Summer in Pictures

I've always loved the beautiful, bright Instagram collages that I've seen on so many of my favourite blogs, and aside from being lovely to look at, I think they also bring a nice little personal touch.

I'll admit that I do have a bit of an Instagram addiction. It's such a great way to record the little things in life that have made me smile, and it's great being able to look back through my photos and remember happy moments. Particularly on a Monday morning when I'm feeling a little bit "blah" - I scroll through my pics and look through at the fun I've had and think "Hey - life is actually pretty great!"

It was only the other day though, that I finally sat down and decided I would figure out how these collages were made. Turns out it was extremely simple - take a look at

this site

if you'd like to know how it's done. I thought it was going to be a long, arduous, time consuming task but it was actually super easy!

So now I've gone a little crazy compiling my instagram pics into collages, I thought I would share a couple here. Looking through them, it's a lovely recap of just a few snippets of the fun things I got up to this summer. 

The above photos were all taken during my week down in Margaret River - mornings spend having a delicious breakfast at the Margaret River Bakery, and walks along the beach were the major highlights :) How cute are their tea pots?!

For Valentines day this year I was very lucky and surprised to receive

 these stunning pink roses and the cutest card and block of chocolate from

Kikki.K

(Tom knows me well).

This amazing, giant strawberry and rose water macaroon is seriously the best dessert I've ever had. It was from 

Bistro Guillame

where I went with a bunch of friends for a special treat. If you're after somewhere really special to go for a meal, I'd definitely recommend it!

So that's it for now :)

Lots of Love

Lauren 

xxx

My Style Diary - Feeling Nautical

Heya!

Let me introduce you to the most comfortable dress in the whole world. Seriously.

It's an amazingly soft, t-shirt material, that is just so comfy, easy to wear and has a lovely "swishy" feel to it. Does that make any sense? Probably not... but if you tried it you'd know what I mean :)

Anyway, moving on from the practical side of things, I also happen to love the nautical stripes this dress has going on, as well as the high-low hemline. My one criticism would be that it's a slightly unflattering length for someone as short as me, ending just below the knee, but given it's comfort factor, that can be forgiven.

Paired with wedges (which are necessary to help with the height situation), it's perfect for a laid back Sunday lunch. 

I hope you've had a lovely weekend!

Lauren

xxx

Dress - French Connection

Wedges - Aldo

Watch - Calvin Klein

Valentine's Day Nails

This was my first foray into nail art, and I quite like how it turned out, so I thought I'd share how I created these Valentine's Day inspired nails. It was actually very easy so if you're a beginner like me, don't be afraid to give it a try! It's probably too simple to even need a tutorial, but I know that I for one am clueless when it comes to nail art, so here's a step-by-step description of what I did. 

1) To start off I simply painted my nails a base coat and then 2 coats of a pale pink polish

2) Once that was completely dry, I used a tooth pick to dot the brighter pink polish into the shape of the heart. I found it easiest to place a little blob of the polish onto a piece of paper, and then make sure I only had a tiny amount on the tooth pick.

3) At this point, I felt like the heart needed a little defining, so I used a white polish to dot around the edges

4) On my index finger, I used the same pink polish to create "Valentines themed" tips - it's supposed to look like the top of a love heart. I found it easiest to do it in 2 strokes, starting from the centre and moving outwards.

5) Then once that was dry I painted over it all with a top coat

Hopefully that makes sense! I know for some people I'm proabably pointing out the obvious, but I often look at pictures on instagram and think "how the hell did they manage to do that!"

The polishes I used were:

Revlon Colour Stay Base Coat and Top Coat

Essie - "French Affair"

Kit Cosmetics - "High Impact"

Rimmel Nail Tip Colour - "Porcelain"

Let me know if you try out any Valentine's Day themed nail art!

Lauren

xxx

My Style Diary - Leather and Lace

Hello hello :)

Long time no see! Life's been pretty busy lately and I just haven't found the time to blog. I'm back now though and ready to get back into it!

First off - Happy Valentine's Day! 

I'm not usually one to get super excited about this particular day (not that I have anything against it - I like the idea, but usually it just passes by like any other day). Lately though, I've been trying to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life and just generally try to have a bit more fun each day. So why not take any opportunity to do so. For example, I had a bit of time yesterday before going out with my girl friends, so I thought I'd try my hand at a little nail art. I quite like the Valentine's day theme I came up with, but the best part was that I actually had a lot of fun doing it. 

I've been reading Gretchin Rubin's book "The Happiness Project", and I'm up to the part where she talks about "Finding more fun". I haven't finished the book yet, but I'm really enjoying it and would definitely recommend it.

This is what I wore out for dinner last night for "Galentine's Day". 

As in going out with the "Gals"

(It took me much too long to realise why this event was called "Galentines". At first I thought it was something about being "Gallant")

Anyway...

These leather-look shorts have been sitting unloved in my wardrobe for the past few months, just waiting to be worn. They're one of those pieces that at the time I was buying them I thought "These will be really great, I'll be able to wear them heaps", but when I got them home they just didn't really feel like "me". I'm quite the girlie-girl and these shorts just felt a bit too tough for my style. When these beautiful shoes arrived though I knew I'd found a perfect match. Teaming them with a feminine top (I love the blush pink and lace) and heels makes the shorts feel a little more polished and pretty rather than making me feel like a bikie :)

Okay I guess I'll leave it at that for today. I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day whatever your plans may be! 

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Top - Forever New

Shorts - Country Road

Heels - Country Road

Watch - Calvin Klein

Bag - Jigsaw

My Style Diary - Summer

Hi :)

I'm currently down in Margaret River enjoying a week off from work. It is seriously the most relaxing place... I just find that all my worries seem to slip away when I'm here :) 

This morning we went for a walk along the beach. It was the perfect weather - warm, but not unbearably hot, so a great chance to get some much needed Vitamin D 

(Apparently I am somehow Vitamin D deficient... weird...)

My lovely Mum was kind enough to take a few quick snaps for me. Not really a blogworthy outfit, but I thought I'd include it nonetheless. This is my "style diary" after all, and it would be wrong to exclude my typical summer attire. These shorts were a bargain find for $5 at a Red Cross clothing sale. I love the cute little anchor patterned pockets!

Summer truly is my favourite time of year. I've been slightly envious of all the northern hemisphere bloggers with their beautiful snowy photos, but I know if I was there I would be wishing for the warmer weather. Summer is just so easy, simple... and I need to remember to appreciate it!

Lauren

xxx

Hat - Sportsgirl

Top - Country Road

Shorts - Lee (from Red Cross Sale)

I just had to include one true colour photo :)