I haven’t given you a life update since September, so it’s been almost two months into a lot of changes, and I thought I would fill you in. For this one, I’m including photos that I snap as well, as I find that always makes it interesting! Some of these are from my Instagram and some of them are just from my camera roll on my phone, so they haven’t been shared anywhere yet.
First of all, since I announced that I was quitting my fashion blogging career and making some changes, I’ve been so much happier! I’ve felt a lot more relaxed and calm, even though I have been finishing up collaborations I had in place, I’ve felt like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, so it was definitely the right decision. It means I can post more content that I want to, like updates and whatever else I want as I have a more clearer schedule. I definitely don’t regret it!
Secondly, which is what the photo above is about, I’m getting a second lobe piercing soon. I’m just waiting for the piercing salon to get the little white gold moon studs in that I want. I’m actually really nervous, and already explained that to the owner of the shop, and he’s understanding. I have my ears pierced already and I got that done (twice actually as the first time I let them close over) with a gun machine, so I wasn’t too freaked out, but since those aren’t sterile now, they pierce with needles and that’s what’s scaring me so much since I’m so phobic. With that in mind though, it’s something I want done and something I will do, I will just push past that boundary in my head which is creating the fear. I will just focus on how pretty they are going to look. I’ve already ordered some silver star huggie earrings to go in my current holes, so the tiny moons will look cute next to those!
Above is a photo of 3 different Allsaints leather jackets that I tried on in their store. I’ve been eyeing these up for a while and a burgundy leather jacket has been on my wish list for years, but I’ve never found the right fit or shade, and I was hoping one of these might be it. They currently have 20% off right now so I have ordered all 3 on my credit card to try! You might remember them from my blog post I did a couple weeks ago, 10 must have Allsaints leather jackets for Autumn Winter 2018. I will be sharing on Instagram the photos/videos of how I get on with them, and if my search for a burgundy leather jacket is finally over or not! In the meantime, take advantage of that 20% off as it’s sitewide on everything for today only!
Two amazingly gorgeous sunsets that I saw over the past couple of weeks. When the sky is this vibrant and the clouds are swirling into shapes, it always calms me and makes me feel happy. Everyone always forgets how powerful and beautiful nature is, and how important it is due to our hectic lifestyles and constant reliance on technology, so I feel like this is the earths way of reminding us now and again to look up and not forget the power it holds.
I’ve been experimenting a lot more with my make-up now and have found a whole new brand that I use. Well I say new, I used to use Bare Minerals all the time when I was a lot younger, but found it too drying, so changed to Barbara Panagos, who I was using for years, but she went out of business this year. I was looking for a month to find a suitable powder that was ok on my skin and then eventually settled on Bare Minerals again. The new formulas are wonderful! It covers my skin perfectly (including the acne and scarring) and doesn’t clog up my skin or feel uncomfortable, so I’m getting on well with that. I also use a Laura Geller blush and have been using a new set of eye shadow palettes that were gifted by L’Oreal. Love them!
Speaking of skin though, I actually had to go to the doctors for it because I changed my diet a bit and started including nuts, which was a huge mistake. I seem to have a big intolerance to nuts as they made my face explode with spots. All around my entire jawline and cheeks, which has been that way for 2 months, and it’s the worst I’ve ever had it, so I’m currently 3 weeks into using DUAC Gel from my doctor’s prescription and even though the side effects have been horrible, I have stuck with it and I’m finally noticing improvements already. I just have to make sure I don’t use too much and I keep my skin hydrated as it can burn/flake/itch regularly – sounds lovely right? Ha ha. Has anyone else experienced such a bad reaction to nuts?
I’m sure you might have seen from my IG Stories that my buying ban is definitely over! I can never resist anything in the Autumn and these are two new scarves I got. The first one is Joules (click here to buy it) and the second one is Burberry (click here to buy it). You will of course see these in my outfit posts coming up, but I just love them! The Burberry has been on my wish list for months as you know and I finally managed to get a discount code on Matches which was way too good to pass up! The Joules one I also got with 20% off!
Now this part is about my Physiotherapy. I mentioned to you in September that I was 2 weeks into it, so I’m now well over 2 months into it. I’m still training at home and going to fortnightly sessions at the gym with my physiotherapist, and it’s going well. I’ve increased my weights and added in new strengthening and balance exercises, and even though it’s tough and hard, I’m seeing improvements. I’ve been working on my core muscles myself at home, but I’m getting stronger. I’m getting a lot less pain in my hips and shoulders, my migraines have lessened too, so I’m assuming that was a lot to do with my shoulder muscles being too loose and falling around, so mostly all of it is good. The one thing that isn’t – my knees.
I’ve suffered with aching pain in the joints of my knees since I was a child, this would happen whenever it was damp or cold in the air, it would get into the joints and give me bad pain behind my kneecaps. I had to use a hot water bottle all the time to try and ease it. I still get that now, however the new pain for me is the same sort of bone aching behind the knee cap after I’ve walked or done exercise. Sometimes it’s to the point where I’m hobbling around because my knees are hurting so much. I had an X-Ray done as I was wondering if I was getting early onset arthritis (can happen earlier in life with HEDS) and thankfully, I don’t, however figuring out how to manage this is tough. I think it’s a tracking issue and something to do with the rubbing of my cartilage/joint when I walk as my kneecaps are not aligned correctly, but it seems to be getting worse now I’m doing physio and using my knee joints a lot more unfortunately. Hopefully I can figure this out though and when I give you my next update around Christmas, it might have gone away! Positive thinking!
This is just a selfie with no relevance other than another look at my make-up, but I also wanted to say that I’m still taking the B6 under my doctors advice for my hormonal imbalance, and I’ve found it really useful. I’m 4 months into it and it took at least 2 months to start noticing the effects and for things to settle down, but I will say that so far so good. If you have hormonal imbalance and you can’t take synthetic hormones due to a blood disorder (or just want a natural approach), I’ve been using 50-100mg of B6 powder a day and it’s working well. Just check with your doctor first.
Lastly, we just celebrated a weekend of Adam’s birthday celebrations and it was great. We made him a cheesecake, went out for some lunch, got a lot of photos done actually, and enjoyed TV time, so it’s been a productive and enjoyable weekend!
So all in all, I’m doing good, I’m keeping positive, I’m happy, I’m enjoying my blog/work more, things are improving for me pain wise, in most departments, and I’m looking forward to everything festive! Ice skating, decorations, Christmas music, Christmas jumpers, hot chocolate… Yay! Tell me though, how is everything with all of you? As you know, it is a community here so let me know how you all are and what’s new in your life in the comments below. Lorna xx.
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Thanks for the update Lorna, your looking wonderful! I admire your dedication to the process of taking care. 🙏🏻❤️
Author
Thank you so much, John! You’re always lovely!
I’m glad to hear you’re doing well!! Sounds like you’ve had a lot of positive changes happen recently. I’m glad you’re feeling less stressed about blogging now too! That is something I definitely need to work on.
Lee – layersoflee.com
Author
Thanks, Lee! Yes, I hugely recommend it, it becomes a drain and something you don’t look forward to, which is so far from how it used to be, but without the pressure, I love it again!
Getting rid of a heavy load helps one to smile. 🙂
Author
It definitely does, ha ha 😀
So happy to read. That you are happy again.
http://www.amysfashionblog.com/blog-home/
Author
Thank you, Amy!
Hi Lorna, I am really glad that you’re taking proper care of yourself and I’m pretty sure the full benefits of that are coming up soon. Your stamina and determination are astonishing.
I’ll confess, I „use“ this kind of your posts (health updates and similar) to a large extent for personal benefits as your positive thinking (regarding health and in general) helps me see in a positive way things we, as a family and parents, are constantly facing. One of the few positive things we gained from diabetes was to learn and comprehend what garbage we actually put in our mouths and stomaches on a daily basis. It is maybe cynical to say so, but because of our child’s diabetes we improved our nutrition and started developing healthy eating habits. Also, our son unlike many other children of his age does not fear needles at all 🙂 Positive thinking is crucial!
By the way I find interesting that people tend to describe bad things as negative, and good ones as positive (most of the time). I am really curious why is that, I mean for example the answer NO is not always a bad one. One thing I know is that in science a negation alone can never be constructive: you always need at least one positive statement to prove or create something or to pass some useful information. In nature funnily enough man decided to define attraction forces as negative and repulsion forces as positive ones.
I like your comment on how nature impacts us. We are only guests of nature, regardless whether we like it or not. And despite all the technological progress we remain nothing but just another species on this planet. Writing this, I remembered watching a video a couple of weeks ago about the rock from space that wiped out 160 million years of evolution in a matter of hours! This is something that no human mind can really fully comprehend. With a bodyguard like Jupiter though I think we’ll have enough time to ruin ourselves with our own means 🙂
Anyway, let the dinosaurs rest in peace, have a nice week and hopefully you’ll update us with more good news about your health in December.
Steven
Author
Hi Steven,
I’m so glad that is the case! My aim is to always make people feel positive and happy when they come here, so to know that is working for you, I’m happy about that. Spreading happiness, positivity and love is key!
You’re right to see those positive things in that situation, and there’s probably many more too. I mean you probably have a much closer and deeper understanding of your son as a person than you did before, you’ve gained a whole new wealth of knowledge, and it will actually make your son more appreciative and understanding as he grows up to. It’s all about how you see a situation, it’s not all bad. Of course having diabetes is not great all, and not a positive thing, but I mean there’s always positives to come out of it. I know for a fact if I didn’t have everything I have been through, I wouldn’t be who I am today 🙂
And yep, as far as space and the actual cosmos goes, being a human on this planet really isn’t such a big deal lol 🙂
I’m so happy for you that you finally have some time for yourself and enjoy your life. It’s good to see you work everything out. Hope everything goes well for you.
Author
Thank you so much! You too!
Those jackets are fantastic!!
https://julesonthemoon.blogspot.com/
Author
Thank you!
Glad things are going well and you’re getting the nut reaction under control, how crazy! I hope things do improve with your knees too with more physio, fingers crossed for that.
I’m so happy you are enjoying blogging more on your terms and having more fun with it 🙂
Hope that you are having a nice start to your week 🙂
Away From The Blue Blog | Baby Hamper Giveaway
Author
Thank you so much, Mica! I’m glad too!
Nice jackets. Red is a color that fits you well.
Author
Thank you!
Those AllSaints leather jackets are to die for!!!
xo, allie
http://www.champagne-tuesdays.com
Author
Glad you like them too!
Ooh, fabulous choice with the second lobe piercing – I’ve no doubt it’ll look fabulous!
aglassofice.com x
Author
I hope so!
Love this article.
I definitely need to find the motivation to work out.
The leather jackers are beautiful ! Hope you finally found the perfect shade.
And Im so in love with theses sunsets pictures ! So beautiful !
xx
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
Author
Thank you!
Love this update on you, girlfriend!
-Ashley
Le Stylo Rouge
Author
Thank you!
Those All Saints jackets are classic and worth the investment because you’ll have it forever. And I love the bag at the end!
xx Yasmin
http://banglesandbungalows.com
Author
Thank you!
I loved reading this life update, and that’s great that for the most part everything is going well! It’s good to hear that you’re happier now after making that career change. I love the two scarfs you got and I can’t wait to see how the second piercing looks. I hope you have a great rest of November!
x Kara | http://karascloset.net
Author
Awh thank you so much!
Oh i didn’t know you were quitting yout fashion blogging career! I’m glad you found a balance that works for you, I think one’s happiness and health comes before any blog, of course! <3 And also, the new piercing sounds exciting, it's funny because I never dared to be into piercings yet I do have a few attoos lol. Thanks for sharing this, lovely! And enjoy the upcoming Christmas season!!
xx
http://www.stylebydeb.com
Author
Yes, I stopped a while ago doing it for a career and just am doing it for a hobby mostly now. Much happier! So glad you enjoyed my update post! Thank you so much! xx.
My skin tends to get crazy reactions fairly frequently and it’s pretty terrible until I figure out what caused it and eliminate the culprit. Thankfully, nuts haven’t been a problem for me yet.
It’s great that you’re doing better and I hope that things keep improving for you.
Kathrin | Polar Bear Style
Author
Thank you! Yeah, my skin is the same, it’s so sensitive to foods. Crisps, oils, sugar etc is usually terrible for my skin, as is chocolate, but that’s hard to resist, ha ha.
Dear Lorna, have you checked Zalando UK for the Allsaints jackets? They have a discount of 35% for the dark red one. I actually bought it, and I think it has such a nice dark red tone which does not switch to violet. It does not only look good with dark grey or black jeans, but also with light blue ones. I am excited to find out which one you will finally choose. As regards your blog and your collaborations, I think you have made the right decision. Regards, Judy
Author
Hi Judy! I just checked it out, thank you for telling me! I actually ended up returning all 3 of the jackets as none of them were fitting how I wanted, and not the right burgundy. I did love the tuscan red deep burgundy, but the fit of the jacket was just no good for me unfortunately, it didn’t seem to fit like any of my other Balfern I own. I might need to try another size or just hope the Dalby is released in a darker burgundy perhaps. It’s so hard trying to get this right, ha ha.
Edit – They sold out of the 6 it seems on Zalando, such a shame! The 8’s are no good for me.
Edit again – I tried the 34 as that should be a 6 by normal standards, it looks like their conversion is wrong, so fingers crossed! Thank you for telling me!
Ah, such a shame! Maybe they changed the fit? I don’t know, as the only other Allsaints I have is the Papin. I took the Balfern in my usual size (4), so that I can just do it up, and at the same time it doesn’t look too bulky when I leave it open. I would prefer if the arms of the jacket were a little bit more tight though. On zalando.de they still have size 6, but the discount there is only 25%. However, if the fit is not what you want, it makes no sense probably to order it from there (if possible at all from the UK). So, I wish you good luck to find the perfect burgundy jacket sometime 🙂 Regards, Judy
Author
I edited my reply above but it looks like the old one is still visible, so this is what I wanted to say 😀
Hi Judy! I just checked it out, thank you for telling me! I actually ended up returning all 3 of the jackets as none of them were fitting how I wanted, and not the right burgundy. I did love the tuscan red deep burgundy, but the fit of the jacket was just no good for me unfortunately, it didn’t seem to fit like any of my other Balfern I own. I might need to try another size or just hope the Dalby is released in a darker burgundy perhaps. It’s so hard trying to get this right, ha ha.
Edit – They sold out of the 6 it seems on Zalando, such a shame! The 8’s are no good for me.
Edit again – I tried the 34 as that should be a 6 by normal standards, it looks like their conversion is wrong, so fingers crossed! Thank you for telling me!
Ok, now I can see your second edit. Maybe I was wrong about the sizes – I had ordered a EU 34 through Zalando, and I thought this was UK 4… I can look this up later at home, as the UK size is in the jacket 🙂 Sorry for the confusion.
Author
Hi! A EU 32 is a UK 4, I just checked my other Allsaints jacket, good idea, so the 34, which I am hoping they send me, should be a UK 6 and not a 4 like Zalando said. If they actually send a UK 4 then it wont fit, ha ha 🙂
You are right, Lorna! I ordered a 34, and they sent a UK 6. So, you are safe :-))
Sorry to bother you again. I have just checked both zalando sites: the conversion problem is only on the UK site, not on the German site where I ordererd. So, depending which site you ordered from you might actually get the wrong size now… hm. 🙁
Author
I will find out when they send it, ha ha. It’s free returns anyway so hopefully it’s the right one 🙂
Author
They ended up sending me a UK 4, which is too small, so their size conversion is wrong lol. Never mind, I don’t think this one is going to work out for me 🙂
It’s probably a good idea to wait for the perfect one.
BTW: have you ever had the chance to try on the Juno jacket from Allsaints? It looks quite nice, and everything is 30% reduced now even before Black Friday.
Author
I saw! The 30% off is their Black Friday discount, so they never do more than 30% usually. I haven’t tried the Juno before, but it’s always worth giving it a shot. If you could order from my link that would be SO helpful as it’s affiliated https://rstyle.me/n/db3gfvccwp7 but no pressure if you’re not ordering. I’ve actually ordered the Balfern again in a UK 6 this time from Allsaints with the 30% off, so I will see how that goes lol!
ha ha, you’re not one who easily gives up 🙂
I haven’t decided yet whether I should order it. Your link takes me to the UK site, and when I change the currency to Euro it leads me to the German site – so not sure if it works out.
With your experience, would you order this jacket in the same size as Balfern or size down?
PS: there was no reply button to your last answer (12:38pm), so I used this one further up.
Author
Sorry about that! Here’s the German link for you: https://rstyle.me/n/db4t7emype
And no worries on the reply box, it only allows I think 6 or 8 replies so the thread doesn’t get too long or small. Making a new one is fine! 🙂
Love this post. Nice jackets!!!!
xx
Sonia.
http://www.trendsgalleryblog.blogspot.com
Author
Thanks!
Good to know you’re happy and stress-free with your decision dear. Anyway, loving leather jacket collection, can’t go wrong with any of those classics.
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
Author
Thank you!
Nuts cause me problems too, shame because I really like them. I wish I could include them into my diet again. Lovely life update. That’s a very pretty bralette.
Author
Thank you! Yeah I wish I could include them too as I think they’re such an important part of a diet, but it’s such a shame! Do you break out in acne too?
Those sunset photos are stunning and so different to each other! It’s amazing that two such beautiful and contrasting displays can be seen. 🙂
I am so pleased for you that your decision about the blog has had the desired effect on your life. I felt pretty sure that it would do… I think I can detect this is your writing even without you saying so. You definitely have an increased level of bounce and enthusiasm in your writing since you made the changes. 🙂
You are making me hungry with talk of Adam’s cheesecake! That’s my favourite dessert. I’ve never actually made one myself yet though… was it reasonably easy?
There’s not much new in my life. Really it’s just work and sleep now with hardly any free time… Well, some free time but it’s largely in the early hours of the morning as I get home from work at about 1am now and go to bed at 5am…
Author
I know! The sunsets were really so different, but I love that about seeing them as they are all so unique depending on the strength of the sun, the visibility and position of the clouds. It can be magical!
You are right though! I definitely have much more enthusiasm in my writing now, and in life in general to be honest, so I’m glad that’s showing through and you picked up on it 🙂
The cheesecake is SUPER easy! It’s just a no bake, refrigerate one, and we do our own recipe. I use gluten free hob nob biscuits as a base which we smash up with melted butter then put in the fridge to set, and the filling is cream cheese with icing sugar and whatever fruit flavour you want to add, so we added passion fruit, then just set it in the fridge. It’s literally the easiest one! We don’t bother with cream or anything else, ha ha. It’s actually delicious!
Sounds delicious! I will have to give that a try when I have enough time and/or enough space in my little fridge!
Author
Yes! I definitely recommend it!