Positive changes, to help the world 🌎

I’m always thinking of little way, to make a big difference to other people life’s. It’s a good feeling helping other people, and I’m sure it’s amazing for other people to be on the receiving end!

Coffee stamp cards ☕️☕️☕️

<
all love a coffee stamp card, 9 coffees later and you can finally have a free one! What a great achievement! It's feels amazing right getting something for nothing! Imagine how amazing it would be to give you free coffee to someone who is homeless, who is freezing from sleeping on the road. Why not give it to someone, who has nothing? You will honestly feel ten times more amazing!

Food Banks🍪🍩🍧🍡🍲🌮🥘

•Don
to your local food bank is a great way to help your local community. There are many ways you can donate, you can donate food that you have in your cupboards. Let’s face it, most of us have tins in our cupboards that have been there FOREVER! Pop them in a bag and drop them to your local food bank.

Buy one get one free⭐️⭐️

•We al
a buy one get one free! Even if we went for one item, it’s great because we can use the other item when the first one runs out. However, you could always donate to your local food bank or to a hopeless person. They will
defiantl
preciate it!

Clothes clear out👚👕👖👔👘

• Why not sort thought your clothes to declutter your bedroom! Clothes can be donated to local charity shops or again for the homeless. Every time I have a clear out, I donate to different charity shops as I can never decide on which charity is best

Hobbies to fundraising📚⚽️🏒🤼‍♂️

• Fundraising doesn’t have to be difficult, in fact it can be fun! I once did a read-a-thon, I read six books in a week and raise over £100 for charity! I had the best week of reading and I did it for a great cause. That can be the same with anything from baking to jogging, there’s always room for something.

McDonald’s stickers 🤶🏼

• Every year McDonald’s do monopoly give aways sometimes you win big and sometimes you won food or drink prizes. For the last couple of years, when I have one a meal prize I have given it to a homeless person. Each time they have been so grateful and commented on how thoughtful I was. Defiantly made me feel good.

Spend time with the Elderly 👵🏼

• The Elderly can get really lonely and look forward to social interaction. There are a few ways in which you can help. There is a charity called St Vincent to Paul, which is charity which involves volunteers visiting elderly people or helping them with small chores like their food shop! There is a club in Brighton called the casserole club. This charity pairs you up with someone Elderly in your area and you can choose to drop them dinner or have dinner with them. I know a few people that are involved with these charity’s and they say that it is so rewarding.

DL💋

Boutique of Molly

I discovered Boutique of Molly on Twitter, after noticing lots of of people following the account.

I had a look at their website and fell in love with there dresses and handbags! The clothes are not your usual clothes. They are unusual and fashionable. You feel like you have discovered something that only important people order from. What’s more, the prices are reasonable.

I was approached by the company and asked to pick and try an outfit. I would like to point out at this stage that opinions are my own and this is not a paid ad.

To start start sure I found it difficult to choose, just one outfit that I liked. I finally decided on the “Evie Dress”.

The dress came next day delivery and arrived in the cutest pink packaging!!!

You can feel straight away that the material is good quality. I love the colours, and even though they are different shades of grey.. you can see the contrast between each grey shade.

I defiantly feel I could wear this dress for a smart / Casual occasion. It would be great to wear this for a dinner occasion with a pair of little black heels.

I cannot wait to place my next order! I am loving the handbags and think this may be next order! I perticular like this grey handbag!

I would defiantly recommend having a look, the process from ordering on the pink website, the pink packaging and beautiful clothing makes online shopping a girly treat.

Thank you for reading my review, and I would like to offer you a discount code: DL20

https://www.boutiqueofmolly.com

DL 💋

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Th couple next door is a gripping Thriller published in 2016, by an English Teacher called Shari Lapena.

This book is about a married couple, who attend a dinner party next door. They leave their young baby next door due to unforeseen circumstances and decide to check on her every half an hour. When they arrive back home, the baby is gone! This leaves us wondering who has taken her.

From the moment you open the first page, you are sucked into this world of chaos. You are introduced to some bold characters and are unable to work out who is dishonest and who it’s truthful.

This book has a range controversial characters with different backgrounds. Through out the book I was constantly undecided on which characters I liked and which ones I didn’t. At one pointed I actually disliked them all!

A quarter of the way through the book, I was wondering how they would drag this story out to the end. However Each chapter leaves you suspecting a different character and wondering if the baby is alive.

There are a few shocking milestones throughout the book, and I would never have been able to guess the ending.

If you are looking for a book, that every time you put it down you are still thinking about it… then this is the book for you.

I am excited to discover this Author has another book called A Stranger in the house which was published this year and I cannot wait to read this next!

*****

DL 💋

Wedding Guest

Being a wedding guest is actually so stressful! Especially when it’s in a different town. I mean not only have I got plan what to wear, how to do my hair and what shoes to wear; I have to also plan accommodation and transport. Thank goodness, I am not the bride .. I would be a major Bridezilla.

So I’m attending a wedding Mid August as my cousin is getting married. The church ceremony is in Reading and the reception is a half hour drive away in a fancy hotel.

The outfit

Okay, so being a female my first thought is what to I wear. Actually this thought also guided me to another thought, I probably should loose some weight? It’s defiantly helps having a goal, for weight loss. Now I’ve lost the initial weight, I was ready to order my dress 3 weeks before the wedding. I trolled through website after website, I looked in Next, Missguided and New look. Do I go extra, so I go sophisticated, do I go summery.. what if it rains. Eventually ( 2 weeks into looking) I found a light lilac, off the shoulder, sweat heart cut midi dress that I thought could be the one. I ordered it from Boohoo.com and had it delivered the next day. I loved the colour when I opened it, and I tried it on and it fit great! It was maybe even a little to big for me ( which is good because I always order the same dress size on boohoo.com)

The Nails

I had my nails done a few days before the Wedding. I had Almond shaped weddings, with purple Sheelac and Chrome over the top.

The Hair

So the day before the Wedding! I have visit Pretty Please in Hove ( where I get all my blow drys done) They have washed my hair, and pinned it up! I’m to sleep with the pins in, for my hair to bed ready for the BIG day ( My cousins Big day, I’m sound like its mine)

The Accommodation

This was complicated! So the wedding ceremony is in Wedding but the Reception is in a different town. So I have booked the Premier inn, in Reading by the oracle (£52 a night) for the Friday. Then on Saturday, I’ve book The Bird Hand Inn which is where the reception is! ( so I can get drunk and stumble back to me hotel) and finally I’ve booked the Premier Inn ( again) so that I’m back in Reading as my family live around the corner! NIGHTMARE! But I do think this is the easiest way to do it!

Pre Wedding Eve

It’s the day before the Wedding! Today so far I’ve worked until 1pm, had my hair done and it’s now 3pm. I’m almost finished packing but I’ve taken up 2/3 of the suitcase because I couldn’t decide what make up to bring, so I’ve brought all my pallets! ( not sure where my boyfriend stuff is going to go woooops) I’m waiting for Tony to finish work, so we can get on the road!

On Our Way

4:30pm and we are on our way! There is lots of of traffic, so we are taking the country roads! It takes us a while to get there and we arrive at 6:30pm at the Premier inn by the Oracle in Reading. Time to get ready for some dinner in the hotel, I’m looking a bit crazy with my pinned up hair.

Wedding Day

It’s the Big day ( For Sam and Ashley). We woke up at 8am, and got changed into some comfy clothes for breakfast in the hotel. The breakfast wasn’t that nice, as it was a little greasy for my liking. I enjoyed a Costa Cappuccino and a glass of fresh Orange juice.

Once our bellys were full, it was time for a hot shower and a hour and half to do my make up. For my make up I used my Huda Beauty Rose gold edition for my eye shadow, my Revolution baked bronzing Pallet and my usual make up. I actually did my eye shadow first, as I knew it was going to be quite heavy. Then cleansed my face , before doing the rest of my make up. Once, finished I unpinned my hair and I was ready to go.

My Dress is from Boohoo.com, and it’s a Sweet Heath cut, midi dress. I wore my black scrappy block heels from Primark and my Envelope clutch from New Look.

Once, I was ready ( and took a few selfies) we got in the car to pick up my Auntie Lizzy before driving to the church.

Church Ceremony

The wedding Ceremony started late ( which is typical for a wedding) The Church was beautiful with Tall stained Glass Windows. The church was were my nanny and Grandad for married many many years ago. The Ceremony was lovely and the priest made lots of jokes keeping us entertained throughout.

The Hotel

We checked into the bird in hand Hotel after the Ceremony and freshened up. My dad went in a separate car and managed to sneak KFC into our room! We were all greeted with Pimms and sat outside in the Sunshine. The Hotel was super cute!!!

The Food

Unlike most weddings, the sit down meal was a BBQ!! I Had a hot dog, a burger and lots of salad. I also discovered that the American mustard I had smothered my food in was actually spicy French mustard. The puddings were a miniature selection and were very delicious.

The Toast

I must of been tipsy at this stage because I kept joking that they were going to give us roast, rather then us doing a roast. I realised this wasn’t the case when we were all handed a glass of wine. Lucky my dad and Tony didn’t like there’s, so after I drank there’s too.

The Party

Our tummies were full, our livers were saturated with alcohol and we were ready to boogie. There was lots of R&B tunes for me to dance too.

Bars Closed

At 11pm it was last orders but we were not ready to go to sleep yet. We decided to have an after party. It was the Bride, The Groom, my cousin, their friend, Tony and myself that carried on through. The Hotel told us off for drinking downstairs, so we drank our champaign in the car park. ( classy but fun)

It was safe to say we were all pretty drunk at the wedding. I had consumed Gin, wine and champagne ( I won’t even tell you about my hangover) I thought it was a good idea, to tell everyone to go for a family breakfast at 9am the next day. When i woke up, it didn’t think it was such a good idea.

Overall

It was a great Wedding! So lovely to see my family old ( 13 years I haven’t seen some of them for) that had travelled from America. It was amazing to drink with my cousins, and I’ve actually invited them for a night out in Brighton.

Summer Faves💋

Their are lots of factors that effect our skin, hair and bodies. The weather is defiantly one of these factors. I love summer because my skin gets browner and my hair goes lighter. Here are my favourite products to
make it through summer.

Micellar cleansing water 💦

I love this stuff, not only does it melt my eye make up away without tugging and rubbing. It cleans my skin and soothes it. It really leaves my skin feeling fresh!

Simple Moisturiser

I personally prefer a light moisturiser to hydrate my skin. I've tried lots of different ones but have found that this one is the best. The smallest amount gives you lots of vitamins, includes Borage seed oil and it's very natural so should not upset your skin.

Defend your hair girls!

I have two favourite summer hair products; that I will use without fail. The first is this Argan oil heat defence leave in spray. Not only does it protect your hair from heat styling but it also leaves Argan oil in your hair to keeps your hair silky and smooth. I then also use VO5 Frizz free cream, literally a pea size to the end of my hair again it protects and makes my hair look healthy and glossy. It's super important to use heat products in the summer, Because if your hair is weaker from heat styling and then left to sit in the sun, you will seriously damage your hair! 😳😳

Summer fragrance

This is not a summer essential .. well actually it kind of is. I love my perfumes and my favourite summer mist is "Pure Seduction by Victoria Secrets". Even more excited that this can be purchased in Super Drug! They also do a moisturiser and other products to match.

Lip balm 💄

Do no forget to keep your lips hydrated. It can be hard when MAC makes so many amazing summer lipsticks to forget to put lip balm on your lips. I use "baby lips" by Maybelline which is not only great for my lips but is also a tinted colour. I use this on a day to day bases at work for a natural look.

DL 💋

Slay at Life

• Own a diary – A diary can be such an advantage in life. You can organise the balance of your life from work, social and personal. I also write to do lists in mine and highlight when they are complete. This will help you BOSS at life. Make sure all your work jobs are done before you go home, make a note to call someone on a certain date to look efficient. Haven't called your nan in a while? Make a note in your diary to call after work. If you don't do it, you will have to tip ex it out and you will feel guilty; therefore it's in your best interest to stick to it. I also allocated time for myself 7-8:30 – pamper time. Then on my to do list remind myself to buy face masks.

• Me, Myself and I – let me tell you, that the only person you will spend every second and every breath with is yourself. If you are not loving yourself, then you are not slaying at life. You have to make sure the relationship with yourself is healthy. like if you don't spend time with your Boyf, you feel annoyed that your relationship is crap, same kind of thing. If your not allowing time for yourself, then you feel unwanted and unloved. As I said above allocate once a week minimum to wack a face mask on, soak in the bath and read a book.

• Healthy eating – boring alert I know. However, it is scientifically proven that a healthy diet improves energy levels, sleep levels, alert levels and your mental health. Not to mentioned eating healthy can give you better skin, nails and hair. There are also long term befits which can reduce your chances of diabetes, dementia and cancer. It's a no brainer but of course, it's also good to treat yourself now and again. If your going to eat lots of ice cream one evening, make sure you have some fruit and veg in the morning.

• Relationships – This stands for everyone if you are single, dating or in a relationship. Do not revolve your life around finding a boyfriend or based on your relationship. Yes, having a boyfriend is great but it's not always a walk in the park. Sometimes you argue and it may seem like the worst thing in the world, easier said then done but switch your phone off and distract yourself with other aspects of your life. Never carry your baggage into work, leave it at the front door. If your relationship is not your world, then you won't feel like it's falling apart when something goes wrong. This stand for you single or currently dating people, don't make this your focus in life make yourself your focus, your career and what you want to achieve.

• Fitness – oh yes I said it! When we think of fitness, we mainly think of loosing weight! Which is brilliant, and great for your ego. Regular exercise can also help with improving your Stamina, strength, and flexibility. It is also proven to reduce stress, lifts moods and help you sleep better. It is also rumoured to keeping you looking and feeling younger. I used to suffer from Chronic Tension disorder and the doctors told me to excersise, at the time I could not think of anything worse then to work out when I had a throbbing headache but believe me it helps. I feel great working out in the week, helps me to feel fresh and be clear minded.
• 
• No bad vibes – I love when people say this phrase because who needs bad vibes in their life? If your "Friends" make you feel negative, then they are bad vibes and you need to cut the cord. Easier said then done, but it's something That I done last year and I feel much better for it. If you see a negative situation arising, remove yourself from it don't need to get involved. If you feel like going somewhere is dodgy or you don't get the right vibes then don't go. You will feel much more positive in life.

• Ask for help – As much as it's nice to be independent we don't know everything in the world. Not only that, but sometimes our opinions are will come from our personal experiences and emotion. A outside opinion may have other life experiences that can broaden the opinion. There is no harm in asking for advise and as much as we want to show our parents and grandparents that we can do this Adulting life, sometimes they are the wisest people for advice. Speaking to people about your problems, can also give you relief and be beneficial for your mental health.

• Keep learning – We go to school, we go to six form, you may go into university and then our given education stops. Why not learn a open university course online? Why not do a project manager course online? Why not see what your local community hall are teaching. It's important to keep your brain sharp, it can help with your interaction skills and may give you interesting things to discuss. It can also help you progress in your career.

• Eat the frog – this may be my favourite saying! If you have something bad you have to do like make a bad or uncomfortable phone call, or let someone down; the worst thing you can do is to think about it all day and keep putting it off. The saying eat the frog means stop staring at the frog worrying about it, just do it and get it over and done with. Leaving it to later will not help your case and if anything it can make it worse. Most of the time I find that people are understanding and there was no base for my original anxiety.
• 

• Do something different – do something you wouldn't normally do. Try a water sport, go for a long country walk, visit a museum. We find our self saying "I'm boring, I don't really have any hobbies", unless we try New things we won't know what excites us. The internet is your hero, search fun things to do in England and start making your list.

These small tips all add up to give you direction in life, organisational skills and positive mind. They really do make the difference and even if you try one step a week and find only a few of them help, then at least your life has still been improved.

Most importantly be you, because no one can slay the way you do, like you.

DL 💋

What to do in Brighton?

I love Brighton, I fell in love with this magical place when I moved here 8 years ago. If you live in Brighton, it's still fun to do all the tourist things and if your about to visit Brighton let me tell you all the fun things to do! 

i360

As a local residence I wasn't sure what the i360 would offer me. I didn't think I would be wowed by the views as I thought I've probably seen it from some top floor flats in Hove. The i360 was about the entire experience. The tickets looks like boarding passes, you go through security like you do on a plane and are greeted at the entrance of the pod by someone in a British airways uniform wishing you a pleasant flight. The view took my breath away, you could see the sea, the city building and the South Downs. Makes you realise how many different areas their are in brighron and how diverse there are. 

Brighton Night out

Most people come to Brighton for the Nightlife. When I worked in an office by Brighton station the hen and stag dos would start walking past on Thursdays dressed as all sorts of funny ( and some rude)  characters. If your coming to Brighton I would reccomend a visit to walkabout. They have great shot Deals, big dance floor and big smoking area. They also have a separate area for shisha. No Brighton night out would be complete without a 3am binge on either Cheeky chicken  on West Street or Buddies along the seafront.

Shopping and lunch in Brighton 

If your making a weekend of it, a little shopping trip and some lunch would be on your agenda. You can of course visit Churchill square which will have your normal retail shops. If you want to experience Brighton properly, a visit to the laines and lanes is definitely in order and there's so many unique restrains there for a pit stop! I love shopping at snoopers paradise and have lunch at either Pompokos or Street Thai.

Lucky voice 

I go here once or twice a year, again this is in the laines. You get your own private booth with your friend and you can sing, dress up in props and dance to your hearts content. You pay to higher the booth and you ring a buzzer when your ready to order your next cocktail so that you don't need to leave the booth. Great fun.

Pottery making and painting 

There are a few places that you can do this! My fave is the one in North street, called the pottery Cafe I've been here with the girls and I've been here with my mum. I usually purchase a ready made cup or plate and spend hours painting it. I longest I spent in there was 4 hours, paint my cup with elephants on. I am no way artistic but with the help of stencils, I was able to outline and colour in. You do have to wait a few hours for it to be glossed so if yours down for the weekend, maybe do it on the first day and go back and collect it.

Cocktail making

Go to Revolution - I've done cocktail making in a few different places in Brighton but vodka revolution on west street is my fave. They have an amazing range of cocktails. You get one on arrival, make and drink around 3. Yummy nibbles a private table upstairs when your ready do boogie after. I went here in June for my birthday and going again in August for Hen do.

Under cliffs in Rottingdean  

If you are here for a walk or a bike ride I would defiantly recommend going here cliffs in Rottingdean. It's very beautiful and after a paddle on the sea. There's lots of big rocks on this beach, so if you like to cash sea wildlife you will find lots here!

Walk on the Downs 

again if your here for the walks there is lots of different walks. You can walk to the devils dyke or you could go just further out of brighton and go to the seven sisters

Zip wire coming soon

it's not here yet but I'm so excited for it to arrive. It's were the old brighton wheel used to be. It will defiantly be so fun! Watch this space! I will blog about it when I've been on it!

Festivals

Festivals Wildlife, Pride and Fright festival. There are lots of festivals that happen in Brighton. My favourite if Wildlife festival which is usually in June. I've been two years running and it's great fun. A two day festival and usually has an amazing line up. I upgraded to VIP this yeah which I would defiantly recommend because their was less queues for the toilets! If that doesn't sounds amazing enough reason to upgrade… I queued for 45 mins on the other side. Also Gay Pride in August is amazing! I love going to the two day street party on st james street. I went last year and will be going this year. If you check out http://www.whatsoninbrighton.com you can see what fun event are coming up

Brighton pier

Pier wrist bands… of course your in Brighton, so a trip to the famous Brighton pier is a MUST. It's even better if you purchase an unlimited ride wrist band. It's literally so much fun! Me and my boyfriend have done this a few times. You go on all the rides and then go on them all again. Last time we did this was last year and we spend around 4-5 hours there.

Hove lagoon
Hove lagoon water sports, I haven't been since it was all updated. I have done kayaking here which was fun and I didn't capsize yay! But if your seriously into water sports they have much more to offer including the paddle boarding.

Lastly, to recover from all this fun take a trip to Brighton beach. Take a picnic of hangover food, and watch the sea or the sun go down! If you are coming to BRIGHTON have an amazing time!

DL 💋

Instagram: domlennon7
Twitter: dominiquelenno

Lists

I read a post online today about a girl that LOVES lists! And I am with you honey! 

Writting down your goals is commitment in writting that you are going to do somthing! And once you’ve achieved and ticket of highlighted it.. well what an amazing feeling!

I love a list and today I was writing a list about writing lists.

At the start of every year I usually write down my goals! This year was different because I went traveling my only goals was to see more, so more, eat more and tan more! 

Now that I am back to reality it’s time to get my list on!

So I have written a list on my phone keys things to by a super cute note pad and super cute colour gel pens!

Next I want to write lists of:

I’m hoping to add more to lists To my notepad but the ideas might not come until I choose the notepad!
Lists are great for setting your goals in writting! No going back once they are set!

What do you write lists about? Do you find them helpful? 

Pamper yourself

Being a girl is tough right? 

When we get stressed, our skin gets stressed and then we get stressed that our skin isn’t looking great. 

Once every week or every two weeks. I write in my diary an hour that I am spending with only myself.

During this time I usually take a long soak in the bath with either some Radox bubble bath or a Lush bath bomb. 

I will also do a face mask which I usually go my charcoal blackhead mask. As I try to sauna and steam room at the gym in the week, this helps with opening up my pores. 

I like to exfoliate my lips and add lipbalm, this helps for a smooth look when I apply lipstick. 

During this time, I would like to read and have time away from my phone and away from humans.

I made my first Vlog, about how to treat yourself! Enjoy! 

​​​​

Kindle VS Book

I have wanted a kindle since I discovered you could get handbag sized with Anti glare screen. 

However, I was held back by the love of holding a physical book. I always enjoy going to a book shop, and looking through to decide what book I would like to read. Opening the first page, and being greeted by a waft of new book smell. It may seem silly to some but the new book experience is magical to others. Holding an actual book may one day become extinct, and technology may take over. Holding and reading a physical book, is also part of the experience. Placing the book mark in your book and seeing how far you have read is also part of the journey. Once you have finished snapping the book shut and feeling satisfied with the ending.

As you can see, I had a lot of reasons to hold back. In June this year, I decided I was ready to try a kindle. My boyfriend bought me the small paper white Kindle costing £89.00. It is 6 inches tall, and has a anti glare screen. He also bought me a leather flip case and a £50 Amazon Voutcher to download books. 
5 weeks later, I am now on my 5th book. When searching for a book to read on the kindle, you are able to click on reviews and find out the average reading time for each book. You can scroll through, and search for books. Once you have finished a book it will reccomend you a similar one from your taste of books. The kindly is lighter then a book, originally I thought this would ruin the experience for me; however I found it more convenient in the sense it was easier to carry around. I carry it around in my handbag every day, I can easily take it out of my bag and walk around with it as it’s size and weight is ideal. I feel I have read more books in the last 5 weeks, sinply due to convenience of the size and weight. The kindle has some handy tricks such as, being able to search words that you do not understand to find the meaning. This is really helpful, especially as I like to read crime books and it sometimes can help me with technical police jargon. You can also highlight parts of a book, that may be important later on to save in a seperate are. Flicking though the book is simply done by clicking on the left or right side of the kindle. Lastly, my favourite part is that it tells you how much of the book you have read. I get excited and determained when I get close to 80%, as I just want to finish the book.

All in All, after much hold back and concideration I have decided that I prefer the kindle for convince of buying books and carrying it around and for it motivating me to read in my lunch break and allocate more time to finish the book.

I would love to know; if you prefer a book or a kindle???