Rebrand

I've never really been a jeans-and-tshirt girl. Well, unless you count between the ages of 14 and 17 when you had to wrestle me away from my black jeans and My Chemical Romance tshirts. I've always been into dresses and skirts, to the point where I once took a jeans-for-a-week challenge on my blog to see if I could do it, and even then I cheated and only managed it for five days. I think some of it comes down to personal preference of style, and some of it comes down to shape. As a classic pear shape, I feel much more comfortable in skirts and dresses than I do in jeans. 

But over the last few years I've found myself wearing jeans more and more. This might not necessarily have been that clear on my blog (these kinds of outfits aren't exactly inspiring!) but I've definitely noticed myself reaching for jeans much more on a lazy morning before work.

The problem that I've had - and the funny thing is, it's actually the exact same problem I said I had in that jeans challenge post from over four years ago - is that I don't have a lot of tops. I have a lot of blouses, but they're not always the right style or length for with jeans. As a result, I end up wearing tshirts which are usually music or TV show related (I got two Parks and Recreation tshirts for my birthday) and leave me feeling a bit slobby. 

But a few weeks ago when Clarity Travel Management got in touch about their recent rebrand (they used to be Co-operative Travel Management), I saw a great opportunity to push out of my comfort (read: dress buying) zone. They offered to send me £50 of High Street vouchers to help with my own rebrand. I knew straight away I wanted a pretty top and a big statement necklace to wear with my jeans, and straight away spotted this absolute beauty in Oasis. I think it's absolutely gorgeous and it's exactly the kind of pretty, wear-anywhere top that I wanted. The necklace I got from River Island, and after I bought it I decided to push myself further with jeans-wearing and picked up four plain, stretchy tshirts in Primark to wear it with. Even though the tshirts are really plain, the addition of this huge, chunky statement necklace really completely the outfit (even if it does weigh my neck down a bit!).

top - Oasis (c/o Clarity)

necklace - River Island (c/o Clarity)

jeans - Topshop

flats - Dorothy Perkins

As I'm sure is no surprise after my last post, I've been a bit burned out this week. On Sunday I went to Chorlton Runners for their Sunday run, and two miles into a 5 mile loop I tripped and fell completely flat on my face. I don't think I've ever moved so fast jumping up and pretending I was alright! I cut up my hands quite badly, scraped up my elbow and straight away could feel bruises coming up on my legs. I didn't know anybody and I was utterly mortified! The problem was, two miles in, it would take me almost as long to walk back as it would to keep running. The rest of the group gently suggested that running would help the blood flow and distract me a bit from the pain so I took a deep breath and ran the three more miles. I was feeling pretty shaken and upset and just felt overwhelmingly sad. Not at myself and not because I was in a lot of pain, cause I really wasn't, it was just upsetting, really! One of the lovely ladies gave me a lift back home even though it was completely out of her way when she saw me heading for the bus covered in dust and blood, and as I was heading to the flat I called Phil who ran me a hot bath and looked after me. The incident just left me pretty shaken though, and it hit me hard on Monday. I didn't feel like spending the day explaining what had happened so I decided to work from home, and even though I did my makeup and did my hair, I spent the day in sweatpants which isn't like me at all. I didn't want to go to choir, which was another worrying sign. I convinced myself I was under the weather and I was "coming down with something" (in inverted commas because I swear I say it at least once a fortnight) and made excuse after excuse for why I left so lousy. When Phil came home I burst into tears on him. I felt demotivated (which is quite a big thing for me as I consider myself a pretty motivated person!), plagued with self-doubt and just lazy and useless. I forced myself to cook us some dinner instead of reheating leftovers from the freezer, and doing something creative and productive definitely helped. We had an early night and by Tuesday morning I was out running tempo runs and feeling completely fine. There's just been so much going on lately I was well overdue for a burn out.

This week hasn't exactly been quiet either. On Tuesday I went to visit my friend Judy from choir who is in hospital. She's become one of my closest friends at choir - despite our 43 year ago gap! - but she's been very poorly lately and it really isn't looking good for her. Phil and I went to see her last week but on Tuesday I went on my own to honestly say goodbye really. It was horrible and sad and upsetting, but she knew I was there and I know she appreciated that and I suppose that's all you can do. Yesterday mine and Phil's friend Rosie came for dinner and we had a really "grown up" lovely evening. We shared a bottle of wine, I made us a spinach and feta pie and a greek salad and she even brought me flowers. It was just lovely.

One thing that has gone me through this week has been enjoying my lunch breaks. I recently joined the beautiful central library, and got a bit overexcited and reserved four books in one go, so I've been going down to the library on my lunch breaks and reading for a while. It's been amazing. I think the library is the place I've spent most of my time this week after work and my flat!

Well, it's nearly bank holiday! I cannot wait for this weekend. I am so ready for a break. Phil and I are going to the Lake District for four days in a few weeks and it cannot come fast enough.

Hope you're having a wonderful week.

Charlotte x