• Lifestyle

    Best of YouTube: My Favourite Vloggers

    If you love YouTube and are after some new channels to subscribe to, look no further as I’ve listed my favourite YouTubers below. I have watched a lot of YouTube in my time but in the past few years I’ve realised just how much fantastic content is available on there. Previously, I’d used YouTube for DIY queries or for something specific like a product review or hair tutorial. Now I absolutely love it and wouldn’t be without my virtual ‘Tube crew. I love having a vlog on in the background while I’m cleaning or pottering on with something else. From travel to lifetstyle, cleaning to shopping hauls, you’re bound to…

  • Post Pregnancy & Baby,  Travel

    Our first holiday with a baby to Haggeston Castle

    Hola Senors and Seronritas! No I have not been to Spain as my introduction might indicate, but instead have travelled far and wide all the way to sunny Haggeston Castle in Northumberland. I hadn’t been to Haggeston Castle before but we picked it as it’s a relatively short drive for us (an hour and a half) and we didn’t want to go too far as car journeys with young babies aren’t that fun. It’s fine if they go to sleep but juggling bottle feeds and trying to soothe a crying baby in their car seat is a bit of a chew on. Anyway, me and Andy thought Haggeston Castle would…

  • Lifestyle

    “I don’t like Monday’s…or Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s” and other inspiring messages

    Hi guys. I’m on a little break from the blog at the moment but thought I’d dip in (eww, awful expression) and write a quick post. Okay so being honest, I’m struggling here. I’m really trying to not be on a downer but it’s tough going at the minute. I’m finding it hard to have any time to do anything other than be a baby slave, wash clothes, cook and clean. Every day is the same and I swear I could work all day and never stop and there would still be a bucket load of things to do. Christ help us if I dare have a day out anywhere.…

  • Career

    An Interview with…A Careers Advisor

    Grab your reading specs and get ready for part four of the ‘Interview With…’ mini series! Hopefully you enjoyed parts one, two and three. Today we meet Sarah Ward, a Careers Advisor working in South Tyneside. Sarah is another beautiful soul that I’ve had the joy of sharing an office with in the past. She’s an absolute gem and guaranteed to make anyone smile. Read on for Sarah’s career journey…into careers! 1.What’s your name, age and what do you do? Sarah, 37 and I am careers advisor working within the South Tyneside area. I provide bespoke 121 and group session Careers Information Advice and Guidance (CIAG) to both employed and…

  • Post Pregnancy & Baby

    Four month postpartum and baby update!

    Hello and welcome back to my blog! It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on Holly and me after the birth and now she’s four months old I thought I’d better get cracking. Life is really busy and hectic at the minute but it’s also feeling more normal as each day goes by. I’m still figuring out how to keep all of the plates spinning and keep life going in a way that it’s not all nappies and bottle feeds but I’m getting there. Let’s start this off with an update on the little lady herself. Holly Holly is now four months old and is cuter than ever –…

  • Career

    An Interview With…A Contracts Manager

    This is part three of my ‘Interview With…’ career mini series – I hope you’ve enjoyed the other two interviews with Olivia Tilley, a Quantity Surveyor and Sophie Richardson, a Small Business Owner. In today’s post we meet Stephen McClean, a Contracts Manager working in the Construction Industry. Our first Interviewee Olivia also works in Construction so for those not familiar with the industry, it’s great to gain a bit of an insight into roles like Stephen’s and Olivia’s. Thanks for sharing your journey Stephen! 1.What’s your name, age and what do you do? Stephen McClean, I’m 48 years old and I’m Contracts Manager for Esh Civils, a regional civil…

  • Career

    An Interview With…A Small Business Owner!

    Welcome to part two of my mini-series on careers! I really hope you enjoyed the first one – if you haven’t read it, check it out here – where I interviewed Olivia Tilley, a Quantity Surveyor working in the construction industry. Our next interviewee is a small business owner and practically my family – say hello to Sophie Richardson. Sophie owns Charlton’s Florist in Crook, County Durham (give her a follow on Facebook) and here is her story. 1. What’s your name, age and what do you do? My name is Sophie-Jean Richardson, I’m 23 years old and I own a Florist in Crook, Co.Durham. I currently arrange and sell…

  • Career

    An Interview With…A Quantity Surveyor

    This is the first of a small series of blogs exploring the real life career journeys of some of my friends and colleagues (past and present). As an adult, I’ve found there to be very little information on changing careers and the choices available to me. I can’t speak for everyone but I feel that some careers are out of reach because I don’t know enough about them and the different routes that would get me into them. I love Google more than anything but it doesn’t have ALL of the answers. I hope that you, my lovely reader, find this useful and interesting even if you don’t wish to…

  • Favourites

    April Favourites!

    Just like that, April has whizzed straight past us and we’re now well in to May. Time seems to be going at warp speed for me at the moment which is great in some ways as my partner Andy is currently working away and has been for the past three weeks (we have another five/six/seven to go). In that sense, I really don’t mind the weeks flying by but, on the other hand, Holly is now nine weeks old and growing like crazy so I’d like that to slow down please! ANYWAY, enough jibber jabber, here is a round up of the things I’ve been loving this month. Podcast –…

  • Lifestyle

    Mental Health Quick Fixes

    Sometimes you just feel shit – you can become run down and tired by just living your life and the same old routine. But sometimes you don’t really know why you feel bad – you just do- and you end up having a few days or weeks where you aren’t quite yourself. Now I’m not giving advice or solutions to long term mental health conditions as I’m not a mental health professional and everyone is different and living through different situations. However, we are all on a constant see-saw of mental health balance and these are just a few things that you can do along with little nuggets of self…