Friday 26 May 2017

Changes


Hello!

How are we nearly at the end of May already? This year is flying by at lighting speed!

Things have been a little quiet here on the blog, but that's because there are some exciting things happening behind the scenes that I've been busy working away at (plus life has just been a little cray).

I've decided it's time to make the move from Blogger to Squarespace and I'm in the process of setting everything up. I spent a lot of time tossing up between Squarespace vs WordPress but in the end Squarespace was the winner for the purposes of my blog at this point in time.

So look out for a few changes happening soon!

Let me know if you've had any experience with Squarespace. I'd love to hear your tips!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Lauren
xxx





Sunday 30 April 2017

Home Inspiration


A few photos from a home open we stopped by a few weeks back.

I've always loved the idea of living in a "New York loft style" apartment, so when I saw that an old warehouse in Fremantle had been turned into these  gorgeous apartments, I just had to stop by and take a peak (a little cheekily as we're not looking to buy at all!)

There's something about those high ceilings, exposed wooden beams and that lovely red brick feature wall, not to mention the beautiful arched windows, that I just adore. 

I've definitely decided that my favourite interior style is the "industrial" look (maybe with a little "rustic/country" thrown in) and we've been slowly building our furniture collection to reflect that (thank you West Elm)

We don't quite have the apartment/house to match just yet, but I'm filing these photos away for future reference! :p

I'd love to hear what your dream home would look like :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

Lauren
xxx

Sunday 23 April 2017

My Style Diary - Blue Jean Baby


Good morning!

Another Sunday morning, another blog post coming to you as I sip my tea in bed. Ahh Sundays! :)

Today's Style Diary is from last weekend - and what a lovely long weekend it was!
I hope you all had a nice Easter break :)

On Saturday morning, Tom and I went for a nice long walk, had brunch and spent some time just browsing around the shops. 

While reading the paper at brunch I noticed an ad for a home open at an apartment block that we'd seen a few years ago while searching for our own apartment. We had swiftly rejected it as it was an "off the plan" development (not something we were interested in), but the design of the place had always intrigued me. The plan was to convert an old warehouse in Fremantle into "New York style" apartments, and they had just recently finished building.
Seeing as I've always dreamed of living in a New York loft (exposed brick walls, beautiful floor to ceiling windows... *insert heart-eyed emoji here*), we decided to be nosey and take a look.

I'll do a separate post sharing a few of the photos, but there were some seriously gorgeous apartments in this building! We may not be in the market to buy at this stage, but I'm just gathering all the inspiration for my "future dream home"!

Outfit wise it was a blue denim and white kind of day - my go-to for weekends when I want to feel comfortable and laid-back. I always feel like ripped blue denim has that "effortlessly stylish" vibe, which is something I always want! Paired with a white lace top it's a little more feminine and pretty - so just my kinda style!

What's your go-to weekend outfit?
I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Lauren
xxx

Top - Forever New
Jeans - Siwy Denim
Shoes - Roxy
Bag - Country Road

Sunday 9 April 2017

My Style Diary - Forest Green Pinafore Fun!


Hello and Happy Sunday!

Today I have a fun Style Diary post to share featuring this cute pinafore from Princess Highway. I love that overalls/pinafores are back in fashion and aren't just for little kids anymore!

I've finally come to the realisation that although I may admire those bloggers who  have a really sophisticated style, I'll never actually be one of them. I just can't resist the slightly more quirky designs - like fruit-printed dresses, sparkly shoes (I just bought a pair of super sparkly keds for my wedding and I am SO excited about them) and of course, overalls.

Tom (in the kindest way possible) recently described my style as something "a big six year old would wear"
... and you know what... I'm cool with that!

Just as a side note - I always find Tom's thoughts on fashion to be quite hilarious - his descriptions are just gold!

Fashion is meant to be something fun and I love being able to express just a little bit of my playful personality through my clothes.
Even if that does sometimes mean dressing like an oversized child!

I picked up this forest green pinafore from Princess Highway when I was in Melbourne back in March and I love it so much. The colour will be perfect as we transition into autumn (now that I've been out of school for 10 years I've finally gotten over my aversion to green after being scarred by our "tree-like" uniforms for so many years) and I can picture so many ways of styling it. That's the fab thing about pinafores, they're versatile as you can layer them with different pieces for a totally different look. 

This particular day was lovely and sunny so I paired it with a white lace top and white sand shoes (we were doing lots of walking so comfy shoes were a must!)
I think it gives a a nice fresh, summery vibe - and I'm happy to hold onto summer for as long as possible!

What are your thoughts on the pinafore/overall trend? Are you a fan or is it not your jam?

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday!

Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx


Pinafore - Princess Highway
White Lace Top - Topshop
Bag - Country Road
Shoes - Roxy

Sunday 26 March 2017

My Style Diary - Saturday Afternoon Strolling Around Fremantle


Good morning! 

I'm sitting here bright and early on this lovely Sunday morning with my cup of tea, ready to get stuck into blogging. 

These photos are from last Saturday (just quickly snapped on my phone) when Tom and I spent a lovely afternoon strolling around Fremantle. For some reason we rarely get to Freo, but when we do I always love the chilled vibe it has. The old buildings, walking through the markets, popping into second hand bookstores, and just leisurely exploring, really can make you feel like you're on holiday, even if it's just for a few hours. 

Outfit-wise I was wearing my Country Road jeans and one of my favourite (very brightly) printed shirts, with my navy cardigan thrown on for a little more warmth (we seem to be heading into autumn a lot more quickly than usual, what happened to our endless summers?!)
These are all staple pieces in my capsule wardrobe that I've worn time and time again and won't be going anywhere anytime soon!

The bag I actually stole from my Mum (she wasn't using it so I thought I may as well give it some love!) and it's become one of my favourites. It's a lovely soft leather, the tan colour goes with almost everything I wear and it's the perfect size. Cross body bags have always been my favourite style, and they're particularly great for days like this one when you're wandering around exploring (and pretending to be on holiday).


Speaking of holidays I have SO many photos from our Europe trip to share but I just haven't gotten around to sorting through them yet! Making time to sit down and write posts/edit photos has been hard lately as I feel like there are a million other things I should be doing and my poor little blog always gets put on the back burner. 
I do really want to make this more of a priority though as it's something I love doing and truly makes me so happy.

 I have so many ideas floating around in my head for fun, creative posts (not just style diaries!) and just random things I'd like to share, but I do still have this mental block that my blog is just this "silly, frivolous thing" so I have trouble making it a priority. Even after four years of blogging I don't talk about it with people in real life and the thought of people I know reading it still makes me squirm! I know it's ridiculous and I really do just need to get over it, but it's much easier said than done!

Any tips on getting over this silly fear? They would be much appreciated! :)

Anyway, that turned into a bit of a ramble didn't it?
I hope you have an awesome weekend!

Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx

Top - Sportsgirl
Jeans - Country Road
Cardigan - Pull & Bear
Shoes - Roxy
Bag - Country Road

Friday 3 March 2017

My Style Diary - White Lace Playsuit


Hello and Happy Friday!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how incredibly happy I am that it's finally  the weekend! To make it even better it's a long weekend for us, and I'm actually off on a fun girls trip to Melbourne!

Before I go though (I've got about half an hour before I need to head to the airport) I thought I'd share these photos from last weekend. Tom and I went out for breakfast with my Dad on Sunday morning (a foodie post will be coming soon) and I had a chance to wear the latest addition to my wardrobe. 

I've been really careful when making any new purchases as I've been pretty happy with how my capsule wardrobe is going and only want to add things that will complement it perfectly. Even though I do already have a white lace playsuit (so I don't technically need another one!), when I saw this one in Kookai I just couldn't pass it up! You know I have a soft spot for white lace pieces and this one is just so easy to throw on and ticked all the boxes;
Effortless - check. Classic - check. Playful - check!

I love the cut-out detail at the back and the lace fabric is really beautiful. It feels really modern but at the same time just a little bit vintage-y too (or am I just imagining that!)
It will be a really easy and versatile piece that can be worn casually like I did here or dressed up with a pair of heels and maybe even a blazer. There's something about playsuits that I really like - they seem to just add a slightly more quirky, fun touch to an outfit compared to dresses. What are your thoughts on playsuits? Love them? Hate them?

Anyway, I better head off!
What are your plans for the weekend? I'd love to hear :)
 Mine include lots of eating, a little shopping and just having a fab time hanging out with some of my best friends!

Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx

Playsuit - Kookai
Sandals - Windsor Smith
Bag - Jigsaw
Sunnies - Ray Ban

Sunday 19 February 2017

How To Care for Orchids

how to care for orchids

Good morning!

I hope your weekend has been off to a lovely start!

For today's post I thought I would share some of my tips and tricks for taking care of orchids. Now I'm not an expert (I feel like I preface everything I say on this blog with that!) but I have had a reasonable amount of experience and luck caring for my little orchid collection (all of mine are Phalaenopsis). I've been able to get a second life out of all the orchid's I've had so far and one particular plant has has actually bloomed three times already and is still going strong!

So here are my simple tips - hopefully they will help you out!

1. Make sure your orchid gets lots of bright, indirect/filtered light

When we first moved into our apartment I had one orchid that I kept on the windowsill. It did fine in winter but when summer came around the light became way too harsh and actually ended up leaving a burn mark on one of the leaves. Now I like to keep them on my desk or dresser - close enough to get enough light, but far enough away so the window doesn't turn into a magnifying glass and burn my poor orchids to a crisp! If it's a really hot day I'll pull our sheer curtains over the window to filter the light.

2.  Water your orchids using a spray bottle or the ice-block trick if you're a beginner

Apparently one of the most common reasons that orchids don't survive is because they are overwatered, which is why the trick of using a small handful of ice blocks (around 3-4) once a week is so popular. When I first started out with my orchid's I did this and it worked really well for me but after a little research I've noticed there is some conflicting opinions on whether this is really the best method - take a look at this article if you want to read more. Despite this I feel that if you're a beginner, watering with ice-blocks is a good place to start.
I've actually switched over to using a spray bottle to give my orchids a good watering roughly once a week, and sometimes a little more frequently if I notice the soil is looking really dry. You want to give it a reasonable drenching so the soil is nice and moist, but leave enough time for it to dry out properly.
It's also important not to get water collecting in the centre of the plant on the leaves so I always make sure to spray the water under the leaves right onto the soil.

3. Repot roughly once a year (once the flowers have died off)

I delayed repotting for ages as I was terrified I would kill my orchid by doing this, but it's really quite simple. This video by Chicago Botanic Garden on youtube was the most helpful I've found. Once I repotted I found my orchid started growing really well and flowered very quickly afterwards! I used a potting mix made especially for orchids that I picked up from Bunnings.

4. Remember to fertilise your orchid

Some sites I've read recommend fertilising every few weeks whereas the directions on the fertiliser I use recommend every 6 months. I use this Osmocote fertiliser and have used it roughly every 6 months  and so far it seems to be going well! I guess it really depends on the specific fertiliser you're using.

how to keep orchids alive

These are the tips that have worked for me so far! I hope they're helpful if you haven't had much luck with orchids in the past. It really is such a great feeling when an orchid starts to flower again. Let me know if you haven any suggestions or extra tips - as I said I'm not an expert so I'd love to hear any extra advice!

Have a lovely weekend whatever you're up to!

Lauren
xxx

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