3 WAYS I'VE SHOCKED MYSELF LATELY

It's easy to let the little things slide sometimes but here, on this blog, I'm a true preacher that any achievement, big or small, should be celebrated. I have discussed achievements and what it means to feel proud on my blog before (just... here!) and there's something so warming about looking back at them and continuing to feel just as proud. I really do recommend that more people start documenting the things they're proud of.

Sometimes, I do things so extraordinary and exciting that I shock myself and my own capabilities. As someone who experiences anxiety, the things that I achieve can be even the tiniest, simplest things but that doesn't make them any less worthy. So here are the things that have shocked me lately.

I'M TANNING.
Did you hear that?! Ya girl is tanning! Yep, that's right, tanning - that thing where you sit in the sun and you don't end up like a lobster and more like an angelic goddess. Although forgive me, it's only very slight and it has come with a slapping of suncream. I'm a fair skinned, English Rose and, unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, or how much suncream I apply, I burn - the typical red shoulders, Rudolf nose and semi-circle chest.
Throughout this month of sunshine 'heatwaves', though, I have found myself getting a bit of the angelic golden tan across my skin which I feel is worth documenting because it's something I've ALWAYS desired. With a holiday soon on the cards, I am determined to come back with a lovely tan and, if these past few weeks are anything to go by, I'm feeling pretty hopeful.

HOLIDAY EXCITEMENT. 
If you haven't figured it out already from my constant blabbering on Twitter, Insta and sometimes over here on the blog, I'm going on holiday this summer and I can't believe how excited I am. I'm shocked by the excitement because I'm usually a very nervous traveller; I've never accompanied to the idea of being in a foreign country with the somewhat unpredictable aeroplane that should be taking me home at some point (if you get it, you get it), and I'm generally quite a homesick person. My anxiety is generally based on safety and trust which, in a place where I can't understand everyone's language, I find difficult to achieve.
Anyway - this time around I think I'm excited for multiple reasons. Firstly, I haven't visited a hot destination in around 4 years and my last holiday abroad was to the rather chilly destination of Iceland in 2016. I'm seemingly overdue a bit of sun and sand on my skin.
Similarly, this is the first holiday abroad that I'll be going on with my boyfriend. We've been together for 2 and a half years, but are yet to travel abroad together so we're both delighted that we finally get to do it.
Lastly, the place where we're going is somewhere I've never been before. We're off to Nerja and I get the impression that it won't be quite as busy and hectic as the other Costa Del Sol locations. It should also be a little quieter seeing as though it'll be during the school term - yey for no screaming children on the beach!

A GIRLY SHOPPING TRIP.
As a young teenager, girly shopping trips were a norm but with the stresses of college and making new friends and boyfriends, shopping trips with my mum became the new normal and, as much as I adore my mum, there was a touch of girly gossip missing. This month, however, I went on my first 'girly shopping trip' in years and bloody loved it!
If you don't know what a 'girly shopping trip' is it's basically shopping with one or two of your friends, persuading the other friends to buy things that they'll look fab in or 'need' in their life, chatting about current life dramas, and enjoying lunch together. They're pretty splendid and, until recently, I'd actually forgotten how fun. My friends and I started off in Primark for some summer wardrobe essentials and ended up spending 2 hours in there - wow!
The reason why this shopping trip shocked me so much is how much of my anxiety went out of the window. I found my self again, the 'real Alice' came back out and I felt so comfortable. Best of all, I only noticed this when I came home so, all the time I was there, anxiety didn't exist. It's the best feeling ever and it really, really shocked me how I was capable of being free of the struggles.

What have you achieved recently?