2019.. READY!! / BREAKING BAD HABITS

A habit is a routine of behaviour that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.
Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form. But...it is possible to form new habits through repetition.

Hello beauties, hope you all had an amazing Christmas with the family. For me it was just perfect. Christmas morning I was smiling from ear to ear, just to see the excitement and pure joy on Rhea's face as she opened her presents. However, I think I had a little too much cake and might have gained a couple pounds. But we will work on that lol.

Now are we ready for the new year. This is the time we start to make resolutions, if not sooner. However, by the end of February (if that long) we forget about these resolutions and back to our regular routine, possibly bad habits.

Do you ever find yourself standing at the refrigerator when you are not hungry?... I know I have.. I would just be there looking for God knows what. have you ever reached for that one food in the cupboard that is guaranteed bad for you? Have you found yourself biting your nails without consciously knowing? cracking joints? Playing with your hair when speaking? Snacking late at night? Overthinking? ( which most of the time makes you unhappy and drags you). These are all bad habits... and how can we set our resolutions and accomplish them if we cant get over our bad/unhealthy habits. Personally, one of my many unhealthy habit is that I cant watch a movie without eating. I can literally snack throughout a full 2 hours movie, I mean chocolate, popcorn, yogurt.. you name it. I just  wouldn't get full. thank God my metabolism is not too slow or I would be as big as a barrel haha.

Change doesn't happen overnight. You need to love yourselves enough too make some of these changes. don't wait until your favourite jeans is not able to button to make that change.

Here are three crucial steps I believe we should bare in mind when we decide to change or get rid of a bad habit.

Look at what you are getting out of it. I mean how can we actual accomplish our new year resolutions of being fit, or loosing that bit of extra belly fat if we cant break that bad habit of binging/ snacking on unhealthy food. How can we manifest that idea if we cant break the bad habit of procrastinating. How can we happier if we cant break that bad habit of overthinking.

Take baby steps if/when necessary. We don't need to have 3 or 4 things to change, just start off with one. Devote all your energy to that one habit, and once its on auto pilot then move on to the next challenge. knock them down one by one. Even if you cant follow through 100% right away with a whole new habit, turn something new into a habit, example, if you find yourself overthinking a situation, don't let this get to you. sometimes we overthink things and make the situation worst and make ourselves believe things that aren't really true. instead, turn on your favourite up beat music and sing along.. dance like no one is watching haha, that way you will reinforce that "this is my new habit". If you missed your daily gym workout because you have a meeting/appointment, why not just squeeze in a little 15 minutes session at home. So you still feel that drive to work-out... baby steps.

Lastly, accept that we will sometimes falter. We all do. Habits don't change overnight, it will take time. As I said before sometimes we ourselves are not even conscious of these bad habits. But once we identify them  change is possible. Failure is just as important as being successful when trying to improve. Especially when it comes to changing bad habits. The key is to not just give up, but regroup, and analyze what went wrong and why. Its not easy!!

let me share with you one of our experience we had a few months ago. So Rhea had been using a dummy from she was only a couple months old, and after age 3 I tried to get her to give it up. It was an impossible task. so one week I was off from work and I decided this is the week. OMG... for the entire week its was like she was coming off drugs. she walked in her sleep, cried in her sleep. Sue me but I had to give it back to her. However, a couples months went by and she started loosing teeth so often, so I came up with an idea. I told her when the tooth fairy came for that specific tooth, he will take the dummy as well, and if she used another dummy then that special tooth wouldn't grow back. Surprisingly the tooth fairy came, took the dummy and the special tooth and up until now Rhea has never asked for that dummy again. lol.. its was only a bad habit, she didn't need it. She thought she couldn't do without it, but look how easy it was when she knew the set her mind not to use it anymore. Bad habits are like a comfy bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.

So...Lets take back control of our lives, break those bad habits and get on top of our 2019 resolutions. As I said before, bad habits is why most of our resolutions are forgotten by the end of January. So lets try our best to stay motivated and consistent for all of 2019.

hope you all have a happy and progressive new year. Manifest all your dreams into reality, and of course we need to put that work in. don't be held back by negativity, procrastination or toxic friendships. cut them all loose and tell yourselves that this year you can be everything you want to be and more.

"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence, then, is not an act, but a HABIT".

Thanks for stopping by, good night and good morning.

Sending loads of love your way …

Happy Happy New Yearrr…..!!

xo  Patrice

THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS/ CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN JAMAICA

What does Christmas means to you?

Every home has their own meaning, based on how you grew up, your religion or simply what you choose to do. For me and my family it means sharing, generosity and showing love, whether it be immediate family, friends or a random stranger.

As a family it means participating in the magic that children find in Christmas. Writing letters to Santa Claus, presents from Santa Claus the night before Christmas, putting out carrot for the reindeers,  and the list goes on. Without family and people that we love Christmas would just not be the same.

As a family we don't assign the meaning of Christmas with religion. However, as Jamaicans we do have certain Christmas traditions that we experienced and grew up on, and we try to revive these annually in our home even though we are in the UK.

Growing up in Jamaica Christmas was all about sharing with neighbours. My grandmother would bake our tradition Christmas fruit cake. she usually soak mixed fruits in wine (Jamaican Red Label Wine) months before she actually bakes the cakes, and although she wouldn't drink alcohol on a regular day, her cakes always have a tip of the Jamaican Wray and Nephew Rum.

she would bake maybe six cakes and shared these with friends, church members and neighbours. In the end we would only be left with one cake at home, and whenever we get a visitor over the Christmas holiday, they would be offered a slice.

Now having a little family of my own, we try to do the same . My husband and I enjoys baking together. Of course... he takes all the credit, when he barely does anything haha... just kidding he loves baking as much as I do. Rhea's job in the baking process is to lick the spoons and bowl lol.

You know its Christmas in Jamaica when you cant go half an hour with hearing a series of fireworks (Jamaicans call it fire crackers lol). Its exciting, you could never forget its Christmas lol. In terms of decorations, not everyone was fortunate enough to buy lights or decorate a tree. My grandmother usually have us blow balloons and hang red and green Christmas decorations all over the living room. Its another tradition to clean the house from top to bottom at Christmas time lol. You could find some painting, cleaning windows.. the whole works haha. Our parents bought new curtains and bedding. So the house would smell fresh and new on Christmas morning.

As kids we didn't grow up believing in Santa Claus (hope Rhea doesn't read this blog), we knew that our moms would buy us pretty clothes haha. I remember one Christmas I got those sneakers/trainers that lights up when I was walking. Kids were always excited about new clothes and going in town on Christmas evening. There was always so much to see, the excitement was real.

I especially loved all the dancing lol.

There's SO much to tell about a Jamaican Christmas, but this blog post might be way too long and I wouldn't want to bore you. To sum it all up Christmas in Jamaica was fuunnn. People never really exchange presents, they would more share their cake or Christmas dinner. It was all about being generous and showing love. 

So... for me Christmas means home; love; family; sharing; happiness and fun.

Do we share similar Christmas traditions? leave reply in the comments below.

Merry Christmas hope you and your families have one full of love, fun and laughter. 

Sending loads of love your way, thanks for stopping by..

good night and good morning xx

Patrice 

TOP THREE FAVOURITE PLACES TO SHOP FOR KIDS / GIRLS AUTUMN OUTFIT

The most powerful way to teach a child how to be confident and love themselves, is to let him/her see their parents do the same.

Hello my darlings. Hope you had a lovely weekend. Now, lets talk kids fashion. Its so fun to be able to dress up Miss Rhea, its like dressing a doll, and shes always up for it. when I got pregnant I prayed it would be a girl cause I wanted to have a mini me, but somewhat, a better version of me, and Rhea is just that. She loves fashion, dancing and pretty things, just like mommy haha.

As you can see in these pics she lost her front tooth lol, super cute right haha. It fell out like two days ago and somehow she loves it. she cant stop looking in the mirror and smiling. this girl is something else...lol.

I love shopping for her,its fun. as I said before its like dressing a doll. But she always want us to have similar clothes. Hence, I like to purchase clothes for her in shops that have stylish kids clothes, We don't need to dress our little girls like their 18 for them to be cute and stylish

Here are three of my favourite places to get some stylish kids outfits.

• Zara - They have never disappointed me, always deliver in style, fit and quality. Super-fast delivery, with easy and free returns. Did I mention the quality. Jumpers and sweatshirts are soft and warm. very child friendly. plus you can expect a wide variety of autumn clothing. Lovely coats/jackets whether for school, a special event or those rainy autumn days.

• Mango kids - Great quality pieces, a perfect place to shop for those fashionable kids outfits. I find that they have  very unique pieces, can put together to make very stylish autumn fits for our little ones. Rhea is wearing a faux fur waistcoat from their collection.

• River island - Perfect for those mini and me outfits. River Island makes duplicates of most of the women clothing for the kids collection. again, very fashionable and fun site to shop for your minis, girls/boys.

Although they are little, they are fun fierce and fashionable, just like mommy and daddy.

I always encourage  Rhea to be herself, and love herself no matter how different she is. Different is good. she can be reserved, but when we start a fashion show or listening music, she is a totally different person. love her to bits, such a character.

Share in the comments below where are your favourite places to shop for your kids. Maybe I can get some new ideas and gives some of your favourites a try.

Children are great imitators, so give them something great to imitate.

Thank you for stopping by, and don't be afraid to share my post with friends. 

sending loads of love your way ..

Patrice xx

MIXING PRINTS

Hello my beauties, hope you had an amazing weekend and is fully prepared for the week ahead. It's the first week in December, and I cant wait to decorate our Christmas tree. I absolutely love this time of year. definitely not loving the cold weather... But anyway, lets talk fashion..

When we speak about tricky trends, we put prints right up there with socks and sandals. When I was younger growing up in Jamaica, people would literally laugh at you if you wore plaid and stripes together lol. I think its just up until a couple years ago, I've seen a few people on Instagram and in magazines in outfits with two and sometimes three different prints, and I was like yeahh… but you know sometimes you see others rocking an outfit and you wonder if you could pull it off. yup.. surprising I came to fall in love with the idea of mixing prints. SO..I started trying it out myself. Like if I'm wearing a brown plaid coat I would throw on a stripe or polka dot scarf with a bit of brown on it as well. I believe matching the colours and not the prints is the way to get this right. If the colours look good together, more often than not the prints will look good together as well. It's really a matter of personal preference.

With that said you can never go wrong with black and white and leopard prints, they go with everything. When in doubt, polka dot and stripes always work.

Here are a few tips to consider when trying out mixing yours prints, so we don't look like we got dressed in the dark.. haha.

• Vary the sizes and scales of your prints. So large floral would go well with small stripes.
• Leopard, stripes and black and white are amazing neutrals when mixing prints.
• Go for simpler prints if you are not sure. Busy prints are great but can sometimes be tricky to pair.
• Pick two different prints that share a single colour.
• Break up the look with solids. If prints-on-prints is just too much or you, just layer in some solid-coloured clothes or accessories  to calm things down a bit.

Once you get the hang of it, it wont seem that crazy. you can go minimal or you can go all the way. Then again, life is too short to wear boring clothes, right? step out of the box a little and try out those prints. Freedom lies in being bold. Nothing says bold and confident like mixing those beautiful prints. my favourite so far is polka dot and stripes with floral. I tried to get the perfect shot beside this floral piece so you guys would get the idea. lol. 

I will be posting on Mondays from now on. I'm finding it a bit of a challenge to do the shoot and post on the same day. So look out for my post on Mondays, or you could just subscribe so you will be notified as soon as a new post is up. Thanks in advance xx

Would you or do you mix your prints, reply in the comments below.

"Be bold, push yourself, and get comfortable being uncomfortable"

Thank you for stopping by, good night and good morning 

sending loads of love your way xx

Patrice