3 ways to make your day brighter

There are days when life feels like it a bit heavier than the day before. There is a murkiness to the air that you can not shift.

I have three somewhat trivial tricks that seem to make those days a little brighter. 

1. Fresh flowers

I picked this up from Apartment therapy's January Cure series a few years ago. There is something about fresh flowers that perk up your surroundings and remind you of life. If you want the feeling to stay even when the flowers are not in your eyeline pick scented flowers for instance lilac, roses and jasmine. 

2. A moment of stillness

Essentially anything that gives you some mental stillness away from your worries and taking some time to switch off. Whether it is sitting with a good book and escaping, having a bubble bath, going for a coffee, meditation or going for run, this is about finding that allows you to reboot and refresh. 

3. Cooking

It doesn't have to be anything fancy but the achievement of making something from scratch bolsters my day. If your in the need of serious therapy anything chocolate will do particularly my Artisan brownies and Mama Wilson's chocolate fudge pudding. 

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Bathroom in the planning

You know how when one thing goes wrong and needs fixing and then before you know it you have drawn up a looooong list of things that could also be done at the same. Well let me introduce you to the story of my bathroom.

It started with a sporadically flushing toilet which was looked (by a semi professional) at and declared moribund. 

Then there was the crack in the pedestal of the sink that since I was getting the plumber round I might as well get them to replace the sink. 

And if I was replacing the sink then the taps on the bath should also be tightened (replaced). 

Plus the annoyingly round bath panel that you catch your foot on could be replaced with a flat one. 

The shower screen that's been on the floor should go up. 

Plus I had always planned to replace the mirror tile with a purpose cut mirror and give it a faux picture frame effect. 

Andddd breath... So that's where I am with the list. 

Well whilst I'm not the biggest fan of the White tiling the cost of removing it and plastering and then tiling is pretty painful so I am not redoing the whole bathroom instead I will be doing a refresh and update. 

I'll be sharing the images that are inspiring my plans along with a mid point review and then the big reveal once it's all been done. In the meantime here are two of my purchases as a sneak peak. 

Essentials Toilet from plumb world 

Black Hero bath mixer by Hudson Reed

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NYC planning

I have something to confess I am a bit of a list junkie. I like lists. Well actually I love lists, it's the way I give order to my dyslexic brain. Lists of tasks to be ticked off to make me feel like I've accomplished something.

However I get that whilst lists are perfect for me they are pure hell for those who know me who prefer to turn up and see how things go. 

So what happens when one list-a-holic and a list-a-phobe are due to go away? Well I decided to purposefully try not to organise to the nth degree and instead come up with less obvious ways to get into the spirit of the trip. 

Watching movies

We both picked a New York based movie to watch (Warriors and Summer of Sam) and used them for date night. We have also watched some others recently that we are counting as part of this; Birdman, and Inside Llwenyn Davies. I also rewatched Girls. 

Bought a City Pass

Neither of us wanted to spend all our time doing only touristy activities but we did want to feel that we had done the edited highlights so we bought a city pass. There are couple of different types of pass but we went for the most basic that gave us some flexibility, the website is here. 

Decided the type of trip we wanted

Both of us wanted a fairly relaxed and authentic New York experience. We want to go away feeling like we absorbed the ethos of the place rather than spending all our time with other travellers. So think Brooklyn, local eateries, comedy evenings and delis.

Did research
Well I did. I spoke to everyone to get ideas, including my hairdresser Jon, my friends, colleagues and the Internet. For instance  I found out that the last two days we are there it was Resturaunt Week and there are discounted three courses meals at top eateries. 

What we did plan
We booked evening entertainment for three of the nights we were there leaving two nights clear. This was partly because it was Valentine's when we are away and I've previously posted about that but also because we managed to get some good deals for tickets. 

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