Morning Musings

As I'm typing this it's currently 5:35 am. 

5:35 am on a Friday that I happen to have off work...

Why is it that on normal work days, my alarm goes off at 6:20 and I can hardly open my eyes, and yet on the rare occasion that I actually have a chance to sleep in, my body natural wakes itself up and I'm left just lying there wide awake??

Oh well... to be honest I don't actually mind. Mornings are my favourite part of the day - so fresh and  quiet and full of possibility (okay that was really cheesy... I can't believe I just wrote that). 

It's true though.

There's just something so calming about early mornings - about the fresh smell of the air, hinted with the lingering smell of rain, the sky still dark, and the only sound to be heard is the birds chirping away happily. 

I actually really love being awake at this time - to appreciate these fleeting moments. 

It reminds me of my uni days actually.

Sometimes I'd come home from uni so exhausted that I just couldn't face a whole night of studying, so I'd have an early night and wake up at 4am to study then. Those were actually my most productive times - at 4am there's no distractions, just the cool fresh air blowing in through the window and the sound of the birds.

Such a beautiful, peaceful time of day

xxx

My Style Diary - Khaki Shorts, More White Lace and a Long Ramble!

Ah Sunday Morning… how I love you :)

The one day of the week that you get to laze around, sleep in, have a slow start to the morning and not feel guilty about your long to do list that needs to be ticked off (and mine is rather long at the moment!)

I'm currently sitting here with my cup of tea watching

#OsgoodTheLoveBird

be all cute while he plays with a piece of paper. 

Things have been a bit hectic lately so I'm just trying to enjoy these little moments of calm before things get crazy again. 

None of this craziness is bad - there's actually lots of exciting things coming up soon that I'm really looking forward to, but you know when you've got lots of things going on and your mind just keeps running around in circles trying to keep up with it all? 

Yeah, that's kind of what I've been feeling like lately.

That's partly why I haven't been posting much the past few weeks. That and the fact that there hasn't been anything particularly exciting on the outfit front for me to share with you. I've just been sticking to my usual shorts + top + sandals combo that isn't really the most exciting thing to be putting up on a "fashion blog".

Having said that though, from the start this blog has never really been purely about fashion. I don't really follow trends, nor am I up to date with what's going on in the "fashion world".  It's just me, recording my own outfits and random thoughts about what's going on in my life.

I can't believe I've actually been doing this for 2 years now! That time has flown by!

I  feel like I've changed quite a bit over these past two years, and I think "Lauren Loves Laughter" is probably going to be taking a different direction in the next few months.

When I started, I'd just finished uni and started work, and I was looking for a bit of a creative outlet, a new hobby to fill my time now that I no longer had to study for hours every night. I'd been reading blogs for years and it just seemed like a natural progression to start my own.

There was also another positive to starting the blog - to use the words of

Suzie from Hello October

- it "started out as a productive outlet for the copious amounts of shopping I got involved in after getting my first full time job" 

Yep… it gave me the perfect excuse to indulge my love of shopping. 

It would go something like this - "That dress is so cute…but I don't really need another dress… but it's on sale…

and

I can feature it in a blog post… okay I may as well get it!"

I'm sure most other fashion bloggers out there can relate.

Lately though I've become less into the shopping and more about downsizing and trying to simplify. I've been reading a lot of blogs on minimalism and just generally trying to (slowly) incorporate the idea of "living lighter" into my life. I still love fashion, but I think I've finally found my own style and begun to realise what I truly like and feel comfortable in, and so I feel like my outfits have become a little more repetitive and maybe a little less interesting. 

I've been reading about

Project 333

(which is where you choose 33 items of clothing and wear just those for 3 months) and have actually been considering giving it a try. Obviously if I do, this will have a bit of an effect on what I'll be posting on the blog!

I don't really know what "Lauren Loves Laughter" is going to become. It might become more lifestyle related, maybe include more food posts (another one of my passions, if you follow me on

Instagram

you'll know I love my food!), or even become a bit more about "living lighter" which is something I've actually become very interested in these past few months.

Whatever happens, I'm sure I'll continue blogging because it's just become such a great hobby that I really love doing and I just can't imagine not doing it anymore.

I didn't plan for this post to become such a ramble or seem so serious, but I guess it's something I've been thinking about and I'm glad I've finally put some of my thoughts into writing. 

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far, and I hope you'll stick around :)

Have a great Sunday!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Top - Forever New

Shorts - Cotton On

Sandals - Therapy

 Bag - Jigsaw

Watch - Thomas Sabo

Ring - from my Grandma

PS - If you are interested in finding out more about what I mean by "living lighter", check out 

Light by Coco

Her blog is great and she makes fab

YouTube videos

too!

My Style Diary - White Lace and Gingham

Hello Hello :)

Happy Monday night! The rest of the week just seems so much more manageable once Monday's over don't you think?

Anyway, I feel like I've been neglecting my blog a bit the past few weeks - life's been rather busy and I haven't been feeling very inspired outfit-wise, hence the lack of posts lately!

Today though, I have some photos to share from a couple of weekends back. I love how the gingham print looks paired with the white lace - it feels very summery, as well as just being a really comfy, effortless outfit. Gotta love a pair of shorts that look like a skirt! Right up my street ;)

I hope you're having a great night!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Top - Forever New

Skort - Zara

Sandals - Therapy

Bag - Jigsaw

Necklace - Swarovski

Watch - Thomas Sabo

February in Pictures

February has been a strange month - in some ways it seems to have flown by and I can't believe we're into March already, but in others it feels like it's been a very long 28 days!

A lot has happened, in particular one very large, exciting and life changing thing (which you'll hear about soon), and as always I've recorded all the little things  (as well as big things - in the case of

The Giants

that were here for the Perth International Arts Festival) that made me smile. 

As usual there's lots of food photos, from delicious Nutella pancakes at a new favourite breakfast place called

Lucioli

, to my family's Chinese New Year feast. Low key Valentine's day celebrations dressed up in a heart printed shirt (cute but a little cheesy), and of course photos of my beautiful little sister all dressed up for her Year 12 Ball. 

It's been a very memorable month, and there's going to be lots of exciting things coming up in March too!

I hope you've had a fabulous February!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

My Style Diary - White Dress and a Wardrobe Ramble

Hello Hello! :)

A couple of weeks ago it was my youngest sister's Year 12 ball, and because our Uncle happens to be a professional photographer, he came round to take photos of everyone. The girls all looked so stunning and it was so nice seeing them all dressed up and excited to be heading off to their ball!

Once everyone else had left, Uncle Ron was kind enough to take a few photos of me for my blog, so a big thank you to him for these photos!

I had lots of fun helping Bella to get ready, but of course it ended up being a bit of a rush!

We wanted to have some family photos before all of Bella's friends arrived, and because I was doing her makeup and fussing over her (it was her night!), I ended up having about 5 minutes to get ready myself. 

This white dress paired with a tan belt and chunky heels was what I ended up throwing together at the last minute and I really like how it turned out.

You probably know by now that I have a thing for white dresses in floaty fabrics so this has had a lot of love since it was added to my collection. 

I really should have learnt by now that I need to plan ahead with my outfits for situations when I know I'm going to be strapped for time, but it seems I like the last minute approach. That's why I'm working on organising my wardrobe so it's full of pieces that are effortlessly beautiful, easy to throw on, and versatile enough to be styled in different ways.

At the start of the year I began a bit of a "wardrobe rehab" project that involved a lot of clearing out, and has lead me to be much more selective when it comes to choosing what comes home with me (unless it fit's the description above, it goes back on the rack). I'm actually feeling quite proud of myself because I haven't bought a single new clothing item since December and have really been focusing on appreciating what I already have and finding new ways to wear things. 

It's still a work in progress, (that requires a lot more clearing and the filling of a few holes here and there), but we're getting there - and I seem to have successfully curbed my shopping addiction!

I'm planning on writing more about this at some stage, so let me know if you're interested in reading about my little "Wardrobe Rehab" project!

(the idea of which was inspired by Geneva from

A Pair & A Spare

) 

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now :)

Have a great day!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Dress - Zara

Belt - Trenery

Heels - Forever New