So, my previous posts have very much been opinion posts. I thought I would lighten the mood of my blog and share with you the 5 things I love. Obviously my family are my one big love, so here are the other things that make me happy:
Karate
I’ve been in love with Karate for as long as I can remember. I trained in Wado-Kai (NIKW) when I was 8 until I was 11 and unfortunately had to stop due to my Mum’s ill health.
I restarted again back in June 2015 doing Shotokan with the FSKA (Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association). Since then, I’ve regularly trained 3 times a week and I’m currently a 2nd kyu (brown belt with black stripe). I’m hoping to grade in October for my Black Belt, providing all goes well with my 1st kyu grading.
Karate gives me a buzz like no other sport. It keeps me physically fit but incorporates mindfulness at the same time. I love it and it’s brought me though a difficult time health wise. My Sensei is an incredible man and at 82, he’s one of the toughest people I know. I had the pleasure of meeting Sensei Kyle Funakoshi back in October last year and watching someone so incredible has really given me the motivation to be the best I can be. Â Sensei Kyle really is amazing to watch and so inspirational. I’m so lucky with my club as I’m surrounded by some truly awesome people. We are like family and everyone looks out for each other.
Ju Ju Be Tokidoki Bags
Ok, Ju Ju Be is more of an obsession than a love! My husband is fed up of my constant parcels coming through the door with one bag or another. But, what he doesn’t understand is that these bags make me so happy! The comment of “HOW many bags in bags have you got?!” is now getting boring! lol.
I’m more of a Tokidoki girl and my favourite prints are Kings Court, Iconic and Space Place.  I do love me some Bubble Trouble too! My favourite style of bag is probably a quick as it’s so versatile and can be used as a little handbag when paired with a lovely strap from Red Robin (best straps I’ve found and great quality). I also love Be Right Backs and my little boy looks awesome in his minibe’s 🙂
Planners
Planners are a more recent thing. Although I have always loved Filofaxes and diaries, I’ve never been mad about them to the extent that I am now. Like the Ju Ju Be bags, this is also a bit of an obsession and I find myself buying planners and not really needing them. I mean, how many planners can one person run?! Answer: ALL OF THEM!!! I’m part of an amazing Facebook group called UKPA (UK Planner Addicts) which is run by a lovely lady called Stephanie and since joining there, I’ve become a crazy planner addict and I can’t stop buying. I have most of my ‘wanted’ planners, however, I’m still in search of my emerald green Finsbury.
One of the big draws to the planners is decorating them. I have my go to shop which is called Cherry Blossom in the Market Square who is run by a lovely lady called Kayleigh. Kayleigh is incredibly talented and the quality of her paperclips are excellent! You can see her beautiful items in the picture above… Yes, that is my very beautiful Kate Spade Wellesley 🙂 The Dashboard is from Mrs Brimbles. I got it in the lovely February Brimbles Box I received. See my unboxing here.
Stationery
I have always been obsessed with stationery. I have WAY too many pens and WAY too many note pads/ paper! It’s a passion that fits really nicely with my planning obsession and I even run a pen pal group on Facebook as I love writing and it gives me the perfect opportunity to buy more stationery. It’s another of my loves that irritates my husband. He doesn’t understand the need for the crazy number of notepads and the hundreds of pens I own. There are pens and paper pretty much everywhere in my house! My current favourites are Tombow brush pens. I’ve been learning free hand calligraphy and I’m loving it! A long way to go though.
Tea
Finally, my beloved tea… Tea really is the answer to everything! It calms me, it warms me and it just makes me very happy. I recently switched from Yorkshire Tea to Earl Grey, although I love all different kinds of black teas. I can highly recommend using The Wiltshire Tea Company online, as they are really informative and carry an impressive range of teas from around the world! Their shipping is fast and any time I have had a question, they have responded really quickly. They are great at recommending tea too if you speak to them on their Facebook Group.
So there you have it… A peek into my life and what I love. I am a little cray cray, but it’s all good! Combined with my family, these things keep me ticking over and smiling daily! 🙂
NB: None of the linked companies or groups above have sponsored or asked to be mentioned in this post. They are genuinely some of my favourites. I would, however, love to work alongside them if the opportunity was to arise 😉
Yay! UKPA love you too! X
Wow! I have heard so much about Karate being a sport of discipline that gives a great buzz and release but have never tried it. I wish I would not hold myself back so much. Tea calms me down too so I am definitely with you on that one! 🙂
I love stationary too! I love your planner page too, gorgeous #tenthings xx
I have waaaaay too many, but they are so lovely, I can’t help but keep buying more x
Those bags are awesome! I’m so with you on stationery too – I recently got a desk / mini home office and had to sort through it all for the first time in a long while… there was a lot more than I’d been telling myself! x #tenthings
Thank you 🙂 I love them. They keep me smiling xx
Great post, love the stationary! #tenthings
You can never have enough stationery 😉 and I’m very impressed with your karate level! Amazing.
Thanks for linking up to #TenThings
Stevie x