I deleted my Facebook account.

Greetings earthlings, 

Quick update.... 

I deleted my Facebook account.
I wrote 3 pieces on the topic for a brilliant new website.

If you're interesting in hearing why I deleted my Facebook
you can read 

Part 1 here.

Part 2 here 

and Part 3 here.

Planet Lo will be relaunching in March 2016. Details will be up on my twitter and google + accounts. You can find my twitter here and my google + here.

Thank you for your patience!!

See you then! 

Lxx

The Comeback.

Greetings earthlings, 

As you may have noticed,Planet Lo has been on quite the hiatus. 

This is a result of many, many reasons including the fact that I recently finished University. 

Planet Lo is currently under construction, getting a lick of paint and a new vibe.

It will be back and better than ever in
NOVEMBER 2015 

Thank you for your patience! 

See you then,Lxx 

*You can follow me on Google+ using the widget to the right of this post on the main page to be notified when the next post goes up.
You can also be kept up to date by following me on my new twitter @planetloblog or  on my instagram: planetlo_blog

Robyn's Life- Urgent Appeal.

Greetings earthlings, 

Two years ago I wrote a post entitled 'In which a 4 year old teaches me how to live.'
You can read it here.

With the exception of Lily Mae's story I don't share stories of charities etc on this blog as it's very hard to choose one without disappointing others etc.

This however is an exception, this is an urgent appeal. I couldn't not do my best to help. I'm lucky that I'm in a position where I can reach a lot of people through this blog,

the least I can do is use it to do good.

 Robyn Smyth is a 10 year old from Dublin suffering with the life threatening cancer Neuroblastoma for the second time. This is the same cancer Lily-Mae Morrison has now been free from for 18 months. Robyn's family urgently need to raise €300k euro so she can have the same chance of surviving as Lily-Mae. They need to send her to New York to receive a life saving vaccine to stop the cancer returning. Without this vaccine, there is a 95% chance the disease will return again and most likely be fatal. This isn't just an appeal to improve her quality of life, it's to save her life.

Even if you can only donate a euro, please go do it now and share this post. They say you can't put a price on a life but unfortuantely in this case you can, it's €300,000. This family shouldn't have to struggle to raise this money but unfortunetly they do. If you yourself are, or you know anybody in a position to help this family raise the money, please help. Imagine if it were your child.


Click here to donate

Paypal- robynslife@live.com

Click here to view the Robyn's Life  Facebook page and here for the twitter page.

Please share this page. 

Thank you x

Achieving Goals: Finals.

Greetings earthlings, 

Finals. Exams. Call them  what you may, they all mean the same thing. They embody the fence that

separates us from Summer. The fence that is, in my case, oh so hard to climb.
Being in my final year of my degree, finals have never had such consequences for me. They are the one thing separating me from the rest of my life.

The worst thing about finals? One
 is so close to freedom yet so far.
My biggest problem is tackling the job at hand. I have so many things I want to do and achieve once I graduate that I often waste time day dreaming about them. Day dreaming about these things is much more fun than college work. However I have somehow managed to stay on top of things(kind of).
However exciting the future may seem, my future career depends largely on me attaining my degree.  With only two weeks separating me from the rest of my life it can be very  hard to concentrate on the task in hand. Because of this, I worked out how to motivate myself and it's going well.

Using this self-reflection I have come up with a short list of tips, that may be useful for you or may be a waste of your time, only time will tell.
Even if you are not sitting exams, these tips can be used to work towards the goals you wish to achieve.

1. Make short, achievable to do lists. 

I often find myself making overly optimistic to do lists and I end up doing nothing. If you make a short list, even of two tasks, you are far more likely to complete those tasks. Slow and steady wins the race.

2. Get enough sleep. 

Yes I sound like a parent here but a good night's sleep is invaluable.

3. Give up the sauce. 

If you, like me are partial to the odd night out on the drink, but put the drink on the back burner for a few weeks. Hangovers and study do not mix.

4. Take well deserved breaks. 

Treat yourself, give yourself goals, whether it be an episode of Suits or a slice of Red Velvet cake, it's important that you maintain some kind of quality of life!

5. Keep Calm and Carry on. 

As cheesy as this sounds it is so important. Stay calm. So many people panic and end up ruining things for themselves as a result of this. Finals are not the end of the world, so don't make them out to be. Have a quick 5 minute stress to yourself to get it out of your system then get back on the horse. You can't achieve what you want if you reside in a ball of panic.

6.Celebrate when it's over! 

Most people have no problem with this one, I certainly don't!
Whether it be with a cocktail or a Netflix binge, once your exams are over....celebrate! Reward yourself for your hard work and enjoy life :)

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you found it helpful.  Good luck with whatever goal you may be trying to achieve :)

Stay classy,

Lxx 

10 instagram accounts that I folllow.

Courtney Adamo

Greetings earthlings, 

Many of us humans use the app instagram, about 100 million of us. 

Persoanlly I love instagram, it's my favourite app on my phone. If I had to pick just one app to keep it would be instagram witout a doubt. I love trying to discover new accounts to follow to keep it interesting and see different people's experiences of life through photos. I have complied a list below of 10 instagram accounts that I love to follow, hopefully some of them will interest you. Enjoy ;) 

Stay classy,
L xx

Some of Courtney's photos. 

Vadim Makhorov 

• Courtney Adamo
•  Chelsea Peretti
• Giovanna Fletcher
•  Vadim Makhorov
• Tal Peleg
•   Samantha Lee
  
• Rachel Ryle
• NationalGeographic
  
• Donal Skehan
•  Irish Healthy Gal

                                                      

                                                 Who What Where Why When    

Courtney Adamo:  Courtney Adamo, an American based in London , is the co-founder of babyccinokids.com. Courtney's instagram is currently my favourite instagram account. A Mother of 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls Courtney shares her life through pictures of her beautiful children, their knitted clothes and mini adventures. She has a simplistic parenting approach that I really admire and can only hope I can somewhat emulate it when I'm a Mother. I really recommend this account for someone that wants a fresh view of parenting as well of beautiful pictures of London and gorgeous home decor posts.
Username: courtneyadamo
View instagram here

Chelseas Peretti: For those of you who watch the comedy tv series Brooklyn 99 you may be more familiar with Chelsea as her character Gina. Chelsea is by far my favourite comedian at the moment and appears to be just like her on screen character in real life. Her  instagram posts never fail to make me laugh.
Username:  chelsanity
View instagram here


3. Giovanna Fletcher:

 Giovanna is an author and also the wife of McFly/McBusted's Tom Fletcher. Giovanna strikes me as very down to earth despite her surroundings. She posts gorgeous photos of her beautiful baby son Buzz, her enviable relationship with Tom(Relationship Goals.com) She's honest about Motherhood and also gives great book recommendations.
Username: mrsgifletcher
View instagram here


4. Vadim Makhorov

#Ontheroofs.
Vadim takes photo's on the roof. The photos are fantastic. He has a unique way of viewing the world and it's fascinating to see the world's biggest landmarks from a different perspective.
Username: makhorov
View instagram here.


5. Tal Peleg
Tal tell's different stories using eye makeup. I love how creative these are, it's something anyone with a few eyeshadows and eyeliner's can try out. Disclaimer: Your results may very from those on Tal's account!
Username: tal_peleg
View instagram here.


6. Samantha Lee
Samantha Lee is a food artist that makes designs out of her meals, enjoy,

7. Rachel Ryle
Rachel Ryle is an animator & illustrator whose work I really admire, she's super talented and her stop motions animation posts are great pick me ups.
Username: rachelryle
View instagram here

8. National Geographic
This is one is pretty self explanitory. National Geographic are known for publishing amazing photos and their instagram account does just this. Their stunning photos of both people and animals in nature put small stresses into perspective.
Username: natgeo
View instagram here

9. Donal Skehan
Donal is a young Irish chef. A former member of the band Streetwize he has managed to launch an extremely successful career as a tv cook and has many best-selling books. He's basically Ireland's answer to Jamie Oliver. I'm not going to lie he irritaed me slightly at first(probably because I'm jealous of his success.) Donal has to be one of the most cheerful people I have ever seen. I can't help  but smile when I see his big cheesy grin on my Instagram homepage. Aswell as sharing delicious food pictures of his creations Donal also takes his followers along with him on his ever increasing travels. He is doing extremely well at the moment, he recently apperared on The Today Show with Martha Stewart.
Username: donalskehan
View instagram here

10.  Niamh (Irishhealthygal) 
Niamh is an Irish instagrammer I recently discovered on my quest for inspiration. Since beginning my diet coke detox I have tried to adapt a more healthy lifesyle by 'eating clean' and introducing more exercise into my life. Niamh's instagram shares pictures of her diet and exercise routine. What I really like about it is her realistic approach. She isn't a bodybuilder she's just a normal girl trying to tone up and eat well. It can be easy to aim straight for the top when undergoing a lifestyle over haul but I think it is so important to be realistic and make small gradual changes that will last a life time, you are far more likely to stick to your plan.
Username: irishhealthygal
View instagram here

Samantha Lee 

Tal Peleg

Rachel Ryle

Giovanna Fletcher

Irish Healthy Gal 

*I do not own the rights to any of the photos included in this posts. All rights remain with the instagram accounts in question.* 

Diet Coke Detox Update...shackle free me.

,

Greetings, earthlings,

They say it takes 21 days to break a habit,
I have discovered the truth in this, I am currently 30 days free of the black stuff.
I have finally gotten to the stage where I no longer crave it! Happy days, my shackles are gone and I run free. I'm now addicted to sparkling water but this is an addiction I'm willing to live with!

It's been interesting to challenge myself in this way. There have been days when I would love nothing more than an ice cold bottle of  the black stuff, especially during study sessions. Thankfully I managed to push these thoughts aside, with a bit of help from a large coffee...

I've also been eating a lot better because of this detox. The black stuff definitely  made me crave sugar a lot more, I feel much less inclined to eat junk food these days which is fantastic.

Here's a photo of me displaying my excitement at my new found freedom? 

All in all, it's been a success! My next challenge is to make sure I don't relapse like last time.

[Also, small update: I have a new series coming soon, just 40 days left of University and then I'm all yours.] 

Stay classy,

L xx

The (diet coke) relapse.

Greetings earthlings, 

For those of you that have been reading these posts for a while now you may remember my post 'Diet Coke Detox.' from February 2013. You can read it here if you don't.

That post did exactly what it said on the tin, it documented my detox from my addiction to Diet Coke. I was doing well, I had given up Diet Coke for two weeks, the cravings had subsided and the future looked bright. However, all good things must come to end.

Nearly two years later I have unfortunately returned with a similar post.
I relapsed. Before I knew it I was guzzling back the black stuff like it was going out of fashion.

My main reason for drinking it is for the caffeine. I don't drink tea or coffee so it's my primary source of caffeine, without which I would not make it through the day. Although caffeine is brilliant for perking you up midday or mid study session when you really need it, it's extremely addictive. How was I supposed to survive final year college whilst working most weekends without caffeine? Well it seems I couldn't. As I said, I was knocking it back without a care in the world.

I went to stay with family in Dublin a few months back and found myself in their Diet Coke free house gasping for some of the black stuff, it was then I realized I had to stop. If I couldn't enjoy a weekend away without it then it clearly had too much control over me. This sounds very dramatic but its the truth!
Unfortunately soft drinks are extremely bad for you, God knows if it was good for you my life would be a lot easier! Yes there are only 3 calories in a 500ml bottle of many of them which is appealing of course but the bad out ways the good. They are full of artificial sweeteners, including aspartame whose excessive consumption can lead to kidney cancer. among other horrific things. Needless to say, I do not fancy kidney cancer. As well as all that fun stuff the artificial sweeteners make you crave sweet things, which I definitely found to be true in my case. Thankfully I'm one of those oddballs that doesn't really like cake or pastries but I still found myself snacking on too many dairymilk ritz bars, a direct result of what my addiction to soft drinks was doing to me.
 I'm lucky enough to be flying out to New York City on my 21st birthday at the end of May for my cousin's wedding. I don't fancy the thought of a 6 hour withdrawal flight before visiting America for the first time. (apart from Disneyland Florida when I was 16 months old but let's face it, I do not remember it, at all.) Nor do I enjoy  the thought of trying to find my next fix of the black stuff instead of enjoying the view from the top of the Empire State building.

This my friends, is why I am currently halfway through my first week without diet coke. As I'm sure many of you are aware, lent began last Wednesday. I decided it was the perfect time to kick this habit once and for all. It has not been easy, at all. I have had very bad headaches as a result of the caffeine withdrawals which make it very tempting to reach for a bottle of the black stuff! I've been cranky and just generally, in a heap.  However, this is where the willpower comes into it, I've had to whip out willpower I didn't know I had. I've been guzzling sparkling water to combat the fizz cravings which really helps and have also started drinking one cup of black coffee a day to get my caffeine fix.

Although this may seem very OTT for something like Diet Coke but an addiction is an addiction. I'm not out of the woods yet, I know from past experience that I still have a few more days to go before my body finally excepts the fact it's not getting anymore black stuff.
For those of you that have an addiction of any kind, be it soft drinks, cigarettes, alcohol or chips, giving them up is hard, but it can be done! (I hope.)
I'm currently sipping on a homemade smoothie looking forward to the day where I can drink it and enjoy it for what it is without being plagued by cravings. Hopefully that day is just around the corner! I'll keep ye updated on my progress, hopefully the thought of having to write another relapse post will be enough to stop me from guzzling!

Stay classy, and if you currently don't drink soft drinks..do not start!!

Lxx

Thursday Tunes(on a Monday) = Music Mondays.

   


Greetings earthlings, 

Long time no see! It seems that final year college has taken up more time than I intially anticipated, that and Christmas celebrations! 

I listened to a lot of music over the Christmas weeks and suddenly found myself obsessed with Biggie Smalls.
 I don't know how this happened but I'm not going to fight it! I understand that I'm about 20 years late on the Biggie Bandwagon but I'm hopping on none the less!
Needless to say, Biggie is included in this week's Thursday Tunes. 

Aswell as Biggie I've recently discovered an artist called Chlöe Howl, I'm excited to see what the future holds for this oh so chouette 19 year old. 

Here's this week's playlist, enjoy x

1.Chlöe Howl- Rumour. Listen here
2. Biggie Smalls Ja Rule Remix- Old Thing Back Listen here

3. Marina and The Diamonds Froot
4. Nick Jonas ft Tinashe- Jealous Remix Listen here

5.Jamie Lynn Spears-How Could I Want More Listen here

6.Tom Misch- Soulection White Label:008 Listen here

7.Annie(Cameron Diaz)- Little Girls Listen here 

8.Marina and The Diamonds Happy Listen here
9.Chloe Howl Disappointed (acoustic) Listen here

10. James Bay Hole Back The River Listen here

                     Who What Where Why When

Chloe Howl: Obsessed. I've been listening to this girl non stop for the past month. She has a gorgeous distinctive voice that seems to fit any style of music. She tells it like it is with her honest lyrics documenting teenage life. This girl is going to be huge, trust me.
Her Twitter page is also well worth the follow, hilarious. Really want to go drinking with her.

Biggie: What can I say? The Notorius B.I.G got me.

Nick Jonas ft Tinashe: The Disney Chanel sweetheart we all fell for way back when is back. I love his new style and have been playing this remix non stop.

Jamie Lynn Spears: I have to say I really admire this girl. She had a baby young and left a life in the spotlight to raise her. Now six years later, shes back with an amazing Country style EP. This song was out a year ago, I have no idea why I didn't write about it sooner but hey, better late than never! I think this style of music fits her voice perfectly. Also, I pulled a sickie from school to watch the very first episode of Zoey 101 when I was about 10 so I may just be her biggest fan ever.

Tom Misch: I've been trying to listen to soundcloud more to listen to a broader range of music. It was there that I discovered Tom Misch, I find his remixes very relaxing and love listening to them when I'm out on walks.

Cameron Diaz(as Mrs Hannigan): I brought my cousin's young daughter to see the new Annie remake and I have to say it was one of the highlights of my Christmas. Listening to a little one tell you how  excited they are to see a film always adds to it regardless but I have to say I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

Marina and The Diamonds: I've been a fan of this Goddess since the start and her newest album FROOT does not disappoint.

James Bay: Another young artist making me feel like a massive underachiever. His soothing voice and long locks are enough to make anyone swoon. He is without a doubt another one to watch.



I hope you enjoyed this week's long overdue post.
May 2015 be the year I finally commit to this blog!

Stay classy, 

L xx