Sunday 17 July 2016

Dreamland

DAMN, I've missed fashion fierceness here on the blog. Seems like a while since I posted anything fashion-y but rest assured I've been out and about shooting so many ootd looks that I can't wait to show ya! These beach-huts have to be the dreamiest I've ever seen. POWER to the PINK one especially! They're definitely straight outta fairytale territory, us bloggers and our babelicious beach-huts make for girl gang goals. The dress is from the cool kids at Kiss The Sky, it literally jingles and jangles every-time I walk due to the coin embellishment on the hem which throws up a lot of mystified stares from strangers and bemusement from work colleagues alike, but what the hell, it's all good fun. The bright burnt orange hue screamed sunshine, and my trusty ASOS holographic beach bag finished off the summery soul of the ootd. 
I made the tough call to quit my job last Wednesday. Sometimes things get a little too hard and I've been trying to juggle a full time job, my blogging and writing my book, giving all three a good shot but struggling with each. I've got a month before I go and am definitely feeling mixed emotions, but I know ultimately I've done the right thing for both my health and happiness. My anxiety's been bad, I come home from work to do nothing but work, usually getting late nights, feeling drained day in, day out and getting frustrated that the book I'm writing is frozen on page 248 in the midst of a dramatic, tumultous rooftop scene (and has been since March). My blog posts have been (for lack of a better, less Cher Horowitz phrase) happening way too sporadically. I will probably never be one of those super organised bloggers who can post every day of the week but nevertheless, a post once a month, or (if I'm lucky) every two weeks isn't cutting it for me, especially when I want to make this whole business boom. Regarding my job, I'm definitely going to miss a lot of people there that I've been lucky enough to strike up friendships with, and when the times comes I know I'll be sad. 
I feel lucky to have such a strong support system; namely my lovely boyfriend Graham for always believing in me and standing by me, especially when talking dreams, not to mention my parents & of course you gorgeous girls that have been there for me from the start of soinspo! There are a few people that I try to forget about that I've felt judged by in the past when talking blogging and writing, certain people that urged me to carry on with admin, even though the people at my actual job are 100% supportive - urging me to go and follow my heart. It's nice as my work colleagues have been really sweet and supportive about my blog, my book and my decision to leave. Most people I've spoken to have a really forward-thinking encouragement when it comes to going for goals and dashing towards dreams which makes a nice difference in comparison to some previous jobs I've worked at where those values were never really understood or respected. Blogging, Youtube and starting your own business has become the norm with an upheaval of the population reading blogs and watching vlogs which means it's more relatable and admired than even a year or so ago. 



In other news I've bought two more pool inflatables and have decided that perhaps that's enough for this year, you know, seeing as I don't actually own a pool and all. Quick question, if I moved into this dreamland and took up residency in all of these beach babin' homes, do you think the owners would mind? I really don't wanna leave.....  

Update: I've just seen that gorgeous Georgia from Tea and two sugars has graduated, and I wanted to say a massive congrats to the moon and back! Georgia is such a dazzling star, someone so special, so talented and so inspiring, always killin' it with such gorgeous, beautiful shoots and she has the most magical, wondrous way with words. I feel so lucky to know her through this blog. I just know you're going to soar to the stars in life, your talent knows no bounds. Hard work pays off! Love to you babin' butterly! 




SaveSave
SaveSave

Wednesday 6 July 2016

The Happy Mail

I know us bloggers notoriously love boxes delivered to our doors, but despite a brief (and admittedly disappointing) flirtation with GlossyBox a few years back, I’ve never really given many of them a go.  Most of them don't hold my interest for too long and can look pretty samey. However, with a jazzy, colourful persona The Happy Mail looked right up my street and I'd been wanting to try for a long while. After craving some sugar I placed my first order in a cloud of sweet dreams. 



I loved the originality of the sweet treats; nostalgic goodies brought bang up to date with a bang. Old school biscuits on a stick, chocolate donuts dusted with glittery goodness? HELL YEAH! There are a vast range of boxes available, and The Happy Mail also caters for special occasions; weddings, Easter, Birthday's, you name it! The themes of the boxes are also pretty cool; boxes that fit neatly through your door are under the Junk Mail section, obviously the best kind of junk mail, period. For my first order I plumped for the 'Tea Time Dippers Junk Mail Box' and the Pig 'n' Mix Junk Mail Box for a Friday night sugar hit. The Tea Time Dippers Junk Mail Box priced at £10 combined retro biscuits like jammy dodgers, bourbons and custard creams with melted chocolate and sugary sprinkles on a stick.  I found one dipper very rich but gorgeous as hell. Definitely a remedy for that late night choco-craving. 

 Graham took the Pig 'n' Mix box into work (pictured below), priced £12 and everyone seemed pretty taken by the retro-pop of colourful treats. Chocolate biscuits shaped like doughnuts glazed in sprinkles, icing and sugar coated treats. Can anyone say #ABMLifeissweet? Sure his male co-workers wouldn't be too familiar with that hashtag, but my fellow bright blogging beauties will! Talking of IG, I also love that The Happy Mail's feed tells the story of a dream being dazzled into a business. Anyone with talent, creativity and vision that turns glitter into something gold is an instant hit with me and I'm totally in love with all things Happy Mail related!
A heads up; I've just had another look at the site and have found out The Happy Mail is closed between 22 July - 5 September so any sugary show-stoppers wanting to place an order, dash your dazzling self over to the sweet aisle stat! Next on my mail box delivery hit list: The Lucky Dip Club! 


Has anyone else tried The Happy Mail?
Are you a fan of sugary treats?