NEW YEAR, SAME ME

January is always such a strange time for me. A new year apparently brings a fresh start and therefore I always find myself thinking "OK fab, so... what is really crap about me, what can I change, what do I need to stop doing, how can I turn myself into Gigi Hadid?" (it's usually "stop swearing, stop eating all the chocolate and start exercising for once in your life" and of course, I fail on approximately January 3rd.

And do you know what, it's not only bloody tiring and demoralising and exhausting, it's damn right completely unconducive to a happy self to sit there and pick at all the things you don't like. After the awful end to 2016 - written about here if you have no idea what I'm talking about but basically, going through a break up - it is outrageously easy to pick on yourself. It is beyond easy to pick out all of your flaws and judge yourself in the worst possible way... and this year I've decided that I'm changing that. One thing I realised over 2016 is that if we don't have respect for ourselves, how do we expect others to respect us?

So, with that in mind, today's post is going to be about a few things that I like about myself (if anyone knows me, you'll know that picking out my pro's/bigging myself up makes me feel impossibly uncomfortable, but they say life begins at the end of your comfort zone, right?), it's going to feature an outfit I love, some jewellery pieces that I refuse to take off and basically, a whole lotta New Year feel good factor.  

I'm OK with that...

All Jewellery (linked individually below) - Jewellery Box / Top - Dorothy Perkins / Trousers - H&M / Shoes - River Island 

Self deprecation 
I always feel slightly ironic calling myself self deprecating because maybe even doing so means that you're not? But one comment that I get more than anything is that I always put myself down, I'd rather laugh at myself than praise myself /.... and I totally agree. If I'm honest, I'm not sure it's always said as a compliment - we live in a world where it's much more impressive to big yourself up and act like a sassy girl boss but actually, I believe that actions speak louder than words - but you know what, I take it as the biggest compliment. Being referred to as humble and relatable means so much more to me than any other compliment about my outfit, makeup, or what I look like that day. Success to me is being a humble, loyal, friendly person.

Friendliness 
I am a friendly person. That feels really weird and braggy and horrible to even say - you see, I'm really shocking at this "ain't I great" shiz - but honestly, I just am. I love a good chat and I can't bear to see anyone on there own so I will always go out of my way to make anybody feel comfortable and part of a group. I don't know whether it's a mothering/maternal thing but I just always want to make people feel comfortable, happy and good about themselves which is why I try (sometimes I just forget) to compliment everyone I meet in some way, because it's those little things that can often make someone's day!

Loyalty
If you are a loyal friend to me that has my back and is there when I need you/generally in life, I will go to the ends of the earth to be there for you. Honestly, the older I get, the more perspective I have when it comes to friends and for the people that are my true, loyal friends... you gal pals are right at the very top of my priority list. Whether it's making the 2hour train journey to see them, texting every day to check in or even just sending a funny gif that will no doubt cheer them up... I am a loyal person and despite feeling incredibly awkward complimenting myself, that is one thing that I am extremely proud of.

Strength
3 months ago, "strong" wouldn't have been a word that I used to describe myself despite it being one that others did. But a whole host of horrendous, life-altering events made me realise that I am stronger than I ever even dreamed possible. I realised that rather than lying in bed with a family size chocolate bar and a very large Dominoes Pizza and all of the tears, I could pick myself up, paint on a face, do terrifying things (like live brand shoots for example) and just get shit done. So I guess maybe I am pretty strong. Or maybe I just cope. All I know is that I'm pretty proud of the girl writing this who has been through hell and back and is actually smiling away, positive and excited for 2017... because November 2016 Elle would not even recognise her.

Ok, we've reached the point where I'm referring to myself in third person and also want to scratch my eyeballs out reading nice things that I've written about myself, let's move on to what I wore when I shot these pictures and froze so much that I had to have 3 hot chocolates to feel any kind of normal again.
I like jewellery, I like it a lot. But I am very specific about what I wear and I nearly always unintentionally end up with pieces that mean something. For example, this absolutely stunning Dream catcher bracelet (would you judge me if I told you that even thinking about dream catching gives me all the warm, fuzzy vibes?), not only is it absolutely gorgeous and delicate and statement whilst remaining completely demure, it also reminds me to chase my dreams. Not necessarily catch them because I don't think big enough dreams are easy enough to catch, but to work my butt off and set goals and dream hard and not stop until I've made them all happen.

The Karma necklace. This might be one of my all time favourite pieces because not only is it beautifully delicate, but Karma holds a special place in my heart. I wholeheartedly believe that what we put out into this world we get back (at least, in this day and age I have to believe that this is true) and it just inspires me to be a nicer, kinder more thoughtful person. The necklace itself got a whopping 4 compliments from strangers - yes strangers - in the two hours that I froze to death shooting these pictures... now that is impressive!

I am all about the delicate - are you sensing a running theme here? - stacking rings and the gorgeous Infinity loop and heart knot ring have become my everyday go to's. Dainty, intricate and very stylish too... I can't say these two necessarily have meaning to me - the irony of having just gone through a breakup and choosing infinity love and a knot ring [insert eye roll emoji here] - but maybe it's a sign of hope.

Or maybe it's just loving the rings because they so damn cute!

So that's it from me and this little "omg look at my babein jewellery"/feel good post. Despite finding it outrageously difficult to talk about myself in such a positive light, I think it actually did me the world of good. Sometimes I think that we all need to take a little moment to appreciate what we have, the good things about ourselves and the fact that New year, same me doesn't have to be boring... it's actually empowering to value yourself. So thank you Jewellery Box for not only providing me with pieces of jewellery that I can.not.stop.wearing, but also for launching such an empowering, positive campaign. You my faves <3

I'd love to know your thoughts on the New Year, Same Me ethos? Do you have any favourite jewellery pieces from today's post? I always love hearing your thoughts!

As always, thanks so much for reading!

xx

This post was kindly sponsored by Jewellery Box. All thoughts, photos and extreme love of their gorgeous jewellery and good vibes, my own.

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