(Belated) Happy New Year

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Hello there lovelies,

Well, 2010 is over. I rang in the New Year with good friends, glowsticks, scotch and crazy costumes. Twenty-ten probably wasn't my favourite year, but it was an improvement on 2009. In 2009 a whole lot of bullshit caught up with me - social anxiety, career doubts, self-esteem issues, my miscarriage, poor self-confidence. I was having panic attacks, and in a pretty bad place mentally. I started seeing a psychologist, then eventually decided to take a year off from my university degree to clear my head. I also started a little blog to give me something to focus my energy on.

I spent 2010 working full-time in retail - and working full-time on myself, corny as that sounds. With a little help from all of you out there in the blogosphere I've learned so much about myself. I've gotten back in touch with what I want, what I need and how I feel. I've learnt ways to help myself out when I'm having a bad day, and ways to focus my energy on the important things. I have grown so much as a person over this year, both as an individual and with The Boyfriend. I've found a bunch of new directions that I want to explore. I don't want to lose my momentum. I want to keep on growing. For me, 2011 is going to be the year of more. I want to do more, experience more, be more. I want my life to be bigger and better than ever before. These are my big goals for the year ahead:

• Stick to an exercise regime - I want to be exercising at least 5/7 days every week. I also want to attend Zumba classes every Wednesday night, go to a Fresh Meat intake for roller derby, and find a martial arts class to take.
  
  
• Take short courses - I want to take a number of fashion design/photography related short courses this year. Including, but not limited to this, this, this and this. I want to build towards studying full-time once The Boyfriend and I have our debts paid off. I also want to expand my crafty horizons by learning entirely new things, like knitting, crochet and jewellery making.
  
  
• Spend less money on clothing - I am giving myself a $100 a month budget for clothes shopping (at the moment I'm spending $50-$60 a week, so it's a significant cut). I'm sick of having a wardrobe full of things that I don't really need, and don't really wear. I want to use this budget to make myself consider my purchases more carefully. I also want to make the items that I can, buy more handmade things and go second-hand shopping more often.

There you go. I know they aren't huge goals. But usually, I find myself making too many huge, vague goals and end up sticking to none. So this year I'm trying making a few large (but manageable), specific goals and seeing how that turns out. I have to keep reminding myself that I am only 22, and that I don't have to do everything at once. I feel like young people are under a lot of pressure to "go somewhere". But I know where I'm going - how long it takes isn't really an issue.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this year is the best one yet!

Until next time, xo.

Style Statements

Photo by Sita Marie

Hello lovelies,

Over here in the Land Down Under (or at the very least, in Queensland, Australia) Summer is sneaking up on us very fast! Only a few weeks ago I was wandering around the house in my trusty old hoodie, possibly carrying a blanket wrapped around my shoulders, and now the last week has been beach-worthy weather. In order to stay ahead of the curve (and since Spring and Summer are essentially the same in Australia), I'm going make my style statements, or fashion affirmations, if you will, for Summer right now - the end goal being that I won't spend another Summer slouching around in jeans and a printed singlet from Jay Jay's. Although, there will probably still be a fair few printed singlets from Jay Jay's. I just can't help it! Moving right along, here are my style statements for the upcoming Summer months:

• No more thongs (jandals, flip-flops etc. - not the skimpy underwear) except at the beach - Let's face it, they're uncomfortable, bad for your feet and pretty ugly. The only thing they're really good for is making your way across unbearably hot sand at the beach when you don't want to ruin your good shoes. I'd like to try working some more fashionable sandal-type shoes into my wardrobe this Summer.
  


• Skirts & dresses WAY more often - I own lots of lovely dresses and skirts, but because pants are my safe option they never end up being worn out of the house. Part of this is a confidence issue, which I'll just have to work on. The other reason is that I like to sprawl all over park benches/couches/the ground, and wearing a skirt or dress is just not dignified in those situations. Perhaps I shall have to invest in some leggings/tights for this one to work? Lots of maxi-dresses? Who knows!
  


• More colour! - Let's face it, I wear so much black that I scare people at my University into thinking I'll beat them up when they make jokes about Goth's. It's not that I don't want to look like a Goth, or that I don't like black. I just tend to always go for black as an easy option. I'd like to try working some of the bright colours that I like almost as much as black into my wardrobe for the Summer.
  


• Rock cool ways to keep your hair out of your face - I have a ridiculously large collection of hats and scarves. I'm pretty sure I actually have a trilby for every day of the week. Stripes, skulls, patterns, bowler hats, caps covered in pictures of Wolverine...ok, I think you get the point. Basically I want to keep creative, and use the things I have to keep cool before I rush out and buy more.
  


• Wear sunscreen every day - If you've seen the picture of me wearing shorts, you'll know I'm white as a sheet. I'd like to make an effort to wear sunscreen every day, mainly because my skin needs the extra protection. I know I should be wearing it every day, even in Winter, but a girl's gotta start somewhere right?

Summer Shopping List: Denim shorts of varying lengths, a black maxi-dress, bright coloured singlets, a tailored button-up shirt, a bikini that actually fits, a nice sarong, a sexy new beach towel, harem shorts, red gladiator sandals, tights cool enough for Summer wear, jelly sandals, bright green, blue, yellow and purple nail polish, a shorter hair cut, a new hair colour and lots of sunscreen!

It's not a long list I know, but a few subtle changes can make quite a difference to your overall aesthetic. Anything you'd like to change about your style for the upcoming season? I'd love to hear from someone else!

Until next time, xo.