BEING LIZZI – 11.08.19

This is a new feature that I have wanted to do for a while, and I needed the holiday time to really let me think through what this space would be for you… and for me. Every week I write about fashion, styling, shopping, trends etc and on Social Media, mainly Instagram, I have daily content whether that’s my #ootd posts or ‘behind the scenes’ of my day on my Instastories and most recently my IGTV channel, which is still in its infancy that I am currently playing around with. And yet with all this, readers tell me that they would like to know more, about me.

And so ‘Being Lizzi’ has been born – and I’ve chosen ‘being’ because of my love for mindfulness and the importance of ‘being’ in the moments. I hope to capture some of those moments and bring them to life in this space so that you get more of an insight of why I do… what I do.

There will be places I visited, new products that I have tried (that may not be fashion related!) or about my own wellbeing and what I am doing to keep myself balanced in this crazy fast-paced life (which by the way, I love being full throttle on!). Just little snippets of what I have been up to or planning to do and I hope we both get to know each other a little better along the way!

Please tell me the snippets you LOVE by leaving a comment below… 🙂

Love as always

Lizzi x

 

I’ve just read…

If there was something I could give more time to, it would be reading books. Sadly I truly don’t get the time or space to read as much as I would love – so holidays are super important to make time for this kind of interest and I could not stop reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Now I know some of you will have been watching the series on telly, I have no idea at this stage how much they stick to the book, and I won’t for a while because the sequel is due to be launched September 2019 and I plan to read it first before I start the boxset. I read it in three days and it’s a 10/10 from me. And those that know the story…. I’ve worked out that I would be a Captain’s wife in this ‘new world’ wearing blue.

 

I am watching…

Now I am a huge fan of box sets because I am not a fan of having to wait a whole week for the next episode! And so Sky Q and Netflix really are my TV companions and these are three programmes I’ve watched recently and loved.

An American sci-fi drama Manifest is about a plane travelling back from Jamaica to New York; for the passengers apart from a turbulent flight they are still in their present day, but when they land it’s five and a half years later, and so for their loved ones life has moved on. It’s brilliant, I only have two episodes to go and it’s been extremely tense all the way – as an outsider watching, it shows that you really have to have compassion for both sides – love it!

Another programme I’ve recently watched is The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, Zimbabwe – this is the first one I have watched. I’m not the biggest fan of him, but  I’m enjoying how he is  travelling and showcasing what tourists can do in countries that perhaps wouldn’t be high up on your list, due to how the media portray them in the news. It’s a travel show come ‘Men behaving badly’ style of humour – I had particular interest in this destination of Zimbabwe as a dear Great Aunt of mine had to escape Rhodesia during the troubles and so for me it gave me a little insight into the country, where she lived for over forty years. You also get to see lots of wild animals in their habitat. I’m going to watch more of them as I think it’s really insightful.

The next is a fashion documentary on Netflix; Chaos and Creation which is all about the late Franca Sozzani, she was alive when it was filmed and released but has since past away with cancer. The film which is 90% in Italian with English subtitles shows Franca up close and personal as it was filmed by her son. I’ve watched it before but again just recently with my niece and even she picked up on the fact that she was not really maternal, she even says quite openly to her son, that he was a mistake (a tad harsh to hear I’m sure) and yet he loved her more for it – she was a truly inspiring lady who set out what she wanted for herself and would stop at nothing to achieve it. For every fashionista is a must watch film!

 

I’ve reached my weight goal…

This year I have been on a personal journey to improve my health, weight loss was only one element of this; my journey started early February shortly after my birthday with a focus of losing one pound a week, some of you may recall I lost seven pounds in my first seven weeks and even more by twenty weeks. Soon after that I suffered what most people do, a difficult period of not losing, some times gaining and for some weeks nothing at all! But sticking to my new lifestyle, I persevered with the odd treat whilst on my summer holidays. I am chuffed that I have reached where I want to be and that’s taken a full six months and now I am focused on maintaining.

I’m still really enjoying my food, but making much better choices and even in this hot weather, including Portugal, peppermint tea is still my favourite way to hydrate myself. I thought I would be bored of it by now, but I’m not, it’s been a big part of my success and I think it deserves a mention purely based on that. I do need to stay focused on exercise, that’s slipped just recently what with holidays and sickness, but I am getting back on track with that too.

 

I’ve spent the day at…

The school summer holidays are not just for the parents; as my nieces get older and they have their own social lives to manage, there is less Auntie & Nieces days, so when I do get a chance to be with any of the three, I truly try to be in the moment with them and have fun doing things that they may not perhaps get the chance to do.

This week, I had the pleasure of time with Ellie and we spent a large part of our day at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, currently home to the Dior Exhibition and Mary Quant for fashionistas but Ellie also wanted to go see the FOOD: Bigger than the Plate; which I was truly impressed with – informative about what changes need to happen to how we produce our food and what’s already changed.

Now you are probably thinking three chargeable exhibitions, that was an expensive day – well actually I bought a membership early in the year as I knew I would be going to Dior more than once, and because I rarely go on my own, I have one guest included. So for me it was a cheap day out. And with no need to book a slot for the exhibitions, 10% off gift shop plus use of their Members room, the membership has already paid for itself twice over – so I highly recommend it!

 

I am now a Contributing Blogger to…

I am so excited to announce that I am now a contributing blogger for House 21 – An all female Lifestyle blogger site. What I love about this is that it gives me the opportunity to write about other topics and expand my Blogger career into more than just my own blog. I debuted my launch with the popular BEAUTY & THE BEACH – MAKE UP WITH NO.7 and it was just as popular with their readers, as it made the Top 4 the following day – so I am chuffed to bits! I will of course keep you updated here on the other blogs that I write, so I promise you will not miss out.

 

 

 

This Saturday I was…

When I need some ‘Me Time’ to just enjoy chatting, relaxing and catching up on the latest celebrity news – then I book in to get my hair done (with colour for extra time). For me this time spent is worth one hundred massages – I just love it. I love the whole process of having my hair washed, the cutting, blow dry – the refreshments with the magazines and because I use a really small salon, there is normally two hairdressers and two clients, it means you can have a really fun chat about life, fashion, well anything really. It’s my wellbeing ritual that I thoroughly enjoy.

And if you want to see my salon experience, then I have created a little VLOG of it.

 

I now have green babies to look after…

Never really been green fingers me… in fact our last home only had fake plants because I truly could not be bothered. But not sure if it’s an age thing… or an interior designer thing… (in my head it’s the latter) we are currently designing spaces at home in my downstairs living area, which I will share on the blog once it’s done. And part of this is a Botanical themed interior style that I’ve chosen… I just don’t think fake plants will cut the mustard here.

So with a new bookcase (that will not be housing books – you’ll soon start to realise that I don’t tend to use things for their original purpose) it’s now home to six possibly seven plants, as I plan to buy more. I’ve started a new ritual of Vitamin D exposure, watering and a little talking (of course) along with some leaf polishing, every Sunday morning. I am hoping this new routine will last because so far I have found it quite a peaceful, slow-moving and a caring part of my week. And with one new big plant purchased this week which I had to walk through half of Westfield London Shopping Centre to get to the car (the Niece said I only hit about ten people with the leaves) I’m still loving it!

After a lot of consideration, visiting many garden centres and looking at pots in other home style shops – I have made the decision that the new range at John Lewis & Partners are the best value for money – but you do have to chose the best looking plants, some have not been 100% to my satisfaction, but the ones I have purchased I have been really happy with – and I will be buying more of them.