Movie Night Essentials *

Last night I had a lil movie night with one of my friends, watching Dark Shadows (perfect to get in the Halloween spirit!) and it was so much fun! With the early nights drawing in, it's the perfect excuse to have cosy movie nights with friends and family. In fact, it's number 5 on my 10 things about Autumn post. What's better than grabbing some snacks, popping on a film and drinking your weight in hot chocolate? From choosing a dream TV (a girl can dream right) to the best films and my hot chocolate choices, here's my list of movie night essentials!

Dressing for your Stoma #2

After the great response I got from the first dressing for your stoma I thought I'd do another post. I originally found that wearing dresses is really comfy way of dressing, especially after having surgery mainly because I have always preferred the skater style dresses which don't cling to the body.  So here's an outfit which will suit smarter occasions and is nice and warm for these colder days. 

Healthy Ginger Pumpkin Chocolate Browines

Yes, you heard that right. Healthy chocolate brownies. What more could a girl want? And what's even better is it uses up the pumpkin from making all those jack-o-lateens so not only is it healthy it also reduces waste. Plus, they're really tasty!

What's in my Uni Bag

Something I love reading on blogs and watching on YouTube is The What's In My Bag Tag. It's a guilty pleasure of mine! So I thought I'd share with you what I take with me to university. 

6 months with a stoma

This weekend just gone marked six months with a stoma which to me feels really weird because it doesn't feel like half a year since I had my surgery. When I noticed it was six months, it kind of knocked me a bit and I'm not entirely sure why. 

I normally post  positive things about having my stoma, and I still stand by all that I've said, but like I said in my World Ostomy Day post, like any chronic illness you have good days and bad days and you can't just ignore the bad days. 

The main thing which got me down is the fact that I'm still not 100% better and even though I was told it takes time to heal it still got to me that I still get really tired and things like that and because I look well on the outside and actually look like I did before I got ill a few years ago I think other people, and myself, don't realise that I'm still recovering and getting better.

As my mum said though, you've got to look at all the things to be grateful for so that's what I'm doing and I'm already starting to feel a little bit more optimistic about everything.

A Day in Liverpool

So two weeks ago I headed to Liverpool with one of my friends for a day of shopping and exploring the city. Considering Liverpool isn't that far from where I live, and my dads from very near there, I'd never actually been their before (unless you count going to the airport) so I was really excited to have a look around. After having a browse in Primark for a jumper (I had very much underestimated quite how cold it was that day!) and going to Gourmet  Burger for a delicious lunch (which I forgot to instagram because I was too hungry!) we headed to the Tate Modern Art Gallery.

Dressing for your Stoma #1

I think one of my biggest worries before surgery, and something I still feel self conscious about now, is what to wear so you feel comfortable with your stoma. One of the questions I actually asked my stoma nurses pre surgery was about clothing and what I would be able to wear. For me, I still struggle wearing my super skinny jeans because I don't like tight things on my stoma, I'm scared of squishing it and stopping it from doing its thang! (side note, I don't think it actually does that it's just one of my weird, irrational fears). When I got home, one of the things I searched most was what to wear which is why I'm going to do a series of posts on what I like to wear to feel comfortable yet (hopefully) stylish as a lot of things out there are actually geared to older people!

World Ostomy Day

I'm breaking from my normal blogging schedule to celebrate my first ever world ostomy day with an actual ostomy! Me and Ant (yes, I've named my stoma Ant) can officially celebrate world ostomy day as an ostomate and to do so I'm doing an obligatory #GetYourBellyOut picture because it's been quite a while since I posted one.

If you're late to the party and are wondering what the hell an ostomy is, google defines it as an artificial opening in an organ of the body, created during an operation such as a colostomy, ileostomy, or gastrostomy; a stoma.  I have an ileostomy so I've had my colon removed and now part of my ilium (small bowel) is on my stomach but you can read all about how I got my stoma here.

This years theme is #ManyStoriesOneVoice and I think that this is such a great theme as nearly everyone who has an ostomy has a different story but we all have one aim, to be well and be able to live our lives to the fullest!

I've always been really open about my stoma; if someone wanted to ask a question I'd always answer it. I'm not ashamed of my stoma because it saved my life and if people are curious its important to educate them on what it's actually like; the good and the bad.

I'd be lying if I said having a stoma isn't sometime a bag of shit (literally) but if I dwell on the bag leaks and the sore skin and the sometimes feeling so different to my friends, I'm going to get seriously depressed!  I think it's a common misconception that if you have a bag that your life is suddenly going to become rubbish or that stomas are mainly for old people. These stereotypes are so wrong! I didn't realise how many young people have ostomies but they do...this year alone 900 ostomates started university. And as for how you live your life, I've done so much more since having my stoma I actually can't believe it. For the past two years I've been limited in what I could do because of pain and constantly needing the toilet where as now I'm a lot more free to do things. I'm not 100% well yet; I still get tired easily and I get bad joint pains and need to rest but in the grand scheme of things, that's nothing!

I always try (try being the key word there) to keep upbeat about my ostomy because at the end of the day I could be in a lot worse of a state without it and it has given me my life back!

Ileostomy Friendly Healthy Spaghetti Cabonara

I love cabonara. It's got to be one of my favourite foods in the world! I mean, its pasta, cheese and bacon, what's not to love? However it can be quite unhealthy so I've tweaked it a bit and added a slightly healthier twist on the classic Italian dish.