So I guess that’s it for January! This weekend we celebrated my Mum’s birthday at our favourite restaurant, with delicious food, lots of wine and molten lava cakes to finish the night. I’m lucky to have a very close relationship with my Mum and we’ve always been really good friends. I owe so much of my creativity to her and feel more blessed than ever to have such a supportive lady in my life. Love you Ma! 

PLANTS

By now there’s no question that I’m addicted to plants (another passion I can thank my Mum for!). I just love the life they add to a space and the way they change and react to the environment. It’s taken a couple years of misreading signals and neglecting vital signs but I’ve finally started to feel like I know what I’m doing with many of the plants in our house. My black thumb is turning green! It’s a strange sense of accomplishment that comes from cultivating plants and seeing them thrive because you understood what they were telling you. Anyway, here are a few of my favourite green snaps this month. Believe me, there were plenty more where these came from!

DOBBY

My little honey bear continues to be the best part of my day. Dave’s been away more than he’s been home this month (or at least it feels that way) so Dobby has been extra cuddly. If you’ve ever read The Golden Compass series you’ll know what I mean when I say he’s like my daemon. We’re still going on our long daily walks and these warmer winter days have been great for it.

OFFICE SNEAK PEEK

This weekend we put the finishing touches on my home studio/office. This is a very draft version of what will be revealed on the blog soon but I’m really proud of how it’s come to life. More to come soon!!

Finding artwork is the hardest thing and, despite my best efforts, impossible to do in a hurry. I looked and looked for so long and even bought a couple pieces that weren’t quite right until, finally, I came across this fabulous naked lady and monstera piece by a local artist Yvonne Weiss and it totally stopped me in my tracks. It’s elegant but whimsical and graphic with an organic vibe that just really resonated with me. So yay!!

TREATS

With it being a new year and having a trip to Costa Rica coming up in February I’ve been trying to eat healthy. I started out strong but surprise, surprise my willpower is waning. I think once we have the kitchen is full working order I’ll be able to do a better job for sure. But for now I’m just trying to get a good daily dose of greens, snack on fruit instead of chips, resist the urge for late night pizza and limit my #treatyoself moments to goodies with more wholesome ingredients like a carrot cake cupcake instead of a deep fried donut. Please don’t poke too many holes in my logic on that one, okay?

STYLE

I pretty much take all my own photos for Style Bee so technically I’ve taken A TON of selfies, yet I always feel a little awkward posting true phone-taken selfies. I often notice a drop in followers when I post them or I just don’t like something about my face in any photos so I rarely post them. But I think they’re kind of therapeutic and it’s healthy to see a flaw or two and say f*ck it, I like how I look anyway. Many of the poeple who’s feeds I love share them often so I’ve decided to try and relax a little more about it and stop taking my instagram too seriously. Don’t worry, they will still be very few and far between because we all know those accounts with selfies on the daily and it just get’s annoying.

Otherwise, I’ve been feeling really content about my style. I’ve been on a shopping fast all month and it was the easiest one yet. A few people have asked about my next Closet Mission post and while I love that there is continued interest, to be honest, it hasn’t been top of mind for me. I think that’s a really good sign in terms of my own personal mission but I definitely plan to dive back in and post more frequently. I just want to make sure the content is relevant and worthwhile for everyone. They are on the schedule for February so fear not folks!

IN OTHER NEWS

I’ve been loving the new podcast Why Do We Have Things? created by Rita Mehta and Erin Husted. It’s so great to learn more about some of my favourite independent makers, designers and artists that are running their own businesses, working hard and creating incredible things. Aside from insightful interviews the podcast is about shopping thoughtfully and digging deeper into the things we buy and why. It’s a great easy listen for the commute or during a quiet afternoon at work. Definitely give it a try.

Madewell’s spring collection is starting to trickle out and I’m trying my best not to cave but this super cute chambray tee is tempting me terribly. I’m also swooning over these jeans right now. Drop-hem everything!

I’ve had the pleasure of supplying some of my photos for Darling Magazine’s Blog and it’s super trippy to see my shots on one of my favourite publication’s websites. They always share really intriguing and well-crafted articles, this one is all about the new ‘recycling trend’ in fashion, written by Shilpa Shah the co-founder of Cuyana.

So that was the best of my January in a nutshell. What have you been up to? Anything good planned for Feb? Let me know!