Sweet Bouquet

Hi loves,
Sad to say, but unfortunately this is the last outfit for the 7 Looks for 7 Days re-launch feature *boooooo!* Not to worry though, I promise you, this is the beginning of something wonderful, and I'm so excited to finally be heading on this journey with all of you guys alongside me.

When I was stuck in my uninspired rut, I felt so unhappy and put down. But now that I'm back, and doing it for all the right reasons, I'm so much more happier, grateful and inspired every single day.
This is what blogging should feel like. Never blog for others, but yourself. From day one, I've always promised myself that this was going to be for me. It didn't matter if I got one hit in one day, it made me happy. But of course, other people's comments and criticisms will eventually get to you because, hey, I'm only human.

More than anything, I want to learn and grow with my blog. It's been my baby since 2011, and although I've neglected it a few times, or posted unworthy content for the sake of posting, I still have such a deep love for the community of blogging.

I'm back and better than ever, and I'm extremely thrilled for what's to come.

Watch this space, I swear, you won't be disappointed!

Run, Don't Walk

Hi loves,
Okay, so I am not at all a sneakerhead whatsoever. In fact, I despise sneakers. Give me a fabulous pair of flats or heels and I'm good to go. But something that wouldn't seem to leave my mind was the Nike Roshe Run in grey. I'd been working long hours in retail for weeks and my feet would be thrashed from wearing flats all day (shocking, I know) so I sneakily borrowed my brother's Roshes one day, and fell in love with how comfy they were to work in!
But everytime I seemed to walk into a shoe store and ask for my size in the grey Roshes, they were sold out and not re-stocking my size anymore (?!?!?!??!!), so I decided to look online and thank heavens for stylerunner.com because they had the colour I wanted, my exact size, cheap and fast delivery - such a score!

So tonight, I bring to you a post which kind of looks like I'm advertising my shoes, but really, my friend is just an ace photographer :P

So French, So Chic

Hi loves,
So sorry for the delay on tonight's post. This look has to be my favourite because it's simple, chic and french-inspired!

I've been gathering a lot of inspiration from Audrey Rogers aka Frassy Audrey whose french-chic style is so on point. But not only is her style on point, her inspiring messages throughout her posts are a clear reflection on what we all want to read from a fashion blogger. It's not always about the fashion; sometimes it's about the message behind the outfit.

Funnily enough, every message behind my outfit is "I'm wearing this today to give my closet a break." You'd think as a fashion blogger, I'd have my closet dilemmas sorted - well, think again. When you share a closet for one with two boys, things tend to get real messy and extremely difficult.
Which is why today's post was delayed; my boyfriend and I ventured out to IKEA (heh, hardly - considering IKEA's now only 5 minutes away from my house) and we bought a new wardrobe for Ethan, yaaaay! Now before you go "wait, why Ethan and not you?", Ethan's current closet is a larger one that we bought from IKEA a while ago, but because I'm needing a second closet now (#fashionbloggerproblems) we bought a kid-friendly closet instead of buying another large closet, ya get? Doesn't matter, makes sense to us *lol*

We just finished putting together and transferring all of Ethan's clothes into his new wardrobe, and we are so knackered out. I've got work all day tomorrow, so sorting out my second closet will have to wait until my next day off (which happens to be Thursday - yipee!)

As soon as I have it set-up, I promise that photos will be on it's way over to the blog.

Without further ado, day 5 of the 7 Looks for 7 Days re-launch feature:

Secret Garden

Hi loves,
Surprise! It's day 4 of the 7 Looks for 7 Days re-launch feature!
I've been wanting to style a look this like for so long now. Working in retail, I get to see first-hand what styles are going to be trending for the new season, and bohemian chic seems to be a popular one for Spring - of course.
My style is more girly feminine, but it's makes blending into other styles really easy.
All one has to do is add a girly detail (ie. a skirt) and then accessorise to your heart's content!

I had such a fun time shooting this look for you guys because the location was just stunning. Of course it could've been more beautiful if it were already Spring and nature had bloomed, but the end of Winter still makes it look quite pretty. What's even better is that it was an unexpected location. Somewhere so close to home turned out to be the perfect shoot spot.

It's safe to say that you will be seeing a lot more of this location during the Spring/Summer editions of my looks because it's honestly so beautiful, and we got the OK from the owners to use it. Yay!

So without further ado, (I know, I was just babbling on about nothing tonight, sorry!), here's tonight's look:

Earn Your Stripes

Hi loves,
Yay for day 3 of the 7 Looks for 7 Days re-launch feature!
I'm finding it extremely ironic how yesterday's weather was beautiful and warm, but I posted my last Winter look; but then today is dreary and cold, and I'm here posting my first Spring look!
Mother Nature, you sure like to make me look like a fool. Oh, dear.

Well, saying hello to Spring a little earlier than expected is always a great thing. As is Paris, macarons and Chanel.
Great things come in different shapes and sizes. I found a great thing in my epic love with my boyfriend. I raised a great thing in the shape of my ever-so-clever son. I created a great thing that I love; my blog.

It's amazing how one type of thing can come to you in so many different ways.

I never, in my lifetime, would have imagined I would start my own blog. I've always been a shy person. So coming online and feeling the pressures and scrutiny of faceless keyboard warriors was basically my kind of hell. But I have to admit, staring my blog online helped me grow my thick skin. And being a young mum, that's exactly what you need. You're constantly under a microscope where people have the freedom to judge and berate you. But thanks to the negativities of the online community, I'm a stronger and happier person - because the words you try to hurt me with, don't work anymore, and honestly, it feels great.

My advice to everyone tonight is to never let the bastards get you down. Especially the ones online!

Do You Want to Build a Blanket Fort?

Hi loves,
Here's day 2 of the 7 Looks for 7 Days re-launch feature, just like I promised!
As we're nearing the end of Winter, I'm starting to find myself having to say goodbye to many of my favourite outerwear. For example, this blanket cape, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it.

It may make zero sense as to why I'm posting this type of outfit tonight considering today was probably the warmest day of Winter we've ever experienced (tops of 29 degrees and leaving my windows wide open all day - I approve) but because I spent most of Winter working on the re-launch, I want to make sure I at least took a shot at posting a few (well, two to be exact) Winter warm looks.

It's pretty unfortunate too since Winter is actually my favourite season out of all four. UGH.

It's alright though - life is still dandy. Speaking of life {being dandy}, spreading positive cheer is so important - and a huuuuge factor in my blog re-launch. I feel like I spent so much time bringing myself down. Comparing myself to other bloggers of the scene made me feel immensely unworthy.
But it's true, scroll through your Tumblog or Pinterest, and reblog/pin encouraging and inspiring quotes and you will find your inner light shining so much brighter. I promise you, it works.

My favourite lately is: "Dream big, work hard, stay focused & surround yourself with good people."
I think it's incredibly valuable to keep these things in mind. I want to emphasise on the last part of that quote though. As you may know (hopefully by now), I have a young child of my own, and teaching him to be a better person every day is a challenge because he is influenced every day at school by other kids. I'm not bashing on how other parents raise their children at all, but some kids don't seem to have a barrier when it comes to certain things. For example, I learnt recently that my son knows a few swear words because of his FIRST GRADE friends. It's hard to tell my 6-year-old not to surround himself with friends who influence him in a negative way, so we try to get him to be the positive influence on his friends and lead the way.

At the end of the day, how you feel about yourself is the most important thing, and who you surround yourself makes a big impact on how you perceive yourself.

Choose wisely. Love (yourself) fiercely.

Camels, and Leopards, Oh My!

A very big and exciting welcome back to the new and improved Heart, Style & Grace fashion, beauty & lifestyle blog!
I'm so freaking excited for you guys to finally feast upon what I've been working so hard on for the last few weeks. So, if you like, have a little play around and click on newly added links, because I quite enjoyed putting them together *cheesy grin*

I've been pretty repetitive whenever I would disappear from the blogosphere only to come back and make promises I wouldn't even keep, but this is going to be different, and I mean it this time (because if you check out my About page, you will see that I dislike 'broken promises' so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and lay those on you loves.) Instead, I will bring you new content, ranging from fashion (yes, that means loads and loads of outfits!!!), beauty (you're going to join me in the journey on 'how do I use makeup' because let's face it, I am absolutely no expert), and lifestyle (I have a pretty unique story being a young mum so instead of hiding it, I'm going to be more open and show you guys more of what my little family and I do together and how we're progressing even though the world still looks down on stereotypical versions of our lives.)

I'm really excited to start this new leaf on my blog because this time I won't be doing it all on my own. I've got so much more support and valuable friendships which are willing to get involved with my blog and I, to enhance not only my career but also theirs. I mainly want to thank my incredible friend and amazingly talented photographer Pauline for raising her hand and helping me with anything and everything including the outfit shots you're about to see on HSG. It's going to be a goodie, I can feel it.

In celebration for the re-launch, I am doing a 7 Looks for 7 Days - which is exactly as it sounds. For an entire week, you will find yourselves delving into a new look every single night. Just the perfect way to end your day, I say.

So here's to a fresh start, and a fun, new ride together!

Enjoy tonight's re-launch new look and stay tuned for tomorrow's outfit.