STAY COZY

DRESS - Asos, TRAINERS - Office, TRENCHCOAT (Similar) - H&M 

I've been dying to share this outfit with you guys but sometimes I underestimate how much time goes in to creating a blog post...plus I am little of a perfectionist, Virgo problems. Using pockets of free time to blog has become a necessity but it can be hard when your the Queen of procrastination. I am definitely someone who will dedicate an hour of my time to blog write but will spend 10 mins searching for the perfect music to play in the background and then end up getting distracted by Youtube videos or Twitter. lol. #dontjudgeme

I actually shared a sneak peak of this look on my Instagram a few weeks ago and people seemed to really like it! Spring is looming and I'm looking forward to coming out of the dark but as we wait for warmer days to come this is the perfect time to stay cozy in a jumper dress.  

I love layering but I'm equally fond of looks that require minimal fuss, and the oversized fit of a jumper dress ticks all the boxes. I love the nude/cream tones and this H&M trench compliments the  outfit palette. 

I'm usually a heels kinda girl but these U420 New Balances from Office are really changing my shoe game goals; its got to the point where I've started wearing them with everything!

1 x Jumper Dress + 1 x Kicks. Outfit Complete.

Hope you love this look as much as I do!

Lavinya x 

FASHION WEEK WITH FARFETCH

London Fashion Week officially starts today and aside from the fabulous creations to storm the catwalk everyone loves a stylish street style look.

In collaboration with Farfetch.com I have picked out 3 designer pieces from their website to create my ultimate fashion week look, see above!

I chose this awesome embroidered Kenzo 'Cactus' sweatshirt to steal the limelight and add a burst of colour to my look; forget what you think you know about styling sweatshirts because it doesn't have to mean jogging bottoms instead tuck you sweater into a pair of classic high-waisted culottes like this chic pair by Moncler; and as the cobble stones of Somerset House are now a thing of the past step up your shoe game at Brewer Street with these cut-out open toe booties from Casadei. I love this look, its practical for February London weather with a touch of sexy.

Whatever outfit vibe your looking for there are hundreds of incredible designer pieces to choose from, all under one online roof at Farfetch.com 

Check out my collab on their google+ page here and let me know what you think of my look/farfetch picks below!

Lavinya x

This post was in collaboration with Farfetch.com, but all words are my own

DEAR SINGLE LADIES

Dear Single Ladies, I dont know you personally but I do know its easy to feel the pressure on Valentines Day better known to us as "Single Awareness Day" 

Theres this annoying narrative that single people are unhappy and our lives our empty because we can't instagram a picture with the caption "the boy done good" but you know what forget the labels there are 5 things I'd like to share with you...

1.

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Do you know how much money your saving? Gurl listen, if your ex's where anything like mine, then you have saved yourself alot! Yes I know your longing for your "soul mate" but there will be plenty of "Valentines Day" in your lifetime, if you have to spend one or two alone its not the end of the world! Patience may need to be your virtue for a while. Remember when you rushed love? Look how that ended up. There is no need to hurry, let go of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and love the life your living. If all your expectations of love are wrapped up in this one day its time to take a deep look at yourself.

2.

#TREATYOSELF

Give all that love you have...to yourself. #treatyoself I cant say it enough! Pamper yourself with a relaxing bath, facial or mani/pedi. Spend a little money on yourself, need some ideas look here! Wear that dress you've been saving and get all pretty. I have been saving this American Apparel dress for years! My ex's were not the most creative when it came to Valentines day, so I've never had a chance to wear it, but today I decided to show it some love on the blog. Practice some self love today; Valentines is all about love and no one deserves your love more than you do.

3.

IMAGINE THE DAY AFTER VALENTINES

Will all those loved up couples keep surprising each other with gifts and romantic captions on the 15th? Spare a thought for the couples who's only expression of love will come on Valentines Day. Theres enormous pressure on couples to seem loved up too. Let them have their moment in the sun. True love is not about Valentines Day its about lifelong connection with someone that excels beyond material gifts and public declaration. 

4.

SEND LOVE SOMEONE ELSES WAY

Set your troubles aside for the day and send some love to friends and family. Ever heard people say "I wish I had told them how much they meant to me..." Well make today that day. Send a text, make a call, send a card to those you care about and let them know how much you care. Chances are there someone you know who is also single and could do with some encouragement, spread love.

5.

LOVE YOUR SINGLENESS

This is your time to do whatever it is you want. 

I used to think "Why am I single?" but then I looked back at points in my life when I was in a relationship and wondered "Why wasn't I single?"

I am a hopeless romantic and in the past I have been known to fall very quickly for someone and allow my world to revolve around him. If I had stayed single during my Uni days I would've had more time to go out with my friends instead of at home checking the signal on my phone in case I had missed his call. He never wanted to go out. But that was his problem not mine so why did I adopt his problem as my own? or define myself within his parameters of likes and dislikes? Sometimes the need to be loved can be detrimental to the growth of our character and personality.

2006 Lavinya didn't know her own mind. I have been called "high maintenance" in the past and I convinced myself that that was a bad thing so I changed. 2016 Lavinya has no intention of changing, if you cant match my fly then "to the left, to the left." Keep it moving bruh. I am not defined by my singleness. I dont go around introducing myself as "Hi I'm Lavinya and I'm single" In fact most times when the topic of relationships comes up people are surprised to know I am single. In this time of my life I choose to be single and I am going to use that time productively and not wallow in self pity because I dont have a Valentine. 

So dear single ladies, love your single years, don't put your life on hold waiting on someone to complete you because time will still carry on regardless and once that time is gone its gone!

Love Lavinya x

________________________

What I'm Wearing:

American Apparel Ribbed Midi Dress - Similar

Ebay "Alexander Wang Freja" Dupes - Similar 

Monsoon Faux Fur Stole - Similar

Primark "Choker"

INSTAOUTFIT | 002

Jumper - Primark (instore): similar Missguided

Skirt - Asos

Jacket - H&M 

Shoes - Next (sold out) - similar Asos, New Look, Missguided or Asos

Bag - Aldo (instore): its definitely a gorgeous Kate Spade dupe!

I am obsessed with this faux suede skirt, guys seriously you need it in your life and its on sale! This has to be one of my favourite outfit colour palette, I've never thought to wear head to toe pink but its so feminine and classy. I love the skirts risqué front split, the draping is perfect. Its true that 90% of the time I wear trousers but on those 10% days, baring it all for a skirt as gorgeous as this one is 100% worth it. Get yours now before it sells out! >> here

Follow me on instagram for more outfit inspo! >>>>> @thisislavinya 

Lavinya -x

29 WAYS TO GET THROUGH VALENTINES

Whether your relationship status is "In a Relationship", "Its Complicated" on "Single" everyone deserves a little something something on Valentines. 

So I've put together 29 ways to get through Valentines gift guide...treat the one your with or even better #treatyoself! 

FOR HER

 1. Fujifilm Instax Camera / 2. H&M Turtleneck / 3. Topshop clutch / 4. Stradivarius Metallic Brogues / 5. Prada Sunnies (you can even rent them!) / 6.  Aliexpress Makeup Brushes / 7. Mango Aviator Jacket  / 8. Feelunique Pamper Box / 9. Mango Gilet / 10. Moschino Backpack / 11. Ego Patent Boots / 12. &OtherStories Lace Bra / 13. Beyoncé Sweatshirt / 14. Garance Doré Fashion Book / 15. Beyoncé Formation Tour Tickets - now thats love!

________________________

FOR HIM

16. Olympus Pen Camera - so he can continue is his duties as an Instagram husband lol / 17. Nike Cortez Trainers / 18. PumaXBape Jacket / 19. Kangol Beret / 20. D&G undies - not everyday Calvin's / 21. H&M Canvas Bag / 22. The Sartorialist - keep him inspired / 23. Zara Ripped Joggers - a great way to say I love you but I dont have money for the Yeezy collection / 24. Rad Mauvais Garcon Tee / 25. Superdry Sweatshirt / 26. Accurist Gold Watch / 27. Jack Wills Waterbottle  / 28. Adidas Tubular Doom Trainers / 29. Viktor&Rolf Spicebomb - this smells soooooo good! 

________________________

So what do you guys think of my gift guide? 

I have no doubt that a few items from this list will be keeping me in good company.

However you spend Valentines; with friends, family, that special someone or baeless, may your day be filled with love.

Happy Valentines Day!

Lavinya x

REFLECTION

I put off writing this post. I was adamant at the start of the year that I was going to give the whole "new years resolution" post a miss. Don't get me wrong I love a good "new year, new me" vibe; you will never hear me complaining that people should let the idea of being a better them as a waste of time. But I guess this year I couldn't fully put my support behind the notion because I know I didn't live up to it in 2015. Remember this post?

This should be the paragraph where I tell you guys how I achieved them all and more but the truth is I didn't even achieve one. To say the year didn't go as planned is an understatement, but I did learn some lessons along the way so you might wanna get cosy cos its gonna be a long one...

1. DONT WAIT UNTIL YOU'VE REACHED YOUR GOAL TO BE PROUD OF YOURSELF

There comes a point in your life journey when you realise that life doesn't always go to plan. It's inevitable and heartbreaking but somehow you re-route and try to achieve them another way. What I didn't embark on is that disappointment almost swallowing me whole and paralysing me. On more than enough occasions I was plagued with this feeling that I'm not living how I should be, how I thought I'd be. Dreams of travelling, having a passionate career and experiencing new things became just that...dreams. I tried to pull myself out of the funk and strategise how I could achieve each one but it all just felt out of my control, so I let it define me as a failure. 

I am not a failure. There is light, life and love beyond the words you let break you down and the names you call yourself. There will always be things that come along that are out of your control and throw a spanner in the works, but look for the silver lining and make the best out of situations and for me that resulted in a promotion at work, more money in the bank (to travel with in the future). Your circumstances may not be what you envisioned but they're for now not forever so stop beating yourself up and just live. Be proud of how far you have come.

2. SOMETIMES LONELINESS IS BETTER THAN A FAKE FRIEND

"Squad" was probably the most used word of 2015 but I haven't had a proper close knit of friends for a while. My squad right now is basically me, Lori (my bestie), my mum and Jesus which is probably the bombest frickin lit squad you could ever have, but I really wanted to meet new people, make new friends and reacquaint with old friends last year. But instead I came to the realisation that the "friends" I had left had become "acquaintances" and then "strangers" so I detached myself from the detached; the ones who didnt return my calls, texts, those who called me only to make up their numbers at an event, only holler when I post a new instagram pic or dont consider me at all. lol bish please. I can do better. 

Over the years friends have dropped off the radar one by one and at first I started to think it was me. Well I'm the common denominator!?... It wasn't me, it isn't me. To me being a friend means something completely different now that I'm older; you cant just get by on sleepovers and shopping dates. I really wish I had more people in my life that genuinely cared enough to pick up the phone and call me, not just leave fb birthday messages or like my instagram pics. Friendship is not something I thought I would be without because I grew up having loads of friends but I've found no one really see's me as someone important enough to keep close. That hurt to type, but the truth hurts. Besides Lori theres no one I can really have a heart to heart with and I dont want to put all that pressure on her to be "everything" to me cos it shouldnt be that way. For now I am friendless lol and some days are harder than others but I'd rather be alone than have fake friends.

3. "OUR GREATEST FEAR SHOULD NOT BE FAILURE BUT OF SUCCEEDING AT THINGS IN LIFE THAT DONT REALLY MATTER" - FRANCIS CHAN

Social media is both a blessing and a curse as it can leave you feeling inspired or crushed. I flittered between both in 2015 and before I knew it I was cussing my own life for not being exciting enough, driven enough but the irony is I spent even more time on the internet fawning over someone elses life instead of getting my own together. Learning to understand that real life > social media life is a tough realisation because everyone looks like their "winning" and it makes you forget that your journey through life is unique to you, its not supposed to look like everyone else's. Yep that person got the job you'd love to have and that person jetted to the south of somewhere really exotic and their so in love and look another engagement/wedding/pregnancy announcement and this persons blog is so good, mine is so rubbish and the list goes on and on....so what? Go get your own life and realise your own blessings before you completely miss out on them! Worrying is a poor use of the imagination, focus on what matters.

4. BE THANKFUL

Okay so I didnt get to the gym liked I'd hoped but I did achieve some amazing things through my blog I didn't even know would be possible:

- In October I was nominated and won the "Octobers Inside Tip" blog award from Stylefruits.co.uk
- That same month I was contacted by Riser Magazine for an online interview check it out here!
- I was contacted by Boohoo to do a collaborative post to celebrate the Charlixcx 4 Boohoo collection if you haven't seen it yet check out the blog post here.
- The biggest thing; I could never have predicted is being contacted by Burberry press team and sent their SS15 make up via a very well dress courier. I answered the door mid shower, towel on head and all. lol

I take none of these opportunities for granted. This blog is such a blessing to me and I will nuture it as best as I can because although I can feel at times I'm not worthy of such opportunities, someone obviously does and that keeps me posting. :)

4. MAKING THE MOST OF A FRESH START

Goals are not the ultimate purpose of our lives, what they do do is concentrate our focus and move us in a direction. However just achieving goals will never make us happy, in the long term its who you grow to become as you overcome the obstacles that life throw that will give you fulfilment.

Who I will be by the end of this year is unknown and no resolutions this year; but instead I promise myself not to limit my life to a list of "goals" but to push myself in all areas of my life because that's what'll lead me to the next version of myself.

How do you plan on making the most out of 2016? Let me know below!

Lavinya x

________________________

What I'm Wearing:

Public Desire Over the Knee Boots
Primark Yeezus tshirt (similar)
Mango leather zip skirt
Asos Biker Jacket