Let's Talk Prom Dresses*

As someone that has always wanted to go to prom, but never has, I know bohoo for me. I have always had a bit of a fascination with prom dresses and the whole atmosphere that goes along with it. I guess it also has something to do with being part Yank as well, being in the UK prom isn't really a big thing and if your school does it great.. if they don't well tough luck.

Mine did, however, I wasn't quite popular enough to be 'allowed' to go.. I upset the wrong people I guess. Story of my life. That didn't stop me thinking about the whole thing, about what dress I would wear, the make-up and shoes! I mean I still do.. so where do you look to find a prom dress to suit you?

In all honesty these days you can find them just about anywhere, at high street stores, online, but I have to say the best place and always will be wedding dress/ bridal shops. Somewhere that will actually help you pick out the right style and fit for you, make it fit you perfectly and even unique to you.

Though that being said, I do think that the days of Proms are dying out, but the want for Prom dresses aren't. The style is never ending, blending in with bridesmaid dresses and evening gowns alike. 

The only place I have ever been able to wear a prom dress is at weddings, so checking out the wedding photos have always been the highlight afterward for me. Seeing all the glitz and glam, everyone dressed up to the nine, checking to see if anyone turned up in white. Owh the taboo!

For me though, dressing up and feeling like a princess for a night is pretty special, even if I do sound a little cheesy and yes I have gone stag to every wedding I have gone to so far, I still manage to pick myself up and forget about that. At the end of the day, Cinderella didn't go to the ball with No Man and she didn't leave with one either!

Who says Prom dresses have to be for Prom anyway.. I made up for my Prom let down and wore a proper typical prom style dress to for my 18th Birthday, and again on my 21st and I will also add I still fit in it today!!! At 29!! Pretty good going if you ask me..

My 18th

My 21st - Yes I know the pixie cut.. lets not talk about that, please.

I guess as always it takes me waffling to get to my point, but here it is. Prom Dresses don't need to be exclusive to Prom, they can be for whatever you want. Heck if you wana go out looking like you are on your way to a ball, just because.. well who's stopping you? The fashion these days is crazy so why not, however, that's not quite my thing and I will stick to specific occasions.

* This is a sponsored post. Please see my Disclaimer for more information.

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

My DisneyLand Paris Wishlist

If you read my 30 before 30 post then you will know that I am planning on going to Disneyland Paris for my 30th with the one and only Christie! This weekend we have now officially booked it! So it only seems fitting to put together some pieces that I would love to bring along with me on my special trip.

I am definitely going to need a cute bag, and this Disney x Loungefly Minnie Mouse Black Crossbody bag ticks all the right boxes!

Image Source:bol.com

Whilst the bag above does have the signature colours and yes okay I don't NEED two bags, I WANT this one too, the Disney x Loungefly Minnie Mouse Pink Crossbody bag would be a perfect match against the rose pink ear headband I plan to get. 

Image Source: shopstargifts

A trip to any Disneyland theme park would not be complete without Disneyland Paris Minnie Mouse Rose Gold Sequined Ear Headband's, am I right! I mean just look at these, they are perfect. 

Image Source: Etsy

Again I know it will be hella cold there in December, but come on every fashion blogger and Disney lover NEEDS this Sugarbird Mickey and Minnie Alana Skirt. Can you just imagine the picture perfect shots in front of the Eiffel Tower or even the Disney Castle? 

Image Source: Disney Store

I know these may look a little childish, but I think they look cute and if anyone knows me, then you know I like quirky. Plus comfort, these Arnetta Minnie Mouse Trainers, in my opinion, will go great with any outfit I pick out, even the skirt above!

Image Source: Disney Store

What Disney trip would be complete without a Animators Collection Rolling Luggage???? 

Image Source: Disney Store

Last but not least, we need to get matching tees of some sort. I am still undecided on which ones, but something along the lines of this would be great! 

Image Source: Etsy

Is there anything that you would suggest I bring along? 

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

A Controversial View - Do We All Believe in God....

Just as a disclaimer I am an Atheist, so by definition does not believe in god. I in no way disrespect those that do believe or their faith, and hope that they, in turn, do not take offense to my views or opinions. This is just something that came to mind that is all. 

So I was watching The Last Kingdom the other night, which by the way if you haven't seen it, you need to start watching it, it is a great series and like my brother said actually rivals Game of Thrones! That being said it features Christians and Pagans, so whilst they were chatting about God I had a little revolution. You will soon realise that my mind works in a weird way and I am a bit strange anyway so here goes...

"God works in the strangest of ways known only to himself"

So their train of thought and conversation was aimed towards the fact that God had led a certain warrior to the aid of a king, however, that warrior did not believe and argued the fact that his gods sent him that way. Something along those lines anyway.

It got me thinking that what if, what we all believe in is actually one being or one entity. All constructed to make us believe that we all believe in separate things or in some cases do not believe, however, in actual fact this entity is behind it all and playing puppet master.

For example whilst I do not believe in a god as such I do think there is some being of some sort out their, something that allows us to cross over. Not to heaven or hell, but to someplace that is like an afterlife, hence how we have ghosts and stuff. Imagine for a second that this being is the same as the Christian god and no god and aliens and Buddha etc. That they are all one being, that has allowed us to create separate religions over time, just as evolution has allowed us to grow and we as humans are fighting over which religion is right when in actual fact they all could be one.

That's not to say that what people believe to be true isn't, but what if it is all a setup? What if we could all put our differences aside and agree that we all do actually have the same calling? It would certainly make the world a nicer place if nothing else.

I am not saying that we should scrap all beliefs, because again I believe in free will and all that, just that it could be possible that this all mighty being is just one actual being. What do you think? 

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

Happy Pets Norwich - Harley's Third Week

So Harley's third week was rather exciting for her to say the least! First of all not only were the hamsters still on show, but low and behold, Rabbits had appeared now too! One of her favorite past times I might add, so keeping her attention became somewhat of a challenge. 

Whilst it may appear as though I have her full attention here, do not be fooled! She is keeping her eyes well and truly glued to the rabbit, who is at this moment in time out on full view, I am sure it was out to tease her. Needless to say, Harley did tremendously well, despite the distraction and stayed with me the whole time.

Some of the class was working over what we had learned in previous weeks, heel walking with turns, spins on the spot and midway between the walk. As you can tell Harley gets rather excited whenever things start to go a little fast, and I am not quite sure why she always looks like a demon dog. When in reality she resembles Tigger, constantly bouncing around as if she has a spring loose somewhere. 

Despite that, since the first class she has become less boisterous and in turn, watches me more closely than she ever has before. We have now managed to get our heelwork to be almost perfect, rather than her sitting a mile away.

These may look like a complete disaster, Harley running between my legs with me falling face forward. Be assured though, this is a completely controlled situation, that looks like complete carnage! Problems of having short legs and a big dog, with the weave and touch training we have done. Attila moved the class onto weaving between our legs. 

This is something I had taught Harley a while ago, however, so she was pretty enthusiastic and quick to the mark. Now we just need to make it look a little neater....

The end of the class focused on agility introduction training, which for Harley gets her pretty amped up. I have found it to be very good for teaching her to wait extra lengths of time before being called over the jump, whilst the other dogs are getting on with their exercises. She has certainly calmed down in that department, though I do wonder whether she would be as chilled out during a proper agility class. 

At the end of the class, Attila set up a mini-course, with a very basic seesaw. It was really quite funny watching Harley's reaction as the younger dogs tried to venture across it, scared to go over. You could almost imagine what she was thinking "that is nothing, just go over it. I have to go on ones 100X that size!"...

When it came to her turn, god did she make a show of herself, though I shouldn't have been surprised, it's her all over! Arguing with me about the weaves, then soaring over the seesaw, just to double back and leap onto it because she could smell the residue of patte left from the previous dog's bribes. Where she continued to jump on it, Attila had to hold it steady for fear of it caving in on itself! 

Once she was happy there was no more food to be had, she continued the course, racing through the tunnel only to find it concertinaed on itself on her way through. Did that stop her from wanting another go.. Nope! Other than barking and needing to calm down, she was alot more controllable than she has ever been. 

If you love Harley's new collar, then head on over to Friendship Collar's and use my code Romanovs to get yourself 15% off. Not only will you get your furbaby a beautiful new collar, but you will get a matching bracelet too!

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

Happy Pets Norwich - Harley's Second Week

So this week was a little more exciting for Harley and therefore more challenging for me. We even had some backlash from the hamsters!

Attila was happy for Harley to stay off led for the majority of the class, which was particularly nice considering he wasn't willing to let the other dogs be off. His actual words were "She can stay off, she will stay with you". As you can see she does focus on me a lot and our bond is pretty damn strong, however, she did decide to have a quick shot at the hamsters. 

About halfway through the class, after being so good, going back to her bed every time I asked, I turned my back for a second and thought she had gone. To my surprise, she had whipped behind me and jumped at the evil hamsters that then decided to throw the wooden boards you see stacked up on the side, at her and me. Luckily Harley managed to get out of the way, I, on the other hand, had boards fall on me and had to have help to stop the whole line from coming tumbling down. Hopefully Harley will have learnt her lesson and not go after the board throwing hamsters anymore. 

We worked a lot on concentration and calming methods, mainly with Harley, due to the fact that she was off lead and getting rather hyped up. The heel work exercises were easier to do off the lead, but she does get rather bouncy and exuberant. I, therefore, had to stop every now and again to do the calming exercise we learned last week. 

Whilst Harley already knew the touch command, we worked on this a little further, incorporating this into a heel walk and progressing towards the weaves. Again our trouble is that Harley gets a bit too bouncy and over the top and starts to nibble when she touches your hand expecting the food to be there straight away. So we had to work on slowing it down and getting her into the habit of being a little more gentle. 

This weeks class had a light introduction to agility, seeing as we have over 3 years experience with agility, I did ask for a longer set of weave poles. The beginners only have 2 weave poles, so don't be alarmed by the number you see here. 

To begin with, Harley didn't want to play ball, and I just thought 'oh god I am going to look like I don't know what I am talking about!' Eventually, she got into the rhythm and showed her skills off, though as usual, she had to play up and bark in frustration. Thankfully Attila came over and helped me calm her, and show me how to appease her through the weave poles. 

There are two directions you have to go through them, when I go through with her on my left she does them beautifully, however, with her on my right, she gets frustrated and plays up. 

At the end of the class, Attila organised a play controlled play session with all the dogs, mainly for Harley. So I put her back on the lead, kept it loose and let her sniff around and do as she pleased. The other two beagles played, however, Harley wasn't at all interested. Not unil the older beagle finished playing, then she said hello and they sniffed one another. 

It was lovely for her to be able to have the option in a controlled environment and I hope that we can do it again. 

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.

January 2019 Lookback

This is going to sound so cliche, but my heavens this month has been lonnnnng hasn't it! Normally I find time goes quickly, but I guess running out of money and with the weather being so horrible the days have just dragged. That being said January hasn't been all that bad, I have kept fairly busy and had some good news too.

Harley

As most of you know if you are regular readers that is, I have been having a tough time with Harley, getting her reactive behavior under control has been a challenge, to say the least. We recently went to a new training class with Happy Pets Norwich and my god, it has changed the game completely! Even after just one session this week has been so much calmer, I can not wait to see what the next 5 weeks hold. 

Friends

My best friend, Christie, got married back in December and announced that she was pregnant. A very unexpected piece of news, but awesome nonetheless and now we know the sex! I had it in my head that she was going to have a little girl, I don't know why entirely just had a feeling. When these turn out to be correct though, it is an amazing turn of events. Now we know for sure that the Mini O'G will be a true Mini O'G! 

Life Lessons

This is a new one on me, I am adding this in, one because it is funny and I acknowledge how dumb I look. Two well, because I cannot be the only person to have done silly stuff like this, and three, this is me. 

Yes, I actually did not know that there was a leaver to pop the bonnet open a little to make it easier to open it fully. I used to just wriggle my fingers under the gap and find the yellow thing to release the bonnet. It has always worked, so I never questioned it. 

I have also really started to de-clutter my life this month. I suppose that ties in with January spring cleaning, though I didn't quite do it for that, I just had a surge to get things sorted. Mainly after deciding, I wanted a capsule wardrobe and watching Tidy Up with Marie Kondo and discovering the KonMarie Method. 

It all started with One Midi Skirt and Two Looks, which lead to two bin bags full of clothes going to charity. I was still left with a wardrobe full of winter clothes and another portable wardrobe rack of summer clothes! I have since moved onto cupboards where I have hoarded things for years, including empty boxes, and I mean countless empty boxes... why keep empty boxes? 

I can say without a doubt that since starting this process I do feel so much better at home, decluttering your home will help you to declutter your life. 

Life in General

Considering how I have been last year, I am feeling pretty good. I have seen several friends this month and kept to arrangements. Gone out to meals with people that I wouldn't normally associate with, which has taken me out of my comfort zone. 

Mum has stuck to her promise and we have actually seen each other more, going out for a meal earlier in the month and catching up recently. Taking time to see each other alone has been a really nice change and I feel like it is the right way to a new place for us.

The main big lesson I want to take away from this month and bring forward is to budget and be better with my money! Something I think alot of us should be. 

Always be kind, you never know what personal battle people are fighting.