BEST. MONTH. YET.
WELL HELLO THERE! Apologies for sloping off like that, just unannounced. I didn’t even say BRB! But I am back now after a brief 2-week blog posting hiatus which if I didn’t enforce I’m not sure I ever would have got to the end of the editing round for ‘An Edited Life‘. Turns out editing a book about editing ain’t easy. In fact everyone who told me that the editing stage is easy is LIAR let me tell you. It’s extremely time-consuming and took up 95% of my headspace, living just a slither of my brain left functioning for remembering to eat, going to loo and if I’m honest – not much else. I sincerely apologise to anyone who has seen me in the past three weeks as I have been a shell of a human with extremely greasy hair.
So a wee bit of time away from posting was much needed and although my book edits were due last Tuesday, I took the end last week to recalibrate. I took work at a much more relaxed pace that I usually do, stopped for reading breaks where possible (I’m SO into Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ at the moment), sacked off workouts for some quality days spent interrupted at home and caught up with friends and family whom I’ve been pretty slack with over the past couple of weeks (SOZ GUYS!). I feel well rested and back in the swing of my routine. So to kick things back off round here I thought I’d revisit September and share what put a smile on my face over the past month (SPOILER: It wasn’t the part where I woke up at 5.30am in the morning everyday)…
‘An Edited Life’ – THE BOOK! The weight has been lifted! I HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK! I’ve had to sit on this nugget of information for over a year and whilst I started off being completely cool at keeping a secret, by the beginning of September I’m sure that if you’d prodded me with a rusty ol’ nail that I would have instantaneously burst. It’s the reason why I cut down to one video a week and why I’ve been quieter on social media than usual, because actually I’ve been spending a lot of time wedged between two pillows on the sofa, with my feet propped up on my desk chair writing my first ever book. It’s been a challenge to fit it in around all my other work commitments, but I’ve done it somehow. If you want to hear about the story so far then check out this vlog, and they’ll be more footage to come soon as we’ve got round to the designing stage which is unsurprisingly v.fun.
Hitting my deadlines. It’s safe to say that I’ve never worked harder on anything in my life than I have this book (sorry Psychology degree!) as I never really had major deadlines as my jobs before blogging were entry-level and pretty low on the responsibility front. I’ve kind of been amazed at how the human brain can re-wire itself to really get shit done when you need to. Turns out I am someone who enjoys a deadline to be looming in order to get a rocket wedged between my arse cheeks and to crank the productivity up. I’ve definitely learnt some serious shit about myself in the past year and that’s been really cool – to take up a new challenge and meet deadlines and mix things up after so many years of playing it safe. And then when you hit a deadline?! WELL, someone crack out the champagne. What a feeling, eh? If you have one hitting soon then I’m sending my love and I’ll drop a post with my top tips ASAP.
Aerial Yoga is BIZARRE, but I love it. I know I’m always banging on about trying new things when it comes to fitness, but this past month I actually practiced what I preached and went out my comfort zone. I booked onto a local aerial yoga class (with my photographer as back-up/emotional support), and it was hilarious. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s basically anti-gravity yoga, where you perform yoga moves and holds whilst hanging in the air courtesy of a silk sling which you feel may fall out of the ceiling at any given moment. The class that we did wasn’t particularly hardcore in the sweat department, but more focused on improving flexibility and stretching, which are definitely two fitness departments that I need work on. We went upside down, we swung around, we had a little nap in our mini cocoons at the end, I loved it. I’ve already been back for my second lesson and have some booked in for October too. Basically any exercise that involves a sling of some kind or lying down – I’M IN.
Wrapping up ‘At Home With…’. There was a bittersweet moment this month because we wrapped up season two of ‘At Home With…’ with a pretty cracking episode if I do say so myself. We recorded the finale with Caroline and Ruth (you can have a listen to it here), back in the summer and it was every bit as raucous and rambunctious as our time spent as a foursome usually is. Caroline talked about vaginas being a self-cleaning oven, Ruth spoke about how she almost bought a haunted house which listening back to it I found myself again in tears as she told the story. Big love to everyone who has tuned in this season and all the people who have pitched in behind the scenes. We actually hit 2 million+ downloads which is MAD and I am so proud of Lily and I for cranking out 10 episodes despite home renovations, book writing, travelling, holidays, the lot – WE DID IT!
Amsterdam is a BEAUT. We booked in a visit to see our friends who live in Amsterdam for the end of September, 1) Because we missed them, 2) Because we found some cheap flights online and 3) Because I thought that all the writing side of ‘An Edited Life’ would be finished by then. The first point was rectified when we were reunited with our long-lost pals, two was an absolute win, but the third point? Yeah, I was still deep into editing mode. It meant that I woke up at 5.30am every morning we were away to get in three hours of work before Mark woke up and I became extremely grateful for eyedrops; but despite the early mornings we had a WONDERFUL time. Mark snapped some pictures, so I have a city guide that’s ready to go for next Wednesday and I cannot recommend it as a city break enough. It was our second time there this year and it’s just so darn pretty and completely chocker with stuff to do. We’re already planning our next visit. See you next Feb Amsterdam!
Photos by Emma Croman
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