About
Behind the Blog
My Story So Far
Prior to diving into my adulting-intro years at University, carrying some of the most fantastic and shape-forming experiences of my life so far, the most exciting thing I had done was travel through Europe by train. Leaving a boyfriend behind in my hometown as I set off for the longest time I'd ever spent away from home, a friend and I watched the English country side transform into Parisian cityscape; sliding into Swiss mountains; moulding into Italian cobbled streets and ancient architecture, all through a train window. Café au Laits were sipped in tucked-away coffee shops, spaghetti carbonara was washed down with a jug of sangria in a sun-soaked Florence town square, and crisp royal blue sky was touched from the tip of a snow powdered Swiss mountain. My friend and I spent our days café-hopping through France; walking the vineyards banking lake Geneva; we had henna tattooed on our hands sitting outside the Duamo in Florence; we sipped Cosmos in a dim-lit basement bar in Milan; we smuggled our way into a roof-top party beside Milan's famous Cathedral; we ate Pizza and sloshed wine in a small Pizzeria overlooking the sun setting behind the Roman Colosseum; and our last travel days were spent on a beach bar in Napolí - not to mention eating their very own Carbonara Pizza. Those days running from one train to the next were intertwined with so many unforgettable memories threaded with cultures so different from the one I had grown up in. Italy, in particular, is painted with a purity and distinctive character that I still crave to be draped in again.
On my return my comfortable, sheltered little teenage life was shortly rocked by a relationship breakup, however this led to a summer so filled with euphoric excitement and happiness - nights in bars unfolding into sunrises on the beach with fuzzy heads, buzzing souls and kebab food - that I still reminisce of those long heated weeks to this day. As September pushed August into a bunch of happy memories, I relocated further along the coast, where my student years began.
I talk through my wonderful experiences during those years in the student section of this blog: offering all that I learned, from relationship dramas and discoveries of friendships, to house-share living and the best hangover hacks! I met my current best friends within the first year, and we build our gal bond through nights out and mornings in shared. They taught me one of the key lessons I've taken from student life: the people you journey life's days with need to make you feel good, so choose wisely.
Now I'm currently hustling through my final year of my course, on the beautiful South Coast of the UK. Having always had an interest in all-things media and writing, the course has suited me well - teaching me plenty about media communication to complement my already-existing love for connecting with online audiences. It's amazing! Right? An ability to reach an enormity of society, with differing interests and opinions and experiences, all from one screen to another.
My graduate year at Uni comes as a sweet relief after 10 months spent at an internship in London, working for a marketing team in a hotel representation company. Throughout my time there, I became more attuned with my love for writing: blogging about my experiences, sharing tips and tricks that I've tried and tested in ranging areas of a lifestyle, from achieving mental balance to skin care hacks to healthy budget recipes.
The Story Behind the Blog
I have spent the preceding year gathering many life lessons, cornering career curves and - without dipping too deep - doing some soul searching. Living alone in a small London flat working for a company with questionable employee treatment and ethics, at the very least, guided me into finding ways to calm my own storms and search for my own peace of mind.
I found fitness in the face of loneliness and anxiety; I discovered how creating a glow in my skin boosted my confidence deeper than the surface; how committing to reading self-aspiring books and auto-biographies can flip your thoughts from dark to light; and that solidifying my own sense of self-worth and respect, and investing in self-care, can be the key to rising above the waves that crash against and challenge you.
I also became enlightened as to just how passionate I felt about helping people in any way I can offer; reaching out to those searching for comfort, inspiration, re-assurance, or simply just a moment of quiet amidst a busy life.
After discovering for myself how important balance is in life, I realised I wanted to create a space that radiates this feeling, and accessible place that encompasses peace and chill and daydream. I've learned that our quality of life all starts with ourselves: how we feel in our skin, the peace of our mind and the strength of our muscles; relishing in a day under the blankets in your favourite joggers just as often as you're out hustling for your dream career.
I see myself as a go-getter to be sure, I see great value in working hard for the life you wish to live and I believe this takes a lot of discipline, creativity and stable confidence. However, I don't want this blog to be all about pushing people into climbing mountains they don't want to climb, fuelling a pressure that pushes against many of us in society every day. So much of the online society makes us feel like our efforts to succeed are inferior or pale attempts in comparison to someone else, and that's not what I wanted to advocate in my blog. Rather a niche tucked away from all of that.
When I created this blog I intended to create a retreat of sorts: where you can curl up on your sofa with a coffee and your laptop - your dog or cat tucked in beside you and re-runs of your favourite TV series wittering in the background - and to feel that sense of release. Release of responsibility or the chains to your demanding to-do list; release of any guilt that you should be elsewhere. Here, I want my readers to feel safe to let go. To read about comfort baking or morning skin-care regimes; becoming immersed in balmy evenings on the chirping dust roads of Greece or the music-filled Cathedral square in Milan. Sure I talk career topics, organisation tips and motivational movements too. But I wanted this blog to be a place of inspiration and possibilities and inducing a sense of contentment.
It's important to allow all that weight of the everyday to lift from our shoulders - all those plans yet to be made and achievements yet to be celebrated. We have time to be productive. Investing a little in comfort and quiet of the present moment is just as important for our progress through life as making steps up the career ladder or plans for a business of your own.
I'm surprised you read down this far! I take it that means you have some time to relax into - which, let's allow it, we all do really. Time is a gift we all have, so let's spend it wisely. SO, with that in mind, grab yourself a cuppa - or a glass of wine, it's happy hour somewhere, right? - snuggle down on your sofa in your favourite lounge wear, and enjoy.