Wednesday 26 December 2012

How to Wake up and go to Sleep Happy

Every day is a challenge in life. Every day there is something that needs to be overcome. Every day there are problems. But every day there is a way to push through. There is a way to be a happier you. I know that personally I have struggled over the past year with my ability to think positively and look on the bright side of life. However recently I have been trying really hard to be optimistic in all aspects of my life, I have been trying to look at the glass half full instead of half empty. 





So I have put together a list of things that you can do to make yourself happier, more cheerful and more positive. 

...

1. Write yourself a list, a list of things that make you happy. It might be reading a good book, lying in the sun, or going on a picnic. Be selfish for once, think about what you want. 

2. Do one of those things on your list at least once a day! Maybe if it is a sunny day, you might look at your list and choose going on a roadtrip to a beach somewhere out of town or if it is a rainy day you might choose to watch your favourite movie of all time. This way you are doing something that you know will make you happy at least once. 

3. Write a list of affirmations. It could be a list of 2 ... 5 ... 10 ... or even 50! It doesn't matter, again it is your choice.  This is your life and you need to be willing to change it for the better. 

4. Every morning when you wake up, choose one of your affirmations and say it to yourself, say it even if you don't believe it at first. Then throughout the day keep saying it to yourself. Once you are in bed, say it again and you just might believe it. Do this everyday with a different affirmation. I promise it will help you.

5. Whenever a negative thought pops into your head, tell it to go away. You may think this is weird but the more you do this, the more it works. Distract yourself from this negative thought. Think about your goals and what you are trying to achieve; happiness.

...

So I really hope you try my 5 steps to happiness and change your life for the better. Let me know if you have tried out my 5 steps or just tell me what you think of them @ theflower-shop.tumblr.com/ask.

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Monday 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas


Well, Christmas is finally here. I can't believe it. Christmas honestly makes me so happy, it is a time of year where everyone is celebrating the same thing and having lots of fun.

So far, I have had an amazing day, it is always nice when your two younger sisters, bounce into your room early in the morning because they are so excited for Christmas. It really makes me remember what it was like when I was little and how is actually still is now, just to a lesser extent. 
I love seeing my little sister's faces when they open their presents and seeing whether they like the presents I happened to pick out for them. Of course I also love the little detail of getting presents myself ... hehe. 

I hope you all have an amazing Christmas, send me a tumblr message @theflower-shop.tumblr.com/ask telling me all about it if you want? I would love to hear about all the fun you have been having. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte

Saturday 22 December 2012

That Festive Party ...

Recently my parents held a fabulous dinner party to celebrate the up and coming Christmas and New Year. They were so involved and we had over 50 people, here, at our house, drinking wine, talking and celebrating of course! I got to have a fabulous time with one of my closest friends and also got to help out with the serving of the little nibbles we had planned and made. We had a day full of work and fun leading up to the night, as we were hanging christmas lights everywhere, preparing all the food, getting the music ready/making playlists and cleaning up the house. 

In the end the dinner party was a success, everyone was bubbling with energy and the food was delicious. It was such a great way to celebrate the ending of the year and the coming of a new one and Christmas! I hope that one day I will be able to hold a lovely dinner party of my own. 



We ended up with an endless supply of wine, as what else to guests bring to parties other than wine? Nothing! But who can complain? Wine is a necessity when it comes to successful dinner parties.


We went around the house decorating it with some gorgeous, colour co-ordinated, bouquets of flowers.


It was such a gorgeous summers day, we were just so lucky the weather stayed the way it was, as it was meant to rain! The pool was decorated too, with colourful christmas lights hanging over the vines. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte 
xxx

Thursday 20 December 2012

Happy for Holidays




Wow, it has been an amazing year. So many interesting and different things have happened, some good but some bad as well. I have learnt so many new things this year at school, made new friends, lost old friends and discovered things about myself. But I must admit, the summer holidays, honestly couldn't have come any slower. By the time school finally finished, I was exhausted and in much need of a long break away from any school work. 

My plans for the holidays vary from family holidays, family parties/get togethers, hanging out with friends, reading books in the sun, lying on the beach, pampering myself, breakfast in bed and of course shopping. My family and I are travelling to a small little beach in New Zealand for a while and then escaping to the hot weather of the Gold Coast in Australia. 

I really hope that you all enjoy your holiday that you have ahead of you, whether it be during the winter and in the snow or during the summer and in the heat. I would love to hear about your plans for these holidays too and how your year of 2012 has been :) 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Saturday 15 December 2012

Molly and Polly



I recently discovered this absolutely gorgeous brand called Molly and Polly. It is an Australian brand that specializes in swimwear but also produces other clothing items such as dresses, leggings and crop tops. I fell in love with it straight away and am definitely buying one of their bikinis as soon as I get money! They are so different and have a range of different prints they use on their swimwear. Ranging from ice creams to flowers. Everything is so attractive and majorly cute. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Wednesday 12 December 2012

The Christmas Corner: Secret Santa


One of my favourite things about Christmas is the activity 'Secret Santa'. If you don't know what this is,  you seriously have not lived! It is an activity/game that you do with either your friends, family or school class. Everyone in the group gets the name of someone else (other than themselves) that is taking part in Secret Santa. You basically then just give that one person a present/presents There are many ways you can do it; you can give little presents throughout 1 week, that leads up to a larger present at the end of the week or you can just give one big present on a day. They then have to guess who their 'Secret Santa' is.

I really love this Christmas Activity as I really enjoy giving gifts to a person, no matter who they are, without them knowing who I am. I love seeing their faces when they see their little presents and seeing whether they can guess who I am. It is also lovely to receive a gift or two and having to be a detective for a while and track down who is giving you these gifts. I definitely suggest doing this before Christmas as it is so much fun. 

What's your favourite Christmas activity?

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Monday 10 December 2012

The Christmas Corner: Something New



While I was away in Dunedin competing in a high jump competition, as a small treat, my mum bought me a new book as I haven't had anything decent to read in a while now. As I love christmas and was feeling in a festive mood, I decided to buy a book called "With Love at Christmas" written by Carol Matthews. Yesterday I was lucky enough to be allowed a relaxing day off school and what was even more shocking is that it was 25 degrees! That is extremely good weather for New Zealand. So I lay outside by the pool and finally started my new book. It was lovely. 




As you all know, I have been wanting to buy myself Karen Walker sunglasses for quite sometime now, but my money has finally come and I was very reluctant to spend it. $350 is quite a lot of money to spend on sunglasses. Then I went with my mum to pick up something she had on hold from Ruby and saw these absolutely gorgeous, tortoise shell sunglasses from a brand called Flint. They suited me just as well as Karen Walker sunglasses, and better yet, they were half the price! They came in this extremely cute, rustic looking case as well. I ended up buying them and saving a lot of money that I can now spend on other things. I am so happy with my decision. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte

Sunday 9 December 2012

A Diamond Wedding



It is was grandparents diamond wedding anniversary recently and they are celebrating it by holding a dinner party with all their closest friends and family. Your diamond wedding anniversary means that you have been married to your partner for 60 years! Wow, I definately hope that one day, I will have my own diamond wedding anniversary. 

Anyway my grandmother used to be a fashion designer and she wanted all her grand-daughters to buy a pretty, new dress to wear on her special night of celebration. Over the past month I have been searching for the perfect dress that both my grandma and I like. Unfortunately I hadn't had much luck until my little, weekend away for a high jump competition in Dunedin with my mum. I went into the shop called Ruby and discovered this gorgeous dress by the brand Keepsake. It is called the "Up in the Clouds Dress". As soon as I saw the pattern on it, I feel in love with it and ... it was in the price range!! Yay! So I bought it, and can't wait to wear it this weekend :)  

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Wednesday 5 December 2012

The Christmas Corner: Curly Girl Design



While shopping for a few birthday presents and christmas presents earlier this afternoon, I came across these absolutely divine pencils in one of my favourite shops, from the brand Curly Girl Design. They had gorgeous little quotations on them and came in different colours with white pokadots on them. I fell in love and had to buy them. 

Since then, I have been looking at the Curly Girl Design brand online and they have the cutest things. Perfect for little christmas presents for friends or family! You can order online and everything, definately a good idea. Have a look at their website here.

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Sunday 2 December 2012

Polyvore

One of my wonderful friends recently showed me a website called Polyvore. I had heard of it before but never really thought anything of it. I discovered that Polyvore is basically a form of blogging where you choose lots of different photos and combine them in collages. It is so much fun and I am so glad that I was introduced to it. 

Here are my first two collages; 



Pretty please check out my Polyvore. I ended up deciding to call it the flower-shop, as that is my blogspot and tumblr's name. I highly suggest that you make a polyvore too and comment your usernames so I can follow you back :)

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Sunday 25 November 2012

The Christmas Corner





It is that time of year again. The time where all the world comes together to celebrate one day in so many exotic, fun, different ways. The time of year where shops are lit up with brights lights, children hang their stockings waiting patiently for Santa and leave on the fire place milk and cookies. 

Yes, it is a month until Christmas and I am so excited. Christmas is my favourite time of year, it is better than my birthday, it is better than Easter, it just makes me so happy. There are so many things that everyone does to celebrate Christmas, such as doing Secret Santas, buying presents for family and friends, writing a Christmas wish list, doing Christmas baking and of course holding festive celebrations and parties. 

Since Christmas is my favourite time of year, I have decided to have a series of posts about different things you can do at Christmas time and lots of fun ways to celebrate this merry time of year. It is going to be called The Christmas Corner and will give all of you the chance to celebrate Christmas in lots of different ways. 

Hope you enjoy.

Lots of love
Charlotte
xxx

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Parties





The end of the year is heading our way fast and all too soon we will have to be thinking about christmas, presents, and parties that celebrate the end of the year and the coming of the new one! I have decided to go all out and hold a completely new party - A Milkshake Party. We are just going chuck whatever we want in a blender and then drink it. It is going to be fabulous! 
But you do not have to hold a milkshake party, be creative, hold whatever party you feel is calling your name. It could be an Santa Party, a Chocolate Party, a Pool Party or a Pizza Party. You just do whatever you want. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte 
xxx

Friday 16 November 2012

CAMILLA AND MARC

It has been a miserable day in the forever, unpredictable Auckland, but that didn't stop my mum and I from hitting the streets and shopping! I have spent the whole afternoon having a much needed, shopping, catch up day with my mummy. We journeyed over to the North Shore to have a little nosy around The Department Store, and then ventured back to New Market and had a little peak in The Superette. 

I happened to come across this brand called CAMILLA AND MARC. Whenever I saw something in the store that I liked, I immediately looked at the designer and it seemed as if nearly every time it was that one particular brand. However my eyes kept finding themselves wandering over to a particular style of dress; the Bastille Dress. It was love at first sight. It came in a gorgeous ivory and navy colour; it was to die for. Unfortunately, the first glance at the price tag took my mind to a sad place. Of course it  had to be too expensive, but every girl can dream, right? 


Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Thursday 15 November 2012

Organic Happiness






Hello Everyone, 
Exams are finally over. I am out of hell and into heaven. It seems like so long since I have posted, but don't worry I will be posting on a regular basis now. 

For a while now I have been thinking about all the horrible chemicals in the food in our modern day society and the thought of it has been freaking me out. So I have decided to try and by a more organic person. I will try to eat no foods with any numbers on the backs of the packets and even if it is not absolutely everything organic at least it is a start. Anything is better than nothing right? I am so excited about starting this because I finally have the time! I am going to try and do my own organic baking as well. So instead of buying processed biscuits and cupcakes I will be home baking them. 

Are you organic? Or do you want to be organic? 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Monday 5 November 2012

Wishlist 2012: Summer

Hello,
Summer is nearly here and I have been composing a wishlist of all the things I would love to get my hands on so that I am summer ready. 

Firstly I am in desperate need of some new sunglasses; Karen Walker to be exact. 


We are Handsome Swimsuits have been calling my name for quite some time now. 

I am really in need of some new jewellery. I love the Wildfox Jewellery, it is so unique. 


My iphone cases just seem to keep breaking which is such a hassle, so a new case is definately on my summer wishlist. I would love to get one of these Juicy Couture or Kate Spade ones.


Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx


Friday 2 November 2012

Instagram Love

Hello Everyone, 
I am so sorry for not posting very much in the last few weeks. I have exams in a week and I have been quite stressed out, studying a lot of the time. I promise I will do lots of posts as soon as the exams are over! I have had a little bit of time to do a few things though and they have been a great relief from all the studying. 


In one of my study breaks I quickly went outside to enjoy the ... sunshine! It finally felt like summer was coming after a horrible, cold and rainy winter. 


One night I was lucky enough to hang out with one of my friends and we made these gorgeous cupcakes. We were quite proud as I swear I have never tasted an actual cupcake as tasty and light and fluffy as those.


As a treat, my mum gave me this gorgeous 2013 Day Planner from Kiki.k. It is so cute and I just can't wait to start using it!


It was one of my good friends birthdays this week and after school we went out to this gorgeous little cafe and ordered these delicate cupcakes - Red Velvet and Chocolate. What a lovely way to celebrate a birthday. 


I finally got the new Russh Magazine featuring Miranda Kerr that I have been wanting to buy for a while now. I can't wait to sit back, relax and read it sometime soon. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx





Tuesday 30 October 2012

The 55 Day Challenge: Day Ten; The best thing that has ever happened to you

The best thing that has ever happened to you:

I would have to say that the best thing that has ever happened to me was my Europe Trip 2 years ago. My parents took me and my sisters around Europe for 5 weeks and we visited so many places. I had the most amazing time and have memories that will last me a lifetime, such as walking down the Eiffel Tower in the pouring rain and wind! 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Sunday 28 October 2012

Witchery Gold and Black Sandals


It was such a lovely surprise to come home this afternoon, head up to my room and see a Witchery Shoe box sitting lonely on my bed. My mum had been kind enough to buy me these gorgeous black and gold rimmed sandals. She told me that they were on sale and they were reduced from $120 to $13! What a bargain :) 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

The 55 Day Challenge: Day Nine; What were you like as a child

What were you like as a challenge:

Well, when I was a baby I never slept! I was a very awake baby and was always crying. My parents just couldn't get me to be quiet. As a child I was always the really tall, blonde one. Whenever I look at photos from my early school years, I wonder what my mum was thinking when she did my hair that morning. It was always a birds nest, haha. I had shoulder length hair with bangs, yes bangs, it was fabulous. As a child I hated conflict so whenever someone had an arguement of any kind I was always be the first to try and fix it, whether it was me that started it or not. 

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Friday 26 October 2012

The 55 Day Challenge: Day Eight; Tell about an Adventure you have had

Tell about an Adventure you have had:

One time when I was a little girl, my mum took my best friend, my sister, my sister's bestfriend and her bestfriend (which happened to be my sister's best friend's mother) for a girly weekend down to Rotorua. Originally we were staying in a little motel, slightly out of town. When we got there, we met the owners and they seemed a little bit 'out of it', if you know what I mean, of course I was little so I didn't realize at the time. At night we were watching TV and somehow our TV was linked to what they were watching ... it wasn't pretty. So of course my mum and her best friend were really worried. So they decided at about 12AM in the morning, that we were going to pack up, leave in our rental car and escape to a 5 star hotel in the early morning. That was something I am sure we will all never forget, but it was definately an adventure.

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Landscape: Vineyards




Ever since, I was a little girl watching the movie "The Parent Trap" for the first time, I have fallen in love with Vineyards. They are gorgeous and one day I would love to live on one, or near one, so that I can go with my husband, friends or family and drink one in the evenings. I can see it now. 

Wednesday 24 October 2012

The 55 Day Challenge: Have you ever told anyone your deepest secret? If so what was their reaction?

Have you ever told anyone your deepest secret? If so, what was their reaction?

Well, yes I have and I must say, it wasn't exactly what I would have liked them to react like ...

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx

Tuesday 23 October 2012

So True.


As I was scrolling endlessly through my tumblr dashboard, I came across this picture. It immediately made me stop and read through it. These are probably some of the best words of wisdom I have ever discovered.

Lots of Love
Charlotte
xxx