Note - This post is obviously going up a little later than intended, but I figured I'd leave it as it was when I wrote it... mainly for my memories!)
Hello Hello!
It's been a while since I've posted anything here and I can't believe we're already nearing the end of April! I know I say it all the time but this year is seriously flying by!
Speaking of flying, as I'm writing this Tom and I are actually on a plane to Italy! We're so excited to be heading off on our belated honeymoon (yes we're still calling this trip our honeymoon... gotta milk it while we can!) and this is going to be our biggest adventure yet - we're away for almost 7 weeks!
I'm so looking forward to having this time to hang out with Tom and explore some cool new places. We're starting off in Italy, doing a hike through Tuscany, heading to France and then making our way to Scotland (stopping by Oxford for a few days too... we decided we would skip London as it's probably going to be super busy with the Royal Wedding!)
Somehow it has been 5 months since our wedding and I honestly don't know what's happened to the time. It's been a fab 5 months and I've been in a really happy place lately which has been so nice, considering I was a little worried I might experience a bit of the "post wedding blues" after all the fun I had with the planning!
We've been very much enjoying the whole "marriage part" (even if things haven't reallly changed much), and making the most of our free weekends now that they're not always dedicated to DIY projects of figuring out table plans!
I still get a little thrill when the word "husband" or "wife" comes up, even though I haven't quite adjusted to the new identity of being a "Mrs" and I've taken to introducing Tom as my "hubby" rather than "husband". For some reason "husband" seems so much more serious and grown up, whereas "hubby" I can work with (I'm silly I know!)
Before I start documenting our travels, I thought first I'd share some of the things I've been getting up to and enjoying in my day to day life, as a kind of bridge between weddings and travels, because, although sometimes social media may make it seem that way, life's not always about jumping from one crazy exciting thing to the next.
Life happens in the in-between moments and I want to be someone who can appreciate simple day to day life and make those times beautiful and enjoyable too!
So without further ado, here's a short little round up of some of the things I've been loving lately:
1) Bush Walks
As I mentioned before, Tom and I are going to be doing a hike through Tuscany, so in preparation we've been getting out and finding paths that are a little more strenuous than our usual relaxed strolls through the neighbourhood! Whenever we go, I'm always stuck with such a feeling of gratitude for the beautiful place we're lucky enough to live in. Having been here all our lives, we do tend to take the lovely bush environment, the birds and the sunny weather for granted sometimes, but going for an early morning or evening walk (it's particularly beautiful at golden hour) always reminds me how happy I am to live where I do. I also loved this post by Rachel of the blog A Nesting Nomad another great reminder of why living in Australia is pretty fab :)
2) You Do You by Sarah Knight
I'm a people pleaser by nature and someone who always seems to need the approval of others before I feel confident in doing something. It's a trait that I find incredibly frustrating and it's something I've been working on letting go for a while now. I've still got a fair way to go when it comes to truly not giving a crap about what other people think, but I'm definitely improving and this book by Sarah Knight is just the thing I needed to read. Basically it's a whole book dedicated to giving you permission to follow your own path, be yourself (regardless of what others think) and "let your freak flag fly". It's funny, to the point and just a great read.
3) Your Best Life and The Kelly Trach Show
Following on from that book, another thing I've been loving lately is an online course I signed up to called "Your Best Life". It's created by Kelly Trach who's an author, life coach and host of a podcast called "The Kelly Trach Show".
Her course is designed to be a step by step guide on how to build a life you love by starting with the inner work first and mastering your mindset, because, as Kelly says "if you get the inner parts right first, the outside falls into place". I totally agree and I've been loving working through the material.
The course is taught through a series of videos and Kelly is great at clearly explaining her processes and sharing practical ways to implement them in your life. She also makes it really fun to watch, with relatable examples and funny anecdotes from her own life thrown in too.
Although I'm still not completely finished, (I've watched all the videos, just haven't quite worked through all the thought provoking/soul searching parts of the workbook yet), I've already found it to be incredibly powerful. I'm someone who tends to overthink and stress way to much, and this course has been so worthwhile as it's really helped me to let go of the worries (many of them anyway), embrace my strengths and feel much more confident.
I'm planning on writing up a full post soon (once I've fully gone through and done all the thought-work) but if you're interested in finding out more now, you can check it out here and if you'd like to sign up, I'd love if you did so through my affiliate link. I'm so happy to be an affiliate for this course, because it's something I truly believe would be helpful to so many people! If you do sign up let me know - I'd love to chat about what you think of it!
4) Suits
I'm a little late with this one, but we recently started watching Suits on Netflix and I'm addicted. It's such a fun show and I highly recommend it if you're looking for something new to watch!
4) Overalls
I've mentioned them many times before and my love for overalls won't be going away anytime soon! This particular outfit with the overalls paired with an off-the-shoulder top and ballet flats has become one of my favourites because I feel it's a little more mature (as much as you can get with overalls anyway!) and feminine compared to when they're worn with converse and a t-shirt.
6) Cups of Tea in Bed
It's one of the simplest things, but being able to relax in bed with a cup of tea on a Sunday morning makes me so, so happy.
I also recently bought these super cute mugs from Kikki.k. I have a bit of an obsession with cute mugs and these ones are fab because they're a nice big size.
7) Our new blush pink armchair
It's been a while since we've made any changes to our place and after rearranging the furniture in the living room we decided a new armchair would be the perfect new addition to the little reading nook we created. Now we both have armchairs to sit and read in, and I love how this chair adds such a beautiful, feminine touch to the room with the lovely muted blush colour and velvet fabric. Our living room is pretty neutral with lots of greys and wooden details, so it's nice to be able to add a subtle pop of colour!
8) Getting excited for our big European Adventure!
This one doesn't really need any explanation! We knew we wanted to head to Europe for our honeymoon and we thought it would be a good idea to delay it for a few months and spread the excitement out a bit so we had something to look forward to after the wedding! (Definitely a good decision, plus I can't imagine planning a big trip like this at the same time as wedding planning - too much at once for me!)
As I mentioned at the start of the post - we're heading to Italy (a handful of small towns in Tuscany), France (Nice, Aix-en-Provence, Paris), Oxford, Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands. So if you have any recommendations let me know!
So that's my list of happy things for the month (or the past few months really)
As always, I'd love to know what's been making you smile lately (big or small!) Let me know in the comments of come say hi on Instagram - @laurennatalia29 - I'll be sharing lots of travel pics over there too!
Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx