Megan Ellaby

Is there anything more fabulous than a week filled with sunshine?
Even if I'm at home all day attached to my laptop (hurrah I've finally had a few days of home working), having the sun beaming through my windows and being able to take Peter and Nancy on a long ole sun filled walk is just the perfect start to my day. The difference the sun has on pretty much everybody's mood and general vibe is truly incredible and I for one have truly LOVED this week!

And with that it would seem that we're kicking off this blog post on a rather positive note, which is always nice to do. I've been struggling to stay afloat a little lately but after 3 days of working from home, I feel back on top of my workload and everything else in-between, yay!
So today I'm focusing on the positivity in my life, some things that are truly making a difference to my day and really working to brighten my mood and in-turn the mood of those around me, of course starting with a little touch of sunshine here in Manchester and I believe everywhere else in the UK too!
This is a bit of a look into the small things that make a huge difference, I've talked about these kinda things before in this post here and this post here, but it really is all about the smaller things that make such a big difference to our lives on a day-to-day basis.

Head to toe pink, as I'm wearing here today, is one of those small things and a sure fired way to take your day from 0-100 as soon as you step out of the front door. Pink is just one of those colours that exudes happiness and joy and I for one felt as though I was floating when I rocked this look the other day. Take your favourite colour and rock it from head to toe, opting for varying shades of the same colour and with different textures and prints to make the look a little more palatable and easy to wear and I promise that you'll be feeling the best version of yourself in no time!

Thirdly, aside from the gorgeous weather and occasionally wearing head-to-toe pink you know what has made me so damn happy lately!? The Royal Wedding, I bloody loved it! I'm a huge fan of the royal family, something I know not everyone agrees with but hey, I said it, I'm really fascinated with all things royal, particularly this new generation of royals involving Harry and Meghan!
Their love story is enough to bring me to tears and that wedding was like nothing I've ever seen before... SO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL!
Did you watch it? Gorgeous right?
The way they looked at one another, the things they whispered to each other and of course how absolutely breathtakingly stunning Meghan looked on the day, well it was all a bit much for royal loving Megan over here! It was utterly fabulous and just what I needed, of course combined with the gorgeous weather, to put me in a down right wonderful mood!

Next up is The Greatest Showman, and I'm sure it's absolutely NO surprise to any of you that it's being featured in the "things that are making my life better rn" blog post...
I am a woman obsessed, I'll admit it, having listened to the soundtrack almost every single day for the past 2 months...
It has since come out on DVD and Amazon Prime/iTunes and I've watched it most nights as I just cannot get enough of the feel good story, the beautiful characters (honestly they make me cry without fail each and every time I watch it) and the utterly incredible and super uplifting soundtrack, not to mention Zac Efron's peach 😉
PLEASE give it a watch if you haven't already, I am just certain you'll love it as much as me and everybody else who has watched it too!

Recently I've been actively ensuring that I take every Saturday off from work. You may or may not have noticed this but when I'm at home (so not on a press trip or a holiday/festival etc) I don't upload a single thing to Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or my blog. I don't check my emails, don't write, don't edit and I rarely even take a photograph or film, unless that photo-op is just too damn tasty to miss out on of course. I really try to ensure that I have at least one full day off from work each and every week and my day for that is Saturday as it's when the majority of my friends and family are off from work too. It's really helped to calm my mind, to allow me to switch off entirely from work and to just live in the moment a little more, it's made me a happier person not to mention a more motivated and inspired person too as I'm normally raring and ready to go once Monday comes back around.

Another teeny tiny thing that has made a huge impact on my life are gym leggings that DON'T FALL DOWN!
I've been seeing a personal trainer for almost a year now and I've really not been that bothered about what I work out in. Opting for cheap yet cheerful gym gear and an old T-shirt that George uses to decorate in, you know the one, personalised with splatters of paint!? We all have one!
But as it's now been a year and as I'm now fully into it I thought it was time to abandon the leggings that fall down after every star jump or burpee (god I hate burpees) and invest in something a little more practical, flattering and some items that make me feel damn good!
So yeah, leggings that are super high waisted, flatter my shape and don't fall down are making a huge difference to my life, my self esteem and of course to my gym sessions as I'm no longer spending 40% of the time cursing my ill-fitting leggings and hoiking them back up again.
I've purchased these and these from Gym Shark and also these from Nike, but I'm yet to wash them so can't report back on how/if they differ once washed, however I'll be sure to update you when I do and in the meantime, leave your fave gym-gear brands in the comments below as I'd love to have a nosey!

I'm extremely late to the party on this one I am sure but I honestly cannot believe the difference between fresh pesto and jarred pesto... Yeah I am really talking about pesto here on my blog...
I'll keep it brief but if you are yet to try fresh pesto then my goodness GET ON IT asap! The difference in flavours is honestly incredible and I've been having it paired with fresh pasta, prawns and tomatoes at least once a week in the past month or so and I've been bloody LOVING it and looking forward to pesto night every single week! See, I told you it was all about the small things in life!

From pesto to footwear, what a seamless link ey...
But you know it's summertime when my feet are COVERED in cuts, bruises and blisters as they are right this very moment and have been for the past month or so. My feet just don't like sandals or anything with intricate strapping of some description. It's as if my feet rebel against all things summer appropriate and punish me by rubbing like a gooden.
So with that, I've learnt to play to my strengths and opt for a slip on loafer instead like these beauties by Christian Louboutin (how fancy!) They give me just enough ventilation with the lack of back to the shoe and with not a single strap in sight which means I am relatively rub free, until I forget about this little trick and whack out a pair of sandals again...

But yeah, slip on loafers have been my little haven on days when my feet are in agony, in turn making me feel that little bit happier.

And finally something I've been doing since late last year that has made such a huge difference to how I feel towards my job, you guys and everything I do is chatting with you in the comments of each blog post and also replying to every question that I get within my Instagram DM's.
Chatting away with you all makes me feel connected to you, it feels like we're friends having a right ole natter and it really honestly lifts my mood!
Engaging with you guys in that way allows me to know exactly what it is you want from me here on my blog, YouTube and Instagram, and gives me a better understanding of what you like and don't like and the kind of people you are (bloody gorgeous babeing people thats who)
I've been LOVING getting to know you all lately, just know that I read each and every comment and I appreciate them all, they brighten my mood every single day so thank you!