Lorna Cole

Although the heat can get a little exhausting, I’ve been trying to make the most of it by spending time outside. After a pretty dull and rainy June, I was really looking forward to summer days and we’ve definitely had our fair share of sun this past week!  Earlier in the week my sister and I visited my Grandparents and spent time with them for a bit which is always nice. My Nan is one of those typical Grandparents that always has snacks to offer and the ice creams she gave us were definitely appreciated in the heat!  A few days later we went for an early evening stroll and found ourselves exploring down various footpaths. Most of them led to a lot of trees and overgrown greenery but after following one path for a bit we found such an amazing view. This spot would be absolutely perfect for a picnic as long you don’t mind walking through a lot of long grass, the scenery is definitely worth it though! We also stopped at Costa and I tried the new Golden Caramel Iced Latte - would definitel

I'm not really sure how we're already halfway through the year but here we are! I thought I'd take a look at the plans/goals I wrote in January and have a think about the latter half of 2021. You can read my initial 2021 goals and plans post here ! Goals & Plans I set in January The first goal I shared was to choose a university course and I'm pleased to say I did that and am now really looking forward to starting at The University of Brighton to study Media Studies in September! Going on from this, are the ongoing university preparations but things have definitely progressed! I've sorted my student finance loan and applied for accommodation which I'm currently waiting to hear back about and have got a few things that I'll be taking with me. I'm glad I joined a few university group chats with others starting at Brighton, it's been great getting to know people and it's nice knowing I've connected with some people before moving somewhere ne

I've been seeing people post 'photo dumps' on Instagram a lot recently and since I take a lot of photos, I thought why not share some of them on here! Also, this means I can write a bit more about them as well, I don't think anyone wants to read a blog post as an Instagram caption! Sunsets are one of my favourite things to see and also photograph. I've found that my iPhone often can't quite capture the colours so recently I took out my camera whilst on an evening walk. All of these photos were taken on the same day and from a few different points along a field near my house! The sky was pretty cloudy but I really think it added to the photos, it was definitely a moodier sunset in comparison to the lighter pink hues below. Although I'm writing this on a very grey and rainy day, we have had some sunny days and I made the most of them by getting outside and going for walks. What's not shown in the photos above is the state of my shoes after I found myself w

  I never used to be a fan of Sundays, I just saw it as the end of the weekend and a reminder that the same weekly routine would begin again. Sunday's are often the more chilled day of the weekend and this makes it perfect for a sort of 'reset', and this can mean something different for everyone. You can do this anytime but I think it's natural to be in the mindset of making changes at the start or end of a week/month/year, but do whatever feels good for you! There are so many ways to reset, most of which involve slowing down (both mentally and physically) and focusing on yourself. I know that dedicating a whole day to this is a complete luxury but many of these things can be done in a small window of spare time, or alongside something else.  A vital part of a beneficial reset experience is self-care. There are many different forms of self-care and only you know what is best for you but here are some of my suggestions!  Get outside and going on a walk Have a bath Listen

For this post, I was kindly gifted a Pick N Mix box from Panda Sweets to review but as with any gifted post, all opinions are my own. I'm also very pleased to say that you can use the code ' LORNA' for 15% off of anything on the Panda Sweets website until 31/7/2021!  I was really impressed by the amount of sweets you get in the box, it's pretty hefty at 1kg and is super affordable at only £7.49! Imagining getting anywhere near that amount for the same price at the cinema!! You get a great selection - including jelly/chewy/fizzy sweets, as well as some chocolate and marshmallows so there should be something for everyone. The fizzy sweets are my personal favourites so I definitely didn't share any of them though! As there is such a huge range there are probably sweets you haven't tried before, I remember some sweets that intrigued me when getting pick n mix but I always ended up sticking to my favourites! The contents of this box is a surprise so you get the cha

This is a post I've been really looking forward to and it's something a little different for my blog! Interior design and home decor interested me even when I was much younger, I used to collect paint swatches and have planned out the decoration of my future home many times! I knew Resourceful Living by Lisa Dawson would be right up my street so I was excited to read it! A big thank you to Octopus Books, Kyle Books and Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour and for my copy of the book. Description  It's often thought that restyling your space comes with a hefty price tag and unavoidable waste. But in Resourceful Living , award-winning interiors blogger Lisa Dawson shows how, with a little creativity, you can revamp your home with existing pieces, vintage finds and key purchases.  The clever ideas in this beautiful book cover:  - The most important ways we use our homes, from eating to sleeping, living and working.  - The Basics of steeri

Well, we're another month down and so I thought I'd do another favourites post. I think it's so important to acknowledge and enjoy the little things at the moment - if it improved my day or mood then it gets a place in my monthly favourites!  Sunset Walks Now that the weather has started improving I've been going on walks more regularly again. Getting outside at any time feels great but I love going out in the evening to see the sun setting. Although the air is cooler, a chilled evening walk is relaxing and is one of my favourite ways to end a day. I'm very grateful to have such lovely views where I live so of course, I can't help but take many photos, though they never quite do the colours justice!  Treeapp Treeapp allows everyone to plant trees on their behalf, via NGOs. You can contribute to the planting of trees at various restoration projects around the world (each tree is planted within 180 days). What's great is that it's free to plant one tree ea

Well, my 22nd birthday wasn't quite the Taylor Swift style celebration I had in mind but I still did a few things to celebrate!   My sister's birthday is a little over a week before mine so on the weekend between we set up an afternoon tea style lunch. I've seen a lot of people sharing their Afternoon Tea/Bridgerton inspired spreads recently and thought it would be a nice way to celebrate. I'm very glad we decided to do before the weather turned as it rained all day on my actual birthday! We also played cards and a few board games which is always a great way to spend the evening in my opinion! If anyone is planning to set up their own afternoon tea then I know you can order hampers online which would make a great gift. Or like us, you can buy whatever you fancy! Here's a list of the things we had: scones jam clotted cream mini sausage rolls mini cheese & onion rolls strawberries raspberries chocolate cake coffee & walnut cake  biscuits pot of tea I was hopin

For this blog post I wanted to answer some random questions that might help you to get to know a bit more about me! I love posts like this because not only do you learn about the blogger, you can also think about how you would answer the questions too! Where would you rather live? The countryside, a city, by the beach or mountains? By the beach, 100%. I'd love to live in a house that overlooks the sea and I've always said that! Perhaps it's because I've always lived an hour or more away from any beaches and although that's not too far, I definitely don't go as much as I'd like. I'm very much missing days like the one above! Where would you rather live? The countryside, a city, by the beach or mountains? By the beach, 100%. I'd love to live in a house that overlooks the sea and I've always said that! Perhaps it's because I've always lived an hour or more away from any beaches and although that's not too far, I definitely don't go a

I'm not sure if I'll make this a monthly thing but I wanted to reflect on the progress of my goals and habits through January and I've actually got an exciting update!  This year I spent some time to properly think about my goals and plans so thought it would be good to reflect upon them after a month! I think I'm fairly good at being self-aware and acknowledging areas I'd like to improve or change but hopefully this will help me to stick to the goals I set myself.  Let's start with the update then, as I mentioned in my 2021 goals post, I decided to apply to start a new university degree this year. If you want to know a little more about why then you can find that post here . After hearing back from one of the universities within a few days, I couldn't help but check for any updates all the time... I'm not a fan of waiting for things! A couple of months later and I've now received unconditional offers for all 5 courses which I couldn't be happier

It's been a while since I've done a favourites post and I definitely feel like I missing something I wanted to share! Just a quick disclaimer - I've shared some Amazon products which are affiliate links but as always, my opinions are completely my own! Special Mentions Snow I had to mention the brief appearance of snow we had yesterday, it was so nice to see people's social media posts of them enjoying time outside! Photos of the snow are always so pretty and I mentioned on my Twitter recently about hoping to be able to take my own so was watching the weather all evening on Saturday. I had a feeling it wouldn't be that heavy and it would probably melt quickly so I got up early to take some photos! Although it was very cold, seeing a snowy sunrise was definitely worth it. Something about being outside when it's so quiet and still is also quite relaxing! Notion I won't say too much about Notion here as shared my thoughts about it in my last post. However, sinc

At the beginning of 2021, I started using Notion and I wish I'd done sooner! It's a productivity/planning/organisation tool but can be used to store any information - from study notes to meal plans to finances and lists for pretty much anything you need. There are loads of tutorials on YouTube to help set up your Notion which I definitely used for inspiration, as well as tips and ideas on TikTok, These videos from Unjaded Jade , Twirling Pages , Om & The City helped me particularly! I've also added some quick videos of my Notion pages at the bottom of this post if you want to see what it looks like in use. This post isn't an ad but as you'll see pretty quickly, I'm a fan of Notion so far! App & Quick Notes Notion also has an app that is compatible with iOS 14 - this makes it even easier to access any daily to-do lists or whatever content you want to access quickly. I have a widget that takes me to my Notion homepage, it has links to any of my pages so I

I'm writing this just as it's been announced that we are back in lockdown (as was expected!) Knowing this, setting goals, or making plans for the upcoming year may seem pretty pointless and I fully get why people won't bother this year. For me, it's a way to be somewhat productive, something that boosts my mood if  I've been feeling uninspired. I'm not making any huge goals this year, many are short term things that should be relatively easy to achieve. I'll revisit them later in the year and make additional ones if necessary! Choose a university course My main goal for 2021 is to start a new university degree. If you've read any of my previous posts, you might know I was studying with the OCA and doing a Creative Arts course. Since completing (and passing!) the first course, I realised I want to focus on a more specific avenue, rather than creative arts as a whole. Another reason I want to change courses is so that I'm able to move to a new location