Home Comforts

• Being tucked up in bed by the grand old time of 8pm because you're just too wild & can't be tamed • Watching trashy TV. That's right, TOWIE, The Real Housewives & Jerseylicious - you just can't beat it! • Being able to look (and feel like) complete shit but it's totally acceptable. • Fluffy slipper socks. Need I say no more? • Feeling like you're being spied on 24/7 when your cat sits and watches you bathe. And go to the toilet. And sleep. • Fairy lights & cozy blankets. • Being greeted by a purring kitten as soon as you open the door • Hot chocolate in the big soup mugs, not forgetting to add mountains of whipped cream & enough marshmallows to drown in •

5 Things to Do When You're Out and Have No Internet

Is there actually a life offline? So many times when I'm stuck without internet or I've ran out of data, I feel lost. There's times when I've been on 2 hour-long bus journeys with no internet or WiFi, and I've questioned everything from the point of a dinosaur's existence to who names colours. If you're stuck in the same boat as me and are wondering what life was before the Internet, I've compiled a list of fun things to do when you've ran out of internet.

Hi... Again.

Let's start by saying that this post is a long time coming. Life has been pretty hectic over the past few months and unfortunately, my blog has been put to the bottom of the 'things to do' pile. I think over the past year, the blogger burnout has hit everyone in the community at some point, but for me, it's been longer than a few weeks.

Some good news - I got a new job! I'm now working as a PR Executive, writing blog posts and general PR-stuff. The blogs I now run (as well as this one!) are Celebricious, a lifestyle blog, and Mozbot for more techy people. So obviously, my job has been put top on the priority list but now that I've settled in, I'm attempting to make more of an effort on this little space.

Like 99% of the time when I have burnout when it comes to my blog, I've changed the design. Again. The lovely Valerie from the blog Moonlit Stories has her own blog template shop (visit it here!) and I'm in love with it. I always find that I feel so much more refreshed when in comes to changing my design, and this is definitely one of my favourites I've ever had!

So, I've got a few questions for you. First of all - do you love the new layout as much as I do? And secondly, what do you want to see? Beauty posts, days in my life, my style - tell me what you like to read!

Bloom & Wild Letterbox Flower Deliveries

Readers of my blog should know about my love for flowers - it's documented all over the place with the most obvious hint being my name (my blog name, that is... I'm not actually called Peonies although it would be pretty cool if I was). Over the past couple of months I've heard more and more about Letterbox Flowers and new flower subscription services so when Bloom and Wild offered to send me a bouquet of flowers to review, I obviously jumped at the chance.

The Sophia bouquet was delivered through my letterbox, much to my mum's surprise (the actual words she used were, "Elise, why have we just got flowers in the post?"). I was actually shocked about how quickly they were delivered, with the time from them being ordered to in a vase in my bedroom just under one day. 

One thing I loved about this service that you don't really get with other flower arrangements is the ability to arrange them yourself. Flower bouquets usually come pre-arranged to the florist's taste but you are able to style these how you like, adding and/or removing bits you don't like. The delivery itself comes with a mini notebook with tips to advise you on how they would look their best, but the end result is completely up to you. 

For some reason that I can't quite figure out, this flower bouquet took weeks longer to wilt than usual flower bouquets from other shops. I kept them on my windowsill, added the flower food that came with the flowers and added water, but they just would not wilt. The longest I've ever had flowers without them wilting is around 5-7 days. These lasted almost 2 weeks, and even then they were still not fully-dead!

Overall I'm so happy with this bouquet and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a flower subscription service. They're available as a one-off parcel or 3 month subscription. I know what's on my Christmas list!

How Are You Doing? 01

Without a doubt, my favourite blog post this week was Food for Thought by Daisybutter. Michelle has always been one of my favourite bloggers and the way she writes is something I really do love, and this post especially struck a chord with me. She mentioned how the blogging community used to be post-Twitter chats, and I really do miss the actual blog-focused community on blogging. The times where we'd communicate via blog comments, leave actual meaningful comments and get to know each other via our blogs. I feel like more valuable friendships were formed that way, and I'm really going to make an effort to get to know the people who read my ramblings. I don't know why you do it, but thanks! To get to know you a little more I want to do what Michelle did - ask you some questions.

1. Where are you from? And do you blog?
2. Do you have any nicknames?
3. How was your day?
4. What's your least favourite word?
5. What made you happy in this past week?
6. What did you do for your last birthday?
7. What's your favourite hobby (minus-blogging)?

Here's my answers:

1. I'm from Manchester (UK) and of course I blog!
2. Ever since I was young, my dad has always been the person to give me the most nicknames. He calls me Ellie-bellie (I could eat for England), Sweet Pea and when my neighbor had her daughter, she always called me Melise as she couldn't pronounce my name. She's almost 6 now and still thinks that's my name!
3. So far, my day has been great. I'm meeting my boyfriend later for lunch and a movie date - they're my favourite days!
4. Moist - even typing it makes me cringe haha.
5. Getting another job interview! I've been on a job-search for the past month and I've actually got an interview with a company doing social media and digital marketing... Wish me luck!
6. For my last birthday I had a quiet one eating out at a favourite country pub with my family.
7. My favourite hobby is probably eating out (surprise surprise). My boyfriend gets sick of the words "can we eat out tonight" hahaha. Sorry Kyle.

5 TV Series You Need to Watch

If, like me, you like to spend your weekends binge-watching TV, you may've dried up Netflix and therefore have nothing left to watch. I've compiled a list of TV series that I think are a must-watch. But be warned, your weekends may be taken up by the TV. Not that that's a bad thing...

○ PRETTY LITTLE LIARS  I don't think a TV series post would be complete with some sort of mention of PLL. I only jumped on the bangwagon with this a few months ago and I'm finally up to date. Guessing who A is every episode really does get my tensions up, though.
○ GOSSIP GIRL  If you're more of a girly-girl, NYC and shopping kinda person then Gossip Girl is a must-watch. I watched all six seasons in a matter of weeks and I'm definitely not ashamed *insert sassy girl emoji*.
○ ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK  This is one of my all-time favourite shows, yet I have to say that the first series is the best. I think Crazy Eyes is my spirit animal.
○ PRISON BREAK  Was one of the first TV series I ever watched and I'll always come back to it. I must've watched the whole programme at least 3 times just to see Wentworth Miller.
○ FRIENDS   How could I include a post on TV series without including Friends?! I grew up watching this programme and I'll be the first to admit that yes, I cried at the last episode...

What's your favourite series?

Weekend Notes & Links 02

Happy Sunday! Seen as though last week's post went down so well and was one of the most popular posts of this month (and also one of the ones I loved writing the most), I had to continue the series. This weekend hasn't been as hectic as last - Bloglovin' finally changed my URL on my blog's page without having to start all over again follower-wise and everything seems to have finally been switched. Yay!

This week I've also been preparing for my camping trip (which I'm currently on right now, you'll know if you follow me on Twitter. Hint hint...) so I'm up at 2am on Thursday morning trying to get content scheduled from when we're away tomorrow. Thank the Lord for softbox lights - I spent the past hour and a half taking blog photos and nobody will ever know that the sun set 5 hours ago.

Also, YouTube. I wanted to have a quick chat about what people who read this blog thought about me re-starting my YouTube channel. If you followed my blog back in January of this year you'll know I started up a channel, but got embarassed of my videos and deleted them. Now that I feel my blog is more 'established' (don't ask what I mean because I don't have a clue either), I was debating whether to give my channel a refresh and pop some videos up. Let me know what you think!

Links I've loved:

○  7 things you should know about working in PR
○  How I increased my Twitter following in less than one month
○  Being a teenage blogger in 2015
○  18 things all girls carry in their handbag. Oh how true!
○  The Mystery Hour podcast. I'm obsessed!
○  A new favourite blog of mine!
○  Cat bed or your bed?

What've you done this week?

Easy, Simple Tips for Saving Money

We've all been there - the mad rush at the end of the month when you have too many days and not enough money. Similarly, we've all been there when you log onto Feel Unique and notice that Anastasia Beverly Hills have launched a new eye shadow palette and nothing but the words "OMG I NEED IT" run through your mind because really, we all need eyes like Amrezy from time to time. Whether you find yourself in either situation or are just looking at saving some money, I have a couple of simple tips.

Create a savings account 
The first thing I did when I started to save money was to create a seperate account with my bank. It was all too tempting to have money sat in the account I use to buy whatever I want with yet not spend any. I created a savings account and transfer money from my personal account to my savings account so I'm less likely to spend it.

DIY everything
Well, almost everything... When it comes to saving cash, DIY is your best friend. Instead of paying for ready-made items, buy the supplies and do it yourself. Add YouTube into the mix and you have a much cheaper way of making the things you'd love to spend a fortune. Not only does it save you cash but I also feel such a sense of accomplishment when I do things myself instead of buying it ready made/depending on somebody else.

Set a budget 
How much would you like to save, and over what length of time? Realistically, how much can you afford to live on after your necessary outgoings are out of the equation? Use these questions to find a healthy amount in which you can save yet still live comfortably.

Pay with cash when you can
I've personally found that I'm less likely to go on a spending spree if I don't pay with a card. I know exactly what I've spent without having to log onto Internet Banking to see how much I really went over my budget. When you're stood at a till paying for something with actual real-life money from a purse, it feels much more real than it would if you were to use a card.

Look out for vouchers, coupons and deals
I have a variety of apps on my phone on which you can get money off coupons and special deals in certain shops. This one is especially good if you like eating out - there are tonnes of money off deals on apps like Groupon and Vouchercloud that can save you money!

Clear out old things 
Although it's not really classed as saving money, getting a bit of cash back from your old clutter will be great in your savings account. You clear out space in your wardrobe and make money from it to save up for whatever you like. It's a win-win!

What's your best tip for saving money?

Weekend Notes & Links 01

Happy Sunday! I feel like I need a bit of a minute for a catch up with you as a lot has changed over here within the past few days. First of all let's note the most obvious - the name change. Since I started my blog, my URL was my real name. I hated it and only used that because I couldn't think of something better. I felt like I needed a 'real' blog name to change the direction I want my blog to go in (more on that later) and so I settled on Peonies in Paris.

I spent most of my week changing usernames, links and swapping over domain names (which is always a pain to do) and now I think almost we're fully switched over - just waiting for Bloglovin' to transfer followers from my old to my new URL. My Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest names have changed and of course, my URL.

The main reason why I wanted the name change was to re-brand my blog. It became mundane to log on and write just about beauty. Don't get me wrong I still love trying out makeup and telling you all about it, but it just became a bit too restricting. From now on, I'm trying now to refer to this website as a blog as I want it to be more of an online magazine. Peonies in Paris is going to become an online lifestyle and beauty magazine, updated more frequently with inspiration, cute photos and all things girly. I can't promise that a small part of the name change was so I could include mini Eiffel Towers everywhere but we'll get to that at a later date.

So, this is where I need your help. What would you like to see on here? What are your favourite features? I have a few ideas - starting with this one where every Sunday I sit and write about the week and what's going on, along with six photos I love and some links I think you will enjoy clicking through. Let me know if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Links I've loved:

○  This article on re-creating childhood photos
○  61 quotes that will make you feel beautiful
○  The cutest village ever?
○  An all-too-familiar feeling of spending too much at a makeup counter.
○  The 13 commandments of Instagram
○  Personality tests! I'm INFJ, what are you?
○  Finding your purpose & doing what you love

Have a great Sunday! XO 

'One Line A Day' Journalling

Every so often I like to dig out my old journals and have a look what the 10 year old Elise was angry about. Keeping diaries is one thing I'm glad my mum persuaded me to do since a young age and I'm so happy I have a stash of memories that was written from my perspective 10+ years ago. I've always been a writer and journalling is my kinda thing, so I bought myself a One Line A Day journal.

The concept of this journal is pretty easy to follow - you write a few sentences about what you're thinking, feeling or doing on that day. Once you've done that for one year, you'll end up where you started and you have a book with a year full of memories. Then on the second year, you move down the page and do the same thing, filling your book with another year of memories. The aim of this is to write one sentence a day for five years until you have a small book compact with almost 2,000 days worth of thoughts.

I've only been doing my journal for about a month or so, but the first year of writing in it is always the worst. You're just writing, writing & writing and you don't have any memories to look back on. Plus it's pretty difficult to remember to actually write in it but I can't wait until I can start to look back through it. The thing I love most about writing this journal at the age I am is because it'll be from the age of 17 to 22 so I'll be able to look back on my driving lessons, parents, birthdays, holidays and even exams!

Do you write a diary? How long have you been writing it for?

What I Learnt From An Internet Detox

If you've been checking in back on the blog over the past week (which let's face it, you probably haven't), you may have noticed that I've been absent with no new posts being published. Since starting my 'internet detox' last week, I've taken a step back from all internet forms and to be truthful, it's felt good.

I felt like I became stuck in a rut with my blog, churning out the same content day after day. When my scheduled posts had ran out and I had nothing left in my bank of posts, I did the opposite of what I'd usually do and not stress about it. I gave myself a whole week to do nothing that involved anything mega internet-related and not to stress about things and I've come back feeling much more refreshed. Here's a couple of things I learnt during my mini-break:

-  Relaxing is fun.
-  As much as I love blogging, family is more important.
-  Blogging is a hobby, not a chore.
-  The world will go on, even if you don't schedule anything!
-  I'm a quick reader, to the point where I read 4 books in a matter of days.
-  There are more important things than Instagramming your breakfast.

What do you do when you switch the internet off?

25 Things To Do On A Sunday

Sundays are a day for rest. A day of relaxing, doing nothing but preparing for the week ahead. Sundays are probably my favourite days of the week purely for that reason - you don't feel guilty about doing nothing but spending the day surgically attached to your laptop. If you're bored or just fancy doing something this Sunday, here's my guide to the perfect day.

01.  Catch up with your favourite blogs!
02.  Plan for the week ahead using your favourite pens.
03.  Paint your nails.
04.  Watch an episode of Pretty Little Liars. Or five.
05.  Light your favourite candle.
06.  Take your camera on a walk & snap some photos.
07.  Drink enough hot chocolates to swim in.
08.  Give your bedroom a Spring clean.
09.  Shop until your feet hurt.
10.  Buy some fresh flowers that make the house smell fresh.
11.  Bake some cupcakes.
12.  Treat yourself to a Lush bubble bath.
13.  Practice your handwriting.
14.  Creating a playlist for your week.
15.  Catch up with your YouTube subscriptions.
16.  Read a book.
17.  Spend time with your family.
18.  Try doing some yoga to relax yourself.
19.  Pamper yourself!
20.  Have a makeup-free day.
21.  Go on an adventure.
22.  Pick out some of your favourite outfits.
23.  Pin your life away.
24.  Watch some cheesy romantic films.
25.  Catch up on sleep.

What's your favourite thing to do on a Sunday?

24 Reasons Why Being 10 Years Old Was The Best

1.  Adding that gorgeous, multicolored string around your Tamagotchi so that everybody knew it was yours.

2.  Making the youngest of your friend group be horses when you tied skipping ropes around them, pretending to take a horseride. Fun.

3.  Staying up all night so that you could make your best friends some bracelets made from Scoobies. What else could you spend your £2 pocket money on?

4.  Using Facebook pretty much only YoVille, to scam people out of their money by doing a fake trade. Then your 'friends' tried to scam you out of giving them the only prized posession you had... The dog.

5.  Appear on & offline when the boy you fancied came online on MSN, just so he'd notice you.

6.  And adding so many emoticons to your MSN message that you could barely make out what your message actually was.

7.  Using your Sony Erikson brick to prank call people from school to tell them 'they stink'. Original.

8.  Having "like for a rate" on your Facebook status so you could tell people what you really thought about them.

9.  Trying to do the longest handstand & cartwheels like your life depended on it.

10.  Deciding your fashion style, best friend & which NSync member you should marry from those magazines with the free lipglosses.

11.  Bop It was the best game, and making it repeat the words "low, medium, high" over & over again was the most hilarious thing you could ever think of.

12.  When you came back from your Summer holiday after having your hair braided with colored beads meant you'd have every boy in the school fancy you.

13.  Jacqueline Wilson was all you read.

14.  You basically lived for school discos, because there's nothing better than cold hot dogs and dousing yourself in your mum's bright red lipstick, right?

15.  That time you got banned from Club Penguin for saying the word "boob"... What a rebel.

16.  If you didn't have smiley faces for your tea, you weren't doing it right.

17.  Using Limewire to download all of JLS' new songs to your MP3 player, then listening to it on repeat for 4 weeks straight.

18.  Scribbling a random design on Paint and filling in the shapes different colours.

19.  Having Groovy Chick everything was the only way to live your life acceptably.

20.  Meeting your friends at the local bowling alley so you could impress them all with your dance mat skills. Steps' 5,6,7,8 was the hardest & you were the only one who could master it... Go you.

21.  Ask Jeeves had the answer to everything.

22.  The Love Calculator told you your real destiny with you and your crush.

23.  Trying your hardest to not sleep at your sleepover in order for you to brag about doing 'an all-nighter'.

24. Thinking that having a sip of WKD would give you liver damage... Oh, I think that was just me.

What embarassing things did you do as a child?

25 Things That Make Me Happy

Curling up to watch some trashy reality TV with a nice cup of tea.
Cosy slippers.
The feeling of satisfaction when you complete an essay that took hours.
Campfires & melted marshmallows.
These photos.
The words, "would you like a cup of tea?"
Or even better, "would you like to try this makeup?"
Blush pink peonies & tulips.
Sitting in the garden with Meenie lay right beside me.
Caramel shortbread.
Kanye's first album.
Having a scrapbook full of childhood photos & memories.
Spaghetti carbonara.
Christmas (sorry - I hate to be that person.)
Red lipstick.
Making lists. And more lists.
Starting a new TV series and being completely hooked (ahem, Gossip Girl)
Hand lettering.
Remembering the days when we young & sold homemade lemonade outside my house.
And the time my friend & I were obsessed with Justin Bieber.
Shoe shopping
Pinterest
The sea, when I can see the bottom & it's warm and frothy.
Exploring new places.
Reading my favourite blogs.

what makes you happy?

Snow Day

I usually hate the snow - only being able to go out in wellies, walking through slush and just the general freezing temperature never appealed to me. Of course, when I was younger I prayed for it to snow for one reason... No school. One of my greatest memories from my childhood was when my best friend & I sat in my house, refreshing our school websites to see if it it would be closed the following day. It was! We did a happy dance around my house and had the best sleepover with hot chocolates and cosy slippers. Those were the days.

Things Nobody Tells You About Having A Cat

· Privacy? That's out of the window. They'll watch you in the bath, on the toilet, and sometimes you'll find them staring at you in the middle of the night.
· The first time you let her play out will be a day you'll dread.
· Finding yourself on the #catsofinstagram Instagram hashtag will be an almost daily occurence,
· You'll talk to them more than you do your siblings, it's just how it goes.
· You'll also have a Pinterest board dedicated solely to kittens & cats.
· They'll soon grow out of picking up carpets & running up curtains, but it's frustrating when it does happen.
· You won't be able to go out shopping without bringing them something home.
· Visiting the vets also becomes a regular occurrence, especially when they decide that fighting with other cats is more important than their health.
· You won't get a holiday as you're too attached that you can't leave them!
· And Christmas trees? You'll need a baby-gate around them.

Home Comforts

• Being tucked up in bed by the grand old time of 8pm because you're just too wild & can't be tamed • Watching trashy TV. That's right, TOWIE, The Real Housewives & Jerseylicious - you just can't beat it! • Being able to look (and feel like) complete crap but it's totally acceptable. • Fluffy slipper socks. Need I say no more? • Feeling like you're being spied on 24/7 when your cat sits and watches you bathe. And go to the toilet. • Fairy lights & cozy blankets. • Being greeted by a purring kitten as soon as you open the door • Hot chocolate in the big soup mugs, not forgetting to add mountains of whipped cream & enough marshmellows to drown in •

What are your plans for this weekend?

Sunday Snoozing

This is how I feel today and how I've felt for the past week. Exhausted. I always find that December well and truly tires me out, so much so that it's only the 7th and I feel drained - it must be all of the Christmas shopping I've been doing! This is mainly the reason why I haven't blogged recently as I wanted to take a break from my schedule and have some time-off. Now, I've re-charged my blogging batteries and I'm coming back at you with lots more posts.

Today's post is nothing fancy, beauty or fashion related, it's just a chat. I feel like sometimes with all of the beauty posts I try and put up here, it's sometimes difficult to have a chat with you and get to know you. This week I spent my days watching Prison Break (mainly because of Wentworth Miller but it's an amazing show!) and lots of re-adjusting the Christmas tree because Meenie thinks it's acceptable to pull the baubles off whilst she's climbing it. The troubles of having a cat, hey? I don't mind, especially when we have our nightly routine of her purring away on my lap whilst I watch I'm A Celebrity. She's great during the Winter time - she's a hot water bottle that never gets cold!

What have you been doing this week?

Franglais | 01

I'm sure I've mentioned that when I was in school, I dreaded French - that and P.E, but what girl really likes running, getting sweaty & pulling their hair from their lip gloss every 3 minutes anyway? I've always wanted to learn another language from a very young age but hated learning it in a school environment. Much like blogging I find that if I force myself to do it, I won't enjoy it. That's what happened in school. To pass my exam and get the qualification, it meant I needed to do at least two writing and two speaking assessments with my French teacher. Being painfully shy and embarrassed to try and make sure that I was speaking 'confidently', it was one of the worst experiences of my life.

When I left school and became home schooled it became one of my favourite subjects. Even though I needed to do work on time in order for me to pass my exam, I could still take it at my pace and wasn't rushed into keeping up-to-date with homeworks and the ability of the rest of the class. Duolingo became my best friend right up until my exam and I was completely obsessed with the thing, prioritizing French over any other subject because I thought it was so fun. I passed my exam with a B and haven't done anything French-related since. It's only recently that I've been starting to pick it back up again and this time around I'm hoping to learn how to speak more than, "Hi, I'm Elise, I'm sixteen and have a pet cat". Also, I know how to order tea and croissants, ask where the toilet it & describe my brother's hair colour. Oh the things you learn at school!

I'm hoping to introduce a new feature over here on the blog, documenting how I get on with what I like to call 'Franglais'. This is where I'm handing over to you - do you speak another language? How easy did you find it to learn?

November

Do you ever write a word that many times that it starts to lose it's meaning? That's what's happening with November at the minute. After spelling out the word with some gold sticky letters, I started to question whether I'd actually even spelt it right mid-photograph. It's one of my favourite seasons for a few reasons - Bonfire night (although I'm quite terrified of how Meenie will react to fireworks all night long!), my 2-year blog anniversary month and only one month to Christmas! I always feel like when Halloween is over, it's acceptable to talk about Christmas & do lots of present shopping. Socially, it probably isn't OK but I like to think it is! I went to a Halloween party last night with my dad & brother and dressed as a half-burnt person. It doesn't sound very exciting but it took so much effort - almost 2 hours sat at my desk, applying latex and fake blood to half of my face! If you wanted to see the result, it's on my Instagram. When I came home my mum told me that we'd had a grand total of 0 trick-or-treaters, so I jumped in bed and eat the sweets for myself.

Happy late-Halloween and happy November!