What are your New Years resolutions?

I don't believe in waiting for a new year in order to implement change, in fact I try my hardest to avoid putting things off until the next day let alone the next week!

However sometimes there is nothing like being incentivised (is that a word?) by the calendar to reflect on what you could do to improve.

So here's mine:

"Do more and be more..."

Initially I had three resolutions (my favourite number lol) but I decided that wasn't concise enough. Instead I chose to oversimplify things and create a short motto that I could live by; I want to see more of the world and continue to achieve my goals, and just generally live my life to the fullest. These five words are easy to remember can be applied to all areas of my life.

*On second thoughts I decided that I may as well share my other mantra for next year: "new year new tings"...but that's generally how I feel every year!

What are your new year's resolutions?

Style Inspiration: Bianca Jagger

If you were to ask me who my style icon was I would instinctively say Rihanna as her look is quite attainable for the average woman in her twenties due to it being edgy, trendy and fairly experimental. However I choose not to copy the style of any particular celebrity and instead take inspiration from a variety of places such as films, editorials, blogs and general people-watching where ever I am in the world.

With that said, Bianca Jagger is someone who I'm hugely inspired by even though her full-on glamour is often not suitable for my daily life, I think her vintage looks are just fabulous and timeless enough to be worn today.

See below for some of my favourite looks by her.

New Discovery: Suitcase Magazine

I'm sucker for fashion and indie mags which is why I love WH Smith Selfridges and Wardour News: both are great for finding literally anything including banned magazine covers! On a not so recent visit to pick up a copy of Vogue Collections SS14, I found this gem:

Excuse the quick iPhone snap!

The magazine which focuses on travel and fashion (my two greatest loves) initially caught my eye due to the Jamaican flag cover, but after a flicking through I realised it was worth buying. It contains features on beauty, guides to Amsterdam and Cape Town as well as huge section on Jamaica; I was impressed with the coverage of local knowledge such as the latest dances, hottest nightclubs and a strong focus on Portland which is a beautiful but less popular tourist destination in Jamaica. 

The magazine is bi-annual so I'm curious to see what they have in store for the Summer edition; I love the format and would definitely recommend this to any magazine collector.

New Year, New Format

I hope everybody enjoyed their Christmas!

I've decided that my blog needs a stronger sense of direction and what better time to make a change than the New Year? In order to make it much more cohesive I've decided to combine the restaurant reviews and any event coverage with outfit posts in order to accurately reflect my multi-dimensional lifestyle; I was actually inspired by a girl I met who suggested that I blog about where I'm going and in what 'fabulous' outfit. It's a great idea and it will allow me to feature more of myself and my personality since I haven't really posted anything personal since my holidays.

Let's just hope that I can stick to it! Oh, and also I've updated my travel bucket list in preparation for the new year...take a look!

Beyoncé - Drunk In Love

Just because I love it...

Enjoy your weekend!

Midnight Musings: "I can't wait..." vs. "I look forward too..."

As of late I've been comforting myself during these cold, dark winter months with thoughts of what I will (hopefully) be doing next year; this has resulted in endless conversations beginning with, "I wish I was in (insert anywhere but London)..." and "I can't wait to...". Whilst it's wonderful to have something to look forward to and these small things can help boost our morale, it can be harmful and destructive to become so consumed with planning the future that we forget to enjoy the here and now. Let me repeat: it can be harmful and destructive to become so consumed with planning the future that we forget to enjoy the here and now.

I caught myself typing, "I can't wait to..." before I deleted the words and replaced them with a much more fitting, "I look forward to...." At that moment I realised just how damaging this mindset had the potential to be; the truth is I love my life at present, I enjoy what I do and I am blessed to have amazing people around me. Whilst I have every reason to believe that the future will be even better, it's important for me to enjoy the journey.

So next time you find yourselves placing too much emphasis on the future and indulging in escapism, take the time to stop, think and reconsider just how much you have to be grateful for and embrace the now!

Monday Wisdom: Live Without Regret

'No regrets' is a motto which remains firmly at the heart of my personal life philosophy; I can quite confidently state that I don't have a single regret in life! There are the odd events that I wish I had approached slightly differently, however I just consider these to be a lesson learned.

I know it sounds cliché, but life really is too short to live to beat of somebody else's drum only to end up as nothing more than bitter old 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' type of person. I'll admit that was a little harsh but I strongly believe that the only things in life that you actually will regret are the things that you didn't do...

So with that said go out there and grab the bull by the horns!

Happy Monday all x

Beyoncé

Beyoncé shook the internet left, right and centre the moment she dropped her latest self-titled visual album, as someone who became caught in the rapture I felt compelled to make a post. First of all not only are the visuals incredible, but they are incredibly sexy which I feel is quite refreshing for her as an artist, with each video really bringing the lyrics to life. I enjoyed the majority of them so I won't bore you with the list, but in terms of the songs Drunk In Love immediately stood out as did Flawless; I love how she turned around the original 'Bow Down Bitches' and created a feminist anthem with a sample of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk...brilliant!

I originally contemplated sharing the video when I posted this, but I wasn't sure if viewers would watch it in it's entirety, however now it's part of pop culture I recommend it to all: this woman speaks the truth!

See below for the Chimamanda video.

The Best Man Holiday and Nia Long's Fabulous Hair!

For the life of me I struggled to remember The Best Man in detail, aside from the scandal centred around Harper's book and the electric slide at the end, but after continuous Facebook statuses etc I eventually warmed to the idea of watching the sequel...

I felt that the script was extremely well written although the plot twists were no surprise to my friend and I who studied film; there were several awkward moments alongside the more humorous ones, and of course let's not forget the emotional scenes. Despite the negative (mainstream) critics who I felt either completely missed the point, or could not see past the all-black cast, because let's be honest Bridesmaids was hyped up and it's probably the worst movie I've ever seen, I would actually highly recommend watching The Best Man Holiday! In fact my friends and I loved it so much that we would actually purchase the DVD to watch around the Christmas period.

Mini review aside, the main thing I wanted to discuss was Nia Long's hair:

Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela

...a truly inspirational, influential and incredible individual. 

R.I.P. Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Beyonce in Jamaica

I've been quite busy with no spare time to blog, however my heart was warmed when I saw these photos of Beyonce in Jamaica (in a patriotic top) and I just had to share! The land of wood and water (Jamaica) is one of my favourite places on earth: the people have an incredible and incomparable energy, and it's filled with so much beauty much like the rest of the Caribbean.

She even has a Red Stripe!