Hannah Elizabeth

I originally wanted to see Everybody's Talking About Jamie in London years ago, but something held me back. Now that it has come to Nottingham, I am actually really glad that I did! It's another musical which has since been released as a film, back in 2021, and perhaps I will one day get around to watching it and share my thoughts on the comparison.  It shares the story of Jamie, who lives on a council estate and is terrified about the future and fitting in. His family support system is epic, despite having a father who wants nothing to do with him. "Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight".  I was again, very excited when I saw the casting included Hayley Tamaddon as one of the leads. I've always been fond of hers. She shares the role with Giovanna Fletcher, who I'm a little sad I didn't get to see perform because I kind of love her even more(!) and also Sam Baily from X-Factor. Shobna Gulati from Cor

My last counsellor (number 3!) was by far my favourite. Despite being discharged, she left me with some coping strategies to utilise in times of need. Three of these I want to share because I really do think that they help me. She set me a challenge to do something fun every week and I've taken it as a rule in life ever since. If I have nothing fun planned, I try to put something in, even if it's just for a few hours. It can be a great distraction to get out of my inner self and focus on the joys in life, instead of getting into that downward spiral of self-depreciation.  She also left me with two other activities I have to fall back on if the time ever requires. The first is rainbow mapping. Now initially, this wasn't something that struck me as something that I would find useful but over time it has grown on me and I can see how some would find it supportive. It's basically a way to chart your emotions via a colour coded worksheet, taking you from hyper arousal to dep

I'm ending the "style" Saturday post with a little different of a post. It's not fashion, but it's still style related in terms of a home decor haul. Another month and another unboxing from Pretty Little Home, with their October Subscription Box. I thought I'd share the items a little differently this month by showing where I've actually put and how I've styled them, instead of the individual items.  The first item that I opened, I immediately loved, was these large cermaic grey pumpkins . I have a 4 set as a mini collection but these are so sweet. These retail for £12.95. I've placed these on the coffee table with the glass pumpkin , which is my perfect winter water glass. The RRP is £9.95.  On a similar wavelength, more pumpkins were a set of three small white ones with silver stalks. I can only find a price for these as medium x 2 or tiny x 4 , so I can't find the exact price and the closest is £6.  For a little bit of colour, they added an

I couldn't wait to decorate for Halloween this year and even more so when I saw some of my new purchases. The majority of the pieces are reused from previous years, mainly from Amazon, BNM and ASDA George. The wire bits are from either In Other Word Designs or Knitte.  I loved my little fireplace set up. I have the floating bats and the BOO sign from Amazon. Hanging down are some paper bats from BNM and then underneath, the cutest ghost cushion from Stacey Solomon's George at ASDA collection.  On the bay window, I have some bat bunting and window stickers from Amazon. Then my light up gold trio pumpkins in front. The tv stand also has some wire shapes and I've moved the fabric pumpkins down to the shelf area.  The back set up in the Halloween may only have a couple of touches but it's a lovely little area. I have a hanging Halloween flag on the door from In Other Word Designs, cushion on my blanket basket from ASDA and two cream pumpkins.  I kept it quite simple in the

It’s funny. I wrote a post previously about life plans and it made me think about how set in stone I’ve been over the years with my baby names. I’m sure I’ve shared all of my previous baby names before but I thought I’d like to have them all written down in one spot. For years and years as a child (9-22), I had a single boys name and a single girls name picked out. Sophia “Soph” Elizabeth and Lucas “Luc” David. The middle names for the first born of each gender remain set in stone. Elizabeth is my middle name, my mother’s middle name and my great aunt’s middle name. It’s a family tradition I wish the continue. On a similar wavelength, David was my late grandfathers middle name, but is also my paternal uncle’s middle name. At the time, I honestly didn’t know where Sophia and Lucas came from, but I think they were inspired in part from two different places. My favourite television of all time is One Tree Hill and one of the lead actresses is Sophia Bush and one of the lead characters in

My letterbox flower subscription from Bloom + Wild continues. This month, I got two bouquets delivered as I delayed the last due to the holiday and therefore two were delivered at both the start and towards the end of the month. The first bouquet I accidently through the card away, but it was the Florist's Pick for September. It's no longer available on the website, so I can't see the exact flowers, but I can defintely say that they bloomed over the course of the first week. They looked very lacklustre initially, then slowly came into their own and blossomed over time. They kept for a long time and although a couple of the roses were initially broken on arrival, they also kept well in a little separate vase too.   If you want to purchase your own flowers, or treat someone special, use my link for a special discount and start your new obsession! 

Greatest Days is the newly renamed musical, formerly known as The Band, and based on the songs by Take That. I wasn't initially going to book (as usual) as I am not a massive fan of Take That and release official movie had just been released for free on Prime, but then I saw who the cast included, and I recognised Jennifer Ellison, and I've always loved her.  I felt a little out of place when I first arrived as most of the audience were middle aged women, and I was by far the youngest there. I actually thought the show was about Take That itself, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched to know that it wasn't the story at all. Instead, it focussed on a group of childhood friends who went to a Take That  concert in their teens, only to reunite after one of them wins tickets to a reunion concert and re-bond after the death of their friend.  I ended up loving it from start to finish and has such a great time. I found I recognised most of the songs, which was a little bit

It's official! I have been discharged from all mental health services, after a last short course of one-to-one counselling with Talking Therapies. I can't say I don't have bad days because I absolutely do. In fact, at the time of writing this, yesterday ( World Mental Health Day ) was the lowest I've been in months. But, despite all that, overall I have made huge progress over the last  months and I am in a completely different place mentally and emotionally.  Whilst the grief continues, healing takes time, especially with a lack of closure. I feel like I've nicely summarised my journey now and it's a relief to have the approval from start to finish from an external body. I was scared, raw, alone and abandoned. I grieved for not only what was, but what the future held. It’s okay not to be okay, but I ended up fighting for myself. My adult self, looked after my inner vulnerable child.  I still can't believe that I've gone through all this when I was the o

I had a few weeks of lots of night shifts, with some lovely days off in between with family and friends, and lots of university work.  Click here to watch the vlog or see below.  I had the happiest of reunions with my cousin and nephew. I can’t believe how D has gotten since I last saw him. He’s now shaking his head “no”, standing, walking with help and (almost) clapping. Someone tell him to stop growing up! At least he still has no teeth, nor anymore hair. Unfortunately, the walk was a little delayed with my cousin ending up going to work first, but we went on a lovely walk around the park first, then headed to the pub for food.  The next day started by first of 4 night shifts. They were all incredibly busy, very short staffed and very draining. One in particular was utterly exhausting. I was feeling like absolute shite until I walked out into the morning dusk and saw two beautiful hot air balloons. I've always wanted to go on a hot air balloon which is something very odd for me,