Imagine my joy: with over 9,000 posts on the #lovetober hashtag, you have clearly taken to this challenge like ducks to water! I love seeing what you’ve created, reading your soulful captions, and watching you all connect with one another. That, to me, is the best part of these Instagram challenges: bringing the community together. It truly lights up my heart.

Now it’s time to share with you a few of my favourite images from the past 10 days. In a lot of ways, it pains to me to choose these, because there are simply SO MANY great, funny, thoughtful images. If you haven’t had a browse through the hashtag, you are seriously missing out. Go find some new Insta-favourites!

October 1: Flower power

What a beautiful way to start the challenge: nothing could be better than a hashtag full of flowers! Thank you to Megan, Melissa, Alethiea, Xandra, Teri, Sarah, Marissa, Ashley, and another Sarah for these glorious images.

October 2: Nostalgia

Looking back can be lovely. I adore these photos of Caitlin lounging in Bali, JRDC remembering My Little Ponies, Monica looking back at her bachelerotte party, and Sara honouring the memories of her family on a hot pink gallery wall. Love it.

October 3: Photobooth Friday

This day’s photos ran the gamut from old school black and white scanned-in photobooth strips to liberal application of the Party Party app! Katryna roped her cat into it, Jamie shared her babygoth roots, Felecia got romantic at a corporate Christmas party, and Korrina shared a shot from when she and her boyfriend started dating. Aw!

October 4: Made me laugh

I loved this prompt. I ended up posting a video from New Girl — “I’m gonna split you like a log!” — which took several attempts to record because I was cackling so hard! These pictures were awesome (and I was secretly delighted to see so many references to The I.T. Crowd). Ahhh, so good. Anyway, let’s just say that alloverthrift, Heather, Sarah and Rachelle have my sense of humour!

October 5: Daily mantra

My mantra? Anything is possible. It was great to see what keeps you motivated and ticking along, especially these gems from Christen, Anastasia, Mel, Jenny, Sarah, Ivania, and Alana.

October 6: Your bookshelf

The book I saw most featured on this day was definitely Not That Kind Of Girl, followed closely by #GIRLBOSS! It was great seeing what you’re all reading, and it made me think of this wonderful quote…

“We need to make books cool again. If you go home with somebody and they don’t have books, don’t fuck them.” — John Waters

Chrissy and Kamilla had two of the brightest bookshelves I saw!

October 7: Thankfulness

Marguerite and Jaylyn get special mentions for October 7th, because they made a list of all the things they were thankful for, and then climbed to the top of the COP tower and screamed “THANK YOU” at the top of their lungs. Typing that gave me goosebumps! I love it!

October 8: Street art

Beauty is everywhere, and you certainly see it. These were a few of my favourite photos, although so many of the street art photos tickled my fancy. I chose these shots by Megan, Lyndsay, Kimiko, Elaine, Chilere11, and Eleanor because I loved the colours and sentiment.

October 9: Favourite colour

Joselyn and Evelyn both said that pink, purple and turquoise were all equal in their eyes! Ashlee and Erika love purple, Mary is a yellow gal, and Marijojara is all about pink.

October 10: Your inspiration

Your inspirations were wonderfully varied, from celebrities to family members, from darlings of history to devoted friends. I love the way that we are all united in our quest for radical self love, and yet our imaginations are sparked by such different things. For example, Kamilla is inspired by Carine Roitfeld, while Charlotte chose Sylvia Plath (“She wrote through love and pain and taught me that a woman’s experience is a valid and necessary story to share”). Righteous.

AND NOW, THE PRIZES!
Every week, there will be four winners chosen from the images posted here. This week, each winner will be able to take her pick from the Rock N Roll Bride for Crown & Glory collaboration! Will you choose glorious Liberace ears, a beautiful crown, or a Woohoo headband? It’s up to you!

Were you a winner? Send me an email, and I will forward your details to Crown & Glory. Hooray!

Can’t wait for next week… And next week’s prizes! (They’re good, I promise.) Stay tuned, babes!

Kisses,