New Year... Finally a New Post

So last night after a NYE that didn't quite go to plan and feeling a little bit less than "Happy" 
I decided to write down my thoughts in notes on my phone... doing this reminded me of how I always used to keep diaries both handwritten and typed yet over the last few years I have neglected to do so (ok maybe more close to a decade realistically). As the words flowed it reminded me on how I used to enjoy writing and therefore I should revisit my once cherished blog. 

I don't want to call it a resolution as unfortunately they don't tend to last (Such as the "try something new every month" resolution which lasted until about April - did choir singing, clubbersize, pottery painting and a Shakespeare acting class) I want to make this more of just a conscious effort to write and share more. 

I will try and share across a spectrum of areas of interest from Marketing, Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle, Art, Fitness (I go to the gym that makes me an expert right), Mental Health, Friends, Love, Music, Books etc... Basically anything that takes my fancy at that time, I can't claim to be an expert but will only write about things that I have a passion for (que the cliche - and yes I know every other blog covers this too!) I just want to put it out there and see... with the hope to improve my writing skills and fall head first back in love with it again. 

With such filtered realities... and don't get me wrong I love a filter as much as the next and spend way too much time on Instagram, I hope to be able to strip some of that away at times and post openly and honestly. 

I guess with the new year its always a time to reflect and look ahead so this is my brief 2017 > 2018 summary of what I enjoyed: 

Books

2017: In our team at work we did a weekly marketing topic where we will share insight/links/articles around the team on the subject. When it came to "content marketing week" it was the opportune time to read the book my team gave me as a birthday gift - 'Content Marketing In a Week' by Jane Heaton 

It luckily isn’t one of those heavy marketing "how to" text books which can often be overwhelming with amount of info. It is instead really manageable, it is structured in bite size  daily chunks which are easy to digest and is presented in a way which make the learnings enticing to apply. 


I highly recommend it.

For 2018: My manager gave me this gorgeous book as a thoughtful Christmas gift which is taking pride of place on my coffee table and I plan to slowly absorb and work through the beautiful infographics.

Podcasts

2017: Is the year I really 'got into podcasts'... mornings really don't feel the same unless I listen to one while getting ready. I devoured the following series: S Town, Serial, Heavyweight, Homecoming, The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson and My Dad Wrote a porno.

My weekly go to are - The High Low, This American Life, Desert Island Discs & Table Manners with Jessie Ware.

2018 > I hope to get really stuck into some more so any suggestions are welcome...

Day Trippin' 

2017: I love nothing more than getting out in the fresh air and visiting some new gems of places which are often not much more than 2-3 hours away so really accessible for a day trip. My favourite of this year have to be:

West wittering - what a beaut of a day nothing beats a sunny day at the beach and the bonus was visiting in the week it wasn't too busy either

Wolvesy Castle @ Winchester. This was a great day out as combined with a morning visit to an antiques fair in the local sports hall and then wondered down the river to the castle - again was lucky it was another sunny day... I'm starting to think we did maybe have at least a few days of summer!

Shaftesbury. after seeing the Hovis Hill on Martha Ward's insta stories I saved as a place to visit and it was just as pictured. Weather not so much on our side this day but after a stroll down pine walk the hot choc at the salt cellar at the top of Gold Hill did the trick and warmed us up. Also a visit to the museum also on the hill was well worth the visit.

New Alresford, Hampshire - We had driven through this town once and I was desperate to stop and look but didn't put the two and two together until we went there for a "top rated" walk. We had a really idyllic walk on the Millennium and Arle tail in an absolute chocolate box vi

2018: More of the same please... I have already have a number of locations saved I would like to visit such as... Finchingfield, Studland Bay, Bibury, Sidmouth, Petworth, Hankley Common & Crosby beach. All courtesy of Instagram.

So to not overdo it for one post that hopefully gives a flavour and I hope to share some more in the close future.