Hobart - Salamanca Market and Mona

Hello!

I have some more Hobart photos to share today :)

Tom and I arrived in Hobart on Friday night, and after dropping our bags at our hotel we went out for dinner at a Greek restaurant called

Mezethes Greek Taverna

(which I highly recommend, although make sure you're very hungry if you decide to go with the set menu - there was a

lot

of food!)

The next day we made our way to the iconic Salamanca Market which is open every Saturday (we'd planned our trip specifically so we'd be there when it was on). With nearly 300 stalls, there's a huge variety of products on sale - food, jewellery, woodwork, flowers... but by far my favourite thing was the raspberries. They were the sweetest most delicious raspberries I've ever eaten and just thinking about them now is making me hungry! You must try them if you go to Tasmania!

After strolling around for a good few hours, we then caught the ferry to

Mona

- The Museum of Old and New Art.

That was definitely a very interesting experience! Anyone who has been there before will know what I mean - some of the pieces of art are... how would you say it... an "acquired taste"? 

It is definitely worth visiting though!

My favourite piece of artwork was actually the trampoline that was outside the building. 

Apparently it had originally been placed inside the museum, but I think it is now in the perfect spot - right on the edge of the cliff overlooking the water. You're actually able to jump on it (which is the whole reason I loved it) and it's a pretty incredible feeling (and just a lot of fun) being able to look out onto the water while bouncing around on this big trampoline!

Anyway, I'll leave it at that for today!

I hope you're having a great Saturday :) 

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

My Style (and Travel) Diary - Breakfast at a Bakery and Strolling Around Hobart

Hello hello!

So this is my first post for 2016!

I hope you had a great New Years and a lovely start to January.

I'd been planning on doing a New Years Resolutions type post, but to be honest I haven't actually gotten around to writing down anything specific just yet! I have a few ideas floating around in my head though, so they may end up making an appearance soon (better late than never right?)

Anyway...

Today I have a few photos from Hobart to share! As you may have noticed if follow me on Instagram, one of Tom and my favourite things to do together is go out for breakfast, so of course finding awesome places for breakfast/brunch is a top priority when we're on holiday!

On our second day in Hobart (the first day we ate at our B&B) we found a lovely little bakery called Jackman & McRoss.  The breakfast was pretty good, Tom had just a standard eggs on toast, with some spinach thrown in, while I had a kind of breakfast fritatta. The highlight though was the almond croissant, which I think is the the biggest almond croissant I've ever seen! (The photos don't really do it justice!)

After breakfast we went for a bit of a stroll around Hobart (taking many photos of the gorgeous houses along the way- more coming soon I promise!) and then hopped in the car and headed off to our next destination.

Outfit-wise it was (as usual) a very simple affair - white quilted jumper, navy jeans and comfy shoes. I really am loving this navy and white theme at the moment! It was thankfully not as chilly on our second day (the first day in Hobart was absolutely freezing!) so this combo was perfect!

We only had a couple of days in Hobart but I really fell in love with the place.

I definitely plan on returning one day.

There will be another post about Mona and the Salamanca Markets heading your way in a bit - I just need to get around to sorting out those photos!

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Lauren

xxx

Jumper - Dottie

Jeans - Country Road

Necklace - Mimco

Watch - Calvin Klein

Bag - Jigsaw

Shoes - Roxy

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

My Colourful Spring Capsule Wardrobe

Hello Hello :)

The past few months I've been mentioning here and there about how I've been experimenting with a capsule wardrobe, and promising a  more detailed post on the topic.  There are so many awesome blogs and videos that all praise the numerous benefits that having a more minimal and well edited wardrobe brings, and I've well and truly fallen in love with the concept.

Dressing with fewer items over the last couple of months has not only helped me to declutter and simplify, it's also made me be a little more creative with my outfit choices and I've really enjoyed playing around with my style to find what really works for me. It's so easy getting dressed when your wardrobe is full of pieces you love and I'll definitely be continuing this way - I'm hooked!

I thought I'd share a video showing the pieces I've included in my Spring Capsule. You'll notice it's full of bright colours and patterns, but also incorporates more neutral pieces that help to tie everything together. It's been working great for me so far!

These are generally the clothes I wear on the weekend - as you can see, the pieces are all pretty casual - because when it comes to work I generally just stick to my standard "uniform" of black pants and a simple top. Actually, now that I think about it - I've been dressing with a "Work Capsule Wardrobe" for the past few years without even realising it!

It's really not about the numbers, but just to give you a guideline in case you're interested in giving it a go yourself, I broke it down like this:

3 dresses

1 Playsuit

1 pair of overalls

14 Tops

6 Bottoms (4 pairs of jeans and 2 pairs of shorts)

8 Outerwear Pieces (Cardigans/jackets)

This adds up to 33 items. I obviously haven't included shoes/accessories/jewellery and have also been pretty lenient with myself, in that if I wanted to wear something not included in my capsule - then I'd just wear it! The point is to simplify, not add too many restrictions or more stress to your life!

If you're interested in finding out more about this whole "capsule wardrobe thing", then I highly recommend checking out

Unfancy

and

Project 333

. They're two of my favourite blogs and there's tonnes of inspiration as well as way more information, explanations and tips! 

I hope you enjoy the video and that it gives you a little inspiration, particularly if you're a lover of colour, because I haven't seen a whole lot of colourful capsule wardrobes videos yet! Let me know what you think and if you give it a go!

<align=center>

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx