-
FASHION/ My favourite outfits of the past year (2017/18)
Since I’m now deep into shopping detox mode (see this post which explains it a little more) I’m focusing on the items I already have in my wardrobe, not the ones that I desperately covet!
I thought this would be a great time to look back at some looks I’ve enjoyed wearing over the past year to remind myself of how my preferences have changed and what I have waiting to be worn again.
January
Jacket, Pretty Little Thing (similar here) / Tee, Pretty Little ThingI genuinely felt like a human firework in this faux fur jacket – pretty apt, given that I wore it to watch a fireworks display! It was New Years Day 2017 and Hull was celebrating being the City of Culture with the ‘In With A Bang’ display. The rest of the look was a unisex fit Raiders tee and leather look trousers; I decided to keep everything pretty dark to let the coat stand out. I definitely started the year feeling cool .
Coat, Topshop (similar here) / Jumper, Miss Pap / Jeans, Topshop / Boots, Miss Pap
I wore this outfit, or a variation thereof, pretty mist most of January and into February. As I was feeling pretty vulnerable about my expanded shape I zeroed in on a look that I thought looked fairly stylish and for me – a choker jumper with distressed hem, skinny jeans, these Chloe imitation boots and big coat.
Even though I’m feeling a bit better about how I look now I’d still wear this look as it’s really casual and easy to throw on whilst looking on trend.
February
T-shirt dress, Pretty Little Thing (similar here) / Trousers, Next / Heels, Pretty Little Thing
This outfit may look a little more daring for someone who says they’re not feeling their best, however putting weight on meant my boobs were a bit fuller so I was happy to show them off a bit! However the first time I wore this tee was as a dress (which is how it’s meant to be worn) with OTK boots, but I felt I needed a bit more on to make me feel more confident so added the trousers.
July
Jeans, ASOS / Slides, EGO / Duster coat, Boohoo (similar here)I decided to jump head first into a trend I’d avoided for AGES – mom jeans – and quickly became obsessed. I find them comfy, flattering around the waist and hide the bits I don’t like of my legs quite as much. These slides were probably my most worn footwear of the summer as they’re so easy to chuck on everything, however they’re probably what I got the most stick for too “are you wearing slippers?” nope, I’m just that sassy people!
August
Top, ASOS / Jeans, ASOS / Mules, Dorothy Perkins (similar here)
I just need to say this again: I went to Carrie Bradshaw’s house!! (In case you’re not familiar, this pic was taken on her street. Proper pinch me moment for this SATC fan girl).
Still sticking with the mom jeans but I tentatively tried a *bit* of a racy top – cropped, ties/open front sections and a little cleavage on show. With the high-waisted bottoms I felt it worked well, however I don’t think it worked quite as well sitting down (loose bits flying everywhere) which was a bit of a shame.
November
Coat, Topshop (similar here) / T-shirt, Topshop / Jeans, Topshop / Mules, Dorothy Perkins (similar here) / Sunnies, Noughts and KissesI started to take baby steps to building my confidence back with and chose this outfit for my first OOTD shoot in months. Ironically; every item was already in my wardrobe (I’d only usually shoot something new before as I worried I wouldn’t be ‘accessible’ or relevant enough for people to care) so working with what I have is something I’m clearly capable of doing! I liked mixing the stripes and leopard print to be a bit more interesting, the dark tones tied them together really nicely.
Jacket, Pretty Little Thing / Jeans, Topshop / Boots, Public Desire / Hat, TopshopThis was the month I decided to embrace some seventies styling and realised that it made me feel more confident as well as on trend. The flared jeans balance out my legs, and the hat covered a bit of a bad hair day (as it has done frequently since). I think this is a look I’ll be wearing for a while yet!
December
Jacket, Topshop (similar here) / Top, Topshop / Jeans, Topshop / Boots, Public Desire / Beret, TopshopThis was a spur of the moment outfit thrown together for a Christmas Eve Eve trip out with the Mr. I liked the ruffle trouser trend over the summer but never got round to buying any. Then I saw these babies – they’re part of my favourite Jamie range, AND they were described as ‘mermaid hem’. SOLD! Teamed with my still fave go-to, the funnel neck and my Kate Moss coat (I’m pretty sure this is her exact one too) I felt very like myself but with s bit of a twist. To mix it up even more I added a beret which adored (and successfully covered another dodgy hair escapade).
Ending the year with a decent look has bolstered my confidence for 2018, fingers crossed I can keep the momentum going!
Thanks for reading,
J xx
-
FOOD/ My top #HullFoodie hangouts (Season 1, 2018)
Food will ALWAYS remain one of my life’s passions – for me it’s a great way to be sociable and gain enjoyment from life.For those of you that live in the Hull area or fancy coming up for a visit, I’m sharing some of my favourite places to go throughout 2018 – there’ll be a post every quarter featuring different places, so by the end of it you should have a directory of great recommendations!
An “oldy but goody” this is a cult institution of our fair city! Based inside a converted house just off High Street with shabby-style decor, this is a vegetarian restaurant that packs a punch. Don’t let the lack of meat put you off – I promise you will not miss it!
Each evening is a different themed cuisine, which is chosen by the first table to make a booking for that date. A sharing starter will be served to the table, followed by a buffet main course and dessert (desserts are usually the same on any evening). This comes in at around £20 per person and includes after dinner tea/coffee. They also allow you to bring your own alcohol for a small corkage fee.
My best advice: pace yourself. They serve food kind of late (starters coming out towards 9pm) so make sure you have a late afternoon snack. Oh, and don’t make plans to go out drinking afterwards; you won’t make it that far.
A few tapas joints have popped up in the city over the past couple of years, however I think this one is the best in terms of quality and value for money. The location down Newland Avenue also makes it great to enjoy some really cool bars before if afterwards.
There’s a very decent selection of dishes on the menu that are really nicely presented, as well as being pretty big in size. This place is ideal to enjoy either enjoy a light meal during the day or as part of a night out, or something more heavy is this is the main event.
This place is small but mighty – if you’re in the marina/ Humber Street area and want a good place to go for brekkie or lunch, come here.
They can make pretty much make any kind of sandwhich in most breaded forms; they’re definitely not the cheapest but they are yummy. During colder months they also offer delicious home made soups which are a nice alternative. If you’re eating in there’s some great weekly specials to choose from and they regularly take requests from customers, including me! The picture above is a special burger they created at my suggestion, which became one of their most highly requested specials of 2017.
If you like food that’s hearty and comforting (particularly pizza) and cocktails, this is the place for you. It’s a hipster joint located very close to many of the city centre’s main bars that offers delicious food at decent value alongside pretty much any kind of alcohol you’d want. It makes for a really nice low key lunch/dinner spot and somewhere that’s definitely become a firm favourite of mine over the past few months.
I hope you’ve found one or two places to try out from this post, I look forward to sharing more great places over the coming months.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
-
LIFESTYLE/ Spending detox: the alternative to ‘dry January’
After a debauched festive season a lot of people will be giving up alcohol in January in order to “detox and be healthy”. I’m not a regular drinker (though I’m partial to a few cocktails now and again) however I do have another habit that I’m keen to detox from after months of indulging far too much…
Shopping.
In store, online, clothes, beauty and household items, I will shop anyhow for anything. Over the past few weeks I’ve come to realise that it may be morphing into an obsession and I need to regain control ASAP.
I’ve decided that for the next six weeks I’m going to go cold turkey and not buy any fashion or beauty items that are not essential. I mean, if all the elastic suddenly breaks on my underwear I’ll have to deal with that; but if it’s frivolous I will not be buying it!
I’m hoping this will allow me to get back some valuable time between work to focus on fun and productive things, as well as save money towards our new home and car. In addition (I appreciate to some of you this may sound superficial, but for me it’s a genuine concern) I’m trying to get back to a slimmer shape so I don’t want to buy any more clothes that may not fit me for too much longer.
I may do a kind of follow up to this post (such as tips for shopping in your own closet) depending on how I do or if I learn anything of value. If you have any tips on this subject please do shout out in the comments section.
Wish me luck!
J xx
-
LIFESTYLE/ Happy New Year! 5 things for 2018
A very happy New Year to you all! I sincerely hope that 2018 continues to bring you joy and happiness, as well as presents you with some surprises and challenges to bring you even more. To kick off the new year I thought I would share my top five goals for the year ahead – they vary between the general and specific, the superficial and the real, nevertheless they’re all pretty important to me:
Find a new home 🏡
We sold our house back in September and just haven’t one that’s felt like “home” to us yet, as well as ticked all our boxes (and there aren’t that many to tick, which it makes it more frustrating). However, we are going into the year hopeful that the right house is out there waiting for us.
Smash my new job 💻
I will be starting a new job imminently by the time you read this, eek! I don’t mention work very often on my blog as I’m very keen to keep the two separate, but I’m very excited about this new opportunity. It gives me a chance to progress along my new career path, develop new skills and take on some new challenges, which I’m so down for.
Get back to my happy weight ⚖️
Personal and professional factors have contributed to a rather large weight gain over the past couple of years, which is disappointing given that I slogged my guts out for four years trying to shift it in the first place (and another three years keeping it off). The good thing here is that I’ve done it before so I know I can do it again and feel like my life is turning a much more positive corner to allow change to happen.
Have eyebrows on fleek 💉
I’ve been self conscious about my brows for years now – this is down to my teenage self over plucking as it was the 90s (nobody told you how to do these things right) and they never really recovered. So I’ve taken the leap and decided to get them tattooed; this is a pretty big deal considering that I’m petrified of needles (I usually feel physically sick at the thought of them) but I’m trying to be brave and focus on how much better I will feel when they’re done.
See more of the UK 🇬🇧
I’ve been thinking a lot about my next travel destinations over the past few weeks, and have realised that I’m very poorly travelled around my home country. I’ve decided to change me travel goals and make exploring some UK cities a top priority; this may work well considering that I’ll be making a couple of big purchases this year (a house and a car) so somewhere far flung isn’t that achievable. I still plan to go abroad too but probably somewhere closer to home, still somewhere that I haven’t been before.
So those are my main priorities for the year – I’m sure as things happen towards achieving each goal I will put up som related posts – hopefully this means there’ll be more travel and lifestyle content in 2018, as well as getting back to my number one passion (and the reason I started blogging int he first place) fashion. Hope to see you there.
Thanks for reading,
J xx
-
FESTIVE, FOOD & FUN/ Christmas 2017
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas Day and are waking up for #BoxingDay feeling happy and content. As I did last year, I thought I’d share a few candid words and pictures of what I’ve been doing (FYI- the pic above is of my festive PJs, which are from Next).
This year was a bit different as we’re currently living in temporary accommodation, so the presents kind of spilled out more than usual! We treated ourselves to a new ‘snow covered’ tree too.
We wake up at the same kind of time every day no matter what (we are rubbish at having a lay in!) so we get up, put on festive songs and open presents next to the tree with a mug of tea (served in festive mugs, obvs.).
Presents are lovely, but next comes my fave bit – Christmas Day brekkie! Every year we have sausage sandwiches in soft white baps (the sausages are ASDA Finest pork and apple, if you’re interested).
This year it was our turn to spend Christmas Day with my in-laws (we alternate every year) which is a bit different these days as we now have two little members of the family who are both adorable and excitable!
I didn’t load up my plate in a very insta-worthy manner, but when home-cooked food is delicious you kinda don’t care.
Highlights included my mother in-law’s stuffing and brother in-law’s mash potato, I had seconds of both with lashings of gravy. I finished off my epic feast with trifle, yassss.
Boxing Day lunch is always spent with my famil and my stepdad always cooks up something amazing!
This year was chicken tagine with cous cous followed by bread and butter pudding (which has become something of a festive family tradition) made with croissants and served with double cream.
I’m now having some much needed chill time at home with the Mr before the New Year begins – watching a mountain of DVDs, eating, generally being cosy and figuring out what my goals for 2018 will be. I hope you’re all enjoying some down time too; if not then I hope work isn’t too frantic for you!Thanks for reading,
J xx
About Me
I’m Jenny, nice to meet you. I’m a thirty-something who likes fashion, holidays and wondering about life. A lot.
