3 things to smile about #6

I am not one to linger too long here about my personal life, but let's just say that February was like the worst.month.ever. But hey, everything being relative, I have decided to focus on the positive, smile again, and try not to be too much of a miserable cow. 'Cos goodness knows only bad things happen to miserable cows. I'm all about the karma, baby!
So here are some of the things I have been smiling about these last few days.

A rustic bunch of flowers waiting for us on the table we booked at Cedar Farm in Lancashire. Early March seemed like the right time to put February behind us (you don't say, hey!) so we headed North and reconnected with our roots a bit. I just loved that bouquet and the contrast it made with the bluey-grey wall behind: simple, effective. I would have never put red tulips with cherry blossoms, but wow, don't you think?

Putting old bits of fabric together. Always good therapy, and what better to do put together a mother-daughter collaboration? Half-way through the preparations I realised I wouldn't have enough of the red spotted fabric and had to change, but it was still a nice little DIY thing to do.

don't mind me while I take a quick photo with bed hair, no proper background, and let's not even go down the lighting route :(

Last but not least, this absolute beauty from Zara. A cheap-as-chips, sure to cheer you up kinda bag, aka the perfect little picnic basket bag. It will be perfect for spring, summer, and may even end up with mushrooms in it come Autumn! I simply loved it as soon as I saw it on a parisian website a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't order it straight away, and it got sold out online pretty quickly. Luckily for me, the Oxford Street branch had ONE left. Yay me!

My little Goodnight box

Aaaaaah....I have completely forgotten to tell you about November's Little Box, so here is a quick review - I only realised I ought to post when I received the December box yesterday!
Quite aptly, November's was called "Goodnight", and perfectly in tune with the grey weather, oh-so-short days and complete lack of interest in staying up late these days.

The lifestyle presents were very sweet again this month: a sleeping mask and a pretty adorable sidetable dish to put your trinkets in before going to sleep. I've actually been using it every night since the box arrived, although I have to say it's quite small, but that's OK as I tend to just wear stud-like earrings. I will be keeping my sleeping mask for when I am travelling next, as it's not the kind of thing I use at home.

Our beauty presents were a mixed bag for me this month. I was pleased with the Little Beauty make-up remover gel, it's quite neutral in terms of perfume and has a nice texture on the skin. It's not a product I normally use (I'm a wipe kinda gal), so once again it's a good discovery.
I am just not into Yves Rocher perfumes, and this is the third this year, so I'm not too happy with that, but hey, I can just throw it into a Christmas stocking, so I guess that's ok. But please, Little box, stop sending those, they're just not cool. And three this year? I bet other brands are lining up to be a part of the Little Box hype, aren't they? Give them a chance :)
The last thing was the best by far: Garnier Skin Active's 3 in 1. It's a great cleanser for everyday, and I love how it gently scrubs you at the same time. You can also use it as a mask, so it's a win-win product. Nice!
 Overall another nice box with a good few presents. What did you think of it? Do you feel the same about the old Yves Rocher perfumes, or did you enjoy them?

my little Brooklyn box

My Little Brooklyn Box arrived! And guess what people, it is spot on season and trend once more, I loved it at first sight. The blogosphere seems to have been filled with lovely pics from all the lovely people I follow this year, and it's kind of given me the urge to go myself - Mr Peony, if you ever read this post, yes, I've made up my mind and would love to have a look around ;)
The October box is such a breath of fresh air as the days gets darker, shorter and colder.

Our lifestyle goodies this month were a lovely tin mug ("coffee made me do it" is a nice touch, too) in an equally lovely box. I think I'll be using it with soup, kind of more in tune with the season.
The perk this month is a stencil for making fancy cocoa drawings on the top of your coffee - again, I am thinking savoury sprinkles, like sesame seeds on pumpkin soup maybe?
We also had three lovely pins (soooo retro!) with the modern twist of having a pair for your collars, as presented on the card. I love this idea.

The beauty stuff is pretty exciting too, with a gold Kohl pen by Terry (never had one of those before, and hadn't come across this brand either), a super pink gloss from Sephora, which instantly reminded me of Kinski in Paris,Texas for some reason, and the Little Beauty treat is a nail treatment, which again is so perfect this month!
I have to say I also fell in love with Kanako's illustration, I think it's possible the cutest of the year and once I find a nice frame for it it is going up on the wall for sure.
Overall a nice box again this month, and I am really proud of myself for not giving in to the temptation to look at Instagram and discover the theme before my box arrived in my pigeon hole in work. Every month, it feels like the best day of the month in work. I totally recommend getting it delivered there, nothinng makes me happier. Well, coffee and a nice biccie maybe? Nah, not even close.

3 things to smile about #4

'Three things to smile about' is back today with an autumnal theme, one of my favourite times of the year! Despite catching a little cold, I love the crisp fresh evenings, the pink sunsets, cosying up at home with a warm meal, the return of good TV, golden leaves starting to fall, all of it.

The first thing that makes me smile endlessly at the moment, are my apples. We knew we'd have a lot, but we didn't realise quite how many. To be honest, most are bad or half rotten before they even fall on the ground. But my goodness, there are still so many to do things with.
So, we waited patiently until they were good enough to cook and bearable to taste, and here is one of the batches of compote I made this week. I hope they will freeze well. In the meantime anyway, it's apple-fest everyday chez nous!

Next up, some lovely bath bombs all wrapped up prettily from Miss Patisserie. Nothing says autumn like a big bath and a fizz, right? Super cosy.

And swiftly onto my last thing. I found those little slippers at Next recently. I love a good star pattern! They're the perfect accessory to welcome autumn in. Cosy nights, here I come!