REACHING AN INSTAGRAM MILESTONE

This is by far my biggest milestone and achievement on this social networking site. I must say for me it has been a slow process, I see others fly past my achievements and often I think what am I doing wrong. 

I guess its not wrong, because its only social media, and its something I enjoy. Some days I don’t post because work is so busy, or other days I’m having a creative block, yet through all of these moments I have made it to this huge achievement and I have met (virtually) some of the nicest bloggers, who I support and they support me, and my heart feels overwhelmed by that. 

I look at my own feed and I am proud of how far it has come, I looked back at my first Instagram posts the other day, and I couldn’t believe how much my style, my life and everything had changed; it is a change for the better. 

Whilst I continue to grow, I am nurturing my account and I do this because I genuinely enjoy posting on Instagram, along with the interaction I have with the rest of the community it is wonderful and I feel a sense of joy belonging somewhere in there. 

To me hitting 1k was huge, and will always be huge, its up and down, I have bot accounts who follow and unfollow and that takes me back under 1k, but for the most part it is staying where it should be and I am excited for the continued progression of my wonderful little account. 

Thank you to each and every one of you who follows my Instagram account, I have found some wonderful people through Instagram and I hope to continue this in the future. 

If you aren't following me, and would like to my username is @jessicalaarr 

A WEEKEND IN THE LAKE DISTRICT

I’d never visited the Lakes before, I had high hopes for some great photography, however, that didn't necessarily go as planned, and you will find out why. 

I wasn’t quite prepared for the rapid weather changes that can occur in the Lake district. 

We drove down on Friday, it was a beautiful clear day, blue skies, and we began to see snow topped mountains as we were driving along the motorway, I honestly felt as though I was in another country, it was spectacular. 

It took us around 2 hours to get to the Lake District. Once we arrived, we stopped off in a cute town called Keswick to meet up with our “friends’ we would be spending the weekend with. I use friends in this terms as its my partners friend and his girlfriend, i’d never met either of them before, however they were fabulous.

We stopped at The Royal Oak to get some very late lunch / early dinner, before heading off to our lodge for the weekend. 

The lodge we stayed in was not far from Keswick, it came equipped with a hot tub, which was AMAZING! We made plenty of use out of this luxury, until we all looked like shrivelled prunes, at which point we got out and played some board games. 

Along came Saturday and that was about to be known as Hike day, well if we could actually make it to the mountain. 

Remember when I said Friday was lovely weather, but it changes rapidly, yes well that is exactly what it did. We woke up and it seemed to have been raining ALL NIGHT, whilst it was still looking a bit grim, we all put our wet weather gear on and prepared to face the mountains. 

The mountain we wanted to climb was Scafell Pike, it was around an hour drive from our accommodation, which of course was going to be absolutely fine! 

Fine you say, Jess. Wrong! 

Our Sat nav tried its hardest to get us there, but each time we hit a dead end, either because the road was randomly closed, or because the road was so flooded my car would have been going for a swim rather than a drive. 

A lovely local directed us back onto more main roads, and near enough over 2 hours later we finally made it to Scafell pike. 

We at least I guessed we were there, the viability was so poor I couldn't actually see the mountain, or the Lake which surrounds it, sounds pleasant right!?

We were advised not to climb up, the viability was poor, wind up to 60mph at the top, ALOT of snow and ice, but boys being boys were adamant it would be fine, and so our journey up the mountain began. 

It was steep, and technical, I mean not that I have anything to compare to, I haven’t actually climbed a mountain before, and I'm convinced the weather was not the right time for the first ever one. 

But never fear, everything was okay because we had lots of sweets and Maryland cookies, although I swear those cookies have reduced in size since I was a kid!

We slowly made our way up icy rocks, through fast flowing streams, and began hiking through snow that, at times was so deep it came past my knees. We continued, following a sludgy path where other people had walked, which we presumed was the way, because all we could see was snow, everything looked the exact same. 

BUT can you believe it, we MADE IT TO THE TOP! It took us a whopping 3 hours, and I was SHATTERED. 

The only problem with making it to the top was having to make it back down again and it looked quite terrifying. I fell over one too many times, and also ended up in a stream so I had to walk the last leg of my journey with a squelching noise in my boots. Oh SO glamorous. 

It took us just over an hour to get down Scafell pike, to be honest I think we skidded most of the way, but we all made it down very safely and made the long drive back to our lodge to have some well earn drinks in the hot tub. It was absolute bliss. 

Sunday was mostly spent packing up and leaving the lodge we stayed in, however, I had a wonderful weekend, and it felt like such an achievement climbing a mountain. 

I definitely want to plan another trip to the Lake district, so if you have any recommendations do let me know. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF CARE

I am a huge advocate for self care, in both my online life and in my professional life. It’s something I aim to address for myself and others, who may be suffering from a mental health difficulty in particular, however, regardless practicing self care is equally as important even if your mental health is okay. 

When I talk about self care or self soothing  I don’t mean *making sure you took a wash* of course that is important, and if you are not doing that, it should be addressed. What I really mean though is taking time for yourself. 

We live in a society where everything is such a fast paced environment, we have the pressure of just trying to live our life along with the pressures of social media endorsements, it can leave us feeling utterly exhausted. I know I often feel drained by trying to have a relationship, friendships, keep a house going, working full time, keeping up with social media. Even writing that list makes me feel overwhelmed, so chances are people aren’t taking time for themselves, because they feel they have so much to do. 

Do you find yourself saying “I just don’t have time” , “ I had to work late” , “i’ve not done anything to deserve a treat” ?

Well take a step back for a moment, and lets put things into perspective a little bit here. We as humans have this wonderful nature of caring for others, telling others they are doing well, but do we ever pat ourselves on the back, or take a 5 minute break? Probably not, I see it and hear it all the time in my professional life, which is why I feel so passionate about encouraging people to self soothe, because it can work wonders for your mental health. 

Doing something to self soothe does not need to involve money, going to spas or weekend trips away, no honey I’m talking little daily changes. Everyone is individual and what you enjoy, may not be an enjoyment for others, but I have come up with a small list which you can take some inspiration from.

SELF CARE IDEAS 

go for a walk 

take a bath 

paint your nails 

draw 

write in a journal 

light a candle

take some time (it could be 1 hour) office away from social media 

read that book you’ve been meaning to read 

buy a bunch of flowers for yourself 

meditate / do some yoga - you don’t have to be good

put on your favourite music album 

call a friend or family member 

laugh - force it out - trust me if you are having a bad day do this, it really works

Its not an extensive list, but it’s a start and hopefully it has got you thinking on some things you can easily do to be kind to yourself. 

Life is busy, unfortunately that is the way society is, but we can care for ourselves and find time to do these little things, the small things can make such a difference to our mental health and wellbeing. We often take ourselves for granted and don’t allow ourselves time to be kind, yet we all deserve it, no matter who you are in the world you deserve to be kind to yourself and allow yourself to self soothe. 

I challenge you to try at least one self soothing thing per day, and see if you notice a difference. 

FINDING A LOVE FOR INTERIORS

Well, here I am taking Interiors. 

A little fact for all you wonderful people: when I was little I always wanted to buy houses and do them up, like grand designs. I also was obsessed with watching 60 minute makeovers and still love that sort of thing now. 

So as you can tell, I have very much always been into interiors, however, its a hard thing to love, when your money is limited and you are wanting to save for bigger things i.e. buying a house. 

I’m trying to limit the homeware I buy, because lets face it, I would much rather hold out until we do have a house, however, for now I am still living in a wonderful rented apartment, and I am trying my best to style it well and affordably. 

There are some really affordable places that do prints and stylish homeware selections of bookshelf ornaments, or if you are like me you can try and draw your own art work. 

I have recently discovered Maison Du Monde where I caved in and bought a beautiful chair for my desk.

Well, I actually sat on my old one and broke it *read into that how you please* 

It is the small features, such as this beautiful vintage looking chair that adapt and change the aesthetics of the room, not to mention the plants I am still managing to keep alive. In comparison to some of the other companies out there, this chair was super affordable and stylish all in one. 

Erm HELLO what more could a girl ask for!

Due to the fact that we must save, and saving in your 20’s when you don't live at home is bloody hard, it means that I don’t have the interiors set up I would like or have set out in my mind, but it doesn’t matter because i’m building it up slowly and appreciating every thing I am able to purchase. 

I’m definitely on the hunt for more affordable interior brands, so if you are familiar with any then hit me up.

Are you into interior shopping?

A REVIEW OF JANUARY

Well, January was an exceptionally long month, wasn’t it!? I don't think I was the only one to be a little bit sick to death of January, which I feel bad for saying. I try to remind myself not to wish the days away, however, post Christmas and a very long stretch until pay day, January just felt a little much. 

I've decided to do a little bit of a look back over January, I might try and do this for more months. Whilst I was planning this post, I realised how easily things happen, yet I completely forget about them, so in a way it is nice to have small achievements documented. 

First up, my mental health. 2017 was a bit up and down with my mental health, although may I point out, the downs were never as severe as historic downs I have experienced. Nonetheless, I came off my anti depressants which felt like a bad idea at the start, considering I also came off the contraceptive pill at the same time. Roll on to January of 2018 and I have had a really great month with my mental health, for once in my life my brain has felt mostly levelled, I haven’t cried at the drop of a hat, and I’ve taken things in my stride. I am so proud of this, I know its only been a month, but I am feeling positive to continue this journey, it’s early days but I’m hoping the things I am doing will continue to make my mental health continue in a positive direction. 

Which leads me nicely into my next achievement, I strongly believe this accounts for the large majority of my good mental health days in January. 

I have been exercising again, in 2017 I completely lost my motivation, albeit going to the gym here and there. It got to January and I gave myself a good talking to, In my mind I always know the gym and exercise makes me feel good, so I decided to make a real effort to make it there. 

Now don’t get me wrong, this has been difficult, with a stressful job, coming home and going to the gym is not something I wish to do (i’d rather lay on the sofa in my comfy clothes) but I am so proud of myself, I have been going to the gym 4-5 times a week, i’ve been doing around 45 minutes to 1 hour on those days, with a mixture of cardio and weights. I feel fantastic for doing this, and I am 90% sure this is the reason my mental health has been so good in January. 

I’ve also pushed myself out of my comfort zone and socialised, I was invited to a dinner and drinks night with some of the girls from work, the majority of these colleagues I do not know particularly well, I was nervous, I felt sick and my anxiety was through the roof on the evening. But my gosh am I proud, usually if my anxiety was so bad I would have a tendency to make an excuse like sorry i’m sick. I didn’t do that, I got ready and I went, I chatted, I drank and I had a fantastic night. I felt such a strong sense of achievement that may seem so insignificant to others, but for me this was a big deal, especially as I didn’t know these people very well and normally I find comfort with someone I know well who usually understands how I may feel, but they had no idea. We now have another dinner night booked, and I am going to that as well. 

Finally, this achievement sounds a little bigger than the rest, In January I got the email to say I graduated from my post graduate. I am absolutely over the moon, and looking back it makes me realise I can do anything I put my mind to (sadly I have a tendency to be negative towards myself) but I did it, I worked so hard on my post graduate, whilst working a full time job, and I feel so much pride. I look back to my younger years and never thought I would make it through school or college but here I am, graduating with a post graduate, and helping others in the best way I possibly can, and that makes me so proud. 

All in all, it seems that January has in fact been a great month for me. I have some trips coming up in the next few months which I am so excited for, so stay tuned for those, and hopefully for me to continue working on these small achievements (well for now I am nursing a cold and cough). 

What are your achievements in January? 

JANUARY BOOK REVIEWS

I have told myself in 2018 I want to find time to read more books, and I’d like to share those books with you lovely people. 

Today I am going to share 3 books I have recently read, please do let me know what you think. 

The couple next door : by Shari Lapena 

Synopsis: Anne and Marco are new parents to their baby daughter, Cora. One night Anne and Marco head over to their next door neighbours for dinner and drinks, however, Cora isn’t welcome. Marco assures Anne that Cora will be fine, and decide to check on her regularly. Anne and Marco head home late that evening, to discover that Cora is missing. 

They checked on her every 30 minutes, how could she be missing, surely they would have heard something, who would take a little baby? 

These questions are faced regularly throughout the book, when detective Racbach gets involved and tries to piece together what has happened, the relationship dynamics and who is to blame, but most importantly, where is Cora and is she still alive? 

I liked this book, however, written at most points in third person is something I have definitely struggled with, this gave a distant feel to the characters, in comparison to other psychological thrillers written from solely a first person perspective. Nevertheless, this book explores post-natal depression and the effects this can play, its queried whether this is the answer for Cora’s unexplained disappearance. 

Throughout the book and building upon the characters it becomes clear dirty secrets can be hidden behind closed doors, and what is presented in front of us, is not always as it seems. 

It isn’t the first time I have read a psychological thriller, I usually have a love for them, as they can be so dark and gripping, drawing you in and giving you this unsure sense of what will happen at the end. There was elements of this book that i was surprised by, however, I found the ending to be rushed and in some ways expectable. 

I liked the concept of revealing someone dark secrets, and how they usually remain hidden, it makes you question this topic in every day life, and how far people are pushed may depend on what they will become capable of. Despite this, It has not been my favourite book, but nonetheless I definitely enjoyed it. 

Small Great things: by Jodie Picoult

Synopsis: Ruth Jefferson is a labour and delivery nurse at Connecticut hospital, where she has worked for the past 20 years in this role. Ruth has wealth of experience and knowledge and deemed one of the best by her colleagues. Ruth comes on shift one day to perform routine check ups post delivery on a baby boy whose parents are white supremacists. Ruth is African American, and the parents of the little boy request that Ruth no longer cares for their baby son. 

The little boy is taken for a routine circumcision, however, after procedure the labour suite becomes highly busy and understaffed, Ruth is asked to watch over the baby boy, whilst another staff member goes to a c-section. Ruth knows this is not right, but thinks everything will be fine, until the little boy goes into cardiac arrest. What does Ruth do, does she comply with orders not to touch the little boy, or intervene?

I absolutely loved this book, I have to say I am not surprised in the slightest. Jodie Picoult has to be my favourite author, I have read all of the other books she has written, and loved them, and small great things was no different. 

Jodie is able to take raw, and often controversial topics and allow them to become  the basis of her books and this one is absolutely no different. 

Small great things explores prejudice, race and justice, it is done in the most wonderful and raw way. You feel the characters pain they are experiencing for different reasons and it makes you evaluate your own preconceptions you may unconsciously hold. 

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to happen to each character, but I began asking myself the question of why did I want that. 

I think what makes this another fantastic book of hers is that their is so much knowledge and research that has gone into understanding the history of race, and this is built up around each character and the relationships they hold with others. I was able to put myself in the shoes of each main character and almost physically feel the pain they would have been experiencing, and therefore in my opinion this is down to the work of an incredibly talented author. 

I would highly recommend this book, at times it was truly heartbreaking to read, yet an ultimate page turner, I had to continue reading. 

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine : by Gail Honeyman

Synopsis: Eleanor Oliphant has learnt to survive, not live. She lives the same routine week after week, she eats the same food, wears the same clothes, buys the same 2 bottles of vodka and has the same scheduled weekly chat with mummy. Eleanor Oliphant, lives in a world of isolation where she struggles to engage socially with peers and hides behind a wall which protects her from her darkest secrets. One act of kindness encourages Eleanor to re-evaulate her life, and breakdown the barriers she has so strongly built around her. Can this change be good for Eleanor? 

This book is utterly fantastic, I could not put it down, and read it in the space of 4 days, each page I turned I would say to myself “I will stop here and continue reading tomorrow” Yet I couldn't, I had to know what was going to happen. Gail Honeyman creates a beautiful and quirky character in Eleanor, you feel true pain from her current difficulties and the harrowing experiences of her past. You will laugh and cry. This book made me feel so many different emotions, and I couldn’t work out what was going to happen to Eleanor, or what her secrets may be. The ending totally shocked me, and I thought it covered some truly difficult topics in such a sensitive and beautiful way. 

This book has to be my current favourite out of these and my favourite book in a very long time, I usually wouldn’t ever read a book twice, yet this is a massive exception to the rule. 

I hope you have enjoyed reading these little reviews, have you read any of these books? If so what are your thoughts?

If you have any book recommendations you think I should read please let me know, I need to fill my reading list. 

WHY I DON'T HAVE AN INSTAGRAM 'THEME'

Hey everyone, 

So today I wanted to talk about something which has been bugging me for a while, and that is Instagram 'themes'. I see so much talk about it around different platforms, and this made me think "should I have a theme?" "If I don't have a theme will people even want to view my Instagram feed?"
I realised I was being fed into this idea of making something 'perfect', may I just add what is perfect!? I get for some people they have a specific style, and that is the way their feed comes out, but for me, reading so much on creating a theme or a certain look made me feel as though I was incorrectly achieving something. Or my use of Instagram was wrong.
Now, Instagram is one of my favourite social network platforms, I am a very visual person and I love looking at photos of daily life, lifestyle, nature, food, beauty, pretty much anything.
I've used Instagram for a good few years, but its only over the last year or so that i've put more effort in.

Now I admit, I do not have an Instagram theme, and the reason ladies and gentleman is because I am not that type of person, I love all different forms of photography and I don't want to disregard posting a photograph I love and am proud of, because it doesn't go with the rest of the photos I already have.
A lot of my photos are resembling my daily life, and if I were to create that or alter it so significantly to include into a theme I feel as though I am stripping away the rawness of Instagram.
Another reason is because I cannot be bothered, I am naturally a perfectionist and I don't want to strip the fun away from using a social network I love because I am constantly worrying if someone will like my post, or does it go with my whole feed. It for me is too regimented, I love the art of free flowing form with my Instagram, I love to be raw and honest and that is showing my personality and honestly, a specific theme doesn't fit into that for me.

This is my personal thoughts for my Instagram, I love looking at themes people have, I think it looks amazing, but for me it isn't something that would work, possibly in the future it may be something I would like to try out, but currently I am happy and content posting whatever I please. If you want to check out my Instagram a little more my username is @Jessicalaarr I'd love to check yours out too!

Do you prefer an Instagram theme? What are your thought's on themes, I'd love to know!

why i am not making new years resolutions

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope that you are all settling well into January, I must say I have found it difficult getting back into a routine, considering all the time I've had off over the festive period.

Today I am talking about New Years resolutions. Last year I made some, you can watch them here, if you are interested to hear about the resolutions I had set out for myself.
However, I actually cannot tell you what those resolutions are, unless I head over and also watch that video myself. Of course, naturally I had to watch it over, and review whether or not I had been successful in achieving the resolutions I had set out for myself, at the beginning of the year.

Sadly, I did not achieve them all, some of which are difficult to measure "getting fit" am I fit? Was that achieved? I honestly have no idea.
Looking back over these previous resolutions got me thinking, why do we make them? Is it to try and change our behaviour and adopt that 'New Year, New Me' style? Possibly, December can be somewhat a heavy month, full of festivities, and the thought of looking back over the year and heading into another with the same behaviours or routines can seem frustrating for some.
I think we have all felt that pressure of feeling the need to change along with the New Year. But is it really about us changing? Surely not, it should be about striving to be the best we can be, given the circumstances life throws at us, naturally our paths can become a little unbalanced. Yet by setting unrealistic targets and expectations can lead us feeling depressed and negative, because we get to the end of the year, and realise those targets have been unmet.


This is the exact reason I have decided not to make any New Year resolutions. I shouldn't be resolving anything in my life, I should mererly be growing and evolving with the years, I make mistakes along the way, but that is natural, I do not need the added pressure of adopting resolutions, which can set me up to fail.
I felt depressed and negative after realsing that I had not met my 2017 goals, however, I am striving to become happier and more positive, and well lets face it, realising goals in my life have not been set is not going to help me feel in any way positive.

Instead of setting myself goals, there are things I would like to do, however, if I don't always achieve them, then that is okay. Life is about learning, and being kind to ourselves, and if it's one thing I have learnt then it is, for me, New Years resolutions feeds into my negative thoughts of feeling as though I have not achieved something. This is something I am working hard to move away from, hence my personal reasons for not creating any resolutions this year.

Have you made any New years resolutions?

WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS

Last year I did a "What I got for Christmas" and I loved doing it, and also reading and watching what others received, so it is back again this year!

I feel so thankful to receive all of the presents I have, I received some from people I didn't expect to get me anything at all, and that I was truly thankful for.
All of these gifts are things I love, and I think it speaks volumes as to how well the people who gave them to me, know me. 

If i'm honest, I cannot pick a favourite because I love all of my gifts, and all for different reasons. I am thankful for being all snuggly and cosy in my new dressing gown, for feeling relaxed with amazing scented candles, for smelling fantastically; thanks to the Glossier perfume, for keeping up with my skin care routine, and being able to pamper my skin with luxurious products. 

I talked a little bit more about all of my gifts in my latest youtube video, so I will leave that below if that is something you are interested in watching. 

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas! x

my mental health and the contraceptive pill

Lets talk mental health. I approached the subject recently in a vlog on my youtube channel. I have a lot of experience of mental health both personally and professionally, so I have decided to start sharing that with you guys.

Today, I want to chat about mental health and the contraceptive pill. I think over the last couple of years there has been a lot more awareness about the link between taking the pill and depression, so I wanted to share my experience. Most importantly, I wanted to share with you what happened when I stopped taking the pill.

Lets go back 10 years, I started taking the combined pill which is where you take it for 21 days and then have a 7 day break which is when you would have your period. It contains artificial hormones of oestrogen and progesterone. I was prescribed this pill when I was around the age of 14/15 years old. At the time, I was suffering from heavy periods and also had acne which completely knocked my confidence, so after going to speak with my doctor he prescribed me the pill. I continued to take this up until today where I am now 24 years old.

During the years I took the pill I suffered from a lot of mental health problems, depression, anxiety, self harm (I can do further posts on this if you like) so I cannot say that the pill was the cause of all of these issues, because I am aware of other contributing factors. However, by the time I got to around the age of 21 years old I was not experiencing other situations which could cause my depression, yet I still felt so low. I started to think the pill may be affecting my mental health. I read a shocking statistic that 23% of people who take the combined contraceptive pill are also prescribed anti-depressants, I personally think that is an alarming figure.
I continued taking the pill for the next few years, as I was perhaps naive to think it was the easiest contraceptive and I knew it well.

Fast forward to now, at 24 years old I decided to stop taking the pill and the effects of doing this is what shocked me the most.
Physically I felt horrendous, I couldn't at the time work out what on earth was going on for me, I felt dizzy, my blood pressure was constantly low, I felt sick and faint. This went on for a good couple of months.
Mentally I felt even worse, I was irritable, I was just a horrible person, I was crying at absolutely anything and everything, and I just couldn't understand what was going on. I look back and felt as though it would have been better to just keep taking the pill, because mentally I felt so vulnerable and unhappy.

6 months later I have none of the physical effects and I feel a lot more mentally stable too, I of course have days where I am tearful and irritable, but this is usually coinciding with the week before my period is due, this is normal. I am so glad that I persevered with coming off the pill, but I was shocked and at times frightened with how badly my body both physically and mentally was effected by stopping this medication.

I have also made a youtube video about this topic, but I ultimately wanted to share with you the effects the pill had for me, especially when I initially stopped taking it because at the time I felt so frightened and depressed and I couldn't seem to find anyone who had experienced this too.

I know of course this does not happen for everyone, but I didn't think it would happen to me, so I hope that this post can provide someone else who may be experiencing what I did that it passes and sticking it out I feel so much happier now the pill is completely out of my system.

I would love to know what your thoughts are on this, or if you have experienced anything similar?

running watch review

Today I thought I would share with you my thoughts on my running watch. As you may know from my fitness update, that I am trying to get into running a little bit more, and actually I have plans to do a whole seperate post on getting into running, so definitely stay tuned for that. For now, I want to share with you why I decided to get a running watch and what I think about it. My boyfriend bought me this Garmin Forerunner 10 watch, it's one of the more simple watches for running, which is all I really wanted. I want to be able to use GPS to track my running and how far (or little) I can run, my speed and also calories.

I love how lightweight it is, and it really isn't one of those bulky watches, especially as I have fairly small wrists I didn't want something that felt huge on my wrist. It comes in a few colours, and I originally was going to go for black but last minute decided to go for green, I tend to prefer brighter colours for my clothes and accessories when running or going to the gym, although I really can't tell you why that is. The numbers are all a nice size to read, so when you are running and need to quickly glance down you can already see how far you have gone, and how long it has taken you, plus in darker light you can press the left hand top button and it has a built in light to the watch too.

I was surprised by the efficiency of the GPS tracker, it is a lot more precise than I was expecting it to be, however, on occasions I do have to stand still for about 5 minutes whilst it is searching for my location prior to starting my run. But honestly, that is the only downside, and heck I can be doing by stretches in that time, so it really doesn't bother me that I sometimes have to wait a little longer for it to find the location. After your run is over, you can come back home and connect your run online, so you can see the route in a map form which for someone who likes to look at things, I think that is pretty cool. The watch comes with a charger, and the battery life lasts for ages, but then again I'm not running every day, oops! Garmin does say that if you are continuously using the watch with GPS then the battery should last for around 5 hours.

I honestly find it so much nicer having a running watch when I do go out for runs because I know exactly how far I have gone and how long it has taken me, so for someone like me who is trying to progress it is really useful to have as a general guide to increase my pace and distance.
I don't think you 100% need a running watch if running is something you are just getting into, but I do find it really useful and because I'm not running daily or anything the Garmin forerunner 10 is simple and easy to use, I really didn't need anything more advanced.

I hope you find this post useful if this is something you are considering getting, or you were curious about whether you needed a running watch!

organising your life

Do you ever feel unorganised? 

I definitely get times where I feel as though my life is all over the place. However, come December time I get so excited to re purchase a new diary for the upcoming year, that my organisation goes into full swing. 

I have been searching for the perfect diary for a while now, and I kept seeing advertisements for Kikki.K on Instagram and thought their products looked so aesthetically pleasing... and then they opened a store near where I live. Well I could live in that store, its a stationary girl's dream. I routed through the different 2017 diaries and finally decided on this one. It's in my current favourite dusty pink colour and it's got the perfect week view layout, but even better it comes with stickers! 

At the back of the diary, it has pages where you can jot down your favourite movies, restaurants/bars, books, tv programmes. I think that is such a cool idea, because I always make a mental note of the places I want to try out, or the books I want to read, but they very easily get lost among the rest of my thoughts. 

Are you like me and love the excitement of purchasing a new diary, ready for the new year? I feel like i'm talking about the cliché 'New Year, New Me'.

Jess x

50 facts about me

Hey guys, 

If you are anything like me you are kind of nosy. (Just being honest) I'm obsessed with watching peoples 50 facts about me, or just those sort of tags in general. I thought it would be quite a nice idea for me to do one, so you guys can get to know a little bit more about who I am, what I like/dislike and just my personality. I'm warning you now, I struggled to come up with 50 facts, so read into that what you wish. 

I would love to know a random fact about you, so I get to know you guys a little bit better :) 

Jess 

My New Years Resolutions

Hey guys, 

Welcome back to my blog, as you can see I have left it far too long.. AGAIN! I'm making it my mission not to do it again, I am so excited to focus on my blog and my youtube channel again because it's a fun creative release away from work and University.

I thought I would start of the first post of 2016 with my new years resolutions.

1. Travel more

Last year I visited Iceland and Portugal and it was so much fun, after having not left England for over 8 years it felt amazing to be able to get on a plane and see some beautiful places (even if I was terrified to get on the plane). So after falling in love with the idea of travelling I am hoping to visit many more places in 2016, once I have finished University in May.

2. Get fit

If anyone knows me well, they will know that I love exercise and eating healthy, but over the past few months I have really lost track of what I was doing and I must admit I absolutely hate it. So I have decided to really focus on my fitness and the things I like to eat and hopefully I can share some of these ideas with you in order to motivate and inspire others on my fitness journey.


3. Explore London more

This one sounds a little silly, but I live in London and have done over the past 3 years, and when I sit down and think about it I think actually I have barely seen any cool places in London. So I want to be able to get off the tube at a stop I perhaps haven't even heard of and just wander to see what I find. Hopefully I can get some nice pictures for my blog and share the places I go with you.


4. Attend all of my lectures

I am notoriously bad for just reading all of my lectures online, but I have made a pact to myself and promised my boyfriend that I will attend them all. I've just completed my first week and it was so great, I feel as though I have learnt so much more and I know it is really going to benefit me when writing my essays.


5. Socialise with friends more 

Whilst I definitely socialise day to day and I am a very chatty person,  I sometimes forget to take time out of my schedule and say yes to that meal, and yes to those drinks with my closest friends. I think it is so important to spend quality time with the closest people around you, despite how busy you are, so I am making it my mission to take time out with my nearest and dearest.

I hope you like some of the new years resolutions I have, I have also made a youtube video talking about them all.

Let me know if you have made any resolutions, I would love to hear them.

Love Jess 

reminiscing over Portugal

This summer I travelled 1200km around Portugal, my first experience of travelling, living in hostels and meeting such a variety of people and you know what, I loved it. I cannot wait to travel to other countries, it made me realise how beautiful the world is and I want to see way more of it.

Flying from London to Porto we picked up the cutest fiat 500 (we named her Fiona) and headed on our journey. The whole of Portugal was covered in beautiful buildings, I love nothing more than photographing buildings. A lot of buildings as you can see in my photos are covered in beautiful blue tiles, which was originally associated with wealth. 

We then headed to Aveiro, Figueria da Foz, Coimbra, Nazare, Lagos, Sagres and flying back to London from Lisbon.

Lagos I spent my life sunbathing on beautiful beaches and Sagres we went to the 'end of the world' point and watched the most beautiful sunset I have ever witnessed. Coimbra we went to what I could only call a Harry Potter style university. Talking of Harry Potter, we visited the book shop which inspired J.K Rowling, and it was incredible. The ceiling was covered in the most amazing glass work I have ever seen.

I wouldn't even hesitate in going back to Portugal, plus I loved the heat that went along with it. 

Jess x