Grounded Narratives

Another year older! September is one of my favourite months of the year. Not only is the month  when I started my blog  but it also happens to be my birthday month.  For years I've let this day just go by, smiling whenever people wished me a happy birthday even when deep inside I wasn't too happy. But I wanted to make this birthday different. I was determined to spend it in the best way I possibly could; taking care of myself. I made sure to dress up, even with nowhere to go and did my nails (something I'd been postponing for weeks!). I also decided to do something that I enjoy but hardly make time for i.e. take photos and update the blog! I've wracked my brain trying to think of what to gift myself this year and I couldn't make up my mind. This year being what it is has made me rethink many things. I don't really need to add anything to my wardrobe, my jewellery collection is sufficient although I can't help but admire beautiful accessories online, but do I...

It's been nine years since I wrote my first blog post and in that time, I have evolved even as my blog struggled to catch up and reflect that change. I've gone through many life changes: motherhood, journey to finding myself and dealing with my mental health. Despite all that, I have been unable to let go of my piece of internet real estate. Nine years! Come to think of it, this is the longest relationship I've had, hahaha! It sounds funny just thinking about it. So, just as I did for my eighth blogging anniversary , I'll give you a little life update.  What's been happening... As I celebrate nine years since I took that bold step to put myself out there and my pursue passion for writing and sharing this with you, I can't help but wonder if I will ever get my old mojo back. I know that I can't force myself to put out content that doesn't resonate with where I am now and the things that I'm enjoying even though they might not always be fashion-relate...

*I wrote this post before life changed but my sentiments still hold true. I was so excited w hen I got into the online business . It was a whole new world for me. I saw endless possibilities. I even longed to work in the digital space full-time, either for myself or for an already established brand. I had big dreams. But a few years ago, I started second-guessing myself, my posts, the relevance of my blog. I was going through a difficult time, struggling with my mental health and events that were going on in my life. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't get myself to dedicate as much attention as I wanted to my blog. I started posting less and less.  I had changed and I needed to find myself again so that I could find the right content to share. Another reason I struggled with this space was because of fear. I was afraid that sharing my struggles would come back to bite me, that my words would be used against me. But I also knew that there are many people who might be going ...

Better late than never, right? I celebrated another birthday about a week ago, yay!!! The older I get the more excited I get about life and all that is in store for me. I used to dread getting older, I still do at times. But then I look at the progress I have made, as a person, a mum, a professional, and I feel so proud of myself. I have become more accepting of myself, flaws and all. And I'm not talking physical flaws. I've been looking back at my life facing the mistakes I have made head on and learning to deal with them. For a long time I was unable to do this because I was ashamed mostly. But I have come to accept that I am human and it is unfair for me to expect perfection. I will fail from time to time and it's okay. Growing up can be scary, no lie. But once you get the courage to face life head on, the good, bad and ugly, you'll find that you will enjoy every aspect of your life more. Try it. I have and I'm happier for it. Here's to another year on ...

  Hi guys! It's been a minute. I have to confess that I've been struggling with my wardrobe for a while. However, this week I seem to be getting back to myself. I'm enjoying playing around with my clothes, putting outfits together and even accessorising which I haven't been a fan of for ages . These mustard trousers are an old favourite. I have styled them on the blog before. You can read those posts here and here . I love the pop of colour and the fact that they are high-waisted means I can almost camouflage my mummy tummy. I love how it pairs with blue and the black coat was just to jazz it up a little more and keep me warm. Oh, there have been a few changes to the blog. I've changed the header and URL. I'm still tweaking it here and there to make it just right. Change is good, no? I think it helps to give you a new perspective especially when you find yourself getting into a rut. Thank you for stopping by. Follow me on:  Facebook ,  Instagra...

 Last year, I had the privilege of interviewing Reverend Nyambura of the WCC. I always feel so motivated being in the presence of women who have broken the ceiling set by society and unrelentingly pursued their truths. Reverend Nyambura is one such woman.  Among the many things we spoke about was a movement that has been followed around the world to demonstrate against gender-based violence referred to as Thursdays in Black. The movement gave a voice to rape and violence faced by men and women, boys and girls during wars and seasons of unrest, and now encompasses violence in the home and workplace.  You can read more about the movement here.   I have been a victim of abuse and I know several people who have been too. So when I found out about this, I decided to join the movement by consciously putting on black every Thursday as a silent protest against this violence. Outfit Details: Dress - Thrifted [Gikomba]; Handbag - Gift; Sandals - Thrifted [Bus Station];...

Like every year before it, 2019 has come with a list of goals that I would like to accomplish. Some years back I discovered the importance of picking one theme and applying it to different parts of my life, throughout the year.  Last year, my good friend Sidi and I worked on positivity and I'm pleased to say that I saw quite a bit of a difference come December 2018. I have learnt to always see the bright side of things, to smile and focus on the end goal rather than complain about how difficult the process was. For 2019, I want to push myself to get out of my comfort zone and try new things.  I'm slowly transitioning to full-time work. This means that my life, as I've known and lived it the last four years is changing. I'm quite excited about this. It means that I can now work harder on my career goals. The downside of this is that I have even less time to spend on other pursuits like blogging. Bearing in mind that I haven't blogged for a while, I feel lik...

I came across this photo from five years ago when I was expecting my daughter, Elly, and I was suddenly struck by how fast the past five years have gone by. Over the years, I have, like many women, looked at celebrities I follow become mums and "snap back" after a few months and I always wondered how they did it. I know with a personal trainer and a nutritionist it's possible to get back your pre-baby body quite fast. However, in the "real world" not all of us can snap back and look slim and svelte after having a baby. Add to that the slower metabolism caused by an advancement in age and you have an even harder time with the weight. Allow me to preface this by saying that in the past, I was never someone who worried about her weight too much. Pre-baby, I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and never worried about what impact it had on my body. I liked my body size and even more, the fact that I didn't need to do too much to maintain it. Fast forwa...

 30. I had been looking forward to this birthday for months and just as the day drew nearer, I got a bit anxious. I thought, I'm turning 30, is my life all figured out? What about all those mistakes I made in my 20s, how will they influence my 30s? What will this new decade have in store for me? In spite of the uncertainty that comes with starting something new, I was certain of one thing. I had grown up. I have become more confident. I know what I like and what I don't like, and, I'm not afraid of saying it.  It feels great to see how much progress I have made over the last 10 years. When I turned 20 I was so uncertain of so many things. But now, even when I might not be so sure about what the future holds, I know that I'll be okay. I will get through it. Dress: Thrifted; Necklace: Dubois; Boots: Thrifted Thank you for stopping by.

I celebrated my 30th birthday this past Sunday, the 23rd. As the day approached I remained unsure of what I wanted to post to commemorate another year on this earth. But I decided to stop thinking too hard, simplify and basically focus on the one consistent life lesson I learned in my 20s. When I turned 20, I was mostly terrified. I had no idea where my life would lead. I wasn't the kind of girl who had her whole life planned out. I knew what I wanted to achieve but honestly, many of the things that happened in the course of those 10 years caught me completely off-guard. Sometimes I managed to pick myself up quite quickly but other times it took a little more effort.  The one lesson I learned in my 20s is to let life take its course, not to put limits on myself or timelines on my goals. When I looked at some of my peers, I realised that our lives are at completely different stages. That bothered me a lot towards the end of my 20s.  I felt like life had dealt me an unfai...

Where has the time gone? I realise this phrase is a little overused but I honestly can't believe how fast time has flown. While I was working on getting back to blogging, I spent quite a bit of time contemplating what I wanted for this blog. Over the years, I have slowly let go of my passion for fashion starting by reducing the number of fashion related posts that I upload here. This situation left a hole in my heart that I haven't been able to fill. So after all that soul-searching I decided it was time to give myself that final push to see if I could rekindle my love for fashion. Let's be honest. When you dress up you feel amazing, you feel like you can conquer the world and I missed that feeling. Working from home meant that I didn't have to interact with the outside world too much and I used this excuse to slacken in my dressing. I spent my days, Monday to Saturday, in jeggings and a tee and while I am extremely in love not to mention comfortable with my casu...

2018. Just writing this brings on a whole melange of emotions. This year I have gone through feelings of joy, sorrow, excitement, anticipation, anxiety; feelings that forced me to look deep within myself and rethink my life and my decisions and try to remind myself of my hopes and dreams. Even though I hadn't planned to take a break from the blog, life forced me to take a step back to recharge my batteries before taking it up again. Before putting up my first post of the month ( you can read it here ) I was so anxious. It had been so long since I wrote here that I worried if I still had it in me to blog. I will chalk down my insecurities to my emotional state. Without getting into too many details, I suffered a heartbreak at the beginning of the year and I can still feel it's effects to date. It took everything out of me. I felt unable to do those things I loved. It's then that I finally realised how difficult it is to be creative when you are not at peace. Over ti...

Like everybody else, I began this year on a very positive note. I hoped for a better year than I had had in 2017. I had a plan that I laid out and I was determined to accomplish a lot of what was on my 2018 list. I once heard someone say that sometimes you plan and it doesn't work out not because you haven't put in enough effort but because God has other plans for you. So the first three months of 2018 were completely upside down for me. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I won't lie to you and tell you that I carried on happy in spite of everything that wasn't working. I struggled to smile, to wake up in the morning, to face my day, to be around people. However, I was determined to find lasting happiness. I wanted to find a way that would ensure that I remained happy even when life seemed to be going against me. I did my research and tried out a few things and found the 5 ways listed below that I have now been putting into practice for the last four or so month...

It's very hard having to select a few instances of my life and label them as my most cherished memories. Nevertheless, I have selected five events, listed below that I would consider very memorable mostly because they were either goals that I had or said events changed the course of my life for the better. 1. The first time I held Elly The very first time I held my daughter, I felt so much love at the sight of her. I couldn't believe that she was finally in this world. If I was to quantify them, this would be my most cherished memory. 2. Finally getting my driving license Going to driving school has been on my to do list for about three years now and something always happened that made me postpone going for classes. But this year, I finally did and I am so happy to strike this item off my to do list for 2018. 3. Starting my shop Having a clothing store has always been a dream of mine. One of my goals when I started this blog was to eventually have my own shop. Th...

It's been a while since I had to think about my fears. I recently went to driving school and on my third day my instructor told me to stop being afraid and I remember laughing and telling him that there are very few things that I'm afraid of in this life and driving on Nairobi roads isn't one of them. But in all honesty, there's maybe one or two things that I am afraid of and the biggest of my fears is regret. I'm the kind of person who would love to look back on my life and be satisfied with every aspect of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. For the most part, I look at the path my life has taken with a positive outlook. I cherish the good things that have happened and I have chosen to learn from all the challenging events that I have been through. I don't regret any of my past decisions. There have been certain moments that upon reflection I wished that I had gone a different route or that life had dealt me different cards but then I look at the events...