Motivational Monday #17

Slap my wrists for I have been a terrible blogger - I haven't done a Motivational Monday blog post in a long time! But luckily for you I have a handful of topics I would like to write about, so hopefully I'll make up for it.

Ok, so this blog post is going to be about break ups. Eugh.

I know what you're all thinking, really? But this is something I feel needs to be discussed in a more casual, friendly manner. Plus, I don't feel like magazines articles or self-help websites cover in the correct way.

Don't pretend you haven't. We've all done it. We've all googled 'How to get over a break up' and every article, blog and book says something different, and ultimately they just tell you in the end that there is no 'quick fix' and you will 'just get over it'.

I'm not here to tell you anything different, because it literally is as simple as that. You will get over it one day. One day you'll just wake up and you'll feel less shitty than the day before.

No, this blog post is going to be about letting you know the natural things to do and feel during a break up, and to let you know that it's ok to do them all.

So, here goes nothing;

1) Crying. Crying a lot.

You will cry. You will cry a lot. For hours, days, weeks and maybe even months. You will wail, sob, tear up and one lonely tear will leave your eye at any given moment. This is normal. This is ok. You cry your bloody out! Whether you've been with someone for 2 minutes, 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years - break ups suck! Don't listen to anyone who tells you to stop crying, if you want to cry, then cry. This doesn't last forever, but it will last while so you may as well milk it for all you can. Watch girly films, look at pictures of cute puppies and kittens, read sad stories, do anything you want to justify why you want to cry, but just do it. Seriously, there's no point keeping it all in. Like the saying goes - better out than in!

2) Surround yourself with people you can trust.

You may be sat here thinking 'well, durh!' but believe me, this is an important one to mention. If you're like me you have many friends, from all over the board. From school, college, uni, work and people you've just kind of met randomly. Does this mean you can trust them all? No! Absolutely not!

It doesn't matter how many friends you have, there will only be a select few who you can trust with everything. These are the ones who will bring you up when you are down, listen and offer advice when needed. You do not need people who speak down to you or choose sides. Surround yourself with people who make you happy and will make your break up feel like swimming down river - effortless.

3) Question your life.

I don't mean you should question your life. 

You WILL question your life - it's just what you do. The amount of times I have questioned what I have done, even the small things - after every break up I have had, I change my hair - as if I feel like this will change everything (it doesn't). You're also allowed to do this. Tell people you're unhappy, tell people you want to do something different with your life, tell people you want to be single forever - do and say whatever it is to make this feel easier for you. In the end, you will realise that your life is absolutely fine the way it is, and nothing needs to change. If anything, letting go of this person who clearly wasn't right for you is all the change you need.

4) Miss them.

This happens too. Whether you know it was the right thing to do or there was no foreseeable future with them, or even you just didn't love them anymore. You will miss them. Again, you're allowed to do this. All the self-help articles tell you not to do this, and to get up and do something to take your mind of it, but this doesn't stop your brain from thinking or your feelings from, well, feeling. This just keeps you occupied enough to not miss them every single minute of every single day. However, it is important to realise that you missing them is not because you have made a mistake and you want them back. You miss them because your routine has been changed - we don't always adapt to change very well and we crave something we know well and are familiar with. Don't worry, this one sorts itself out too.

5) The world has ended.

It hasn't. End of.

6) Radical choices

Whether this is through shopping and spending all your money on new clothes to make you feel better about yourself, starting to get fit - exercising and eating better, changing your appearance (like I said before, mine was my hair), starting a new hobby, booking a holiday, etc... you will do at least one of these things, if not all of them. It is really easy to run away from what is happening right now, and doing something that we wouldn't normally do or what we think we should do. Go right ahead, be my guest. I have done pretty much all of the above and will do it every time I break up with someone! Do something radical, because it will make you feel better, if even for a split second.

7) Rationalise it

You will fight until the ends earth to rationalise why you did it. You will seek advice from your friends, rant and rave to them about how awful he/she was or how useless he/she was, how he/she wasn't the man/woman of your dreams etc... You will find every quote under the sun (like the ones in this blog post) and think to yourself 'YES! That is SO true! I better Instagram that for everyone to see how I am feeling and how over this break up I am' Yep, we all do it or have done it. This is ok too, you might feel like a bit of a tit afterwards, but it's still ok.

8) Look at your phone all the time to see if they have text.

They haven't. 

Don't you bloody text them either! Don't do it!

You will. No matter what anyone says. Especially when your drunk.

9) Rebound.

Yep, you will find a rebound guy/girl. You will meet someone on a night out, be introduced by mutual friends, or it will be the guy/girl you have secretly had a crush on for a long time. Whether you just have a cheeky kiss, or end up in bed together or not even doing anything with them, just thinking about them. They are the ones who for a moment make you forget about the ex and make you feel like a new woman again.

P.s. this never lasts. Do not get into a relationship with this person, they have served their purpose so leave them at the door.

10) You'll be ok.

You will. No matter how long it takes, or how you feel in the mean time. You will be ok. 

In fact, you'll be more than ok. 

You'll be yourself all over again. 

You'll learn from your previous relationship, to be better in your next.

You'll concentrate on your work/studying because you realise it actually is important.

You will spend a lot more time with your friends and family.

You will be bloody fantastic!

Never under estimate the healing powers of time! You will definitely wake up one morning, feel silly for all the 9 things above and will realise you are just human and that's ok!

Now go and live your life the way you want it to be, and one day the right person will come along and they will sweep you off your feet and you'll live happily ever after*

Hopeful

xxx

* Or you'll just repeat the 10 steps above - either way YOU'RE OK!

Outfit Post #28

Hello Lovlies,

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend! Personally, I don't even know where mine has gone - I've been super busy since Friday celebrating my Brother's 18th birthday and seeing my friends. Ready to do it all again as of tomorrow!

Here are some of my outfits over last week;

Jumper - Topshop, Shirt - River Island, Trousers and Necklace - Primark & Shoes - Office

This particular morning I was having a stress about what to wear and wasn't 'feeling' wearing a skirt and heels, so wanted to find something casual and comfy. I'll be honest, this outfit isn't very 'me' and I didn't feel great in it, but I felt comfy and that is what I needed. On closer inspection after posting this outfit to Instagram, I realised these trousers make me look very small! Not what I want at all. However, it is always good to try something different! 

Pinafore - River Island @ ASOS, Shirt - Primark, Frilly socks - Primark and Shoes - Office

I'm a fan of the Monochrome look at the moment and completely by accident. I wear black, A LOT! You just can't go wrong with it and you can always find something to go with black. This is one of my favourite things I have ever bought, and it's definitely a 'go to' piece! The pinafore can be dressed with a anything - a shirt, t-shirt or crop top and looks pretty effortless!

 

Hat - Ebay, Cardigan - H&M, Dress - Asos and Shoes - Topshop

This is one of my all time favourite dresses! It is made from a jersey material so not only does it look good, it feels so comfy on! I've mentioned a few times I love the 50s era and fashion, so I try and work it into my wardrobe as much as possible. I like to mix new with old to keep it fresh.

Polo neck - Primark, Skirt - Fred's Boutique and Shoes - Topshop

I was feeling super inspired this day by Grease after having a trip to the drive in cinema to see it! I love what they wear in that film, and could recite all the dialogue and songs off by heart! This was definitely a 'feel good' outfit and showed off my curves in all the right ways - which is ALWAYS a good thing!

Peplum - New Look, Trousers - River Island, Shoes - Topshop and Necklace - DPs

I love trousers. I think they are the perfect thing to put on when you're not sure what to wear, they always look good with any sort of top and can be dressed up or down. These are my old faithful black pants, I've had them since I was about 16yo and have struggled to find another pair since. River Island are very good at making trousers for women as they are usually a great length and fit! 

Jumper - Topshop, Skirt - Matalan & Shoes - Topshop

Pretty plain Jane outfit this particular day, and pretty dark colours! I love this leather pencil skirt, the best bit is its not restricting so I can move around pretty good in it! Plus, it was a bargain at £12! Pencil skirts are easily my favourite things to wear, as they go with everything and can be dressed smart or casual.

So, that was my week of outfits! Hope you liked them :)

Hopeful

xxx 

Outfit post #27

Another week, another outfit post!

Hope you have all had a lovely weekend - I know I did!

I spent the whole weekend with my best girls, which is hands down my favourite way to spend my weekend.

On the Friday we went to the Drive-in Cinema in Trafford Park to watch the one and only, GREASE! It was amazing!We had lots of goodies and good ol' sing song. Then on Saturday night we went round to my friend Jenny's house and had a couple of drinks, girly chats and watched some girly films. It was literally perfect.

Anyway, back to my outfits. 

Again, here's a supply of all the outfits I have put together over the past week.

For constant updates follow me on Instagram - @hopegorton

All my outfits at the moment are all work related. As I spend most of my time at work (obviously, as a full time working girl) I have to make sure they're appropriate for the work environment as well as showing off my preferred style and personality.

Shirt - George @ ASDA, Pencil Skirt - River Island and Loafers - Office

Polka dots, polka dots & polka dots! If you have seen any of my previous outfit posts, polka dots are featured very heavily throughout. I (personally) think they are a pattern that never goes out of style and looks good with all sorts of colours. I have had this pencil skirt for a VERY long time and found it at the back of my wardrobe! This shirt was a bargain at £6 in the sale from ASDA - I'm all about supermarket fashion.

Jacket - Next, Jumpsuit - Missguided, Belt - Miss Selfridge and Shoes - Topshop

This jumpsuit is one of the best purchases I have ever made! It looks good dressed up and down, and can be paired with pretty much any jacket or shoes. A really simple outfit but definitely one of my favourites.

Dress - Missguided, Scarf - Primark, Jacket - Next and Boots - Office

Now... I would never normally wear black and blue together, but this particular day the weather was awful, so the tights had to be put on. My favourite item in this outfit is definitely the scarf. I've had it for a while now but it's a classic, and can be paired with outfits like this or a simple tee & jeans ensemble.

Trousers and Shirt - George @ ASDA and Shows - Topshop

This is probably one of the cheapest outfits I have ever put together. I think altogether it must have cost not even £50 - the shoes being the most expensive. And as you can see, more polka dots!

Jumpsuit - Miss Selfridge

Oh lord! How beautiful is this jumpsuit?! I seen it a while ago whilst out shopping and was so tempted to get it, but didn't have anywhere to wear it too. Then I was invited to a party with the company I used to work for,which obviously gave me a reason to go and buy this! Sticking to my traditional simple black outfit with red lipstick - but it's what I'm known for! I particularly liked the wide leg on this jumpsuit - very 70s! I would definitely dress this jumpsuit down with a nice jacket, day-time heels and a floppy hat!

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening :)

Hopeful

xxx

Outfit post #26

Hello Lovelies,

I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend - and an even more wonderful Valentines day! I hope all you taken ladies were treated like princesses, and I hope all the single ladies partied hard with their loved ones!

I had a pretty average Valentines day (as always!) I'm not a huge Valentines day fan. Don't get me wrong, I am and can be super romantic - I like to be swept off my feet, as well as doing the sweeping but I just don't like the 'forcefulness' that Valentines day brings. There shouldn't be just one day that we dedicated our love or appreciation for somebody, that should be shown everyday!

But, my boyfriend did good and bought me chocolates and flowers - and as a romantic and a girly girl, I do love flowers and chocolates. But I did most of my celebrating with my girls, it's a tradition and one I want to maintain forever!

Anyway, to the point. Here I have compiled my outfits for the week - you may have noticed I have started doing this now. It's just so much easier for me! It means I can get all my outfits down at once and make sure I blog more often! Rather than forgetting to take a picture of my outfit, meaning I won't blog about it! God bless Instagram! Which you can follow me on @HopeGorton

Jumpsuit - Missguided, Shirt - River Island, Blazer - H&M, Necklace - Primark and Shoes - Topshop.

You probably would have seen this before, my favourite jumpsuit from Missguided!
I'm getting to a point now, that I am running out of things to wear/new outfits to think of - which is why I love this jumpsuit, whether on it's own or with something else, it always looks pretty darn good.

Skirt - Primark, Crop top - Freds Boutique, Shoes - Topshop

This pink skirt is one of my most recent purchases, from the ever wonderful Primark. I am a huge fan of the 50s style and the mid-length skirts/dresses so when I seen this I knew I had to have it! 

Jeans - Primark, Shirt - George @ ASDA, Necklace - Primark, Coat - George @ ASDA and Hat - Ebay

I have fallen in love with my new hat!! A bargain at just £5 off ebay - it gives my outfits that something extra! 

Skirt - Primark, Jumper - Topshop, Boots - Vagabond/Office Shoes and Hat - Ebay

I love this skirt - again another 50s vibe! This hat and jumper are my life savers, go with absolutely everything!

Shirt - HUK Boutique, Jeans - Primark, Jumper - Topshop, Boots - Vagabond/Office shoes and Necklace - Primark.

I wore this love heart print shirt on Valentines day, just to get in the mood and because I adore this shirt!

Jumpsuit - Missguided, Shoes - Ebay, Belt - Miss Selfridge and Camisole - H&M

Rocking the monochrome look for valentines evening with my girls! This jumpsuit is perfect and can be worn both day and night.

Hope you like this weeks outfit choices :)

Hopeful

xxx

Opinion Post: Katie Hopkins

There is no one in this world I can honestly say I hate. Literally no one. Hate requires too much effort and just isn’t something I can do.

However, there is one person who never fails to get my blood boiling.

One person that ever fails to leave a feeling of frustration and annoyance.

One person who’s opinion I cannot abide, as to be quite honest I think she talks a lot of shit (excuse my language).

That one person is… Katie Hopkins.

I can imagine most of you are nodding your heads in agreement. She is a pretty vile opinionated little woman.

I am all for the expressions ‘each to their own’ and ‘everyone is entitled to their own opinion’ because I think we are, but surely there is a line. As a (I would say pretty decent) human being I know when my opinions are not wanted or do not need to be said, and should be kept to myself. In fact, most of us know and pick up on social cues of when to keep our mouths shut. Also, we have those ‘go to’ people in our lives who we can say whatever we like to them and they will never judge us or feel ashamed by us.

On the other hand, there are individuals i.e. Katie Hopkins who are socially deluded that they cannot understand or choose to simply ignore said social cues and air their opinions for everyone to hear, no matter who they offend or upset.

This is why I do not like Katie Hopkins (I don’t hate her FYI, I don’t know her to hate her.) 

She believes, for some reason, that her opinions matter to this world and that we are much better off for knowing them. Wrong! 

Now, the world wouldn’t change without them. We‘d still do the same things every single day, such as, go to work, take our children to school, cook dinner, see friends etc… But there would be a lot less frustration, annoyance, offence and upset after hearing her ridiculous views.

So, we had the first initial This Morning settee discussion, regarding children’s names. I won’t go into too much detail with this but basically, Katie Hopkins believes that if children are called certain names they are clearly from rubbish backgrounds, aren’t as intelligent as other children and are badly behaved meaning she would not let her own children play with any children with these names such as, Tyler, Tiffany etc… She blamed the parents for being equally less intelligent that other adults and they weren’t earning a honest living. She also cursed parents who name their children after places – which Phillip Schofield was soon to point out that her own daughter was called India! Slam Dunk, well done Mr Schofield.

So, although this did make me feel slightly unnerved and wanted to scream at my television. I still felt the same as I always have, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how much I or any others disagree with it.

The one thing she has been doing recently, which I cannot stand, is shaming other women. First, Peaches Geldof (who also gave her another slam dunk), then Lily Allen (again, slam dunk from Miss Allen) and then turned a discussion into an personal insult match with Annabel Giles (yes, you guessed it another slam dunk from this powerful lady).

She insulted Peaches Geldof as a mother

She called Lily Allen fat after ‘failing’ to lose her pregnancy weight and branded she was only well-known because she has a famous father

and after being made a complete fool out of during the Big Benefits Row Live turned to personally insulting Annabel by branding her ‘a model who never made it’

Katie just give up.

Since when did it become ok to publicly shame other women? Especially other successful women!

As women we should be united together to build ourselves up, pay one another compliments and strive to be a successful, powerful gender – not shame one another through unnecessary insults about weight, motherhood, appearance and career choices. We already have too many demons to deal with without one of our own kind turning their backs on us.

Katie Hopkins is clearly an intelligent woman, but the way she is going about it, she is also shunning herself. There is nothing worse than someone with a negative, destructive frame of mind who is out to criticise your every move – how on earth could she ever get someone to work for her? Everyone would run a mile! Katie, seriously, use your intelligence and strong, domineering, powerful woman status for good and help bring women out of the brink and become successful. Rather than insulting and criticising them. Imagine if all the Katie Hopkins of the world grouped together to help the less fortunate, we would have an incredible society full of strong and ambitious women.

Come on, get it together!

Hopeful

xxx

#100HappyDays

As most of you will know (if you read one of my previous blogs) I am taking part in the #100HappyDays challenge, where I have to take/upload a picture every single day of something that made me happy.  This had been a great challenge to be a part of as it makes you consciously think of what makes you happy, setting you up for a good day every day as there's got to be something that made you happy - otherwise you have no image to upload and feel you have failed the challenge. Which so far, I haven't done! I have done 20 days so far, each day uploading one or a group of pictures of things that made me smile/happy. Ok, so it's not all amazing. I have days which are very average at best and the main highlight of my day is getting home and getting in bed, but I don't think that's a bad thing! It's teaching us to notice and understand the things we should be grateful for, as well as what makes us happy.

Anyway, I thought I would share with you some of my posts so far! (Day 1 is on the other blog post!)

Booking my trip to New York, Beating my target for Dryathlon, finding a new blog to be inspired by and being given free chocolates from work!

 Seeing results from eating well and exercising more, being given a free chocolate cake of my wonderful friend, a shameless selfire before I met my wonderful friends for a catch up over some lovely food.

Having a lazy day in bed watching saturday TV, another shameless selfie, managing to fix my broken charger problem and dreaming of beautiful things i.e. shoes!

Green tea and exciting plans at work, followed by the pub quiz with the Uni gang!

A yummy, healthy snack at work, finally chose how I wanted my hair (sort of) and my pooch makes me smile - he's just too cute!

Yummy, healthy lunch at work - proud of how well I'm doing! And these little munchkins make my day, love them!

The best soup in the world! Went for a lovely curry with work as part of social club but was very happy to be in bed after a long day.

 My new bank card arrived after my old one was cancelled due to fraud :( I downloaded a new book on my kindle and my Dad is one of the funniest men in the world!

A lovely drive to Alderley Edge with the boyfriend, where we had a super naughty day of fish and chips and sweets!

A lovely, early breakfast at Eat before a day of shopping, my purchases (happy!) and being able to run a bath at the end of it all, ready to relax.

Smashing my Dryathlon target! And having a very, very yummy Pizza Express with the Uni gang!

Winning a fabulous competition on Twitter from theEword and finally getting my hair cut and coloured after a good few months without - bliss!

My wonderful prize was delivered to the office - can't wait to go for Afternoon Tea at Hey Little Cupcake! Then headed off to Twitfaced - brilliant night!

Spent the day relaxing reading 'The Fault in our Stars' followed by watching another incredible episode of Call the Midwife and dreaming/planning of becoming more successful so I can finally move out of parents house!

 A healthy lunch at work - yum! And found some right gems from Twitfaced!

The weekly pub quiz with the uni lot and indulging in a piece of cake to cheer me up!

Are you taking part in the #100HappyDay challenge?

Follow me on Instagram to follow all my challenge and outfit posts @hopegorton

Hopeful

xxx

Motivational Monday #16

Isn’t being unhappy, miserable and unmotivated so easy?

Isn’t it easy to give up at the first hurdle when you don’t see the results you wanted, or it wasn’t what you expected?

Of course it’s easy to do all those things. It’s easy to bring people down and bring yourself down. 

It’s easy to criticise and be negative, but who wants to do any of those things?

It’s even easier to be happy, smile and complement someone – and not just on their looks/how they dress. Appreciation and recognition are something, as human beings we crave but don’t seem to get enough of it. 

Well, that can stop today.

We should make it our mission, actually our responsibility to bring people up, complement them, make them smile and make their day. It’s so easy to be negative and think the whole world is against you, but it’s so much better to pause, take a step back and realise just how good you have it.

We all get into those ditches and downward spirals of negativity, where we think life isn’t playing out how we wanted it to. We aren’t in the perfect relationship, job/career or living situation, we don’t travel enough, we don’t sleep enough, why can’t I look like her/him, why am I not as skinny or as beautiful as that person, I need this, I want that etc… Truth be told (and this may hurt) is that there is always going to be someone better looking, fitter and more successful than you – there’s always going to be missed opportunities and regrets and there’s even going to be moments where we realise the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, BUT we have the choice to be happy.

First of all, we can stop comparing ourselves to others, and concentrate on being the best version of ourselves possible. We can start appreciating the small things, like a good cup of coffee, someone held the door open for you or you found yourself smiling for a reason only you understand. We can take more chances and risks – don’t like your job? Leave! Find something else. Don’t travel enough? Travel, book that spontaneous trip to wherever your heart desires. Want to fall in love? Stop stressing, be patient and everything will fall into place. Want to lose weight? Go for it, no one is stopping you. Don’t try, only do!

Ok, so this may sound simple… It isn’t. There will be cases where this takes longer than imagined or simply because it took us forever to build up the courage to do what we truly want. It doesn’t matter how long it takes because we have time, patience and dignity – when the time is right we will know, and we will be truly happy.

Happiness isn’t something we are owed, and isn’t something to expect. Happiness is a gift, an honour and a privilege and we should hold onto it as long as possible and make sure it becomes a regular occurrence in our lives.

We can be happy, we just have to let it be.

Remaining Hopeful

xxx