A confident change in direction

Many of you know that the last year or so has been one of huge change for me, one which has also seen my self confidence quietly diminish as I questioned over and over again what exactly I am meant to be doing, whether or not I should keep this blog and whether I even have anything meaningful to contribute to the blogopshere. It would be a hard decision to end the blog as I love being able connect with all of you and I also love having a little corner of the internet where I get to create everyday.

Yet for a while now something has been bothering me; I haven't felt that this little space is a true reflection of me anymore, or rather, who I am today. While I will always appreciate the lovely, I guess I have changed so much from when I first started this blog and now I can't get over the feeling that I want more. I want more satisfaction from being able to help people and I want more satisfaction from knowing that my blog is a reflection of my true self, which I am afraid it is not.  

I started this blog from a very different place to where I am now, a whole lifetime ago. I was newly married and in need of inspiration for setting up our first home together. But since then, things have changed dramatically - I am on a different journey, and now it is time for a new direction.

Fashion and style will always be my first love, and while it may be considered superfluous, I love it not because of the trends, or the latest from the runway, I love it because as women, we have the ability to define our own style. And with the style we create comes confidence, a confidence which allows us to shine and be the very best version of ourselves.

My other love that has been left off this blog is my overwhelming passion for health and fitness. Yes I have touched on it, but I have never really felt this was the right space to fully explore the topic and how big a part of my daily life it actually is. This passion has in fact prompted me to begin the next part of my journey where I have just enrolled to become a Holistic Health Coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. 

I have had so much angst over these two conflicting passions of mine and trying to figure out how they could fit together harmoniously. But only recently has it all started making sense: the common thread between the two is confidence and self love. When we commit to loving ourselves and are healthy, exercising and feeling our best, our self-confidence soars. By the same token, when we define our own style and our exterior matches what our heart is telling us on the inside, we develop the confidence to truly be comfortable with who we are.

So, I will be launching a new blog where I will be making it my mission to inspire women everywhere to create a life that is led by self love: one that is underpinned by living a healthy lifestyle and defining your own style; a life where you are overflowing with confidence, feeling good on the inside and not just looking good on the outside.

What does this all mean I hear you say? Well I'm in the process of setting up my new digs. I'm going all fancy with a grown up .com domain and will be making the move over to Wordpress. This is going to take a little while as I'm working with an amazingly talented lady to get it all designed and looking pretty. The next few months will be crazy as I dive head first into my course and really immerse myself into my new world, so I have decided to take a hiatus from blogging until the dust has settled and I have my new digs set up.

Thank you for bearing with me here and the long essay, but I wanted to give you an honest update on where my head and heart are at and what has been keeping me pre-occupied over the last few months. 

In the meantime, I will still be on Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram and I will definitely pop back in here to let you know where my new place is at! {you will also notice that I have updated my profile handles to my full name}.

Before I go, I want to thank everyone who has been reading this little blog - whether you are new here or have been a long-time reader - I truly am grateful that you have taken the time out of your day to stop by and I hope you are excited to continue the journey with me.

Much love,

Rachel xx

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Thoughts for a new week :: be your own best friend

Over the years as I have gotten older (and of course, wiser), I have learned to become my own best friend. Sometimes this means making a 'boring' decision or saying no, when in another lifetime I would have definitely said yes; but I know that living with myself everyday I have to make choices and decisions that are going to lead me to a better tomorrow. 

Carrie Bradshaw summed up this line of thinking beautifully in the final episode of Sex and the City, when she said "The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself".

The best thing we can do is to get to know our inner-most self, for better or for worse. There's a long road ahead, but it's bound to be an incredible journey if we pay close attention to what it is our heart truly desires.

Happy Monday friends,

Rachel xo


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Thoughts for a new week :: living in the moment

The art of happiness: so much has been written and spoken about it, but I love how Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, sums it up so beautifully and succinctly in this quote. 

Be present. Express gratitude. Love yourself first. 

Happy Monday friends,

Rachel xo

Image credit: Tommy Ton for US Harper's Bazaar, March 2013

Thoughts for a new week :: a beautiful symphony

Wise words and a beautiful note to start the week on, don't you think lovelies?

Have a wonderful week ahead,

Rachel xo

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Thoughts for a new week :: life is like riding a bicycle...

Happy Monday lovelies! I hope you all had a wonderful first weekend of February. Mine was super productive running errands, a trip to IKEA {watch this space!}, going for two runs, plus I got to catch up with some of my best friends from high school. I also managed to squeeze in a couple of episodes of Girls, oh how I love that show!

I stumbled across this analogy about life recently and thought how very true these words are. No matter what happens in the merry-go-round of life - the good the bad and the ugly -  the only way forward is to get busy, keep on moving and reach for the stars. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Rachel xo

View more Inspired Life posts here.

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Thoughts for a new week

Happy Monday lovelies! 

It's been raining here the past few days and with an extra long weekend thanks to 

Australia Day, I'm making the most of it by finally getting to read Grace Coddington's memoir. Have you read it? I have heard so many good things + I'm not surprised given the sheer talent of this woman.

Wishing you a wonderful start to the week!

Rachel xo

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Thoughts for a new week :: living an adventurous life

Reading this quote made me think about the journey of life that we are on and the amazing people we get to meet along the way. 

Of course we have some people who remain constants in our life, while others we may only know for a short time can have a profound impact on our life's adventure; sometimes helping to define who we are, or rather, who we want to be.

Through travelling, my working career and even past relationships, I have met many people who have in some way, left an imprint on me and my journey. Looking back on these 'adventures' I always smile with the knowledge that I was lucky enough to have them in my life, even if only for a moment.

It's these memories that remind us not only how far we have come on our incredible life adventure, but also that there are many more adventures waiting for us; its just up to us how we choose to live them.

Rachel xo


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Monday thoughts :: creating a life you love

The best part about starting a new year is having that wonderful feeling that everything is a fresh start, like the pages of an unwritten book filled with opportunity for you to design the kind of life that you have fallen in love with.

I read this quote by Zig Zigler the other day and have since pinned it to my desk so I can reference it often, which then got me thinking about the things we need to do everyday in order to create our dream life.

Of course to create a life you love takes work, and because we simply cannot do everything we need to prioritise and make sure we are only doing things each day that will lead us to the path that we so desire.

Here are 5 tangible things to practice everyday that will keep you on track for creating your dream life…

# 1. Turn your dreams into actionable steps. 

The quote "a dream without a goal is a wish" springs to mind here. By creating goals you are giving yourself a deadline for when you need to achieve them by. Hold yourself accountable for your goals; keep track of your progress and then reward yourself when you reach important milestones.

# 2. Take a few small steps everyday.

Having big goals and dreams is great, but often when we create these seemingly out of reach goals, we get so overwhelmed with how unattainable they are that we give up before we even start. By breaking your goals down into small bite sized chunks you will then be able to tackle each of the smaller goals, working your way up to the overarching goal you want to achieve. 

# 3. Exercise rock solid self control.

No one said creating the life you want would be easy; it takes hard work and loads of self discipline. My goal of running in the City to Surf this year (a 14km fun run in Sydney) seems a bit of a stretch right now, but I'm making the effort to fit in runs each week so I can build up to this distance. I'm aiming to extend my run by 1km each week (at the moment I can only run about 5km comfortably). I have until August so a while to go yet, but I know that I need to make the commitment and be disciplined now, so by the time August rolls around I'll be ready to go.

# 4. Mind your thoughts and your words.

Gandhi's wise words could not be more true. Practicing the art of positive thoughts and banishing negative self talk will keep you in a positive mindset. Keep a set of affirmations in your diary; stuck to your mirror; or as a screen saver - and look at them often. Practice this often enough and you will notice the belief and confidence in yourself grow. Be inspired by this TED talk Julie from Beautiful You gave recently to see how big an impact negative thoughts can have on your daily life and how they stop you from realising your potential.

# 5. Keep going until you're an expert. Then keep going.

Never give up. Keep going. Make the commitment to yourself that no matter how hard things get and how impossible they seem that you will keep on keeping on. Remember that 80's song 'The Going Gets Tough'? Yeah, well the tough also get going. Make everything you do count and you will reap the rewards, and the life you imagined will be there waiting for you.

Read more Inspired Life posts here.

Rachel xo


Image credits: Free People Spring 2013 via 

Welcome, 2013

Happy New Year loves! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday with your nearest and dearest. I worked mostly through the break except for the public holidays but I managed to escape down to the south coast to visit my sister who has just moved down there. It is such a beautiful corner of the world and it was lovely to get out of the city, if only for a few days!

The start of the year is not only a time for new beginnings but also reflecting on the year that was. Looking back, 2012 was one of the most challenging years I've ever had. Life threw a curve ball when my marriage ended, but I managed to keep myself busy to get though it, and worked on redefining the direction my life was headed in. Which, if I am being completely honest, is still somewhat of a work in progress, but I am trying to focus on the journey rather than the destination. 

Aside from that obvious downer, the year was also filled with many highlights, like being featured in Style at Home's Bloggers Budget Decorating Ideas article; being named by Mashable as one of their top 20 Pinterest accounts to follow; being featured in MTV Bloggers by day, Pinners by night article; having my first article published in online magazine, Latitude; spending a month travelling and meeting long time blog friends Lisa and Caterina; plus joining the Life in Style team as a blog contributor.

When I look back at the goals I made for 2012, my plans for the year got swayed and I didn't end up achieving all that I hoped to. But if there is one thing I have learnt this past year, it is to see at this as an opportunity for what is yet to come, knowing that sometimes the best made plans don't aways turn out the way you expected.

With the new year upon us its time for a fresh start and I feel that so much opportunity awaits. I don't have a long list of goals, but rather a few things I hope to achieve that I thought I'd share with you...

Be Adventurous. By this I mean trying new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. This year I will train to run for 2 fun runs: the City to Surf in August and the Blackmores Running Festival in September. I want to see more of the world. A month trekking in India and Nepal is still high on my list, but l also need to decide if I will take the leap and live overseas, which is something that I have always wanted to do. Now that I am single it seems like there is nothing holding me back.

Simplify + find balance. This post on slow blogging really resonated with me because lately I have been feeling overwhelmed about having to stick to a regular blog schedule and trying to fit this in around a hectic work schedule, seeing friends and getting enough exercise and sleep. Things have been a bit unbalanced as a result, which has taken the joy out of blogging for me and I have often thought about stopping. But the truth is I love blogging and I love the friends I have made in the blogging community, so I won't be stopping, I will just be doing things a bit differently from now on.

Be who I am. Being single, after a long term relationship and a marriage, I am on the path to rediscovering who I am; what it is I truly want and where I want to be. Yes, this is a journey, but I plan to have fun along the way! 

I want to also take a moment to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to visit this little blog. It warms my heart to know that I have created a space on the internet that I hope serves as a lovely escape for you to enjoy those small moments of pleasure in your daily life.

Here's to an amazing year ahead,

Much love,

Rachel xo

P.S Congratulations to Helen, the lucky winner of the Vision Direct Giveaway! You will be receiving an email soon :)

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Thoughts for a new week :: laughter is timeless

Happy Monday lovelies! This lovely reminder made me smile today; it is true what they say: the best things in life are for free.

Wishing you a wonderful start to the week,

Rachel xo

P.S The Leah Alexandra giveaway ends tomorrow! 

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Thoughts for a new week :: imperfection is beauty

Welcome to a new week lovelies! I can't believe its only two weeks until Christmas and then not long after that we'll be welcoming 2013. I can't wait. There are some exciting things coming up for this little blog in including a refresh of the design, which is currently underway, plus in January I'll be introducing a new contributor.

Also coming up are not one, but two {super cool} giveaways before Christmas that I can't wait to share with you!

So here's to a new week + embracing all of the craziness that happens at this time of year,

Rachel xo 

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Thought for a new week :: success is not final

Welcome to a new week lovelies, I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend! The weather has been so warm and sunny here, you can tell that Summer is on its way. 

This quote by Churchill is such a lovely reminder that really, at the end of the day, being able to keep on going is the only true measure of success.

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Rachel xo



Image credit: Quality Magazine, Germany via Pretty Stuff

Thoughts for a new week :: start where you are

It's often easy to make up excuses about why something can't be done 'right now' or why the timing is ' just not the best'. I love this quote because all of these excuses we so often make are thrown right out the window. Such a simple, yet powerful message.

Happy Monday lovelies,

Rachel xo

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Thoughts for a new week :: how far can one go?

Welcome to a new week lovelies. I have to admit I've been struggling to get into the groove of my blogging routine since I got home which became clear last week, which was also my first week back to work. I'm hoping that this week my holiday brain will have left - which, I have to say, is not being helped by the perfect spring weather and the longer days we are having here! So please excuse my absence, which I plan to make it up this week + share more of my travel pics with you.

P.S I loved this T.S Elliot quote because, really how do you know how far you can push yourself? The answer is you will never find out if you don't try. 

Happy Monday!

Rachel xo


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Thoughts for a new week :: believe in your dreams

Welcome to a brand new week lovelies. 

Wishing you a fabulous Monday!

Rachel xo

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Thought for a new week :: never dull your sparkle

Happy Monday lovelies, I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was spent busily prepping for my trip and getting things organised for when I'm away. Only 9 days until I'm jumping on that plane! 

I couldn't resist starting the week of with a bit of sparkle* and with the little reminder that we are meant to shine. It is so easy to listen to the little voice that pops up in your head telling you when things are not possible; but by instead focusing your energy on what you can do, and not what you can't, will reveal a new perspective where even the impossible can be achieved.

Have a fabulous start to the week!

Rachel xo

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10 reasons to smile...+ a guest post

Hi lovelies! I thought these 10 reasons to smile would be the perfect pick-me-up on a Monday morning after a glorious weekend of Spring sunshine!

You'll also find me over on Natalie's gorgeous blog today, sharing a few ways to style my latest crush: the Acne Mape Stamped leather jacket. Hop on over to take a peek! 

I will be back a little later to announce the Shopbop giveaway winner + share a few snaps from the weekend.

Have a fabulous Monday!

Rachel xo

Image credits: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 

Thoughts for a new week :: finding balance

I have a tendency of gratefully saying “yes” to every opportunity that comes my way, when at times I know I should be saying “no”. The consequences of this have crept up on me in the last week, where I’ve found myself feeling stressed and overwhelmed with all that’s going on. To make it worse I’ve come down with a horrible bug which has left me feeling lethargic, uninspired and unmotivated. Ugh, it is not fun feeling this way!

The reality is that I should be enjoying this time as exciting things are happening. I want to enjoy the process of researching and planning my trip; I want to be prepared and focused for starting my new job in 2 weeks; and I want look after my body which is clearly telling me to just chill out. 

So I’m going to be kind to myself, which means that for the next little while things will be a bit quieter around here while I focus on getting some balance back in my life, and take the time to stop and smell the roses. I will of course be still Pinning, Tweeting + Instagramming and stopping in here when I can.

I know I’m not alone in feeling this way as I’ve read similar posts recently like this + this. As bloggers we are juggling so many things: a full-time job, family and friends, just to name a few, so it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed. 

How do you get your balance right?

Rachel xo

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5 reasons to exercise + feel good

I've been more than slack on the exercise front recently + always manage to find an excuse as to why I can't work out. But I know I need to get my act together + shake off these winter blues because summer is going to arrive before we know it. And given that I'm headed to the South of Spain next month, where the temperatures are still going to be lovely and warm, I need to make sure I'm in good shape!

So starting this week I'm going to get back into my exercise rhythm, aiming to commit to a regular exercise schedule of 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes. I know how good I always feel after I have exercised, so I really just need to make the time + do it!

Here are a few reasons to put those running shoes on + get moving...

1. Exercise gives you energy. Yep, strange but true, the more energy you expend on exercise will actually help feel more alert and energized throughout the day. Exercise  = energy. 

2. Brainpower. Research has shown that exercise improves a person’s memory more than those brain games you read about on the Internet.

3. Sleep. Fact: people who exercise sleep better at night. 

4. Exercise helps to improve your mood. Working out stimulates chemicals in your  brain that leave you feeling happier and relaxed, which reduce the risk for anxiety and depression when you exercise regularly. 

5. Exercise improves your self esteem. When you commit to exercising regularly you are doing something that is contributing to your overall health and well-being, which in turn will help you feel better about your body.

How do you keep motivated to exercise + keep up a regular schedule?

Rachel xo

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A 'pinch me' moment...

Hi lovelies! I found out today that I was named on Mashable's list of top 20 fashion accounts to follow on Pinterest. Wow, what an honour to be amongst amazing people who I look up to, like Nina Garcia, Erika Bearman, Emily Schuman, Glamour Magazine + Kate Spade!


They named black + white, streetstyle + editorials as the best board picks, so I thought I'd share a few of my favourites from each....

I'm still in shock. 

Thank you so much Mashable!

Rachel xo