DRESSING FOR YOU AND ONLY YOU & SOME THINGS I’M LOVING RN

Dressing for myself is something I've always done, despite a slight relapse at high school when I foolishly followed the crowd, but it's safe to say that didn't last long.

I've always styled myself based upon how I'm feeling, my mood, my vibe, the persona I'm wanting to portray that day, along with what I plan to be doing that day of course. I haven't taken other peoples opinions into consideration since I left home for university when I was 18 and I certainly don't ever intend on doing so again.

It's a beautiful thing when you gain the courage and the confidence to dress for you and only you, taking nobody's opinion other than your own into consideration, knowing that you feel utterly fabulous in what you're wearing and to basically screw the rest!

It takes a while to get there don't get me wrong, but one day it will click and everything will fall into place and you'll learn to think, "I'm wearing it, not you, so what does it matter what you think!?" something my dad has always instilled in us and something I say to myself on the regular to the occasional side eyeing passerby.

That's one HUGE thing I'm loving lately, exploring new style possibilities, those that shouldn't work with my petite frame with my short legs and even shorter torso, but I do it anyway, 'cause as long as I'm feeling good then that is all the matters. Playing with colours that weren't meant for your skin tone, silhouettes that don't flatter your figure and materials that would traditionally be found dressing a window, well, I for one am loving it. And with that, I bring to you some more things that I am really loving right now.

My programme of the minute is Sex And The City, and yes I am watching for the first time and yes I am extremely late to the party, I am sorry! I am deeply gutted that it's taken me SO freaking long to get into the well loved New York based show, but now I have, I already can't wait to watch it all over again. I started it back at LFW whilst lonely in my hotel room and have since finished all 6 seasons... Yes thats 6 seasons in less than 4 weeks, what can I say, I'm addicted! I truly adored each and every episode and each and every character, but firm faves are of course Carrie, Samantha and Miranda (Charlotte not as much) Aiden and Steve, what a bunch of babes, not to mention Smith... HELLOOOO Smith.  
The 25 minute episodes filled with stories of friendship, love, work and sex had me coming back for more, sometimes watching 8 episodes in one sitting (on a particularly rainy weekend might I add) I watched over on Amazon Prime and would highly recommend giving it a watch should you be late to the party like me, if anything, watch it purely for Carrie's styling... What a freaking BABE!!!

When it comes to music, it's absolutely no secret that my taste is eclectic.
I love everything from indie, rock & roll, pop, classical and heavy metal, however one genre I was never exposed to is Jazz. Jazz was never something my family were into so I was never given the opportunity to explore it, until the hit film La La Land came into my life. I adored that filmed and decided to delve a little deeper into the genre of Jazz. 
That's when I stumbled upon Chet Baker (again, I realise I am extremely late to the party) whilst reading a great inspiration book "Men Of Style"

Not only was he drop dead gorgeous (pre drink & drugs) in his plain white tee and jeans combination but his music is utterly beautiful and has fast become our Sunday morning soundtrack and my go-to whenever I'm wanting to relax; I guess you could say I treat it as my meditation, it just calms me. 
Particular faves that I'd suggest you all have a listen to are "I Fall In Love Too Easily", "My Funny Valentine" and "It's Always You" his music is breathtakingly beautiful and his voice slightly haunting and raw at times but I'm so thrilled to have found an new all-time fave singer. 

Home improvements is another thing I am totally loving right now.
We've been in our new home since November and I've been suitably surprised by how long it takes to get things looking exactly how you want them to. We've been advised not to rush anything and to take our time, ensuring that everything is as we want it to be, and whilst we're doing just that, I am becoming increasingly impatient to say the least. 

However, that being said I'm really loving making our house a home and it's so exciting to see the transformation process of each and every room, despite how slow it seems to be. 
We're currently in the process of adding colour to the walls, one room at a time; we started with the kitchen, then onto the bedroom, the hallway and now the dining room and I must say, they're all looking bloody gorgeous. 
Once we're back from our holiday in April I'm FINALLY going to tackle my office and make it the perfect place to work from, followed by the living room and the spare room and I think we'll be about done with all the painting. 

I'm also on the hunt for great artwork to complete each and every room, which is so fun but pretty hard when you know exactly what you want but don't know where to find it. So please, if you have any fabulous websites or stores that house wonderfully colourful abstract art work or photographic pieces then please send them our way.

From brightly coloured walls to bright colours in general, another thing I'm loving right now are primary colours, I seriously cannot get enough of them.
Reds, blues and yellows are forming the basis of my everyday looks right now, with a touch of pink, green and orange thrown in for good measure, honestly I'm hooked on all things Crayola brights and I'm SO thrilled that it's such a key trend for the season ahead. I'd HIGHLY suggest checking out both Topshop and Zara for all things brightly coloured as they're two high street giants who are absolutely SLAYING the new season vibes right now.

And I know you're all dying to hear more about the beautiful Peter and Nancy, of which I'll be coming at you with an all new post very soon but for now, I can't tell you how much I'm loving seeing their different personalities develop.

Each and every day they get a little bit braver, a little bit cheekier and a whole lot funnier. 
They're brother and sister but couldn't be more different from one another if they tried, which I truly adore about them both. Peter is still a massive softy, he cries whenever anyone leaves the room, he loves the ladies and somehow always manages to snuggle into the crook of your elbow and fall asleep for hours on end. He's extremely well behaved and obedient and just an all round angel. 

Unlike his little sister Nancy...
No I'm kidding she is a complete angel but for many different reasons. Nancy is hilarious, she's boisterous, she loves to explore, to destroy  and to make people laugh. She's a little show off and has a bad case of FOMO 99% of the time. If Peter's sleeping, you can bet that Nancy will be pretending to be asleep with one eye open, keeping an eye on everyone else, incase she misses out. 
She's utterly hilarious and extremely loving with her showers of kisses and head butts. 

It's such a pleasure to watch them grow and develop and I've honestly never known love quite like what I feel for them and how they make both George and I feel.

And finally I'm loving having things to look forward to. We have our first holiday in two and a half years coming up on Sunday, of which I am in desperate need of and so excited to get away just George and I for some much needed sunshine and R&R. I'm excited to switch off, to come back full of ideas and inspiration and with a slightly more positive mind. Following that, I have tonnes of travel plans with friends and family alike, not to mention our first summer at our house, with the puppies and with lots of exciting festival plans to boot. 
It's lovely to have things planned in, to know that things are about to get exciting and to know that winter is finally outta here!

Here's to being positive, to taking some time out for us and our loved ones and heres to life, it's pretty damn fabulous!

See you in April.
Thanks for everything!
Lots of Love

x M

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAELA TORNARITIS