Sunday 23 August 2015

If You're Happy And You Know It

Sunday 23 August 2015

I've seen a few people on the blogosphere and elsewhere say that they haven't been feeling top notch recently which made me want to cheer everyone up and give them all massive hugs but unfortunately that's not possible so instead I'll do the next best thing: share things that make me happy in the hopes that it inspires you to make a similar post or share the things that make you happy too. You're all wonderful people and you all deserve to be the happiest you can be.

Cats. Oh my god do they cheer me up. If it's not my own cat, it'll be someone elses. In fact, most of the things in my 'happy' tag on tumblr is just cats. All shapes, all sizes, all breeds. If you add me on snapchat - which I aptly renamed 'snapcat' - it's basically a daily vlog for my cat, Angel. Trust me, it's incredible. (And yes, the cat in the banner is Angel. Isn't she pretty?).

The next things both kind of tie in together: Lush & Baths. Lush just makes me incredibly happy. The smells, the colours, the staff, it's all so welcoming and nice. I will say one thing - you haven't known happiness until you've been to Lush Oxfd Street. Oh boy. And Baths are just magnificent things. If I'm feeling down the first thing I do is run a nice hot bath and plonk a bath bomb in there, bring a cup of tea and a good book and that's all I need (Unless, of course, I'm too upset to even run a bath which brings me to the next thing).


Movies. I love going to the cinema. I technically get in for free (I have a subscription card thing that my dad pays for - it's a blessing) so it's something that I do a lot. Watching something on my TV does not compare one bit to watching it on the big screen. Plus you don't have the atmosphere at home. (Con: Snacks are expensive - bring your own!). But, in the event that there isn't anything on at the cinema that I haven't already seen I LOVE rewatching old favourites with a cup of tea; whether it's Disney (which I've been loving even more lately: anything from Disney Classics to Disney Channel OG Movies), Clueless, The Breakfast Club or a recent favourite, starring my fave Richard Harmon, If I Had Wings. I do love a good rom-com though. Or any rom-com, really.

One thing that I love to do when I'm not feeling too bright is spending time with my family. Between college, work and spending time with my friends it's hard to actually have an outing with my family and it's something that really just puts me in a better mood. One of my happy places is my granddads garden and with his cheesy puns it's hard not to laugh around him. So take a trip to see your family if you haven't seen them in a while or if it's something you've been meaning to do. They might surprise you.

Sleeping. Chances are I'm just sleep deprived from too many nights stressing over blog designs and getting reviews up on time so a long nap should fix that right up. Followed by a cup of tea.

Here's one thing that will either make or break any future friendships I might have: Reality TV. I was feeling tired and stressed and just not in the best mood a few weeks ago so I cleared everything off my schedule and watched an entire season of America's Next Top Model over a weekend. It's the best therapy.

This might seem like an obvious one but spending time with friends always puts me in a better mood. I had one of the worst Anxiety attacks (before a job interview - ouch) that I've had in a while this week but spending time with a friend after it really helped me to recover and just put me in a better mood. It also helped that I met one of my favourite humans ever, Troye Sivan, that day. Yeah, it's cheesy, but friends are the best medicine that money can't buy (I just threw up a little typing that).

How could I have almost forgotten bands and music?! For those who read my Wrap Up posts you'll know that I have a deep love/hate for a certain band (5SHIT/5SOS) and that I often attempt to meet them when they come to London. They are one thing that do make me happy. They stress me out to no end, but they make me happy. I'm not saying that you should go and fall in love with a band and then spend hours camping outside of radio stations in December to try and meet them and then head to college straight after because, believe me, that's a lot of money that I won't get back and a lot of sleep that I had to catch up on, but if you do have a favourite band, maybe take an afternoon to sit there and let their music soothe you. With a cup of tea. Tea also makes me happy.

8 comments :

  1. oh, natalie, i LOVE this post! all these happy things make me so... happy ahah. i love watching movies as well (disney!!!!!) but i also love indugling in korean dramas. a few things that make me happy: acai bowls, overcast skies, typography, free time... <333 i'm a bit inspired to write my own post!

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    1. I've never had an acai bowl (you do make them seem lovely though). OVERCAST SKIES! SO BEAUTIFUL.

      You should make your own post, I'd love to read it! <3

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  2. um the fact that you like reality tv only makes me love you more natalie. like hi fellow antm fan over here although i've missed so many cycles already! but when i used to watch the show, I WATCHED IT LIKE CRAZY. and i was so obsessed that i started watching britan's next top model too and i remember i was really keen on the redheaded girl. DO YOU REMEMBER ANN'S SEASON ON ANTM? like the really tall girl who kept crushing it week after week? i think that was my favourite cycle out of all the ones i watched.

    so anyway i love reality tv especially now when i don't have a lot of time to commit to watching tv series. i need that no strings attached tv, yo! so reality tv is my fav. i love masterchef bc HELLO GORDON RAMSAY YOU PERFECT HUMAN BEING and americas got talent and the voice and the little couple and all the wedding shows on tlc and i admit THE BACHELOR OK DON'T JUDGE and also everything on the food channel because food is life.

    AND ROM COMS OMG AND DISNEY MOVIES. IF IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR ME TO LOVE YOU EVEN MORE NATALIE I SWEAR... THIS WOULD BE IT. also i just watched 10 things i hate about you for THE FIRST TIME this week and SIGH so good. i still haven't watched clueless but that's on my list. my secret favourite is friends with benefits idk man i just love that movie a lot. and the devil wears prada and 13 going on 30 and HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and camp rock. i also love nicholas sparks movies like ALWAYS. idk they just always manage to hit the sweet spot for me.

    anyway i loved this post so much natalie and it's kinda convinced me that we should have a movie marathon / tv marathon one day. PLEASE WRITE MORE OF THESE POSTS OKAY xo

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    1. OH MY GOD ANN IS MY FAVOURITE MODEL FROM ALL THE CYCLES I THINK (I've missed a lot too, they don't air on my TV so I have to stream them so I usually wait until the whole season is finished and then marathon like crazy).

      Fun Fact: I actually saw Gordon Ramsay while I was waiting for 5SOS outside a radio station. He walked past, waved, took some pictures with people and was actually really lovely. I've never seen The Bachelor but I've heard a lot about it so maybe I should....I DO HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR THE X FACTOR.

      THE FIRST TIME YOU WATCHED 10 THINGS? HOW DID YOU LIKE IT? I BET YOU LOVED IT. OH MY GOD. WHAT A FILM. LITERAL FILM PERFECTION. Clueless is so gooooood. Make sure to tweet me when you do watch it so we can fangirl together. ALL OF THOSE MOVIES YOU LISTED. CAMP ROCK WAS ALWAYS MY FAVE. THE JONAS BROTHERS *HEART EYES*. THE LAST SONG EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

      OMG we should totally do a buddy watch of a few movies/tv show or something. That'd be SO COOL.

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    2. YESSS ANN WAS SO GREAT RIGHT?? like you'd never expect her to be a kickass model but she was. and lol i still have an obsession with her and like to think about what she's doing now and i found her instagram like last year?? lol idk i was bored and was like hey!!

      GORDON RAMSAY. HE REALLY IS SUCH A GEM. MAN THAT GUY. LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

      omg don't start watching the bachelor pls don't. it's horrid but i secretly love it omg im trash.

      IT WAS SO GOOD. CRIED BC OF HEATH THOUGH. AND OMF FETUS JGL??? WHAT PERFECTION. not a fan of julia stiles though but she fit the role of ... shit i forget her name already but yeah SHE DID A GOOD JOB. and omg i haven't seen clueless i'm missing out. AND OMG YEAH CAMP ROCK. IT WAS FILMED AT A BOY'S CAMP HERE NEAR TORONTO. I DRIVE BY IT ALL THE TIME WHEN I GO UP TO THE COTTAGE HAHA AND MY SCHOOL GOES THERE FOR AN ANNUAL TRIP HAHA. and omg the jonas brothers were so good. STILL SOME OF THE BEST SONGS EVER. like pushing it? video girl? a little bit longer? THE SONG ABOUT NICK'S DIABETES?? i cried. i legit cried. my eleven year old heart could not take it.

      and yeahhh we should!!!!!!

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    3. k also i was thinking about this the other day but the rom com genre is literally dying out and that makes me so deeply sad and that sounds like a good tweet lol im going to tweet it hahahhahhahahha

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  3. OH MY GOSH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMMENTING ON MY BLOG BECAUSE NOW I'VE FOUND A NEW AND AWESOME BLOG AKA YOURS.
    i'm not a huge fan of cats because CAT HAIRS ARE JUST A NO and WHAT YOU CAN GO TO THE CINEMA FOR FREE also please give me film recommendations i'm in need of some films to watch also rom-coms are awesome and DISNEY TOO. DO YOU LIKE THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA AND CLUELESS AND RADIO REBEL AND UMMMMM OH GOSH MIND BLANK BUT YEAH I'VE SEEN A. LOT. OF FILMS.

    anyway yeah, i'm going to calm down now.

    OH BUT ALSO YOU MENTIONED TROYE SIVAN - do you watch iisuperwomanii? I LOVE HER SO MUCH, maybe because i am asian so i can totally relate but yeah.
    REALITY TV. YES YES YES. The week my exams ended in May I watched an entire season of Project Runway which I LOVE also i have a weird fascination with the Kardashian family..*ehem* -- what else....GIVE ME RECOMMENDATIONS ON THIS AS WELL. (I've never watched ANTP..should I? :O)

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    1. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THANK YOU <3

      (Oh my god. Having a white cat is a NIGHTMARE when the majority of your wardrobe is black).

      Film recs: Inside Out! Love, Rosie! A Long Way Down! I CAN'T THINK OF ANYAHHHHHHHHHHHH. OMG ALL OF THOSE ARE LOVE ESPECIALLY RADIO REBEL RADIO REBEL IS THE BEST.

      YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!! LILY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't watch Project Runway but it looks like SO MUCH FUN. And the Kardashians!!!!!! Honestly their life is so interesting, I probably spend too much time thinking about them.

      YES YOU SHOULD! IT'S BRILLIANT! SO MUCH DRAMA. AND TYRA BANKS IS AWESOME. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

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