Fashionable Friday – The Belated

My first Fashionable Friday post talked about the outfit I was putting together to accompany Megan (my housemate and best friend) and her Mum into Newcastle city centre to get their hairs chopped.  I hadn’t been feeling all that great in the week running up to going out with them so getting myself all dressed up to have a wander felt like a good thing to be doing.

As I mused in that last post, I didn’t know if I was going to stay with Megan and her Mum and move onto the Metrocentre for shopping or not…I ended up doing so and had a brilliant day.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you some pictures from the day.

  

We ended up grabbing some lunch from Gourmet Burger Company….I’d never eaten there before but wow, the food was yummy.  Here are Megan and her Mum, Jane…oh and me! in the restaurant…

  

I told myself I wasn’t going to spend any money, but I ended up buying a pair of pink 3/4 leggings from Yours…they were just a perfect fit for my dress; much better than the ones I initially had on!  And since they were in the 2 for £12 deal and Megan had found a pair that she wanted too, they only cost me £6.  Bargain!

 

I was really happy with my look on this day, and it gave me more confidence in a dress that honestly, I was starting to have second thoughts about.  And the leggings?  Well, I’ve been wanting a pair of nice brightly coloured ones for a while, and they have quickly became a staple of my wardrobe!  In particular, I loved the below look, which is basically an all Yours Clothing affair as the long length sheer blouse came from Yours as well!

  

  

Til next time

Lindsay ❤

What I’ve Been Up To – 24/06/2015

This past week has been a little up and down, but I’ve been doing my best to keep my head above the water.

Last week, my job took me to Warwick for a night.  To get there, I had to commute through Birmingham, so I took advantage of my employers paying for my food and ate at a Thai place just outside the Bullring in Brum city centre; Chaophraya.

For my commute into Birmingham and then onto Warwick on the train, I wore the following outfit.  The dress is the one I blogged about previously here when I went to the PS4L meetup back in January.  It is ridiculously comfortable for travelling so was a perfect choice.

At Chaophraya, I had the below monument to deliciousness.  Sticky Rice with Beef, served with a fried egg on top.  In complete and utter seriousness, this is one of the nicest things I have ever eaten.  If I ever go back, I WILL be having this again.  Careful mind, it’s a HOT one!

Once I got to my hotel room that evening, I did what I always do….strip down!  The room was quite warm so I lost the dress and chilled in my room in just my bra and leggings.  And, something inspired me to take this photograph of myself:

To accompany the image, I wrote some words to go with it, which are as follows:

An Ode to Oneself.

What do you see, when you look at me?
Do you see a fat girl, sad and miserable?
Or do you just apply those attributes to me as that’s what I’m “supposed” to be?
Do you see my physical “flaws”?
Like my uneven breasts,
My scars,
The bags under my eyes,
My double chin,
Or even the fact that one of my bra straps is twisted?
Do my “flaws” stand out to you?
Do they offend you?
Perhaps, you don’t see any of these things.
Maybe, just maybe, instead, the first thing you notice is my smile, warmly smiling back at you.
And that will remind you that no matter how I look on the outside; I’m human.
A person.
A person with feelings and talents and so much to offer the world.
And that I have the right to be happy.
And to love who I am.
No matter my size.
No matter my appearance.
And perhaps, if you keep telling yourself this, each day, you’ll believe it more and more.

It got reposted by EffYourBeautyStandards and a few other places too!  My follower numbers on IG went up by about 200 people, and I just couldn’t believe the response.  I feel so honoured that people would be moved and/or inspired by me.

I woke up the next morning to the response and took this selfie to welcome my new followers and to show off the resultant glow!

My work meeting went well, and I made the commute home.  The following day I was working back at home again as usual, so I kept my outfit pretty comfy and laidback.

The weekend was HARD, because it was Father’s Day weekend.  For reasons explained here, I no longer have a relationship with my father.  So I knew going into the weekend that it was going to be an emotional one, but I was determined that I would not give in, and still have a good weekend.

On Saturday, I went to visit my Grandad, and I looked bloody cute, haha!

I watched the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session with him, which is always nice.  I grew up watching Formula One with my grandfather so it always brings back pleasant memories.

I also bought a gorgeous new lipstick and back pack.  I shall have to blog separately about a few new recent purchases!

Sunday was the hardest day.  It started with tears, and it ended with tears, but in between, I did my damn best to not let the day get to me.

I dressed for fierceness.

I met a friend for coffee, did a bit of shopping, watched the Grand Prix (Rosberg won, noooooo), did some chores, and caught up on some webcomic readings.

I then decided I would restart the #100happydays challenge.  I got to 81/100 before I stopped doing it.  So so close and yet so far.  So the following was my first post for my reattempt:

(I also introduced a new hashtag to IG… #teadrinkinggeek 😀 )

Finally, on Monday evening, I did my weekly mental health review and as a start of that, I started up a new therapy journal and started to keep a Daily Activity Diary.  I needed to reaffirm my commitment to my ongoing mental recovery and so, I did.  Feeling very proud of myself.

This has been my week so far!  Perhaps, not the most exciting, but it’s certainly been emotional.

What have you been up to this week, anything interesting?

Til next time,

Lindsay ❤

Pushing Beyond My Comfort Zone

43 days ago, I took a day trip to meet the wonderful and talented Julie (Bequirkybeyou). She approached me to ask if I would be willing to model for her, in a shoot that would include tasteful, artistic nudity.

I thought it through, and I decided to say yes.  I saw this as an opportunity to push past my comfort zone, and to be a true test of my body positivity journey.  Could I handle the prospect of my naked form being on display for all to see?

Only one way to find out!

Getting myself a bikini body :-)

I’m sure most of us have seen the following body positive mantra by now:

“To get a bikini body….put a bikini on your body!”

It’s something I’ve really taken to heart these past few months, and last year I bought my very first bikini and totally rocked it.  Here I am, looking like a total babe…