Of an evening recently i've been trying to wind down in a different way and not just by scrolling through social media until I decide to go to sleep, so some of these lifestyle favourites are because of that, because i've been switching things up a bit and i've already started to see the benefits in doing so.

One thing i've wanted to do for a while now is to start reading more, especially of an evening after a long day at work as I often just want to switch off for an hour or two. One book i've been absolutely loving is Grace Victory's book No Filter (£7.49), which is essentially a tell all about her life but through her experiences, traumas, relationships.. you name it, it's probably in this book and it's been an amazing read for me. I've learnt a lot from it in terms of mental health but also in terms of loving you for who you are, which I think in this day and age is such a hard thing to do. I'm around two thirds through this book, so I can't give a full review on it but i'd definitely recommend picking it up to anyone. Whilst i've been reading of an evening i've also been working my way through my candle stash, especially as the evenings are getting colder and darker. A firm favourite of mine at the moment is the Yankee Vanilla Cupcake Candle (£19.99), of which a few years back I would of never liked, but with getting older you notice your taste changes and this is just enough sickly sweet for me.

Continuing with taste changing, my actual taste has changed in terms of foods and drinks over the past year or so, and I find myself drinking different beverages when i'm celebrating or just going out with the girls. My current drink of choice is prosecco because it's half the calories of a glass of wine, and let's be honest, i'll take that any day. However sometimes I do like to mix it by adding a liqueur to add some flavour to what can sometimes be a boring glass of prosecco. The Cranes Cranberry & Blood Orange Liqueur* (£15) has been a go to recently for me, as it adds a lovely sweetness to a glass of prosecco, and it tastes absolutely beautiful which for some who don't like prosecco, this could be an easier way to drink it. You can also be a bit more daring and whip up a cocktail with this liqueur, as the team at Cranes have added a few cocktail recipes to the packaging to help inspire you during your next drinking session. 

Another drink i'm beginning to explore is gin, now I hate gin but it is a drink I want to get into essentially again because of the calories, and I find cocktails and fizzy drinks to be so bloating which is rather uncomfortable on a night of dancing. Similarly to the previous drink, for me it's finding what I can add to it in order to make it drinkable and thats where the Luscombe Tonics* come in. Luscombe are a drinks company based down in Devon who specialise in a numerous amount of drinks, and having added tonics to their range I was intrigued to see what these were all about. With having three flavours in the range, classic tonic, elderflower and grapefruit, they give a variety of different flavours to try to spruce up any gin based drink. Personally my favourite has go to be the elderflower tonic, as i've always been a big fan of elderflower and I find mixing with gin to just be a match made in drinks heaven!

Lastly we have a bit of a random lifestyle favourite, but I knew i'd probably get a few questions on it so I thought i'd mention it. Whilst in London last week I found myself browsing in Topshop and found this beautiful Skinny Dip Tap Dat Card Holder (£10) and I just couldn't leave the store without it! I love the embroidery detail to it, and because I am as basic as basic comes I just loved the slogan to it!

What lifestyle bits have you been loving recently?