Plans for the rest of 2019

We're coming up to September so we're very nearly 2/3 through the year with only the last third to go. I started the year off well in terms of my goals and things I wanted to achieve and managed to stick to it. However recently I've slid a bit downhill. I want to write down some plans that I want to get done in the last third of the year to make myself accountable and make you guys make sure I keep at it!

Happy July! - Mid year update

Where did June go? Seriously, the amount of times I've posted a monthly update with a comment about how fast a month has gone feels like nothing compared to June.

At the beginning of the month, I sit down and draw out my monthly spreads in my bullet journal. In these, I sort out monthly mini goals, things I want to focus on, and blog posts I plan to post. June was the same as any other month this year, I planned out my goals and I organised the blog posts I would write and then it was gone. All these things I planned to do and didn't manage made me feel like I'd failed and wasted a month.

I sat down to write my June books wrap up post like I do every other month and found out I only read 3 books, which to be quite honest with you was more than I thought I had read. Do three books still equal a roundup post? Probably, keep your eyes out for it in the coming days.

Four (more) Podcasts I've Been Loving Lately

I go through phases of what I like to listen to at work; sometimes it's playing my regular 2019 playlist or blasting a musical soundtrack (hello Hamilton), sometimes it's binging an audiobook, and sometimes it's listening to episode after episode of podcasts. I go wherever the mood takes me however recently I've been in that podcast mood a lot and there's only so many Potterless episodes I can listen to in a row (don't get me wrong I still love Potterless) so I had to find some new podcasts to listen to. Here are a few that are top of the list at the moment if I'm in that podcast mood:

5 Marvel Films You Need To See

It's no secret that Avengers: Infinity War took over the world this year, but what other Marvel films are worth checking out? In my opinion, most of them but here's 5 that should be the top of your list. In no particular order...

Forget being flustered: How a daily routine works for me

Some people laugh when I say I'm in bed by ten every 'school' night, but the same people also don't understand how I'm so chill and organised under deadline pressure and other similar stresses. The tip, my dears, is routine. Well actually it's knowing what your body likes, and mine likes routine.

One of my most hated things is being rushed. I don't like being rushed at all and if you tell me we're going out at 9 when it's already 8.30 without any previous warning all things go downhill and my mood instantly switches. I'm flustered and annoyed and usually end up in tears or poking myself in the eye with my mascara wand also resulting in tears. But that doesn't mean I can't handle stressful situations and big deadlines.

I failed... and that's okay

I've been talking about this 100-day lettering project so much around the internet and guess what? I never made it past day 55. Everyone in NZ who started the project at the same time as me, according to the Facebook group that was around 400 of us, should be finishing this week. But do you know what? I'm okay with not finishing. I'm okay with essentially failing because it was a personal challenge that I tried to do in my spare time, and in the end, I didn't have enough spare time to manage it amongst all my other side projects.

So, how are the 2018 goals going?

All year I planned to do a 2018 goal update, ever since I posted my creative goals back here in January. But now I sit down to it I realised that I've only completed one goal (buying my Macbook yassss team I'm in love) and the rest I either haven't started or are in the middle of doing. Because guys - plans don't get done in a month or two, they take a while. However, that aside I still want to do a goal catch up post because it's great to look back on and also it keeps me in check for the rest of the year.

The Marine Parade Eatery ~ Paraparaumu Beach, NZ

Apple Crumble French Toast guys!

For my birthday (yes I know that was April I'm slack) my family and I headed out for lunch at The Marine Parade Eatery in Paraparaumu Beach and let's just say the food was excellent! Coming from someone who goes to pretty much the same cafes all the time for brunch it was really nice to try somewhere new. My parents had been here previously a couple of times but it was my brother and I's first time.

I turned 24, and I'm sort of unsure about it

Twenty four is one of the ages I've struggled turning the most. At 20 I was no longer a teen, 21 is a big year to most people, 22 was my Taylor Swift year (the song not a fanatic phase), 23 was my golden birthday (23 on the 23rd), so now 24 is a bit of a regular standard birthday. It's also super close to 25, which to me is super close to 30 which is super close to 40 and frankly, I'm not ready for that.

25 Songs From My Favourites Playlist

I'm not usually one to talk about music on here because usually my music tastes are very much full of popular charts, listening to my parent's faves from my childhood, or I'm going through a phrase of blasting Disney songs wherever I go. However, as I've finally downloaded Spotify at work near the end of last year I had to make a playlist that I could listen to day in day out and not get bored, but also be filled with songs I knew fairly well enough to fall into the zone of work and not get distracted everytime a new song came on. So when I haven't been binging The Greatest Showman soundtrack on repeat here's a 25 track example of my 10-hour playlist:

The Blog Turned Five // Five Favourite Posts of All Time

April is not only my own birthday month but it's also my blog birthday month! Earlier this week, on the 4th to be exact, my blog turned 5 years old. Now while I haven't been blogging that entire time, my first post was released on the 4th of April 2013 when I was bored after one of my classes in the first year of university. 

Moodboard: The One with the Chocolate Eggs

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

I don't know about you, but I could not wait for this four day weekend. After some rather busy weeks since going back to work after Christmas I was in due need for a holiday, and because I'm saving my holidays up for halfway through the year I've been throughly taking advantage of these public holidays.