Blogging and me – which one has changed?

August 19, 2019August 20, 20192 Comments

My most recent blog post was about my trip to Santorini, which happened 11 months ago. I still haven’t finished writing about Dubrovnik, which was 13 months ago. My weekend in Lincoln earlier this year, and my trip to Norway for my mother-in-law’s 80th birthday haven’t seen the light of day.

There was a time when I’d have been chomping at the bit to get these trips written up. When I’d have been vocal about the current political situation, or sharing my latest book purchases.

These days I hardly ever blog. And it got me wondering why?

My job is definitely part of it – I look after the social media accounts and some content creation at the company I work for, and in truth it can zap my creativity! I don’t really feel like getting my laptop out after work, or even at weekends. I used to do much of my blogging during my lunch hour in my previous job, whereas in this job there is a much more social aspect to lunches (and somewhere to actually sit away from our desks!) so I tend to spend my lunchtimes with colleagues rather than writing blog posts. I keep telling myself that I’ll spend maybe one lunchtime a week at my desk doing “life-admin” and catching up on blogging, but it hasn’t happened so far.

I don’t read other blogs as much these days either, and I don’t know why. Are people less prolific in promoting their blog posts on Twitter these days? I don’t seem to see blogging mentioned nearly as much, and I guess I’ve just gotten out of the habit of checking in on my favourite sites (other people seem to be posting less too!)

To conclude…I think both blogging and me have changed. Not necessarily for the worst, but certainly not for the better. My blog was never about views or followers, so that isn’t what’s stopping me from posting. I guess, like many people, I just need to get my mojo back!

Watch this space…!

Is anyone else feeling this way? Is blogging dead? I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks, as always, for reading. x

5 things about 2015

January 1, 2016

Firstly, Happy New Year! Hope you had a good one welcoming it in whatever way you chose.

I meant to post this yesterday but got distracted by procrastinating doing…er…nothing…so although it’s now 2016 and technically I should be looking forward and not backwards, well, tough!

Goodbye 2015

So I woke up yesterday morning wondering how come I was in bed (I got very very drunk on New Years Eve Eve) and whether I was in trouble with the husband for being a pissed up handful (I wasn’t) and between the drunken confusion and not being able to sleep because my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, I spent a few minutes thinking back about the year and the things that defined it.

So, here they are!

Family. I’m very lucky to be very close to both of my parents. They divorced when I was 21 and I’ve been through bad times with both of them, but we came through the other side. They’re always there for me and, because I’m an only child, they have no-one to compare me to so they think I’m great (kinda kidding here). And, you know, family is so important. My mother-in-law is an amazing woman and I know that when we’re in her company we’ll always have fun. My extended family are fun and close knit and there are times in the past when I haven’t made the most of them. Time is limited and precious and I don’t want to regret not making the most of my folks so in 2015 I consciously spent more time with them, and will continue to do so this year.
My job. I’ll never be defined by my career because I’m strictly of the mindset “work to live” and always have been. But this year I got made redundant (which is cool because I was semi-looking around anyway) and I now work for a company that makes a difference to people’s lives. The ethos is very different to my previous role and I never want to go back to that corporate money making bullshit I was in before; where lies and bad morals are acceptable just to make a buck for the fat cat owners. Plus I get that warm fuzzy feeling hearing first hand from people who’s lives are literally changed. It’s good.
This blog. I started this blog on the day I got made redundant; a knee jerk reaction to change and the thought that I might have a lot of time on my hands! And it’s been great! I wanted to start a blog for a really long time and never got round to it, and I wish I’d done it years ago. I love the writing process, I love the interaction with other people, I love having an outlet that’s mine. Long may it continue.
My hair! Screw the deep and meaningful stuff, my hair has been a pain in the ass for the past year. Totes my own fault for cutting it off, but I needed to do it and scratch an itch and have now learnt my lesson. It’s long all the way from now on! (well, when it finally gets there).
Not seeing friends. Back to the serious stuff. The husband and I totally overcommitted last year, in between holidays, and festivals and weekends away, and other plans. Great as it sounds, we didn’t nurture the core stuff. Friends we haven’t seen enough of. Birthdays missed. Presents not exchanged. Spending 3 weekends in a row in different hotels in different parts of the country because of gigs and weddings and trips. Something to change this year.

So, a retrospective, an introspective, and a goodbye to last year.

How was yours?

Thanks, as always, for reading! x

I’ve been nominated for a Liebster award!

September 29, 2015

How exciting!

This is my very first award nomination, and I’d like to thanks my parents, my husband, every restaurant I’ve ever been to, H&M, my home delivery courier and the post office…

Oops, got carried away there!

In all seriousness, thanks to the lovely Holly at Closing Winter for including me in her list. Sometimes it feels a little bit like I’m in no-mans-land with this blog (can you hear that tiny violin?!) so it’s nice to have some interaction. Thanks Holly!

Check out Holly’s blog for make up finds and general loveliness.

The Liebster award helps to promote the smaller blogs with 200 followers or less and the rules are as follows:

After being nominated, make a post thanking and linking the nominator.
In that post include the Liebster Award logo.
Nominate up to 10 other new bloggers with 200 or less followers.
Answer the 10 questions posed to you by your nominator.
Make 10 questions of your own to be answered by your nominees.

1. Why/how did you choose your blog name?

I knew that I would be talking about all sorts of thing, hence “this, that and the other” and I switched that to tatt due to my tattoos.

2. What was your favourite birthday?

I’m not really a birthday person, because it’s so close to Christmas (20th December) so I always feel a bit cheeky asking people to do stuff, although everyone always makes an effort. Most memorable is probably about 3 years ago when we had massive amounts of snow and our friend’s band couldn’t get their gear to the pub we were all going to and it seemed like it would be a washout but people walked miles to get there and our friend cobbled together some kit and did an impromptu solo gig instead with all the pub locals singing along.

3. Do you have a favourite beauty product you can’t do without?
I’m very partial to Collection’s Extreme liner – it’s my go to eyeliner and very easy to use. Also have much love for Nivea Fruity Shine lip salves which were only released this year but have done wonders for the state of my mouth!

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I couldn’t leave my family behind, so I probably couldn’t live in another country permanently. But I’d like to spend a year, or maybe a summer, in Los Angeles. I’ve been there 4 times and it’s so chilled and laid back, with the best climate.

5. If you were given £1,000 (or $1,000) to spend, where would you spend it?
On a travel website. I’m always thinking about where I want to go next and what I want to see.

6. Do you have any animals?
No. I couldn’t deal with the stinky cleaning up!

7. If you could create your own range of beauty products, which company would you like to work with?
Probably one of the ranges I grew up with – Seventeen or Rimmel. I like accessible products that you can experiment with. I’m not into high end beauty.

8. What’s your favourite TV show/s at the moment?
I just recently got into Homeland (I know, late to the party), so I’d probably say that

9. What food do you absolutely hate?
Baked beans! It’s more than hatred. It’s a phobia. I can’t look at them. They make me shudder and heave. Bleugh!

10. What’s your favourite season and why?
Summer, 100% without a doubt. Lighter nights, less clothes, beer gardens, freckles and eating outside. I flourish in summer and hibernate in winter!

My nominations are:

http://www.sophiecliff.com/

http://charlotteactually.me/

http://msmistryblogs.com/

http://brunette-lady.blogspot.co.uk/

I wanted to nominate a couple of other people too, but they have too many followers to qualify, the lucky ladies!

And here are my questions for my nominees! (and anyone else who’d like to join in)

1. If you could only shop at one clothes store for a year, which one would it be?

2. When and where was your last holiday?

3. What’s your favourite band or genre of music?

4. What’s your worst bad habit?

5. Who’s your celebrity crush?