In the last 3 years I have noticed some huge changes in my life.
One thing that marks the start of my life changing to be the life that I wanted to live, was my husband getting up and leaving one day! We had not been married long (11 months) we had an awful relationship, he was a bully, he had an addictive streak and he was (and no doubt still is) a born liar!
So, something awful (at the time) happened to me and I asked myself what I was going to do......
I decided that I would pick myself up and create a better life for myself. I started by trying to mend some broken relationships and friendships. This was not totally successful but it lead me to see that true bonds cannot ever be broken.
I started to change what I ate, I cooked more, I cooked the foods that I loved and that I wanted to eat. I embarked on a healthier lifestyle (it sometimes wavers but on the whole it has continued). And most of all, I enjoyed doing these things. I had at one time been ridiculed for loving to bake. Now the true friends that I had loved it when I turned up bearing a box of (still warm) muffins.
My sense of style changed a huge amount. I began to see that style is a unique thing. It is not the most expensive pair of jeans or the most expensive and most up to date coat. Style is what suits the wearer and the wearer knowing that they look fabulous.......
I am now the owner of a Chloe Paddington bag and I have vowed that I will use it forever and then pass it on to my daughter (if I am lucky enough to have one). To me it is a piece that is timeless and hugely stylish. My wardrobe, I feel, says a lot about me. For one thing it is a mess, there is no order to the way that things are hung up. But, it is a wardrobe full of good quality clothing, that suit my shape, my personality and my dressing style.
I do have pieces from cheaper stores, I am not a high end shopper either, I mix from everywhere.
I have even changed my attitude to perfumes and fragrance in general. I used to buy perfumes because I wa told they were popular or they were on offer at duty free. Now, I like to spend time smelling different fragrances and deciding what I like the smell of.
I recently was treated (by my amazing boyfriend) to a fragrance from Penhaligons. I was in there for hours. I wanted to know what all the base notes were. I wanted to know what was a popular choice, what was new and what the first fragrance was that they produced.
In the end I picked Quercus. I loved it the instant that I smelt it.
I am now looking forward to the next few years and what they throw at me. Going by the past, I will hopefully become happier, healthier, a nicer person to be with and to me above all more stylish.
