My Month In Photos - May 2017
My Month In Photos - May 2017
*Edit: I started writing this yesterday, hence the intro, but then I got a nice bout of food poisoning and spent the rest of the night vomming which is always nice. Now I'm a day behind on my schedule so here's my May roundup and my Pinspiration post will be up tomorrow instead.
Ahh it's been a whole year since I started writing My Month In Photos in this format. A year since Hannah wrote a weekly round up and inspired how this one would go (love you soz for nicking your ideas). Because I only write these once a month it still feels fresh, it's still enjoyable to write because there's only been 12.
I don't even want to think about the fact we're about to enter June. How HOW are we nearly halfway through the year? I had all these hopes and plans and expectations for 2017 and I feel like half the year went by without me achieving anything whilst I was just like finding my feet? Like I've been preparing myself for all the things I'll do this year and whilst I was preparing and making to do lists 6 months went by. Wot.
What I Did;
May was busy. Every month is busy these days. The first weekend of the month I spent in North Devon celebrating mine and Joss' 7 year anniversary. We went to Clovelly and Morte Hoe and Exmoor Zoo, we packed a lot into 3 days yet still managed to spend our evenings relaxing, watching Alien and taking some time out. It was glorious and was all topped off by finding out I'd been shortlisted for the Blogosphere Blog Awards. The following week saw Eurovision and lots of life admin stuff like fixing chips in windscreens and food shopping and then I was off on my travels again. After a slight mishap (breakdown in the middle of a rainy motorway) I went to Wrexham for three days to relive university and shop and eat alot. We went to Welsh Mountain Zoo and caught up with pals and spent too much money and it was glorious. Last week was more life admin and I spent a day driving everyone here there and everywhere and then last weekend I worked. There was a local food and drink festival and I spent Sunday selling cider and pulling pints on Joss' parents cider business stand and it was hugely tiring but is always a good laff. And then to top it all off this Bank Holiday weekend was my niece's 2nd birthday and we had 2 days of celebrations with cake and a million and one presents and balloons and she had a lovely few days and we all shed a tear for how much she's grown up.
What I Watched;
It doesn't matter how busy I am, every evening I make time for the 349237586 programmes I have on record and obvs this month was no different. We didn't manage many films this month but we did finally get round to seeing Fantastic Beasts which I loved; enough HP to make die hard fans be like omgahhhhhh it's the music but also a good standalone film that makes me think the rest of the franchise will be excellent. TV wise I'm about 3 weeks behind on MIC and Real Housewives of Orange County, Atlanta and Cheshire respectively. We've been watching a lot of 8/10 Cats, Go 8 Bit, Taskmaster and we just recorded Fargo last night which I am v excited about the return of. We've also watched a lot of documentaries, I just started the MET and the programme about Crossrail (anyone else obsessed with Crossrail?) and we finished watching The Trial on Channel 4 at the beginning of the week - more on that in my Friday Favs next week. I also recommended Thirteen which I recently watched on iPlayer and the whole series is still on there - but someone plzzzz tell me where I can watch Little Boy Blue and The Replacement.
What I Worked On;
I'm still working on a lot of the same projects as last month, my personalised story book is still ticking along. I mentioned last month about some illustrations I'm doing for a wedding but didn't announce who buttttt the lovely Effi wrote about it in her wedding blog post so guess it's no secret anymore! Effi is one of the blog squad so I've heard a lot about the wedding planning, we've given our opinions and helped her make choices, we've even seen her wedding dress and I am legit so happy and excited she asked me to illustrate the wedding table centres and I am vvvvv excited to see it all come together. This month I also worked on a wedding anniversary present which was absolutely delightful to work on and my Father's Day cards got listed on my Etsy. I have 2 new designs to add to my collection this year which you can peruse (and hopefully buy!) over here.
What I Journaled;
What's this? A change? It's been a year since I started writing my Month In Photos like this and it's always been a segment here about what I chatted in Twitter chats. Except for at least half the year it's basically been "I did one chat lololololol". I just don't have the time for Twitter chats anymore, not in the way I used to do them, not in the same magnitude. I did manage 3 or 4 this month which is a record of late but I just feel like this segment is redundant these days. So here we are, a segment about something I do do a lot; a bullet journal segment. This month was my one year anniversary of bullet journaling! I am using my bullet journal so much these days I am about to fill my first Leuchtturm of the year. I have just bought a second one to see me through July - December and May was a busy month spread wise. As well as my normal monthly and weekly spreads and my blog scheduling I have had the need for 2894738 other lists and diaries. I planned my General Election (ONE WEEK TODAY PEOPLE) post, I started a list of Friday Favourites which will see me through a month, I created an Instagram hashtag page, I outlined a health and beauty routine I won't stick to, I created bujo post ideas and blog post ideas pages and I created a mahooosive cleaning to do list to give the house a (late) spring clean. I have been so busy most weeks have taken a master to do list and the past week has taken a bigger daily to do list too! I also went to Devon and to Wrexham this month, both of which had lots of planning and packing lists and suddenly, I used 25 double page spreads for the month.
What I Blogged;
Even though I've been busy I've managed to stick reasonably well to my blog schedule this May. I changed my promo photos this month from a collage style that I've been using for a little while and back a range of styles from now on. I liked it as a collage, I still like it and that's why I use it still for posts like this but it was becoming unsustainable so here we are; a change. I posted 26 out of 31 days and I produced a lot of content I was proud of and that had a good response. As with most months I wrote about blogging and social media starting with 'Should We Edit Ourselves On Twitter' followed by 'It's Ok For Our Blogs To Change' and 'How To Be A Good Blog Advertiser'. As I ever I also blogged about my bullet journal, it's still the most successful genre on my blog, it's the reason most people found me and why they read my blog. I always leave room in my blog schedule for reactive posts, to things that I have been inspired by, to days where other bloggers inspire me to think of things, to write just because I want to write. I wrote this month about the Blogosphere Shortlisting I wasn't expecting, I wrote about Manchester simply because I didn't know what else to do and I was inspired to talk about things I won't apologise for anymore. Undoubtedly though my favourite post to write and the post that seemed to be enjoyed most by my readers was Things I Text My Mum - out of context texts I sent to my Mum in a fortnight which is definitely going to become a regular feature.
What I Bought;
After my spending ban in April which I enforced because I wanted to save for a blow out in Wrexham in May....well I had a blow out unsurprisingly. And now I'm skint and on a spending ban for anything I don't absolutely need. Who said I was a responsible adult? I did a mini fashion show that proves I'll never be a fashion blogger on Insta Stories when I got back from Wrexham but as well as necessities like pjs and socks and hangers I also treated myself to the gorge bluebird shirt in the top image and the odd pair of earrings and what not. Have a peep into my Friday Favs from last week to see the uhhhmazing soft trackies set I got which I have worn basically non stop since I bought them, only to wash them and pray they don't lose their softness. I have a wedding coming up in July that's outdoors and is a biiit less formal than a lot of weddings and I legit hate wearing dresses and skirts so I've bought a pair of floral trousers and a blush pink lace top and coat to go with it. But plz plz plz can someone recommend me somewhere to find a pair of blush or nude smart wedges to wear that don't cost the earth because every shop I've been in on the high street has failed me so far.
I got asked last week if I wanted to go somewhere overnight in June and I soon realised I couldn't commit to a single date. I am so hideously busy the whole of June is already out and lord knows if you'll see me blog this month. It's also the Blogosphere Blog Awards ceremony on the 22nd so keep an eye out on Twitter to see who wins what! And finally;
THE GENERAL ELECTION 2017 IS ON JUNE 8TH. GET OUT, VOTE, GET EDUCATED, MAKE A STAND, RESEARCH, DON'T BE COMPLACENT, DON'T TRUST OTHER PEOPLE TO VOTE FOR YOU. ELECT WHO YOU WANT, VOTE IN WHO YOU WANT BUT DON'T WASTE THIS OPPORTUNITY.
