Hi lovelies!

This week seems to have been a somewhat lazy yet productive one for me, with the majority of my time being spent trawling the interweb gawping at anything and everything. I made a few rash purchases; some Soleil Tan de Chanel bronzer, a snazzy black and gold studded handbag that I had my eye on months ago (that I saw in a Zoella video) and a new camera somehow winged their way into my shopping basket... oh, the life of a shopaholic. 

Seriously though, i've been lusting over cameras since early December but couldn't make my mind up in time for Christmas. It was a struggle, but last night I decided it was to be between the Olympus Pen E-PL7 (definitely a favourite amongst bloggers right now) and the Canon EOS M. The EOS M is the slightly older model as its sparkly, new and improved M3 and M10 siblings are out now, but truth be told, I was after something affordable and didn't think the tilting screen was worth the extra £100+. You may have noticed that both of the cameras mentioned above are 'compact system cameras', or CSC for short. Essentially this means you can produce the same high-quality images that you would on a DSLR, but without the added weight and bulkiness of a larger camera body. Think the offspring of a DSLR, if you will. It was a tricky choice believe me; the Olympus Pen E-PL7 is certainly a super camera that would be sure to win 1st place in a technology beauty contest... the white one is so pretty! The Canon is certainly a lot less streamline but does have some advantages:

1. You can purchase a lens mount which allows any existing Canon EF lenses to be compatible - perfect if you already own lenses for a Canon DSLR
2. It looks a little more robust, thus less likely to get damaged
3. It's a Canon... 'nuff said.

So yeah, I went for the Canon. I figured it would be far more economical seeing as I already own a couple of Canon lenses and I've had my DSLR for years so I'm familiar with the settings. I'm hoping this means my blog photos will be nothing less than exceptional from now on!

Do you own a compact system camera?

Chloe

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We're vastly approaching the end of January and it's suddenly occurred to me that I haven't written a blog post since last year... *gasp*. This year I haven't set any resolutions as such, but I have decided that it's time I started being more optimistic and appreciating the little things in life that truly matter. The year of 2015 saw me pass both my driving theory and practical tests first time, leave the country to visit the wonderful city of Paris with one of my closest friends and take the plunge to go ahead and get braces. Those are probably quite mere achievements in the grand scheme of things, but I am certainly not the most confident of beings so I'm rather pleased that I managed to get those things done and ticked off my ever-growing 'to-do' list.

So, what's next for 2016?

Well, I'm currently off work for a couple of weeks due to the shop undergoing refurbishment, so it's left me with lots of free time that I've been spending verrrry wisely trawling the likes of Expedia for any last-minute holiday deals. I'm pleased to say I've already got the first mini-break of the year all booked in for March so I'll be returning to sunny Spain in a matter of weeks.. yay! Also this year I'm hoping to step up my career game and look for another job with longer hours because, well, how else can I afford to live the lifestyle of a serial jet-setter?! 

In terms of accomplishments, I'd love to improve on my Spanish (seeing as Spain is practically my second home now!) I've already downloaded an app called Duolingo which is brilliant for learning the basics and it incorporates reading, writing, speaking and listening into each lesson which is great. I'd also love to plan and organise more mini-breaks for this year as I've really grown to adore travelling (despite not yet venturing outside of Europe, ha!) In general, I'm hoping to just spend this year having a good time and experiencing new and exciting things.

What are your plans for 2016?

Chloë

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