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

My Travel Diary - Vlogging in Berlin!

Hello Hello!

Firstly - Happy New Year! I can't believe this is the first post I'm doing in 2017 - somehow time has run away from me! (I'm always saying that aren't I?)

Tom and I had a lovely start to the year as we were still away on holiday, and we've just been settling back into "real life" over the past week or so.

I was planning for my first post of 2017 to be something about New Years Resolutions/Goals, or at least a bit of a recap of the past year (I always love reflecting on all the highlights), but I haven't quite gotten around to sitting down and really planning that out yet so instead I'm sharing a few of the vlogs I made while we were on our Europe trip! - starting off with Berlin!

There will be plenty of photos and Travel Diary posts to come, but it's going to take me a while to sort through all those photos so I thought I may as well share the videos here on the blog in case anyone happens to be interested! 

To be honest I do cringe a little at the thought of people watching these, but I had such a fun time filming and editing them and it's great to be able to watch them back and remember what we got up to and what an awesome trip we had. 

I figured I should just suck it up, try not to worry about what anyone thinks and just put these out there! Especially seeing as my word for this year is "Confidence" - this is a good start to putting that into practice!

1.

Off to Berlin

2.

Berlin Walking Tour and Christmas Markets

3.

Mauerpark Flea Market and East Side Gallery

4.

Tiergarten and Christmas Markets at Schloss Charlottenburg

Have you been to Berlin before? I'd love to hear what your favourite places to visit are as Tom and I really enjoyed exploring this beautiful city and would love to go back one day!

One of my absolute highlights (which I didn't actually vlog) was meeting up with a friend that I've made through youtube - Jenny Traumerin. It was so fun to be able to meet up and connect with someone who has so many similar interests to me and that lives on the other side of the world!

The internet is a pretty amazing thing really!

I was also lucky enough to meet up with the lovely Rachel from A Nesting Nomad while I was in London too! (So Rachel if you're reading this - thanks so much for taking the time to meet us!) Her travel blog is amazing so you should check it out if you haven't seen it before!

Meeting up with these online friends really reaffirmed to me that I should keep up with this little hobby of mine. I feel like it fell by the wayside a little in 2016 so hopefully I'll be able to put a little more love into the blog this year as it's something I really enjoy!

Hope you're having a great night (or day!)

Thanks as always for stopping by! 

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Thirteen Little Things...

Hello Hello :)

I haven't been posting as much as I'd like to lately, but to be honest, I've been feeling pretty down in the dumps over the past month or so and I just haven't felt up to it. Nothing terribly bad has been happening, but I've just been really stressed at work, dealing with a number of quite negative people that have left me feeling totally drained. 

I'm usually a pretty happy, optimistic person, but being blamed for things that aren't your fault, or questioned about your intentions and skills (when all you are doing is trying your best to help people), really does get you down after a while.

After having a mini breakdown the other day, I decided I just have to move on and not let those negative Nancy's get to me anymore. It's much easier said than done (particularly for someone like myself who takes everything to heart), but I'm slowly getting there.

This blog is my "happy place"  - I want to spread positive vibes and for my little corner of the internet to be a fun, uplifting place to visit, so now that I'm in a better mindset I figured I'd dip my toe back into the "blogging pond" by sharing something that's been helping me to feel a little better, even on a pretty crappy day. 

I think the saying "There's something good in every day" is really true, and so even when I haven't been feeling the positive vibes, I've been trying to look for the little things that make me smile. It might be the tiniest thing that only lasts a few moments, but if you look for it, there's always something good in the day to be grateful for.

So here are just some of the little things, that have made me smile lately...

1. Seeing a rainbow on my drive to work. I like to think of this as a sign that it's going to be a good day!

2. The beautiful cherry blossom (of is it a plum blossom?) tree that's blooming outside our apartment. I see it as I head out the door on my way to work and it always brings a smile to my face.

3. The fact that it's just that little bit brighter in the mornings now as I'm waking up. I'm so excited for Spring - it's always feels like such a fresh start and that everything picks up once September rolls around.

4. A big hug from my Nonna - she's a little lady but gives the best hugs, and on this particular night, I really needed a good hug. It didn't exactly fix the situation that was stressing me out, but it definitely helped me feel a whole lot better about it all.

5. Sipping a hot cup of tea in the morning as I get ready for work (or even better when Tom brings it to me on the weekend when I'm still in bed). There's something pretty amazing about the power of simple cup of tea.

6. Our little apartment (okay so I guess this is actually a pretty big thing!)  - it's really coming together now and feels so cozy and homey. I feel so lucky that we have this space to call our own.

7. Snuggling into freshly washed sheets - one of the best feelings ever!

8. Watching The Bachelor - I originally only started watching it so I could chat to people at work about it and feel a bit more in the loop, but I've actually really got into it and now I'm hooked. It's nice to be able to just escape reality for a little while and enjoy some light hearted entertainment!
(For the record, I think Nikki will win - she seems like such a sweet, down to earth girl and they seem perfect for each other)

9. Listening to the rain while I'm snuggled up inside - I don't think this one needs any explanation, the sound of rain is just so relaxing... 

10. The fact that I can now do proper dead lifts at the gym! I never thought I'd be into lifting weights, but I actually really enjoy it! It's all down to the fact that I have an awesome personal trainer - Matt at Smart Fitness. He's one of my friends from uni so going to the gym just feels like a fun catch up with my friend. If you're in Perth and after an awesome PT you should get in contact with Matt!

11. Watching my orchid that I repotted a couple of months ago growing. The flowers are just about to blossom (for the third time now) and it's so exciting! Tom says I sound like a proud mother when I'm talking about my orchid... I've never kept a plant alive for this long before, so I guess I am a proud plant mum! ;)

12. Going for a walk in the sunshine - even if it's only for ten minutes during my lunch break - it can really help to brighten up the day.

13. Picking Tom up from the airport - my favourite part of the week. He's coming home tonight and I'm so excited :)


After writing that list I'm feeling pretty good about things right now (the fact that it's Friday night is also probably helping with that!)
They're just simple things, but when you look for them you realise how many good things there are. They don't exactly fix all the other things going on, but when you're feeling grateful it's much easier to deal with the harder stuff (at least it seems that way to me).

What little things have been making you smile lately?

Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx

A Very Special Day on Cradle Mountain - Our Engagement Story

Heya! :)

I'm finally sharing these photos from December, our second last day in Tassie - the day that we spent about seven hours hiking around Cradle Mountain, and the day Tom proposed!!

Even though Tom and I had talked about getting engaged for a while (we'd been together for 6 years at that point), I honestly didn't think it was going to happen on this particular trip, so when Tom proposed at the (almost) top of Cradle Mountain, I was so surprised!

It was actually a spontaneous proposal, Tom hadn't been planning on doing it that day, so it was a bit of a surprise for him too! hehe ;)

Tom told me afterwards that he'd been trying for a while to think of the best way to propose - something that wasn't too corny or overdone, but that would be really special, and while we were walking along this plateau boardwalk area, amongst the beautiful mountain scenery with no-one else around, the perfect moment just sort of presented itself! We were sitting down on a step having a rest,  I got up to continue on when Tom said "Just wait a moment ... I guess this is as good a time as any... I could plan and plan, but I don't know when we're going to have a setting as amazing as this... so..." 

After that point, I actually can't remember anything else he said, as I was completely surprised. I just teared up and kept saying "Really?! Are you serious?!"  over and over while giving him a big hug and eventually saying "Yes of course!". My response was kinda ridiculous, but I'd been thinking about this moment for a while, and my brain just wasn't processing the fact that it was actually really happening! 

(Thank god no-one else was around to see it though! It would have been very embarrassing!)

So after that, we actually had another four hours to walk back, and the route we took ended up being way more difficult than the way we'd come! There were points where we were scrambling over rocks and thinking ... "we better not fall because there's no-one around and no phone reception!" It was a great walk though, and it gave us a little time to let it sink in - we were super excited and happy, but we didn't really feel any different!

I'd actually been a little grumpy before, after 3 hours walking in the sun and having a little stumble, but after the proposal I couldn't have been happier! My mum joked that Tom knew he needed to cheer me up so that's why he proposed at that moment! When we told Tom's parents, his mum was like "Well you're lucky she said yes - that could have been a very awkward walk back if she'd said no!" ;)

It was such a special and perfect moment and Tom really did a great job at surprising me (and himself too actually!) When we got back to Perth we went and looked at rings together and ended up having a beautiful ring custom made. I honestly couldn't be happier and I really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world. It sound's so cheesy but it's true!

I know this is a very personal thing to be sharing, but I've said it many times before, this blog is like a diary and I love looking back at it, so of course I wanted to document this very special moment here. 

 I'm looking forward to blogging more about our wedding planning so hopefully you'll enjoy seeing  few wedding related posts!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

We're Engaged!

Hello hello :)

I have some very exciting - although rather belated - news to share...

Back in December, on our second last day in Tasmania, Tom and I got engaged!!! 

(I kept that pretty quiet didn't I?) 

I honestly don't know why it's taken me so long to share this news here on the blog, but we've actually only just put it up on facebook, so I guess we're just a little slow with the social media announcements!

We are so excited and happy to be getting married and these past few months have been so blissful (and flown by so quickly!)

I'll definitely share a little more of our engagement story soon (the proposal happened up on Cradle Mountain!) and hopefully a little bit of the wedding planning too -  I want to record this very special and exciting time in our lives!

I hope you're having a great Friday night :)

Tom and I are down in Margaret River for the weekend and I'm curled up on the sofa next to a crackling fire, which is basically the coziest, most relaxing thing I can imagine so I'm pretty happy right now.

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

An Amazing Year - Looking Back on 2015

I really can't believe that this is the last day of 2015.

December seems to have whizzed by in a flash, and I'm a little sad to see it go, as this year has been a really great one for me!

2015 was the year of some pretty big, life changing moments, and I have some incredible memories to look back on.

Lots of exciting things happened, from big things, like Tom and I moving into our own place together, to smaller things, like finally discovering podcasts (how did I not know about them before?! They've made my drive to work so much more fun!)

I love looking back at the year and remembering all the amazing things I have to be grateful for. Here are a few of the highlights from 2015...

*Starting off the year with a relaxed picnic in King's Park with some of my closest friends

*After a long hunt, Tom and I finally bought our first home!
We love our little apartment and have had such a great time moving in together and making it all home-y. We've still got a way to go before it'll be "finished" but I've been loving the process.

*A long weekend trip to Melbourne for my birthday
(The first time in years that I wasn't working or studying on the day!)

*Discovering "minimalism" and the idea of more simple living.
I've been on a decluttering and downsizing kick this whole year and it's something I plan to continue for years to come. I definitely wouldn't call myself a minimalist by any means, but I've had a huge shift in mindset and it's been pretty life changing. Thankfully Tom's been on board too and it's been so great to share this experience together. I've been inspired by a lot of blogs, youtube channels and podcasts so I'll hopefully get around to putting together my own post about this soon!

*Tying into the more minimalistic lifestyle I've been slowly adopting, I'm loving the fact that I've downsized my wardrobe and have been happily living with a capsule wardrobe for the past few months now. I still probably have a few too many pieces in my wardrobe, but I'm definitely finding it's much more manageable now! I was worried that streamlining my wardrobe would be problematic from the fashion blogging side of things, but I haven't found it to be a problem at all (although I will admit I've been a bad blogger and haven't been posting as much as I'd like lately). I actually think there might be a few changes coming to Lauren Loves Laughter next year, as I'm planning on sharing a lot more about capsule wardrobes and how I've applied this more minimal mindset to other aspects of my life.

*I finally dove in and decided to try my hand at Youtube.
I've only posted a few videos so far, but I'm happy to have finally overcome the fear of putting myself out there and gotten started on it, as it's something I've been wanting to do for a while now.  It's just another fun, creative outlet for me and hopefully something I'll continue in 2016!

*Tom and I celebrated our six year anniversary!
It's been an awesome six years that seem to have just flown by. I am so lucky to have such an amazing, funny, kind, (not to mention incredibly good looking) guy by my side.
Ok... enough of the soppiness!

*An awesome holiday in Melbourne and Tasmania to end the year.
Taylor Swift's 1989 Tour was amazing, and we then had a lovely relaxing holiday in Tassie. I totally fell in love with the place - the adorable old houses in Hobart, the winding roads and gorgeous small towns, the delicious food (particularly their raspberries!), the amazing view from our accommodation in Swansea, and an amazing day spent trekking around Cradle Mountain.

It's been a good year :)
I have a feeling though that  2016 is going to be equally fabulous (if not better) as I have some exciting news up my sleeve (but you'll just have to wait for that!)

I hope you're 2015 has been just as amazing!

Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx

Feeling Christmassy in Melbourne

Hello :)

Merry Christmas!

It's now boxing day in Australia  but I thought I'd quickly share a few festive photos from when we were in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. 

It was quite a short stop in Melbourne - we were only there for one night, but we had the morning to walk around before heading to the airport and on to Tasmania.

There were some beautiful Christmas lights and decorations around the city, and I really loved walking through Royal Arcade (where most of these photos were taken) as it was looking particularly festive. There was a really beautiful store there selling  Babushka dolls and Christmas baubles from Russia that were so beautiful! 

We had a lovely time just strolling around and feeling that festive, magical vibe, so I hope you enjoy these photos!

I hope you've had a really lovely Christmas!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Ten Things I LOVE About Spring

It's that magical time of year again... that amazing time where the arrival of brighter days, blue skies, spring flowers and just that warmth in the air has me a bit ridiculously giddy with excitement!

There's just something about springtime that feels so fresh and full of possibility and anticipation, and every year I've posted a few photos on the blog and declared my love for the season. This year I thought I'd delve a bit deeper and make a little list of the things that, for me at least, make this such a fabulous time of year. It's nothing groundbreaking, but hopefully it'll help you remember to notice the simple things...

So here we have it - Ten things I adore about Spring

1. The longer, brighter days - Even if you're up early and heading out to work, at least it's light now when you roll out of bed! Admittedly we are pretty lucky here in Perth, with beautiful sunny days not uncommon even in the middle of winter, but there's just something about waking up to natural light that makes mornings so much easier!

2. That warmth in the air - there's just something about the feel of things heating up that you can't beat. There's that smell of spring in the air, the promise that warmer days are just around the corner, the fact that you can go out without a jumper - it's just so free-ing!

A couple of weeks ago the temperature made it's way up to 30 degrees, and even though I was at work and inside all day, just looking out the window  and feeling that warmth in the air made it feel like holidays were on their way! I guess it's just an association I have from my school days... but it's still a great feeling!

3. Enjoying long walks in the sunshine - Spring is truly the best time of year to get outside and enjoy your surroundings. Whether you like long, relaxing walks or prefer to pick up the pace, the weather is just perfect any time of day. I love going for a walk around my neighbourhood in the evenings, spending the morning strolling by the river or exploring King's Park on the weekends, and just getting out for a quick walk around the block during my lunch break. 

4. So much colour everywhere  - One of the reasons I love going for walks this time of year is that there is just so much colour all around. Flowers are bursting out everywhere you look and there's just so much beauty around! That sounds so cheesy, but it's true!

Tom laughs at me when we go for a walk because I'm seriously like a little kid - all excited about the next pretty flower we come across and having to stop every few meters to examine and photograph it!

The wildflowers are out in Kings Park at the moment so I definitely recommend getting down there if you're in Perth!

5. Spring fashion - It's time to put away those dark winter clothes and coats and bring out all the brights! Floral dresses, sandals, shorts and of course those white floaty tops I have a particular penchant for - this is the fashion I live for! I've made no secret here on the blog that I'm not a huge fan of wintery wear, so this time of year is my wardrobe's time to shine. I've mentioned before I'm trying out a capsule wardrobe, and while it worked really well for winter, I have to admit I'm struggling a little with my Spring capsule - there's just so many pretty summery clothes that I love so I'm having difficulty narrowing things down! I might have to rethink the capsule wardrobe idea (for the warmer months anyway), but we'll see what happens and I'll keep you updated!

 6. Spring beauty - There's just something about pastel painted nails, light, shimmery eyeshadows and bright pink lipstick that brings a smile to my face. Even though I tend to wear this kind of look all year round, it's extra perfect now that the weather is warming up!

7. That urge you get to spring clean - I love the rush of energy and motivation I get that spurs me on to have a good clear out, declutter and just generally put things in order at this time of year. I guess it's called "Spring Cleaning" for a reason. This whole year I've been slowly sorting through my things and letting things go in an effort to live a more minimalistic lifestyle, but now that it's Spring (and also because I've just read Marie Kondo's book - The Life Changing Magic of Tidying), I'm feeling extra motivated!

8. Feeling inspired to be more healthy - When it's cold and rainy, all I want to do is curl up inside and indulge in a little too much comfort food, but now that the weather's so much cheerier, the thought of fresh fruit, salads and just generally making better food choices is so much more appealing! The fact that all the summer fruits are coming out definitely helps. Hello peaches!

9. Everyone seems to be a little happier - Is it just me, or do people in general just seem to be friendlier around this time of year? There's something about sunny days that seems to make almost everyone feel that little bit cheerier, and you can just see it in people's faces and the way they go about their day and interact with people. From people I work with, patients I see, random people you walk past in the street, everyone just seem to be that little bit more upbeat.

 ...and that's always a good thing - "Happy people just don't shoot their husbands..." ;)

10. The promise that Summer Is Coming! - Even though I'm working now and don't get to enjoy those gloriously long summer breaks, Summer always gives me that "free" feeling.

Holidays (even if they are kinda short), Christmas, long hot nights, beach fun times, ice-cream - all good things to look forward to. ...and the anticipation of it is half the fun! 

What's your favourite thing about Spring?

(Or I guess Autumn if you're in the Northern hemisphere!)

Lauren

xxx