five new things in my wardrobe.

I promise, this post does not contain Black Friday discount codes...

Happy weekend lovelies! No doubt you've had 101 emails cluttering your inbox, enticing you with Black Friday discounts or you've read enough blog posts titled "Guide to the best Black Friday deals". But fear not I come bearing no discount codes in today's post. Just simply sharing 5 new pieces I've invested in, in the last couple of months that I'm really enjoying and some styling suggestions too! Enjoy!

GLAMOROUS MIDI DRESS

I bought this Glamorous dress from Next, its now sold out, but 

I found it on sale on the Topshop website! - Here

Now its getting colder I cant wait to layer it with turtlenecks 

or pop cable knits over, with a belt to cinch the waist, for a 

jumper/midi skirt illusion. I'm still a big fan of a dresses w/sneakers 

combo and could totally see my Nike Cortez's will work well with 

it and in the evening I'll style up with boots and gold accessories.

STYLE IT WITH...

 NEXT DOUBLE BREASTED BLAZER

Ever ordered something full price, found out it was on sale, 

returned it, and then bought it back cheaper....guilty. (But I 

believe this is just good karma coming my way for having paid 

full price for the previous dress, above). This blazer is worth its 

original £59 price point but £29 is even better. 😊

Blazers never really go out of fashion and I already have two, 

both from Primark that I still get great wear out of, but it is really 

nice to own a quality tailored piece that feels and looks great on. 

I recently ordered the matching trousers and really hope they fit, 

it would be nice to have a matching suit as well as team it with denim.

STYLE IT WITH...

H&M CHECKED MINI SKIRT

This skirt is rather nostalgic for me, I distinctively remember 
owning one when I was 9/10 years old and I wore it everywhere, 
with everything, until it shrunk in the wash/I grew out of it. I don't 
remember the details. Tartan/check print can be busy 
so I think an "all black everything" look would give 
it an edge, keep it chic and let the skirt do all the talking. 
Think Clueless, but "grown up."

STYLE IT WITH...

ZARA CROPPED SNAKE PRINT JEANS

If you've been following me on Instagram you would know I'm 
currently having a animal print obsession! 
I'm typically a bargain hunter, but recently I've realised I work too 
hard to spend all my money on cheap items. Don't get me wrong 
I'll happily still spend hours in Primark searching for a bargain 
but every now and then its good to treat yo self to the pricer side of life! 
£49.00 on jeans is a rare move by me but I don't regret it, 
unfortunately they're sold out but if your craving an exotic 
alternative to plain blue jeans try these or these. - they're on sale!

STYLE IT WITH...

NIKE M2K TEKNO

I posted these sneakers on my Instagram yesterday and I 
couldn't believe the response! 2000+ likes for trainers! 
But I totally get it because as soon as I saw them I had to have 
them and these babies have fulfilled all my dad trainer goals. 

I wouldn't say I'm a sneaker head but I do have a appreciation 
for them and probably if my bank account allowed it I definitely 
would be, but there was no way I was passing on the M2K Tekno's.
Definitely one of the best purchases I've made this year. 
They're such a statement piece that make any outfit pop, 
I cant see them leaving my feet anytime soon. 

STYLE IT WITH...

let me know which item is your favourite!

↓↓↓

november intentions.

"Its been a long time, I shouldnt of left you...without some dope posts to read through" - and in true Lavinya style this post is late...lol

excerpt from my journal.

Well hello, its been a while and all that, theres no denying I fell off a bit (ok alot) and then the minute I got my act together my laptop decided to randomly die on me. A solid day of crying, a last minute appointment at a Genius Bar, 1 external HD and £160 later, I'm up and running again...its things like this that keep me 50/50 with the idea of growing up as a concept aka adulting. But anyways I digress, lets catch up, last we spoke I've had a birthday, finished another internship, was genuinely honoured to be featured on Kristabel's blog and recorded a podcast for Premier Gospel! I am as shocked as you are that its already November and tempted to just ride out of the rest of the year with the hopes of starting afresh in 2019 but if I've learned anything this year its that life happens so fast and it doesn't slow down for anyone so invest your time the best you can, so heres to one final push to re-focus on the areas of life that could do with some attention.

be more deliberate with your time.

INTENT: Assign my time effectively to achieve my to-do's.

Working from home requires a discipline I have yet to master...you can lose motivation very quickly yet strangely find time to watch every Primark haul on Youtube.

How can I make a Monday to-do list and it becomes my list for the rest of the week????

*hangs head in shame*

I'm a heavy procrastinator.  

I've stopped putting in the work in favour for whats fun and easy. Then get upset when I see people around me excelling. Well duh! how do expect things to change if your not putting in the work...and I don't mean working all the hours of the day and sleep when your dead. I mean being conscious with your time and using it to bring you one step closer to your goals. Yup binge watching all my fav shows is fun and easy but its not going to take me where I want to be.

Its not easy to admit that I could be working harder but its real and the reality check I need to get my butt in gear!

let God teach you His way.

INTENT: To set aside some time each morning for devotion and prayer and one evening every week for bible study.

I've been feeling a pull to draw closer to God for a while now. Tasks can often overwhelm me and I need to hear his voice of calm over my life. There are pages in my journal of me wishing to hear God's voice more. At times I feel so unclear of what direction to take and grow in frustration feeling God has left me. 
Do you ever feel this way? 

Well I came across a tweet that said "Dont say God is silent with your bible closed" 

I felt that.

book your appointments!

INTENT: Handle my life admin. 

I hate my current dentist, so I've been putting off check ups until I can find another. 

I'm definitely over due for a eye test, because should we really have to pay hunnids just to see???? and I've been ignoring reminders for my smear test since last year. 

Not good huns. Not good at all.

develop a night routine and stick to it! 

INTENT: Improve my quality of sleep. 7-8hrs every night!!  

Lack of sleep is catching up to me fasttttt, these days it makes me feel cranky, my eyes are the sunken place, my brain is scattered and its begun to affect my skin, yet I wilfully continue to stay up past my bedtime. 

LOL this level of ignorance is just too loud. 

I really dont have a evening routine (or morning routine or any routine tbh!) I'm more of a fall asleep with my phone in hand/laptop screen blaring type of gal...and at my big age, I should know better.

This is an area I have really struggled with this year so its not going to be an overnight success but I believe my sleeping habits are the actual crux to my productivity levels. 

If I can master this then I definitely feel like I will see other areas of my life improve too so sleep is definitely top of my November intentions.

get up and S T R E T C H

INTENT: Take small steps to improve my fitness.

I know I may look young but my back ache says I'm 70. 

I really want to get back on my fitness, because these days running for the bus is a shock to the system lol.

In the past I made the mistake of going 0 to 100 - too quick.

You know what I mean instead of starting off with beginners cardio, I would opt for 1hour Shaun T Insanity workout. Resulting in me collapsing mid way and nursing aching limbs for days to come that inevitably put me off working out every again.

Fitness is not a race so lets start things slow. I've always had the goal of a summer bod but this time fitness means more than that to me. I get a lot of hip pain and guess what its from prolong sitting on my ass all day loool! So the plan is...

Early morning stretches to get me moving for the day and evening stretches to relax me and hopefully help release some stress.

Hopefully starting with small steps will spur me on to do more and more.

I've promised myself some new workout clothes as a reward so I really hope I stick with this one...

what do you hope to achieve this month?