Tag: life update

Weekend of Wonder

Hello again

Coming back to this space is like reuniting with an old friend; at first it feels like a lifetime has passed, there’s a worry that things won’t quite be the same but then you get chatting and it feels like you never even had time apart.

Well here I am, back with my second blog post after my little hiatus. I was actually really looking forward to making writing a blog post the first thing on today’s to do list, which is a good sign that the time is right and it feels good to officially be back in this little corner of the internet.

I’m easing into my Monday morning with a much needed coffee, whilst the therapeutic sound of rain bouncing off the kitchen velux’s is this morning’s soundtrack. I think it will be a day of slowly working through the to do list whilst swigging copious amounts of pipping hot tea.

An autumnal atmosphere is in the air and I’m feeling the shift in seasons in more ways than one. Lots of changes have been slowly taking shape in my life over these past several weeks and months and I feel like I’m now entering into a new chapter, or I guess you could even call it, ‘life season’.

Over the weekend I celebrated my hen do with a bunch of my favourite women. I was surprised with a fun filled weekend staying in a house in the country side (which also impressively had a hot tub and pool). We did everything from life drawing (such a funny and brilliant hen do idea), a cocktail making masterclass (I can now make an awesome Pornstar Martini), karaoke (although dare I say it I feel asleep for a period on the first night, so missed that bit), lots of drinking (obviously, and hence my impromptu nap on the first night), dancing, skinny dipping (I’ll say no more on that one) and there were more comedy moments than I can count. We laughed, we cried, we had deep chats and nostalgic moments. I got to have most of my favourite women all together in one space and it was truly wonderful.

I’m now sat here feeling incredibly grateful for such a wonderful hen weekend and the amazingly fun, caring, talented, hilarious and crazy women I have in my life. I promise to stop gushing shortly, but I just can’t stop smiling looking back at all of the photos and the videos from this past weekend (many of which will not be making it to the internet). I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better hen weekend and it’s one I’ll never forget.

So What Now?

Well I’m sat here nursing the remnants of my lukewarm coffee, which is a clear sign that it’s time to pop the kettle on and make a start on my first cup of tea of the day…oh and yes, there’s that whole, getting married thing too. There will be more to come on that soon enough. But for now, I’ll leave you with some images of me looking very bridal, in the white dress and veil that I wore over the weekend. As I said over on my Instagram, don’t let these images fool you, this was my one and only sophisticated moment of the weekend, and I did in fact spill not one, but two pink G&T’s down this dress before I even arrived at the location for the hen do. So if I look at all classy, well, I really wasn’t.

Ciao for now.

Samio x

Images shot by Onyi and edited by me.

September 9, 2019
Where Have I Been?

An Explanation

Where have I been…where have I not been is the question. Well, when I last posted here on my blog (gulps) in April, I was frantically putting together the finishing touches on a sponsored post that had been approved by a brand just hours before I was due to go away. I pretty much hit publish just before dashing off in a taxi to the airport, ready to set off on a flight to Australia…now this seems like the part in the story where I tell you I then went travelling for 6 months, hence the long absence here on my blog. But in fact I was away for just 3 weeks in total on that particular trip. No short vacation by any means, but not quite the impressive world travelling excuse which would have succinctly explained me abandoning my blog for what feels like a lifetime (and could actually be classed as such by internet standards).

I’m not quite sure why I let the time pass by for as long as I did, or even how for that matter. I call myself a blogger and I work doing this weird and wonderful online creative thing (call it being an influencer or whatever you wish) full time, but I’ve felt quite guilty that I’ve not actually been doing, well, what my job title suggests. I guess things have changed and evolved in this industry a lot more than I wish to fully acknowledge at times. As we all know, Instagram has somewhat taken over the blogosphere and so, many people have abandoned their blogs (or these days not even needed to start one in the first place), in favour of more frequent short form content. There’s been a real shift in the tide and I guess I’ve sort of floated along with it, without really realising. I get that things change and we do have to move with the times but I never wanted to leave my blog behind completely, gathering dust, and in fact I hate that I’ve pretty much done what I said I would try so hard not to.

Before I went full time with this thing, I don’t think I quite realised the scope of work that my job role would come to entail. I’ve talked before about the juggling act which this job and many similar self employed jobs require. A lot of the time you’re learning on the job and you’re soon forced to become well versed in roles that you may previously have had little interest in, but are required to do in order to keep your business going (especially if you’re a one man band). I really can’t complain, as I feel so incredibly grateful that I get to work for myself doing something I really love. This is just a way of giving some sort of explanation to both myself and this here space on the internet, as to why I’ve been away for so long.

Moving Forward

I’ve realised that as my business evolves and my work continues to expand, I need to allow myself to let go of certain things. You can pretty much say that’s what I’ve done by no longer posting here, but this has just made me realise that whilst something has to give, this doesn’t necessarily have to be it. It hasn’t been a concious decision to stop writing and sharing my long winded musings here, but after how overwhelmed I found myself getting with my work last year, I must admit that putting zero pressure on myself to post here in recent months has been one less thing to worry about.

The thing I’ve come to realise though are the things that I value most with what I do, and time is one of them. I’m now finally coming to terms with allowing myself to let go of certain responsibilities so that I have more time to focus on the things I actually want to, like my blog, and let go of the other things that I’ve maybe been holding onto for the sake of holding onto them. I think that the comfort zone you create for yourself can be rather deceptive, it has you believing that you’re exactly that ‘comfortable’, but maybe you’ll find a more suited position seated around a different table, you’ll just never know until you take a moment to come out of your ‘comfy’ spot and switch to a different chair.

And of course it wouldn’t be a Samio blog post unless there was a rather abstract metaphor squeezed in somewhere there, so good job I got one in right at the end. So on that note, that is the end of my blog post, and hopefully the (re-)start of many more.

Ciao for now.

Samio x

Images shot by Carrie and edited by me.

September 5, 2019
A Big Little Life Update – The Proposal Story

As we stepped out of the doors of Kuala Lumpur Airport, I felt the warm, sticky heat hit me and I knew I had finally arrived on our long awaited holiday.

I was somewhat inappropriately dressed for the weather. Having just stepped off the second flight in what had been around a 16 hour journey in total, I wore sweat pants and a cosy jumper, which felt less cosy and more suffocating in the morning heat.

We took an hour long taxi ride to the centre of Kuala Lumpur, where we finally arrived at our hotel for the night.

As we stepped into the foyer of our hotel and took the lift up to the reception, I immediately felt underdressed. I knew Damien had booked us into a nice hotel for the night but this place was quite a bit fancier than I had expected.

We had an early check in into our room (thank goodness!) and as we stepped inside I was instantly wowed by the views, not only from our room but also from the bathroom, as the bathtub was host to the most incredible views of the city.

I was impressed, to say the least…and yet I was still completely oblivious of what was yet to come. You see, we’d planned our trip to Malaysia to go and stay with Damien’s best friend who lives out there. It had initially been my idea for us to get a hotel one night to stay in the city, and so when Damien said he’d gone ahead and booked us somewhere, I had no suspicions whatsoever.

Damien had told me he’d booked us in at the restaurant on the top floor for dinner that evening, and I was more than happy to spend the night at the hotel as I wanted to make the most of it.

At dinner Damien mentioned wanting to go outside to take photos from the roof terrace after we’d eaten. Then after we’d finished our meal he brought up wanting to go outside again. I was nursing a large glass of red wine at this point and didn’t quite understand why he was being so persistent. I could see he was eager to go outside and supposedly get a shot of the view, so whilst I was slowly enjoying my wine, I suggested he go on without me. He was insistent that I go outside with him and he then said he wanted me to come out with him so that I could take a photo of him in front of the view. This was unusual for Damien as he never asks for photos but I didn’t think much of it (as the views were amazing), and so I gulped down the last of my wine and we headed outside onto the roof terrace.

The views of the city were even more incredible at night. We were completely alone outside and so it was nice to just take in the views together. I finally took that picture of Damien that he’d insisted we come outside for and then he offered to take a photo of me. We switched positions and as Damien began to take some photos of me he got down very low and at this point I was thinking ‘why is he taking a picture at such a ridiculously low angle when he’s meant to be getting the view in the background’. In that moment he put down the camera and produced a little box from his pocket, which he then opened and presented to me as he said the words ‘will you marry me’…

I was completely taken by surprise. And of course, my answer was yes. I think for the next hour or so I was in a daze. I kept looking down at the ring and couldn’t quite believe we had just got engaged. I’d never even looked at engagement rings before so it felt strange to now be wearing one. It couldn’t be more perfect though and I honestly mean it. Apparently he’d been planning it for months and I’d been completely unaware. I won’t go into every little detail but he had the ring custom made and every little thought that went into it made it perfect.

And now we’re engaged. It’s now one whole month since that magical night in Malaysia and I’m still getting my head around whether it’s best to say fiancé, boyfriend or partner. I’ve never been someone who’s longed for their wedding day or been eager to get a ring on their finger. I’d just always thought since meeting Damien that we’d be together and that was it, and that is how it’s been, thus far. Being with someone who’s company you never tire of and you have such fun with means the time really does fly. Some may say it’s long overdue but I say it’s worth the wait as it’s just another chapter in our ever growing story and I couldn’t be happier.

Samio x

November 22, 2018
A Life Update & Some New Jeans

Welcome Back

It’s been well over a month since I last shared an outfit post here on my blog and whilst things have been pretty quite over here lately, behind the scenes things have been quite the opposite. After a bit of a lull I feel I’m finally back in my creative zone.

Whilst I haven’t been very active here, if you’re subscribed to my YouTube channel you’ll see I’ve been sticking to my schedule over there at least. I’ve really gotten back into it lately and I’m continuing to feel inspired to keep making new and creative content. As well as working on my own stuff I’ve also been busy creating content for some really cool brands and it’s been so much fun to take on new challenges as work takes me down new and exciting routes. Along with that, modelling work, birthday celebrations, events and continued house renovations I’ve been keeping pretty busy…But, I don’t plan on neglecting my blog for too much longer (she says for the 100th time). If you’re familiar with my space over here, you’ll notice it’s had a little bit of a revamp and long overdue too. I couldn’t spend all that time doing up our house and not give my little blog some T.L.C too…

So here it is. The new and improved samio.co.uk – I hope you like it! I could waffle on about all the things you can expect to come from me over here in the new year but I expect much of the same and more…and hopefully I’ll get back to being a little more consistent too!

Onto The Outfit Post

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Anyway, enough with the rambling life updates. You’ll see I’ve traded in my well loved and used Whistles tote bag with a little black All Saints number. I’ve had it for around two months now and I have to say that I love it. It’s my new everyday bag, so expect to be seeing this one alongside lots more outfits to come.

The jeans are new, sort of. Yep, you may have spotted I’ve gone for a pair of Farleigh jeans AGAIN, this time in a lighter stonewash. Now I have three different (the same) pairs of jeans that I can wear on repeat. I do tend to live in my Fairleigh slim fit mom jeans as you may already know.

And the shoes…I featured these in an Autumn Asos haul over on my YouTube, as I was updating my wardrobe for autumn with a few much needed essentials. These boots made it onto the keep pile and you guessed it, I’ve been wearing them a lot. They are also really comfortable to walk around in.

That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed this somewhat rambling life update/outfit post and don’t forget to check back again soon. I plan not to leave it so long next time!

Samio x

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December 14, 2016