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. 

July Round Up

Now I know that this post is massively delayed, and realistically should be shared at the beginning of the month. But so much has happened throughout August that I don't know whether I've been coming or going!

However, I made the effort to take these photos and put this post together, so I have given myself the go ahead and to share it anyway, four weeks late or not!

Back in June (which feels like forever ago) I thought about wanting to photograph more of what I do on a day to day basis. Not only to be able to look back on time that I've spent with friends and family but to also share with you guys how much I eat out (I regret nothing).

Starting with July I am going to focus on featuring a post like this every month giving you an update on what exactly I got up to the month before.

From daily outfit looks to pizza, pasta and naan breads the size of my friend's heads. I admit I've forgotten from time to time to actually do this, but here's hoping going forward I'll improve.

And who knows, in future months I may have photos not solely focussed on what I stuffed my face with!

Enjoy!

At the beginning of July a took a trip down to see my sister but to also attend a very exciting job interview! My sister, Lisa and friend Philippa celebrated with a doughnut, I did not as I was being 'good', in hind sight I might as well have!

The health kick did not end at saying no to doughnuts either! I took it upon myself to take advantage of where I used to live and went for a wonder along the canals. Mainly to try and get my steps up.

For those of you fellow Mancs who haven't been to Mackie Mayor before, what are you waiting for?! They have the most amazing food vendors and a great variety to choose from! This wasn't my first visit but it maybe my last for a while. 

I highly recommend the pizza!

FYI I currently live in these culottes. :)

For those of you who know me, you will know I love pies and cannot help myself when scouting out the nearest pie restaurants.

I used to work in a pub in Marple Bridge who stock Pieminister pies and they are absolutely bloody lovely! I managed to visit their own restaurant in Manchester in July and wasted not one mouthful of my Mothership order. A must visit for all pie lovers.

Live and eat pie. 

Last month I had my first visit to the Light Cinema in Stockport. Myself, little brother and step mum had tickets to see The Incredibles 2. Accompanied by a free refill of popcorn and sofas so comfy it's just like being at home.

SPOILER ALERT - I got the job! But I'll tell you all about that in a specially dedicated post!

Further trips to London were an essential this month to go through a two day handover for my new position. Start date was, Monday 20 August!

Good vibes only!

I am the Carbonara Queen. At eating it, not making it, don't be silly.  

I'm a sucker for a good quote and nothing is more accurate than this right now. 

Frankie and Benny's have got their napkins down to a tee; I am that person who won't let you eat your food until I have taken a photo of it, I'm not even sorry.

In July I sadly had to say goodbye to these two lovelies as they moved to Berlin for amazing adventures! We couldn't say goodbye though without a meal accompanied by naan breads that were bigger than our heads. Cue the proud parent photo.

Lovely surprises for getting a new job off two of my favourite people! Just wish I'd saved the photo before the Insta Stories edits, oops. 

More food...

And again. These tapas from Bed in Uppermill though were absolutely amazing. I know understand why I have put on about 7lbs in the space of a month...

And to conclude, sunshine, roof down drives with my favourite person. 

Not a bad month at all, here's to August, the month of change.

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!