Officially married for over a week now!

 Life has been very good to me lately and I couldn’t be more thankful for everything. Sometimes things fall into place when you least expect it, I believe I needed to learn this in 2017/18.


But I also know not to take things for granted and enjoy evey minute of the good days.

After our big day, we went for a walk to soak in everything. We had such a nice day

It's been a different beginning of the year for me, I feel I have lost all my energy and inspiration, hence the lack of posts and Insta Stories. I suddenly ask myself whether it will ever come back or whether finding a "new me" might be a better choice. The answer is: I don't know.
But I do know one thing, I have been busy with life, house decor, planning 2 weddings and caring for two dogs. I have never seen myself as the stereotypical "wife" material, but I am becoming my version of it. I love decorating our house,  cuddling with the dogs and planning the wedding(s). It keeps my anxious mind busy and engaged, without letting that scary feeling overwhelm me.

I will be back with more creative posts and content as I am an optimist and everything is better in summer.

That time it was chilly on a summer day

It's 29th October as I am writing this blog post, the windy growing in power and the temperatures are dropping more day by day, but... I was looking through my holiday photos and I found these from a day when I was in Puglia, Italy enjoying the late summer's warmth <3

Looking back at these photos, I realise that I am still high on that engagement life, but these colours just bring so much calmness. It just works !

What does inspire you this autumn ?

For me, it's wearing a lot of knitwear in red, pink and pastels with every outfit. I still wear this Star Print SheIn sweater weekly due to its versatility and texture. If I was to give anyone a single advice to do autumn/winter right it would be to choose their knitwear wisely. This will allow you to wear season after season, even in summer with a denim skirt.

Be happy and wear knitwear this season :)

Summer has ended in style

As many of you might know, I have recently returned from the beautiful Italian Puglia region where Vlad and I spent a week in the sun. Basically, doing nothing but eat pizza and sit in the sun everyday.

I have posted loads (I mean a loads) of photos while away, but I wanted to post some here as well. Let's be honest, the clear, blue water had to be online for ever !

We had a great time and we both deserved a nice treat, plus ... we got engaged ! (will talk more about that in a future post)

As always, for my outfits, I've chosen mostly SheIn, with a touch of Asos here and there ;)

I found this gorgeous long kimono while browsing SheIn and I thought it would be perfect for beach or even as a home robe - which I am still using even after my holiday. The light fabric makes it perfect for everyday use, plus it's quite chic with those cute storks on it <3 (no baby on the way though ;-) )

Let me know if you'd like a video or a story-time of our engagement, I'd be more than happy to write a few words about it <3

Now... let the wedding planing begin !

A study from by The City of New York University has revealed why men fancy women wearing scarlet ;) while this is true, it also showed that this was true for men that already had an eye for the lady. In order words, red seems to accentuate whatever they find attractive to you.

Steve G Young, the head of the study said the following about the effects of the colour on the men's brains:

 ‘Recent evidence suggests that coloration may serve a purpose in human mating, as female sexual excitement is associated with reddening of the cheeks, neck, and chest.Women are more likely to wear red than other colours when they anticipate meeting attractive, but not unattractive, men‘Heterosexual men are sensitive to red coloration on women. Compared with a range of other colours, women viewed on red backgrounds or wearing red clothing are found more attractive.

Let me know in the comments down below if you plan to incorporate RED in you wardrobe this summer <3

Butternut squash katsu curry, basmati rice & green beans (419kcal)

Imagine having all your meals delivered to your doorstep, fresh and ready to eat, pre-portioned to specific nutritional values.  Once your meals arrive, you only put the box into the microwave and enjoy! Does it sound too good to be true ? I thought so too, however let me tell you why all of this works for me.

Why ?

I am no chef, I don't enjoy cooking and never will! But I have always been able to whip something up for all my meals, something usually quick & easy, fairly healthy and easy to grab and go. I must say, I've been a student for the past 6 years, so I always had time to put something together and (mostly) enjoy.

However
all this changed after going into full time employment and with it my diet went out the window. Like most people, I tend to starve myself until I the last second, and then...ouch...I could fight with the fridge. But when you are at work, such thing is not possible.  I would have to meal plan&prep for the next day(s), plus cook dinner or let Vlad cook it for us. Bless him, he would be in the kitchen all afternoon after work.

In time, I felt that we were spending most of our free time right there, in the kitchen prepping food, washing dishes or even worse, thinking about grocery shopping.
IT WAS ALL STARTING TO FEEL TOO MUCH ! Instead of spending time with each other, we were arguing about what to have for dinner or the dishes not being washed because one of us (mostly myself :-P ) was too tired.

Something had to change, so I started to look at Meal Delivery companies in the UK and was astonished to see prices varying anything from £9 per day/person for companies such as Mindful Chef where they would deliver the ingredients and your job was to cook everything, to £36 per person/day at The Detox Kitchen. But I was in no capacity of paying so much money for food that would be delivered from who knows what part of the country, would arrive semi-frozen and most importantly, I wasn't feeling confident with the quality of the products. These are only a handful of issues with food delivery from far away. I wanted something local, maybe a smaller company that would understand my needs as a potential client.

My Experience with Peel & Coconut

Peel & Coconut is a food delivery company located in Liverpool that Vlad stumbled across at the gym. While, with the other companies, I explored them by reading reviews and customer opinions on Youtube, with Peel & Coconut I had a first-hand experience.

Like everyone else, I Googled them, found their Facebook page and messaged them with my questions, too many questions. I was interested in knowing whether they cater for vegans, prices and details about their products. Shortly after I received an email back from Ray, one of the owners, explaining how they've just added a vegetarian to the team and they would love to cater for my needs <3. Ray sent me a list of the prices and assured me about the quality of the products. The conversation gave me the confidence to try them out, especially because they offer a 20% off your first month of deliveries and I am always excited to SAVE some £££.

They offer mostly food targeted to meat eater, but now they are accepting orders for veggie/vegans.
 - at the same time, Vlad decided to have his meals prepped and delivered - I was over the moon, for the first time in what felt like forever, I could avoid washing dishes or the kitchen mess <3

They kindly offered me a discount code for you, my readers <3

*Day of delivery* - every Monday & Wednesday

I was impatiently waiting for my first meals, I couldn't contain myself ! That excitement of opening a box of goodies and wanting to try them all is what kept me going through the day. In the evening, Vlad brought the boxes home and I started looking through the meals, I was very surprised to see that all the meals come in their own boxes and with an information card containing the MACROS, KCAL & some INSTRUCTIONS on refrigeration and reheating. My meals were almost all beween 250-440kcal which was perfect for my needs. 

*Flavour & freshness*

My first meal was the Sweet potato, chickpeas & roasted vegetables(249kcal) and my, oh my was I surprised by the taste! I was not expecting such exceptional, fresh flavours with a sprinkle of coriander and salt. Also, the sweet potato was massive and filled me up quickly, which is what I look for in a meal. Seeing large portion sizes made me the happiest. I don't know about you, but I tend to eat everything on my plate even if I'm full, so actually knowing that the entire box would provide me with the right nutrition helped my mindset immensely going into this. 

Health benefits & other PROs 

Money: Unlike other services, you don't have to give in to those awful subscription service fees that tie you to the company though an ongoing membership scheme. I am horrible at remembering to cancel memberships, and I want to avoid that at all costs ;) Plus, as we no longer go into the supermarket while hungry, we have cut down of rubbish foods and binge-shopping.

Health: I lost weight! I was struggling to shift any weight for the last couple of months and I went into this without any expectations except saving time, maybe money and let me tell you, the weight just came off ! Sounds too good? I lost 1kg of fat without having to do any more work than normal & all in the first week. I still have pizza and chips at the weekend, that is my naughty time!

Energy: I've never felt better because I can focus on doing work and not thinking about what am I going to eat next. I know what my next meal is going to be and that I will be satisfied at the end of it. I still train 5-6x/week in the gym and my strength and weight-lifting skills have gotten even better.

Ease: I had to travel to Romania last week and I took my lunch from Peel & Coconut on the flight. I despise airport food like nothing else, it always makes me feel bloated and "meh". So, I put my box in the hand luggage and went through security without any issues. Very convenient indeed! I had Tofu & cashew nuts, tabbouleh & broccoli (246kcal)

Final thoughts

#OOTD that is both comfortable, yet put together. The SheIn ruffle top is airy and extremely thin (great for summer, btw) and now that all the hype with off shoulder items is still going strong, will be a great addition to your wardrobe <3 I was looking for one since January and you know how much i love shein.com , so... ended up with this one.

Pop of colour brought to you by ZARA double breasted blazer (I own all the colours as they are so great and versatile)

&

Cathias Edeline bright pink bag

throw everything on and enjoy your day !

Let me know if you like the idea ;)