Down by the water

Patter of a seaport town

The denim dress. Something I have longed for, for a long time, yet never been able to find the perfect match. Until now, obviously. So, this denim dress arrived through my front door by a delivery driver that decided to knock as soon as I stepped foot in the bath, but isn’t that always the way? After we did that awkward “sorry about this” exchange, he handed it over and it was to be mind forever. Anyway, I was skeptical, mostly because of my bad history with denim dresses. But then it slid on my a dream, skimming over all possible “denim dress problem areas” and well… I loved it… I actually flamin’ loved it. So what makes this dress special? I hear you yell. It’s a tunic style, which actually makes it a lot more flattering. If I feel like I want my arms covered, I can wear a shirt underneath or a cardigan over the top. If I want it to pull it at the waist, I can wear a belt and if I want to wear it on holiday, I can wear it over my bikini. The material is soft and moveable and I definitely don’t get the “denim robot” feel. For styling ideas, check out the video at the end of this post!

I feel like this is a super cute outfit, something you’d wear for afternoon tea on a Sunday. I paired it with some blush tones as I’m just loving this colour palette at the moment. These shoes are so comfortable and go with anything, jeans, skirts, shorts… you name it. The colour also works well if you’re a bit on the pale skin sidea’ life, like me. Oh and this tassel bag? Tassel, heaven – Boden have done well here. I also popped on the newest addition to my fingers.. my Azuni London ring. This is the prettiest ring and I just love the Azuni range, very textured, modern with a hint of boho, which I adore.

A little while after we started these photos we got hailed on.. twice.. that’s why today’s post is inspired by staying positive. Because sometimes, you really have to work at it! 😉

I’M WEARING: DRESS | SHIRT | BAG | SHOES | GLASSES | RING

Photography – chris@alotofbradshaw.com

Staying positive

Sometimes, things are sent to try us. That’s what I try to make myself believe anyway. In a bit of a negative spell it’s sometimes tough to feel positive – to look forward, not back and to feel jolly rather than a moping mess. Whilst sometimes it’s better to just give your body what you need, aka huge amounts of Galaxy chocolate, a cry on the sofa and a bit of a perv over Ryan Gosling. But then, we must pick ourselves up… dust off the grains of misery and try our best to put our minds into a positive place.

I’ve tried yoga and whilst it does wonders for stretching my limbs, it’s tough to put myself into a spell of happiness by sitting on a foamy mat in my underwear. Usually I’m thinking about how I can’t wait for it to be over so I can have breakfast. But, I’m getting there, I’m giving everything a go & I think that’s the biggest step forward – trying. Here’s my tips on staying positive, for those who want to banish the negative thoughts & live a happy one.

Surround yourself with positive people

This is the most important tip of them all. To be positive, you must have positive people in your life. I did a post about toxic friends way back (read here) and I still stand by my word. If you have a toxic person sprouting poison in your ear everyday, eventually you will turn toxic too. Just think of all the Disney characters we see, beautiful on the outside and then they look in the mirror? There’s a monster in that soul! Banish them to the depths of no where and go find yourself some like minded people. This instant!

 Train your thoughts

I’d say it’s a lot easier to be negative in a bad situation than it is to be positive. Why would we think happy thoughts when something bad is happening to us? It’s all about training your mind. Instead of looking at the bad side of things, try to find a positive element and focus on that. Instead of thinking “I’m never going to get used to this”, make yourself look at the good side, “I’ll get used to this in time, and it will be great” After a while, it comes naturally.

Set goals

It’s really easy to get caught up in the everyday routine of life. If you feel negative because you do the same thing everyday and life doesn’t seem to be going where it should… make some goals. Grab a notebook, jot down some goals you want to achieve and put all your efforts into making them a reality. If you need qualifications, research into an open university. If you hate your job, get your CV sorted and put yourself out there. A simple positive thought could change your life, literally!

Remember, no one is perfect

If you’re a blogger you might need this one especially. We are faced with pictures of perfection every where we go. Perfection is on our social media, TV’s, internet, magazines.. and it’s so easy to get caught up in it. Most of all, it’s very easy to fall into the self-doubt trap. Just because you see someone and think they are perfect, it doesn’t mean you’re not. Self comparison is the worst emotion to possess and sadly the easiest to obtain. I did a video on this subject and I go into a bit more detail – you can watch that here.