I don't know about you guys but I'm always forgetting birthdays for my friends and family, which normally means a last minute panic about buying a card and posting it the day before their actual birthday... oops?

I've used online card services before and they can be really useful, but I recently gave Choosey a go and they stand out for me due to their video card option. This lets you add a video to the inside of a physical card for the recipient to watch on their phone when they open it... sounds fun right?

Let me walk you through the process:

1. The first step is to head to the website choosey.com and choose your occassion, type of card (I love the "cheeky" options) and then choose the card you actually want to send.

There is so much choice available so there's going to be a card for every person and every occassion.

2. Card chosen? The next step is to choose whether you want a standard A5 sized card or a larger A4 size.

The price difference is £2.99 for an A5 and £4.99 for the A4. (This doesn't include postage which costs £0.65 for an A5 {up to 3 cards} or £1.23 for an A4, in the UK. Other delivery options are available).

3. Video time! Now you don't have to add a video, it's completely up to you but if you choose to just follow the instructions to upload your video to the card.

You could do a video of you singing Happy Birthday or maybe one of their favourite GIFs? The options are endless..

I chose the card you can see at the top, which says "forever young! Just kidding, you're ageing with every passing moment!", which is absolutely perfect for my friend's birthday later this month (hopefully she won't see this first...oops).

On the inside I uploaded a copy of one of her favourite videos online, she's mad about owls so it was a perfect fit.. to see how it works when you receive a Choosey video card click PLAY on the video below!

The person you send the card to will need to download the Choosey app or use their own QR reading app but it's pretty easy to do. I did find getting the right spot to scan on the QR code a little tricky as you can see but once it's recognised it the video plays pretty quickly, although having to keep it over the QR code is a bit of a downside if I'm honest..

Overall, I'm really impressed with the Choosey video card experience, they were easy to order with lots of options to choose from online, the uploading process was quick and simple to understand, my card was dispatched the next day (I ordered in the evening) and was with me the day after so postage was quick (you have the option of sending either direct to recipient or back to you with an extra envelope) if you want to do the writing), and the card itself is really great quality, along with the fun extra of a video to watch!

I'll happily use Choosey again for cards in the future, especially at Christmas when I send cards to family abroad.. I can sing Jingle Bells at them!

I'd love to know your thoughts; do you forget birthdays too or is that just me? And what do you think of a video inside a card?! Drop me a comment below, it'll make my day!

Stay safe, x

If you want to give Choosey a go for yourself I secured a special discount code for readers (I receive no commisison for this) that will get you 50% off! Just enter HANNAH2017 at the checkout!

*This is not a sponsored post, I am under no obligation to review this product positively, this is just my honest opinion. I was provided with a discount code for my initial purchase.*

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I'm sure most of us have heard about blue light from our phones, computers etc keeping us awake and some of you might have programs installed to turn your screens more yellow as the day goes on e.g. Apple's Night Shift mode. I use them across all my devices and they definitely work to a point, but then one day while browsing around online I found a pair of glasses that claimed to filter out the blue light themselves, and I was intrigued.

I bought my first pair of blue-light filter glasses or computer glasses as I call them about a year ago now and I've been virtually inseperable from my various pairs since. I actually broke the arm on the first set I had, but the ones I'm using now have lasted me a while.

So how do they work? Well the science-y side of it seems to be that blue light from screens makes your brain think it's daytime and that you should be awake, so if you use these devices right up until you go sleep (I see you 1am instagram scrollers!) then if you have issues getting to sleep or you find you wake up a lot in the night then this could be part of the reason. The glasses have yellow tinted lenses so the blue light doesn't penetrate and your bodyclock should work normally.

You can see the tint the glasses give below (there's no filter on these photos, they look like that):

I have two pairs that I wear regularly, a pair with spring-hinges (for comfort) which I wear when I'm working on the laptop or using my phone in the evening.. I normally put these on about 6pm, and a second pair which I keep by my bed for use before I go to sleep.

The first time I bought a pair last year I was sceptical but the difference it made was huge, I have naturally very dry eyes and use eye drops but the glasses reduced how dry my eyes were which was unexpected but welcome, my sleep definitely improved and strain headaches from too much screen time became a thing of the past for me. Sometimes if it's late afternoon and my eyes are already tired I put my glasses on a bit earlier in the day and the relief comes in a matter of minutes. I never thought I'd choose to wear glasses, especially as my vision is perfect, but I wouldn't be without a pair of these now.. they make my eyes more comfortable and I sleep better, what's not to love? They're also great for air travel as I find that can really dry my eyes out but these glasses help to relieve that slightly.

The only possible issue could be the tint, so if I'm doing design or photography work then obviously I need to see the true colours so I don't wear them for that but I make sure I give myself regular breaks to avoid any strain.

I found these just by browsing the first time but just searching for blue light filter glasses or computer glasses will bring up plenty of results with all sorts of styles and prices.. if you need magnification for reading glasses you can actually buy these with different magnifications so you don't have to choose between the two!

I can't find links for both the pairs in the photo above, but the top pair can be found on Amazon by clicking here (not an affiliate link).

If you struggle with tired or dry eyes, trouble sleeping or if you just want to limit eye strain I'd definitely recommend giving some glasses a go, they've made a huge difference in my life.

I'd love to hear your thoughts so please drop me a comment below!

Stay safe, x

Summer is finally here! Last week most of the UK had a "heatwave" so lots of time was spent outside and hopefully, lots more sunshine will be on its way over the next couple of months. To get your garden ready for summer, Aldi have launched their latest Specialbuys range; which is available instore and online from the 29th June 2017.

Now a quick grumble... as soon as these items from the Summer Garden range arrived it started to rain and it hasn't stopped since! But I'm sure the sun will be back soon so let's have a quick look at what's included in this latest Specialbuys offering:

As you can see there's something for every area of your outside space, whether it's a sofa, flower pot or lawn mower. I was lucky to get my hand on a few items ahead of release to tell you about including; 3 piece tool set, solar light bulbs, self-watering pot and watering wand.

First up; solar hanging light bulb, I love the design of these; so simple but they can be a perfect finishing touch! I've hung mine on the washing line to give a bit of light outside the back door and they look great, although we haven't had enough sunshine since I got them for them to light up at night (which they do automatically)! They come with little clips but I decided to attach mine with cable ties just incase it gets windy.

I also tried out the 3 piece tool set which includes: lopping shears, hedge sheers and pruning shears. They all have carbon steel blades and easy to grip soft handles. I've already tried them all out (there's a lot of pruning needed in our garden at the moment!) and they all worked brilliantly, clean cuts every time and they don't strain your wrists either so they're much better than my old ones.

The self-watering pot is a great idea that I didn't know existed and at a great price too. They come in green or the terracotta you can see in the photo above and are the perfect size for all sorts of plants, bulbs or shrubs. They have a resevoir at the bottom so they keep water for longer so you don't have to worry about forgetting to water them for a couple of days if it's been hot without rain. The terracotta pot I have looks great, you can't really tell it's plastic and I can't wait to plant it up!

And the last item I received to put to the test was the watering wand, now I have to share a hosepipe with my neighbour so the extra length it gives is actually quite useful, plus it gives me a bit extra height for washing the car roof etc. It extends up 141cm and has 9 functions: jet, central, cone, flat, full, angled, rain, shower and spray mist, so you can do everything you need with it! It's easy to hold and fits onto the end of your hosepipe easily.

I will definitely be popping down to my local Aldi over the next couple of days to pick up some of the other items in the range.. I love the look of some of their novelty bird feeders (especially the milk carton one) and the citronella garden candles (you can never have too much citronella in summer!).

As always with Aldi I'm really impressed with the quality of this latest Specialbuys range, especially when everything is always such a great price as well! You can see the whole of the Summer Garden range here and as I said it's available to buy from 29th June 2017.

If you choose to buy any of the items I'd love to know your thoughts and as soon as we get enough sunshine for the solar lights to turn on I'll be sure to share a photo because I know they'll look great and of course, the plant pot once it's all planted up!

How do you make the most of your garden in the summer? Let me know in the comments below!

Stay safe, x

*This post includes PR samples, all thoughts, opinions & photos are my own and this is an honest review.*

So cards on the table.. I'm nervous about writing this and even more so about actually clicking the button to publish it, so deep breath and let's go.

You may have noticed I've been on a bit of a "radio silence" for a few weeks, if you did then I'm really sorry! After working so hard to revamp the site at the beginning of the year I wasn't planning on disappearing on you guys.

So where was I? In the black hole where motivation, enthusiasm and self-worth go to die. Ok, that's a bit melodramatic, but I wasn't in a good place.

A lot of different circumstances and outside issues collided to make a pretty difficult period, I was struggling in almost every aspect of my life and while I wouldn't class myself as depressed during that time, I know from previous experience that I was pretty damn close.

At that time I was having issues with my physical health after an ankle injury meant I couldn't exercise properly, I was (and still am) caring for a disable relative and on top of that there's the boring old work stuff. It was a lot of things all piling on top of me.

It took a friend to sit me down and point out some of my warning signs (biting my thumb is a major one for me; it usually means I'm stressed as hell) for me to realise that I really wasn't coping as well as I thought I was and that the couple of days of not really wanting to do anything had turned into weeks.

So I listened to the people around me, I listened to my body and my mind and I decided to make some changes in my life. One of which means getting back to blogging.

That might not sound like a big deal, but writing and maintaining a blog is a lot of work, and it was definitely a source of anxiety for me. I don't try to emulate other writers, I don't pretend to have a perfect life or post hugely staged photos on instagram, nor do I go to those meetups or blogger events. There's nothing wrong with any of that, I admire the people who are able to do all of it, but it's not for me and it never will be. But despite that I still feel the pressure of wondering if not doing that devalues my work or makes me less likely to be taken seriously. So even not trying to keep up brings its own stresses.

Which brings me back to now, because I promised myself this wouldn't be a long post. My hope and intention is to get back into the swing of things and back into writing and sharing with you guys. I'm not going to commit to a timetable; I've never been good at saying "I'll post every Thursday" because my lifestyle just doesn't accomodate that, but I will write as often as I can and I will hopefully get back onto social media more because I love talking to people and seeing their lives through twitter and instagram.

One reason I want to get back into blogging is to share some of the things that have helped me start to fix the issues I was having; so products, foods, workouts, etc that just bring happiness and better mental state, as well as hopefully introducing both myself and you to some more.

The name of this blog is Life Appears, which comes from a quote from my favourite book of all time Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Charlotte also wrote in Jane Eyre that "I am no bird and no net ensnares me, I am a free human being with an independent will."

Seems a pretty good place to start the next stage of this journey don't you think?

I've linked up with:

If you're anything like me you probably have a stash of products that you used to use, but for whatever reason, moved on from... I can almost never pinpoint why I stop using these products; but it is almost always skincare.

One of the items I've had stashed in a drawer for a while is this tub of Organic Surge Super Rich Body Butter in the Lavender Meadow variety. I couldn't tell you how long it's been there or why I haven't been using it, but I do know that I am committed to using this tub until it runs out.

When we transition between two different seasons my skin tends to rebel; autumn to winter is always the worst for me but this spring limbo also affects me skin, leaving it very dry and desparate for attention. For whatever reason after a shower at the weekend I felt the need for something more intensive than my normal body lotion so I dug this out and decided to reacquaint myself with it.

The first thing that immediately wins me over with this body butter is it's smell... it's just instant relaxtion. I've always been a fan of lavender scented products anyway, but this one is perfection. I actually have it sat next to me while I right this, with the lid off just so I can smell it.. it's like a scented candle without the worry of burning the house down.

Not only does is the smell good for the soul, but the fomulation is good for the skin. It's 100% free of parabens, SLS, artificual fragrances and colourants.... hooray! It's enriched with aloe vera and both cocoa & shea butter, so it soothes and smoothes at the same time. Infused with lavender and geranium essential oils, you get everything you could possibly want in one tub.  Add the fact that it is an ECO CERT organic product and that Organic Surge are fully against animal testing, and it's no wonder I've quickly fallen in love with this body butter.

The body butter is every bit as rich as the name suggests and it is certainly thick, with a little going quite a long way. It does take some serious rubbing in but then once distributed it seems to absorb quite quickly with no residue or sticky feeling left behind... just instant softness.

The only downside for me is that I can't find it for sale anywhere, so I'll be sending an email over to Organic Surge to see if they can help me track some down.. but if not, I've already got my eye on the other Lavender Meadow products, which include a body lotion.

I've found this a really great product to use just before bed, because I get the moisturising, the mini massage from rubbing it in and the relaxing smell of the lavendar (which I already as a pillow spray, so extra relaxation!).

You can find the full Organic Surge range at their website here: www.organicsurge.com

I can't recommend this body butter enough, and while it sat in my drawer for a long time.. it's going to get used a lot from now on!

I'd love to know about your forgotten product stashes and your thoughts on Organic Surge and body butters in general.... comments really do brighten up my day so please say hello!


Speak soon, x