Love Is…

The Fashion Bug’s Outfit: Diane Von Furstenberg maxi dress, Chanel bag, Christian Louboutin shoes.

The Fashion Bug’s Story: Last Friday night my husband & I celebrated our six year anniversary. Six years of being together that is. And the only anniversary we have celebrated up until now (It’s going to get awfully confusing next year as we will also have a legal marriage anniversary and an actual wedding anniversary…which one are we supposed to celebrate??) My six years with him have been filled with happiness, laughter and love, and every day I take time to appreciate how lucky I am to have found someone that I connect with so deeply on every level.

So what did I wear for the occasion? I seem to be having a moment with maxi dresses and recently found this Diane Von Furstenberg one on Net-a-porter. Im a sucker for leopard print and although this one is quite bold (well its actually a mix between leopard and floral), the shape is simple and therefore makes it very easy to wear. The only downside is that all these long dresses are made for giant models and so I seem to be spending an increasing amount of time at my local drycleaners getting my dresses shortened to more human lengths.

The anniversary got me thinking about relationships and what makes one work. I am certainly no guru, but I hope that we will have a long successful marriage and grow old together. I have so much respect for people who have been married for 20, 30, 40 years and love seeing how couples grow and develop together. Usually my posts are about fashion, but I want to dedicate today’s post to 12 points (in no particular order) that I believe can help make for a happy relationship and/or marriage. As I said, 6 years does an expert make. And trust me, I am definitely still working on a lot of these!

1. Don’t forget the little things. A quote that always stays with me is one from Jon Kabat Zinn which goes “The little things? The little moments? – They aren’t little.” Grand gestures are fine, but it is often the little things in life that really stick with us. Simple things like going for a walk together, cooking a meal for your loved one, buying a card that reminds you of them. Not everything has to be big for it to matter.

2. Learn the art of compromise. You are never both going to agree on everything however well you get on. So learn to give in sometimes.

3. Start each day a fresh. Whatever happened the day before, forget about it and start the morning off with a hug, a kiss and an open heart.

4. Have fun. Just because you get older it doesn’t mean you have to act your age. Remember to play. Whether it is giggling at the silliest things or dancing the night away until 5am, don’t take life too seriously. Enjoy each others company. Surely that is why you fell in love in the first place?

5. Learn to say you are sorry. Forget the famous line “love means never having to say you’re sorry” because that is just not realistic. This has been a particularly hard one for me because I am very stubborn and tend to think I am right 99% of the time.

6. Accept change and go with it. Nothing in life stays the same. People change as do circumstances. All you can do is embrace it.

7. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Most people will go through times of real hardship, so there is no point in stressing about things that really don’t matter.

8. Respect each other.

9. Go on dates. We all have busy lives and it is easy to get stuck into a routine of seeing each other at home in the evenings and not really connecting. I make absolutely sure that AT LEAST once a week we have a “date night” – dinner out or a movie or both. But at the same time, I think it is really important to be sociable. Both alone and as a couple.

10. Linked to my previous point. Go on holidays. It is crucial to unwind and really spend quality time with one another. Spending even one week together can really make a difference.

11. Keep your flame alive. Every relationship has a “honeymoon” period where you can’t keep your hands off each other. It is natural for this to pass. It is your job to find ways to always keep this passion alive.

12. Communicate. If you have a problem, talk about it. Simple as that.

If anyone has any other tips I would love to hear them! Other than that, have a great weekend xx FB