Friday 27 February 2015

Happy apps




Can apps really make us happy? I put this to the test by trying out three free apps designed to try and make us happy!

1) Secret of Happiness
The idea of this app is to enter in three things you are happy about and one thing you are wanting to achieve every morning,and at night to enter one thing that made you happy that day. It's a really simple design and while I didn't feel "happier" this app was really good at changing my views and seeing the world in a different way! 6/10

2) Happier
I love this app! This is probably my favourite out of the three apps, it has short courses on it such as 10 days of meditations, yoga, how to be great-full. Additionally there is a feeling of community as you can share pictures and other things that made you happy that day that other people can like and comment on. This app is compleatly free, you don't have to pay for the courses or anything like that! My only wish is that they'd make some more courses! 8/10

3) Happy habits: choose happiness
This app is based on cognitive treatment of depression and had a wide range of relaxing audios and audios desinged to get you to think differently and to see the world differently. Since I study CBT in psychology I know how effective this can be and if you use this properly and use the diary part too it will definitley work! Also you can take a test to see which areas of your happiness you need to work one! 8/10

Have you tried any happy apps? Did they work?
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

Wednesday 25 February 2015

Tunesday Tuesday February



Hey guys! It's time for my monthly music post, a day late I realise but yesterday I went to see the script who were awesome btw! So today I'll be running through the chart and showing you my own playlist and someone who I think will make it big. Lets have a look at the chart.


1) Love me like you do- Ellie Goulding
This is such a power ballad, it's quite slow but I think it will grow on me
2) Take me to church- Hoizer
Omg I love this song so much! I would have put it in my playlist had it not been in the charts, it's so moving and I just love it.
3) Uptown Funk- Bruno Mars
Love this song too, so upbeat and fun
4)Earned it- The weekend
Coming from one of the most controversial films this obviously has a very seductive feel to the song, although it's not really my type of music.
5) fourfivesecconds- Kanye West, Rhianna and Paul Mccartney
I'm really loving this song at the moment actually, such a good mix of artists!
6) Gravity- DJ Fresh ft Ella Eyre 
Two of my fave artists this is a dream team I can't believe I never thought about it before, This song is gonna be huge!
7) Sugar- Maroon 5 
The video for this is amazing so funny and cute! Made me cry a little! Another great song from Maroon 5.
8) The nights- Avicii
Avicii is one of my fave artists actually I just adore all his songs
9) Doing it- Charlie XCX  ft Rita Ora
Another dream team, although there's just something about it that just doesn't make it outstanding!
10)Thinking out loud- Ed Sheeran
This song has been in the charts for so long, just adore it!

My Playlist
1) Good girls- 5 Seconds of Summer
2) Red- Taylor Swift
3)Not right for you- The Script
4) Cops and Robbers- The Hoosiers
5)Animals- Maroon 5
6)The Party- Singtank

Star of the month: Singtank
These French Siblings create some absolutely fantastic songs absolutely adore them at the moment, they definitely need more recognition, some songs make you want to dance others make you want to cry, you all need to listen to them!

Thats it guys see you next week
Lots of Love
Eleanor x  

Sunday 22 February 2015

100 days of happiness, days 47-53

Hey guys, here's my next week of my 100 happy days challenge! I can't believe I'm already half way through it's gone so fast!

Day 47: Hair cut. This week has been half term for those of you who didn't know and it was about time I had a hair cut, I just got it trimmed and re layering!
Day 48: Pancake day! Okay so I am a pancake freak I just love them so much, I may or may not have had five pancakes mmmmm...
Day 49: Revision day. I had the dentist at like super early time I was up at half seven so I picked up my friend on the way back and we came to mine to have a good revision day. Doesn't seem like a normal thing that would make someone happy but for me it is, revising is fun with people!
Day 50: Walk in York. On thursday we wanted to go for a walk but it was raining in Leeds so we drove to York instead! I love York it's so old and pretty and one of my fave walks is definitely around the city walls! SO nice having a revision break and being out of the house!

Day 51: My boyfriends gig. My boyfriend is a drummer in a band so I went to watch, the pub was in wakefield and it had so many people singing a long, it was so full! This picture is one of the pub when it was empty and the band were setting up.
Day 52: Morning cuddles and more pancakes! I stayed over at Lukes house and we stayed in bed untill about 12 before eating loads of pancakes, we then went into town and bought oreo's and then made steak for tea, winning life.
Day 53: Greggs for lunch. Is it just me who gets excited for greggs? I had a sausage roll, a packet of crisps and a vanilla slice, heaven!

Lots of Love
Eleanor x

The women I admire

Hey guys! This post is all about women that I look up to and that I admire, women who do amazing and inspirational things!

1) Tegla Loroupe
I actually tweeted about this woman the other day, so those of you that follow me on twitter would have seen it! I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful Tegla is, born in Kenya with 24 siblings and the daughter of a man who had 4 wives and told her that her passion, running, was unladylike like, this woman has to be my number one hero. Despite being told she had to stop running by her father she did not give up on her dream, Tegla quoted "I was so fed up of men, I thought about becoming a nun." She persisted in running and made up with her father although slyly quoted "of course were friends now, everyone wants to be your friend when your successful." Although she was considered too frail she went on to win three half marathon championships. Not only that, but Tegla founded the Tegla Loroupe peace foundation and has been successful in brining members of warring tribes together. She has sought to help many Kenyan woman and give them opportunities and training. Overall, this woman is courageous, kind and selfless and so she is my number one hero!

2) Malala Yousafazi

I think this 17 year old girl is most people's hero and even though she is the same age as me and would be in the same school year as me, I look up to this woman completely and utterly. She is a Pakistani woman's right activist and the youngest ever noble prize laureate. Malala has an amazing back story, she is incredibly brave and strong. She started off as a blogger, working for the BBC telling people of the brutality of the taliban. But she was found and when she was on her school bus, she was shot three times, one going through her forehead. She was taken to Birmingham, and made a miraculous recovery, and even then and now there are people who want her killed. She has spoken all over the world about females rights to education and that is why Malala is one of the woman that I admire.

3) Beyonce
I feel like Beyonce is most people's queen and she is definitely mine. This woman has worked hard over her life to get to where she is now, and she's done it by being fierce, strong and not letting people tell her she's not good enough or that she can't do things. If that wasn't enough, her stance on woman and on feminism is wonderful, she wants equality for all and made a point by coming out on stage with "FEMINIST" written behind her, she has contributed to the ban bossy campaign, supporting woman and leadership.

4) Angelina Jolie
Stylish, compassionate and charitable, Angelina is a household name. She promotes education and woman's rights and has helped many refugees. She also mother of six, three of whom are adopted. Angelina supported her child Shiolah when told that she wanted to be referred to as John. Angelina also took the decision to have a double mastectomy which is brave and scary thing to do, especially as a celebrity whose body has portrayed in the media as being "perfect" but she showed that woman are beautiful no matter what. She has done so much charity work that there is too much to name, including running a children's centre helping children affected by AIDs and tuberculosis.

Who do you think I've missed? I hope I've introduced some powerful women to you and women that deserve recognition for amazing things they've done.
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

Friday 20 February 2015

Be positive, patient and persistent

Hey guys! Today's little thought is one a quote I recently found and adore, about being the three P's, positive patient and persistent.

This is such a cute mantra to have with you during the days when you feel like life is getting too stressful, we all have times when we feel like we need to be grounded and to keep going and to, well stay sane.

I want to talk about the word persistent too. It's really useful to be persistent in some situations, for example if you applied for a job and you haven't heard from them or you're waiting to hear back from work experience, it can be good to make sure you have an email address or a phone number and if it's been a while, to keep trying them. Obviously not all the time you don't want to scare them off. It's also good to be persistent in your own personal goals, to keep trying and keep going, even if it feels too much at times. I for example have been on a super healthy kick at the moment, eating really healthy foods but this week having been half term I've not always been eating at home, I've been at other peoples houses or people have come over or its been pancake day so I have not eaten v healthily. The temptation to stop everything and just eat is one which I have thought about, and I've been getting really upset everytime I eat something I shouldn't have. But this morning I just thought screw it, lets have a week off and next week I'll just get back down to it and everything will be fine again.  I think sometimes we all just want to give up, so let this be a reminder that if you break something once, keep going we all make mistakes!

Finally, the positive part. It can be so hard to be positive a lot of the time I know. I would consider myself pessimistic person I tend to expect the worse, although in fairness to me, after a while I simply cannot stay down and I have to think of the bright side. Remaining positive in situations where things haven't gone your way is super important. It allows you to forgive yourself or the other person and to move on with your life and to realise that life isn't always going to be so bad.

So remember today when your going about your daily buissnes and something goes wrong, be positive patient and persistent, you deserve to be forgiving on yourself!
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

Sunday 15 February 2015

100 days of happiness, days 40-46

Hey guys! Here's my next week of my 100 days of happiness!

Day 40: Ham Salad. On monday I started my 8 weeks of healthy eating challange which means I've been eating salads everyday instead of sandwhiches and I've been eating meals at night that are less than 300 calories! I feel like I've done pretty well so far although I have a long way to go, cravings are so hard!
Day 41: Happy text messages. On Tuesday I received a text from my friend which was unexpected, it's so lovely when people take time to wish you to have a lovely day and it made me smile!
Day 42: Putting money on my amazon account. I recived so many amazon gift vouchers for christmas and my birthday and I love them so much! I have so much money on and I'm looking forward to spending it all on books mostly!

Day 43: Belated birthday cards. In the post I recived a late birthday card and 20 quid absolute bonus!
Plus the card is adorable
Day 44: My water infuser arrived. One thing I did buy off amazon was this water infuser, you put fruit in the middle and fill the bottle with water leave for five mins and the water tastes amazing! Part of my resolutions is to drink more water so this will help massively!
Day 45: Valentines day! Me and my boyfriend don't do valentines day in a massive way, but we did get each other cards and chocolates and the chocolates he got me are divine!
Day 46: Paint. All this week I am getting my room decorated and I finally picked the paint! I am going for a soft apple, hoping it will make my room look fresh and motivate me more!
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

Friday 13 February 2015

Pinterest Board- Hair

Hey guys! It's been a few months since I've done a pinterest board so I thought I'd show you one of mine, my hair pinterest board! I would probably never have the guts to dye my hair but one day if I gain the courage these are things I'd like to do!

Dip Dyes:

How perf are these dip dyes? They're so pretty!

Coloured ombre's/ gradients



Full- colour hair:





( the short curley blue one, oh my god how amazing!)

Styles:

Pure amazingness:

These two are my favourite, the first super bold and the second more subtle!
Which one is your favourite? Follow me on pinterest here
Lots of love
Eleanor x

Don't let other people ruin your happiness



Hey guys sorry this post is a few days late! Today I wanted to talk about the people you surround yourself with. This is linked in to my last little thought last Tuesday on friendship. When you're young it can be hard to know who your real friends are, and often this can continue as you get older too. It can be really hard not to let people get you down and sometimes the people we actually hang around can make us feel really sad. As you get older and more independent you realise that life's too short to hang around with these people and to let these people in our lives. Take a good long think about the people you call your friends, are they really your friends? Are they mean or nasty to you, do they not invite you places? Then it's time to either talk with them and tell them they're making you sad or to get out of that situation and find some new friends, which is harder than it sounds I know, but you'll be better off in the long run.

I love that lyric from "follow your arrow" by Kacey Musgraves that says "you're dammed if you do and you're dammed if you don't so you might as well do whatever you want." And I think it's really important to listen too. People will always have their own opinions but that doesn't mean you should listen to them, if you want to do something, do it, don't think about the consequences of it and what people will say, it's not up to them to judge and their opinions don't really matter anyway, you are your own person so follow the path you want to take, that's the way to true happiness.

Everyone is concerned primarily about themselves and people are usually too wrapped up in their own worlds to even care about what you're doing so you should just go for it!
Remember you are your own person, someones opinion of you does not define your worth
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

Sunday 8 February 2015

100 days of happiness, days 33-39

Hey guys! Here's the next week of my 100 happy days challenge!

Day 33: Meditation. I recently started a meditation challenge, it's so much fun and really relaxing it was my new years resolution to get into meditating so I'm hoping this will help me improve!


Day 34: Chicken fried rice. This was so nice! I had cut chicken out of my diet a while ago and it's been so nice to bring it back in, yum!

Day 35: Lighter mornings. This week I have notices such a big difference in the sky! It's so light in mornings. This is a pic from when I arive at school at about 8 and it's usually pitch black. Summer is coming!

Day 36: My birthday! I just did a whole post on what I got up to on my birthday, but I had such a lovely and amazing time, can't believe I'm 18!
Day 37: Pizza film and sleepover with my bestie! stuffed my face and watched films, absolute bliss!
Day 38: After a lazy morning in bed with my friend, I got dressed and went to my boyfriends were we proceeded to go to my friend Jay's for a bit of  a gathering! We played cards against humanity and I was in the lead before I went home, nevertheless my friend Andy took over from me and managed to stay ahead and won for us!
Day 39: For my birthday, Lucy got me this lovely nail polish and it's just the prettiest thing ever! It's models own in the diamond luxe range in the colour oval plum.
Lots of Love
Eleanor x

My 18th Birthday!

Hey guys! On Thursday I reached the grand age of 18. It's hard to believe I'm an adult now actually, it seems mental, especially because I still look so young! I had such a lovely day so I thought I'd show you what I got up to during the day and this weekend!

Despite having to go to school on my birthday I actually had a really good day, with plenty of people wishing my happy birthday! Because I get up super early to get the school bus I decided to wait until the evening before I opened my presents. My boyfriend Luke came round and when my parents were in from work we all gathered in the dining room where my presents and cake and streamers were all laid out on the table.
My cake is so delicious oh my goodness, it was made especially for me! Then I opened my presents! Since I picked the ones from my parents out, it wan't much of a surprise but they're just so beautiful,
I also got earings from Luke and a new section of my stacker jewellery box from my sister. I got some other presents from my friend and I am awaiting some still from my aunty. Additionally I got rather a large amount of money from my Grandad which I will be spending some of it on a spa day with my friend in a few weeks! After pressies we had a little while before it was time to get ready to go out! We went to the olive branch, a Greek restaurant. I have been twice before the food is divine! I got grilled lamb and a brownie after, I ate so much I couldn't move!

And of course being 18 means I can legally drink, I celebrated this with a glass of rose wine, it was so lovely!
Here's a picture of me and Luke in the restaurant.
It was such a lovely and heart-warming night, I thoroughly enjoyed myself! But it didn't stop there, the next day Lucy came round for a sleepover and we ate pizza and watched films all night and had a lovely relaxing evening. Then on Saturday, I went to my friend Jay's house with some others and we had a gathering so all in all I've had such a fun few days! Although I have taken a massive breach out of my diet hmm, will have to get back to that Monday!
Lots of Love
Eleanor x