Happy Friday: Forgiveness

Always thought provoking, but here are some great words from one of my favourite thinkers, Seth Godin.

Forgive yourself for not being the richest, the thinnest, the tallest, the one with the best hair. Forgive yourself for not being the most successful, the cutest or the one with the fastest time. Forgive yourself for not winning every round.

Forgive yourself for being afraid.

But don't let yourself off the hook, never forgive yourself, for not caring or not trying.

Have a beautiful weekend xo

Summer Wonder

One person who is decidedly not suffering the ill-effects of exhaustion is the beautiful Gemma Ward. At her peak, Gemma Ward was one of the world's most sought-after models before disappearing into relative anonymity following the death of her close friend, Heath Ledger.

Gemma Ward has signalled her return to modelling with a typically ethereal starring role in Country Road's Summer 2014/15 campaign, which also marks 40 years of the brand.

Marking her first major campaign in years, and the first since the birth of her daughter Naia almost a year ago, Ward explains the appeal of the campaign, reminiscent of her own childhood endless summers: "We'd always stay in the caravan park and we'd just spend all day at the beach, swimming and playing in the waves or going fishing with my uncle out in his dinghy. It's the iconic Australian holiday and it's always been so much a part of my youth and what is so close to my heart."

Country Road Managing Director Sophie Holt echoed these sentiments, saying "We wanted to use an iconic Australian beauty who has grown up on Australian beaches and really embodies our relaxed, natural way of life."

Not long after wrapping the Country Road film, Ward appeared on the Milanese runways opening for Prada and causing palpitations amongst the fashion set.

So much so, that Vogue Australia asked if everyone could still breathe, and did anyone need CPR. Not Gemma Ward by the looks of it.

The Slow Burn (Out)

It began slowly at first - I started skipping my regular (and beloved) Barre classes. Soon enough, I had stopped even bothering to look at the timetable, knowing there was no point even attempting to go to my usual Wednesday morning class, as finishing a class at 7:30am would have me in the office hopelessly late (to my deranged brain) at 8:30. The workaholic in me would have done a solid hour of work by 8:30! (Yes, I take an hour to get ready - no attempt at speeding things up seems to work, as it usually results in forgotten lunch, keys or laptop and a miserable trudge back home to collect forgotten items). 

Then it gained momentum. Definitely no lunch breaks. Ever. Just a quick lunch hastily made with little concern for nutritional benefits as I dashed out the door, even more hastily devoured at my desk as I punched out work like a performing monkey. Daylight saving exacerbated things: with sunset now not until 7:30pm, a 6pm departure seemed outrageous. 8:30pm it was. The entire team on annual leave and a more punishing than unusual travel and work schedule pushed things into the stratosphere. Work dinners at 9pm for jet-lagged visitors from the Northern Hemisphere with a midnight bedtime, followed up with 5am starts to travel vast distances alone fed the beast. An overflowing inbox sent my stress levels into overdrive, and I simply couldn't rest until everything was responded to and neatly filed into anally retentive Outlook folders (hey, whatever helps you sleep at night!)

Some people are anorexic. Other people are exercise-a-holics. And yet others find comfort in the bottom of a vodka bottle. Me? I have a tendency to workaholism. Neglecting all else for the benefit of a faceless corporation and its cerebral, somewhere-out-there shareholders. No extra pay, no additional pats on the back, no gold stars. Nothing drives this behaviour but me and a need to perform at my best (an ideal that is impossible to attain, given no one is perfect and you can always do better). The only thing that can stop this behaviour is something dramatic, generally involving my health. I know full well that my body doesn't really like being stressed and it certainly doesn't respond well to over tiredness.

I honestly don't know why I do it to myself. Perhaps it's a combination of a Type A personality and the loneliness of being away from home. After all, as Oscar Wilde once said: "Work is the refuge of people with nothing better to do".

Whatever it was, over the last few months I've been running on adrenalin - and not in the exhilerating, skydiving kind of way. 

     

Missed periods, constant fatigue, fainting on planes, seized up shoulder blades and sudden, debilitating cold sweats have told me to slow down. Now it's just figuring out how to tame this Type-A Beast, as I try to balance work and study and my burning desire to stay in touch with my friends over the next 8 weeks. 

I feel like I need to establish a set of rules for myself, but I'm not sure where to start, and what even is realistic. Can I start Barre again? I think so. The tug of needing to be at work at 7:30am will just have to wait - even if it is only one morning per week. 

Green smoothies? I still despair at not having one of those crazy $1000 blenders, but I am assured you don't need one... But I don't like spinach! 

 

What else? I think I need advice on this, because setting boundaries and reining in my natural enthusiasm to do a good job is not a strong suit. What strategies do you employ to (a) boost your immunity, and (b) keep your work/life balance balanced?

Send me your tips, because I think I need them.

Double Denim for Days

I don't really know how the Scandinavians do it, but they somehow pull off looks that would make the rest of us look either try-hard fashionistas or try-hard mechanics.

I am going through a Scandinavian "moment" after having visited Copenhagen for the first time recently. The stereotype is correct: tall, blonde, fashionably minimalist and impossibly chic (even when whizzing around the beautiful, flat streets of Copenhagen). I was captivated with this city and its style. It is also where my current obsession with sneakers has stemmed - the girls are so ridiculously tall, and they are so frequently on and off their bikes, that sneakers are de rigeur. The girls tend to opt for a block white (often a Converse) or block black (usually Nike), or they go all out with multi-colour.

Pics courtesy of Stockholm Street Style.

Happy Friday Hound Dogs

I shouldn't be blogging... But these pics are too cute not to share! Garage Magazine did a spread with models and their dogs, with the models styled to suit their pooches. The results are adorably accurate.

Happy Friday xo

Shoesday: London Fashion Week

I think it's still Tuesday in London, so this still counts as Shoesday...

It's Fashion Week season in the Northern Hemisphere, with London Fashion Week currently well under way.

I have to say, having recently spent some time in London, and having been to New York a couple of times, I think that Londoners have a far more distinctive style, and that they are also simply more stylish than their friends across the ditch. Americans tend to dress in the safe zone (with the exception of Carrie Bradshaw, but she is a work of fiction and also not emblematic of how folks dress on a daily basis in NYC - sadly), whereas London is a melting pot of different styles pulled off expertly and without looking like it was a fuss to get dressed that morning.

I was often a little concerned I'd get beaten up for staring openly at people on the Tube in London so fascinating were the looks (I saw not one but two blue mohawks on the Tube), whereas in NYC there was not nearly so much fashionable fodder to ogle.

One thing I've noticed in the snippets of shots I've seen from LFW is the more pared back looks - minimalism and low-key looks certainly seem to be the order of the day (without sacrificing fun via colour and interesting embellishments via hair and make up). In particular, we are still seeing the sneaker enjoying its moment in the sun.

Colourful sandals and sneakers at Burberry Prorsum

Sneakers on the street

Given that when you travel you tend to live in flats (my Converse trainers reek from my sweaty feet on 32 degree days in Rome - and I have a charming sneaker tan to match #suntanfail), I was pretty pleased to see this look everywhere in Europe meaning (a) I didn't stand out as a tourist; and (b) I didn't suffer footwear envy on too many occasions. Of course, I still bought outrageously high heels in Paris.

Happy Friday: Always On the Run

Hel-LO ladies!

I am back! And invigorated after 5 glorious weeks in the theme park that is Europe in Summer. (More on that later). After jet setting in a serious way (we visited so many countries it would make your head spin), I returned to ... more flying. The novelty of airports has seriously worn off. The only thing that could make me want to get to an airport slightly earlier would be if they put a Country Road store in there. Please retail sector, just do it!

This weekend we're road tripping to a wedding - our 3rd in 6 weeks. All set to jump on yet another plane on Monday morning.

I will travel momentous distances for a wedding

I hope you have a beautiful weekend planned. Happy Friday x