update

Can you believe we are heading into bloody SEPTEMBER as of Sunday? The last bank holiday of the year – besides Christmas of course, has been and gone and the end of summer is nigh.

Are you ready for one of my chatty splurges? Alot has been going on over summer, besides the holidays, so there’s alot for us to catch up on. Not forgetting the bank holiday fun neither! So shall we get started? Grab a cuppa!

psst. If you wanna see my last update which features all the FREE presets I have been using to revamp my instagram, you can read it here.

My FIRST EVER Blog Nomination!

Im starting this with the best news yet. And I still can’t quiet believe that I have been kindly and amazingly been nominated for my FIRST EVER BLOG AWARD in the Amara Interior blog awards!! I have been working so hard on my content as of late, and including more of my passions and lifestyle into everything I produce, so to have it reflected in being nominated is a huge honor.

There are so many great categories, and I have been featured in the Best Interior Lifestyle Blog, along with 21 amazing fellow bloggers.

I’ve already cast my vote in all the other categories, and knowing how proud I am to feature, I love showing my support to all the other great bloggers and influencers that have also been recognised for their hard work, dedication and passion.

So, if you fancy showing me and all the other bloggers featured, the link is just below!

Broken furniture – thanks Ikea

We have been working on our apartment for some time and we seem to be reaching the finish line at rapid speed. We have our new seating area, along with a beautiful, rustic, reclaimed farmhouse table. We also nabbed a new tv unit ready for a huge smart telly – brings me so much excitement for netflix binges! And we have a brand new curved couch – okay it was half a couch for 10 days – But let’s not dwell on the negativity.

The positive here is that now the sofa is finally complete, and the longest lull between payday has passed, we are finally at the detail stage of our space. I will ofcourse be sharing more of the room as we add the final flourishes to our space. Just a shame we had to endure some painstaking mistakes from one of my fav brands!

The last bank holiday fun!

Since last weekend was the last flurry of Summer bank holiday fun, I took an extended break from work and ticked off some local days out we had been oh so eager to do. Including the local town of Arundel on the hot Friday, and Hartfield on the bank holiday Monday.

TV I have been loving

I thought a new section in the catch up would be much appreciated. I love watching telly and always want to share what I have been enjoying – just never find it enough to feature in a standalone post. So here’s what I have been watching – new, old, timeless and favs!

• *NEW* Handmaids Tale – Season 3 – We are nearly at the end of the latest season and damn its good. Im pretty nervous on how this season will end and I have never rooted for a character as much as I root for June!
• *NEW* 13 Reasons Why – Season 3 – Only 2 episodes in and not sure If I am feeling it just yet. I will stick with it but I hate to say, I think it’s past it!
• *NEW* Mindhunter – Season 2 – 6 Episodes in and loving it more than the first. Love the new interviews and feel this series is much more disturbing than the first. Although the orange faces are offputting!
• *NEW* Peaky Blinders – Season 5 – Tommy I am soooo happy to see you back on my screen! Loving the first 2 episodes and soooo excited to see where it will go. Who else is hating all the wives in the series though!
• * TRYING AGAIN* Narcos – Season 3 – We loved the series but were gutted when our main boy – Pablo – no longer featured ( don’t wanna spoil anything ). We are so glad we left it a while to get back into because we are now appreciating the last series and the new gang to follow!
• *REWATCHING* The Office, US – Season 6 – Unpopular opinion the US office is better than the UK. Love re-watching the whole programme and always gets me laughing just before bed!

What have you been watching lately? I need some autumn watch lists for sure!

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It’s been a little while hasn’t it since I have updated you on all things life. On and offline of course. Since it’s been months since the last brain dump, heres the latest, what’s coming up and how I am tackling the constant tide of Instagram .

It’s no hidden secret that I have been hating on Instagram for a fair while now. I have posted lots of posts on the subject, since so many of us seem to be in the same rabbit hole of no engagement, motivation or willingness to work on the platform. Since wallowing in self pity, I’ve decided I will take control of my social media profiles. I had lost my passion for creating content on Instagram especially so have made some small but pretty critical changes.

Free Presets

Many of us using Instagram will notice presets not only make editing images one click easy, it also creates a grid with a running ‘theme’ of finish and colour. I have always struggled with creating the ‘perfect’ theme and whilst I have managed to edit my own images individually, I really wanted a preset that would work on any image type.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with some of the paid presets available ( and some are absolutely stunning ) I am always looking for a freebie and was pleasantly surprised that there were so many gorgeous presets to be found, for free, on the web.

Here’s the many free presets I managed to find, download and now use on my images. As you can imagine you have to sign up to the blogs that host the presets, but there after you receive the free download.

Fernwehsarah Free Presets
Sunshine Seeker Preset
Orange and Teal Preset
Tropical Sunset Presets
No Man Before
Helene InBetween – Summer Presets
BeArt Presets – These are my fav

IGTV

I read a real interesting point in Vix Meldrew’s IGTV eBook – Instagram is starting to favour video content more so than static, and it will reward you heavily in reach if you use every feature the app offers, more so than just one of the features.

I have given youtube a go before – and frankly it was pitiful. The video quality was poor, and I wasn’t confident enough to show face in video. Whilst I don’t have a great ‘vlogging‘ camera, IGTV does offer you the easy option of using vertical, phone cameras to shoot and upload video content. I LOVE this. And is a great spot to start if wanting to grow on Instagram and dip your toe into the video creation side.

I uploaded my first ever IGTV video onto my feed and I was really happy with how it went. I believe it looked great in my grid, and it had a great amount of engagement. Since it went real well and I love creating and editing video, I’ve decided I want to carry on.

Holiday

It’s been a real late booking for us for our 1st year Wedding Anniversary, but we booked a little over 2 weeks ago to head to a Greece island – Crete.

We are sooo excited to head off for a much needed break together. This year seems much busier and demanding than the last, so 10 nights away to truly relax, read a book and catch some sunshine is exactly what the doctor ordered. As expected, I have been holiday clothes shopping since booking and you can see some of my purchases in my instagram stories.

I’m really excited to get away, but also come back too. We have some final things to do to our home, among other things. It seems our trip away will re-charge the home improvement batteries and hopefully give us the kick up the arse to finish painting.

I’ll be taking you all with me of course via instagram stories so be sure to follow me there.

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