What Elles Did Next...

I LIKE MY MONEY RIGHT WHERE I CAN SEE IT, IN MY CLOSET - 

CARRIE BRADSHAW

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! Mine was very relaxed, ate too much and drank just enough! Now the madness of Christmas is over, I thought I'd get back into writing and post a little outfit blog for you all. Boxing Day sales are massive over here in the UK, but instead of stressing myself out, I hit the sales online. Because let's face it, sipping Prosecco in your PJ's while buying presents for yourself is so much more appealing then people shoving and standing in never ending queue. ZARA always do amazing sales, especially on Boxing Day. I purchased a few items and thought I'd put an outfit together for my blog. 

I love taking photos. I whip my iphone out at any opportunity. On a night out, at a gig or festival, seeing something pretty walking down the street. I can't help it, I've been told I have an eye for it. And that truly is a big compliment to me. I think my love of photography really blossomed when I made a Tumblr account when I was 15...so 5 years ago. To this day I found an amazing creative platform for freelance photographers to share their work and inspire others. 

I'm also really obsessed with editing. I'm no professional, I edit all of my photos on my iphone 6s. But it's therapeutic. I could sit there for hours testing out different way to edit the contrast and brightness of a photo. That might sound really weird to some people, which I get, but it's something I really enjoy doing.

I would like to start taking more photos of people, that's my own personal photography goal. I follow a lot of people on Instagram and Tumblr who are incredibly talented and it inspires me further. 

Check these people out:

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@bambaswim - They are a swimwear brand based in Australia, but I love their brand, their Instagram is really cool and full of beautiful women with an 80's feel to the photo's which I LOVE.

@pureheartss - This Instagram account is basically a collection of photo's which have been founded from Tumblr. It's a really fun account that incorporates everything I find interesting about photography.

@35mmmagazine - This account is really cool. They don't alter their models faces or bodies. It's raw and fresh. "Nothing has been retouched no body altered, no scar removed, we photographed what we saw. Don't edit me."

@calcuim.needles - My friend Alicja or Allie has I've always called her has a really cool instagram feed. I think she has talent. Her photos have an edge to them, yet they seem very carefree and not fussed about with. I think that's what I love most about them they're very natural shots.

@erikabowes - A girl I have been following on social media for years! I found her blog and thought she was so cool. She's edgy, has her own unique style and seems to have really taken off and seems to be doing amazing things. She is strikingly beautiful and now is a photographer and stylist travelling the world. It just shows what a blog can do for your career!

However as of right now, I have a small collection of photos that I'm really proud of. A collection from my travels over the past two years. They are all landscape shots, (apart from one). I hope to make another post like this in the near future with more people in them. But please see below for the first part of my photography journey. 

          

Tower Bridge 2016

"Three words, eight letters, say it and I'm yours..." Oh please Chuck just save us all the heartache and tell her you love her!

Gossip Girl has been a part of my life on and off since I was 12. I remember watching it for the first time and being transfixed by the glitz and the glamour of Manhattan's elite, the high fashion and how the show was basically a love letter to New York City. I think that's why I've always wanted to visit NYC, Gossip Girl made the appeal to travel there stronger. 

Here are my top favourite things about Gossip Girl:

The Characters;

I loved how complex the characters were. How everyone had their own story and how we as viewers were able to relate to them. I could see myself in Blair, a girl who everyone believed had her life together but had her own personal insecurities. Jenny, who tried so desperately to fit in but ended up being way cooler just being herself, (even though that was a journey that lasted a life time!) And even Serena, who was so complicated but had her friends around her to keep her grounded.

I have to say it, Chuck Bass is one of the best characters in TV ever. That tone of voice, his fashion sense, his confidence and of course his unconditional love for Blair. No matter how many times I watch the show I'm in awe of his character. Every time he says "I'm Chuck Bass..." I cannot help but swooooooon! I feel like I'm 15 again! Why didn't any boys I go to school with have that Chuck Bass charm? I'm still gutted...

The Fashion;

From cocktail parties, brunches and birthday's Gossip Girl made everyone look glamorous! Everyone just looked so good always! I watched a behind the scenes episode about the fashion on the show a while back, (superfan status!) and it was so interesting to hear about how designers were cuing at the door wanting to dress the characters. I mean even Vera Wang herself made an appearance in the show! That's a huge deal! She even designed Blair's wedding dress in the 100th Episode of the show.

Every outfit that Blake Lively (Serena) wore on the show was amazing. She quickly became a style icon for me and I'm a genuine fan of her outside of the show now. Her KILLER figure makes everything she wears look stunning and effortless. I think any girl who watched the show wanted to be her just a little bit...I know I did, and still kind of do...damn her girl beach waves and long legs!

I finally found the courage to press send...weeks of internal debate, weighing up the pros and cons. I have just handed in my resignation. No future job in place, no source of steady income, yet I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

This is going to sound really strange, but I was leaving V Festival two weekends ago and passed the stage Kaiser Chiefs were performing on. Ricky, the lead singer, was in the middle of a speech and said "If you're not happy, GET HAPPY!" It's almost as if that statement validated my decision to just get out of my funk I've been in for the past 6 months....It sounds so silly, of course you can't just trick your brain into "being happy", but you certainly can take small steps to happiness.

I've decided to pursue a career, start from the bottom and work my way up. The job I was doing was convenient at the time, it gave me the freedom to go places, experience the world and what it has to offer. I would go on mini trips and return to a dead end. Quite honestly, it was depressing coming back to work and living in the "real world"...Then I thought, "fuck it!". I'm twenty, why the hell am I settling for this?! I want to travel, I want a career, I want to LIVE! I don't want to be having "serious" meetings about Stationery usage...yes, really...

So that's what I've decided to do. Not everyone around me is supportive of this decision and I understand that, but if I carried on doing that same crap job I'm pretty convinced I was one breakdown away to a complete melt down! 

This change in my life seems perfectly timed. Summer is over, (did it really begin?), Autumn is approaching which is the epitome of new beginnings. I feel happiest in the autumnal months, in the words of Fitzgerald: "Life starts all over when the leaves get crisp in the fall..."

I feel optimistic, if all fails I'll know that my decision felt right at the time and that it's only up from here.

Elle x