Prosecco and Pie?

The best things in life are usually free, or laden with calories...

This is where I got my inspiration from when coming up with a blog name. I don't know about you, but I find it incredibly hard to be decisive, especially when blog names etc are like a first impression, and everyone knows you only get one chance, so I simply thought of the things I liked best, and added a little alliteration for good measure! 

Prosecco reminds me of warm summer evenings sitting in the garden with friends (a bright red strawberry swimming happily in our glasses of course), and pie, well as a Northern girl, that goes without saying. Whether it's mince pie and chips, steak and ale with mashed potato and gravy or pork pie, what's not to love? 

As they say, I live a champagne lifestyle on a beer budget. While it would be lovely to have a nice new car, holidays abroad twice a year and buy this season's must-haves, I am a huge believer in the theory that it's the little things that make you happy. 

'Small Pleasures To Save Your Life' by Maeve Haran (£8.99, HayHouse UK) is one of the most inspiring and lovely books I have ever read. Stumbled upon quite by accident (as all good books often are), this book is a collection of anecdotes, advice and inspiration all wrapped up in a delicious feel-good tone. 

Maeve writes with a delicious lightness of touch that reveals its true meaning to you when read at the right time. I was feeling a little low, my friends all seemed to earn more, have nicer things and I felt like I was chasing my tail. Flicking through the pages of this duck-egg blue book (my favourite colour by the way, so I should have known already it was going to be good), Maeve gently reminded me that the little things in life can prove the most satisfying. Everyday delights can make you feel better about yourself, they can heal a bad mood and even, as the title suggests, save your life? 

A few of my favourites are: 

- Leaving ten minutes early and relishing in those spare minutes, so you arrive feeling relaxed. (I absolutely hate being late, so this is a no-brainer for me)

- Clean sheets (self explanatory)

- Warm towels (ditto)

- Being met from a journey 

- Birthday breakfasts

- Lighting candles 

- Waking up early and realising it's the weekend/you have hours left to sleep

- Coming home after a long hard day 

- Eating outside 

- Drinking from your favourite cup (this one is so true, my current favourite is my bespoke Emma Bridgewater mug)

See what I mean? In a world with so much poverty, cruelty and evil, it's sometimes hard to remember the positives, the little things that are so often overlooked yet can really mean the world.

What are some of yours? I'd love to hear them!