January Playlist

1. Imagine Dragons - Gold 2. David Guetta feat. Emeli Sande - What I did for Love 3. Years & Years - Take Shelter 4. 7/11 - Beyonce 5. Taylor Swift - Style 6. Meghan Trainer - My Selfish Heart 7. Kanye West - Only One 8. Tinashe - 2 On 9. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho 10. Kygo - Firestone
A little selection of songs which have been on repeat for me over most of January. I've just recently discovered Meghan Trainer's album Title, and slightly embarrassingly, it's been on repeat for a long time.
Years & Years were also introduced to me after they topped Radio 1's Sound of 2015, a list of who's set to be huge in the coming year. They are set for big things this year and Take Shelter is one which is definitely worth a listen.
Who have you been listening to on repeat recently?

January Moodboard

I'm sure it'll come as no surprise to learn that I love trawling through Pinterest and Tumblr for design inspiration. They are both brilliant sources for interesting images, great photography, beautiful design, and sometimes the weirdest and wackiest things that can really make you think.
This is a selection of a few of my favourite things that I've stumbled upon. I love that the colour palette is so muted, it seems perfect for this time of year when everything is so grey and crisp anyway.
Where do you head to for design inspiration?

Staying Organised in 2015

The coming of a new year I always see as the perfect excuse to invest in some new stationary. For some reason when my desk is covered in pretty organisers, diaries, and stationary it's so much easier to be productive and stay organised. You're far more likely to write a to do list and tick things off it if you've got a new one sat on your desk with gold letting just inviting you to use it.
One of my favourite items is a weekly desk planner, perfect for planning what needs to happen on each day, any coming deadlines, and for me which piece of content is going where on what day. If you're a blogger it's also great for keeping track of your posting plan, plus, leopard print!
Here are a few of my favourite bits and pieces for staying organised:
1. White Lies Notebook, £12.99, Sloane Stationary 2. Sugar Paper Kraft To Do List Notepad, £14.95, Selfridges 3. Weekly Desk Planner, $12.00, Rifle Paper Co 4. Purple Weekly Planner, £6, Marks & Spencer  5. Kate Desk Calendar (Pale Pink), $56, Sugar Paper 5. Mean Girls Assorted Pencil Set, £5.47, The Carbon Crusader @ Etsy 7. Pink Sticky Note Set, £24.95, Liberty 8. Kate Spade Little Gold Notebook, £17.95, Selfridges

Currently Trending: Marble

1. Stella McCartney Marble Ring, £175, Selfridges 2. Marble Phone Case, £23.93, Pencil Me In Stationary @ Etsy 3. Marble Pinch Pots, £19.60, House of Fraser 4. Marble Coasters, £20, John Lewis 5. Marble Plate, £2.99, H&M 6. Marble Lamp, £120, John Lewis 7. Rebecca Minkoff 'Avery' Cross Body Bag, £159.26, Nordstrom 8. Marble Soap Dispenser, £15, Marks and Spencer
There seems to be a bit of a trend for marble home accessories. There's loads of pieces around and they're a super easy way to make your home seem a little bit more expensive, when actually H&M have some really inexpensive items which look extra fancy!
My personal favourite is the marble plate. It'd be perfect for my bed side table where I leave my jewellery at night, keeping it tidy and looking super fancy.
The Stella McCartney ring also looks super luxurious, and would be perfect for an all black outfit. I'm sure there must be a similar one in Topshop or Primark which is a bit more affordable.
Do you have any marble accessories in your home?

Hair Inspiration: The Long-Bob

There seems to be a trend at the minute of famously long haired celebs going for the chop and opting for a shoulder length style instead, or the "lob" (long-bob) has it's often known as.
We saw Rosie Huntington-Whitely debut a new style over Christmas, Selena Gomez posted on Instagram implying she'd gone for the snip, and last year Taylor Swift kissed goodbye to her long curly mane in famous of a much sleeker, shorter style.
Far easier and quicker to style, a shorter look is definitely becoming more and more enviable now these celebs are showing us how versatile and glamorous it can be.
January Jones is great at tailoring her hair for the occasion and has been seen sporting a variety of styles of late including sleek and straight, loose waves or retro pin curls. It's a refreshing to see a bit of variation from the long loose waves which seem to have become a uniform for the A List of late, providing that you don't have to have hair down to your waist to be able to look glam!
Whose celeb hair are you coveting at the minute?

Motivation Monday: Not my Circus

Today's bit of motivation comes from a Polish proverb: "Not my circus, not my monkeys"

I like to think of the message being along the lines of "Not my problem" and it's useful to keep in mind. Sometimes you're best to let the rightful people look after their own circus. :)

10 Photos to Trigger your Inner Wanderlust

There's nothing like cold, grey January mornings to get you longing for the feel of the sun on your skin and sand between your toes.
My thoughts have turned to travel a lot more than usual over the last few weeks thanks to those dark mornings and a frostier than normal commute. A few images in particular have got me researching where you can get a tan at this time of year as well as reminding me that there are so many breathe taking sights across the world I'm yet to see!
Look at the images below at your own risk, I accept no responsibility for them causing you to throw caution to the wind and booking a spontaneous, far-flung adventure for 2015. :)

Top 5 Beauty Tutorials 2014

Youtube tutorials promising to teach you the easiest way to do a simple 5 minute up do, which turn out to have 15 steps and result in a couple of hours of hard work and nothing to show for it but a matted mess are my pet internet hate!
But there are a few out there which do live up to their promises and amazingly enough, teach you how to do something amazing with your hair in five minutes!
I've weeded out the good from the bad and picked out those which really do teach you how to do something in an easy to follow way so you can copy it from home.

1. The Texture French Twist from Twist me Pretty A really easy way to quickly put your hair up, and looks deceptively difficult. 2. 5 Minute Curls from Kouture Kiss This is now the only way I curl my hair before work, so quick and easy. 3. No Heat Curls from Paper Mamma A super easy way to get curls without damaging your hair with heat. 4. Twisted Pony from Twist Me Pretty Confession: try as I might a three strand braid is just too damn difficult for me. This one solved the problem! 5. Fishtail braid from Once Wed Fishtails braids definitely aren't as easy as them seem, this video is great to help you figure it out.

Monthly Wallpaper, January

This time last year I had a rather fanciful idea that I'd make myself a new, seasonal wallpaper for my phone every month, and share it on here for the world to see.
Whilst in 2014 this ended up happening just one solitary time (for shame) this year hopefully I'll be able to up my game and share something new and pretty on the first of every single month. Whilst this is said with baited breath, I do really like updating my devices to be appropriate for the time of year, with the first blooms of the year in spring, cool beach sunsets in the summer, crunchy leaves in the autumn, and frosty mornings in the winter.
Right on cue, here is my first attempt made with an image I sniffed out on Pinterest (link). I think looking at a hot beach image will remind me that it is in fact possible to be hot whilst I'm putting on my double layer of socks each morning! And an inspirational message will never go a miss in deepest darkest January!

iPhone 4

iPhone 5 iPhone 6