I Feel Good

You know sometimes when you spend ages getting ready for a night out, an event or even just a blog post, and the reflection in mirror isn't what you hoped? This challenge is for those times when you look in the mirror, no pre planning involved, and think "I look good today".

We all have our good days and our bad, but this challenge is to record those good days and to remember that confidence, at any size, is beautiful.

Today's photo is part of a series that I started on Tuesday.  A mini challenge to myself to publish a photograph of myself each day, with my tooth gap clearly visible and showing.  Not hiding it like I normally try to do.

Every day for as long as I can remember I have pushed my tongue back the gap in my teeth in photos because I hated it so much, but I have decided that now is the time to make peace with the gap.  It is part of me and it one of the things that make me who I am.

My #embracethegap photographs will appear until I feel comfortable with it, and here is today's (I feel like I am channeling Callie Thorpe in this picture, which is no bad thing!) :

Abi http://aisforabi.blogspot.co.uk/

Becky http://www.doesmyblogmakemelookfat.com/

Emma http://emmaatouchofsparkle.weebly.com/ 

Hollie http://prettybigbutterflies.com/

Karen http://toodulltoblog.blogspot.co.uk/

Kaye http://www.polishedcurves.com

Kitty http://misskittykaos.blogspot.co.uk/

Leah http://justmeleah.blogspot.co.uk/
Mhairi http://www.lilybobombslovelylumps.com/

Mookie http://muki7x7.blogspot.co.uk/

Natalie http://awheelbarrowfullofstyle.blogspot.co.uk 
Nikki http://nattynikki.blogspot.com

Vicky http://www.thecurvedopinion.com/

A Fine Romance

When it comes to clothing I have spent the last year really getting a feel for what I love to wear.  I have tried many colours, prints and styles but have always stayed with dresses as they just give me that extra smile when I am wearing one.

I am loving some of the new collections that are around for Spring but when I saw the Springtime Romance collection from Scarlett & Jo I gave a little squeal.  I would wear this entire collection and would dance around whilst doing so.  I have never seen a collection of dresses that have been designed as though they somehow had me personally in mind.

A little bit vintage, feminine, floral prints, flattering shapes which will work with my body, I literally want all of them, but here are some of my absolute favourites.

Black Retro Wrap Front Daisy Print Midi Dress

Floral Print Prom Dress

Spot Prom Dress

Retro Button Front Floral Floral Bouquet Midi Dress

Which dresses have caught your eye?





Sister Act

They say that you can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family.  They also say that blood is thicker than water.  Both of those sayings are equally true.

The difference between friends and family however is that you can break off a friendship, but the breakdown of a relationship with a family member will take a little piece of your soul with it.  Grudges are held in the heart rather than in the head and something you can forgive in a friend, hurts ten times more when it’s family.

I have a sister.  She is twelve years older than me and we haven’t lived in the same house together since I was seven and she was nineteen. 

We have always had complicated lives.  A combination of a twelve year age gap, misinformation, misconceptions and a lack of proper communication between the both of us led to a fractured relationship.

Each thought the incorrect things about the other and with each passing year, a wall was built between us that was so thick and high that it was starting to resemble Fort Knox.  Impenetrable.  The thing with families though is that with a friend you would have abandoned the relationship long ago, but blood ties keep you in the relationship because you “have to”, except you are both still hurting and it gets worse all the time.

Why am I telling you this?  Because that wall has been destroyed.  It took twenty years to build it and a conversation to demolish it.  I’m telling you because it might spur you on to fix what you thought was irretrievable too.

So what do you do?  You start by honesty; brutal honesty.  The kind of honesty that you can really only have with your family.  You each tell the other what you don’t like about them, what you don’t understand and what hurts the most.  You hold nothing back.  You each admit your faults.  You discover that they are hurting just as much as you are.

The good thing about families is that you might sometimes be on different paths, far away from where you started, but somewhere along that path is always a bridge that leads you back to one another. 

I have my big sister back and it has made me so happy.  The gap in my heart I wouldn’t admit to is filled again.

Build those bridges!  The gap between isn’t as far as you think xx