I'm having one of those kinds of weeks. There is no real rhyme or reason: I've been sleeping like a log - the heavy-headed 'even a bomb couldn't wake me' and 'as soon as your head hits the pillow' {at a reasonable hour too may i add} kind. There's an extra hour of daylight each day now {which is actually starting to make my evenings feel much longer and lovelier!} and I'm eating healthily and properly. Yet still i feel a little bit like I'm running on empty. Zapped of 'va va voom'. And like if it was possible, that i could sleep for a hundred years and it still wouldn't be quite enough. The only thing for it is to ramp things up a gear: to drink weirdly concocted vegetable juices so bright they leave me rummaging for my sunglasses {just joking - they taste DELISH}, to fill our little willow-patterned fruit bowl with the last of the winter citrus: juicy sweet clementines, blood oranges and sunny yellow lemons. Oh, and to get out in that fresh air and oddly scattered sunshine whenever i flippin' flopping well can. Because i know it will pass. It always does. Aren't humans funny souls at times?!
Funnily enough i find sitting in the quiet, gently collecting my thoughts and digging deep for the little sparkly bits of life ever so much more.....soul-soothing? Restorative? Therapeutic even...? {are we treading on too much self-help territory here?!} Are they the right words? Anyway, finding the happy in the trickier weeks is the medicine of words and thoughts and does me so much good. But enough of my twittering......
1. Wearing a sparkly tshirt on a grey day. This is especially cathartic when you had also forgotten that you even had aforementioned sparkly t shirt. Blush pink with a sweet little flecks of gold all the way through in the softest, slouchiest cotton fabric. Worn with my favourite pale grey ripped skinnies. Just the ticket after working on a Bank Holiday.
2. Pizza. Because in all of the land there is no better 'nothing wants to work today' kind of fixer upper-shaped dinner than that of a pizza. Especially when it's shared with your favourite person and it's your favourite kind. Mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, speck ham, thinly sliced salami and chorizo sausage and a scattering of oregano and rosemary. I wanted to eat it again even before I'd even finished it!
3. Compliments. Hard to digest and just accept {for most of us probably} for reasons i can never really understand until someone pays me one and then I'm right there 'oh this old thing'-ing with the rest of them. This week someone complimented me on my hat {silly but lovely all of the same!} and also my writing {Best. Feeling. Ever} and weirdly my shoes which said person then went onto say they'd seen on Instagram and been admiring them and that it was nice to meet me. Didn't know what to think about that one. Compliment or weird? Let's discuss.
4. Anticipating Sunday. Not one to actively encourage wishing ones life away etc etc BUT this Monday i bought a new duvet cover I'd been admiring for a little while. It was too expensive but then a little crafty discount code popped into my inbox on Monday morning and we'd just been paid and.....well the rest is a blurry history of excitement about soft grey pinstripes, ruffles and a flipping good thread-count. We always change our bed on a Sunday evening and I'm beside myself with the excitement of it all. The Mr thinks I've really lost it. I don't even care one little bit.....zzzz......
5. The new Richard Ashcroft song. I can't for the life of me remember what it's called and as i write this my phone and IPod are all the way in the other room at the bottom of my bag and I'm too tired and lacking in 'va va voom' to scamper off and find either. But it tugged at my heart in a way that a new song hasn't for a while and that's a sign of musical magic if ever there was one. I'm currently counting down the days until the release of his new album in May.
6. Mixing it up. You know me, I'm all about the routine. But this week i swapped my usual porridge with banana, coconut, toasted seeds and a zig-zag of almond butter and experimented with adding grated apple, using cashew milk and topping the whole thing off with a drizzle of cinnamon and cashew butter, raisins and cinnamon. I know you're thinking two things: 1. That i am a porridge making pioneer-shaped genius and 2. That it's all getting just a little bit rock and roll around these parts. And you my friends would be right. On both counts!
7. Spotting teeny tiny green shoots forming at the bottom of our baby hydrangea bush i bought last year which i was convinced I'd trimmed far too far back at the end of last year. Cross your fingers and toes and anything else cross-able that it flowers beautifully this year because hydrangeas might be one of my favourite blooms ever!
8. Slippers. I know old lady alert! But really is there anything better?! I only really wear mine {they're a soft pale pink, fur lined and have the sweetest pale grey pom poms on!} when it's really cold but because I've been feeling a little....lack lustre shall we say? I've been relishing popping them on with my favourite budgie-print pyjamas and my much loved {but very out of shape and sad looking!} mint green angora cardigan. So cosy!
9. Hot cross buns. I stayed at home at my parents on the Saturday of Easter weekend and somehow they were hot cross bun-less come Sunday morning! I made up for it this week {and intend to for as long as the little gems are around!} and treated myself to an extra special clementine flavoured hot cross bun-shaped breakfast. It was the bees knees and just hit the spot!
10. Kind tweets, lovely emails and general kindness. You know who you all are! I've had some such lovely tweets and emails about this little corner lately and i almost can't believe it when i read them. My heart is warmed beyond belief and i just want to take a little moment to thank not only those kind enough to comment here or get in touch personally; but also to anyone else who pops by here and reads. you are just the loveliest, most kindest people and i wish we could all go for a sunny bike ride and fill our tummy's with tea and cake!
* * *
It's over to YOU! I'd love to know all about the happiest bits from your week so far - in fact this is my very favourite part! If you'd like to get a little bit more inspiration, hop, skip and jump over to Michelle, Kate, Helen, Jo or Cat {my newest recruit to that little #wonderfulwednesday club!}blogs and read their very own #wonderfulwednesday. OR if you've written something similar, this week I'm also linking up with Jasmin's Happy List link up and you can too! All you need to do is tip-tap your little link into the box below and then we can all share our very best moments all in one place! Remember you can also give me a nudge on Twitter, or tag me through Instagram. I'm @sallytangle on either.
Comments8
I hope you'll find your 'va va voom' again! Perhaps with spring coming you'll get more energy. And ah, compliments can be so difficult to accept, which is just silly, because in all honesty they're wonderful. xx
ReplyDeleteAs always, this made me smile from side to side I just LOVE your writing. Don't get you on the slipper front though - I'm a continual slipper-wearer, although I have donned my summer pair now (grey with silver threads and a big pale pink heart on the top of each one. I hope you find your groove soon - I wonder if it's lack of sunshine after so many grey months. I'm sure you'll feel better once you can whizz around on that beautiful bike of yours soon in these wonderful light evenings. H xx
ReplyDeleteFirst things first Sal, you need to wind it in on the porridge front. I feel like things are close to getting a bit out of control...
ReplyDeleteAnd for seconds, I'm so sorry you're feeling light on the old va va voom (you have no idea how much autocorrect hates va va voom!) you were so sweet to me when I felt lacking so you know where I be if you fancy nattering. Having said that, sparkly shirts and a few well placed compliments can work wonders.
Thanks for making me smile, always.
M xxx
I know what you mean, I am so tired lately with this time change!! Thanks for cohosting the link up with me :)
ReplyDeleteJasmin Charlotte
It's all getting a little rock and roll around these parts and I'm not sure I can handle that Sally!
ReplyDeleteDo you know, humans are funny old things. That special spark sometimes eludes us, but can come back in such spontaneous moments. Take care of yourself.
In other news, that sparkly tshirt sounds right up my street. Anything wear I can be a bit glam with maximum comfort gets my vote.
You should take every damn compliment you get because you eserve them.
Have a fab week
Kate xx
Ahhh I know exactly what you mean about the low va va voom times and I can completely assure you that this will pass. I was on a low ebb over the last few months and reading all the happy posts you've inspired over this period really cheered me up, and is why I decided to join the party because I think it's such a great idea to look for the happy at a low point. So, in my rambling way, what I'm trying to say is you will get through this patch and it sounds like you're going the right way about it! *hugs*
ReplyDeleteI completely hear you on the new sheet excitement though - nothing beats the feeling of getting into freshly laundered sheets, particularly after a bath for additional snug cosiness!
C xx
Well how did you do that clever link up thing at the bottom there? gosh, I've never seen that before, what a cool idea! x
ReplyDeleteThese are the best tonic for a Sunday Sally! I love wearing something sparkly on a grey day too, it just injects a little magic into the everyday. I love it when I see compliments and general kindness around too, it restores my faith in humanity and always makes me smile - if only the world was more like this all the time! - Tasha
ReplyDeletePost a Comment