Category: Lifestyle

Best Hot Drinks for Wintery Days!

I love a good hot beverage. Whether it is to wake me up in the morning, relax me in the evening or just to keep me from turning into a popsicle on a cold winter day, hot drinks are the best. In South Africa, it is currently heading towards summer, so the temperature outside isn’t really conducive to drinking things that steam. It’s already so hot outside that rain steams off the road two hours after the storm started, so a steaming hot cup of tea isn’t exactly what you’d like. However, I’m not in South Africa right now. I’m on a little trip to the US of A for college-related reasons and much to my body’s despair and my tea obsession’s joy, it is wintery as can be this side of the world. So, in lieu of the fact that I’m spending a lot of time outside of beautifully heated buildings wearing many layers of protective thermals, the only thing keeping me going is the steady stream of hot beverages gracing my gloved hands. Today I will be chatting about the best hot drinks for wintery days – sharing my favourite steamy drinks with you and giving you a list for just in case you end up somewhere cold and need something hot and delicious to keep your spirits high and your hands warm. I hope you enjoy it!

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Skincare Tips and Advice :)

Have you ever looked in the mirror and just smiled because you are happy with the way your skin looks? Or has your whole mood been brought down because you notice a pimple that just seems too huge to be seen in public with? Our skin is a big part of our lives and how our skin looks can have a significant impact on our mood, our day and our confidence. Sometimes though, it just seems like the odds aren’t in our favour, and our skin just doesn’t want to cooperate. It looks dull or oily or dry, or you are breaking out, and that experience can be quite depressing. Well, I know how horrible it can feel when your skin isn’t looking the way you want it, but you don’t have to utterly despair. There are quite a few tips and tricks you can use, that are easy enough to implement, that might make a massive difference to your skin. My mom has always been militant that I look after my skin and treat it properly, and that can be done through a lot of different avenues. So today, I will be sharing with you some skincare tips and advice for when your skin is being recalcitrant. All it takes is a little effort to implement them.

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Best Games for a Game Night!

Hi everyone! So last week I chatted about tips for throwing the ultimate game night, but I realised that that post was missing a pretty significant chunk. What games are actually good to play at game night? I was tempted to add it to last week’s post but then thought it would just end up being too long, so I decided to split it up. As I said in that post, the games are really the core of your evening, so picking the right ones can make or break your social event. So, in light of this, I did a little research and had a long think about which games are actually good ideas to play when you are having a game night. If you and your friends don’t already have an idea of what games you’d like to play, here is a list of games that should keep the fun and laughter (as well as competitiveness going) for the whole evening.

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Tips for Hosting the Ultimate Games Night

Since I was a much shorter blonde child, I have always loved games. Board games, card games, trivia games and any other games you can think of. Even though games become less of a common activity the older you get (even though for the life of me I can’t understand why), I also think that one of the best ways to spend your social downtime is to have a games night. You get to spend time with friends, enjoy some light-hearted competition and be nourished by delicious snacks. I love hosting game nights because I get to enjoy games that I don’t get to play often enough, and I get an evening of my friends’ company. What more can you ask? So, because hosting events/social activities and games are two big loves of mine, I’d like to combine them in today’s blog post. For all of you who also enjoy a good board game or are looking for an excuse to socialise with friends but don’t feel like hosting just another dinner, here are my tips for hosting the ultimate games night.

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What to do on Halloween?

When you’re little, it seems simple what you would do on Halloween. You get dressed up in your cool costume, maybe help decorate the house in spooky attire and then go trick-or-treating in your neighbourhood. Or you and your friends have a sleepover at each other’s house, and there is just Halloween candy everywhere. However, the fun sometimes goes out of it the older you get, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to enjoy Halloween. There are plenty of things to do during this spooky holiday, whether you are young or old or doing things solo, with a partner or with a group. I was thinking of a fun way to spend Halloween with my boyfriend and maybe a friend or two. While I was researching, I actually realised there are many things to do on Halloween, even for people like me who aren’t into things that are in anyway creepy or scary. So, if you’re struggling to think of something to do this Halloween, or are looking for inspiration to spice up your group gathering, here are ten ideas for what to do on Halloween. I hope you enjoy it!

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Is it a Treat or a Trick? The Pros and Cons of Halloween

It’s October, and whether it is Spring or Autumn, October only means one thing for many people. Halloween. That’s right. October is the month for spooks, ghosts and ghouls. Where everyone decks out their houses in the creepiest decor, the costumes come out, and all you can see in the stores is the spooky-themed candy. Personally, I’ve never been one to celebrate the haunted holiday, but I can certainly see why so many others love it. However, I can also see why many people raise their eyebrows at the mere thought of Halloween and say that it is merely a waste of time and money. There are two sides to every coin, and there are certainly pros and cons to the spooky Halloween holiday so today that is what I’d like to dive into. The pros and cons of Halloween. Is the holiday a delightful treat as everyone makes out, or is it more of a trick than we realise? Today, we’re going to weigh up both sides and decide, so without further ado, let’s talk about the pros and cons of Halloween.

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The Best Things To Do Before Bed – things to help you sleep and be ready for the next day

Hi everyone! So I’ve spoken about morning routines and good morning habits that can help set you off on a great day but what about nighttime habits? Is there any point to them, or are they just a waste of time? Some might say that it doesn’t matter what you do before bed because you are about to go to sleep, but I would argue that there are great habits you can get into before bed. Why are they so great? Well, they can help you relax and improve your sleep, but they will also get you ready to have a smooth start to your morning. Doesn’t that sound awesome? Me being OCD and prone to over-organising everything love my before-bed ritual because it calms me down and I know that when I’m ready to close my eyes, I am already partially sorted to start my day tomorrow. Now, these little things you can do before bed may be small and may not suit your lifestyle so pick and choose what best suits you, but doing things like this before bed and turning it into your nighttime ritual can make a big difference in your sleep and how you start your next day. So, without further ado, here are ten of the best things to do before bed – things that can help you sleep and be ready for the next day. I hope you enjoy it!

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How to Deal with Sibling Conflict

I’m not sure how many of you reading have siblings, but I’ll take a guess that quite a few of you do. I have siblings myself – two brothers. To make that sibling dynamic a little more complicated, I am the middle child so have an older (by ten years) and younger (by 4 years) brother. Needless to say, because of the age gap and our varying personalities, we don’t always get along so well. Siblings don’t always get along for several different reasons, and this can be when siblings are still young and living at home or when everyone is grown up and living their own lives. Needless to say, though, no one really wants to have a conflict with someone they are related to or someone they live with because it can make things quite tense and unpleasant. So today I thought I’d look at ways to deal with sibling conflict, being a sibling myself and after seeing a mix of both my friends dealing with their siblings and parents dealing with their own squabbling siblings. So, from whichever angle you are coming from in terms of sibling conflict, I hope you enjoy today’s blog post!

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The Gratitude Attitude – The Whys and Hows

Life gets hectic, and that’s okay, but it is essential to remember to take a second to stop speeding and see the sights, or you’ll miss them. To quote the oh so wise Ferris Bueller; “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
So, in light of my more enlightened and grateful attitude, and with the words of Ferris Bueller for all those who are just busy, today I’m going to be talking about gratitude. Why is it actually a good thing to have a gratitude attitude, and how can we be a little more grateful for one small thing each day?

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Party Planning 101 – the Checklist to Success

I’ve always loved celebrating events. Birthdays, Christmas, other holidays or just random reasons to throw a party. Something about it just gives me a buzz. Party planning though, particularly for birthdays, can sometimes be more of a nightmare than a fun celebration. There is so much to organise, so much to buy, so much to make and arrange again and sometimes time can run away from you, and the whole thing just ends up being a headache-inducing horror. I’ve had those parties, and they can ruin party planning for a lot of people. But, there is a way to try to keep control over your party, so that you are the one in charge and running the show, not the other way around. By giving yourself a checklist to follow, you don’t eliminate all the stress of party planning, but you can get rid of a lot of it. Because there is a list to follow and a process to help you make sure you don’t miss anything significant. Today I’d like to share with you a checklist to success for party planning, seeing as I’m in that cake and balloons mood already for my own birthday. Now it is only a rough checklist, so feel free to adapt or add to it as you need, but I hope that with this list in hand, party planning will at least be a little easier for you the next time you do it.

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