Blogspired // What Olivia Did.

I read a lot of blogs. And when I say a lot I mean A LOT. I feel like it’s become somewhat of a harmless addiction for me, over the last few years. I mean reading blogs never hurt anyone right? ... Well except my purse (Sorry Purse!  ... yes I just apologised to my purse, errr lets swiftly move on ...). So I was thinking that it only seemed fitting to share some of my absolute favourites with you in a series of posts, because I've got a feeling you too might share my addiction! After all I found out about all of my favourite blogs through other blogs, so it would be rude of me to deny you my knowledge! However there is a one little twist, which of course you've already noticed ... Yes I shall indeed create an illustration of each blogger! Partially because you know I can’t resist drawing a pretty girl in a pretty dress, but also because I wanted to make an effort. After all who knows what I’d be wearing today if I'd never discovered the amazing world of fashion blogs ... Honestly I dread to think!...

To begin with I thought I'd start with the ever so delightful Olivia from What Olivia did, whose blog I have adored for a very long time now ... in fact It was one of the first blogs I ever read (2010 anyone?), so I guess you could say that I really have watched it grow in to something truly inspiring over the years! I have a feeling that a lot of you reading this have probably already seen (or read even!) the lovely Miss Purvis's blog, but just in case you don't I'll  give you a little insight on what to expect when you go and check and it out in a moment! Yes that was an order ... honestly I promise you'll love it as much as me, so just go and take a look!

Lipstick, The sixties, and that oh-so perfect beehive (how does she do it so well?!) are just a few of the things that spring to mind when I think of Olivia. She's like a modern day Audrey Hepburn who oozes grace and elegance in every outfit she wears ... yes there's no denying I have wardrobe envy too! However her impeccable style isn't the only thing that entices me to her blog time after time ... she's actually an incredibly talented writer too! Lets just say it's refreshing to see a blog that has amazing photography AND amazing content. Don't get me wrong however her blog isn't just about her amazing hat collection (yes guys I can only dream of looking that good in a fedora!), it also has lots of lovely reviews of places to visit in London, scatterings of music, and more importantly scrumptious baking recipes to try! Yes Olivia, like me, shares a love for baking or should I say The Great British Bake Off. Oh Mary why can't I be as talented as you? Whyyy? ...

So there you have you have it, I can just tell your itching to click through and read more, that is of course if you haven't already left me! Hopefully you will all adore Olivia's blog as much as I do. I'm 100% positive you will however, after all she has won amazing awards for What Olivia Did ... I guess it just goes to prove that hard work and determination really do pay off when it comes to blogging!

Hope your all having a lovely Wednesday so far!

UPDATE: I've just noticed that I've stupidly misspelt Olivia's name on the actual illustration! Seriously I feel like a complete idiot ... honestly Olivia if your reading this then I want to apologise as I know how annoying having your name misspelt is! ... what was I thinking???!

Moodboard // Ooh La Flamingo.

*Images sources from left to right // 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 *

If you told me last week that I would dedicate a whole blog post to a pink bird, I wouldn't of believed you. In fact if you told me yesterday, I still won't of believed you. However here I am today sharing with you my current "unlikely" inspiration, and possibly my new style icon ... the flamingo, I mean come on guys lets face it this bird has style! It all started late last night when I was gathering images to use in my scrapbook (Yes Ella's amazing post on "Staying Creative" , completely inspired me!), when I suddenly realised that sub-consciously over the last month I had saved/pinned (Yes you're looking at a Pinterest addict here!) loads of photos that were very flamingo-esque. This led me to the conclusion that I must have a thing for elegant pink birds that can stand on one leg! I didn't realise it till last night, but thinking about it now all the signs were there. Lusting over anything and everything pink, wearing pastel pink nail polish non-stop, me having a dream about wearing the most amazing fuzzy pink coat, and standing on one leg ... OK so not the last one, but I thinks its pretty safe to say that I've been wanting to be a flamingo for awhile now. So without further ado I thought I'd share with you a few items that will get you on your way to becoming in my opinion "the prettiest bird in all the land" ...

Where to buy from left to right  // 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

OK OK OK! Yessssss I'll admit I've simply just selected all the beautiful pink things my heart desires ... And yes you're right I'm using flamingos as an excuse to obsess over pink yet again! I have a problem, I know! But honestly, you can't deny that there's something ridiculously flirtatious about wearing pink that's hard to resist! ... no? Only me? OK then! I should probably confess however that I actually don't wear much pink ... I know shock horror Aimee doesn't actually wear much pink, yet she declares her love for the colour ALL THE TIMEEEEE! Take a moment to let that sink in, because sadly it's true! (contrary to popular belief my wardrobe doesn't resemble Barbies! ... although my 5 year old self wishes it did) Perhaps that's the reason I decided to write this post ... to sub consciously inspire myself to "embrace the pink"! Well I can tell you girlie's (or guys?) its working. This time next week I'll be a walking talking flamingo ... either that or I'll look like Barbie's thrown up all over me (such a strange visual image for you there!), either way I'm definitely going to be investing in some pink for my wardrobe soon ...

... The question is will you? Have I tempted you to embrace your inner flamingo? ... or does the thought of wearing pink still make you shudder with horror?

... Hope you all had a lovely Tuesday! 

* For a lot of these images I was unable to find the exact original source (so annoying when that happens!), so instead I've linked you to the images on Pinterest account.

Photos // A Little Bit Of (A Belated) Christmas.

So I'm pretty sure its safe to say that Christmas is well and truly over for another year. I try not to dwell on that thought for too long as it makes me rather sad ... As usual it flew by!!! Oh well I guess I only have to wait another 356 days to relieve it all again (I should mention maths isn't my strong point, so don't quote me on that one!) On Christmas night I found myself quietly reflecting the reasons as to why I love Christmas so much, and to my surprise I realised that it wasn't the obvious things I had always thought. Of course there's the present giving, and as much as we all love it (despite how "stressful" buying for certain GENDER can be!), as your parents probably always say "its not all about getting presents!". Of course as much as I love presents, their absolutely right! Then there's the being allowed to eat your own body weight in food, yes I totally did that (Or least that's what It felt like later that night when I was suffering from the consequences ... hello Gaviscon my new best friend!). Honestly It's not my fault the Quality Street tin seduced me! But in all seriousness I think I've worked out what I love the most about Christmas ... It's that everyone's happy or at least they appear to be! Of course I'm well aware that not "everyone in the whole world" is happy (I'm not that naive!), but I just mean the people I'm surrounded by. Even strangers in the street walk past and smile or say "hello", or "Merry Christmas" at this time of year ... seriously things like that are rare in England! I walk past these people everyday without even a glance, but at Christmas everything changes! I guess Christmas spirit really is infectious after all!

As always I received lots of lovely presents this year, which I truly appreciate and am genuinely so thankful for. Honestly sometimes I think I take for granted how generous my family are. That's something else I love about Christmas; showing the people you care about how much you really appreciate them (OK, cringe worthy moment there). As you can see from above I've decided to share a few photos of just some of the lovely thing's I got this year. I know post's like this are sort of a love/hate thing (I personally love them), so I decided to keep it minimal, because I would hate to appear to be "bragging" in any way (Trust me, I'm not that kind of person!). In other words I'm not going to list every single item, because honestly I don't want to annoy you ... and also because my bath awaits me!

Also I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read, followed, or commented on this blog! Honestly I never excepted anyone to read my blog let alone actually leave a comment. Your lovely words truly mean a lot to me! Hopefully this year I'll make an effort to post more than in 2013 (18 posts ... seriously?!?!). I can honestly say I'm excited to spend more time on this little space this year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas this year, and of course I hope you had a happy new year! (2014?!?! How did this happen so fast?!)