something for spring

cute flats: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

rucksacks: 1 // 2

bomber jackets: 1 // 2 // 3

fabrics: village haberdashery

It's my birthday very soon, and, like at christmas, I'm finding it rather difficult to answer the question: "is there anything you want?" What with moving out in a few weeks I'm reluctant to buy/ask for anything that'll take up space or, inevitability, be boxed up and stored until Mitch and I find our own home. And, thanks to christmas and my kindle, my usual go-to request for books is moot. So, I'm leaning towards some nice things for spring. No, not dresses, I've got too many of those. I'm thinking, some nice things for spring that I don't own such as: a light-weight jacket (perhaps a bomber as I'm sensing I couldn't pull off a biker jacket...), a rucksack (going to need something of the sort for Budapest) and shoes - I don't own any pairs suitable for spring other than my converse. Also, I have quite a few dress patterns that I want to try out but I only seem to have large quantities of floral fabrics, and heaven knows I've got enough floral print dresses. So, I think I'll splash out on one or three geometric prints.

pictures from the last week or so

So there I was, inwardly wondering whether January would ever end and then the last week of it flew by. Thanks to the long-awaited arrival of pay-day my evenings were full of fun things...

The photographer's t-shirt at a studio - love it.

Aw, these two :)

Shopping for my wedding dress fabrics - v.fun but rather daunting.

A little visit to Beyond Retro - might have bought something...well, yes, a v.summery dress.

Science Museum Lates: 3-D printing, ancient timers (hour glass in shape only - lots of them were random timers like 19 seconds) and astronomy monopoly (where you could purchase jupiter for $150 dollars!)

Comptoir Libanais in 

South Ken. Seriously delicious food (I had the fattet lamb kofta) and jazzy decor - how amazing are these tiles?!

Mugs and the wall of plates at my Nan's house.

4 things: a conclusion

12 months ago I picked 4 things about my life that I wanted to change. I never do too well with 'new year resolutions' so the aim of this challenge was to actively address the way I thought about  these areas, essentially, teaching myself some good habits that would hopefully become second nature.

So how did I do? 

DE-CLUTTER

I hold my hands up - this has in no way become second nature. My flat is still full of stuff, stuff I probably don't need. However, on the positive side, I stuck to my one in-one out wardrobe and shoe rack policy, I sold lots of stuff on ebay, gave lots of things to charity (and Brixton's give & take), sold stuff at a car boot sale, de-cluttered my fabric stash and chucked out a fair amount of odds and ends. The impending swap of the flat for my parents' loft conversion has helped a lot in terms of re-evaluating what I really need. But, the truth is, I am a hoarder and this de-cluttering malarky will never be a completely smooth ride for me. In terms of going forward, as long as I stick to a couple of these good habits (one in-one out, selling stuff on ebay etc) and, at the very least, open and file/chuck my mail I should be able to keep my head above the clutter. 

HEALTH 

This one has been rather successful. I've given my health and my body a lot of thought over the last year. Now I'm not running marathons and living off vegetable smoothies but I've implemented a few small changes that really have made a difference - drinking more water, cutting down on coffee and tea, eating less meat and more green vegetables, and exercising regularly. Yes, I know, there's nothing revolutionary going on here but, what is revolutionary is that I'm actually taking that v.simple advice, and it's working very positively for me! And the best thing about it is: the longer you keep it up, the better you feel. No, I'm not a size 12 and no I don't really look any different but I feel great and, thanks to six months of the gym, I can now run 5K without wanting to vomit/die at the end of it. And, the more I go to the gym (or for a run in good old brockwell park) the easier it becomes and the further I get. Being able to see my progress is a massive encouragement factor for me, so much so that I'm aiming to sign up for my first official 5K run this year! Don't get me wrong, I still eat crisps, cake, pizza (a lot of pizza) and I still drink beer but because I'm actually exercising I don't have to give them up. It all seems to be about balance and I think I've finally found mine :) 

MONEY

A combination of saving, being thrifty and budgeting meant that I most certainly bucked-up my ideas when it came to my finances this year. I think the impending wedding should take most of the credit. Not only did it make me actively save every month but it also introduced me to spreadsheets and budgeting. Weirdly enough, it turns out, I really like spreadsheets and budgeting. Saving for the wedding cut considerably into my personal spending allowance (the money left over after paying rent, travel, etc) so I had to make it up elsewhere. Selling stuff on ebay and making my own lunch sound like petty amounts but it all added up throughout each month, and the cash saved could then be spent, guilt-free, on fun stuff - cinema tickets, dinner/drinks and the like. Anyway, suffice to say, with my new-found love for budgeting I have high hopes for the wedding fund and the house fund after that.

DO MORE NEW

The most successful change, probably because as soon as I started trying new things it was easier to say 'yes' to the next opportunity. I have no doubt that this has become a good habit of mine. There's no telling where something out of your ordinary will take you and after all, isn't there an excellent saying about trying everything once?

So there we have it, a year of focusing on 4 things I wanted to change about my life. Overall, I'd say that it was pretty successful - 3 out 4 ain't bad. If you find that 'new year resolutions' don't really work for you, I'd say this is a good alternative to try. I'm off to think of 4 things for this year - happy friday everyone!

long lost tumblr

I'm not sure what train of thought led me there but yesterday, I suddenly remembered: many moons ago I started a tumblr. A tumblr which, as soon as set up, was promptly abandoned. Logging back into my account, it all came flooding back to me, why I'd decided to start it in the first place. It was to be a place to post/store/collect all things beard related so as not to overwhelm you all on here with my love for beards and (most) things which relate to them.

So here we are - 14 months later and I've breathed some life back into the old girl. It's had a bit of a makeover and I've added some new stuff! I'm feeling pretty motivated to keep it updated so do stop by (especially if you like beards - if you're not a fan of actual facial hair, there are other beard related goodies such as home ware, illustrations and the like - I realise a bearded ryan gosling is not everyone's cup of tea - but he should be).

All you need now is the link! Here it is: b-t-g-t.tumblr.com 

thinking about...a tattoo

I've been thinking about getting another tattoo for the last 18 months or so (which is waaay more thought than I gave my first one, but that's another story) and I'm quite sure I want one. Not 100% set on the design but, due to my penchant for geometric shapes and patterns, that's the direction I'm heading in (something most probably involving triangles). There is no end of inspiration on pinterest, these are just some that caught my eye...

 

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8

Most frustratingly, half of these are without original sources. The shape of the first one is perfect and I'm loving the selection of 3-demsional shapes in that third pic (especially the one second from the left...). What are your thoughts on tattoos? Ever thought about getting (another) one? 

The weather is rather wet and windy today so I'm debating whether to venture out to the gym...or I could just stay in and crochet...hmmmm...