Hey hey! Thanks for heading back / welcome if you’re brand new to my blog 🙂 After a couple of months of no blogposts and truthfully feeling a little bit lost, uncreative and seriously lacking in motivation, i’ve decided to finally put pen to paper or rather fingertips to keys, and write again.

Sometimes i think we get so bogged down with self doubt and having that overwhelming feeling of being unsure of what the heck we’re actually doing with our lives, that it really makes it hard to stay focused on anything, and even harder to find comfort in anything. And lately i’ve found that i’m constantly questioning if i’m where i should be at 26 years of age, and the comparisons that i and i’m sure most people make to those more ‘successful’ people, particularly those visible on social media, really do play a part in the way we end up feeling. Of course common sense tells us that every person is different, with a different set of circumstances, different lifestyles, a different path carved out, a different time frame for events in their lives and with ultimately a different end goal, but still somehow find ourselves questioning and doubting aspects of our lives and over thinking things that we shouldn’t.

It’s so easy to look at other people’s lives and compare yours to theirs and in turn we forget just how lucky we truly are. To even be alive and in good health is something to shout about in itself, right?! Everyday we wake up is another day we are lucky to be given and i truly believe in making the most of it. So i vow to myself that from the day this post goes live that i will turn each negative feeling in to a postive one and not dwell on the unknown. As Newt Scamander said ‘My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice’ so with that in mind let’s be more thankful for what we have and spend less time worrying about what the future holds!

 

 

So with all of that said let’s turn this post on to something a little more positive shall we?! Like for instance how Spring has finally sprung and isn’t it just bloody glorious?! Okay so we’re not 100% there with the weather yet but we’re certainly well on the way. And with this change in season happening comes all of the beautiful Spring/Summer clothing too, yaaaas! I’ve been love love loving all of the beautiful new collections and pieces out there on the high street and online at the moment, and they are just screaming out for the sun to shine. I’ve got a bit of a thing for jumpsuits in the warmer months particularly and this little pinstriped, culotte style beauty was a steal from Primark! Yep Primark! It’s super lightweight and easy to chuck on with a pair of sandals or, as i opted for, a pair of white trainers for the clean crisp look.

Team it with a pair of fancy nancy retro shaped sunnies and you’re good to go!

So there we have it – a short but sweet 1st post back after what seems like forever. Thank you for sticking around till the end if you’re still reading and i’ll see you in my next post!

Jade x

’I hate binge watching series’ – said NOBODY EVER

Seriously hands up how many of you are guilty of accidentally (on purpose) finishing a whole series in a matter of weeks or sometimes even days (yep that’s me, oops!) So with this in mind –  i thought what better topic to write about than some of my favourite series to date, and hopefully i will be able to give anybody who may be endlessly searching Netflix or Sky a little bit of a helping hand.

I can honestly say when i fully immerse myself in to a great series there’s simply no stopping me! And even more so since we’ve been indoors a lot lately because of this horrible cold winter weather which clearly isn’t bladdy letting up! So whether it be a gripping, moving, emotional, thought provoking or just simply undeniably addictive journey you’re looking for, these series’ really know how to get the nation hook a ducked! So brace yourself for a lengthy post, grab a brew or a coffee and relax your little self whilst i waffle on about my love affairs with my favey things to watch!

So going back to my early teenage years i can remember the first epic journey i went on with a series and it was that of LOST. I bloody loved it. Back when Lost began airing it was a case of the family gathering on the sofa with snacks and a cuppa and watching it together which was just the best. It was the first time i experienced that utter need to watch the next episode, which of course was annoying because you had to wait a week inbetween for them to blummin air!

In short the plot is that of an aircraft which crashes on a deserted island and the survivors are faced with what appears at first glance to be a beautiful uninhabited place, but as we later find out, it is in fact filled with dark, weird and wonderful secrets. Each of the suvivors of course have their own stories to tell and reasons for why they were on the flight in the first place. As these stories unravel and tie together, and the plot deepens, you become seriously level 10 invested! LOST is one of those series that has a million twists, turns, utterly confusing moments and truly wonderful revelations. I would highly recommend giving it a try if you haven’t before, because as well as the truly loveable characters, it’s honestly created in a way that’s just as much frustrating as it is brilliant.

Another of my oldest and dearest love affairs with a series has to be with the one and only Prison Break. If you’ve never watched it before then i can only offer my sincere condolences as you really have been missing out! I’m a complete sucker for anything crime related and the journey you travel on with the characters in this series are second to none. You loathe some, you love some, you cringe, you cry and you definitely don’t know what mastermind plan Michael Schofield (the main man) has up his sleeve next! The plot in short without ruining it too much, is that of two brothers, one of which is incarcerated for a crime he may or may not have committed. The other brother commits a crime to simply enable him access in to the prison his brother is held in, in order to break him out. It truly is a rollercoaster of hightened emotion and stomach churning scenes. It originally finished airing in 2009 and then last year they hit us right in the face with series 5, which was an absoloute dream for me! I LOVE IT.

I must admit that i heard a lot of people moaning about how long both Prison Break and LOST went on for, and i think people just gave up and got frustrated with the length of the story lines, but for me they were truly brilliant and so worthwhile investing my time in!

Now it wouldn’t be a blogpost about a multitude of epic series’ if i wasn’t to say those two famous words now would it?! I’m talking about Breaking Bad of course! I think by now most people have taken the plunge and watched it, and more recently the spin off show called Better Call Saul (which i was very undewhelmed by tbh!)

So for anybody who’s been seriously living under a rock, Breaking bad is show based around the relationship of two characters who come together for their own needs, but end up having a real bond. Walter White is a chemistry teacher and Jesse Pinkman is the most loveable junkie you ever did meet. Together they turn an RV in to a meth lab and begin cooking and selling meth to make fast cash, inititally because Walter is in desperate need of money due to recent personal revelations. It truly is an addictive series and one you will never tire of watching and quoting. The characters are just fantastic, the detail and factual side are on point, and basically you will just fall in love with Jesse! I wish so much that i could wipe it from my brain and watch it all over again for the first time!

I have to say credit where credit is due because Netflix has seriously been blessing us lately with their original series section, and my recommendations from their collection would have to be:

• Stranger things (of course!)
• Manhunt – Unabomber
• The OA
• Making A Murderer
• 1922
• 13 Reasons Why
• Black Mirror
• Sense 8

When i look at the above list i realise that i do love a good weird and wonderful series. Netflix Originals have definitely pulled it out of the bag recently and those are the ones that i’ve watched that have really stood out for me in their own brilliant way. All of these series have concepts within that are super intriguing, and made me want to watch more, which i reckon is what you need in a good series, amiright?!

Other series i absoloutely bloody love are:

• Suits
• Power
• Peaky Blinders
• Pretty Little Liars
• Gossip Girls
• Vampire Diaries
• The Originals
• Fargo
• Sherlock Holmes

This bunch are quite a bit different from each other, but they all give me exactly what i crave in a series, which is strong characters, plot twists, revelations and super intense scenes! To describe a couple;

Suits pulls you in because it’s written and performed in such a funny, witty and charming way, and characters are created just wonderfully.                                               Power just oozes high energy mayhem – the characters are caught up with drugs, gangs, money, guns and basically all of the highly illegal stuff. 50 cent produced it so you can only imagine!                                                                                                                               Pretty Little Liars is the ultimate mystery-teen-suspence-who done it kinda series. It has the most revelations i’ve ever known in a series. It’s truly addictive.

I just want to quickly mention the TV dramas that have stood out to me from over the past two years. Between the BBC and ITV these are some of my ultimate faves have been:

• Thirteen
• Marcella
• Broadchurch
• Little Boy Blue
• The Moorside

I could go on forever and ever listing anything and everthing i’ve ever watched but everything i’ve mentioned i’ve been invested in fully and would 100% recommend watching. Of course, chosing a series to invest your time in is fully about your own taste and opinion and is completely subjective. I can only hope i’ve helped you along with those evenings where you waste endless amounts of time scrolling and choosing, when you could have been half way through an episode in that time!

If you do watch anything i’ve recommended i’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, and of course i’m always up for being recommended something great to watch too!

Until next time,

Jade x

Why hello there lovelies! If you’re a returning reader then welcome back and if you’re a new reader up in here then hiiii and thanks a bunch for heading over! (Wavey hand emoji)

So let’s get straight down to business and talk about something that came in to my life around a week ago now in the form of a DREAMY two piece grey crushed velvet suit. I simply had to feature it on here as it is utterly blog post worthy! I can honestly say i am a big fan of tailoring, co-ords and two pieces of different varieties. I find that there is something very sophisticated and empowering about a Woman wearing a two piece and i guess it’s because conventionally it’s a style originally only rocked by Men. Well i’m sorry but move over Gents because Women are upping their game right now and we are totally embracing everything which makes us feel utterly fabulous, which this suit certainly does for me!

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Told you! Isn’t it just laaaavely! I must say i do have a couple of two pieces sitting in my wardrobe already but nothing that quite has that wow factor like this one gives! I think it’s such an interesting take on your usual ‘suit’ and it really gives off a total girl boss vibe! When it came to styling both of these pieces my creative juices were seriously flowing and i could honestly have gone on forever putting it together with most items out of my wardrobe! I decided to settle on the three simple ways to style it to show off the utter versatility of having any two piece in your collection. This is of course wearing the suit as a whole and then mixing and matching the items with other items you already have. When it came to wearing both items together i really wanted the suit to do the talking and so i simply teamed it with a basic black t-shirt and black boots, so as to be sure not to draw any attention away from the star of the show!

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Mixing and matching is key when owning a two piece and it also means you get ultimate wear out of both items (winner!) If you’re thinking of wearing statement pants such as these velvet ones in an evening,  i would say go all out and sass this more simple look up with a shirt like this beautiful star embroided one and some heels of your preference (with socks too if you wanna rock that look!) This is the perfect way to stay casual yet effortlessly put together and still oh so very bold!

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As with any simple outfit a statement boot or shoe like these star print beauties can really give it that extra bit of somethin’ somethin’, but with these two things combined you get double the wow as both pieces are ultimate statement goals!

Other ways to style the blazer for me would be with a pair of blue or black straight leg jeans with a basic tee, or with that ultimate statment skirt you have hiding away urging you to take it out of the wardrobe for the day! As for the trousers i would go for a shirt and leather jacket and baker boy hat or a basic tee and your most lavish of fur coats!

So there we have it, the dreamiest of dreamy suits in all it’s glory! If you do take the plunge with it do let me know in the comments i’d love to know how you have chosen to style it!

Tatty- bye for now!

Jade x

 

Hands up, i can definitely be a guilty party when it comes to accidentally (maybe on purpose) rocking those Wednesday Addams vibes with the blacks, whites and greys of the wardrobe, and whilst there is nothing at all wrong with that, i think we can all agree that a pop of colour never hurt anybody – am i right?

I also think colour is particularly welcomed at the moment with the January blues in full swing and the weather being nothing short of abysmal! 

Becoming more adventurous with colour, prints and textures is something which is creeping it’s way in to my life and i’m a-okay with that! I’ve been attempting to buy pieces that i love visually but would usually avoid taking the plunge with because i was worried above most things that people would give me that ‘what the actual hell is that’ look… you know the one! Or even just that i’d be worried about figuring out how to style it and what it would ‘go with’. I’ve since come to the conclusion that i don’t actually care anymore and to tie in my previous post – i’m confident enough to rock these peices safe in the knowledge that i like them and feel great in them and that’s all that really matters!

So I say let your colour juices flow when you’re next in purchase mode and buy that bright pink coat that’s screaming for your attention or that statement pair of boots just sitting on the shelf waiting for you to parade around in them. Be confident enough to not hide behind monochrome and the classic ‘black jeans and a jumper’ and challenge yourself to sass up your outfit choices with a few colours thrown in the mix!  

Until next time,

Jade x

 

 

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Confidence (dum dum dummm)

Something i know that all of us at some point experience various issues with on some end of the spectrum, and it’s definitely something that can affect us (if we let it) in so many areas of our lives.

It’s a funny ole thing really isn’t it? It can either get us down because we feel that we lack in it and thus prevent us from achieving our goals/ambitions or it can be mistaken for cockiness, ‘full of yourself’ and so taken as just plain annoyance. 

I’m learning to live life with a ‘just do it’ (no i’m not a walking nike advert)  attitude and act on something i want to do before i have time to talk myself out of it. This applies to all aspect in my life whether it be making a decision that could be risky/scary or buying/styling those items of clothing/ shoes that some people likely think are gross or ‘weird’ but i absolutely love (this happens a lot). It’s so important to have confidence in your decision making and if for any reason that decision doesn’t pay off – who even cares? You were confident enough to go through with it and that’s a good enough feeling!

So with all of that said –  i think it’s much more productive to take confidence in its rightful state, tackle it head on, and be safe in the knowledge that you can be confident in your decision making! Buy those gross but fabulous shoes and wear them with confidence, start up a new hobby you’ve been wanting to do for ages, tell someone how you feel and say what’s on your mind, be confident in your skin and your body nobody is perfect! And do all of these things with nothing but absolute 100% i’m ready for it confidence!

Until next time

Jade x

 

 

 

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Hello and happy Sunday! As i sit at my dining room table with a tummy full of food i just inhaled after a full day at work, i thought i’d share something with you which is a tad more exciting than my day has been.

If you took a peep at my last post you’ll know that i was talking about the things i want to figure out this year, and since there’s no time like the present i decided to take the plunge this weekend, and I treated myself to a new Olympus Pen E-PL8 camera  (insert heart eyed emoji here!) One of my to do’s was to buy a good quality camera to enable me to capture better images for my blog, and also for life in general because i think taking photographs is so important for memories, and also a great way to look back at the changes in your life and also what you’ve acheived over time.

 

Well isn’t she just laaavely?! I’m so so happy with it and it was such a bonus that it came with a shoulder strap, an attachable flash with a cute little velvet pouch for safe keeping and also a lense too! I managed to spend a little while learning the basics last night but i still have a fair old bit to figure out with all its fancy nancy settings! Definitely something i will pick up over time and likely pick the brains of anybody i come across who has this camera, so if this applies to you then help is very much welcomed!

 

 

I’m hopefully going to get a chance to shoot some images in daylight this week, but it definitely doesn’t help with these nights drawing in so quickly and so bloody early does it?! Roll on summer eh?!

Until next time,

Jade x

 

 

Why hello!

If you read my first attempt at a blogpost then welcome back and if not then hello and thanks for heading over! After spending a couple of days attempting to figure out this whole blogging lark, here i am back with post number two.

I thought i’d make this post about the things i want to figure out this year, one of which being this extremely daunting blogging thaang. I’ve definitely realised i must invest in a decent camera to make better content since writing the post on my phone and then viewing it on my laptop, it definitely dawned on me that i need to have better quality photographs! I also need to have have the courage to speak out regularly on my social media pages to let people know when i have a new post up (so far so good, wish me luck!)

A second aspect of my life i must figure out is how to balance my current job and the things i need to do to try and be more proactive in something i love but have been honestly failing at just lately, which is acting. I studied at the University Of Huddersfield from 2010-2013 for a Ba Honours Drama degree which i loved every single second of, but which also feels like a bloody life time ago (where on earth have these past 4 1/2 years gone?!)
Post graduation i managed to bag a few jobs in extra work and such like, but without an agent and the right tools and direction, acting can be a big black hole that unfortunately most of us get completely lost in. We all talk about that ‘lucky break’ or the ‘right place, right time’ theory, and in reality these can sadly be some of the ways in which a lot of actors actually do make a career out of their passion. I’m sure if you’re sitting there thinking about something you love to do but are unsure of how to acheive it then this will also resinate with you!

Say hello to me in full facial prosthetics as a Zombie double in a Cornetto Cupidity campaign i did back in 2015 (fit, right?!)

The third thing i want to mention is something one of my best friends said to me when we were discussing if we have any of those dreaded and eye rolling new years resolutions. She said one of the things she would like to do is to be able to say yes to more things. We all know that feeling when we come home from work and we’re a little tired and one of our friends says ‘fancy a catch up’ or ‘shall we grab some food’ and we immediately say no because we’re thinking about money and being sleepy and the pile of washing we have to do, but in reality we should be working to live and not living to work! So with this said, the third thing i wanna figure out is how to be more of a yes (wo)man (thank you Rachael!)

So there we have it my three ‘figure it out’ goals to start the year off, I will report back later in the when i’ve (hopefully) managed to acheive them!

Until next time,

Jade x