Small and 10 happy things! #12

Well hello there! It's April! And wow is the sun shining! I had a lovely last week of March and there were lots of happy things to round up so here we go! :) My ten last happy things of this month! 

1// Seeing the amazing Easter egg creations at school. The kids pulled out all of the stops creating their scenes using eggs. We had an 'Egg Sheeran', The Owl and the Pussycat and a solar eggclipse!

2// Finishing work for the holiday on Thursday, Thursday! 3.15pm rolled around and I waved goodbye to my class (who were at this stage climbing the walls ready for the break!) and all the teachers just collapsed into giggles and chats about Easter holiday plans! I am really lucky to be in such a fun and supportive work environment. It makes the tough days so much brighter.

3// Getting a lift back to Sheffield. Boyfriend's mum had come over to visit on Thursday and she offered to drive us home with all of our stuff which was just so nice. The convenience of going door to door makes cars so worth it sometimes!

4// A totally blissful Good Friday. My mum, sister and I all went to the cinema early doors in the morning (that's how we roll) to go and see Cinderella. It was absolutely wonderful but I've already banged on about it enough here I know!

5// My grandma sending me a hilarious photo on Whatsapp. I am so thrilled she has taken to the technology and it's so nice that we can share all this silly little moments even when we're apart.

6// Reading The Wrong Knickers. This book has been making me laugh and laugh this week. If you are in your 20s or you've lived through them you will identify with this book! It's an account of The Telegraph writer Bryony Gordon's 'decade of chaos' she calls it and I must admit, it make me thankful for my stable, almost boring lifestyle!!

7// Discovering chamomile tea. Tried it once and hated it but I gave it another go this week and loved it.

8// Getting gel nails! I had my nails done for the first time ever and I am completely in love. I can't believe how good they look, how they've not chipped at all and that they're actually MY nails! A lovely little holiday treat that I think I'll be needing to do more often!

9// Being back at home and sharing a room with my sister. Most people would hate this but my sis and I now share a room (and a bed!) whenever we both happen to be back in Sheffield at the same time. We absolutely love it and it's like having a sleepover with your best friend every night.

10// Champneys spa weekend! My sister, mum and I spent the Easter weekend at Champneys, which is brilliant piece of heaven on Earth! I came away never wanting to leave as usual. I will probably do a more detailed post at another time so I won't delve in too much now but suffice to say, a spa trip is always a good idea no?

How was your last week of March? Did you have a lovely Easter weekend? What did you get up to? 

Lots of love,

Sophia xxx

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Small and 10 happy things! #11

Happy things this week!

What a crazy, hectic week this last one was. As my boyfriend is still on medication all hours of the day I feel like we're in a bit of a haze. My sleep's obviously been affected too and it's made the week feel like a blur. 

That being said here are the things that have made me happy these past seven days!

1// A great Zumba class on Monday. I had a different instructor to usual and I actually do prefer this one, I feel really bad saying that but it's true! She's just a but more energetic and uplifting and her mood boosts me. It a great, revitalising way to kick off the week and I really enjoyed it.

2// A mid week pick me up visit from my Mum and sister! My mum was bringing my sister home from uni in Chester and on the way back to Sheffield they picked me up from work, drove me home and came to visit briefly! It was lovely to see them both and it was a perfect way to break up the working week.

3// A brilliant, relaxing Friday night with my boyfriend. We did nothing but cook and lounge in front of the tv and I loved every minute. 

4// Finishing The Luminaries! This monster of a book has completely engrossed me from start to finish and I was so glad I had a really good amount of time this weekend (thanks my travels) to finish it off!

5// Being slightly splurgey...my friends are bad influences! When in Liverpool this weekend with my old uni besties we all turned in to such enablers. I bought new underwear (all Disney, no sexy Vicky's secret this time..) books and one of the new  (gorgeous) DKNY perfumes, the peach one if you're interested! I also bought an eos lip balm so I am officially a cool human being...

6// A book haul, I picked up The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon and The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman. They have been on my wishlist for a while and when I saw they were on buy one get one half price at WHSmith I just jumped! 

7// Seeing some of my favourite people and having a DELICIOUS meal in Liverpool. Good food and good friends, is there anything better in life? We went to Gusto on the Albert Docks which was fantastic. If you live anywhere in Liverpool or the Manchester/Cheshire area there's quite a few dotted around so look them up! 

8// Having some really fun discussions at school about the Easter story! The kids were so engaged with it and asked such meaningful questions, a very inspiring afternoon of work.

9// Having a really lazy Sunday. I managed to get a nice early train back, the clocks turning helped that's for sure, so I was back in Altrincham with enough time to have a full Sunday there.

10// Altrincham food and drink festival at the market. This place is such a buzzing hive of activity! There were so many different stalls with incredible foodie friendly gifts and street food and for this weekend only there was even a demonstration from a Michelin chef! Very exciting!

How was your week? What have been your highlights of March so far? 

Lots of love,

Sophia

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Small and happy's Disney Friday!

The last Friday in March! And oh boy, is Mickey right, I have been really looking forward to it. What seems (to me anyway!) as the longest month of the year so far is drawing to a close and I am very much looking forward to April and Easter!

This week has been one of those where I seemed to let things stress me out more than I should have and that needs to stop. I need to let things wash over me and not worry about them until I actually have to. We create so much worry in our our own minds it's ridiculous! 

So I am stopping that as of today. This Friday is the end of this working week and am deciding that next week my goal is to not 'sweat the small stuff' as they say which is so easily done when we're over tired and just generally working so hard!

This Friday for me will be a relaxed one spent cooking and watching tv with my boyfriend. Tomorrow will be more busy as I'm off to Liverpool to see my old uni housemates which I absolutely cannot wait! We're going for a civilised meal and drinks, definitely a far cry from the uni days but nevertheless, these are some of my favourite people in the world so I am seriously looking forward to this! 

So to that end, a happy Friday, a happy weekend and a happy last week in March. I'm going to make it a great one! 

What are you up to this weekend? Anything nice planned for he last weekend of March? 

Sophia xxx

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Small, happy and throwback Thursday!

After some beautiful days that teased us that Spring was coming I wake up to rain (standard Manchester!) and news from my Mum that there's snow in Sheffield! So to that end I'm throwing back to sunnier times, Portugal this last summer 2014. Come one sunshine, we'd love to see your smiley face again soon! 

What is it like where you are? Are you sitting pretty laughing at us poor, cold UK dwellers or are you teaching for your brolly this morning too?

Lots of love, it's almost Friday!

Sophia :) xxx

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Small. happy and LUCKY.

There were so many different events last week weren't there? Not only the solar eclipse and my grandma's birthday (I know that second one was a big deal for you too!) but on Tuesday 17th March it was St Paddy's day! 

Now apart from having an Irish bestie and going out and getting drunk for this Irish celebration in my uni days (#honest) I never really used St Patrick's to any kind of reflective use. 

However, this year I got thinking about all the things I feel lucky to have. It can be so easy to get caught up in a world of wishlists or focusing on the negatives but we are all so blessed in some way and we need to make sure we sit back and stock of all the things we are lucky to have :) 

I'm lucky to:

Have enough food in my fridge.

Have somewhere to lay my head every night.

To have a loving family, even if they don't all live 5 minutes away.

To be able to read and enjoy literature and the words around me.

To have my health and to be young and fit enough to exercise and enjoy moving without pain. 

To live in a society where my options are not limited. 

To live 5 minutes away from Boots (yes, I'm getting silly now!)

To know that frozen yoghurt is officially a THING and it's not going away! 

To have Disney movies to watch to instantly boost my mood.

To know that everyday I get to do a job that I enjoy in a place where I am valued.

To be able to travel the world (when money and time allows obviously!)

To not be discriminated against or made to feel unsafe because of my race or religion.

To have fantastic, loving, true 

friends.

Basically, we're all pretty lucky in lots of small little ways and that's something we to remember. Some basic, basic things we take for granted are the dreams and wishes of so many people across the world. This is why I took St Patrick's day last week as a chance to think of the things I am already lucky to have, the gold at the end of my own rainbow.

What do you feel lucky for in your life? Did you celebrate St Patrick's at all? And yes, getting drunk and putting on an accent definitely counts!

Sophia x

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Small and 10 happy things! #10

Time once again to round up the happy things of this this week! 

I've spent the majority of the last seven days missing my boyfriend while he was been in hospital so if I'm honest it's certainly not been the happiest of weeks on the whole. However, there's always something to smile about on this blog and the week ended up finishing with a wonderful surprise!!

1// Having Taylor Swift/Spice Girls morning dance sessions! Without boyfriend around I've been getting ready for work on my own so I've made it into a little solo dance party every day, totally pumping me up for the day!

2// My grandma buying me a new little cuddly friend. She picked up this adorable bear for a pound in a charity shop this week and gave it to me as she felt bad for me having to be home alone! Even though I am a proper adult I love cuddly toys so it was so sweet that she thought of me in what was quite a lonely week (at the start anyway...)

3// Receiving a lovely card in the post. Again something to do with that fabulous grandma of mine. Her bestie Joan sent my boyfriend a get well soon card this and she dropped a little surprise one in there for me too! She's absolutely wonderful and I feel like I have a whole group of OAP pals thanks to my AWESOME gma.

4// The solar eclipse. This was just pretty cool for everyone no? It's times like these when I really love my job. Sharing the eclipse with my class and showing them the live feed and watching their expressions made it so memorable for me. It's one of those moments that they'll remember where they were for and I feel really lucky that I got to help make it special for them. It was special for me too as I got to indulge in my Brian Cox obsession at my place of work... ;) added bonus for me!

5// Having an evening off watching It Takes Two. Please tell me someone else has heard of this adorable Mary-Kate and Ashley film? They made it when they were about 5 and it's basically Parent trap except the kids aren't related. At all. I know. If you can get past the fact that these two identical twins are cometslt unrelated then this is a really sweet movie where a rich girl and a poor orphan meet by chance and decide to set up her father and her orphanage running lady (definitely can't think of the official job title!) It's a 90s classic and I whole heartedly recommend it. Like I would any Olsen movie, tv show, tbh. Mega fan here.

6// Ending the week with the wonderful surprising news that my boyfriend was coming home from hospital! We made a delicious red lentil curry (our FAVOURITE dish) and just kicked back and watched 24, it was wonderful.

7// The beautiful sunshine this weekend. I'm feeling in such a good mood because of it :) It just makes everything (and everyone) nicer!

8// Cuddles in bed. I have experienced what it's like living alone and I am not doing it ever again if I can help it. It was so lovely to have someone to wake up to again, I have really, really missed it.

9// Buying two DVDs this week. Call me a big spender!

10// Cross country phone calls with my Portuguese fam. I am so looking forward to seeing them on my annual trip and it was so nice to have a good old catch up with my grandma and grandpa.

So all in all a week with a very happy ending. This week was also international happiness day on Friday and I am going to make a concerted effort to carry over that happiness and the gratefulness was that this week has brought me into the rest of the month (and beyond!) 

How was your week? What made you smile? I hope you enjoyed the sunshine! 

Sophia :) xxxxxx

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Small and happy's 50 things that make me smile :)

So due to my boyfriend being poorly I had a lot of time by myself this weekend and it meant I was feeling a little blue at times. Then I stopped myself and realised that it's so silly to feel that way when there are so many little joys in life and after all, my word for 2015 is joyful! 

To that end I've decided to see if I could list 50 things that never fail to make me smile. Turns out it was much easier than I thought, it's all about the little things :)

1. Warm cuddles in bed with my boyfriend.

2. Whatsapping with my mum and sister.

3. A lovely mug of green tea.

4. Finishing a brilliant book.

5. Watching a purely romantic, girly movie.

6. Flicking through cookbooks and getting inspired.

7. Touching down in Portugal, knowing that I'll be seeing my family.

8. Writing my diary.

9. Calling my grandma on the way home from work.

10. A new issue of my favourite magazine.

11. Going to the cinema.

12. Reading blogs.

13. Travelling. Making travel plans.

14. Watching a good old Come Dine With Me with some food.

15. PJ days.

16. Phone calls with my Portuguese family.

17. New York.

18. Almond milk.

19. Going to the theatre.

20. Penny, my cuddly panda.

21. Gilmore girls.

22. Nandos.

23. Massages.

24. Visiting my old dancing school. 

25. Doing the food shop with my boyfriend.

26. Visiting new cities.

27. The smell of baking bread.

28. Orchids.

29. Hearing the sea.

30. Listening to some good old fashioned pop music.

31. Harry Potter.

32. When a new episode of one of my favourite shows comes out.

33. Buying cards for people.

34. Eating on my grandma's balcony in Portugal.

35. Feeling the Sun on my face.

36. Wandering round Waterstone's for hours.

37. People playing with my hair.

38. TV marathons with my sister.

39. Cinnamon.

40. Candles burning.

41. Getting home after a long day.

42. Exercising.

43. Fresh fruit. Any fruit, and lots of it.

44. When my students make me laugh or do something nice for me.

45. Festive times with all the family. 

46. Writing exciting events in my calendar!

47. Frozen yoghurt.

48. Kitchen dances to the radio with my boy.

49. Body shop's body butter.

50. Buying new nail varnishes.

Those are just a few things that always put a nice smile on my face. Even just this list is putting me in a good mood! G

What about you? What makes you smile?

Sophia x

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Small and 10 happy things! #9

A bit of a crazy week which has ended with a lot of hospital visits so it's all been a bit unexpected! Everyone's fine it's just my boyfriend has a severe eye infection which is needing 24 hour, on the hour care. Despite a worrying week on that front I have managed to have some highlights (always looking for silver lining!) so here are my ten happy things from the last seven days!

1. Boyfriend doing a mini shop on Monday for all my supermarket essentials despite being so poorly! This is even more amazing now knowing he's been admitted to hospital since. What a kind soul.

2. My tutoring sessions going really well on Monday. Started the week off nicely!

3. Getting picked up from school on Friday by my grandma (feeling like a kid again!)

4. An amazing and inspiring course. On Thursday I went on a teaching behaviour course and it was so fantastic. The speaker was incredible and it was so invigorating and interesting! Plus it was at Man City's stadium so that's another Manchester sight ticked off! 

5. Being back at home in Sheffield with my mum and sister this weekend. This was already planned and with boyfriend in hospital it was great that I wasn't in the house by myself!

6. Having a buffet lunch with my family for my Dad and grandma's birthdays. My grandma put on an amazing spread (as she always does) and we all had a wonderful catch up with some quality time. She and M&S make one hell of a team!

7. Going out for a birthday meal that same evening for one of my best friend's birthdays. It was so nice to catch up with everyone and it was lovely to have some good food and conversation with some of my nearest and dearest. They have all offered so much love and support during this time too which has made me feel so lucky.

8. Mother's Day celebrations. Mum, sister and I all went to the cinema together. We saw Focus and thoroughly enjoyed it. Even the scenes where Will Smith had a shirt on... ;)

9. Watching The Inbetweeners movie while doing some weekend work. Does this movie get anyone really in the mood for summer? 

10. Getting a wonderful, surprise gift from my Dad. He, out of the blue, got my sister and I a gorgeous package from Champneys spa (aka our favourite place on Earth) full of products and an official teddy bear! I can confirm the bear has been christened Clarissa (she is fancy after all) and she is extremely soft and has settled in perfectly with the rest of my cuddlies. Yes, I know I am old. #noregrets

So how's your week been? What's made you smile? This week has really shown me to appreciate every small little thing so let's hear some of your little surprising gems! 

Lots of love,

Sophia x

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Small and happy's A to Z of my mum.

It's Mother's Day! A day where we get to unashamedly wax lyrical about the ladies who gave us life. I've seen this on a couple of blogs so I thought I'd have a go at doing an A to Z of my own Mum, my best friend and my rock. Lorelai and Rory have got nothing on us!

Amazingly hardworking.

Beautiful when it comes to cooking (and her looks, obvs!)

Calm in a crisis (mostly!)

Determined to look after us all the time.

Even when we're old!

Friendly to people we have over, no matter the hour or who they are!

Great at remembering little faffy things that I forget to do! 

Honest and happy.

Intelligent, is there anything she can't figure our how to do?!

Just hilarious (without meaning to be!)

Kind, almost to a fault!

Loving to all, especially small children.

Mess exterminator! She is so clean.

No one like her.

Only concerned with keeping my sister and I happy. 

Portuguese. I am so glad to have inherited her amazing culture (and ability to tan!)

Quirky-especially her sense of humour. I have never seen anyone laugh so much at You've been framed. It's so lame.

Ridiculously helpful at all times!

Silly when she wants to be.

Tirelessly working and always doing her best.

Undeniably the most selfless person I know.

Very, very supportive.

Wonderful.

X faxtor. She's bit just a mum but a best friend.

You can't get luckier really.

Zealous with her love of Brad Pitt.

Must admit, I'm quite impressed with my last one!

Anyway, I hope you had a lovely day celebrating with your mothers or any of the special ladies on your life. After all, a mother figure can be any woman we look up to. My grandma is my second mum and I could have quite easily written a huge post about her but I don't think she'd appreciate her picture being out there in the internet world!

Right then, have a lovely Sunday and I shall leave you with this lovely quote...

Always my mother, forever my friend.

Lots of love!

Sophia  :) xxxx

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Small and happy's Disney Friday!

So for today's Disney Friday the theme is strength. We can always be stronger and smarter and more positive and more anything than we give ourselves credit for! After all, Christopher Robin says so and his best friend is a bear so clearly, he knows his stuff...!

This has been the most crazy week really and I can't believe it's Friday again. Life is a little bit hectic and I've got a quite poorly boyfriend to think about as well as trips home and several birthdays to celebrate this weekend! However, as always it's time to sit back and relax and enjoy the weekend and be grateful for a rest! 

We never know how much we can deal with until we have to and I am proud of myself for how hard I've been working, how positive I've been, how I've stepped up for people around me and how much I've achieved so far in 2015!

I say all this because it's good to blow our own trumpets because we are so much more fantastic than we let ourselves believe!

So happy Friday, I know you've earned it! 

Sophia :) xxxx

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Small, happy and currently! #4

There's no reason for this pup other than it's cute and I guess it was Crufts this weekend so it's slightly relevant?!

Anywhoooo.

It's been a while since I've done a little round up of life and what I'm enjoying, thinking and other various verb-ing(!) at the minute! But before I dive in, it's Spring, how exciting is that?! I can already feel the longer days and sunny spells lifting my mood and it's lovely :)

In that cheerful vein here's my little life lately list!

Watching// 24 season 3 (again!), Modern family, Nashville, GBBO, and on a more serious note: Channel 4's Junk food kids, scary stuff.

Booking// Flights to Singapore!! I can't wait to get planning :)

Appreciating// Being well. I finally seem to be at the end of colds, laryngitis and what not and it makes me realise how lucky I am to not have big health issues all the time.

Wanting// A Victoria's Secret bikini. It's just never a 'good' day to be trying them on is it?! Girls you feel my pain I'm sure!

Hoping// To keep calm and positive and remind myself how well I'm doing at work and to let myself have time to relax too :)

Loving// My overnight oats. Such s revelation. Eating breakfast at work has never been so fun and delicious. It's all about cinnamon...

Reading// Cookbooks galore. Must. Stop. Buying.

Looking forward to// Easter! I know it's still a while yet but I feel all full of Spring at the minute and I can't wait for the holidays and all of the excitement that the sunny weather brings! 

What have you all been loving recently? Any recommendations? Books? Films? Blogs? 

Lots of love,

Sophia :) 

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Small and 10 happy things! #8

Firstly, no I am not currently on a beach in Thailand. This is a lovely throwback to 2012, however I thought this was a very nice happy photo and thus very appropriate to use for this week's happy things.

I may not be picking up shells in a far off corner of the world but I am still loving life UK side and here are the little things that have made my March this week! 

1// World Book Day. As a teacher this day is obviously a big deal and it was so fun to dress up (Katniss Everdeen all the way!) and see all the kids in their costumes too! Reading purely for joy is just not celebrated in schools as much as it should be so it was lovely to inspire the children and hopefully it will continue. Having said that, I must admit half of my class are glued to Zoella's books so I must thank her for that!

2// Facetiming my grandma! As you heard in last week's happy things my grandma, aka best pal for life, got an iphone. Now she is a stubborn technophobe and I was doubtful she'd even use it at all so you can imagine my shock and absolute glee when she FACETIMED me on Wednesday evening! She was so happy she could see me and it's going to make the times that we're separated by the naughty Pennines that much easier!

3// Not just surviving but THRIVING in an incredibly crazy week at work! I can't go into too much detail but we had some very important 'visitors' in school. Fellow teachers will know who I am referring to... Anyway, it all went well and they were particulary complimentary to me which was really really exciting and gave me a big spring in my step! This then turned into utter exhaustion by Friday but oh well!

4// Picking up the new issue of Cosmo. I have yet to dive into this, however I am loving the look of it so far. Cameron Diaz is a gem and I just love the feeling of a new glossy in my hands. You just can't beat it. #readbooksnotscreens

5// Lovely phone chats with a bestie. This is always good and although it's hard sometimes to organise a time it is so important and always makes me so happy!

6// Beautiful weather on Saturday. The weather was really looking up this weekend and it's making me feel so summery! Please don't go awayyyyy sunshineee!

7// Travel planning. I picked up some travel guides for South East Asia, so excited to finally be planning properly!

8// Having a total day off on Saturday (and most of Sunday too...) I feel so guilty when I do this but I really felt like I deserved it after the week and that's what weekends are for aren't they? For relaxing! 

9// Lazy mornings in bed. Even if I'm up too early, just being able to lounge around in bed is just bliss. 

10// My Whatsapp group with my mum and my sister. We have daily random crazy chats at all hours and it's just brilliant! This is when the pros of technology completely outweigh the bad, in my opinion anyway! Anything that allows three women in different cities to be close and talk so much is a gift.

What's made you happy this week? I hope you enjoyed the sunshine this weekend!

Sophia :) 

xxxxxx

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Small and happy's Disney Friday!

It's Friday!

I'm exhausted. 

Work has been manic with parents' evening, World book day AND to top it all off we had the dreaded inspections..teachers among me will know what that means!

Howevee, like with everything in life, I made it through as we always do and I cannot wait to curl up tonight and do absolutely nothing. My plan is good food and a few episodes of 24!

What are your rocking Friday night plans? Tell me all about them please while I struggle to keep my eyes open!

Lots of love and chat soon! Let's kick Friday's little butt!

Sophia :) 

Xxxxx

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Small and 10 happy things! #7

Helloooo there! Happy Monday and that all that jazz! Here were the little things that made me smile on the last week of #fabulousfebruary....

1// My grandma getting an iphone! This is big exciting news purely because we are so close and I would love to be able to be able to FaceTime her and send her pictures of what I'm doing. She's only about an hour away in Sheffield but this will make it feel like she's 5 minutes down the road again :) 

2// Booking our flights to Singapore!! Eeeek! This is the happiest thing of the week obviously and I am beyond thrilled! We managed to get them for about 200 pounds cheaper because we're flying from Lisbon as opposed to Manchester. I'll be in Portugal anyway visiting family so it looks like one trip merging into the next which is very very exciting! 

3// Turning the flat into a dance studio on Tuesday evening. I didn't go to my regular Zumba class on Monday so I brought the mountain to Mohammed as the saying goes and did a 50 minute long Zumba class from youtube! Obviously it's not quite the same but I took it all very seriously and tried to keep my feet as light as I could to keep the neighbours below happy!

4// Cooking up a few new recipes at the weekend. We got our hands on a spaghetti squash and I was beyond excited about it! Yes, this is my life.

5// Organising some lovely birthday fun with my old school friends. It's looking like a spa day!

6// Going to step class on Thursday. I just love this class for so many reasons. Not only is it a fabulous workout but I just love the timing of it. It tells me that we're almost at the weekend and I really like the instructor and the general vibe of the class. Everyone there is about 20 years older than me so it's kind of like being in a little mothers' meeting and I quite enjoy that :) Plus they're always gossiping about the women on the Real Housewives of Cheshire (who love near!) so I like that too! 

7// An impromptu trip to Chester to see my sister! My mum went over to see Baby sis this weekend and I tagged along! I was really glad I did as Boyfriend was working and I was only going to be in the house by myself anyway. Sometime the best moments are the spontaneous ones and that's something that as a very structured person I need to remember.

8// Buying The Rosie Effect. I loved The Rosie Project so I can't wait to dive into the sequel.

9// A beautiful sleep on Saturday night. I don't always sleep well at the weekends because I get up so early in the week, therefore it was blissful to wake up and the Sun was already poking through. Spring is well on the way!

10// Getting back into using the Duolingo app to practise my French and Portuguese. One of my new year's resolutions was to improve my Portuguese so I'm cracking on! 

What made you happy in the last week of February? Are you looking forward to anything nice this week?

Chat soooon!

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Small and happy's Disney Friday!

Happy Friday! The last Friday in February too!

For today's Disney Friday it's just a little reminder from Elsa...if you've had anything annoying or frustrating happen this week, just (you know what's coming..) LET IT GOOOO! Whatever's been and gone this week is just that, gone, so it's time to start getting excited for the weekend break! 

Crank up some of your favourite music when you get home tonight and just have a dance around and shake everything off because it's the weekend and you work hard and we deserve some fun! 

I've actually had a really good week but I'm still going to be pumping out the pop tunes when I get home tonight. I might even throw in some Disney...

How do you celebrate it being a Friday?

Any instant happy songs that you play?

Sophia :)

Xxx

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Small and 10 happy things! #6

Well, I feel like this will be one of the quickest and easiest happy things feature I'll write this year. There's one reason for that and one reason only. The two glorious words to anyone working in education: half term.

As much as I usually like time off to be full of relaxing and watching tv I have been super busy and have been the world's biggest social butterfly this week! All this talking and catching up is probably why I am now again suffering from a sore throat this cosy Saturday. #cantshutmeup

So here we go, my ten happy things this week! 

1// Being at home at the start of this week in Sheffield with my Mum and sister. My sister is going through a bit of a rough time this week so while it's not easy for me it made her feel better having me there and it was lovely to enjoy a few home comforts :) 

2// Catching up with my teacher friends. On Monday I drove (well was driven!) over to Wakefield to catch up with some of my besties from my PGCE (teacher training) last year. We all took food and we we met at my friend's new house. As in brand new and her own! Mortgages people, this life is getting scary! Anyway, I got there and my friend's beautiful house and stunning kitchen was smelling of lovely roasted veg and sweet potato wedges. Everyone brought a lovely selection of fresh and healthy food and filled ourselves with squash and shared the highs and lows of our working lives! It's so nice to share with people who understand you but also who you have so much else in common with. It's almost as if teaching is how we met but our common interests and silly senses of humour have brought us so close together in a way I never expected when I started the course two years again. Funny what (and who!) life can bring you isn't it?

3// Having a beautiful and relaxing massage, mid week! I've already spoken about this on here but I firmly believe that I need to incorporate weekly massages into my life! Perhaps if I had Hermione's time turner I could just make it happen!

4// Going to see The Lion King at the Palace theatre in Manchester. Again, I've rounded this up already but this was certainly a highlight of the month let alone the week! I love the theatre and I hope to go much more often in the coming months and explore Manchester's thriving theatre scene.

5// Having a lovely catch up with my uni friends. On Thursday evening I was visited by three of my best friends from my time at the University of Liverpool. We went to Hale (read-posh part of Cheshire) and broke the bank dining at the Michelin starred, impossible get into, restaurant du jour. Lol jk, we went to Pizza Express but it was the fanciest Pizza Express I've ever been to and the service was absolutely outstanding!

6// One of those best uni friends staying with me. Leanne, one of the lovely ladies I used to live with at uni, stayed with me for a couple of nights this week. It was so nice to see that even though years have passed we findeach other's company still just as fun and easy as ever. That's what great, true friends are isn't it? Where you can just be completely, 100% yourself and you don't need to think about what you're saying. You just get each other.

7// Having a very rare splurge at the Trafford centre! On Friday I took Leanne on her very first trip to a Victoria's Secret store (come on Northern Ireland, catch up!) We were helped by a lovely sales assistant who helped us (such an enabler!) spend faaaar too much money in store. I came away with two lovely bras and a seriously long wishlist. All I can say is thank God the Trafford centre is a 50 minute bus ride away! 

8// A lovely Saturday where I could just catch up on tv and chill out. Those days are rare so I need to grab it with both hands! 

9// Great British Bake Off. I loved this week's again, it's becoming a lovely mid week pick me up. Who doesn't want a bit of Mary and Paul injected into their Wednesday? Fabulously English stuff and my girl crush on Abbey Clancy has definitely grown from this week's offering!

10// A mega sleep last night. It's been such a crazy, busy half term and I feel like it's all taken it out of me a little bit so on Saturday night we hit the hay at literally half 9 and I didn't wake up until 8. If you know me well you'll know that 6.45 is a low in so this was no mean feat! I am a still a very sleepy sausage but I am thinking of a Harry Potter film and maybe a nap?! This girl's sleeping patterns are getting a little bit cray right now. Maybe the teenage years are finally kicking in! 

So that's been my week, and what a hectic, jam packed one indeed! How was yours? What did you get up to? Let me know! Last week of #fabulousfebruary next week, actually can't believe that!

Chat soon lovelies!

Sophia x

Leave a Comment disney, happiness, happy things, lifestyle, lion king, manchester, sheffield, Wakefield

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Small and 10 happy things! #5

Hello there lovely people!! How you doing? So we are half way through February (say what?!) and for me it has been a very busy week with school assessments and what not. However, looking back there have also been a lot of highs and little special moments so let's have a nice recap and a catch up!

1// Stealing some time for Beauty and the Beast. Disney makes most weeks better, non? 

2// My class acing their first (and my first!) assembly! I won't do work happy things all the time but I do work in a challenging environment so the happy moments need to be celebrated greatly as much for me as for the kids! This week the whole class stepped it up for our assembly and to see children who usually skip school or are late or pull out of participating all rally together to do something they were proud of was really inspiring. I am so happy they feel safe enough to put themselves out there now. #emotional

3// The fact that the Sun is shining! This weekend especially has definitely seen Mr Sun not just poking his head out but actually baring all in an almost cloudless blue sky at several points! I'm feeling instantly happier and closer to summer already! 

4// My weather happiness has come at an ironic time as one of my other pieces of happiness this week was finally getting hands on (literally!) some touch screen gloves! These beauties are from asos (sold out I'm afraid now!) and they were a belated Christmas present from my sister's boyfriend so that was a lovely little surprise that came my way this week! They don't work 100% of the time as my fingers are far too small so the pressure from my fingertips isn't at end of the glove #smallandlesshappy) but they are beautiful anyway and I love them!

5// Celebrating Valentine's day yesterday the best way I know how: with my favourite person in the world eating my favourite food. The delicious natural and cookies and cream frozen yoghurt we had at yogberries in Hale, Cheshire was absolutely delicious! If you're in the area go please! They also deliver. Seriously.

6//  Having time to indulge in my new guilty pleasure...Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders on itv player. As I have mentioned briefly I was a cheerleader at university and loved everything it entailed. As such, this reality show following the Dallas cheerleaders picking a new squad and training them is right up my street! It's dramatic, peppy and makes what I did at uni look like toddlers dancing at a disco. I know as much about American football as I do about quantum physics but I do know that Dallas' team are a huge deal so their cheer squad needs to be tight (bit of cheer lingo for you there) so the pressure is really on for these aspiring ladies! Pure guilty pleasure and reality tv at it's Southern charm best!

7// Taking the sensible road and having some 'me time'. I have been suffering with laryngitis as I've mentioned but I didn't stop my workout routine once much to the dismay of my boyfriend who said I was working myself too hard and delaying my recovery. My excuse was that you're silent for an hour in an exercise class and if I was at home there's absolutely no chance that would happen so surely I was giving my voice time to heal?! Despite my stubborn ways this Monday I gave my usual Zumba class a miss and actually listened to my body which was telling me I was drained, exhausted and needed the rest. So, I came straight home from work, watched some tv, did no work for school and just chilled out. It really did me the world of good and honestly set me up for the week. I am such a one for always pushing on, stiff upper lip, don't want to admit I'm poorly (think Monica on Friends) and all that but for once I'm really, really glad I took self care seriously this week. *pats on back* 

8// TV again but I have been loving Modern Family and Scandal recently. There is just much to watch at the minute, we are so spoiled for choice when it comes to good tv right now.

9// The fact that I am ending this week by heading home to Sheffield to see my Mum and sister. I absolutely can't wait to be reunited and to spend some proper time together without the stress of work(ish!) look how happy we are to be together, you can't go without that joy for too long! 

10// The Comic Relief Bake Off on Wednesday. Tell me you all watched this too?! I absolutely loved Dame Edna and I think Joanna Lumley is a class act. I just love the show so much and it always makes me think of Summer which is goood! Next week they've got Jonathan Ross, Gok Wan, Zoella and Abbey Clancy. Not only have I heard of all these people (rare for any celeb reality show type thing) but I LIKE all of them too so this will be really fun to watch and I'm sure this will feature in next week's happy things! 

What's made you happy this week? Are you experiencing a bit of Sun at the minute too? Do you have any tv guilty pleasures? (Please tell me you do!) 

Sophia x

Leave a Comment cheshire, happiness, happy things, lifestyle, lists, manchester

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