Okay, so I very nearly lost 8 fingers to frost bite on Saturday morning when I stupidly chose to shoot some outfit pictures. Turns out this weather isn't really designed for backless loafers and thin blouses, but will I ever learn? Probably not, but in all seriousness, I really didn't enjoy shooting these, it was freezing and I kinda prefer having my health than some content for the blog. So I may suspend outfit posts just for a few weeks until it warms up, because I have plenty of other lifestyle posts that I can't wait to share with you!
But hey, I bought the first couple new pieces for my wardrobe since my spending ban began, so I naturally wanted to share with you just how god damn cute this polka dot blouse from Topshop is. It's very thin, but not see through and the frilled/ruffled sleeves are just divine. Not so great for wear when you're doing the washing up, but they look pretty great with black, white or light blue denim jeans so it's going to be a staple of mine transitioning into spring.
With every great outfit of mine, I'll always have to throw some kind of blush pink item into the mix & these baby pink suede/patent loafers remind me of my mules from Office and they're just all kinds of beautiful. If you like me LOVE pink, you're going to need these barbie esque shoes for the upcoming seasons, flat loafers are honestly the comfiest things ever, it's like wearing cosy slippers, except the fact that it's currently freezing and I couldn't feel my feet in these. So I think I'm going to sadly put these away for the next few weeks until it's warmer and when I want to start acting more like an adult and being sensible with my shoe choices.
So fingers crossed for some sunshine and warmer weather, yes? The lighter mornings and evenings are already here which is such a blessing in disguise, I know we'll be wishing for next Christmas before we know it, but for now I'm just going to embrace this bitterly sweet cold weather and look forward to those summer days where wearing backless loafers and no socks is going to be a pleasant affair...
P.S. Happy Valentine's/Galentine's Day to you all, let me know if you have any plans, I hope you have a wonderful time whatever you get up to!! I'll be heading to work and wishing it's 5:30pm for the whole day (much like every day), the joys of being in a long distance relationship, eh?
What do you think of this outfit? How do you cope shooting outfit pictures in this weather?
*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been sent to me for review. However, all opinions in this post are 100% my own
When I was younger, I wanted everything BUT to live in Plymouth. My ambitions and goals for my future were far too big for such a small city, and I grew bored of doing the same things each weekend. I never appreciated the small things in life back then, we never do when we're young and are just dreaming about our next milestone. When we're 14 we want to be 16, we then want to be 18 and we then want to be at uni. Before you know it you're 30, up to your eyeballs in stress, have 10 dogs, one kid and you wish for nothing but to be young again.
It wasn't until I'd spent 3 years away at Southampton and in Finland that I realised just how great Plymouth was. I'd worked out that living by the sea is possibly the greatest thing in the world, and sure London is great, but nothing beats the slower pace of life, listening to the waves hitting the shore and grabbing an ice cream by the sea, even on the rainiest and windiest day of the year.
Just because I love Plymouth SO much, I teamed up with Watchshop to Unbox The City of Plymouth for the day, documenting it with a series of photos and a vlog. There is sooo many things to get up to in Plymouth, so I crammed together a few of my favourite places and things to do that should definitely be on your list to complete if you're ever in my home town <3
The first stop of the day was Mount Edgecumbe. This will forever be my favourite place to head to in Plymouth, with a 5 minute ferry trip from Stonehouse to Cornwall, it's like a secret escape from reality for the day, and I love it.
Despite being a favourite among many people, a lot still don't know about this little secret getaway in Plymouth. It costs £1.50 to get across, and there's plenty to do and explore when you get to Mount Edegcumbe.
Is there really a better sight to see on a Saturday morning?
Once stepping off the ferry you're greeted by the most gorgeous gardens, The Orangery Cafe (perfect place to head for afternoon tea!), and plenty of paths for long walks. In the summer I love to walk the 6 mile round trip to Cawsand Beach, the coastal cottages are all but a dream, and there's nothing better than tucking into a picnic on the beach and a cheeky ice cream.
After a lovely morning at Mount Edgecumbe we caught the ferry back and walked over to Royal William Yard (only a 5 min walk away from where you catch the ferry). The RWY is probably my favourite place in Plymouth to grab some food and take in the views, again, it's by the sea so of course I'm gong to love it.
There is so many yummy food places to choose from, but we only fancied a snack and Seco Lounge was perfect for this. Anywhere that does marmite on toast is a winner in my eyes though, we'd already decided we would save ourselves for a sweet treat from our favourite bakery on the Barbican too!
My favourite spot in Royal William Yard, with views like that on a sunny day you could be anywhere else in the world.
We then walked down to the Barbican which took about 15 minutes from RWY, once you're in the centre of Plymouth everything really is within walking distance. There's no denying that I love the cobbled streets of the Barbican, besides the fact that it's the perfect backdrop for outfit pictures! I love the winding streets, cobbled lanes and quirky shops and cafes. We stopped off at Jacka Bakery which is the oldest working bakery in the UK for some sweet treats. I love it so much that it made it into my 10 of the best places for breakfast in Plymouth post!
Full to the brim of flapjacks and pastries, we slowly made our way up to The Hoe. The Barbican and The Hoe go hand in hand, and is what lends Plymouth the name of Ocean City. If you're just looking for some sea views and a leisurely walk The Hoe is the place to be. Being by the sea always help to restore a sense of calm in me and ever since I swam the breakwater last year I can't help but walk past in excitement, point and utter 'did I really swim that far?'. I'll probably still be telling my grandchildren about this when I'm 90.
Once we made it to the top of the hoe we coincidentally bumped into my friend Ben who had his shiny VW camper van with him, isn't it beautiful?! It's hard not to raise a smile when you see this trundling along by the sea front, I personally can't wait to head to the seaside in it in the summer and eat fish and chips from inside whilst watching the waves roll in!
After waving goodbye we headed to our final location for the day, Smeatons Tower! For me, this is the iconic landmark of Plymouth, and a must visit! I honestly couldn't remember the last time I went up the lighthouse so I was excited to refresh my memory of it. It costs £3 to go to the top and the spectacular views are 100% worth it! If you don't mind a lot of narrow stairs, it's definitely worth the climb. It was a great way to end the day in one of my favourite places in Plymouth, looking out over a city that I'll probably always call home, and I'm totally okay with that.
As you can see, there wasn't really any part of my day that didn't involve the sea, but it is the Ocean City of the UK, and as long as I'm by the sea I know everything's going to be okay. Plymouth might not be perfect, but it is to me and I'll just simply never tire of living so close to the sea!
Take a peep at the full vlog below to see what I got up to on my touristy day in Plymouth! I'm still fairly new to the vlog scene, but I love making them and want to do more like this in the future, so please let me know what you think and also subscribe if you want to keep an eye out for my future vlogs!
Would you like to visit Plymouth? What's your favourite thing to do in Plymouth? How would you spend 24 hours in your own city?
I hate football. I may even go as far as saying I loathe it. I personally blame my Dad for this who watches it every Sunday night when I choose to have dinner. Even I can't crunch over the droning sound of the TV. I still can't get the obsession with people who are essentially kicking one ball from one side to the other, such madness, eh?
But as society dictates, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend the likelihood is that they'll either love football or rugby. So I thought maybe it was time I stopped battling football and actually gave watching a real life game a proper chance.
So on Saturday I got the tube to Seven Sisters and was sucked into the stadium of White Hart Lane, I didn't know what to expect but I'm one for trying new things this year so went in with an open mind. It's fair to say that these 12 thoughts at my first premiership football match were obvious.
#1. A football ground is the only place in the whole existence of the earth where roles are reversed. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: You DON'T have to queue to use the toilet, and there's loads of them, what sweet hell is this?
#2. EVERY spectator is basically the football manager for said club. "PASS IT" "SHOOT" "He's done nothing this match" "Shouldn't be on £100k a week for that performance", etc.
#3. No sentence uttered within the stadium can be constructed without a swear word. Won't work.
#4. When everyone sits forward this means 'a goal could happen', head in hands - not so good, and.. repeat.
#5. You feel like a sardine crammed into a tin in your seat. They'll be at least 5 occasions that your neighbour almost takes your eye out with their elbow too.
#6. You may feel like a rabbit in headlights as there is SO many people, so many men. It's like a secret club that no one talks about, and should I really be here?
#7. People treat the snack situation like the cinema. Eating sweets and munching on hot dogs between goals is a REAL thing, and I like it.
#8. This is not the place for high heels and skimpy outfits. Not being able to feel your feet and hands after an hour is common practice. But I'm not ready to surrender to the sweaty, nylon football top trend just yet.
#9. You're completely mesmerised by the 'boxes'. What celebs are sat in there? What are they talking about? And WHY IS MY BF NOT A PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALLER?
#10. Watching football in the flesh is like watching an amateur game of year 10's playing football. How can it be so different?
#11. The fans clap at everything. Pass the ball to a team mate? Clap. Stop the ball from going offside? Clap. Happy to just be there? Clap. Prem footballer looking great in those under amour trousers? Yes, I'll bloody clap at that.
#12. You can't help but feel all those hours of moaning about football weren't worth it. But we'll never admit defeat, and we may even come to a match again...
How is it February already? The way life is currently going it will probably be April by the time I finish writing this post. February for me is the month that everything starts going the right way, with lighter mornings and evenings, and hopefully warmer days. January is always quite a miserable and dreary month after having a lovely Christmas and NYE. So reaching February is like that light at the end of the tunnel, and the realisation that you know everything is going to be okay.
With what I hope is going to be another motivational and inspirational month for me, I'm wanting to work on yet another small new years resolution of mine which is to go out of my way and be kind to a person or stranger at least once a week. I wanted to make time for those less fortunate or those that needed a helping hand more this year. I'm such a firm believer that what goes around comes around, so by doing good for others, kindness really will come back and help you out too. Besides the fact that in doing so it makes you feel a lot more content and happier as a person. I always do try to be as kind to others anyway, but in the past I've felt let down with society and in situations where others have not shown their appreciation for my efforts or have been rude (friends and strangers alike) which always leads me to thinking why do I bother? I want to get out of this mindset this year, and however stressed or let down I feel I want to forget that, not hold grudges and simply, let it go. Life is too short to be hung up on silly things, so here's to hoping I can spread or sprinkle a lot of happiness this year.
My goal for February? To simply do something nice for others each day. It doesn't have to be anything massive, whether that's holding a door open for someone or stopping to let someone cross the road when it's pouring with rain. I've set myself this challenge and I'm going to be recording every little thing I do during the month which I can reflect on in March and share on my blog. It will force me to find a little bit of good in every day even if I've had the Monday from hell or feel like curling up and shutting myself off from the world (y'know those days that you just hate everyone and everything?). This is something that I often forget when I'm stressed at work during the week or focus on worrying about silly, insignificant things. I think it's going to be another enlightening challenge of mine, (I learnt so much from my social media detox) and it will hopefully lead me further on my path of finding self love - one of my ultimate goals for 2017.
After reading a lot of other bloggers new years resolutions, quite a few also shared a similar goal to me, in to simply be nicer to others which I think is the first step in finding self love, and being happy with yourself as a person. So I challenge all of you to take part in #FeelGoodFebruary too and try to do something good each day, however little. Spreading a little bit of kindness doesn't take much time, but it could totally make someone's day.
