This week I spent most of the weekend in rain boots. Kicking up fallen leaves, splashing in puddles, searching for horse chestnuts, building burrows, and digging through mud. It was awesome and I love that my boys are this age (2 and 3) and it’s so much fun to go for a quick walk.
After a very luxurious summer, I was so looking forward to winter that I immediately went into hibernation mode. Before I knew it, I was snuggled up indoors with the heater on and a blanket on my lap, stuffing myself with home-cooked comfort food and endless cups of tea, and, unsurprisingly, I started to feel a little sick did.
So I made a huge effort this weekend to get outside, exercise, and get some fresh air. Thankfully, this isn’t too difficult when you live on the Welsh border and he has two small boys who exhaust him every day. I stopped making excuses (too wet, too cold, too windy, too tired, too much to do, I don’t want to get the dog too dirty) and decided to bundle everyone up in waterproof clothes. I put on my rain boots and went outside and I felt so good!
Since it was my birthday on Monday (thank you for all the lovely birthday messages!), I think this idea of ”getting outside and exercising” is something that comes with growing older. I just want to be happy and healthy, and going for a long walk every day is both of those things, so I need to put more effort into that.
I also got my hair cut this week. I always forget how good I feel after a good chop. It works wonders to lift your mood!
I haven’t written an article like this in years, but here are some of my favorites right now!
I usually stick to what I’m reading or watching in my weekend reading posts, but I’m going a little off-topic here and that’s some of what I enjoy.
What I watch, what I read or listen to, what has nothing to do with watching or reading, I just like it!
Speaking of my favorite things… Do you like the new layout of The Travel Hack? I was getting a bit tired of the old look of the site and the theme I was using had some technical flaws, I hope it will be improved. I still want to make some changes to improve navigation on the site. There are well over 1,000 blog posts here, but finding them isn’t always easy unless you know what you’re looking for. Please let me know what you think!
#1. Stacey Dooley investigates: Fashion’s dirty secrets
If you haven’t seen this yet, make a cup, sit down, and watch it. That’s very interesting. It’s basically about the environmental impact that fast fashion is having on the world, and it’s shocking. It’s horrifying and shocking.
Lately I’ve been really concerned about fast fashion and the wasteful world we live in. It started with people trying to avoid using plastic, but now it seems like it’s going mainstream and I think this concept is moving into other areas of our lives as well.
I feel so guilty buying cheap clothes that are almost disposable. I wear something for a season (sometimes only for a few weeks depending on the weather) and then keep it in my cupboard for about a year before I get rid of it and send it to a charity shop. That’s crazy. Especially because no one cares about what I wear. I literally don’t think there’s a single person other than me who actually cares what I wear.
This is a really nerve-wracking subject and this documentary opened up a can of worms for me, so I’m going to dig a little deeper into this and blog about it!
^Watching this documentary inspired me to organize my clothes, and I did a major decluttering. I’ve been storing about 80% of my clothes in suitcases in the attic, so I’ve created a nice, simple capsule wardrobe for winter.
#2. The true cost of Netflix
After watching Stacey Dooley’s show, Elle Croft was introduced to The True Cost, a similar documentary but focusing on the people behind fast fashion and the environmental impact of clothing manufacturing. ” I suggested they watch it.
Understanding the harm that fast fashion does to people and our world makes you really wonder why on earth you should risk two of our most precious resources for a cheap new top. Become.
#3. Clinique Sonic Cleansing Brush
I’m pretty lazy when it comes to my beauty routine, but my skin has been so bad lately that I knew I needed to step up my beauty routine. I’ve tried various high-end products over the years, but until now I’ve never found one that really seemed to make a difference. I was given a Clinique facial brush as a gift years ago, but I never actually used it. I simply didn’t like the idea of charging so many things. It feels like I’m charging about 8 trillion devices every night when I go to bed. But actually, this brush seems to last about 2-3 weeks on a single charge, so it’s not that bad.
I’ve been using Clinique Facial Brush for a while now and my skin is much clearer and brighter than ever before. I use it with my standard cleanser (Garnier Micellar Gel Cleanser) and the brush gently cleanses my skin without drying it out. I love it and think it actually saves me money over time because I don’t feel the need to buy fancy cleansers or exfoliants.
I usually link to products on Amazon, but I’ve found this to be much more expensive on Amazon and other retailers, but you can currently buy it for £56.67 if you buy directly through Clinique.
#4. This IKEA trolley
I like this trolley so much that I am planning to buy another one. I’m currently using it on my greenhouse plants and it’s so convenient because I can water everything outside and put it back in when the water stops dripping.
I plan to use the second one as a drink cart. I’m waiting for Joseph to get a little older, but I still can’t trust him not to pick up all the pretty bottles of gin!
#5 iPhone XS Max
i don’t usually get too excited about new phones. I’ve always been an iPhone guy and they’re all pretty much the same, but I upgraded from an iPhone 7 so I went with the XS Max. This is a game changer!
Its huge screen and great camera are amazing and I love it. I started watching more YouTube videos because they look so great on the big screen!
#6. The East London Hotel
I stayed at the East London Hotel last week while in London for an event and absolutely loved it. It’s not super luxurious or anything like that, it has everything you need. Great location, lovely staff, gorgeous decor, lovely food, lovely cafe/bar area, lovely communal workspace atmosphere, good coffee in the room, lovely bathroom with nice amenities, fluffy towels, Comfortable bed. And even better, it’s reasonably priced. It’s not all bells and whistles, it’s everything you want and it feels like someone who really “gets it” designed this hotel.
#7.Feedback about my suitcase
Oh, and people are buying my suitcases and loving them!
It’s very difficult to look at Travel Hack Pro Cabin Case objectively. It’s like my baby and I love it unconditionally, but it’s great to see real people love it too!
#8. Skillshare
Have you ever used Skillshare? It’s a site where you can take creative classes like design and technology and basically all the skills you need to be a blogger online. There are many business-related jobs, including writing, photography, editing, and videography, as well as accounting and marketing. All lessons are delivered in high quality videos that are truly engaging. There’s also a really great app that lets you watch all these movies on your phone.
I recently upgraded to a premium account (£10 per month) so I can watch as many lessons as I want. If you’re interested, you can use this link to get two months free.
#9. Celebrating mediocrity
I saw this on Twitter after Beverly Reinman shared it and it really hit home with me. This is about how we all strive for perfection, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we strive for perfection even in things that don’t matter. Many people no longer have hobbies, and the author believes that’s because we’re afraid of failing or being a little bad at them. But since when did we start to feel the need to be truly knowledgeable about our hobbies? What happened to just doing something for the love of it? Hobbies are necessary to relax and distract from the stresses of everyday life, but when everyone tries to perfect their hobbies, it can create a whole new layer of stress.
I started knitting a few years ago and really enjoyed the daily feeling of relaxation and satisfaction that comes with knitting scarves. Admittedly, it’s a pretty bad scarf. However, I realized that I wasn’t getting very good at knitting, so I stopped knitting. Why did I do this? Why did I want to get better? Anyway, I love this celebration of ordinariness, so give it a read!
#Ten. Lucy Lucraft Podcast
I really enjoyed listening to “The Highs and Lows of Blogging” by Charlotte Jacklin from Betty Magazine. Lucy has a great way of getting useful information out of people, so she really loves every episode of this podcast.
And another reason I love this show is because I’m sponsoring the podcast “Blogger Course” this season, so you get a nice little message of support in most episodes!