Take the Risk

Top:  H&M (many years ago)  //  Shorts:  Self-made  //  Shoes: Public Desire

Hey lovelies, a bit of a 'smart-casual' look for you today. I've been clearing out my childhood home over the past few weeks as it has now been sold. Despite me living in my own flat for over a year now it still feels weird that soon enough it will belong to someone else. When you've lived somewhere for literally your whole life it's a massive deal knowing it won't be there for you to pop in anymore (emotional!)

So anyway, when I was clearing out my university boxes I found these shorts which I made for a project in my second year and I've always loved them so I couldn't resist trying them on straight away! Fortunately they are the perfect fit (and I didn't even make them for me!) 

I decided to pair them with a casual top as the long length shorts in this material can come across quite formal sometimes so I opted for my Nirvana top which I bought from H&M a few years ago. At first I wondered what else I would be able to pair with these shorts but going through my wardrobe I have found a few items that will go with them so expect to see these again!

I also opted for my new shoe boots from Public Desire. I'd not heard of the brand before but after seeing some hype on Instagram I checked out the website and fell in love with these shoes! I think they are perfect for dressing up or down and are so comfortable and chic, I love them!

G L O S S Y B O X

Hey loves, today I thought I would share my experience with Glossybox so far. I remember years and years ago I had a voucher for a free box and although I was pleased with the products I didn't sign up to it for some reason and now I'm wondering why!

Me and my friend Hayley from work signed up last month as a little mid-month treat for ourselves. It's such a good deal because you pay £13.25 per month (including p&p) and you get £30 worth of beauty products to try!

So the box above ^^^ is from May. It held a good selection including a lipstick, nail varnish, eyeliner, dry shampoo and a moisturizer. The eyeliner I am yet to use as it's a light blue one side and navy the other so better suited for a night out than every day use. The lipstick is okay but it might get some getting used to as it's not usually my colour, maybe better for blondes, and I'm currently using the moisturizer for every day use in the mornings on my face and it's more of a gel which is unusual but I like it.

The box below is from this month, June. This month it was festival themed, hence the body tattoos which I am yet to use but they look quite cool. The face mist is lovely! It is so refreshing and the best part is that it keeps your make up in place too! The face wipes are really refreshing too and are great for taking your make up off with ease. The nail varnish is a pretty colour, I currently have it on my toes and the anti-cellulite moisturizer I am yet to use but Hayley has used it and said it is really firming and tightening which is good - and you don't just have to use it if you have cellulite as it helps to prevent it too!

Have any of you had Glossybox in the past or are subscribed to it now? Personally I think signing up to Glossybox is a great idea if you're like me and want to try new things but don't want to spend a fortune to find out you don't like something! It's also a good pick me up during the month or could be a great present for someone you know :)

Vintage Vibes

Jacket:  Vintage  //  Top: New Look  //  Jeans: Topshop  //  Shoes: New Look

Hello lovelies, another outfit for you all today (these are my fav posts I can't deny!) This outfit was pretty much thrown together on Saturday but I liked the combo so thought I would share it with you all!

As you can see I am loving these New Look high neck tops at the moment. I already have the cream and grey ones at the but I am tempted to go back and purchase some more! They're just so handy to have as they go with anything, hence why I keep reaching for them when I'm getting ready in the morning!

Since owning a pair of Joni jeans (which hasn't been long, where have I been?!) I'm pretty sure there's not been many days where they have left my legs! They are so comfortable, the perfect fit and just go with anything! I chucked on this vintage jacket which I didn't think was going to go with the outfit, but I was pleasantly surprised when it did! Add some chunky shoes, MAC Dangerous lipstick and 80's inspired voluminous hair and I was good to go!

Gym Bunny

Hey sweets, so as you may have seen in my 'Twenty Five Before Twenty Five' post I vowed to join the gym and get fit. Since turning 24 (maybe a little bit before) my body started changing and developing again into a more womanly figure, I mean my hips got wider as though my body was preparing me for pregnancy! A nice thought as me and Jack often talk about the future and having kids, but nothing I'm quite ready for just yet! Also since working in an office I have put on a stone in weight!! Anyone who works or has worked in an office previously will know the struggle!

I've been going to the gym now almost a month, so not long at all, but I wanted to keep you guys updated with my progress and how I'm finding it etc. At the moment I am going to the gym on Saturdays and Sunday's before 9am as it's lovely and peaceful and during the week after work I get myself in an anxious state because I know it will be busy. Having said that I make sure I do home workouts at every opportunity during the week to keep me going.

So I guess this a bit of an introduction to my fitness, and to help motivate me and see the progress. I'm not overweight and I know that - I'm not one of those girls who complains about 'being fat' etc, they'll be non of that around here thank you very much! For me it's about getting healthy, get toned and most of all learning to love my body again. Since my body has changed I haven't felt comfortable, not even infront of Jack sometimes! So it's time to push past that and love who I am and who I am becoming as a woman :)

Have any of you guys joined the gym recently or started to get fit? If so I'd love some tips seeing as I'm just starting out :)

Double Denim

Jacket:  Gap (second hand)  //  Top: New Look  //  Skirt: Dorothy Perkins (second hand)  //  Shoes: Primark (a million years ago)  //  Camera: Fujifilm Mini Instax

Hello, hello! One outfit I have been loving recently is this double denim look. I've had this slightly oversized denim jacket for a couple of years now as Jack's Mum gave it to me but it's only now, with the 70's trend in mind, that I've really started to wear it. The skirt is originally from Dorothy Perkins but I bought it from Ebay so I'm not sure how old it is, and it was a longer length but I took it up to form a mini skirt. Despite the two denim materials being different tone's I still think they go together, and with the cream high-neck top and brown platform shoes it completes a more modern day 70's look (if there is such a thing!).

Accessories-wise, I got my rose gold Olivia Burton watch for my birthday last year and have pretty much worn it since! So much so that I should probably get the strap re-done soon as it's starting to lose it's colour a little, but I still love it all the same. The belt I'm wearing is one of my Mum's from when she was a teenager. It's actually my favorite belt to wear so I try and match it with every outfit possible! And lastly I picked out my only Mac lipstick (shocking, I know!), this one is Matte Dangerous.

I have also been loving using my new Fujjifilm Mini Instax camera which I got for my birthday this year. I have always loved polaroid cameras and have a very old one which I can no longer use unfortunately, so this one is a perfect replacement! As you can see in one of my previous posts I have been scrapbooking all of the photo's taken with this camera so I will keep you posted on how the scrapbook progresses.

25 Before 25

I recently read Olivia’s ’25 before 25’ and then saw that my friend Paige had done it too and thought it would be such a great thing to do and to keep me motivated to actually do it! As Paige mentions in her post, Olivia is still 22 so she has 3 years us! But what better way to remember all the things I want to do and try and only having 12 months to do it in! So, here are my twenty-five things before twenty-five…

1. GET FIT! I have honestly been saying this for years on end that I want to join the gym, get toned and be happy with my own body. Unfortunately I, like many others, suffer with Anxiety (not half as bad as some people, thankfully) and going places on my own or doing something in front of people really terrifies me! So much so that I almost couldn’t go bowling with my work friends last year, but that’s another story. So I ended up joining the gym two weeks ago as a new one opened near where I live and I managed to get over the fear of going on my own! Fingers crossed I can keep it up and get fit!

2. Become a pro at Yoga – This is something I have always wanted to do and always wanted to be good at but I feel the Wii Fit just isn’t enough! Ideally I’d like to join a class but unfortunately my gym doesn’t do Yoga so at the moment I am on the hunt for a good class close by that I can join!

3. Run my own business – It has been my dream since forever to run my own business and become self-employed. As I’ve always been a lover of fashion and have been creating my own designs since I can remember AND have a degree in Fashion Design, I think it’s about time that I put it to good use and follow my dreams. I actually launched a womenswear collection earlier this year but found that it just wasn’t working out for me. Before that I considered baby/children’s wear as I’m at that age now where everyone is having kids around me which caused a lot of requests from people to make their kiddies something, so that is the new plan. I am currently getting inspired for a new launch and hoping that this time it will work out!

4. Move to Brighton – It has been mine and my boyfriend’s dream to move to Brighton for a good few years now but as of yet we’ve not been able to make the big move. Seeing as I want to run my own business in fashion and Jack is a Tattoo Artist it feels like the perfect place for us to settle. We already love living along the south coast so we couldn’t imagine leaving it and there’s just something about Brighton that stole our hearts as soon as we visited all those years ago. This may not happen before we turn 25 (as it’s under a year away) but who knows, a lot can happen in just a year!

5. Travel more – Now this isn’t your usual ‘I want to go travelling’ because, as nice as that would be, me and Jack have two house kittens now, more responsibilities and quite frankly we just can’t afford it. For us we want to see the world in snippets, little weekends away to places we have always wanted to go to and see the world that way J

6. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE – I have always been really good at saving money, or atleast not spending it all on pointless things anyway! But since me and Jack moved into our flat a year ago, as I’m sure a lot of you will know, rent is a killer on your bank balance! For almost a year I have been the bread winner between me and Jack as he has been perusing his dream career and been an apprentice for 2 years. Now that Jack is officially an artist (proud girlfriend moment) I feel like it’s time that we properly start saving, whether it be for a mortgage, that ‘one special day’ or even just for the future in general I feel like it’s now or never, else we’ll never do it!

7. Be a fiancé – Now, this is something I can’t quite do on my own (unless I propose to Jack, but that ain’t happening I’m afraid!) so it kind of needs to be on Jack’s terms but it is something that we have spoken about a lot for quite a few years now. He always says ‘If I could afford it we’d be married by now’ bless him! But where we are both career minded we have always put that first, and not to mention moving out of my Dad’s house first too! So this is something that I know will happen when the time is right, but ideally I’d like it to be this year as we’ve been together nearly 7 years now and I’d love to be married before starting a family.

8. Learn to love cooking – For some reason I have a fear of cooking and a fear of killing who I’m cooking for! Baking I am absolutely fine with, it’s just cooking. Maybe it’s being too dependent on Jack, as he used to be a chef (and cooks such lovely meals!), but I just feel like I can’t do it. Now that Jack is a full time Artist and I have new hours at work I’ll be getting home first so I’m going to have to learn!

9. Blog again… So as you can probably tell (if anyone is even reading this) I am trying to get back into blogging again. I started my blog back in 2010 and absolutely loved it but felt a lot of pressure with ‘how many followers I had’ or ‘getting my blog out there’, so much so that throughout my last year of uni my blog really fizzled out. I almost feel like (dare I say it) I grew out of blogging. As of recent though I have missed having this hobby to keep me busy and creative and now that I am older I don’t feel as much pressure. Obviously I would love people to follow and read my blog, but if that doesn’t work out then at least it can just be for me, like a personal diary that just so happens to be exposed on the world wide web! So here I am, giving it ago for the 62,624^th time!

10. See a psychic – I went to see a psychic in early 2014 and pretty much everything she said turned out to be true. I didn’t give anything away and it was tarot cards that I had done, so predicting my future. Seeing as it’s been over a year since I saw her I would love to go again and just see what the future holds for me. I’m not one to hang on their every word and believe everything is true, but it just gives me some comfort for the future.

11. Read – I am not a big reader but I would like to be. I always used to read before going to bed as it made me more tired and I felt I slept better, but for some reason I slipped out of that routine. I would love to read more books about business, business planning and life lesson books as well as the usual fictional books.

12.  Visit Scotland – I have always wanted to go to Scotland and never more so than now seeing as one of my best friend’s has just moved there! Her and her boyfriend are always going on hikes around Scotland and they capture the most beautiful views so I would love to explore it with them!

13. Visit Germany – Our other best friend has moved to Germany for 2 years for work so I would love to visit there too. She sent us pictures over Christmas and the German Market’s just look amazing! Much better than what we have down here!

14. Do a Skydive – Now this isn’t something that I necessarily wanted to do before I turn 25 but something that I have always pondered about, like ‘I wonder what it would be/feel like to do that?’.  Now as it turns out the company I work for is doing a company Skydive for charity this year so I have decided to go for it! I am not really one for heights and I’m not the biggest fan of flying (great start), but I have always had a little inkling of me that has wanted to do it so I thought I may as well just do it otherwise I may never get the chance and then I’ll regret it!

15. Spa day – I have always wanted to have a lovely spa day with either my Mum or my best friends so this is definitely on my to-do list this year!!

16. Go to the Theatre – Mine and Jack’s first date was at the theatre seeing The Wizard of Oz so I would love us to go again. I’ve been begging him for years to go and see The Lion King so I would definitely want to see that before any of the others!

17. Get Life Insurance – This sounds so silly and boring but seeing as I have worked for a Life Insurance company for over a year, and my Dad having Cancer last year, it’s just made me realise how important Life and Critical Illness cover is so it’s something that I really do need to get sorted!

18. Get a whole new wardrobe – Since renting and supporting myself and Jack whilst he was following his dream of becoming a Tattoo Artist I haven’t been able to spend much on myself and since I had a massive clear out last year I feel like I’ve not been left with much in my wardrobe! Considering I used to work in retail and 99.9% of the time bought something new every week I am quite surprised at how well I have done, but now I think it’s time for a fresh start and a brand new wardrobe!

19. See my friends more – Now that I have new hours at work (at finish at the more appropriate time of 5:30pm) it means that I can spend more time with my friends! As soon as I got this new job role I text all my friends asking when they were free to meet for a long overdue catch up!! It sounds terrible to say that I never had time but I really didn’t! Not getting home until 8-9pm each night doesn’t leave much time!

20. Scrapbook – Since I started scrapbooking I want to make sure I get all of my photos, and more, into various scrapbooks to hold the memories! I cannot wait to show my kids when their old enough the adventures I have been on!

21. Do more for charity – I always try and donate to charity every time I can. I used to go charity shopping all the time which I love doing and it’s also giving back as well which is really humbling so I’ll definitely be doing more of that. Obviously I’ll be doing a skydive in September for charity but I would love to do some kind of charity run as well.

22. Love my body – Since turning 24 my body has changed as if it’s preparing me for motherhood and it’s all rather scary! My hips are wider, my thighs are bigger and it’s harder to shift the weight! As much as it gets me down I need to learn to accept it and love the skin I’m in (cheese!) because my body is doing an amazing thing creating what will hopefully one day be a home for 9 months.

23. Get organised! – I used to be so organised when I was younger and now I am just not organised at all! Don’t get me wrong I could be a lot worse but I also could be a lot better.

24. Get a new laptop/desktop – I’ve had my laptop for so long now that it just runs really slowly and is prone to getting viruses. I just want a fresh start with a new one or a mac desktop, either or.

25. Go to Paris with my love – This one is a bit of a cheat because me and Jack are actually going to Paris in two weeks’ but it is something that I have always wanted to do with him. I’ve been to Paris twice and loved every minute so when Jack suggest that we go for our anniversary I was over the moon!

Sorry this post is a little more lengthy than some people's! I just love thinking about the future and making plans etc! Fingers crossed I'll be able to tick all of these things off by next April!

What would your 25 before 25 be? Or even 30 before 30? Tailor it to your age, I'd love to hear yours :)

Scrapbooking

Hello lovelies,

So yesterday I drove up to London to see my pal Paige (I'm sure you all know her from Paige Joanna) as I haven't visited since she moved there in March. We decided to do some scrapbooking together whilst having a good old catch up!

Me and Paige have always been lovers of Polaroid cameras (it's actually quite scary sometimes just how similar we are!) so what better way for two creative people to store them than in scrapbooks! It's a great way to document all of your photos, even if they aren't Polaroids, so that you can look back on them and remember the memories that came with that day and even to show to your children eventually!

Unfortunately I didn't take my camera as I had bags and bags full of paper, ribbons, tape and much, much more for the day, so I thought I'd photograph it all today to give you an idea of how I got on with my scrapbook (and before anyone mentions it, yes I did spell 'beach' wrong, doh!)

Whilst I was there we popped into Paperchase and I couldn't resist buying the scrapbook below as it is right up my street! It is perfect for me as I'm sure you all know I am into my fashion and sewing so I am excited to fill it, hopefully with my progress of starting my own business (as soon as I get my arse in gear!!).

To my surprise the book was only £14!! Being much bigger than your usual scrapbook I was expecting it to be around £20, maybe even a little more expensive, but I think being well priced just made me want to buy it even more!

Apologies for the heavy photo content today but I couldn't help but show every cute detail possible from both scrapbooks! Be sure to watch this space as I'm sure they'll be plenty of updates along the way!