At the Starting Line

'There's still so much to do!' 'My to-do list (or as I know call it, Todoist) is growing again!' 'Why doesn't it ever end?' Balancing commitments (something that I've never been very good at), as well as twenty-something musings of 'What am I doing with my life?', has been a bit overwhelming lately. This week, the flu bug that has been spreading around town gatecrashed my sorry party (who invited that guy?) and I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at home, wiping my peeling nose and stroking my cat with my sleeping bag around my shoulders. It threw my schedule into complete disarray, but at the same time gave me extra hours to try and accomplish things on my Todoist from the comfort of my bed. A voice suggests to me that maybe getting the flu is a sign that I'm burning out a little bit. That voice belonged to my boyfriend, who had to tell me to 'RELAX' when we sat down to watch TV and eat ice-cream, and I told him that it felt completely unnatural that I wasn't tackling some urgent task instead. What does one do to relax without feeling bad about it? How can I simultaneously tackle that with the burning question of 'What am I doing with my life?' The first answer that popped into my head (as I was eating my ice-cream) was exercise. It's not like I hadn't realise this before, but the fashion market has really hooked onto and transformed the idea of being fit into a style trend recently - Love your body! Treat yourself well! Buy Nike! I may be a bit cynical but I feel that this trend, marketed by skinny toned models (who else?) in Nike, Adidas and Lorna Jane, is really just promoting that one body-shape that this generation has tried time and time again to promote. All seriousness aside, a girl's gotta take care of herself, whether she looks like Miranda Kerr or not. So here I present to you some artifacts that I'm hoping will help me finally achieve my new years' resolution, including a sparkly smiley-face necklace all the way from Japan to reward myself with when I cross the finishing line. What are your thoughts on fitness as a fashion trend? Clever money-grabbing marketing or healthy inspiration?

Skins speed crop Cotton On shorts Nike Lunarswift +3 shoes Denim Urbanears Necklace from Japan Aesop and Clinique skincare T2 tea

Mothers, daughters, friends.

The only apt title that I could think of for this adorable set of Dolce & Gabbana shots of Bianca Balti and her daughter Matilde was 'Like Mother, Like Daughter', but after Studded Hearts used it to describe this very campaign, I thought long and hard and came up with this: Mothers, daughters, friends. Ok, so it's not the most original or witty title in the world, but the annual return of Mother's Day and these shots are a kind reminder that Mothers + Daughters = BFFs 4 LYF. Or, in the case of Bianca and Matilde, a more graceful representation. Dressing them in outfits (especially  that  floral print - !!!) match your own during their pre-teen years when they haven't learnt to complain and answer back? Isn't that why most of us want to become mothers? Come on. You know that's you. Don't lie.

Dolce & Gabbana Grey S/S 2013 Photography: Martin Parr Styling: Valentina Ilardi Martin Models: Bianca Balti & Matilde

Downtime

Feeling a bit lethargic after another busy week so I'm grateful that my intern boss suddenly granted me a long weekend, not only by giving me a day off, but in fact an extra 24 hours to complete an ever-growing to-do list. Luckily at the start of this week I discovered a the perfect app to keep me organised. It's called Todoist, it's free, it's got colour-coding and projects and tasks (an organisation app that is organised itself), it's ad-free, and it allows you to sync it to your email, phone and laptop. So I can now access an updated to-do list on any device (including my email) as long as I have 3G or Wifi. It also rewards you with karma based on how productive you are (i.e. how many items you complete and mark off). It turns the completion of tasks into a competition, which is a fantastic incentive for perfectionists like me. This isn't even a sponsored post. That's how good this app is. I digress. The above are bits and bobs of photos that never made it onto the blog until now. They are memories of simpler times (i.e. holidays), and a reminder to take a breather and appreciate the little things.

Reading: Graphic Design for Fashion  Wearing:  Popbasic necklace; Asos high-top wedge sneakers