Thoughtful Gifts for Last Minute Pressie Buyers

 
So, I've been busy. It's Christmas season, my work schedule ramps up this time of year and truth be told, I'm just a serial-last-minute-shopper. But, with years of time-poor shopping experience up my sleeve, I also have the perfect go-to list of gorgeous pressies you can get without ordering online or hitting the massive department stores.

Bouncing Back from the Bad Days


We all have them. Bad days, weeks, months. I was in a car accident on Saturday (all okay thank god!), my friends have been struggling with a hell-ish exam season and all of us have everyday problems that get us down. No matter what happened to you, the most imperative part of a bad day is how you treat the next one. Resilience is something I've been trying to work on and as a part of the whole self-improvement thing I'm doing, and it's what I wanted to write about today.

Stop Everything and Listen to these Podcasts


Heya! Long time, no see. I've been off the airwaves for a while but I have been behind the scenes, as I have just picked up a new camera for blog/travel/portrait photography. The pictures in this post were taken by the Lumix G7, and so far I'm loving it. Keep hanging around to see some gorgeous quality images around this space! Onto the topic of this article, I'm talking about podcasts. I've been really getting into them recently, and I'm uber surprised at how amazing the free podcasts are just on your iPhone. I have 8 to recommend, depending on your tastes, but all of them are incredible for long train/car rides, background noise while working, or just having a good dedicated listen. 

A Rookie's Guide to Surviving Exam Season


Uni is over for 2017! Well, almost. We have a few weeks + exam block to go and then we're free. I've learnt a hell of a lot about what it means to do university exams and get a result you're happy with, especially last sem. There's no one pushing you or telling you when or what to study, so you do end up walking in blind as a 1st year. I figure there's a tonne of people like me wanting to figure out how to make exam season work, and if you need a few pointers, keep reading.

Investing in Yourself

September has not been what I expected. A combination of university work piling up, the inevitable life-reshuffle of changing from one job to the next and some other 'perfectly lovely' stressful situations that I won't go into has left me out of whack. I've been stressed more, sleeping to catch up from being stressed and stressing because I've been sleeping and not working. It's a vicious cycle, and I'm sure that a lot of you have found yourselves stuck going in unhealthy circles once or thirty times in your life. That being said, there are ways to help. I'm going to dive straight in with some tips for investing in yourself, body, mentality, social spheres, the lot.

Does Everything Happen For A Reason? : Life Lessons


Essay Topic: I've been in a weird state recently. I've been fluctuating between an intense 'I have no control of my future' feeling and some 'Everything is going to sort itself out on its own' moments. What I've been realising is that these two extremes have a commonality; everything that is happening in my life right now isn't a random case of events, and I wanted to talk about it a little more in depth because it's been fascinating me recently.

*quick little disclaimer: I in no way am a philosophy professional, just sharing an idea that's been bouncing around my mind for a while now*

Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival Bloggers Cruise

 So, a few weeks ago I saw an email in my inbox. It was from the Sunshine Coast Fashion Festival, asking whether I'd like to come on their Blogger's Cruise. I was so flattered and said yes immediately, and before I knew it I was off on a boat with five other bloggers to go whale watching with Sunshine Coast Afloat. This is a little post about what we got up to:


Recent Beauty Additions: Cruelty-Free


Hello Again Everyone! I'm back with another episode of ethical beauty, bringing a bit of awareness to cruelty-free brands with fantastic products. I'm all for makeup and skincare that are beautiful organisations throughout the entire process, and I don't need a M.A.C. Lipstick bad enough to justify supporting a pro-animal-testing company. So without further ado, here are a few of my new favourites!

Just For The Record...


Splendour in The Grass is coming up, featuring some great artists from all around the globe. This year I'm not going, but I do have a little round-up of recent records I've been loving, including San Cisco and Vera Blue who will be at Splendour (head over to their sets, if you're gonna be there!) So without further ado, here are the tracks I've been loving.

If It Costs You Your Peace, It's Too Expensive : Life Lessons

Series two of the things I've been learning quite quickly is here. Last time I wrote about not getting worked up about the little things, using that age-old spilt milk metaphor. Today I have something to have a chat about peace, happiness, and when to stop trying too hard. Let's get going.

Sydney Postcard Two

My time in Sydney is over, and I had the most wonderful time there. The place is more beautiful than I imagined, and I have a few more snapshots to share with you, mostly art/out and about pictures. Enjoy, and I'll see you next week.

Sydney Postcard One

Hey pals! I'm in Sydney this whole week and I thought I'd share a few little moments from around the city while I'm here. I'm more of an amateur photographer, so these are just a few little snaps I liked the look of! The trip is halfway through, I'll divvy more pictures out later in the week; for now have a squiz through. E x

Life Lately


University is over for another five weeks. I counted it up and with 28 assessment pieces in 14 weeks, being relieved is a complete understatement. I'm stoked that the semester is over and I'm ready to actually spend some time enjoying the break because quite frankly the job/eat/sleep/university cycle has got me burnt out. It's been a while since I posted on this space so I thought I'd run you through what's been happening these last few weeks.

Small-Scale Beauty

I think it's safe to say that no one likes going into Mecca/Sephora/whatever-cosmetic-store-you-go-to and buying a product - and it's terrible. I also think it's safe to say that everyone likes getting free stuff. Combine the two and there you go, free beauty samples were born. I love free samples/minis, especially as someone who is allergic to a tonne of ingredients in skincare. They're actually not too hard to come by, so if you're wanting to find out how to get ahold of them I can help out.

No Point Crying Over Spilt Milk: Life Lessons


Everyone's been there. You get upset over something that you can't possibly control, and with no solution, every aspect of your life just becomes more and more vexing. Let's get it out of the way: that feeling is absolute shit. It is. It's annoying and irritating, but it happens to the best of us. We don't like being out of control, but sometimes the best way to get back on track is just to walk away, cut the strings and close the door. In walking away, you're also heading towards something better. The moving forward process is an important one - and this process can be applied to your personal and professional life. Let's get started.

Long Time, No See


Heya, It's been a long, long while. My last post was on the 10th of March. The 10th of March, what have I been up to in all that time? Well, I've been adjusting to the life of a uni student, been working a lot and catching up with friends. I've learnt more economic theories than I thought my brain could handle, and I've been filling up notebook after notebook with creative writing/poetry ideas. With all that going down, I sort of got swept away from Heya Emily for a bit.

The Edit : 01


Heya kids! After a full on week of uni and being out of home and catching up with friends and moving into autumn, I'm back on the blog; overwhelmed doesn't cover the half of it. For being barely three months in, a whole lot has happened, so I thought I'd write about a few things I'm loving right now.

International Women's Day 2017!

Happy International Women's Day!! By far, one of my favourite days of the year is today. It's not a time to get overtly-political in my eyes, it's a time to appreciate and celebrate the great things women are and do. They are our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, co-workers, teachers, friends, and inspirations. They are powerful, awe-inspiring and don't get enough credit for how much they shaped the course of history. Today, of all the days of the year, go and tell a significant woman in your life how important they are to you. It may seem trivial, but those sort of compliments keep the world turning. I think the phrase that best suits International Women's Day is this:

 "Here's to strong, capable, inspiring women. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them"

Hands down, my Mum is my biggest inspiration. She is the first person in the history of our family to go to University, she has her Bachelor, her Masters and is about to finish her PhD. She managed all this and two children and a full-time job, that required international travel and transforming the world of education. She taught me about feminism, girl-power, being educated and well-informed, and a whole lot of other things that have shaped who I am as a person. So, Award for Best Lady I know 2017 goes to you, Kylie.

Would love to read your thoughts on your personal female inspirations, or International Women's Day in general in the comments down below xx 

A Rookie's Guide to University Essentials


O-Week came around way too quickly. Last thing I knew I was in my graduation ceremony, and now I'm sat on the QUT campus waiting around for my Introduction Seminar to kick off. I feel super ready to start, I've had a big enough break (I'll regret saying that after my 1st economics tutorial), and kicking off a double degree just seems like the right thing to do. That being said, I'm still completely and utterly being thrown in the deep end here, I'm definitely a University Rookie. So, apart from my textbooks, I didn't really know what I needed when I was on campus, and I don't think many other first years do either. So I asked around, talked to a few of my friends who have already been, and these are the things I think you need to be taking with you class to class.

The Best Kind of Chaos: Moving Out


My room is full of boxes and flat-pack furniture, my clothes are hidden in suitcases, and I'm currently in a McDonalds using the free wifi to write this because the lack of internet in our house means that I've moved out of home! University doesn't start for another week or so, but I've headed over to my new house, and it's both liberating and nerve-wracking. I mean, day to day it's normal, but in the grand scheme of things it's a big step for anyone. I'm no stranger to moving houses, this is the 11th house I've lived in, but it's the first time doing it on my own (well with my housemates - ty for the help A & B). Seeing as Heya Emily is a personal lifestyle blog, I thought that I'd do a journal type post and talk about moving out and how I'm feeling about it all.

Ways to Wake up Happy

Heya everyone!! With February coming alarmingly quickly, a lot of you are heading off to university or back to work, school and the like. Regrettably, this means less sleeping in listening to a spotify playlist, and more alarm clocks far earlier than we'd prefer. I'm in the uni boat, and recently I've been focussing on waking up on the right side of the bed.

H E R E ' S  W H A T  I ' V E  F O U N D

I love a good sleep in, beyond anything else, sleep is my thing. So waking up in itself does not make me happy. If I hate waking up, then getting up, getting ready and moving on with the day is - well lets just say there's no skipping down the streets. So, personally, waking up happy also involves changing up my relationship with sleep. It took some work, but now instead of focussing on how many minutes I can stay under the covers, I focus on how well I can use those minutes. I suppose you could call it positive gearing? In any regard, working on making the most out of not sleeping in has helped.

After I put everything into effect, regardless of what was happening in my life, I knew I could get out of bed, wake up in a positive mindset and get going to getting what I want.

H E R E ' S  M Y  I D E A S

+ P L A N  I T  O U T
Pretty black and white, but think about the day ahead and think it through, what has to be done, how are you going to get everything sorted. I usually write a list the night before/in the morning and cross things off to make sure I'm getting as much out of my day, and that helps with making sure I feel accomplished. For me, success and contentment correlate very much to my happiness levels.

+ K E E P  R E S T L E S N E S S  A T  B A Y
You wanna wake up happy? Get to sleep! If your body is balanced, there's more than a chance that you will be too. I have a post lined up all about this, but the essence is that with a good sleep comes a good wake-up. You'll be brighter, more alert and the more prepared you are for the day the happier you'll feel. Also, don't go to bed angry or upset. Personally, this just means that I carry those emotions through until the next morning, so try your best to leave them at the door.

+ G E T  I N  A  R O U T I N E
Stress is the number one thing that can impede on your happiness, and when it does it hits hard. I know that changes like starting uni, picking classes and moving out are all stressful things to manage, but get into a routine as quickly as you can. They're a sense of control, which makes your morning so much easier. Your mornings will become more automatic, which leaves time for the next step:

+ M A K E  S O M E  T I M E  F O R  Y O U
Number one thing!! I could speak volumes about how important it is to do things everyday that make you happy. Dog walking, blogging, playing sport, getting a good coffee, getting your culture fix etc. is bound to set you up for a good day ahead. Get the dopamine and the oxytocin and all those great chemicals flowing around your bod and it's pretty much the same as being bulletproof to the less-than-great events that could pop up throughout the day.

What does your morning look like?

So, Let's Have a Chat About Feminism.


This post has taken me weeks to figure out what to say, and that's not an exaggeration. I've been deliberating over what to include, what to leave out, whether this is appropriate for my online space, how is it going to be taken etc etc etc... But I'm ready, I've gathered my thoughts, and here I am. So, let's have a little chat about feminism.

Skin Staples


 I'm a big fan of skin care. Like, having nice skin without makeup is important for me personally. That might be a thing that isn't for everyone, but personally I am a fan of a good old skin care routine. I've gone through a lot of skin products since I discovered the Priceline aisle when I was thirteen and it's been a long (long) road. From finding out I am allergic to most foaming cleansers and exfoliators - via angry red skin for three days - to discovering toner doesn't do a whole lot, I eventually figured out what I wanted/needed for skin care, and today I'm sharing the current rotation with you.

Two Thousand and Seventeen: I'm Feeling Good

Out with the old and in with the new, I suppose. The year has only just begun and life in the new year is sorting itself out pretty quick. I love the New Year more than any other holiday, fresh starts are so full of potential and are perfect to push for your goals to become a reality (as clichè as it sounds). 2016 has been a wonderful year, full of ups and downs and everything in between, here's my personal outlook on the next trip around the sun.

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