If I’m being honest.. I’m looking forward to a new month and September arriving! I’m totally ready for August to be over.

If I’m being honest.. I’m really loving reading at the moment. I think it’s becoming a big escape for me and I’m flying through my ‘to be read’ list.

If I’m being honest.. I’ve been making small steps to make me feel better physically, and it’s really working. I’m enjoying challenging myself and my body.

If I’m being honest.. I’ve been taking it ‘one day at a time’ lately and appreciating each day as it comes.

If I’m being honest.. My skin is really starting to get me down over these last few weeks. I have no idea what’s wrong with it as I haven’t changed anything in my routine.

If I’m being honest.. I’m slowly starting to really get back into meditation which feels good.

If I’m being honest.. I’m still not in a great sleep routine but maybe I’ll get there one day. Any tips would highly be appreciated!

If I’m being honest.. I’ve taken the pressure of myself to constantly post online and it feels great.

What would you say if you were being honest?

I’m coming to you with another real-time, freshly squeezed blog post this Friday evening. I just felt like writing, so here I am! I do really enjoy this part of blogging, how it feels to set up camp on the sofa with the patio doors open, and chat to a bunch of friends, which you readers are to me. Anyway, dinner’s in the oven (vegetarian lasagne if you’re interested) so I better crack on..

LISTENING

Let’s start with listening, because this morning the new Taylor album came out. If you didn’t know, I’m a die hard Swiftie and have been since a teenager. Me and my sister have been to see her four times now, and hopefully a fifth next year if she tours. I feel like I need a good few hours listening to the album to see my true favourites, but so far they are Lover (of course, I think that might be my top favourite), I Forgot You Existed, and Paper Rings.

In terms of podcasts, I’ve discovered ‘Things You Can’t Ask Yer Mum’ and I’m loving it. I think because they are both northern (which many podcasts I listen to aren’t) it feels really comforting and like having a catch up with mates. They discuss some really great topics and I love that the podcast length is about 30 minutes, so I can always listen to them when I’m on a run.

WATCHING

To be honest, I’ve not been watching a lot lately. I’ve nearly finished Jane The Virgin on Netflix which I totally don’t want to end, and I’ve just started season 2 of Marvellous Mrs Maisel which I loved the first series of. Any Netflix recs for me?

READING

I finished David Nicholls Sweet Sorrow, which didn’t live up to One Day for me, but in the end I did enjoy it. Last night I finished The First Time I Saw You and I really loved it, I ended up flying through it in a couple of evenings. I’ve just actually uploaded my five favourite fiction books on my Instagram stories which I’ll link here ! If you’re reading this live they will be there, or just look on my ‘book’ highlights after 24 hours.

What are you reading/listening/watching lately?

I promised to post on here at least once a week, and since it’s now 7 days since I last published anything, I wanted to come on today and do an honest check-in/chat about life.

As you will have noticed since my last few posts, life definitely hasn’t been easy lately. I’m very much still processing and working through grief. I don’t want to chat about that too much on todays post, because I want to write more about my journey with grief at a later date. It’s a feeling I’ve never experienced as an adult before, and I feel like I’ve had my eyes woken up to how many layers there is to it. It’s not a linear process and you can have 500 different feelings in just one day. But as I said, that’s for another time.

I’m writing this on a Monday afternoon (so you really are getting it freshly squeezed) and I’ve had a really good weekend with family celebrating my sisters birthday. Although now I am feeling super tired due to all the social occasions. I mentioned this on my Instagram last night (link here by the way if you want to follow me over there), but something I do constantly struggle with is making sure I am interacting with enough other humans and making sure I still get my alone quiet time. It’s a balance I’m yet to work out, but some days I do have it nailed which feels good. I’ve got a chilled day planned for today though which I know will do me well and I’m working tomorrow which always makes me feel nice and productive!

I’m posting less online this summer, purely for the reason that I don’t have that much to say or put out there. I feel like I’m having kind of a little summer break, and when Autumn comes I know I’ll feel refreshed and renewed, ready to post more and put myself out there (hopefully)

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I hope you liked this honest check-in post and let me know if you’d like me to keep them coming every now and again.

How’s life with you?

Here’s some short (ish) reviews of good books I’ve read recently…

Never Greener- 5/5

I love love loved this book. It’s one I still think about now even though I’ve read nearly 10 books since. It’s all about romantic relationships and just how complex and challenging they can really be. It kept me hooked all the way through and I totally didn’t want it to end. Highly highly recommend!!!

Where’d You Go Bernadette- 4/5

I wasn’t sure what to expect picking this up, and even when I finished it I still wasn’t exactly sure on what happened, but I just had to keep reading because it was so interesting and unique. I know there’s a film coming out based on the book, which I definitely want to see. It’s a book I can’t really describe, and if you’ve read it before, you’ll probably understand me.

Maybe This Time- 4/5

I love anything Jill Mansell writes, so I knew I would enjoy this when I started it and it didn’t disapoint! Not as fluffy and light as you might imagine it would be, but a really lovely story with characters you totally root for and instantly warm to. I flew through this and looked forward to reading it every night.

The Cactus 4-5

I bought this book based on the Reese Witherspoon book club stamp of approval. It probably wouldn’t of been something I’ve of chosen originally, but I really enjoyed it. If I had to sum this book up I’d say it was exactly what I hoped Eleanor Ophilant would be, but wasn’t- for me anyway.

Here’s what I’m reading next…

Sweet Sorrow, by David Nicholls. I loved One Day, as heart-breaking as it was, so I’m really looking forward to what this book might bring.

What have you read recently? I’m always looking out for book recommendations!

I know we’re already into August, but I wanted to share my goals for the month anyway. I didn’t set any goals for July so given the circumstances, I’m easing myself in gently with a few small goals I would like to achieve.

#1 Develop a better sleep routine. I’ve been working on this for a few weeks already, but I’m not there yet. I’m currently struggling with grief, so that obviously isn’t helping my sleeping schedule, but I’ve been putting my phone away for at least an hour while I read my book and I notice a big difference in the quality of sleep I get.

#2 Go through my wardrobe. My wardrobe is looking quite the state recently, and I know it will make me feel so much better when I’ve sorted it out. I want to give a few bags to charity, and tidy the area that is currently looking SUCH a mess.

#3 Take it a day at a time. Like I said earlier, I’m not going through the best of times. Taking it one day a time makes things feel a little more managable, and getting anything done in a day is better than nothing, no matter how small it is.

Do you have any goals for August?