3 years later and here we are | Holy Chic

Today is special. And that's because 3 yrs ago today I decided to start this blog and make a fool of myself on the Internet. Now I can't quite recall the reasoning behind doing so but whatever it was I am sure as hell happy I did it. (Let's be real it was probably Zoella). I seem to have missed this date all too often and I have had my ups and downs with this blog. From 1 to two to a name change to a redesign, you name it, I've probably done it

But here it is Holy chic in 2016 with its own little space on the Internet.  Happy birthday little blog. Thanks for everything and here's to many more years of blogging to come ;)

Update time again! | Holy Chic

 Hello, its me :)

(I’m sorry I know we need to leave that joke behind in 2015 but I just had to).

Cue the long awaited update.

Making time to blog

This is most definitely my weakest point. My problem is that I set myself too many tasks for the day or even week and I end up not completing even half of them. And I think with the blogging community, there is such an underlying pressure to maintain this constant presence and being active at all times of the day. It’s not just the post, It’s the tweets and the interactivity and working on the next post. It is a constant cycle that honestly, is rather draining.

I’m not at the top of my game…YET!

Okay so I don’t have the best content, best layout or even photo quality and to be honest. After 3 year of doing this you think I would be but to be honest, I don’t even like what I post any more. Blogging is so much more than beauty and fashion blah blah blah. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. But you know what, as the oldest saying in the book says, practice makes perfect (well the illusion of it anyway)

Realising you are more than your blog

Yes Holy Chic is my little “empire” if you will and I love what I have created. I love that I have a voice much louder than the one in real life and I love the feedback that I get from posts. But I am also a newly qualified adult, attending university and figuring everything out. My blog is something that will leave me and it is something I want to push back into my routine

Pressing pause

I wrote a post called that back at the beginning of 2015 and you can check it here because I rather like it. But you know what, it is okay to press pause and take a break because sometimes we just have to live life. Away from the screens screwing up my eyesight (haha sorry eyes)

So what’s next?

Well its 2016 and its time to bring in the New Year. I do apologise for abandoning you towards the end of the year I am so happy to be roping blogging back into my daily routine and creating new content and allowing my blog to evolve as much as I think I have.

Not only do I have a new job starting in February, but lots of trips, internships and the rest of uni to battle my way though.

I am really excited to going back on the blogging train and bringing you guys a long with me. Here is to 2016; a new year filled with lots of new things.

A One Stop Rewind

For this post, I am going to rewind a little. To let’s say about a month ago during the whole a level cramming and what not. I vlogged the whole thing for you guys so I hope you enjoy the double extended feature of my life. Too much?

All shall be explained soon and my silence on this blog shall end. An update post is coming to a screen near you in a few days. I am still trying to sort out things and get my shit together basically. I hope you are all having a great summer :)

Becoming an adult. Yikes!

 

So along came the 3rd may and I dove head first into adult life, unaware, suspicious but naive. 

But it’s been about 15 days 45mins and 6 seconds (okay I made that bit up) but I've experienced stress had three melt downs, already broke, have people wanting me to pay for a shit tonne of things, meetings and lessons and revision and driving and overall just stress.  As a newbie to stress I don't like it so that was removed immediately from the equation

Like c’mon it’s been 15days. Can I catch a break yet?

Hopefully my word vomit gives an indication as to why I have neglected this blog. It was never my intention to; I have a crap load of blogging inspiration and post ideas. It just kinda fell out my hand as I was carrying too many things and even my foot couldn't catch it. Soz about that.

This is not a “hi I'm back, here’s to regular posts again” because that would be a lie. I am just laughing right not at me even contemplating writing such a thing.

I thought I'd check in, give you the 401 and have a basis for building back up on the blog

 1. My driving test is Wednesday. Most definitely going to fail it but I'm excited and nervous

2. I need to get my filling redone. Stupid dentists.

3. I need to book my flight to Amsterdam because I would quite like to fulfil my travelling dreams

4. Need to find about £100 to pay off some things; flights, end of school year presents and what not

5. Media deadline and revision was today but it killed me all of last week. That was a whole other commotion. 

But I don't want to be a moaning minnie the entirety of this post so here are some of the highs…I guess

 Birthday dinner with family. Food was soooo good and they made me the nicest selection of cakes

Sixthform dinner went surprisingly well. Went clubbing after, got home at 6 in the morning.  One of the best nights of my life. I was not drunk but drink responsibly kids ;)

Although I haven't left school yet I will be in a few days and I am beyond ecstatic. That's how happy I am. That word is reserved for happy moments

I just got my new phone and it just completes my life a little more. Bigger, better and just what I need

I now have AdSense on my blog which I am sure you are all familiar with. This changes nothing in terms of content and the blog in general but I thought I would let you know in case you hadn’t noticed :)

I now own editing software so more videos and stuff but I will have to see in a year if I am still willing to pay for it ;)

This is a great segway into the fact that I have re uploaded my 50 facts about me tag which you can watch (until the end)

http://youtu.be/wdaQXkt1UxY

And even better, there is a brand new video on my channel right this second :)

http://youtu.be/mTmvRPLGQnQ

I think I should wrap this up Estée style but I just wanted to say hello hi how you doing, I hope revision is okay, wish you all the best of luck with your exams. I cannot confirm when my next post will be but twitter is always the place to be to stay updated. And bloglovin if I do decide to upload a spur of the moment thing ;)

18th BIRTHDAY SPECIAL

I guess I should start off this post my saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! I am finally 18. In honour of my 18^th birthday, I think it’s only fair to give you a gift too; in blog post format. Soz if you were hoping for an actual present!

Today, whilst I whip up my birthday lowdown post for later on next week, I am going to tell you 18 things I have learnt before turning 18. And I would stick around to the end for something extra special

1.       It is okay to feel like shit or have a bad day when you think there are so many worse things in the world

2.       You have made mistakes but you have learned from them. They don’t define you

3.       What happened to you at the age of 5 was scary but in hindsight, the best thing for you. That doesn’t define you either

4.       Friends are so important

5.       Comparing yourself to others only makes you feel worse

6.       Drink more water. You know your skin loves it and it’s a blessing when you’re dehydrated

7.       Accept it, you will be quoting friends for the rest of your life

8.       You should exercise more. It does your health some good. Not that you are incredibly unhealthy

9.       Travelling gives you a buzz. Do it more often

10.   Making every moment count makes you the happiest you can be. And you like yourself being happy

11.   Don’t give up. It fills you with regret

12.   You can’t have everything you want. Soz

13.   Conforming to others expectations is a waste of time. Be who you are and do what you want to do

14.   It’s okay to not know or to not understand something. That’s how we grow and learn

15.   Don’t be afraid to correct people when they get your name wrong. After all, it is your name J

16.   Primers don’t work on you. Save the pennies

17.   Your size is your fremeny. You CAN wear a croptop and look flawless. Thanks Beyoncé

18.   When someone you genuinely know compliments you, accept it. They mean it

 

18 things I learned before 18. It’s always good to reflect on these things. Happy birthday to moi. Happy Sunday to you all. Happy 3 day weekend and stay well.

If you keep scrolling, I believe there is a new video on my youtubes for you to take a peek at, if you want

http://youtu.be/wdaQXkt1UxY

 

The Sunday post : some sort of picture round up

Guess who’s back back back, back again again again…

Yes the lifestyle related Sunday post is what I have for you guys today and I have missed the weekly lifestyle snippets on the blog. But sometimes when you don’t do anything, it really isn’t worth blogging about.

I think the most noticeable thing in this post is the food. All of these pictures did span over the course of a couple of weeks but food is a necessity, food is good and food can also look pretty.

I also had a little toast on mother’s day and I am quite partial to a glass of champagne. Am I now a little high maintenance?

If you thought that was the apparent solar eclipse, no but it was taken about a week ago (dance break) and it just looked pretty on my way to school. Yes occasionally I am one of those that has to take a picture of their surroundings. But like seriously, did any of you guys see the eclipse? I stood in the cold for no reason :(

Also on the “work” side of things I typed up 60 pages worth of revision notes which is a lot considering I had written them out beforehand. And I have been leaving some time to watch gossip girl. I have been having my usual at school more than normal recently ( hot chocolate and muffin) which has been great comfort food for the tough week. And yes, I have Starbucks at my school :)

I won’t keep you too long this week as I need to revise for my test tomorrow and my theory test. I’ve had a whole day of filming, 6hours of sleep and I am simply knackered.

Pray for me.

Have a great week everyone :)

Sunset : Photography #2

As autumn and winter fades away, don’t let your dreams get taken with it. Let them dawn in the horizons of spring and summer. Let them flourish in the changing seasons. If your vision gets blurry, refocus on what matters.

The art of getting shit done

I have to admit, I have let my life and blogging life become a giant mess that I have had the longest time trying to clear up. I like being organised; having to do lists and seeing what I have to do visually but I just never got the habit of using them to stick.

I decided to opt for an electronic version and I have used your bog standard notes section, to do lists and Asana but they were not cutting it for me. Until I found this nifty little app.

The “To Do Reminder” app has been a little saviour of mine because it has made my life a lot easier.

I use it mostly for blog post scheduling; so when I need to upload, write posts and photograph etc. you can create a task with additional notes, set it as a reminder or even just write a simple to do list.

I have been using this app since around February (as you can probably tell from the pictures) and it has just helped me structure my days a lot better and keep on top of things. This has in no way replaced me still writing down the odd thing or too but it has for been a nice little addition to a more organised life.

Tell me some of your organisation tips below. I am always on the hunt for new ones :)

The Sunday Post : Unbloggable

It was only until 5pm today that I decided to not leave you guys hanging and deliver today with a short Sunday post. This week has been really eventful but un-bloggable unfortunately. But sometimes these things happen.

I’ve been a very busy girl but also a very tired one from planning events to school work to my job and trying to squeeze some blogging and filming into that. Surprisingly the workload is okay and I love having such a large workload but I just need to improve my time management skills just a tad more.

I have a million and one forms to fill out for uni, trips to book and all kinds of crazy things this month. As well as planning some potential travelling for the June/July period. But that means I am job hunting again so I can save for that, for uni and some uni necessities (well wants rather than needs). I just need a job with really flexible hours so that might be tricky.

It has also been a tough week for me where I part time work because of the stupid and rude cab drivers that exist adding to the stress of upcoming events I was head of planning for.

Aside from the potentially rambly life update, the only bloggable parts of this week was that London got some SETTLED SNOW. Not enough for a snow day and it did disappear within like 2hours but it looked pretty and walking in it to school was somewhat nostalgic. I also made a sneeky order on amazon, one of which was a new portable charger. I only really needed the lead as I have 2 already but oh well, it was cheap. I also made myself a really warming dinner yesterday of pasta in a creamy tomato sauce. Yeah I know fattening but a treat once in a while won’t hurt. And this morning, I tucked into a bowl of my favourite cereal which I devoured in an instant.

Tomorrow marks the last week before half term which I am overly ecstatic about but it is also my busiest week at school. But I shall power through. Nothing too eventful is happening next week either so the fate of next week’s Sunday post really is unknown. I’m gonna go back to playing with my adorable niece, watching frozen and taking some down time before Monday knocks on the door again.

Have a great week x

Through a lens #1 | Holy Chic

It is finally the return of one of my favourite posts to do. My week through a lens, and although my weeks are never that particularly interesting, I enjoy the challenge of trying to find a small(ish) number of pictures to detail my week to you :)
 

1. I am now calling myself a certified chef. I tried my hand at some French toast which tasted way better than it looked and I made a spinach omelette with toast. Yum!

2. I finally made it to my 5000 word count for my EPQ and it honestly was a very joyous moment for me

3. I am just forever waiting at the bus stop. Sometimes my bus just takes too long to come

4. For some reason, I had the urge to rewatch 90210 and I am just loving every second of it. It feels like I have never watched it before

5. The chunky knit scarf came out because it’s getting too cold for my liking but also, sneak peek from an outfit post coming soon J scarf: new look ring: Primark Hoodie: Primark

I’ve come to realise as this post draws to a close that me weeks are pretty darn boring and I honestly thought I had more pictures. But fear not, some pictures had to be excluded for up and coming posts.

Tell me something you did this week below :)

Have a great day

Missed my last post? : http://holychicxox.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/is-your-food-instagram-worthy-holy-chic.html

(holychiccontact@gmail.com)

I was a little lost | life, blogging and everything in between

This my attempt at sharing things and opening up with you guys. Something I am just horrifically terrible at so here goes nothing

Life: I spent the first good month of my academic year if you will crying my eyes out. Shocker, I know. I was just so unhappy with life, school, friends and the aftermath of AS exams. Let’s just say I lost one of my bestest friends to them and I thought I would be able to handle it a lot better than I did. But I joined a group of people which I won't share too much on because it’s very personal to me but since I joined, my world seems to have flipped...for the better. I have made some amazing friendships and refuelled some existing ones, met the most amazing colleagues that I can all call friends and make me feel like I have a social life again and for that I will be forever grateful. I am 10x happier, 10x more confident and 10x the person I ever was (well almost. There is still work to be done :P)
In other news I have decided what course I want to do for uni and I made that decision based on what I want to do with my life and I tried not to be anyone else’s version of me. I think this is called doing what makes you happy and if it is this, then this feels awesome. I am now just eagerly awaiting that next chapter of my life which fingers crossed if I knuckle down will go to plan. I'm still having driving lessons and I know they have been going on for yonkers but I'm getting there slowly but surely. And I am now on the hunt for a job because I just need money to live on. I mean, who doesn’t?  I feel I have matured in a way that I am ready for big changes and turning 18. (I have a long way to go but a girl can still count down right?)

All I can say is that right now life is pretty freaking awesome.

Blogging: now I know I haven't been on my blogging game much but I can assure it’s for good reason. Whilst drowning in a levels, multiple essays and my recently busy schedule, something had to take a back seat and unfortunately it was blogging.  I'm not going to stop doing it that’s for sure but once I get a new schedule all written up (which is in the works), things should be going back to normal.
New directions? Over a year into blogging now, I feel I have fully discovered what blogging is and with a slight growth in my audience, I know that I want to do more with my blog and showcase more than just fashion, beauty and lifestyle posts. I'm slowly going to start introducing more photography posts, opinionated posts and perhaps sharing my love of writing scripts, stories, film and the media. So this is your warning so be prepared for that.
And I'm working on new blog design but I don't think even god knows how long that’s going to take :P

So there you go. My life recently rolled up into one big blah on the internet. I hope you don’t mind an incredibly long and text heavy post just this once but I think it’s important to share with you guys :)

Hope you are all having an amazing day/week and I will be back with a post very soon. New stuff is heading your way.

Update | Holy Chic

Okay so here is the situation. 

But before I begin explaining it, here is a picture of paradise J

 

I'm going to try my hardest to refrain from making this a lengthy apology letter which, don't get me wrong,  I am truly sorry that I haven't been online for about two weeks or more and I haven't posted anything.  Yes I was enjoying the Caribbean sun for two weeks and not having anything to worry about but my blog was always on my mind. (A disappointment for me in the picture taking element of my holiday because who knows when I am going to go there again?!) Not as an annoyance but as something I knew I wanted to get back to.

Through the countless plates of meals and sunbathing laziness and pool time and oh the list could go on, it’s time to get back to reality.  I will be sharing some aspects of my holiday with you guys and I have some holiday posts in the works and I will be intermixing them (I'm starting to think that intermixing isn't a real word) with posts I had planned to put up. (It was 23 US dollars a day for Internet access and I just couldn't afford that sorry).

My usual blogging routine should be back into swing in the next week or so and as much fun as I had in the sun, I am glad to be home and to spend some time with friends and family. But I have been home almost a week now and I wanna go back sooo bad!

I hope this didn't turn into a ramble of excuses but a sincere apology and a valid explanation.  I have come to realise that my blog is something I should love and want to do and not be a chore and something I feel I should have to do because people are expecting it. To those that blog every day my hat goes off to you.

If you are going on holiday soon or in the next couple of days, I hope these posts are somewhat helpful to you people. 

Airplane friendly outfits : http://holychicxox.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/3-airplane-friendly-outfits-holy-chic.html

holiday outfit ideas : http://holychicxox.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/summer-holiday-outfit-ideas-holy-chic.html

Professional packing : http://holychicxox.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/professional-packing-holy-chic.html

what’s in my carry on : http://holychicxox.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/whats-in-my-carry-on-holy-chic.html

Love you all :)

Amira (holychiccontact@gmail.com)

p.s. my blog birthday is right around the corner and there will be another reflective/update post coming up in the next two weeks or so J