Source: Creative Index via Kate Baird
My mum used to tell me to write down a few things each night that I was happy for. How about if we started each day like that?
How could our day not go well if we started it with gratitude and love?
Right now I'm grateful for rainy days, a warm bed, and my husband who gives me the best hugs.
What are you grateful for?
I love second hand shopping. I'm completely hooked. Give me an opshop over a shopping mall any day.
I've never really given myself much of a budget for clothing. I love fashion and style, for sure, but buying clothes isn't a high priority for me. I'd much rather save my money!
In my final year at art school the majority of my research was about the fashion industry. I researched topics from sweatshops & labour laws, to designers & runway shows, and the one thing that really stuck with me was that so many of our clothes have very unethical backgrounds.
I couldn't get that out of my head. It makes me uneasy now when I see clothes on sale for a few dollars - those few dollars wouldn't even cover manufacturing costs, let alone all the other expenses involved!
It can be hard to find an alternative, though. It's hard to resist the pull of a nice top on sale for $20, and finding ethical clothing is tricky (and sometimes quite expensive).
So what to do?
Thrift shop, of course!
Personally, I find it to be a good alternative - I still like shopping but I don't have much of a clothing budget, and thrift shopping fills those needs nicely.
While it would be nice to buy all fairtrade and ethically made clothing (& support local designers), thrift shopping is a way to reuse all those clothes currently in circulation. Tonnes and tonnes of clothes get dumped every year, many of them still completely wearable, so thrift shopping is like recycling!
It's cheap, it's environmentally friendly, and it's like going on a treasure hunt - you're never sure what you're going to find!
Do you ever go thrift shopping? What's one of your favourite things that you've bought?
Here's some of my favourite thrift shopping tips:
Elsie's Thrift Tips from A Beautiful Mess
How To Be The Best Thrifter Ever from Yes And Yes
The older I get, the more I realise that I can't get away with eating whatever I want without some sort of consequence. For the most part I am happy with my body and how I look - but it's my diet that could use some improvement.
Honestly, I eat more carbs and sugar than I do veggies and fruits. As a child I never liked veggies, but in the past few years since I've started cooking for myself and experimenting with recipes I've learned that actually, veggies can be pretty yummy! But I'm still not eating as much of them as I want to be, and I'm eating far too much sugar than I would like.
A few weeks ago I read this post by Bri Emery on DesignLoveFest about body image and healthy eating. A point that really stuck out for me was how she gradually cut unhealthy foods from her diet. I liked the idea of just restricting one thing, and not everything. It seems like a more manageable approach!
So for the month of April I decided to not eat any chocolate or lollies. Those two things are my kryptonite. I can never have just one piece, and I always end up with a headache afterwards. I never learn my lesson!
I'm 11 days into this goal and yes, I have broken it a few times. But I am persisting! I don't really want to cut chocolate out of my diet forever, but I would like to not need and crave it so much.
To help me with this healthy lifestyle change, my husband and I watched the documentary Hungry For Change on the weekend. I was hooked! I've since started juicing every morning - the juicer now has a permanent spot on our bench (instead of on the shelf gathering dust) and the first thing I have every morning is a blend of spinach, celery, cucumber, carrots, and oranges. I love the hit of nutrients, and I've been feeling much more awake in the mornings.
I'm a big believer in making small changes that are sustainable and then building on them once they're firmly established. For now I'm simply focusing on having a fresh veggie juice every morning, and resisting chocolate and lollies. We'll see what happens next!
Do you have any healthy changes you'd like to make? I'd love to hear!
1. Cutting fabric swatches for my sewing assignment 2. Thift shopping goodies 3. Searching for the perfect fabric 4. Blueberries, everyday. A lot of them!
// What Ali Wore - "He walks past my work every morning wearing great clothes". A Facebook friend shared this tumblr - Ali is an older Turkish man living in Berlin who seriously has awesome style.
// I loved Lisa's post about aiming for at least one healthy meal a day
// Living with less. A lot less. "My space is small. My life is big." (via Allison from Be Up & Doing)
// Sabrina shares a tip on how to avoid hijab hair, which is similar to hat hair. This idea is kinda life-changing (or hair changing, heh)
// I've never made falafels before, and it's my mission to do so. Here's a recipe!
Allison from Be Up & Doing has a monthly Three New Things column, where she shares 3 things she wants to accomplish. I love that idea, and I'm planning on introducing a similar concept to my own weekends, and this Love List column.
My weekends seem to fly by so fast, and I never seem to get any of the fun stuff done! It's always chores and errands or just being lazy. So I thought it would be fun to choose three things to do each weekend and share them here! They have to be enjoyable things however, and not chores. Something that's going to make me feel inspired and motivated when Monday rolls around!
Here's my three things for this weekend:
Do you have any plans for this weekend?
