Wednesday Wish List

Here are some of the fashionable things I've got my beady little eye on this week...

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As a big animal lover as well as a brooch addict, I'm loving Kimchi and Coconut's brand new Safari collection of animal brooches and necklaces. I think my favourites are probably the zebra, buffalo, mandrill and lion brooches, although the snake and iguana necklace (#10) is pretty awesome, too.

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I love these acrylic brooches from Daisy Jean Floral Designs' Jungle Book collection, especially the big cats, Shere Khan and Bagheera. Aren't they stunning?

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How cute are these kitsch acrylic and wooden brooches from Kitschy Kittens? I need that potted cactus flamingo brooch in my life!

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Betsey Johnson have just released the most amazing selection of novelty bags for summer with designs including everything from flamingo-pool-floats to surfboards, and so much more. I want them all!

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These messenger bags from Cath Kidston are a little more casual than I usually go for these days, but I can't help thinking how pretty they are. I always found the old style CK messenger bags really handy for travelling and using on day trips, and I think they'd be ideal for dog walking, too.

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There are few things I appreciate more than a dress with a fun print, and these sleeveless Esther dresses from Lady Vintage are cut from the funkiest cloths. One of each, please!

Urban Decay Game of Thrones Eyeshadow Palette

I must be the only person on the planet who has never watched Game of Thrones (I missed the first series, and haven't got around to catching up with the box set yet), but holy crap, this Game of Thrones eyeshadow palette from Urban Decay looks amazing! I particularly love the look of the green and burgundy shades- even if the colours are rather autumnal for spring time. 

If you'd like to see more of the fashion and beauty pieces on my wish list, check out my style and beauty wish list boards on Pinterest. You can also find all previous Wednesday Wish Lists here for more inspiration.

Any favourites this week?

Wednesday Wish List

Here's a few things I've been admiring this week...

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La Vidriola have released an amazing new collection of acrylic jewellery, featuring designs of some of the most iconic places in the world. New York, London, Uluru...even some Brighton beach huts. Naturally, the New York pieces are my favourites. I especially love the Coney Island and Central Park brooches, and how the skyline brooch includes the Flat Iron building- one of my favourite buildings in NYC! I want them all!

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If you love the glitz and glamour of old school Hollywood, you may appreciate Erstwilder's brand new jewellery collection 'Hollywood Glamour' which launched last week. The fourteen piece collection features brooches, earrings, and necklaces designed around some of the most iconic leading ladies and paraphernalia of the golden days of cinema, like movie reels, art deco cinema marquees, and good old fashioned popcorn. It's all fabulous, and I want it all! I've linked to Erstwilder's Aussie site above, but you can find a list of stockists around the world here.

Lime Crime 10th Birthday Eyeshadow Palette

I definitely don't need any more colourful eyeshadow palettes, but Lime Crime's 10th Birthday eyeshadow palette looks like the palette of my dreams. Those colours! *Insert heart eyes here.*

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I love these fun, fruity cardigans from Collectif. The price is steep, but I'd happily wear them both to death during the summer months.

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I also adore this beautiful cactus terrarium dress and matching skirt from Collectif. That print is amazing.

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And these wooden hand-painted brooches from Shop Miss Ella look wonderful. (Yes, they're just like the cushion kits I showed you a few days ago, but I love the designs!)

If you'd like to see more of the fashion pieces on my wish list, check out my style wish list boards on Pinterest. You can also find all previous Wednesday Wish List posts here.

Any favourites this week?

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots Turns Seven

Polka Spots and Freckle Dots turned seven last week (March 25th).

Seven!

My little space on the Internet is growing up so fast. How on Earth did that happen?!

I can't believe so many years have passed since I first logged in to Blogger, created this blog, and nervously sent my first post in to the endless void of the Internet. It feels like both a life time ago and no time at all a the same time.

When I started this blog seven years ago, I created it to share my outfits and work towards self-acceptance and body positivity. I mostly blogged headless mirror shots of my outfits, manicures I was wearing, shopping hauls, and other fashion and beauty related content. My photos were atrocious; all dark, grainy, unlevel, and poorly edited, and were taken on my iPod, Blackberry, or crappy old point and shoot. I gave no thought to arranging my product photos in to pretty flatlays; I just placed the item(s) on the nearest surface and pointed the camera, regardless of what was in the background. My writing was cringe-worthy, and most of my post titles were Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, or Panic! at the Disco lyrics. Gems like: 'I Am a Wolf Among the Sheep Gnawing at the Wool Over My Eyes', and 'I'm Boring But Overcompensate With Headlines and Flash, Flash, Flash Photography.' What did they have to do with my posts about fashion and beauty? I have no idea, but that's okay, I was cool and mysterious AF!

I didn't care about SEO- in fact, I don't think I even knew what it was back then. I didn't even promote my posts on social media- not that I'm so great at self-promotion all these years later, either! I just blogged, and did it for the fun of it.

There was no stress about creating the perfect content, with beautiful photos and articulate writing. I wrote whatever crap came in to my mind, and uploaded the first photo I snapped, without spending two hours arranging a flatlay first, and taking 250 near-identical photos to get that one perfect shot. I could throw a post together in half an hour, and I looked forward to posting every day.

I had a lovely little following of (mostly) other blogger ladies I enjoyed chatting and interacting with who made blogging a pleasure. (Some of you are still following today- although, I have no idea why you've been reading my posts and supporting me all this time! Thank you!)

I loved those days!

Sometimes I find myself missing those early days of blogging. Sure, everything was less polished and perfect, but there was something wonderful about the simplicity and relatability of it all.

Blogging has changed so much since I first started blogging, but that's not necessarily a bad thing; it's just different. Things change, people change, I've changed... and that's life. 

My blog content has changed somewhat over the years, too. The fashion and beauty posts have reduced due to having little money for new clothes and rarely having enough energy to get dressed and made up, and other topics, such as crafts, adventures, books, chronic illness, pets, and life have been added in to the mix. My posts have become less frequent because of my health, and I can't always post the content I want to, but I like to think the quality of my work has at least improved over the years. There's a lot of room for improvement, but I can be proud of myself knowing I always put 110% in to every post I create.

I may not be a famous blogger with a huge following making millions from her blog, but I'm not sure I even want to be. I'm happy with where my blog has taken me over the years. I've worked with some fantastic brands, made friends with some amazing people I would never have known otherwise, and learnt so many new skills along the way. It's kept me going through seven of the hardest years of my life, and to me, that is the greatest achievement I could ever ask for.

Right from the start, Polka Spots was a much needed distraction from the chronic back and spinal pain I had been struggling to cope with for six months, and not only helped me deal with the pain, being bed ridden, and losing the life I knew, but gave me a purpose in life I so desperately needed again. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning and something to throw myself in to every day instead of mindlessly watching daytime TV. It provided me with an outlet when I was struggling with the pain and desperately mourning my old life, and had nobody to talk to. It offered a place to vent when I'd had frustrating and soul-crushing experiences with doctors and physiotherapists who were rude and indifferent, and weren't interested in helping me. It did all that and so much more. And it's continued to help me cope with my chronic pain and chronic illnesses, and this unconventional life of being housebound ever since.

This blog has helped me through scans and treatments and diagnoses, surprising test results, and plenty of frustrating encounters with the NHS and DWP. It's been there for me when the pain has been raging and my other symptoms have been so unbearable I've struggled to cope and wished for death to escape it. It's given me comfort when I've been struggling with missing out on life and grieving the life I lost, feeling lonely and depressed, and all kinds of emotions that come with living with chronic illness that we / I don't often talk about. It's been here for me every step of the way for seven years, and for that I'm grateful. I couldn't have got through the years without the blog to help me, and I can't imagine how much harder the last seven years would have been without it to keep me going, and help me through. Starting my blog was the best decision I could've made.

I know I've been very quiet here over the last few months, but I promise I haven't given up on blogging. There is still so much I want to share. I'm just struggling with my health at the moment, and while I've tried to, I haven't been up to blogging much since Christmas. My arthritis has worsened considerably since December, causing my hands and fingers (and knees, toes, hips, and other joints) to swell and stiffen on an almost daily basis. The pain in them has been so horrendous lately, I've had difficulty using my hands for anything, including typing and taking photos, and my knees have been so bad, I've not been out of bed or downstairs in a month. I've also been inflicted with the worst episodes of brain fog and writer's block to date, making blogging even more difficult. I've been having serious difficulty thinking straight, remembering and making sense of things, and recalling words, so whenever I've tried to write, the words just haven't come. It's been stressing and frustrating the hell out of me! I can't do a lot about the brain fog, but I think I just need time to find my groove with my degenerating arthritis, and the new me, and learn to function a little more efficiently again. It always takes time to get used to big changes to your day to day health with chronic illnesses, but I know I'll get there. I always do.

I'm hopeful I'll be able to get back in to the swing of things here this spring. There are so many products I want to review and things I want to write about. I'd love to get Polka Spots back where it used to be and make it a fun and colourful place for you to visit. I want to bring back more fashion and beauty posts again, and also add more crafts, books, stationery, chronic illness, and lifestyle posts. I want to get back to the fun and excitement blogging brought to me seven years ago, and try to avoid making blogging stressful because it shouldn't be. I want blogging to be enjoyable, and not make me want to pull my hair out because I can't get my photos to look perfect or I can't think what I want to say for a post I'd planned. That stress isn't good for my health. It's time to get back to a more carefree attitude towards blogging, and a good balance between hard work and self-care.

I don't know what the next seven years have in store for my blog, but I'm not going anywhere, and I'm looking forward to finding out where they take me. I hope you guys will join me for the ride.

Thank you for all your support over the last seven years, whether you've been with me since the start, or are a new follower. I don't know why you chose to follow and stick with me, but it means the world to me and I appreciate every single one of you. Thank you so much! You guys are the best.

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