Friday Fashion recap & New Years Resolutions?

I’ve always been terrible when it comes to making new years resolutions. There has been the odd year where I have made some but none where I have actually kept them and fulfilled my plan.

This year however, honestly I feel like I have some to make and some to keep, whether I will or not I guess I have to tell you them to keep some accountability.

Educate myself

As the wedding planning ebbed away this came to me almost fully formed, I want to go back to educating myself a little. In particular, I want to finally learn to code. In secondary school I learnt basic coding on terrible programs like Dreamweaver but now I know I really need to get to grasps with HTML and be able to apply that to my graphics for work and this blog.

I also want to touch up my graphics knowledge. Although I don’t use that knowledge on this blog that much (mainly because I don’t have a decent enough computer to cope with Photoshop or even elements.) I have about 12 years experience but I really want to hone it in and learn more about using the newer tools.

Saving

To assist myself with this I am also planning on saving up for a new basic laptop.

Currently I have an eight year old Toshiba laptop which is crazy clunky and needs an external hard drive attached to work faster than a snail and then I have my MacBook pro. This is only 4 years old and I am writing on it right now however, it is almost out of storage and really I can’t delete enough off of it to give myself enough space for Photoshop and everything else I need so my plan is to get a new one which can cope with Photoshop and all the other programs I need.

On the savings front I am also tempted to join bloggers like Jesse Coulter on having a spending freeze on things like clothes and home wears. Something, which really became apparent this Christmas is we really don’t need anymore home wear stuff. At first it was super exciting because we had this big house which looked empty but ultimately we have plenty now and really don’t want to cramp our house anymore.

We have just painted and laid new floors in our living room and after having emptied the room we have ended up putting less than half of the stuff that was in there back in. Since then it’s really opened up the space again and feels like a breath of fresh air with so much less stuff!

With this in mind I am really thinking it would be good to stop spending for a while put that money towards a new laptop and furthering my graphic design/HTML knowledge.

Continuing to get out more and spend more time being active

Planning everything during the last two years kept us stuck inside and our bodies and minds have felt worse for it. In response, at the end of last year I started walking into work in the morning, adding a further 20 minutes exercise into my day and I have really seen the mental and physical benefits.

I think it will also be nice for Josh and me. Two years ago we spent vast amounts of time on cycle rides and walks and just taking in life outside of the TV and the living room and it really defined us as people so being more active again with walking, cycling, yoga and exploring our new village will really bring us back to that place of comfort and health.

That is really it for this years resolutions they are all rather easy and achievable and this year I am determined to follow through! Picture wise, as above I barely shared any outfit posts this past year so hopefully we can also rectify that as well!

All I want for New Years is . . .

 

Mariah Carey is not the obvious choice for new years resolutions however with new years here and glistening its that typical blog time where we tell the world our plans to stop ourselves backing out so here I am, deep breath, here goes . . .

Be more brave and exploratory

2015 certainly had its break throughs and big steps but for 2016 I want to be even less timid about mine and Joshes future and where necessary make the harder choices to secure the better path. At 25 I realise that its not enough to go easy, to make allowances but to instead be a little bolder and a little braver.

Health in all forms

Buy a house and then see how your well being drops.

In 2015 we have stressed ourselves to max, forgotten all our good eating habits and become sloppy. Like million across the globe, January means health, it means more exercise and it means being more serious about making good food choices.

 

Be more saving savvy

Pre-house we were so good at saving it hurt. We pushed for making ourselves as secure as possible and honestly owning a house costs far more than just a deposit, it requires fixes (quick and long) it needs your attention and then other things do to, like when your car breaks down, you cough up that cash but it does take its toll if your not replacing those depleted funds properly.

Thats not to say that we haven’t been saving, we have but not to the same extent that we would like. I’d also like to put a disclaimer in here, from what adulthood has taught me we are not the modern norm to want to save and to put away, the way we do. I like flying by the seat of my pants on most things but for me being secure monetarily is not fly by the seat of your pants acceptable. So in the months of February and March (which in the UK are non council tax months) myself and Josh are going to challenge ourselves to get out a small, set amount of cash for the month and try not to spend anymore than that. Its gonna be a challenge but we are excited for it a chance just to see how much we can live on. So stay tuned for more on this and how you can join along!

And then . . .

Thats it really. We have other things happening in 2016 like getting married etc but these are the right now things, keep your fingers crossed for me and lets see where 2016 takes us all!

Confessions of a style blogger gone mad . . .

 

If you remember, a couple of weeks back I mentioned that I had given up shopping for three whole months. Well ok, I gave up buying clothes, specifically. Mainly because its them that I have a problem with.

You see, I over buy. My mother calls me ‘a collector’ its never just one, I like to collect lots of the same. Although I’ve somewhat managed to train myself out of buying the same outfit. (in Uni/College) I bought a lot of leggings and long basic T’s, now theres a uniform and theres plain boring and even . . . unfashionable. 

This year, I went through several big changes. I left university for one (2012) I moved from my parents home and down the country to Kent and moved in with my boyfriend. I also began working in London. All these things combined have meant that I have both learned how to shop better and more precisely and then at the same time, how to buy too much with too little thought.

The turning point, (and this is shameful) is when I ended up standing in h&m trying the remember what the hell the two skirts I bought yesterday looked like. I knew one, but not the other. If you ever get to that point, you know you’ve gone to far. 

I also remembered back when I lived at home, and I mean with my parents. We would only go clothes shopping about four times a year, thats every season perfectly covered. I shopped well then and like every girl needs, I had my perfect shopping buddy who could tell me to only buy what well and truly suited me. 

Luckily Josh is a pretty god substitute, only he couldn’t be there to stop me all the time so I went a little wild. Don’t get me wrong, my shopping instincts are far better now than during uni, I stopped ‘collecting’ and started only buying very different items to what I already owned but there was always the odd thing that didn’t suit me and was more of a want rather than a need, but overall? The problem was quantity. In particular, quantity over quality. 

So I took it upon myself to take myself out of harms way. I gave up clothes shopping for three months. I have more than enough clothes to sink a battle ship and its time for me to look at what I have bought over the year, the good the bad and the ugly. Its also going to give me the time to see what gets worn and what doesn’t and if its not worn, it gets chucked. Josh is thanking me now! 

So far I have successfully done a month. I have saved a good amount of my wage and me and Josh have been able to eat out, we’ve had weekend lunches, brunches, weekday breakfasts, coffees etc . . . and this might shock you coming from a style blogger but not buying clothes has made me calmer? I get to enjoy my weekends more without addictivly thinking how will I get into so and so shop . . .

This month has been a good month, I’m not saying I haven’t bought anything I bought some accessories but in the grand scheme of things it was a small percentage of what I have bought in the past.

This is a scary post to write and its one I think bloggers really suffer from. We would all probably like to keep our shopping habits under wraps but theres far too many stories of women hiding purchases from their partners and lying about how much they spend and you know what i’ve realised? I don’t want that.

I want Josh to know that when I buy clothes that both I and we can afford it. After all, we would like to buy a house and that takes serious, serious saving. Something that we couldn’t do if I’m spending it all on scraps of fabric that won’t be worth their thread in a couple of years. Similarly, I also don’t want to make this blog into an unrealistic portrayal of a woman’s wardrobe. Thats just not the reason why I started this. I started this to be able to use my wardrobe in the most effective manner. To get the most out of the best and almost the least . . . 

Quality over quantity. And although I’m ashamed of the amount I let myself buy last year if I let you all know what I’m doing then theres no turning back. No shame and ultimately a better, more rounded life and experience. 

From here on out, when I buy a new piece of clothing its going to be something I love and that looks great and will stand the test of time. So this will be my gift to myself. How to clothes shop sensibly, with restraint and without it overtaking everything else in life. and the best bit so far? I inspired one of my best friends to cut down on her clothes shopping as well! Maybe theres something to all this sensible shopping after all . . .

So thats my piece, our normal schedule will return later this week! Also to come is the opening of the first Phoenix and the Lion store, some craft projects and some homewares and housey things . . .

A Merry Little Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you all! Whats your favourite thing about the festive season this year? My favourite thing is having my macbook back, granted I lost every document and picture including my dissertation and CV but now at least I have a shiny new feeling computer I even have the old apple screensaver going on!

Because of this merryness I thought it would only be right that I would take some photos and give you a christmas post, although to be honest I think i’ve eaten way too much bad food this week – I was feel decidedly podgy during the photos today.

I already know what my new years resolution will be to truly go lactose free rather than fighting my intolerance all the way. While also getting rid of all this bad food we’ve been indulging in as of late!

I’m also very excited for the up coming christmas sales, can you say booties? I could but im not a big fan of the word, so ill just say im buying boots, thats my plan, that and a new bag! So much to look forward to!

Have a merry Christmas everyone! and if your lucky you might just get to see me and the boys and christmas day outfits!

Jessx