Daisy Love

When I see a cluster of daisies adorning the grass around our driveway, I know that summer is on its way.

There is something so beautiful and so familiar in these humble little plants. They evoke so many happy memories of summer: weaving daisy-chains outside the high school in-between games of rounders, picnics in the park with friends as we wait for our buses after work, soaking up the sun in the breezy lush grass of our fields, lazy family strolls along the shore road with our dogs - the list goes on.

And there is further beauty to be found among the speckled spots of yellow and white. Though they are shadowed beneath the bold and bountiful summer produce blooming in our gardens at this time of year and though they are ruthlessly trampled underfoot like the dirt in which they grow, these little "weeds", as we call them, continue to blossom and thrive - embellishing everything with cheerful yellow spots on a soft white blanket.  Daisies do not care where they are planted and they do not care what bigger and better things they are planted with, they simply grow and grow and make everything they touch that little more beautiful.

I think I'd like to be a little more like a daisy.

Short & Sweet

So, not only have I given my wee blog a bit of an image change but I have given myself one too!

After a few years of having long/medium hair, I decided that I would go for something a bit different and get it much much shorter. There were several reasons: my hair was getting too long and thick to effectively manage and style, my ends were splitting due to the constant brushing as my hair would often tangle, it's been very warm recently and my hair was just too too warm and finally, I just felt like a change. 

There are going to be many changes happening in my life in the coming weeks as I head off to university, live on my own for the first time, meet new people, go to new places, learn new things etc. and so I thought, why not change my hair too?

Isn't it funny what a new haircut can do for your confidence and perspective? The cliche, "It's like a new me" is one that I am unashamedly embracing at the moment.

Change isn't so bad I guess - especially when it means you can save on a bucket load of shampoo.

Present Purchasing and Shoe Blues

Hello everyone.

I know, I know. I'm a little late with my post but I have at least two reasons why! One being that I have been working so much that as soon as I get home I'm already beginning to fall asleep so my blog would consist mostly of "zzzzzzz"s and two, because I've been working so much I hadn't really done anything to interest you for more than two lines. That's why I waited until today because I actually had time/energy to do something yesterday which was quite fun. I'll still fill you in with the more interesting parts of my week though.

So this week began with a bit of a panic when my ipod beeped an alert at me telling me to "Make sure you've bought Kirsty's present!" - this is not the "chummy" Kirsty who I mentioned in my last lifestyle post but my other friend called Kirsty. Confused? Me too.
I'd been wondering what I should get her for ages and after trawling through pages of gift sites I still wasn't sure but, with Kirsty's birthday on the 11th, I knew I had to get my act together to make sure that whatever I ordered would be here in time - a downside of living on an island is that things take longer to arrive. It's strange that despite spending almost everyday both in and out of work with Kirsty, I couldn't for the life of me think of a suitable gift for ages! Thank goodness I pulled myself together though and it's all sorted now.
(I know she'll be reading this post so don't panic Kirst, your pressie's sorted now!)

Wednesday was my day off and with plans to go out for lunch with some friends I was ready for some chill-out time away from work. That was until I found out we were having lunch at the cafe where I work... This was chummy's idea (my other friend who's also called Kirsty) even though she too works there. However it worked out quite well because we were able to sit in the up-stairs area of the cafe where there were no other people therefore no cafe chaos so I could almost forget we were at work on our day off. Almost.

On Thursday it was back to work and there certainly was a lot of work. It was a very very busy day with hardly a moment to catch your breath. We were so full in fact that when staff went for lunch, rather than sitting at the always free tables that we usually do in the upstairs part of the cafe, we needed to sit either in the back kitchen or on the table used for stacking dirty dishes before they're taken to be washed because everywhere else was in use! Madness. What was also mad was the lack of some people's manners and understanding when we were so busy. I can't count the times when I had drinks to make, orders to take and dishes to collect all in the same moment and a customer decided to come and pay at that very moment in the slowest possible way and with all the change they had whilst I just had to stand there with my (now slightly forced) polite "thankyou" and smile.
I did have something to keep me going however and that was the thought of the lovely roast dinner we were having at the apartment my grandparents are staying in whilst visiting later that evening. Not to mention just the idea of being able to sit down. Both of these I enjoyed so much when I'd finally finished work.

On Friday I was working the morning shift and the idea resting my feet was already on my mind at that time but not because I was tired. The reason I needed to sit down then was because my shoes were killing me. Really badly. It was 100% my own fault though. The day before I had worn my black dolly shoes because the pumps I usually wear to work were wet and gross from the rain - lovely - and because our shoes need to be black for work, the dolly shoes were my only other choice (I don't enjoy black shoe items it seems). I failed to realise that I hadn't worn these shoes in a while so by the end of the day my feet were a little sore from them rubbing but the next day, with my usual shoes still gross, I thought "Oh, they'll be fine today I'm sure!". No. No they were not fine. Within two hours the idea of walking another two meters in them made me want to weep so after 5 hours you can imagine how badly I wanted to sit down and get them off. So when I finished work and got to the bus stop I was thrilled to be getting on the bus to rest until I saw how full the bus was when it turned up. I was basically sitting on the bus drivers knee because it was so full! Like a tin of sardines and I was right at the front so I also had the joys of getting off the bus every time it was someone's stop. Not the best ending to my afternoon. It didn't matter though because I had another lovely dinner with our grandparents- this time at our house- waiting for me when I finally got home and some fluffy cosy uggs calling my poor feet.

The evening was much better because my new camera had arrived (yay!) and I was off out with my friends to Kirsty's house for a sleepover where we got to drive her dad's Kubota (like a farming version of a golf buggy) which was hilarious (and a little scary if you were sat in the back and Iona was driving) before we went in to watch some good films with lots of yummy chocolate goodies. A lovely ending to a not-so-great day!

This is a Kubota

Me and Chummy.

 Iona saying "I'm going to kill you." after I drove a little speedy when she was in the back. Oops.*mwahaha*

So that was my week, how was yours? I'd love to hear about it in the comments! Until my next post, have a lovely few days with lots of smiles and comfy footwear.

Mollie

♥

My Week In A Nutshell

Hello my lovely ladies and gentlemen.

Sorry I’m late with this post but my internet’s been down since Thursday (when I usually upload) so I shall upload Thursday’s post today. Here it is…

***

I'm feeling a little drained today so I don't have a big exciting post lined up - though I hope to have some later in the week. So today shall be another lifestyle post about what I've got up to this week.

On Saturday my grandparents arrived from England for their holiday here on Arran. They'd began their journey at half four in the morning I believe, when they were driven to the train station. (Does that time even exist? It's so early!) This was so that they could arrive on Arran during the afternoon and it was a great time to arrive as it was a beautiful sunny day as it has been for a long time! I can't believe how fabulous the weather has been this year!

Sunday was the "weird day". That is quoting one of my bestfriends, Iona who I might add, began her day by trying to hitchhike the 8 1/2 miles home at 8:30 in the morning because she forgot the buses were different on a Sunday and needed to go home from a friend's before work. One of the many reasons we love her.

The reason it ended up being a "weird day" however, was mainly because of the evening. This is when me, Iona and Chummy (her real name is Kirsty but as we have two bestfriends called Kirsty so we call this one chummy to make life easier) met up after work as usual whilst we waited for our bus. During this time, Chummy wanted to look around one of the shops in the village - where she later purchased another one of at least ten trinket boxes for her room's storage - but me and Iona had ice-creams so we waited outside. After about 10 minutes we began to get a little bored and decided we'd run and hide for chummy to find us once she'd finished shopping. So off we toddled with our ice-creams like little kids to hide near the bank - convenient as I needed to get some money out. This was when I told Iona that I sometimes pay money to my parents for my living costs as I now work and earn enough to do so to which she replied, "What? You pay rent to live in your parents' house?" and I told her "No, I contribute to the house for how much I cost. I cost a lot you know.". We then finished our ice-creams and decided to pop into the co-op because chummy still hadn't made an appearance out of the shop.

Whilst in there, we went to the alcohol section for a while as Iona is now 18 and we felt that it was almost mandatory to do so. In this time chummy had still not turned up and just before we were about to go and rescue her from buying anymore trinket boxes we bumped into a lovely regular from our work who is notorious for hugging everyone who works there whenever she sees us. So after a cuddle we had a bit of a chat with her during which Iona, of course, became distracted and walked away only to return a few moments later with a chocolate cake to show me. After agreeing how nice it looked the ‘hugging lady’ said she was going to buy it for us and before we could say no she had put it through the till and handed it to us whilst we stood there motionless not sure how to cope with this sudden awkward but pleasant position we had just found ourselves in. Our way of coping seemed to be one of a hasty "thankyou" and exit as this is what we did. So out we walked back to pick up chummy and her new trinket box with our gift of a chocolate cake and a few funny looks from the people around us who must have thought that was our only intention of visiting the co - to get cake from nice, hug-giving old ladies.

Tuesday had a similar feel of weirdness as it was the first day in a long time that it properly rained. And I mean rained. I was working that day and within seconds of me arriving the lights in the cafe were flickering and the deep rumble of thunder was echoing. And then the rain started; the kind of rain that if you stood out in it for even a second you'd be drenched. It was so heavy and loud! The building I work in has a metal roof as well so it sounded quite scary. 

Not as scary however, as the sight of 18 damp lady golfers arriving for coffee to escape the rain all at the same time. I'll tell you now, trying to ask who's coffee it was in your hand with the rain hitting off the metal roof and 18 poshly dressed ladies shouting across to one another is not for the faint hearted. "Who's is the white coff- THE WHITE COFFEE!!"

Wednesday, I'm glad to say, was a much quieter day as it was my day off. It began with a much needed lie-in before my grandparents arrived to take me and my sisters out for the day. We had a stroll down to the village and had lunch at a cafe before getting some ice-cream from my mum's shop which is also in the village. (I had the lemon cheesecake ice-cream which was better than my words can express.) After that, we went to the apartment my grandparents are staying at to chill for a while before visiting the beach beside it.

Here me and my sisters worked together - for a change - to create a big heart of sand and some little masterpieces of our own.

My grandparents.

Today was my second and last day off until next week and so my initial plan was to just sit and do nothing. I had forgotten thought that I was meeting with an art gallery owner from the island to get some feedback and advice on my paintings from my Advanced Higher concerning how to go about selling them. It was very useful and he told me that my art, being abstract, may be quite difficult to sell which was a little disheartening but he then said that some of my biro work might be better suited to interior design. In other words having my floral designs on lamps and things. This was really exciting for me to hear as a goal of mine since about half-way through doing my art course was to one day make a business of my own where I sell cushions, aprons, curtains, mugs, you name it, with my art on them. This is why instead of selling my paintings on there own I am going to look into finding some way of getting my art onto the latter list of items beginning with cards. This I hope to do very soon and I will of course share these with you on a future post.

Another exciting thing that happened today (well, for a quiet day anyway) is that I have now ordered a decent camera for my film-making since I have saved up some money to do so! There are so many different budget cameras on the market these days which did not make mine and my dad's job easy as we searched through page after page of "the best budget cameras". I have found one I like though and cannot wait for it to arrive so I can try it out. I think I'll post a review on it as well once I've got a handle of it so that'll be coming up in the next few weeks as well as lots of videos hopefully! Yay!

That's pretty much everything of interest that happened this week. Not one to blow your socks off but still a good week. I have also decided this week that I will definitely be posting more than once a week so prepare to see me more than just every Thursday. *distant scream*.

So until my next post, I hope you have a lovely couple of days and make many happy memories, 

Mollie

♥

P.S. I almost forgot. Me and my mum have also spent today setting up and starting her new blog and I know she would love it if you would check it out HERE. Thanks <3

7 Things I Love About Summer

Hello everyone.

I hope you've had a lovely, sunny week! I also hope you had the chance to read my first post in the Mollie'sThoughts series (if you missed it then there is a link HERE) and enjoyed it. If you don't know what this series is, it is (going to be) a collection of posts where I talk about issues that I feel very strongly towards for example yesturday's was about being your own bestfriend. If you'd like to follow these posts, look for the titles containing "Mollie'sThoughts".

Now, back to this post. 7 Things I love about Summer. There are  of course lots more than just 7 things I love about summer but I don't want to keep you here all day so here are some of my favourite things about summer- in no particular order.

1. Summer clothing - namely dresses and playsuits.

(Clockwise: George at Asda, Primark, Ebay but maker is "Influence", George at Asda...cheap and cheerful. My kinda thing.)

I love that in the warm weather, dresses and playsuits become a practical item of clothing because I just love them! They keep you cooler whilst still looking stylish. I'm always on the look-out for new summer dresses and playsuits as I think they look cute and girly and can be dressed down for daytime and glammed-up for evenings. I am particularly fond of ones with prints on mine (if you can't already tell...).

2. Summer music

 I find that in the Summer months I tend to listen to music a lot more. I think it's because my taste in music is very swingy and summer-y anyway so the songs seem to fit the surroundings better in the summer. For me, there's nothing like listening to a bit of Eliza Doolittle whilst walking down the sun-streamed beach!

My personal favourite artists/songs include:
-Eliza Doolittle (all of her songs)
-Corinne Bailey Rae (all of her songs)
-Nicki Minaj: Starships
-Caro Emerald: Riviera Life
-A Fine Frenzy: What I Wouldn't Do
-Ariana Grande: The Way
- Taio Cruz: There She Goes
...to name but a few.

3. All the beautiful colours

I love seeing the grass look greener, the sky and sea looking bluer and the flowers looking brighter. It's a beautiful sight to behold and I can't resist taking a few snaps of the beautiful views and sights around Arran. Well, I say a few, but I often see something that catches my eye and end up taking about thirty photos of it - no exaggeration. Everything's just so gorgeous!

4. Waking up and going to bed with the sun still shining

I'm not one of these people who want to block out the light in the morning when I'm trying to have a lie-in or who curse the sun's brightness when trying to get to sleep. In fact, I'm quite the opposite! I love getting up early to watch the sun rise and I will happily have my curtains wide open whilst I'm trying to sleep. You see living in Scotland, we don't always get much sun so I always make sure to make the most of it. Also, there's nothing like waking up with the warmth of the suns rays tickling your nose.

5. Bright and pastel summer nail colours

Clockwise in top photo. MUA in Bold Blue, Coral colour from a Boots "Colour Unlimited" boxset, MUA in Ameretto Crush, Rimmel Lasting Finish in Pear Drop and OPI Nail Laquer from a special Spiderman edition boxset.

There's something about having coral, powder blue, mermaid green and peachy pink nails that just makes me so happy. I love Spring/Summer because the pastels and neons come out to play and though I'm a sucker for deep reds and auburns in the Autumn/Winter months, there's nothing like having a pop of colour on your pinkies. Unfortunately for me, we are not allowed to wear nail varnish where I work and so on my days off I make the most of it by throwing on some bold beauties.
My personal favourite look from the colours above is painting my ring finger nails in the Bold Blue by MUA and painting the rest of my nails in the coral colour from the Colour Unlimited set from Boots.

6. Beach days

There's nothing like kicking of your flip-flops and walking bare foot along the beach with the sand between your toes and the sea washing over your tired, warm feet. Or building sandcastles (you're never to old for a good sandcastle) and sand sculptures and burying your feet in the warm sand just to have your toes peep out whenever you wriggle them. Bliss. It's also great fun to swim in the sea in the summer because despite the often freezing temperatures of the water, it is often a refreshing and welcomed relief from the heat. But see if that seaweed comes anywhere near me...

7. Spending time with friends

Last, but definitely not least. I don't know about you but I always seem to be much more sociable during the summer months. I'm like a hedgehog who's come out of hibernation and is ready to mingle with my prickly friends though, I'm glad to say my friends are much smoother than your average hedgehog.
Wow. That got weird fast.
Anyway, my point is, there always seems to be so much more to do in summer and with the days getting longer there's all the more time to do these things. I'm privileged to have made some really great memories already this summer and I am treasuring every moment of them. My time with my friends is all the more important to me just now because pretty soon they'll be leaving the island and going off to do their own thing whether that be uni, college, a job etc. whilst I'm staying put - or at least that's the plan just now.
I've been blessed with some truly amazing friends and I cannot express how much I love and cherish them being in my life.

***

So that's everything I love about summer in a nutshell! Well, my main favorites anyway! I'd love to hear your top 7 favourite things about summer too! Feel free to leave a comment telling me yours.
Until next week, I hope you have a great couple of days and make many happy memories.

Mollie

♥

Be Your Own Bestfriend | Mollie'sThoughts#1

Hello my lovely readers.

This is technically a "bonus" blog today as it is not yet Thursday (when I usually upload) so I am technically not late. Technically.

As promised I am writing my first installment of "Mollie's Thoughts" today - how exciting! - and I thought I would begin  by talking about something we should all try to focus on -being your own bestfriend.

(This is not my photo but I found it on various instagram pages so I'm not sure where it's original source is.)

Being your own bestfriend is something we have all heard about from inspiring youtubers and celebrities and read about in the occasional motivating articles we find in magazines. It is not, however, something we always put it into practice. 

Being your own bestfriend isn't vain or selfish in anyway and it doesn't mean sending our friends packing just to sit in a corner and hug ourselves -even though hugs are the best. It's about putting your wellbeing and your happiness first in order to maintain your mental health and to prevent you from feeling rubbish about yourself.

Sometimes, for whatever reason, we can have those days where we look in the mirror and just don't like ourselves. We begin to point out our flaws and re-live everything we've done wrong and everything that we'd like to change. It's when the little voice in the back of our mind speaks up and tell us we're not pretty, we have no friends, we have no talent, we can't achieve our dreams etc. and if we're not careful, we can begin to believe it. 

So let's think about this for a moment. Let's imagine that we said the things we tell ourselves to someone else. Imagine you told your bestfriend that they were fat, ugly, useless, alone etc. Do you think they would still be your bestfriend? The answer, unless you have a one in a million, should be no. We would never tell our bestfriend cruel things about themselves and yet we can quite easily sit and say those same hurtful things to ourselves. Nobody wants to hear that; nobody should have to hear that. So why do we do it to ourselves? Why do we make ourselves feel rubbish when we're the only person that we are guaranteed we will always be around? Why do we bully the one person we're going to spend every minute of our lives with? Life would be so much easier and we would be so much happier if instead of being our own worst enemy, we became our own best friend.

So instead of dwelling on mistakes we've made, let's learn to laugh at ourselves and learn from them. Instead of telling ourselves that we look terrible today, let's tell ourselves that we'll try to be extra beautiful on the inside. Instead of treating ourselves and our worries with little respect, let's make ourselves feel special and learn to love our quirks, flaws and weaknesses equally to our strengths - just as we would a friend. Because that's what being a friend is all about; accepting and loving the other person for who they are - flaws and all.

Let's give it a go! I challenge you (once you've finished reading this post) to write down 10 things you love about yourself (either in your diary, on the back of a bus timetable or even better, in a comment below). It can be anything from your smile to the way you make a mean cheesecake - anything. You deserve to know everything that makes you special and who knows you better than you? 

People come and go in our lives, but we will never be without ourselves so why not make life better by showing ourselves some love?

Mollie

♥

Frolickings With Friends

Hello everyone.

How has your week been? I feel like I'm the only one doing the talking and as patient as you are reading all my weekly ramblings I'd love to hear back from you guys even if you were simply organising your sock drawer. (I wonder if anyone does that).

This week I have been working A LOT which hasn't been too bad as we all know I enjoy it there but it has been tiring. That's why me and my friends decided we would make the most of our evenings and meet up after work to chill and eat cakes and other yummy treats. 

As you can tell from these photos the weather has been fabulous. I love it when the weather is like this because it make Arran look almost like a tropical island rather than an often damp Scottish one.
To make the most of the weather, me and my friend Kirsty decided to meet up on one of our few joint days off yesterday and go to our island's main town for lunch, shopping and sunbathing. 

We began by hitting the charity shop which I love visiting because you never know what you might find. I bought a new bag, scarf and, my favourite purchase of the day, a gorgeous little vintage teapot candle-holder.

After spending no more than £7 on our bargain purchases we did a little more shopping and then went to lunch at ... the cafe where we both work. Trust us to spend our day off work at our place of work. 

Whilst walking there through the blistering heat we bumped into Ross, a boy from our year, who came and joined us. It felt really strange having lunch at work and being served by our friends but it was handy for them as they stole a nacho each time they walked by.

After lunch we decided we would play mini golf and get ice-creams.The only thing was we did both at the same time meaning an impressive juggling act between not letting the ice-cream melt and not falling behind on the golf was performed. Pressure was added when we decided the loser would have to go in the sea which, despite the very hot temperatures, didn't sound too inviting as we were picking up our other friends, Kirsty and Iona, shortly after and I didn't want to leave a trail of wet footprints and laughing strangers through the village .

Luckily for me I didn't lose! Unlucky for Kirsty, she did. She kept up the bet though, much to the surprise of me and Ross, and she waded on in without hesitation.

After Kirsty finally re-emerged it was time for us to pick up other Kirsty and Iona and for Ross to go to work.

With the four of us united there was more swimming in the sea, sunbathing and chocolate-y goodies. What more could a girl ask for?

 Kirsty after she lost mini golf

 Kirsty's trail after being in the sea

The two Kirstys

Kirsty: "Is it coooooold?!"

 Chilling in the sun and watching the bags

 Today was my second day off and after going out in the sun all of yesterday, I decided to have a chill out day at home where I could plan my next week and collect my thoughts. I also decided that I should probably clean my death trap of a room which now looks somewhat presentable after a few hours of work and smells like blueberries thanks to a candle I bought yesturday. Yummy.

All in all it's been a good week and all my working means I'm earning lots of pennies which I'm hoping to save up to buy a good camera so I can properly start making videos. Hooray.
Sometime next week when my brain's alarm clock kicks in I will have my "Mollie's Thoughts" post up . Until then, I hope the weather is as lovely for you as it is here and that you have fun in whatever you get up to. Don't forget to leave me a comment letting me know what you got up to! I'd love to hear.

Mollie

♥