August Round Up

I can't decide if August has flown by or taken it's time. I have done so much that I find it hard to believe that I managed to fit it all in one month. But I did, and here it is.

From FriendsFest round 2, an amazing 5 days in Budapest to moving to London and starting a new job. It has been pretty significant and I'm glad I decided to start putting this feature together as it will give you an insight into what a whirlwind it has been. 

Let's get to it!

Right at the start of the month my Mum and I paid a visit to Chaat Cart in Marple. I've only eaten here a couple of times but it is always amazing!

A little bit of explanation on the photo of my Mother she didn't want her face showing, so this was the best I got. This is also why I love her so much.

I'm not going to lie, I think we look pretty damn good.

If you want a post all about FriendsFest you can find the one I did last year here. It was again, amazing. With new memorabilia, and even Ross' apartment to have a wonder round. We squeezed in a hot chocolate at Central Perk (I know it doesn't quite have the same ring it to) and sampled the incredible pizza. Surprisingly, I did not order a Joey special. 

Actual candid photo.

Towards the end of July I was offered the Events and Marketing Coordinator position at Raleigh International. A charity a lot of you will know means an awful lot to me. 

Of course before upping and moving my life to London I had to have a barbecue focused on eating, drinking, laughing and singing my heart out to Kanye at 1am.   

Years back Manchester had the Cow Parade which meant I spent many days with my auntie walking around town trying to find as many different cows as I possibly could. 

Sadly, I didn't have as much time to focus on doing the same for the bees. I am however, pretty happy with the ones that I did find, even if it was just a small handful!

Eating out is my favourite thing to do. Hats off to Zizzi's who can tell me how many calories are in each meal. Actually making dieting possible. Then I go home and eat a load of chocolate. 

More candid photos, not quite working out as well as the previous. I think I was half way through saying, 'the bus is coming'. 

BUDAPEST BIRDZ

This year I visited Sziget for the first time and I was so impressed. I would say it is one of the best festivals I have been to and the line up was amazing! More on Sziget and Budapest coming soon! But as a head start, if you're looking to go abroad next year for a festival, this should be the one.

I love him. Nothing more needs to be said.

Still love him.

There are no words to describe her.

I had the absolute best time with these two. 

When we weren't at Sziget we took some time out to go exploring and made sure that we visited a ruin bar. 

This was one of my favourite parts of trip and the burgers were incredible. The ruin bars are the perfect place to just get lost in.

Playsuit, oldie but a goodie.

My last night in Manchester was spent with my old work buddies. The best part of the night by far was in Be At One taking advantage of 2 for 1 cocktails for three hours, oops. 

Still spending my money on eating out until I am officially poor.

My sister and I baked a vegan lemon drizzle, a couple of weeks living in London and I've changed already. It did taste great but I do think it would have been better without the coconut yoghurt on top. Show me the icing sugar next time. 

And finally, a view that I can see everyday of the working week. Yes my daily commute has more than doubled, yes I'm tired and yes I am coming to terms with the fact I am going to have to spend half my monthly salary on rent. But I do love London. 

Six Month Review

Let me take you back to the beginning of 2018.

I'm sure, like many others, I set some targets on what I wanted to achieve this year and if I'm being honest, I probably haven't checked back on them as much as I should have!

That is until now and I thought doing a little six month review would be a great way to have a look at what I have achieved, and also what I haven't even looked at. I know that it's not too late and I still have plenty of time to binge watch American Horror Story. That is if I ever actually come into the 21st century and finally get Netflix.

Let's get stuck right in shall we?

1.Visit a new country

First up I was a bit of cheat, Back in November 2017 I had booked my flights to Thailand so I knew that visiting a country I had never been to was definitely going to happen. However, I did not know that I would also be visiting Spain and Hungary! I've been incredibly lucky this year with the amount of holidays I have been on. It has also now made me want to set a new target of visiting 30 countries before I turn 30. I might be pushing it a bit, but hey, you can't blame a girl for trying!

 2. Blog more

This is one that I really could have worked harder on. Like I stated in one of my previous posts, regarding putting too much pressure on ourselves, I often find that a couple of weeks will go by and I haven't posted anything new! This is something however that I hope to improve on in the next six months. I have new blog post ideas bursting out of my head so hopefully I will get better at sharing them with you.

One thing I do struggle with though is finding the right photos to go with my posts. I would like to get a lot more outfit pictures so if you're a photographer out there and wanting to work more with bloggers, please do let me know!

3. Challenge myself

Again, this is one I have neglected a little. Regarding my blog, I do not think I have challenged myself at all. However, at work I have been on a couple of courses to improve my marketing skills and even attended one just the other week.

I do feel like I go out more now than I used to, and I have been trying new things. Because of this I have been a lot happier. I am one of these people who find it hard to sit in the house all day doing nothing. I will happily continue to spend the majority of my wages on eating out.

I'm not going to beat myself up about this one too much. I feel that if I do start to concentrate on my blog more and produce more, high quality content that will be a big thumbs up for myself.

4. Exercise more

I don't know who I thought I was when I wrote this one down! I had a mad couple of weeks before I went to Thailand when I went out on a couple of runs. Since then, nothing! This is something I should get back into because once I had been for a run I felt great for doing so! I'm really lucky with where I live too as there are plenty of places to go.

Exercise more... to be continued.

5. Watch more television series

As I mentioned at the beginning, I am yet to get past season 3 of American Horror Story, and yet to start any other series for that matter!

For some reason I just can't seem to push myself to sign up for Netflix. Because I am so busy I hate the thought of getting it, and then not watching anything for months on end. I know it doesn't cost an arm and a leg but still, it's money I'd rather have in my account.

We have a couple of box sets lying around the flat so I might get started on them first!

I did however make another similar resolution to this one that I didn't mention in my original post. By the end of the year I want to have watched a new film that I haven't seen before every week. I am doing pretty well with this one, and I am on schedule having seen 28 new ones!

Looking back, I have only really met one of my five new years resolutions! However, I have managed to complete the one which would be the hardest.

The next six months, I am going to be committed to meeting the goals by the end of the year, gimme six months and I guarantee I will have a very different post for you!

How're you all getting on with your new years resolutions? I'd love to hear from you and remember not to beat yourself up too much if you also haven't achieved as much as you'd have liked to. You have six months left to change that!

Blogger Pressures to Always Wear Something New

I may have been blogging a year now however, when it comes to putting outfits together for posts just like this one I often find myself getting rather worked up.

Many thoughts start running through my head, including 'I thought this would look better on', 'why have I again left it til the morning of shooting to decide what to wear' and 'I just want my readers to like it!'

All of which are thoughts I kinda need to stop having. No it doesn't look as great on as I imagined, get over it and pull something else out the wardrobe. Do not leave it til the morning of, again!! And finally, yes I do hope you all like the outfits I put together, however I dress for myself and myself alone. As long as I feel happy, comfortable and confident then nothing else should matter. However if you do love my outfit I'd love to hear from you because I buzz off the compliments!

Coat - Hobbs (similar here), Necklace - Chanel, Top - H&M (similar here), Trousers - Topshop (similar here), Trainers - Adidas, Bag - Zara

Before last week, I can't quite remember when the last time was that I bought new clothes. However, with Zara being a Spring/Summer haven I recently, and very happily I might add, parted with some of my hard earned cash!

My point is, like many others I look in my wardrobe and think I have nothing to wear! Which does sometimes make me think, I can't shoot an outfit, I have nothing new enough. But I'm ready to shake this mentality.

Realistically, everything that features on my blog isn't going to be new, and that's okay. As long as I can offer similar alternatives I am happy with that.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't ever feel the pressure from people to always buy new clothes and only post new pieces. As long as you're happy with what you're wearing that is all the matters.

One year on, these are still my favourite trousers, even more so as I lost so much weight I had to get the next size down in order for them to fit me and even they are a little baggy!

The next step of being able to post the same outfit more than once on Instagram without the fear of people realising my salary doesn't stretch far enough for me to be able to buy a new outfit for every single day.

Here's to the sustainability of the environment and my bank account!

Photography by Lauren Siddall.