PFF: monthly

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Well, January was a fun month! A fun but extremely busy month. A new term at university has started and I have more contact hours and more work (yay!). But I have also had some fun travelling - Dublin and Oslo to be exact.

So here are some of my favourite photos from the month..

Dublin

I have shared my full Dublin Photo Diary already so i'm not going to bore you with it too much. Definitely check out that post for a whole overview of the trip. All I will say is.. it was an amazing trip, it was really nice to spend a couple of days exploring, relaxing and eating lots of yummy food. Dublin is definitely up there as one of my favourite cities.

Oslo

I'm lucky that this is my second trip of the month. Another (cold) city trip but a fun one nonetheless. Oslo was fairly small so we managed to explore most of it in a day or two. The street art over there was amazing in some areas, mixed with lots of classical buildings - it was so pretty! It snowed on our last day so we didn't see much of it unfortunately, but it was beautiful. I really enjoyed my short but sweet 48hrs in this city. Keep an eye out for a full post.

Sweet Treats

Usually it's January and everyone is on their 'healthy eating' but nope.. not me. I've been continuing the christmas festivities for a month too long. It has to stop now. But I love to bake - so why not? This month i've made lots of ginger biscuits, some crispy bars topped with date caramel and chocolate (recipe coming soon), flapjacks and lots of 'sweet' oats topped with peanut butter, apple and cinnamon - you name it! I also unboxed my 'The Goodness Project Box' and a 'Chocolate Haul' which featured lots of sweet treats that I can't wait to tuck into. It's been a um.. chocolate-y month. Whoops.

Youtube Videos

Last but not least.. January has been THE month of Youtube Videos for me. I have uploaded three this month. A 'UK Vegan Chocolate Haul' 'The Goodness Project Unboxing' and a 'Cruelty Free/Vegan Toiletries Haul'. I've actually enjoyed doing some sit down videos instead of vlogging. It's definitely something i'd like to continue. Let me know what you think.

So that's my month in photo's. A lot of it (apart from travelling) has been focused on doing university work. I've been super busy doing some voluntary research and completing coursework. But, as always, it's nice to look back on the month and appreciate all the little (and big) things. I really enjoy compiling the photo's for these posts. It's super nice to look back and I always have a giggle.

Please share with me any posts you have done that are similar <3

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I can't believe we're in December already. It sounds so clichè but where has 2016 gone?! Where?! I don't often do monthly favourites, mostly because I'm forgetful and throw away half of the products. But, November has been a pretty decent month filled with lots of good memories and FOOD. I've taken a visit to Manchester Christmas Markets, took countryside walks, drank lots of Christmas coffees and ate lots of mince pies (oops!). So here are some of my favourite foodie and life bits from November...

Aldi Dark Chocolate Lebkuchen

Coincidentally my German friend introduced me to these after the Manchester Christmas Markets. I've never tried these before but, they're absolutely delicious. They're just Christmas in a biscuit. Perfect with a cup of tea, a hot chocolate or a Christmas coffee. Your choice. I'd have one (or probably two or three) of these with one of my homemade lattes.

Aldi Dark Chocolate Orange Rice Cake Bars

I've been obsessed with these for a long time. I featured them in my Vegan Snacks post. They're the perfect chocolate hit. They satisfy your sweet tooth and they're only 92 calories. Perfect Christmas snack. What's more christmassy than (Terry's) chocolate orange!

Chocolate buttons

I like chocolate OK! Chocolate buttons are cute AF. They remind me of childhood and they seem to last a lot longer than a regular chocolate bar. I like these sprinkled on oats or on hot chocolates. These are my two favourite flavours: White Chocolate from Tesco (40p) and Chocolate Orange from Asda (37p). They're both so good. Two of my favourite vegan chocolate finds.

Asda Dark Chocolate and Mint Spread

Ugh, where do I even start with this? This absolutely BEAUTY. You NEED this in your life. Spread this on toast, chocolate rice cakes, mix with hot milk for hot chocolate, eat straight off the spoon. You get the hint. It's just gooey, spreadable chocolate goodness. It can get pretty sickly but on the most part, you'll probably find it quite hard to put the spoon down. Also, the fact it is £1.50 just makes it even better.

Lidl Spiced Biscuit Spread

If you thought the chocolate spread sounded good then you will LOVE this. This is basically Lidl's version of Lotus Biscoff spread. It's also £1.50 which makes it tempting to buy two (yes I have done that!). If you don't believe how good this is, you can ask my flatmates. We've made it through a fair few of these jars and I'm taking orders to pick some up for Christmas (we're up to 8 jars in total!). So if you like Lotus biscuits and you like spreads.. this is for you. It's so damn delicious, I have to restrain myself, like a lot.

Flowers

I love getting fresh flowers, they make such a nice addition to the room. These were a lovely little treat off my boyfriend (brownie points). Combined with the festive Caffè Nero takeout cup (this is the 3rd Christmas cup in my room - crazy, I know!), I think this makes a really cute Christmas display. So pretty. It's always nice to be spoilt with pretty flowers. Who agrees?

Christmas Decorations

I wrote a blog post all about how I'm getting ready for Christmas. I'm feeling so christmassy this year and I don't know why. My favourite thing this November has been decorating my room in a Christmas theme (follow me on Instagram, I'm always sharing new roomie bits). I have a red, gold and green themed shelf in the photo above and my window is decorated with blues, pinks and whites. I have fairy lights galore. I'm honestly in Christmas room heaven.

DIY

This month, as well as decorating my room to be #roomgoals, I have been enjoying making some homemade, decorative roomie bits. I've been enjoying being creative. Pinterest has kept me busy that's for sure! I made the little parcel in the photo above out of an empty toilet roll. You can find out how to make it here. Not only is it fun but, I love spending my money on cute, crafty bits and bobs. Any excuse for a shopping trip!

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Back at the beginning of September i set myself some 'Healthy Habits' for the month. I wasn't feeling motivated sat at home everyday. When i'm lazy, i'm really lazy. I have all good intentions but they just slip by as i sit on the sofa sipping my coffee. I much prefer being a busy little bee. So i set myself these goals to help give me some motivation, kick myself up the bum and encorporate some healthy habits (which i know i should have been doing anyway) into my day-to-day life. Let's find out if it worked..

It really helped.

Those times where i felt like doing NOTHING sat on the sofa. Or when i reached for another coffee. Or when i slacked on the water. Or when i reached for a bar of chocolate instead of some fruit. This is when the goals helped me get back on track and choose the 'healthier' options

WEEK 1

This was a hard week adjusting. Maybe i set the standards too high.. 3hr cycling and 1.5hr of zumba is actually quite a lot of exercise when you're not used to it. My body ached, i found it quite hard to fit it all in especially as i like to have weekends off. But i managed pretty well and managed to adapt quite quickly to squeezing in all these healthy changes.

WEEK 2

A very solid effort from me this week! I was genuinely happy with how well this week went. I also managed to go trampolining with my boyfriend. My muscles ached to death after that. Oh the pain! But it left me feeling very motivated and i felt the goals had really helped me overall to be more active throughout the week. 4.5* week for me - almost perfect ;)

WEEK 3

Waheyy. We made it to what i call a 5* week. Which means i was pretty good all round. I didn't hit my green tea target (but name a week that i did) but i managed an all time low of ONE 'proper coffee'. ONE. Proving i don't need coffee as much as i thought eh. Another brilliant week (must have been the motivation from week 2).

WEEK 4

The final healthy habits week (or is it?!). This was a hectic week packing up for university and moving into my new room. I REALLY struggled with finding the motivation. The weather was rubbish and so i didn't feel like getting out on my bike. I did complete 30minutes extra Zumba though! Aside from the lack of cycling and walking it was a fairly average week. Not the best but not bad either.

What did i learn?

I appreciate coffee much more when i only have a couple a week from a coffee shop. From now on i'll stick to proper coffee less often. I don't need the caffeine kick not when i can get it from other sources.
Drinking water isn't a problem for me. I really do drink well over 2-3l every single day. I carry my bottle everywhere so i am never dehydrated. My body is so in tune with my hydration levels.. i start to feel it as soon as i havent drank enough. However, it was important for me to make sure i was smashing it every. single. day. I'm hoping this won't change now i'm back at university!
I don't like green tea. But, spending more money on getting some decent flavours really helps! From now on i'll spend the extra and get some nicer flavours to make my green tea one to look forward to and enjoy. Sometimes splurging is best!
Force yourself to exercise and you will feel better afterwards. Even if you don't want to, just do it! Having a set goal written down really helps with that. I'm a target kinda girl. I need targets!
I really am more motivated to workout when i have a gym but i do enjoy home workouts when i make myself do it. I loved the zumba and cycling - i don't want to give them up buttttt, i'm a gym bunny. I can't help it. I just am.

So that's it for my September Healthy Habits. I am so glad i decided to do this challenge. This is something i want to keep doing. I am definitely going to make exercise targets for October and try to maintain all these healthy habits i've achieved throughout September.

Who's ready for October? I am!

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