10th Blogiversary

Well here I am. Ten years ago today, I started this blog. Doesn't a decade go by fast? 

I had planned to write something special for this milestone, but alas, I'm not feeling great again. I got a reprieve of a few days, but now I'm feeling kind of icky again. Icky....(smile) I guess it's the only way to describe it. We've had a very harsh cold snap of freezing temperatures and snow. I think that walking home the other day in the cold wind has perhaps pushed me a couple of steps back in my quest to get well. Oh well, that's life. I won't make this milestone for my blog about my not feeling well. That would be a real downer. (smile) After I write this, I'm going to go have a lie down and give myself a bit of TLC. I'll be fine. 

This inclination to know when to take a rest is something that has grown increasingly within me during this past decade. Blogging and life side-by-side have ushered me into some healthier ways of thinking so I'm grateful for that. When I started this blog I was ten years younger and I still hadn't quite realized the true value of being kind to myself. It's not that I hated myself at all, it was just that I didn't think of what I needed enough. I was a giving person then and I'm still a giving person now, but I also have learned that if I don't give some time to myself then I'll have nothing to give to anyone else. I know that this isn't groundbreaking stuff in the scheme of things in the world, with so much going on, but this has been life-changing for me. 

So I guess that this 10th blogiversary...ten years of my life, has given me the chance to look back on this part of my life. I'm so grateful that I started this blog. In the beginning, it was a means of coping with being so far away from home and trying to find my feet in a strange land. Later it grew into me telling about the places here and there that I've visited. It's also been an outlet for my love of taking pictures, long before Instagram came along. Through blogging I've also had some fun opportunities come my way like: visiting the US Embassy, going to the Ideal Home Show, and my favorite...going to London Fashion Week. 

My blog may not be a big thing like some, but that's okay. I just enjoy having a kind of digital time capsule of my time here in England and I like sharing what I see. I'd like to freshen things up here and offer more and this is part of my plan, but this will come in time.

In the meantime, I just want to thank everyone who has visited me here over these ten years. I appreciate this so much! Here's to another ten years and to making this space better and better!

The ILFWDA Show at London Fashion Week

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the great opportunity to attend a show during London Fashion Week, but I've been a bit under the weather since and unable to share my experience until now. Sorry for the delay. I'm feeling much better now, so I'm excited to share some of what I saw.

I attended the Independent London Fashion Week Designers Association Show (ILFWDA) on Friday, February 16th, two weeks ago exactly. Even though some time has passed, I'm still relishing the experience as if it just happened yesterday. This was my first time attending London Fashion Week and I certainly hope it's not my last. I've loved fashion since I was a young girl and I've been wanting to attend a show such as this for a long time. Being there was definitely a full circle moment. It was the epitome of how I see my life now as I hold onto the many things that I've always wanted to do, but they seem to take a bit of time to achieve....I remember this...Delayed is not denied.

This experience has reaffirmed to me that it's never too late and that I just need to go full steam ahead with what I want to do. If things are meant to be, they will be, but if they're not I'm still going to be okay. Just because something doesn't happen today, it doesn't mean that it'll never happen. I just have to do my best, let go and have faith. Seeing the creations of the various designers was an excellent reminder that we are all here to give whatever our "thing" is to the world. We may be designers, writers, musicians, nurses, doctors, carpenters, etc...whatever we do, but we just have to show up and do our best.

The ILFWDA Show was beautifully varied and spectacular. I really loved the designs from Jeff Garner and NanaLola Couture. The dresses were so elegant. I also loved the jewellery by A Touch of Gems Wirral. Below are some of my favorite looks from the show from several of the designers. I liked so much of what I saw, but there's sadly not enough room to show everything here. You can see bits of video from the show on my Instagram account in the highlights section here  and a some still photographs here. I hope that you enjoy taking a look!

 

Delayed But Not Stopped

I haven't posted in a while because I've been a bit under the weather, with a nasty cold. Actually I've been sick as heck for about a week, but hopefully I'm getting out of the woods with it all. Fingers crossed.

Being sick arrived at the wrong time, although sickness is never a welcome guest. But on the day that I got sick, I was planning to share a great experience that I had the day before. I had the chance to attend a show during London Fashion Week! It was fantastic!!

Even though I'm a bit late, I'll still be sharing my experience at London Fashion Week here on my blog this week, along with some photos.

Also in anticipation of my upcoming 10th blogiversary coming up next Sunday, I'll be sharing a couple of special posts to mark the occasion. The first will be on March 1st and the second will be on my 10th blogiversary on March 4th. So I hope that you'll come back to check those out.

Have a great new week!