The Foodie Post - Stimulatte

If you happen to follow me on Instagram, you would have probably realised by now that going out for breakfast/brunch is one of my favourite things to do. 

In my opinion, there's no better way to spend a weekend morning than going out with Tom or catching up with friends over a yummy meal, either at an exciting new cafe or our old favourite hangouts.

Seeing as I'm always snapping photos of my food on these mornings, I thought it might be fun to share a few pictures, as well as my thoughts on the places we visit here on the blog. 

Starting out with one of our new favourite finds - Stimulatte.

It's a little cafe in Subiaco with great atmosphere,  good coffee (I'm not actually a coffee drinker but Tom assures me it's good) and a interesting breakfast menu that's a little different to your standard bacon/eggs /pancakes option. Don't get me wrong - I love pancakes (which I'm sure you'll see in future posts), but I love places that offer a slightly more unique selection, and Stimulatte does just that.

On this particular day I had the

sweet corn fritters with smashed avocado and poached eggs

 (as did the two other friends we went with) and Tom chose the

grilled chorizo and salsa verde with parmesan scrambled eggs

. It was a delicious breakfast and with the generous serving sizes we were all left feeling rather full, but very satisfied!

Also worth a mention is there ice chocolate. Ice chocolate tends to be my drink of choice and it seems I've become somewhat of an "ice chocolate snob" lately. Stimulatte's one gets a big thumbs up from me, coming in at second place out of all the ice chocolates that I've tried (and I've tried a lot!)

I'll let you know where the one that wins first place is from in the next Foodie Post ;)

If you happen to be in Perth I'd definitely recommend checking Stimulatte out - you won't be disappointed!

Have a great long weekend!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx 

My Style Diary - In the Details

Although this is just another shorts and t-shirt combination, I actually really love this look.

It's effortless and simple (and to some maybe a little boring), but I love the fresh look of the stripes, the deep blue of the denim shorts, and the cute little anchors on the pockets (yeah... it's mostly because of the anchors). 

Sometimes it really is just the little details that make an outfit.

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

Top - Dotti

Shorts - Lee (from a Red Cross sale)

Cardigan - Pull & Bear

Sandals - Therapy Shoes

Exciting News!

Hello Hello!

So, now that I'm done with my random little morning musings (see last post if you don't know what I'm talking about), I thought that since I'm awake, now would be a good time to share with you why my blog has been a little neglected over the past month.

The reason is actually very exciting (and totally given away by the photo above!)

 ***drumroll***

Tom and I now have the keys to our own apartment! 

Crazy!!!

( I definitely have some crazy eyes going on in that photo!)

Anyway...

It's been a very exciting few weeks, but also a little hectic trying to get everything organised (hence the blog neglect the past month)

In some ways it's been a long time coming - we spent months and months house hunting, going to home opens every weekend and despairing that we'd never find the right place (well that was just me to be honest, but even Tom did find it a bit draining after a while). Once we found our place though, time just seems to have flown by and I can't believe we actually have the keys and are officially the owners of a cute little 2 bedroom flat!

We haven't actually moved in yet, given that we currently have zero furniture, Tom being away at work and the fact that we only just got our fridge delivered (kinda hard to move in somewhere if you don't have a fridge!)

I'm so excited though - we now have a little place of our own. Our own space to do up and make comfortable and home-y, and it's just generally really exciting to be starting this whole new chapter of our lives. 

It's safe to say there will probably be a few more home decor related posts appearing on the blog in the next few months (I have been going pinterest crazy!)

Let me know if there's any particular home related posts you're interested in seeing or if you have any tips on moving! I'd love to hear your advice :)

I hope you have any amazing day!

Lots of Love

Lauren

xxx

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!