A 2018 round-up & plans for 2019
Ok I'll get the obvious out of the way first; but WHERE the heck has 2018 gone?! It's genuinely been (another) blink and you miss it kind of year where I feel like I've accomplished absolutely nothing.
But ANYWAY; my favourite type of posts to read are peoples chatty catch-up posts; Megan does this superbly in and amongst every post; while Sophies 'mid-month catch ups' are another strong favourite. Back in the summer I decided to start my own kind of monthly catchup posts, but (A) I didn't seem to have enough I wanted to say about every month and (B) I felt like I wasn't posting regularly enough to fit monthly catch-up posts amongst my usual content, so they faded away. Now that it's the end of the year though, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for such a post!
2018 has been a funny year, I've not done anything extraordinary or been on a fancy holiday (or any holiday for that matter) but I've learnt to love myself and for me, that beats anything else. I've stopped doing things for the sake of others and started putting myself first, which may seem selfish, but sometimes is necessary. I don't want to compromise on my happiness and my mental health for someone who doesn't care about my happiness and my mental health.
I've begun to enjoy working out and practising yoga; I now eat plant-based, enjoy cooking more than ever and I've started taking care of my body. I might still be in the same job, but I've had new responsibilities and feel more confident than ever. I've worked with some amazing brands both on my blog and instagram, but most importantly I've met new people, made new friends and visited new places.
I've written my best content:
Nothing like a bit of self-promo to kick start things is there! I'm happy with all of the content I've put out this year; I stopped writing posts I wouldn't read (hence why there wasn't a single gift guide in the run-up to Christmas) and started writing more honestly about real-life topics. So here are my favourites;
'Making Christmas The Time For Giving' - I spent a lot of time collating information for this and am really proud of how it turned out. I want to try and use my little platform for good!
'The Sustainable Series #1 - Armedangels' - Getting to work with a brand focused on sustainability was the kick up the bum I needed to start this series! I'm so proud of the photos (I shot them all solo with my trusty tripod) and am just really happy with how this all turned out.
'25: Recovery In The Age Of The Internet' - One of my most honest posts to date but definitely one I'm most proud of. The photos, the words and just the fact I was in a good/strong enough place to share this makes me immensely happy.
'The Perils Of Being An Introverted Blogger' - I often struggling with blogging, sharing my life and worrying if I'm online enough. I'm the most introverted introvert and so just getting things like this off your chest feels good.
'On STILL Not Knowing What I Want To Do With My Life' - My most favourite set of photos EVER. Also: I'm still in the same position of not knowing what to do and the fact this resonated with a lot of other people was wonderful.
I've read more than ever:
I've always loved reading but I'm just a slow reader. One of my goals for this year was to get through at least a book a month, which I have just managed! I've also (of course) read a lot of blogs because there's a lot of talented writers out there! Here's the top picks of what I've read this year:
- Everything I Know About Love, Dolly Alderton - Dolly has such a way with words, I just adored this.
- The Language Of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh - this was so poetic and such a heartwarming (and heart-wrenching) story, I can not recommend enough.
- Feminists Don't Wear Pink & Other Lies, curated by Scarlet Curtis - very inspiring and uplifting; I actually have a post coming in January that was influenced by this.
- The New Fashion Rules, Victoria Magrath - the only ~influencer book I was truly excited by, Victoria is my constant inspiration in the industry and she smashed it with this.
- Megan Ellaby is my number 1 blogger, always inspiring my fashion choices and giving me the confidence to wear what the hell I want. Her posts are always so well written, chatty and personal and I just adore her.
- A special shoutout to other blogs I've loved this year: Pretty Normal Me by Em Clarkson; Holly Loves The Simple Things; Sopharsogood and Anika May.
I've seen great shows:
For 2018 I wanted to spend more time going to ~shows; whether that be live music gigs, theatre shows or simply films at the cinema. I love art and artists and by far prefer an evening spent this way than just going drinking (obviously, now that I don't really drink!). My best of the year have been;
- Harry Styles. My number 1 definitely didn't disappoint when I saw him in Manchester back in April. He's a wonderful human, I love everything he stands for and he puts on an incredible show.
- My best blogging achievement of this year was being invited to see The Greatest Showman at the outdoor Luna Cinema at Bolton Abbey this year. I took my mum along and although cold, it was such a great evening!
- Flashdance is one of my favourite musicals and seeing it live on stage was incredible! Joanne Clifton played the role of Alex and was just as wonderful as you can imagine!
And if you're wondering why I've left everything clothing related out of this, then I'm assuming you missed my last post on the best pieces in my 2018 wardrobe, so give it a look!
I've enjoyed varying my writing a bit this year, embarking on my sustainable series as I try to be more sustainable myself, and just generally writing things of more substance. Things that you can really build a conversation around.
I know that fast fashion has been a bit of a hot topic for a lot of people this year, but it's really something that I am trying to step away from. So that's why there's no 'what to buy in the sales' and 'who has the best offers' posts over here. I'm not gonna push sales for things you don't need in the hopes that I can make a few quid - I avoided all things Black Friday for the same reason.
But one thing I do think, looking back over this years content, is that I need to start working with photographers again. I stopped for various reasons (low self-confidence and bad time management for two) but the outcome is always better with a professional and that always inspires me more.
Other than that, for 2019 I don't really have big plans to change things on here! I'm thinking of getting a new theme and sprucing it up a bit; but in terms of content I think I found my groove this year. I'm really happy with the style of content that I've fallen into so just want to build on that!
I started bullet journalling at the beginning of December and already I am feeling SO much more organised, so maybe there'll be a post on that soon?? But in there I have a few goals for next year and I thought I'd share the little ones. Because there'll no doubt be countless resolution posts to sift through!
1. Read the Harry Potter books (and read more in general!). Please don't hate me, but when I was younger I tried multiple times and just couldn't get into them; then the films started coming out and there seemed no point. But I really want to get through them now! I also want to make more time to read all year, so I've set myself a target of 30 books on GoodReads. I'm a very slow reader but fingers crossed!
2. Do more for charity. I want to make more of an effort to not only donate to smaller charities, but to support in other ways too. Whether that be some kind of sponsored event or fundraising or whatever! I need to get brainstorming. If you're local and want to join me PLEASE do.
3. Explore new parts of the country. There are so many glorious places in this country and I feel like I've seen so few of them!! Most of them are on my doorstep too because, hello, Yorkshire is the greatest county on earth. So I just want to get out and adventure more.
4. Get more enjoyment from working out. I got rather good at going to the gym this year; I invested in the GraceFit Guides to give me some focus and have been really getting into them. But I still want to vary my fitness more; get into swimming, focus more on yoga and maybe try a class or two!
If you've made it to the end of this post the well done because I know I rambled and crammed an awful lot in, but I didn't want to spread this all out when everyone is doing similar posts right now, I know it gets awfully tiresome.
So share your 2018 highlights! What was your favourite point of the year? What are you most looking forward to next year?
Loves. Emma.
Best-Loved In My 2018 Wardrobe
Well I hope everyone's had a fabulous Christmas (if you celebrate it) (and if you don't, then a fabulous day none the less!) filled with all of the roast potatoes and chocolate yule log imaginable. As I'm writing this, it's Christmas Eve; 'It's a Wonderful Life' is on the TV and I just can't get into it, no matter how much I try, sorry! But I've just eaten a bowl full of apple and blackberry crumble and everything is feeling cosy and festive. We don't do anything special for Christmas really, but it's just nice to be with family and eating good, isn't it?
I never really know what kind of 'end of year' posts to work on, or even whether to bother at all; it's the holidays, do people make time to read blogs? But I'm still reading plenty (while making my way through a tub of roses!) and last year, I really enjoyed doing a round-up of my favourite 2017 outfits so it seemed only right to do something similar again for 2018.
This year I've tried to buy less; stop investing in so much fast fashion and start thinking more sensibly about the clothes that I buy. So instead of my favourite outfits of the year, I wanted to focus on individual pieces - things that I've loved so much I've styled them up multiple times in a variety of ways.
1. The Tartan Suit, Topshop
This was somewhat of an impulse purchase back at the beginning of the year, which is sadly no longer available. I absolutely fell in love with it and simply couldn't not buy it! I may have only worn it as a set a handful of times, but they work great as separates too. I've worn the skirt innumerable times both for work and leisure, the blazer is perfect with jeans too! You can see it in all its glory in this post, shot by Matt.
2. The Rainbow Cardigan, Lazy Oaf
I'd been searching for this cardigan for so long after seeing it on instagram, that when I found it there was no hesitation in buying it! It might not seem like the most wearable piece, but it brightens up any basics and has been especially great to thrown on in in-between weather or to stay warm in the office.
3. The Leopard Trousers, Nobodys Child
I bought a pair of leopard print trousers from Boohoo after hunting for the right pair for weeks, only for them to tear after one wear. So I looked somewhere a little better and picked up this kick flare pair from Nobodys Child. I think leopard print goes with pretty much anything and I've worn them time and time again. (Sadly they're no longer available but I have linked a full length pair which are really rather dreamy). You can see more of them in this post about blogging and consumerism!
4. The Boiler Suit, New Look
Boiler suits have been *everywhere* this year and I managed to refrain and only buy one. But it's a pretty good one! It's the ideal short-sleeve, cropped length style that makes it so versatile for both warmer and colder weather. It actually features in 2 different blog posts if you want to see more of it, this one about finding myself and here where I styled up summer pieces for autumn.
5. The Teddy Coat, Primark
I know I said I've been trying to move away from fast fashion, but it's not been an instantaneous thing. This coat has been in my wardrobe since early last winter and it's by far one of my favourites. It is SO cosy and comfy and just all round perfect. I wear it almost everyday because, what doesn't a cream coat go with?!
6. The Cowboy Boots, Missguided
Cowboy boots have been everywhere this year too! And I couldn't find a pair the style that I wanted until I spotted this pair in the sale. They work perfectly with skinny jeans tucked in or with a mini skirt and they've been super comfy too! The perfect height that I love for everyday wear to feel a little more sophisticated.
7. The Yellow Jumpsuit, isawitfirst
A yellow jumpsuit sounds like the furthest thing from a wearable but I have worn it numerous times this year in numerous ways! I actually got it in 2017 but didn't wear it straight away. I really love having statement pieces in my wardrobe and finding different ways to style them and make them look different. You can see it in all it's glory in this post shot by Matt, or it also features in this post about ways to style band tees!
8. The White Jeans, Next
I've avoided white jeans for the longest time because I've always thought them to be unflattering. But this year was the year of caring less and I'm so glad because look at them! They were a mere £5 in the clearance and by far my best bargain of the year. I've worn them so much with all kinds of outfits and they're just the best fitting jeans I've ever had.
9. The Trusty Converse
As much as I love a nice pair of boots (and trust me, I have many-a-pair!) sometimes you just need a comfy pair of converse. I have a mustard yellow pair that I LOVE and some simple white ones, but this black and white pair are my number one! I've worn them so much, in all seasons, with all kinds of outfits.
10. The Band Tee, Urban Outfitters
I always love a band tee and this one has been my go-to this year. They're so versatile that I even did a post on 3 ways to wear the band tee earlier this year featuring this particular one. They really do go with anything and it's the perfect oversized fit that you can just throw on and go.
It's always nice being able to look back on the year, seeing the outfits you've worn and the memories flooding in from those days. So here's to a well dressed 2019!
Which is your favourite piece?
Loves. Emma.
A Generation Obsessed With Productivity & Being Busy
On a Sunday in December, it would be perfectly normal to spend the day with friends, visiting Christmas Markets, shopping and eating everything in sight, right? So why did I feel guilty for doing so? I left the house around 9am on said Sunday and didn't get back until almost 9pm; a full 12 hours out of the house, away from my laptop and my bullet journal, not being ~productive in any way and instead, just enjoying myself. Which arguably is what every 20-something should do regularly, no?
It feels like there's a constant pressure from everywhere to always be doing more. To constantly be busy; constantly rushing around, complaining about never-ending to-do lists and feeling like we're burning the candle at both ends. And it needs to stop.
Being endlessly busy isn't something to be glamorised and it isn't something that we should be constantly bragging about on social media. Because yes, some people simply complain in a tweet or an instagram caption when they have a stressful, busy day and that's perfectly normal; but others like to brag about it endlessly. Do they think it makes them look more successful if they talk about an overflowing inbox they can't keep up with? Or that they look more important if they say they have too many meetings to fit into their schedule? Do they want sympathy for telling us all that they haven't even started Christmas shopping and it's only a week away and they just don't have the *time* to possibly fit it in?
When I went out that day, I didn't write any posts, schedule nor plan anything; I didn't tweet nor instagram; I didn't edit any photos and I didn't even take a quick OOTD snap. But it's not only the guilt for not doing anything blog-related, because blogging is simply a hobby to me and, if you look at my platforms, you'll see that I don't have a regular schedule and I'm really bad at the whole self-promotion thing anyway. It was more of a general pressure that I wasn't using my time wisely and knowing it would result in a longer to-do list throughout the week when I have to fit everything around my 9-5. I wasn't cleaning or doing any housework; I wasn't journaling; I wasn't wrapping the pile of Christmas presents filling the bedroom floor; and I wasn't even making my way through my ever-growing TBR list or the mountain of podcasts filling up my phone that I've just not had the time to get through. So why do we feel guilty for ignoring those seemingly unimportant things for *one day* and having a bit of fun?
The problem is social media. It's *that* simple.
The problem is every 'influencer' that we follow sharing their daily life and making us feel like we should be the doing the same, even if they don't mean to.
The problem is that we don't see that the other things we're doing are just as (if not more so) important.
I see someone sharing their 'favourite books of the year' and get (stupidly) jealous because I haven't read a fraction of the amount they have. I'm just a slow reader and that's ok.
I see someone (Mrs Hinch) cleaning to within an inch of their life and wonder why I'm not doing the same. Then I realise that it's unnecessary, my home isn't sparkling and pristine 24/7 but it's still clean and tidy and that's ok.
I see someone sharing a snap of their (many) scheduled blog posts looking all organised and wonder if I'll manage to write even one from my list of ideas this week. But forcing content is never the way and it's about quality not quantity. Things take time and that's ok.
Can we please stop glamorising being busy and talking about how hard it is to be burning the candle at both ends. Take a step back, assess what's *really* important and BREATHE.
Life's too short to not take time out to laugh until you snort with your best friends.
Loves. Emma.
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Make Christmas The Time For Giving
I always remember that, throughout my childhood, the start of Christmas time meant getting bundled up in our big coats, hats and gloves, to go out delivering food hampers and tins of biscuits to all of the elderly people in our village. We (my mum, dad, brother and I) did this alongside our neighbours; they were the ones who organised it all and we simply helped with the delivery. But it was so rewarding to give these people gifts; people who couldn't get out much (especially in the snow), who didn't have much or who were lacking a close support network. And I guess that shows the major positives of living in a small village doesn't it? Because our neighbours worked with the woman running the local post office to compile a list of recipients, gathered donations and planned the deliveries all off their own back.
I don't remember when this all stopped, but I believe somebody else in the village took over the role. And I kind of miss it? It was such a tradition, knocking on old ladies doors and seeing their faces light up at the unexpected gifts, before going back to our neighbours and all having a warm drink. This is exactly what Christmas should be about! Did anyone else do the shoebox gifting through their school too? Where you'd fill a shoebox with gifts for those less fortunate and send it off, that was another thing I always looked forward to. Along with (obviously) presents and food and family time! But at the end of the day, I think giving is much more important than the receiving at this time of year.
So when my friend Natasha suggested we look into volunteering over the festive period, I leapt at the chance. I don't know why I haven't before, fear/nerves/laziness, take your pick! But unfortunately at the middle of November we were already too late, which I guess is a good thing, because everywhere we asked was fully booked up with volunteers right into the new year. There were (obviously) opportunities still available, but we're not able to commit to long-term partnerships at the moment. Something to definitely bare in mind for the new year though.
Instead, we've looked at donating money/gifts instead of time, so I thought I'd share a few options if anyone else is wanting to do more this year:
Donating Gifts
- We have Magic radio on in the office at work quite often, so I've heard multiple adverts for 'Mission Christmas' which they're collaborating on with Bensons for beds. They're working to ensure that every child has a gift to unwrap this year and with 640 drop-off points across the UK, all you need to do to help is donate a new and unwrapped toy. You can find all the info here! There's also options to donate money towards gifts if you're unable to get out and buy one/there's no drop-off location nearby.
Monetary Donations
- How many people really take notice of the Christmas cards which they receive? Or even bother sending them at all in 2018 when you can send a text/whatsapp/tweet/facebook post/instagram DM or whatever else? There's a few people I've known who would instead opt to donate to a given charity, tell everyone that's what they were doing and encourage others to donate instead of needless paper waste. And I think it's a great idea! It also works if you've got relatives/colleagues/neighbours who you usually just exchange gifts with out of politeness and get things you don't want nor need. Ask them to donate that money to a charity of your choice instead and do the same for them. Do you really want another generic gift set with zero thought?
- If you want to donate your money to a specific cause, there are many charities who offer those options! Centrepoint: you can buy a homeless young person a Christmas dinner for £10, a Christmas gift for £13, a set of toiletries for £15, or a safe, comfy bed for the night for £35, among many more options. Refuge: there's a 'gift list' where donations are used to buy specific presents for women and children or, alternatively, you can buy refuge parcels, e.g. a Christmas dinner parcel for £5, an Emergency parcel for £10 or a Safety and Independence parcel for £50. These are just 2 amongst a number of charities with these kind of offerings!
For the animal lover
- I was initially gonna recommend WWF here for adopting an endangered animal as a gift, but then I found out that they're sponsored by Canada Goose and are all kinds of dodgy so I found some alternatives! Wildlife Trusts offer options to sponsor an array of animals from hedgehogs to dolphins in aid of protecting UK wildlife. Blue Cross have pets that you can sponsor including cats, dogs, horses and hamsters and Dogs Trust have even more dogs to choose from. But if you're an animal lover yourself, it's worth thinking of the animals in shelters over the winter. Donating blankets to your local shelter is sure to be a big help, as is donating your time to help if they have vacancies. January is always a busy time for shelters (A dog is for life, not just for Christmas, etc.).
Food banks
- Giving to food banks is probably most peoples first though when wanting to donate at Christmas, and it is something which can easily be done now as lots of supermarkets have donation points in store; you can simply add an extra couple of items to your trolley and pop them in at the end! If you want to do something a bit more for food banks, a reverse advent calendar is a great idea. (I know we're already on the 5th December so I'm a little late in recommending this, but sh!) You simply donate one item each day of Advent and to make the most of this, you can check out what your local food bank is most in need of.
Helping the elderly
- Not everywhere will have systems set-up like we had in our little village, but there are different ways you can help elderly people. If you have elderly relatives or neighbours, just to try to visit them more, ask if there's anything they need when you're going to the shop (especially if it's snowy!). Sometimes they just need a friendly face and a little bit of company. Age UK have lots of advice on small acts of kindness that you can do to help!
And it's not just giving through charities that's rewarding at Christmas, but buying gifts for your loved ones. It should never be about the money spent but instead the thought that's gone into the gift. Please shop small if you can! One of the gifts I've got for my mum this year isn't expensive but it's something that I know she's gonna love and I just keep wanting to tell her about it. I'm too excited to wait!!
But the important thing about giving and donating is to only offer if you can and what you can. Don't feel pressured to donate if you've saved to buy presents for your loved ones and don't have the extra cash; don't give up time to help your elderly neighbour if it means compromising on work or visiting relatives. Be logical and be reasonable, a little goes a long way.
But the important thing about giving and donating is to only offer if you can and what you can. Don't feel pressured to donate if you've saved to buy presents for your loved ones and don't have the extra cash; don't give up time to help your elderly neighbour if it means compromising on work or visiting relatives. Be logical and be reasonable, a little goes a long way.
What's your favourite thing to give at Christmas time?
Loves. Emma.
Lost Online
It's not that I'm fickle, because I'm certainly not. But with the things that I consume, particularly online content, I can go through phases of being either obsessed or completely uninterested. And at the moment, I'm completely uninterested in everything. I don't know whether that's because I'm uninspired, or whether I'm uninspired because I'm uninterested, but it's just making me feel very lost at the moment. Lost in what I enjoy; lost in what I create; lost in who I AM. Dramatic? Me?
I very much go through phases with the type of content that I'm consuming. One minute I'll be watching workout videos, following new fitness bloggers and going to the gym more; next minute I'm trying to get more into baking and I'm following bloggers with the best plant-based recipes; or I'll be getting up early every morning to follow yoga videos. I'll never really be interested in much beauty content because I'm just terrible at make-up and I'm always consuming fashion content on some kind, but recently I'm just so fed up of seeing haul after haul, of the repetitiveness everywhere, everyone wearing the same leopard print midi skirt, and the ridiculous over consumption. I've been switching off from creators who I've supported for years because I'm just not enjoying their content and then I have the problem of not knowing what it is that I want to see! The thing is, I think we've been spoilt by ~influencers~. We can log onto YouTube and watch hours worth of videos for free; we can browse as many blogs as we want, spend hours reading, and not pay a penny; we can see people work SO hard to create beautiful imagery and not have to contribute anything to their pay packet. It's become too easy for us to just jump between what content we want to consume and maybe this is part of my problem? If I'm constantly switching up the content that I want to consume, how am I supposed to be inspired in what I create? How am I expected to stick to my niche? (Which I guess is a whole other topic in itself because, do we need to have a niche?)
So many of my favourite people online are starting sideline projects, mainly in the form of second instagram pages dedicated to fitness, food or home-wear, alongside their usual fashion/lifestyle accounts and it makes me want to too, but for what? I just feel like I'd be spreading myself too thin and not be 'good enough' on either page!
When I updated my phone a few weeks ago and it started spewing out those 'weekly reports' charting how much time I spend on my phone each day and how that's spread across different apps, it made me want to lock my phone away in a cupboard and focus my time on more ~productive~ things. Things like working out, learning new recipes or making time to see friends. I want to read the mountain of books on my TBR pile and watch the films on the 'must-see' list that we've compiled at work. (I might write a post about said list?) I don't want to come home from work every night and sit scrolling. So maybe it's this desire to spend more time offline that's making me so uninterested with everything online?
I've stopped putting pressure on myself to spend my weekends shooting photos for the blog, planning and writing posts, sharing and promoting them. Instead I've been focusing on some much needed me-time; practising yoga in a morning, getting into a good gym routine, reading every night before bed and getting out of the house to do things that aren't just 'for the gram'. And in doing so, I've just not been picking up my phone so much and I've switched off. Which has made for a much happier me! I love my blog, it's my baby and I never want to stop writing here, but sometimes the pressure of constantly being online is just too much for me. I've written about this before, but with how I've been feeling I just needed to get it off my chest again.
Who knows, maybe it's just the dark evenings and knowing that I have far less time in which I can shoot photos?! But basically, I'm just not feeling my most creative. Maybe I need to change my 'shoot, write and edit' routine, maybe I need a complete switch-off and break from everything, or maybe I just need to sit down, talk it all out and have a good brainstorming sesh! Getting everything out on here always helps so I hope you enjoy my rambles.
Anyway, this outfit! It's something that I picked up in the end of summer sale from New Look and although I have worn it, I'd not taken any photos of it until now! So I thought it was time to share the colourful stripey number with you all. It is just as comfy as it looks, easy to be mistaken for pyjamas, and everything I love in a co-ord? Throw on a cosy denim jacket and add a pair of trainers, it makes for the perfect comfy weekend 'fit! It would look equally as good switching for heels and ditching the jacket, but it's cold guys and comfort wins.
So, what helps you to get most inspired?
Loves. Emma.