rosey posey // summertime happiness

- Handmade top, thrifted skirt, Corelli shoes, Oasap sunglasses -

Seasons greetings! There's less than five days until Christmas and I am well and truly behind in the carol blaring, Christmas cookie baking and present buying/ wrapping. Aside from working (which I would rather not talk about and pretend doesn't exist), I have been spending time with my family, shopping and finally reaching the stage where I am genuinely happy and relieved that school is finished forever and I can revel in the freedom of choosing my pathway in life. Yesterday I received my OP rank and although the whole system is completely useless and only serves as a temporary entry ticket into university (as well as a bid to make the school you went to look good - thanks for all that unnecessary pressure SJC!), I am still proud of my single digit result and it's usefulness in allowing me entry into all of the courses that I applied for. Woo!

I'm still pretty unsure of what next year holds education and work wise, but I do know that it's going to be wonderful. Whatever it is. Something I learned in 2014 is that I do underestimate my ability quite a lot, and there is power in positive thinking. Basically my goals include: getting my driver's license, a car and to be happy. Oh! And some form of romance would be good... but there's no hurry, I am an independent woman after all!

As you've probably noticed, my hair is quite short! I got the chop recently and it is honestly one of the best feelings ever! So fresh and bouncy! Although it looked much better on the day of the cut and blow dry, I still love the length and the lack of split ends. I highly recommend The French Touch hair and beauty salon if you're ever on the Sunshine Coast and need a good hair cut or whatever. 

I best be off, I think I'll watch Maleficent tonight with a big cup of rooibos tea and my plush elephant, Heather, whom I bought today because I was cranky and needed a hug. Hope you're all well. Merry Christmas xo

fork in the road // reflection

Hello internet! It's definitely been a while and I must say, the blogging world has been sorely missed. I'm not sure whether or not I should refer to myself as a blogger anymore either - I spend more time reading other blogs than I do actually writing and coming up with content for my own! Nevertheless, it's nice to be writing again. In the last month, many things have happened. Life changing things. Less than a week ago, I graduated high school. This is something I'm still trying to wrap my head around, as it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life. On Friday night, I put on my beautiful blue formal dress, stood up on a stage in front of 500 people and accepted the paper certificate that solidifies the completion of twelve years of schooling. Yet, I feel nothing... no emotion, only denial; still in the head space that in late January of 2015, I'll be packing my school bag and walking up the school hill, ready for another year of shenanigans with my peers. Graduation was so much fun, and it was lovely spending the last few days of school (FOREVER!) with my friends, reflecting on the last eight years we have spent together. 

The scary thing about graduating is that you spend such a long time looking forward to it, and time seems to go so slowly, but then it finally comes around, and time speeds up, and before you know it, you've finished and it's like, "Wait.. what?! I wasn't even ready!". 

I'm excited for the future though... I turn eighteen in a few months, I'm hoping to move away to the city to study of Bachelor of Arts (which will hopefully lead me abroad) and I'm just excited. This week has been incredibly up-and-down emotionally (on Saturday morning I took one look at my hairspray drenched curls, realized I had finished school and burst into tears... yeah), but I feel like things are starting to balance out. It's weird heading to work instead of heading to school. And it's weird not seeing so many familiar faces every day. 

Another thing I'm excited about now that I'm "out of school" is the prospect of having more freedom. Romantically as well. There's so many more beautiful young men to choose from now! There's room for a boy in my life now, and I'm also "ready" for romance now too! I don't like to stereotype high school boys, but the majority of them are quite immature and I've never had any success with them in the past. In a way, it's definitely put me at an advantage because it's helped shape who I am, made my choices a lot smarter and I know how I should be treated, and if that's not being presented, then that's it. The same goes for all relationships in my life I think... something I've learnt during high school is that I deserve to be treated a certain way and if "friends" aren't treating me well, helping me grow and helping me become the person I'm meant to be, they don't belong in my life. 

(Luckily, I'm surrounding by the absolute best friends any girl could ask for however, and we're actually planning a road trip in the next few weeks to Byron Bay - which should be AMAZING, since I haven't been there yet!) 

It's almost midnight now though, so I should wrap things up. Basically, the moral of the story is: I've graduated high school... I'm terrified of the future, I'm also very excited about the future and I'll keep you posted. 

Have a lovely night/ day wherever you are on this earth! xo

"I woke up like this!" // daily life ft. Tresemme

Not really... In the morning I tend to look like I've put my hand on an electrical socket because my hair is standing on end and stuck to my face and my eyes need to be forced open for at least an hour. Hope you guys are having a great day! Today I've decided to share my usual morning routine + a few of my favourite products + an outfit.

Usually at the weekend I like to sleep in (if I'm not working or don't have anything planned), and if I've gone to bed at a reasonable hour the night before, usually wake up feeling quite refreshed after a long week of school, work and my hectic social life (ha... not really..).

 Next, I head to the bathroom and wash my face with cold water and my favourite skincare products to speed up the "waking up" process. The second photo of me in this set actually makes me laugh because I am actually forcing my eyes to open as wide as possible and they still look squinty! Please tell me I'm not the only one who experiences this problem! 

On this particular morning I made pancakes with my little sisters (as well as fruit salad etc), which was really nice!

Back to the bathroom for a shower and teeth-brushing because there's nothing worse than bad breath... 

 After all that is done, I usually plan to go out somewhere, or stay home and clean, or do school work. In the afternoon I also like to take outfit photos etc. 

I wore this outfit out to dinner with my sisters, Mum and Aunty and Uncle the other night. I absolutely love this skirt and it has changed my mind on my initial dislike for scuba material. What a beautiful print too!

Something that never quite co-operates in my life (aside from my two younger sisters), is my hair. A few weeks ago I was offered some Tresemme products to try out and since I'm always willing to give new things a try (because why not?!), I said YES! I've been using their hairspray for quite a long time now anyway and have always been a fan of it because it doesn't smell like rotten alcohol and also doesn't leave my hair feeling (and looking) like hay.

Anyway, so far, I'm pretty impressed with the shampoo and conditioner. There isn't any nasty residue left in my hair, it smells nice and although my hair is in no way any less curly than it was before (boo!), I'm pretty happy with it. I would definitely recommend this hair care range to anyone who has naturally straight hair already - it'll probably leave it even more sleek and smooth than usual.

Hope you guys are well - Happy October, also! It's been a while since I had posted last xx

September/ Spring playlist

Hello everyone! I haven't done a playlist post in a while and I always enjoy reading through other people's musical tastes so I thought I would share with you what has been on my playlist over the last few weeks. To make things easier, I've attached the Spotify playlist because it's the best thing ever - any music you want, at your fingertips. 

Enjoy and let me know what your favourite songs are at the moment xo

                                               

life through the lens #7

(Izzy and I before heading out to a party a few weekends ago - love hangin' out with my bestie. The school's annual "dress up day" was a blast! My friends and I dressed up as the characters from Shrek 2... I was the Fairy Godmother...)

Well, it's been just over a month since my last post. Hi! 

Simply put; my life has been downright insane over the last few weeks. It's been good, but honestly I feel as though everything just happened so fast and I didn't have time for anything except the moment. I guess that's kind of a good thing? 

I'm not sure where to start when it comes to updating you all on what's been going on! I might start with school, it's the most obvious reason as to why life has been so crazy. This week the year 12's completed the QCS test over Tuesday and Wednesday. I think it's the equivalent to the LSAT test in the US, but basically it's the really important set of exams that help set up your Overall Position (OP) for university and you spend the majority of your school life preparing for it. Everyone makes it out to be a huge, stressful and awful experience, and, while it is important and you should always do your best, I have a message to all those who will be doing it (or similar) in the future: It's honestly not that bad. It's a test. It's a set of four exams made of paper with lots of lines, a mixture of words and little bubbles to fill in. It's not the end of the world if you didn't do as well as you hoped because it doesn't test your quality as a person. It doesn't test how compassionate you are, or your hidden talent of making the best fudge brownie or your kick-ass football or dance skills! I wish someone had told me that when I was younger and it hadn't taken me this long to realise I had nothing to worry about. 

Along with the test, it's been exam/ assignment crazy too, and although I still have an oral presentation and two exams before I am officially on holidays, I'm starting to sink into holiday mode. This is partly because a) there is exactly 76 days until I become a high school graduate (I can't believe that! I've had this blog since I was at the start of high school) and b) the weather has been absolutely glorious and perfect for beach daydreaming (and I'm not even a beach person!) and reading. School has been wonderful (for the most part) though and you know the whole soccer thing? I completed an entire season of sport, guys! We had our last game on Monday night and although we lost, it's still so much fun and I made so many lovely new friends from it. Wednesday mornings before school have also been filled with aerobics class and it's really boosted my brain power for geography class! After QCS we also did a bit of yoga and meditation to relax and reflect. 

I knew this year I wanted to make the most of everything the school had to offer and I definitely don't regret it! I've made so many wonderful new friends and it's really enhanced my high school experience by getting involved and busy. 

I think I'm going to stop it here though or I'll end up writing an essay about my life - and I want to post an outfit within the next few days so I will write a little more then! Tonight is a quiet one for me... I think I'll listen to Vance Joy's new album and make a hot chocolate or something. Need R&R. Talk soon (and I promise... it won't be over a month!).

hummingbird

I feel like this skirt has some sort of "photographic power" because whenever I wear it, the lighting always seems to co-operate. Not only that, but it's also incredibly soft, comfortable and fun to spin around in! This outfit is a perfect example of something I would wear to the markets or somewhere relaxed and very casual. As much as I love to get ready for events and things like that, it's nice to just throw on a tee, skirt and push back my hair with some sunglasses (as well as protect my eyes... that's what they were made for after all!). Life has been crazy, hence the completely inconsistent blogging on my part. You know how I said "Don't worry, term 3 won't break me"? Well, I was kinda wrong on that note. I kinda fell apart at school today. Tears and everything. One day, I would really like to have total control over my emotions because at the moment, fragility is completely unideal. Hopefully things will be better soon. 

*If you're going through a horrid time or whatever, something that has been helping me lately is the quote*

"Not every day is good, but there's something good in every day"

I've had some absolutely wonderful/ hilarious moments over the last week and it's definitely nice to think of them. 

jane

On Wednesday I got an email from a reader asking me what to wear in a work place... something appropriate for the office but also not completely boring, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect because I came home the same afternoon to a package from Popbasic with all the answers! Blush pink and black is not only a flattering colour match for many skin tones, but it's also appropriate for the work place. What I like most about this outfit (aside from that fact that there's pink in it...) is its versatility and the many options available to dress it down or up depending on the occasion. 

I hate to rush things but I have a large pile of homework that seems to have developed a pair of beady eyes; it's glaring at me and it can only mean two things: I'm extremely sleep deprived (plausible) or things are due very soon and I am going to get behind if I don't start now (also plausible). Goodnight and have a nice weekend xo

indigo

Oasap top and bag, Kmart skirt, Forever New belt and earrings, Rubi shoes

Greetings internet! How are you all? Things in my life have improved considerably since the stress and exhaustion at the start of the week. I've been pretty sick and aside from the soccer triumph, have been feeling beyond lousy and less than motivated. It's definitely been a test of whether or not I can pick myself up and dust off and I think I've done okay. The afternoon walks, earlier bed times (and reading instead of phone usage at night) has definitely helped and I'm starting to feel less overwhelmed, exhausted and sad. Mood swings are so weird; one minute you feel as though your whole world has swallowed you whole and then next minute, you feel as though you're on top of the world. 

Today's outfit is something I think I will wear to the university Open Day I'll be attending in the next few weeks. Next year's ambitions of moving away to study are becoming a reality and I've started planning ahead and hopefully I'll be certain on a course soon. I liked the way this outfit made me feel; well-dressed, well educated and as if I have my life in control. Unfortunately I still haven't reached the latter stage yet as I still feel like a lost, naive sheep on their first day of school, but hey! There's still time. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your week xo