Wednesday, July 20, 2016

these really awesome concrete stairs

Wednesday, July 20, 2016












photos by Chloe - blog / ig

coat / vintage hand me down
shirt / commoners
denim / levi's 501
watch / the horse
shoes / adidas
socks / country road

On Sunday I met up with fellow blogger and creator of awesome things - Chloe (I'm sure you know her) and we spent the day chatting, eating some delicious vegan treats + taking lots of photos! Chloe then took me to these really awesome concrete stairs where we proceeded to take many embarrassing timer cam pictures! It was so cool to hang out with Chloe and you should definitely check her out if you haven't already as she does loads of super cool stuff + she has a really funky new blog design that's just gone live (here).
Anyway, onto the outfit! Yes, I'm in some more Levi's but I just can't get enough of them - I love that loose mum / boyfriend jean fit and I just feel like Brenda from 90210 so what's not to love!?
This shirt is probably one of my favourite things at the moment, it's from Commoner's in Auckland and my goodness their store is beautiful! I really love the style of this tee because it's something a little different to your average tee shirt shape and that dusty pink colour is just!!
We only have one more day left in Queenstown now and less than a week left of the holidays so I'm trying to get back into that school headspace and normal waking times etc. I hope you're having a nice day or night, whatever you may be doing!
B.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Paradise / Queenstown

Saturday, July 16, 2016


Hello!
I still can't get over these photos. We drove up to Glenorchy on Tuesday to a place that's literally called Paradise and it was incredible. It was just so amazing to be completely surrounded by mountains and even though it was quite a grey, windy day I actually like how that looks in the photos!
This outfit is definitely one of my favourites at the moment in this freezing weather because I can layer a whole bunch of merinos underneath my shirt and nobody will know! + I just love these jeans, I'd been looking for a good vintage pair of Levi's for so long and I finally stumbled across a store in Wellington that had this black pair of 501's (!!) I've been getting so much wear out of them as I've just been loving all high waisted jeans at the moment and they're surprisingly really comfortable! I also purchased my black converse before we left so they are still looking reasonably clean (they won't be like that by the time we leave) but I love the way they look with high waisted jeans and a bit of ankle showing, even though that's not exactly practical in this weather!
Anyhow, I'm sure I'll be getting a lot more wear out of this outfit on our various day trips, we're planning to take a drive to Wanaka this weekend and hopefully up the mountain soon too so watch this space!
Bella.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Staying Inspired + Motivated This Winter

Tuesday, July 5, 2016


Hello!
With only one week left until the holidays I am feeling absolutely exhausted! I've realised that I have changed quite a lot this term, including switching to a completely vegan, plant based diet (there will be more on that soon!)
When I'm busy or stressed out I find it quite difficult (especially in this freezing Wellington weather) to stay motivated and inspired when it comes to school and creative things like blogging. So as I try to cure myself of a case of bloggers block and count down the days until we take off for Queenstown I thought I'd share with you some of my tips on how to stay motivated and inspired to get things done this Winter!

m o t i v a t i o n 
Before I can begin finding new inspiration I first need to have the motivation to actually do so! I've found that motivation is something that I really struggle with and I seem to have perfected the art of procrastinating and cleaning or re-decorating my entire bedroom to distract myself from the real task at hand. Here are some things that I find really help me feel motivated;

01 / Tunes
Music. I cannot stress this enough, good music really helps me to focus, especially when it comes to school work. I personally prefer listening to music with lyrics and I find that it doesn't distract me but I know that some people can find that quite difficult. Recently on Spotify I've been loving the Majestic Casual playlist, for me this playlist creates my perfect homework vibes!

02 / Write It Down
I find that actually writing down everything that I need to get done really helps to motivate me because I'm one of those people that just has to to tick off their entire to-do list in order to feel satisfied. During my transition into a vegan lifestyle I decided to write down every single thing that I was eating or planning to eat and this really helped me as I could look back at a day when I particularly enjoyed a meal, if I'm feeling unmotivated to cook and I could simply replicate that meal!

03 / Rewards
Setting myself rewards after doing something like homework is a great way to just muscle through that unpleasant task. I like to remind myself of the things that I have to look forward to as well, weather that's a holiday, celebration, event or even just the weekend. Using a countdown app for special occasions often helps me too, to actually see that I have four days, twelve hours and one minute until the holidays gives me something to really look forward to (I use the app Countdown+) !

i n s p i r a t i o n
Finding inspiration is something that I used to find really difficult and a creative block is something that happens to the best of us so I've compiled a few tips that work best for me when I'm feeling uninspired creatively and just with life in general!

01 / Create a Mood Board on Pinterest
Pinterest is probably my main source of inspiration, I just find it so helpful to be able to look back at all of the images that I've saved in the past and it will almost always get those creative juices flowing! I find it really helpful to create a board (you can even have it on private if you like) called 'inspiration' where you can just be constantly pinning things that will inspire you when you're feeling a little stuck. This could be style, interiors, photography or a bit of everything, I find that having a scroll through my inspiration board really helps to generate new ideas for blog posts etc.

02 / Change Is Good
Something as simple as changing the layout of my bedroom or a new blog design can completely change my mindset. The other day I moved a few things in my bedroom around so that my bed was facing a different direction and it made me feel so much better, sometimes you don't even realise how bored you can get of something when it's been the same for so long! I've found that trying a new way of photography or branching out a bit on my Instagram and blog can make me feel so much more inspired!

03 / Connect With New People
Although I believe it is really important not to copy, finding inspiration from other creative people on the internet always helps me break out of an uninspired funk. Sometimes even exploring and finding new blogs or Instagram's can help, there are so many cool creators out there and so many people you can connect with especially on platforms like Instagram.

I hope that you can take something away from this post and maybe find a new source of inspiration or start motivating yourself to do something you've been avoiding for a while! + Stay tuned for lots more content in the next few weeks as we head off for Queenstown!
Bella.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Auckland Buys

Saturday, June 11, 2016


Hello!
Wow, it's been cold this week. I do love Winter but it's been a bit of a shock to the system after such a hot Summer here in nz. It's made me realise how very hard everyday tasks are when you're freezing. We are actually headed up to Queenstown for two weeks at the end of this term which is exciting as we'll be going up the mountain, however it's going to be a lot colder than this!
Anyhow, today I thought I'd share with you some of the things that I purchased during my small holiday in Auckland, as I went a bit shopping crazy! I just love the stores in Auckland, especially Ponsonby and High Street and I went a little overboard on clothes, which I haven't included in this post but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of soon.

Theseeke Temple Balm / Switch On
This is something that I had been lusting after for a while on the Father Rabbit website, partly because the packaging was just so pretty and I was also just quite intrigued by the concept of a temple balm and was curious to see weather it would actually work.

Kikki K Pens + Clipboard
The Kikki.K in Britomart is such a dream, I just had to pick up three of the pens from their 'minimalist' collection and this gorgeous wooden / gold cipboard.

BLOC Enamel Mug + Marble Notebook
I love the look of enamel plates and mugs at the moment because they remind me so much of camping (not that I've camped a lot!) and this simple white one from Father Rabbit just caught my eye, I thought it would look super nice with a small succulent inside! I also bought a marble patterned notebook from BLOC and I just love it so much, especially with the little copper detailing on the back.

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
I had been looking for this limited edition version of The Great Gatsby for ages. The metallic copper cover by Coralie Bickford-Smith is just gorgeous + with it being one of my favourite movies I felt like I had to read the book too. When I found this inside of Tessuti I was beyond excited!

How to be a Parisian Wherever You Are
I have been seeing this book on just about everybody's Instagram so I thought it was time I picked it up and gave it a read + I've been obsessing over Paris recently after reading Jasmine Dowling's France blog post.

Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener in 'Porcelain Peach'
I really love the Bobbi Brown eye brightener's and I previously had the 'Light to Medium Peach' and found it just a bit too dark so this one is just perfect and takes next to no time or skill to apply, which is good for a complete makeup novice like me!



Kikki K 'Better Than Before'
What first drew me to this book in Kikki.K was the stunning and very minimal looking cover but at closer inspection it looked like quite a good read, and part of their 'Inspiration' collection which I've never purchased from before!

Topshop Grey Scarf
This unfortunately is out of stock (however I've linked a similar one) but oh my goodness, I've found my dream scarf! When I laid my eyes on this scarf in the Queen Street Topshop it was love at first sight and I've been wearing it non stop ever since!

Although my bank account suffered from my trip to Auckland I loved wandering round some different types of shops as I've discovered that Wellington can be rather limited in terms of shopping.
If you haven't already seen the videos from my trip you can check them out here and be sure to Subscribe to my Youtube channel while you're over there!
Bella.
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