one of Nip + Fab's Dragon's Blood Daily Fix Pads. This combination keeps my skin totally hydrated overnight and even works to plump it a little. 
And finally, if you're looking to treat your body to a little smoothness this summer, then totally give Korres' Fig body butter a go. It's not my favourite scent this summer (hello Pinita Colada), but it's made my skin so soft that I practically wave it at everyone to feel!
What's your summer skincare routine?
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Chicken Fajitas Recipe

If you're in the UK at the moment you're probably avoiding cooking at all costs, am I right? We've got a teensy bit of a heatwave going on over here, to say the least, and we're all practically melting. BUT, these fajitas are super easy to make, won't see you slaving over a hot oven for hours, and can be used as a serve-yourself meal. The latter is basically my excuse not to plate up anyone's food. Because y'know, why waste the energy in this heat?
I've spoken about my utter love for South American food in both my review of Revolution Bar, Plymouth and Las Iguanas. Recently I decided to expand into making my own with these chicken fajitas and I'm not going to lie, I may be in love with them. They've become a weekly staple for me and my partner to make together, and the recipe has even made its way into my special recipe book, which is reserved for only my absolute favourites. 
If you're vegetarian, or even vegan, then it's totally doable with chicken 'style' quorn pieces, or even tofu. Plus, if you fancy something a little different, you could swap out the chicken for beef.
Prep time: 10 mins Cooking time: 20 mins Serves: 2-3
Ingredients:
- Tortilla wraps
For the chicken: - 2 chicken breasts - 2 tablespoons olive oil - 1 teaspoon dried oregano - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 2 teaspoons paprika - Juice 1/2 lime
For the vegetables: - 1 red bell pepper - 1 yellow bell pepper - 1/2 onion - 1 teaspoon chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Method:
- Cut the chicken, peppers and onion into long thin strips - Place the chicken and all of the seasoning for it into a bowl and mix until all of the chicken is covered - Leave the chicken to marinate for up to 1 hour. I usually leave it for 10-15 minutes. - Heat a frying pan with oil and cook the peppers and onions for five minutes. - Remove from the heat and place them on the plate. - Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the chicken until it is cooked through.  - Add the peppers, onions and lime juice. Cook for 1 minutes and then serve.
What is your go-to easy dinner to make in this heat?
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Giving My Living Area a Summer Restart*

I am SUCH a homebody. Seriously, give me a nice relaxing bubble bath, a glass of wine and a cheeky bit of netflix over going clubbing any day of the week. So, when I moved out of my (more than slightly) yucky student home, I felt so relieved. Finally, a place of my own that wouldn't be covered in grime and/or other people's belongings. I've spoken about my home living situation loads recently, but for those of you who haven't been keeping up, me and my partner are currently living in an outhouse owned by his parents until we've both got stable incomes and have saved enough to get all set up in our own place.
Whilst I'm incredibly grateful for this, living in what is effectively one room with an en-suite did put a bit of a dampener on my spirits. Suddenly our house bunny had to go outside (which is fine, he's done it before), I wasn't preparing meals for myself in my own home, and my office was also my bedroom/Ty's chill out zone/the laundry room/the hamster space etc etc. 
So, when Ocean Loans* came along and offered to sponsor a post all about revamping your living area for summer, you can bet I jumped at the opportunity. Money has been super tight recently, and I was incredibly grateful to be given the opportunity to redecorate our living space a little. Although I headed over to the main house to take these pictures, everything is now set up in our teensy abode, and I honestly wake up with a little grin on my face each morning.
Me and Ty set off in search of the perfect goodies to make our house feel a little bit more like a home, and as summer came in we also wanted to keep things bright and colourful. After several disappointing shops, we finally entered NEXT Home, and were surrounded by a myriad of beautiful things. It took all the self-restraint I had not to buy half the shop. In the end, we went for the painted hare cushion and the hare canvas. These totally grabbed our attention as we strolled in. Not only are they super cute, but the little pop of green on them just seems to make everything a little brighter. My grandma actually got me a birthday card this year with this little guy on it too, so the wall art has the added bonus of reminding me of her. 
After that I was on the hunt for some candles and flowers. I'm not going to lie, candles are basically my thang. You can rest assured that at Christmas time I'm going to be all over the Yankee Candle website, because obviously Christmas isn't Christmas if it doesn't smell like Christmas, am I right?! And flowers basically light up a room. I've only recently learnt the power of having flowers in the house, but they just boost my mood so much, and have the added bonus of being the perfect easy blog prop. 
In case you were wondering what they are, the flowers I've got in the pictures are yellow chrysanthemums. They're honestly so cheap and last ages, plus are lovely and bright for summer! I picked the two pillar candles up from Sainsbury's and they were such a bargain at £4 each. Even my coconut-hating partner has enjoyed the subtle sweet scent of these, and again they just add that nice little dash of colour to the room.
So there it is, my summer living area revamp! I'm extra excited now about bringing all of these goodies to our flat when we (eventually) get all that jazz sorted and then hopefully I can sort out some Youtube videos showing you all how we've decorated our flat! 
What would you choose to revamp your living area?
*This post has been sponsored by Ocean Loans
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