Motivational Monday #5

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

How on earth is it mid February? Surely we were all shouting, 'Happy New Year!' about three minutes ago? Apparently not. 

Well, now I have a firm grasp (just about) of time, it's Monday! Hurray! I know, I know, most people loathe Mondays but honestly, I love them. They are a time of renewal, of fresh starts and unspoiled goals. A time to draw a line under the things we messed up/didn't achieve last week and try again. Monday's are a clean slate. 

(Source)

Do you ever feel a bit like you spend half your life trying to be cool? I do. I regularly wish I could suck back in the weird thing I've just said or not have made the unfunny joke or not done a little dance when over excited or not laughed so loudly or not told Kylie Minogue about the imaginary island in my head that I've been building since I was seven (true story). On a daily basis I try to be breezy. I try really hard to be as 'normal' and good as everyone else and pretty much every time I'm met with failure. My inner weird just gets out. 

To clarify, I'm not talking about that oh-so-desirable 'weird' that you might call 'quirky'. I'm talking about an inability to edit my thoughts-words and a scewed sense of what is socially acceptable. 

I'm giving up. I'm not breezy. I'm slightly neurotic. I like fast responses to texts. I like my imaginary island. I like sucking crisps. There. 

This week I urge you to let your inner weird out. I know it's in there. I know you secretly do a lot of weird sh*t and I know you want to do it freely. Wouldn't a world of freely weird women be better than hoards and hoards of stressed out repressed crazies? Yes. It would. 

Edit yourself less. You think that joke is funny? Say it. Even if you're the only one that laughed, at least someone did! 

Argh! If I could whip off my bra and run with free abandon through a meadow to make my point I would. Just know that I am typing very hard on my keyboard to really emphasise my point!!

Run wild my sparkly weirdos!!! I love you!!!

Toodlepip!

xx

Contributor - Louise

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE. 

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My Sweet Valentine

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

With it being the 14th of February I am unashamedly going all out on the loveydovey today. Move over cynics, I'm coming through. 

This is my Valentine, my husband Matt. 

We've been together 8 years, married 3 and parents for 2. Some years have been incredible, some years alright and some years very challenging. 

What impresses me most about Matt is that he in unwavering in his love for me and even in the midst of huge fights (where I'm being just horrible), he will say, 'because I love you'. Matt will always let me win a row, always let me choose the film, always let me sleep in the car and always offer to get the baby up on a weekend. 

I know I talk about how grateful I am for things on here, because when I type them it's as though I'm just telling myself, but I so rarely tell Matt and in 2014 and making a conscious effort to let him know that I love the way he treats me like a lady, love that he will get up in the middle of the night to check the window is locked because I get freaked out, love that he will offer to drive hours to my friend's houses and love the way he loves me back. 

It's sickening, I know, but after a very difficult 2013, I feel a like we are falling in love with each other all over again. Makes me want to do a little cry in the hotel room I am typing this from. Good grief. 

Well, I am well and truly disgusted at my out burst of emotion and hope you haven't lost your lunches. 

Seriously though, he's such a gem.

I hope you have found your gem's this Valentines or are being rebels and throwing two fingers up at convention and eating pizza with friends (which is how I spent many a February 14th!)

Let me know what you're doing in the comment, I love to nose at your lives.

Toodlepip!

xx

Contributor - Louise

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE. 

Ultimate Advertiser -Amy Lauren. Click HERE for more info. 

My iPhone Life || January 2014

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

I love technology. I love how you can be out and about with nothing but your phone, keys, purse and baby (optional ^_^) and still be able to capture all your sweet memories at the click of a button.

For the most part I use my big girl cannon camera, or I upload images from my phone to Instagram, but there are always the odd few that slip through the net and so this post is to catch them all and not let them fade away.

These are the snippets of life seen through my iPhone in January.

Matt and I love mooching around Milton Keynes shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon and stopping at a little outdoor style diner for sweet potato fries. MMmmmm *drools*

 We are very blessed to have such wonderful friends. Mark and Clare (pictured middle) were totally onboard with my new resolution to be more active, so rather than our usual fave of lounging about at home, we took to the park for fresh air, exercise and plenty of Baby Glitter arm swings. Seriously, the kiddo couldn't get enough!

Of course, Darcy features heavily on my phone this month. I have taken my little compadre on errands (she LOVES all the ladies in the salon and I think they're pretty fond of her too), new toys are always a winner, organisation is always a chore but worth it and she has also been accompanying me on my little fitness walks. We love our days together. 

One Friday I headed up to Liverpool for a blog meeting, booked a hotel for the night and then Darcy and Matt met me that evening. Hotel makeup the next morning was snapped. Cheeky extra for you - what you can't see cropped out of shot is a very gorgeous fresh-out-of-shower Matt. Switswoo. 

The Albert Docks. The Liverpool waterfront will always have a special place in my heart. One frosty December night way back when, my charming boyfriend went down on bent knee and asked me to marry him. It was perfection in one night and I always smile to myself when I walk past the exact spot.  

Monkey decided the only way to go with her socks was high and mighty. Who am I to restrain a mini fashionista?! 

Despite growing up in suburbia and then living in the country, I am a city girl at heart. There is something so comforting about big old buildings, higgle piggle roads and being so very small in such a vast place. I feel like I'm invisible and important all at once and I miss it.  

 Once home it was business as usual and this included new, challenging games. I'm focusing a lot at the moment on gender stereotypes as I have noticed that Darcy veers towards what you might call 'feminine' toys (dolls, kitchen set ups etc) and I want her to know she has options and abilities beyond those. Tap-a-Shape was a fun game...until I had to pull all the little pins out over and over and over.

And that about wraps up my January iPhone snaps. I know they're late, life/baby/sanity/friends etc.

If you would like to see more snaps of my day to day or work adventures, be sure to follow my Instagram HERE, my twitter HERE or my Facebook HERE. It's action packed in LouiseLand.

What have you been up to so far this year? Tell me in the comments.

Toodlepip!

Contributor - Louise

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE. 

Ultimate Advertiser -The Fashion Fuse. Click HERE for more info.