6 ways to style flared trousers

I have always been a lover of flared trousers!  I remember wearing them till I was about 16 and refused to wear skinny jeans until it became near impossible to find any flared trousers as they stopped selling them haha! But the flared have made a come back and I am so excited! 

I bought this pair from New look for £9.74 from the petite section and they are the perfect length and so soft.

This week I thought I would show you some of the ways I have been styling them: 

    

The first look I have paired them with this long sleeved black and white stripy top from Missguided.  This look is great for working from home and when it gets a bit warmer outside good for spring too.

     

The second look I have paired them with this blue jumper I got a few years ago from H&M.  This is such a cosy look great for working from home or going out on the daily walk! 

The third look I have paired them with a white body suit from New Look.  This is such an easy outfit and can be dressed up or down with different shoes, jewellery and jackets. 

      

The fourth look I have paired them with a white graphic tee from Zara. Again, this is another simple look that can be styled out in many different ways.  You can see I have tired my tee in a knot but you could also tuck it in or crop it and can recreate with any t-shirt you want. 

     

The fifth look I have paired them with a jumper from New Look and a roll neck vest top from Zara to keep me a little bit warmer on those cold daily walks! 

     

The final look I simply removed the green jumper from the previous look so I was left with the roll neck vest top and I love it! This is my favourite look of them all and can be dressed down or up.  I can’t wait to wear this when we are allowed out for cocktails with the girls! 

     

I hope you enjoyed this post.  If you want to see more about each look and the fit, head on over to my Instagram @sweetpea97.blog and check out my latest Reel.  I would love to know if you have styled a pair of flares and your favourite way to do so in the comments! 

What I wear to workout

This week I have trying to get back into fitness with home workouts and today I went on my first run if 2021. The last few years I have really gotten into fitness as I have found it a great way to boost my mood as a chance to get out and escape for a bit.  This past year with gyms closed, I began to get into running too! 

So, this week I thought I would share with you some of my favourite outfits I like to wear when doing a workout or going on a run.  I have also made a new reel on my Instagram @sweetpea97.blog if you want to see how these outfits look in a bit more detail.  Okay, let’s get into it: 

1) The first one is a pair of long black leggings and a a long sleeve black crop top.  These are both from gymshark and are super comfortable and breathable too! I especially love this top as it has the thumb holes to stop the sleeve riding up whilst running.

 

2) The second one is this pair or blue gym shark leggings and an Adidas white vest top.  Again, these leggings are super comfy and have the added bonus of the high waist band which I love!  This colour is so easy to pair with any top and is nice to brighten up the workout. As you can see, I like to pair these with a classic white vest top that is light and easy to move in.  

3) The third outfit is a pair of black leggings with this cute top and sports bra set which was actually from Tesco! The bright colours are so fun and the straps peaking out the back are super cute.  I like to pair this with some pink jazzy trainers for more fun! 

4) The fourth outfit is more simple with a classic pair of black leggings, again I am wearing my gymshark ones, with a sports bra.  I tend to wear this when doing cardio as it can get very hot and I don’t like to have lots of layers.  But when wearing just a sports bra on top, I prefer to wear high waisted leggings so not too much skin is showing haha! This sports bra is from Ted Baker and it has a gorgeous patter and has great support- perfect for cardio! 

5) The fifth outfit is more of an added item of clothing to the first outfit and that is a jacket.  I was very lucky to get this jacket from Oasis for Christmas as my parents knew I wanted to run more but it’s so cold in the winter.  This jacket is perfect! It is light yet still keeps me warm and it has two small bits of elastic at the end of each sleeve for your thumbs to stop them riding up. 

I hope you enjoyed this post.  I would love to know in the comments what your favourite workout wear is and where you like to shop for your gym wear! 

Let's chat 2021 goals

We did it, we have got through the first week of 2021! 

I know that sounds rather dramatic but I feel a sense of relief and yet a sense of motivation at the idea that I have got through this week. 

In the past, when a new year hit it felt like a new start and I would feel motivated and ready for what the new year was to bring with goals and aspirations ready to go.  But this year I did not and have never felt more unlike myself and anxious going into the new year.  

These past 7 days have been a real struggle for me as I don't know why but I really thought this year the madness would be over and things would go back to being relatively normal. But they didn't and everything seemed to hit me like a tone of bricks.  I am still not able to see my family, go round for tea, playing games and giving them a hug.  My job has changed and may not go back for a while. My routine is constantly changing with the christmas break, working from home and last minute changes due to the virus. I felt so unmotivated and just wanted to stay in bed with most evenings crying behind closed doors. 

After a pep talk on the phone with my family and my boyfriend being a real rock, I began to feel better towards the end of this week.  I feel more like myself and ready to take on the new year.  I realised that I had to take a step back, focus on one thing at a time and breathe.  There were a few things that got me out of the January blues including a few quotes: 

"I know your sad, so I won't tell you to have a good day.  Instead I simply advise you to 'have a day.'  Stay alive, feed yourself well, wear comfortable clothes and don't give up on yourself just yet.  It'll be better soon.  Untill then, have a day." - Unkonwn.

From this, I learnt you do not need to be happy and motivated all the time, infact I think it is quite impossible and that is okay.  It is okay to not be okay.  You don't need to rush into anything and can do things when you are ready.

"Don't forget, you are human.  It's okay to have a meltdown.  Just don't unpack and live there.  Cry it out and refocus on where you are headed." - Hoda Kotb

I hate felling down and negative.  Especially infront of other people as I don't want to be a debbie downer and bring everyone down. So, I would bottle it up and I think it all got ontop of me and I cracked. Although at times I didn't know when it would end and felt rubbish that these negative feelings wouldn't go away, it felt good to have a good cry and I did feel better after a few days.  I am so lucky I have such an amazing boyfriend who was there to comfort me and my family to reassure me everything was going to be okay. 

Now I have had my meltdown, I feel ready to take on the year, one step at a time.  With that being said I wanted to share my goals for this year.  I have said in the past that I don't put pressure on myself to achieve these and try not to make them too specific as I have found that has worked for me.  So, I intend to do that this year too as I set the following goals/aspirations: 

• Enjoy every moment - If this year has taught me anything it is this. Embrace every hug, savour every last word and simply enjoy every minute.

• Keep fit - I really enjoyed fitness last year both running and going the gyms when allowed.  I feel it did wonders for my mental health too, so I want to keep this going this year.  I also have the added and more specific goal within this to run 10 miles.

• Continue to grow my blog - I have absolutely loved my blogging/ instagram platform and everything that has come with it. I have met some amazing people and found a real comfort in it.  It has allowed me to be creative, express myself and have fun and I hope this hobby continues to grow. 

• Stick to a skin care routine - I have said a few times I want to have a good skincare routine and I always seem to start well then stop.  So, I am setting this goal again in the hope that I stick to it.  I got a few new skincare bits for christmas and I can't wait to try them!

I have a few more personal aspirations that I would prefer to keep to myself but right now I am happy with the goals I have set and who knows, as the year goes on I may change them or think of more.  

I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope you are all doing okay in light of everything going on right now. If you ever need to chat please leave a comment or my inbox is open on my Instagram. 

2020 Rewind

 

I can’t believe I am writing this but 2020 is now over and 2021 has begun. 

This time last year I imagined writing about a very different year.  I along with many others felt 2020 was going to be THE year.  I was starting a new job as an events coordinator in an incredible venue, I was due to travel to New York and had plans to celebrate some special family occasions including my sisters 21st, mum’s 50th, auntie and uncle’s wedding and my grandparents golden anniversary.  However, we all know 2020 had other plans. 

      

2020 was my first year as a graduate and began after a 10 hour shift at the hotel followed by singing old Lang’s Hume in the street with my boyfriend and all of his family! It seems crazy to think this was only a year ago as it feels like a life time that we were all together, singing happily as we held hands and hugged/kissed as we welcomed the new year. 

I was very lucky and in January I landed a dream job of events coordinator at the Spinnaker Tower and I couldn’t wait to get started!  The year was just beginning and things were starting to turn in the right direction.  

The next few weeks were filled with date nights and trips out with family.  However, as we all know this quickly came to a halt as we were all placed into lockdown. I began to keep a diary from mid February as this whole thing began and I won’t go into much detail on it all as this could get long.  All I remember thinking was this won’t last long will it, we’ve already had fires and flooding the world can’t surely hit us with anything else?  But it did and thoughts soon turned to me thinking it could never come to the UK? But it did. 

The next few months were life changing and I know that sounds dramatic but they really were!  I learnt a lot about myself and experienced some incredible things that I will remember for the rest of my life.

My mum, dad, sister and I spent the next 3-4 months together which with my dad having previously worked in the navy and abroad a lot  meant this would be the longest time we have ever spent together as a 4 in my whole life and I am 23 so it’s been a long time haha.  Sure we had the odd disagreements but didn’t we all? It was a time of laughs, daily walks and quizzes as we filled the time with things we had always wanted to do but never had the time. Dad built an outdoor kitchen, mum and I caught up on reading, I took up running while she took up cycling and my sister redecorated all the garden gnomes!  We were very lucky this happened in the summer months and one of the hottest for a long time so we all got nice and tanned too haha 

Every Thursday we took part in Jays Virtual Quiz (which we still do now) and every Friday we each took it in turns to write a family quiz which consisted of 10 families from Portsmouth, Lincoln, Hull, Doncaster!  We even got my Nan to join which was so lovely for her as she is on her own and vulnerable so hasn’t really seen anyone all year bless her! It was so lovely seeing all my family and having a good laugh and catch up on what we had been up to that week and who’s tan was the best. I am very greatful we live in a world of so much technology so we were able to do that! 

I learnt a lot of new things in 2020 too such as how to bake more, home workouts and how to do different home beauty such as nails and eyebrow waxing. Although I was not going near hair cutting and was glad when the saloons opened again to get that done! As lockdown began to ease, we learnt a new way of life with face masks and social distancing. 

I was very lucky to get a new job within the mobile telecommunications industry which although is completely different to what I would like to do, I am so unbelievably greatful to have a job and to be working with a great company.  Due to us being key workers, I have continued to work the rest of this year even as we have moved into various tiers so am very lucky to have that security. 

2020 marked a big step for me as I moved in with my boyfriend.  We were very lucky that the lockdown gave him time to fix up the annex in his garden which when it was safe to do so was finished by professionals.  August 2nd I said goodbye to my parents and moved in and it has now been 5 months and I couldn’t be happier!  Lockdown was hard like it was for so many couple and I am grateful that we are now closer than we have ever been and I can’t wait to see what the future hold for us. 

Sadly 2020 came with its low points as myself, my sister and my mum celebrated our birthdays in lockdown (my sister in the first and my mum and I in the second).  My auntie had to postpone her wedding, my grandparents 50th anniversary dinner was cancelled and my trip to New York was cancelled.  But the lowest point of 2020 was loosing my grandad.

Now we are in a second lockdown as the new wave has hit bringing with it a new variant.  With a vaccine rolling out across the country all we can do is stay inside, stay safe and wait. I haven’t seen my parents since mid December and haven’t hugged them in what feels like forever!  I can’t wait for this madness to end so I can see all my family again.

This year was a year like no other.  It had its ups and its downs, it’s tears and laughter.  But I learnt a lot about myself and grew a great deal as a person.  I got to experience some amazing things that took my breath away and still think about how unreal it all was now: The Thursday applause for the NHS which living by the sea was often accompanied by the sound of naval ships sounding their horns, seeing rainbows in every window and watching people like Tom Moore show us nothing is impossible. 

2020 was certainly not the year I was expecting but will be one I will remember forever.  

So come on 2021 let’s see what you will bring!