Author: Samio

How I’m Incorporating Spring Pieces Into My Wardrobe Early

Oh winter weather how I am so over you. I think it’s nice before Christmas and all, you get a bit of snow and everyone is off their heads with excitement ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ and all that…Then January comes along, it seems to get even colder and I am well and truly, completely, over it. Such a positive note to start a blog post on, but who is with me here?

It’s not often I feel obliged to focus an entire blog post solely on the subject of clothes these days (as we know I like to chat about other things on my brain and rather share my outfits in the photos) but it’s actually something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.

I really do think the way you dress can affect your mood and whilst I’m mostly a happy person, I’ve began to feel a bit ‘meh’ about my current outfits of late. Whilst a winter wardrobe can be exciting, there’s only so many times I can go out in the same roll neck and jeans combination before I become utterly unenthused about it. Now this of course is partially my own fault. Whilst the winter wardrobe can become repetitive due to having to opt for those ‘go to’ layers, I also don’t think I’ve helped myself by mostly opting for a selection of muted tones and very safe pieces. Don’t get me wrong, I like my muted tones and easy re-stylers, those are my staples which I will of course pull out year after year but I am now feeling more than ready to inject some colour back into my wardrobe.

Not only am I looking to bring more colour back into my wardrobe but I also want to mix things up with my style a little bit too. I recently did a video all about this, where I planned my style for spring/summer and it actually got me excited about my outfits once again. I however am impatient. I want to wear my spring pieces and I want to wear them now. So that’s exactly what I am going to do.

I got this fabulous polka dot skirt from Finery in the sale recently and as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it. It adds a little bit more fun to my look whilst still being a very ‘me’ piece. I’ve always had a thing for polka dots and it’s a pattern that my wardrobe has seen plenty of throughout the years. I feel a print like this is so versatile and will easily see you right through from winter to spring.

I’ve missed wearing skirts and dresses and I love how a midi skirt like this is actually a great alternative to jeans when you’ve started to feel a bit ‘same-y’ and want to mix things up a bit. From the biker jacket to the boots, these are the usual pieces that I’d wear day to day with jeans, but by swapping out the jeans for a flowing skirt, it gives the outfit a completely different look.

But what about the cold? I hear you say. Well don’t worry, your girl has got you covered, quite literally, because I am all about the layering. You probably already spotted the leggings here in this outfit combo, although I think if you have some knee or thigh high boots, this could also work fabulously, as I’m just sort of faking that look here. And what if one layer of leggings isn’t enough to keep you toasty? Then add a pair of tights underneath those, heck, add a pair of jeans whilst you’re at it too. Who knows what else is underneath there, that’s the beauty of a skirt…and on that note, let’s end this here.

That’s a lot of outfit talk from me for one post but if you couldn’t tell I am very excited for spring/summer and all of the fabulous outfit combinations it will bring with it. Until then, plan ahead, have fun and remember, layering is your best friend! Have you started thinking about your spring/summer outfits yet? Are you impatient like me?

Samio x

Boots – M&S (similar here) | Leggings – M&S | Skirt – Finery (same style here in pink) | Roll Neck – similar here | Biker Jacket – Topshop | Bag – Pinko (similar style here)

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January 24, 2018
Stop Scrolling, Start Doing…

Another New Motto

Recently here on my blog I’ve spoken about mottos to live by in 2018. So far they have been proving to be rather good reminders to keep me on track in day to day life. Well today I have another motto to add to that list and it’s one I’m surprised I haven’t thought of sooner and it’s this – Stop Scrolling, Start Doing.

We’ve all been there. Those periods of procrastination where anything seems more appealing than what we’re actually meant to be doing in that moment. Our phones have become our best friends and our enemies. Whilst in some ways they have made doing many things much easier, they have also become the distraction that eats into our time and stops us getting a lot of other things done.

Last year my scrolling addiction hit an all time phone junkie high. I didn’t even think I spent that much time on my phone but the evidence stated otherwise. (Seriously, go into your phone settings, check the battery section and see how much time you’ve spent on certain apps in the last 24 hours to 7 days…you may be surprised.)

In 2018 realised that I used Facebook a lot as a time filler. Whilst I honestly have no interest in watching videos of dogs doing back flips, or in seeing Janine’s 3D baby scan pictures, I still found myself mindlessly scrolling through. So I deleted the Facebook app off of my phone and despite missing cues to wish Happy Birthday to ‘friends’ I haven’t spoken to or seen in real life for over five years, I realise I really haven’t actually missed much.

Now whilst removing one app from my phone seemed to do the trick, when it came to the likes of Instagram I decided to use sheer willpower alone. And surprisingly it worked…for a time. Actually I weaned myself off of Instagram scrolling surprisingly easy. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I went two whole weeks over the festive period without posting one Instagram image, which is a pretty big deal when it’s actually part of what you do as your job.

Whilst now I’m back to my usual daily posts on Instagram, I still don’t think that should make for an excuse to slip into old habits of spending too much time on there. However I feel myself grabbing for the phone in regular intervals once again. I know what it is, it’s procrastination, plain and simple and whilst my phone is the catalyst, I am still very much culpable.

So I’ve decided it’s time to nip this bad habit in the bud and so I think the best way to attempt to do that is to give myself a friendly little daily reminder, by adding another motto to my list. Let’s see where we end up with these, by the end of the year I might have worked up quite the list.

Do you use your phone to procrastinate? Or are you good at staying focused and ignoring distractions? If you’re the latter, give me your tips please!

Samio x

Boots – Office (similar here) | Jeans – Weekday Ami Jeans (different shade here) | Roll Neck (similar here) | Blazer – Topshop (similar here) | Coat – Jigsaw (sold out, similar here) | Bag – All Saints

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January 17, 2018
Five Things #5 – Creating a Routine and Keeping Up With Content

Welcome back to another instalment of my Five Things series here on my blog and actually my first of 2018. If you didn’t know, this is basically just a post where I chat about five things as they pop into my head, so here goes…

One

I feel like I’m off to a good start this year. January is often a bit of weird one, it’s half filled with motivation and a fresh outlook and half filled with January blues and a desire to emigrate to somewhere with a warmer climate. I’m happy to say that I seem to have beat the January blues this year and whilst I still wouldn’t mind some slightly warmer weather right now, I’m still quite content and feeling really motivated whilst keeping busy with work.

Two

I’m feeling much more work focused this year. I feel like each year sort of falls into a personal theme. For me, last year’s theme was definitely that of travel, exploration and having fun, and whilst this year I still definitely want to enjoy myself (self confessed hedonist over here), I also want to priorities my blog and work a lot more. I’m feeling focused and organised which is a good way to start.

Three

One thing I’m really enjoying right now is my routine. Being self employed it’s often hard to to stick to a particular routine and you have to create your own kind of structure. I think I’m finding this slightly easier right now as it’s January. The party season is behind us and I haven’t had to venture too far for work just yet. So right now I’ve been able to create a routine for myself and I’m actually really enjoying it, not to mention it’s doing wonders for my productivity levels. Of course I know as we move further into the year, this is bound to change and be disrupted, as travel plans arise, events occur and the social calendar hots up once again. For the time being however, I’m fulling making the most out of it and I’m massively appreciating the early nights, productive work days and party-free weekends.

Four

I’m making more of an effort to keep up with my content over Winter this year. Usually my blog posts become somewhat sporadic over the Winter months and style related posts become less frequent. This is of course due to the awful weather we tend to get here in the UK over Winter. This year though I’m making no excuses. As you’ll know if you follow me on Instagram, I’ve got into the habit of shooting self portraits, which is something I’m really enjoying right now. Along with that I’m making more effort to shoot outdoors too, no matter how cold it is. Sharing my day to day outfits is something I miss and so I’m making a concious effort to start doing more of it again.

Five

I met up with Rosie last week and between catching up over coffee and lunch, we managed to take some shots for our blogs (you can check out Rosie’s blog here). At the time I really wasn’t in the mood to shoot my outfit but in the end I’m glad we did because like I said, I have missed snapping and sharing my day to day looks here on my blog. I think I just need to remember that even when I’m not quite in the mood to shoot (especially when it’s cold), I should always just get on with it because I’ll thank myself later.

Coat – Asos | Roll Neck – (similar here) | Cardigan – James Lakeland | Jeans – Asos | Boots – Office (similar here) | Bag – All Saints

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January 15, 2018
3 Mottos To Live By In 2018

We each have our own individual things that we want to achieve and focus on this year, be it wanting to save, reaching those work goals, or working on our own happiness. Whatever your focus, it’s always good to have a little reminder or prompt to go to in order to help keep you on track. That’s where mottos come in handy, you know, those cheesy little lines that we tell ourselves to give ourselves a boost of motivation.

Maybe you don’t have a motto, maybe you already have several that you like to remind yourself of frequently. I myself have drifted in and out of having my own mottos over the years but more recently, I’ve found myself thinking of certain mottos in my head and often they have given me that little motivational push when I’ve needed it most. So in this post I’m sharing three mottos that I intend to live by this year…

It’s okay to think it over but don’t overthink it

This is one of my own quotes that I actually came up with last year, or the year before (I can’t quite remember when). Whilst I agree it’s wise to think something over before going ahead with it, there’s a point when you need to draw a line and make a clear decision, to avoid overthinking it.

It’s funny, I can decide to book a trip, with not much thought or planning, yet I can find myself overthinking something as simple as what I write in an email. This year I aim to put a cap on my overthinking. I’m going to give things a second thought where a second thought is due but I’m going to try and worry less and not overthink things that really don’t need overthinking…So if you’re like me, then this might be a good one to add to your mottos too!

Your dreams don’t work unless you do

I couldn’t do this post without having a really cheesy one in there and admittedly this is one of the most overused, cliché quotes out there. But when it comes down to it, it’s actually a pretty good motto to live by.

Now in terms of dreams I’m talking about things that are existent or within our own realms of possibility. No matter how hard you work, it’s unlikely you’ll end up living on the moon, not in this lifetime at least (if that’s your bag anyway). But the realistic goals we want to achieve and the things we want to do in life, are things that we can work at/or towards, a little bit each day.

I like this motto because it’s simple, to the point and it’s great for someone like me who is a self confessed procrastinator. I almost picture me giving myself a lecture as I’m saying it, ‘girl, stop wasting time, come on, you’re dreams don’t work unless you do’. So maybe this cheesy motto isn’t such a bad one after all.

Jeans – River Island | Jumper – Warehouse (similar here) | Coat – Asos | Scarf – Mint Velvet

Do not strive for perfection. Strive for consistency

This next motto in some ways flows on from the last, in the way that it once again relates to working towards goals. This is another one of my own motto creations and if you watched my most recent YouTube video about how to achieve your 2018 goals, you will have already heard me mention this one.

Firstly, as we all know, perfection is something impossible to strive for, because in reality it doesn’t exist. The problem however, is that many of us quite frequently dismiss this, myself included. For example, if your aim for this year is to eat healthily, by putting pressure on yourself to constantly eat a restrictive ‘ideal’ diet, it’s more likely that you’ll eventually fall off the bandwagon and slip back into old habits. Whereas if you plan to consistently eat well and make better choices but with less pressure to ‘be perfect’ all the time, then it’s something that you’ll likely find easier to maintain and in the long run you’ll actually see the difference and feel the results from.

For me striving for consistency over perfection is something I need to apply more with my work. As a creative (and I’m sure many will be able to relate), it’s easy to have thoughts that our work or what we produce isn’t good enough at times, or that it needs to be better and the reality is that the more we create and share, the more we are able to improve and grow. Improvement comes with practice and time. Whilst things may not be how you want them to be right away, keep at it and in the long run you’ll develop and growth.

So those are three mottos that I’ll be trying to live by this year. They are just friendly reminders to myself to worry less, work hard and be consistent. Maybe some of these were relevant to you, or maybe it even inspired you to think of some mottos of your own. Are you into mottos? If so what’s a motto that you like to try and live by?

Samio x

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January 10, 2018
The Problem With New Year’s Resolutions

New year new…*eats doughnut*. Okay, new year, same old me, but why am I feeling bad for breaking a New Year’s resolution that isn’t even mine!? Maybe it’s because I feel I don’t have enough New Year’s resolutions of my own, so my subconscious has decided I should take on other people’s too. Why only aim to watch less Netflix when you could also aim to get fit, learn a foreign language, get up an hour earlier everyday, learn to mediate, write a book, start a new hobby, take up yoga and learn to play the banjo.

The problem, or more specifically ‘my problem’ with New Year’s resolutions is just that, the fact that it always seems to involve making more than one. Before you know it, you have a list as long as your arm of unachievable standards, that not even Beyoncé could keep up with.

Of course (like many), privately I like to make goals for myself and write them down in hopes of channelling those thoughts and eventually achieving them, but I don’t necessarily wait until the start of a New Year to do so. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I like the idea of starting a fresh and using a New Year as a way to wipe the slate clean and change old habits, or even create new ones. I feel though, that in the age of social media, we hear so much of other people’s goals that it can actually become hard to decipher our own. I do want to join the gym and have the body of a goddess…don’t I?

What I mean is, that sometimes our own real goals can be pushed aside, or overshadowed in place of bigger and more seemingly impressive ones. Not only have standards risen but standards of goals seem to have risen too. It’s not enough to want to make one small life improvement for the year anymore, you’ve got to be aiming for bigger and better and more, or so that’s the idea we are constantly fed.

I’m not saying we should lower our standards, if you have big things on the horizon for 2018, then you go for them with everything within you but if you don’t, that’s okay too. It’s enough being content with where you’re at and focusing on simpler achievements or even solely focusing on one.

If you aim to become fluent in French (which in my eyes is actually a biggie as far as resolutions go), you don’t have to add pressure to your plate by also aiming to learn to juggle, take up mountain biking and starting a cookery blog too, just because that’s what the likes of Malcolm Magnificent says he’s doing (totally just a random example here). There’s nothing worse than putting too much on your plate and in the end finding you can’t keep up with any of it at all.

In the end, my problem with New Year’s resolutions isn’t the idea of goal making itself but the pressure we put on ourselves to achieve those goals, or more specifically, to achieve a multitude of goals. Ultimately we may find ourselves feeling fully content (not to mention less anxious) by focusing on and achieving just one. Just remember what is really important to you, then priorities and take baby steps. Ease off the pressure, focus on one thing at a time and ultimately, you do you.

Wishing you the best of luck with whatever you hope to achieve in 2018, however big, or small.

Samio x

If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, you can search the hashtag #SamiosSelfPortraits to check out more images I’ve shot myself, like these ones.

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January 5, 2018
Back Into Work Mode

Slowly Rebooting Into 2018

When my alarm went off at 6:45 this morning, I wasn’t ready for it. I rolled over and reset it for 7:30am…I just needed 45 more minutes. Then 7:30 came around and I still needed a little bit longer in bed and so this routine continued until I eventually forced myself out of bed at around 9:20am. Being able to ‘sleep in’ is what you might class as a perk of working for yourself but it can also be a pitfall. Being your own boss you really do have to manage yourself and your time.

For someone who is mostly an early riser, 9am is a late get up for me and usually only a luxury I reserve for lazy weekends, or hangovers. It’s safe to say that these holidays have well and truly exhausted me and now I feel like I’m on a slow reboot getting into 2018.

Although it’s the second day of the new year, it actually feels like the first for me today because I’ll be honest, after one very boozy, yet fun NYE, yesterday was a write off for me – as I’m sure it probably was for many others. Today however, is the day that I get back to work after two weeks off and having taken a break from uploading to my social media platforms during that time.

I’d had hopes to get ahead of myself during the holidays but aside from planning content for a brand I’m working with this month, I didn’t get much else done in regards to work throughout the end of December. Sometimes it’s good to completely take time off but when you work for yourself it can often be hard to reboot again, get back to managing tasks, time and working to a schedule.

Once I did manage to drag myself out of bed this morning, after cleaning the house and about a thousand glasses that had still been left over from the New Year’s Eve celebrations (I told you yesterday was a write off), I pushed myself back into work mode.

The lighting has been pretty horrendous today plus it poured it down for a time. Luckily, as I’ve mentioned, lately I’ve gotten into the habit of shooting from home – because honestly if I waited for good weather I’d likely be seriously lacking content. Anyway, I managed to get a decent bit of lighting to capture these self portraits this afternoon. My outfit pretty much reflects my mood today, smart casual but still a bit undone…and as for my shoes I didn’t bother to try and get these in the shot as I’m wearing slippers, as I have been doing for the most part recently.

So here we are, getting back into it, getting into 2018 and getting back into work mode. I hope you’ve had a good start to the year so far. I’m looking forward to having a continued productive week and I hope the very same for you too!

Samio x

Shirt – System of Motion | Jeans – Weekday

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January 2, 2018
Goodbye 2017

A Brief End of Year Farewell

Oh hello there obligatory end of the year blog post. It feels only right that I do one final post before we sign off for the end of 2017. I’ve really, truly got into the festive spirit this year and went into full holiday mode over the past couple of weeks. It’s rare that I switch off completely from my blog, Instagram and YouTube all at once, but that’s what I’ve done these past couple of weeks and to be honest it’s been just dandy. I’ve not thought about content, shooting images and I’ve fallen straight to sleep at night without my head buzzing with ideas. It’s a rarity and I’ve let myself enjoy the period.

I’m only now starting to get that little niggling feeling that’s prompting me to get back into work mode and it’s only natural seeing as we are fast approaching the new year. I still don’t feel entirely ready for it yet though. Time always seems to whizz by quicker than I’d like and before I know it, it’s time to celebrate another New Year’s Eve once again.

On a personal level, this year has been a good year for me. It’s been stressful at times, with our house renovations, it’s been non stop with with all the trips I’ve taken and for the most part it’s been lots of fun. I’ve felt and seen myself evolve a lot, in more ways than one and I’ve been able to do a lot of things that I really wanted to do this year. I’ve proved to myself that I can do the things that I set out to do. I think my motto for this year has become ‘if there’s a will, there’s a way’. Each month has brought along a new adventure, more quality time spent with some of my favourite people and progression in our house renovations – which has been so exciting to see.

I thought I’d share a few of my favourite things about this year to briefly round things up.

Buying my dream pink sofa. I’m going to bring back the most over used acronym of 2012 here and simply say, YOLO.

Eating out all the time. It’s actually bad and something I plan on cutting down on in 2018 but boy, do I love food and I just love eating out and trying new places. If I could even attempt to add up the amount of times I’ve eaten out this year, I’d probably be sick, so I won’t even try. Lets just say, it’s been a lot and I’ve enjoyed every overindulgent mouthful.

I’ve created some of my favourite creative/lookbook videos yet. Two of which you can see here and here.

Towards the end of the year I upped my photography game and finally began to learn how to edit photos. I’ve also got back into taking self portraits, which has been a great way to help me practice and I’m loving the creative process of it.

I got to spend so much quality time with some of my most favourite people…and that leads me onto my next point…

I went on 11 trips abroad in 10 months, which was sort of my new years resolution, if you can call it that. It’s been one of my favourite and most fun achievements as I got to tick off new countries and I also got to go on many of these trips with some of the people I’m closest to, which has just been amazing. I actually dedicated a whole video to this, which you can watch here.

Basically, I’ve had a pretty good year. For the most part what’s made it good is just enjoying day to day life; Getting to work more on creative projects and as a blogger which is something I love, spending time with friends, going out and having fun and getting to enjoy the home that Damien and I have been working on for so long. I feel grateful for what this year has brought and the memories that it will leave me with. So I’ll say goodbye 2017. Thanks for reading and I’ll catch up with you next year!

Samio x

Thanks to Onyi for helping me capture these shots

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December 31, 2017
Shooting In An Ugly Space & The Golden Hour

Making The Most Out Of A Space

I remember before Damien and I moved into our house, I used to get frustrated with the space I had to work in. When it came to shooting content for my blog, I would often have ideas in mind of the images I wanted to create and that didn’t quite seem to fit with my surroundings. Obviously doing street style shots has always been an option and something that I still love to do today, but when the weather doesn’t permit (which can be more often than not here in England), shooting indoors becomes the only option.

In my last blog post I talked about how I’ve been getting back into shooting self portraits, in order to improve my photography and editing skills and it’s something that I have been well and truly getting stuck into. I’ve been shooting almost daily in fact, when I can fit in the time and it’s true what they say, that practice makes perfect. I’m seeing my skills improving with each shoot and edit.

The problem with constantly using my space to shoot in however, is the fact that I’m running out of it. The idea of this ‘accidental project’, let’s call it, is that I want to push myself creatively and improve my skills when it comes to shooting and editing images for my blog and so I don’t want to repeat the same type of image over and over.

Whilst our living room and kitchen space have been come together quite nicely, as we near the end of our house renovation, the rest of our house is still somewhat more of a work in progress. That being said, it actually occurred to me that it’s still possible to make the most out of any space. With this also being about me getting creating, working with the unfinished, or ‘ugly spaces’, pushes me to do just that.

I guess it’s easy to capture pretty or aesthetically pleasing shots, when the location does most of the hard work for you but when working in a space that is a down right shambles (like my current hallway situation for example), it forces you to get a bit more creative.

I really managed to utilise the golden hour for these shots and as the sun shone through into my hallway, the lighting was just beautiful. As I’m someone who is still very much practicing here, I’m not a pro when it comes to lighting and how best to capture it, but I know that as a simple rule, natural lighting is great and during the golden hour (just before the sun sets). It’s a prime time for that gorgeous golden lighting.

Tripod to the ready and I quickly set myself up ready to capture my shots in the brief window I had before the perfect sunlight finally set. Whilst capturing my outfit and working with the stairs, I also had to capture a few close up beauty shots because the lighting was just too juicy not to take advantage of. The way the lighting and shadows fell, it really framed the shots nicely and considering this is an ugly space, I’m really happy with how these shots turned out.

As for my outfit, because it would be rude not to talk a bit about it whilst I’m here (this is primarily a style blog after all), I’ve pretty much been living in the same old favourites recently. I guess that’s why they call them staple pieces, because they are the items in your wardrobe that bring all the pieces together and that you wear the most. Well this is an entire outfit of staple pieces right here. The roll neck I purchased last winter from Tesco. I was doing a food shop when I spotted it and it’s been a go to item in my winter wardrobe ever since. The jeans need no introduction because they are a pair of my most loved and most worn (frequently featured here on the blog), from & Other Stories…and Converse, well they need no explanation really do they.

Oh and if you’re interested, this is a hair and makeup look I’ve been wearing a lot recently (mainly to protect my hair during the Winter months) and I’ve just done a get ready with me video on it, which you can watch here. Anyway, that’s all for today. Ciao for now!

Samio x

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Check out the hashtag #SamiosSelfPortraits on Instagram to see more of my recent self portraits. 🙂

December 13, 2017
Improving My Craft & Shooting Myself

Back To Beginnings

In my earlier days of blogging I used to take quite a lot of my photos myself. Of course this was nothing new and I’m pretty sure you’d be hard pressed to find a fashion/beauty blogger who hasn’t (at least at one point), resorted to shooting themselves. The blogging life isn’t always as straight forward as it may appear and back in the days when I didn’t even have a tripod, I remember precariously balancing my camera on piles of shoe boxes and books, before hitting the self timer button, just to get the shot.

Obviously things have moved on a lot since then, for myself and for other bloggers alike. Photography equipment has improved, (I’ve since invested in a tripod, thankfully) and everyone seems to have massively upped their game.

These days many fashion, lifestyle and beauty blogs are just as much about the beautiful imagery as they are the written content/information. I myself enjoy both. As much as I love a good piece of written content, or an informative piece, I do love the impact certain imagery can make within a blog post too.

Earlier this year I made it an aim of mine to learn how to edit photos and become better acquainted with my camera settings. I’m going to be honest, I went years using SLRs, not really knowing what I was doing with them (oh hey there auto function).

Damien has always known how to use a camera and so adopted the role of my street style photographer (aka Instagram husband) early on and when I’m out with friends and decide to shoot my outfit, I’ll often just (now I know how), get the settings right, then pass them the camera and direct them where to shoot.

Whilst their help has been invaluable, especially as blogging has evolved into a job for me, I’ve recently been drawn to the idea of getting back into the habit of shooting myself again. I think this comes down to an amalgamation of things; One being the limited hours of daylight now it’s winter, leaving only the weekends available for Damien to take my shots, which hasn’t been happening much because we’re currently having the busiest weekends ever. Two, wanting to continuously improve on my editing skills but not having enough photos to edit. Three, being inspired by my super talented friend Onyi who takes self portraits of herself and her husband Craig, every single day (check out her daily photos here, they are seriously amazing). Four, as I mentioned in my previous post ‘Inspired by home’, I am continuously inspired by my home at the moment and I’m constantly seeing different areas that I think would be cool to shoot in.

This beautiful Free People dress arrived in the post on Saturday morning and whilst Damien was busy painting, I took the opportunity to do a quick shoot in our living room. For these shots I set the tripod up super high and angled the camera downwards to get a more aerial style shot. I really wanted to show the elegance of the dress and I think I managed to capture it quite well.

So right now I’m really finding enjoyment in taking self portraits and improving my photography skills. I’ve started using the hashtag #SamiosSelfPortraits on Instagram, so if you’re interested in seeing more of the photos I shot of myself, you can check them out all in one place there.

Samio x

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December 11, 2017
Things That Scared Me That I’m Glad I Did

It’s funny how some of the best things in life can come from taking a leap, diving into the unknown and doing something that ultimately scares the crap out of you. I’ve had my fair share of these moments in my life and I’m pretty sure there’ll be many more to come but for today’s post I’ve whittled it down to a few…

That First Date That Turned Out To Be The One

I still remember walking up to Damien’s car when he came to pick me up on our first date. The reflection on the windscreen obstructed my view and oh my was I nervous – would I still fancy the guy I was about to get into the car with? Having only met the evening before on a night out, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been more than a bit tipsy that evening. Sure I’d fancied him then but did my drinking goggles elude me? I had no way to be sure, this was before the days of easily accessible social media profiles, no prior stalking had been done. I didn’t really know much about him and so of course my mind raced a little…what would we talk about? Would we have stuff in common? Would we enjoy each other’s company? Would we still fancy each other? Would there be a spark?

I got into the car and it was instantly clarified that yes, I definitely did fancy him and once we got chatting I found we did have things to talk about and that yes, there was a spark. Now don’t worry, I’m not about to make you do a mini sick and tell you that it was love at second (sober) sight and that we lived happily ever after…but we did pretty much hit it off right away. Once we started dating, that was more or less it and then the rest (as they say) was history. So don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the full soppy love story today but that’s how things started and how basically something that initially had me shit scared, turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life and I’m so glad I went on that first date (n’aaaaawww). Okay enough of that.

Boots – Asos (similar here) | Skirt – Topshop (similar here) | Jumper – Asos (similar here) | Coat – Mint Velvet (similar here) | Bag – All Saints

Going To Live In Barcelona For A Month

‘Wait, what!? How is getting to spend a month in one of the coolest European cities, scary?’ I hear you say…Well, let me divulge…I remember being on a modelling job in Majorca when I got an email from my agency manager saying that an agency in Barcelona was interested in me and if I’d like to go over and model there for the summer, once I returned from my shoot in Majorca.

I’d been to Barcelona before, so I already knew I loved the city, however I’d be lying if I said going there for an indefinite amount of time and living in a model apartment with people I’d never met, didn’t leave me feeling a little aprehensive. I love to travel but I also like my home comforts and some of the stories I’d heard about model apartments in the past had been a little more than off putting. I also thought about missing Damien but luckily we’ve never been the type of couple who need to be attached at the hip 24/7 (and I always think it’s important to also do your own thing, even when in a relationship). In the end I decided to just go for it, because if you don’t try something, you never know right?

It turned out to be one of the best times of my life. Initially I was going for two weeks but as I started to get optioned for jobs, my stay extended. I’m not going to lie, on my first day I thought I’d made the wrong decision and this was the real moment of ‘fear’ for me. Attempting to navigate the city whilst trying to make it to a load of castings, whilst also being put in a room with a girl who couldn’t speak English, all on the first day, was a little overwhelming. But quickly after, myself and the girls in my apartment all settled in together. My room mate and I soon learnt to communicate in our own way and she was actually the best roomie I could of asked for, not only that but the girls we shared the flat with were great too.

It was so much fun getting to know and spending time with people from different parts of the world with completely different backgrounds to my own and we quickly developed friendships that made it feel like we’d been friends for years. I also got booked on two really fun commercials whilst I was there, one of which took me to Madrid to shoot. So all round it was a pretty incredible experience, it took me out of my comfort zone, I had so much fun and I made some great friendships in the process.

Buying A House

I’ve always enjoyed my freedom and for a long time I saw buying a house as something that epitomised the opposite to that. I enjoy to travel, I enjoy going out (quite a lot) and I enjoy being able to do as I please to put it quite simply. In my head buying a house threatened to put an end to all of that because it just sounded so…grown up!

I hadn’t ever imagined buying a house in my early 20’s and I’ll be honest, it was Damien’s idea before it was mine. Initially to me the idea was scary, it was adulating on a whole other level and I was just about getting my head around how to do my tax returns (seriously that is the biggest bane of my adult life).

It wasn’t until the apartment we were going to rent fell through (due to the landlord deciding to sell it instead), that I started to think about things differently. Although we continued to look for somewhere else to rent, the seed had already been planted and the idea of owning our own place had began to grow in my mind. Suddenly something that had initially scared me, quickly became something that filled me with excitement, not only that but it started to make far more sense too.

Don’t get me wrong, buying a house isn’t easy. Finding a house in the location you want, within your budget is a hard enough task alone, and then we decided to add to that stress by buying a house that needed completely refurbishing (biggest project of our lives). But I honestly couldn’t be happier with our decision. It’s certainly not stopped us living life and I travel more now than I ever did before, so if my past self could have seen into the future it would have definitely made her change her mind sooner.

So that’s it, that’s just a little bit of insight into a few moments in my life that scared me but then turned out to be things I’m really glad I did. On reflection, I realise that many of these moments have shaped my relationships, who I am and where I am today. Further still, I’ve come to realise that what’s actually scarier than when I took on these experiences in the first place, is the thought of what things would be like now if I’d never had them at all…

What’s something that initially scared you but in the end you were really glad you did?

Samio x

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November 30, 2017