Monthly Round Up: August {2016}

So that thing I said last month about not leaving it till two weeks in before writing my monthly round up, yeah it didn't happen. I'm afraid a super, sunny break away in Portugal kinda got in the way and I'm not even a single bit sorry. {Well, maybe a little, but not by much}. With the return of GBBO (not even going to mention the recent devastating news we've received) & the team GB spirit, August was a pretty damn good month, with very few hiccups!

The Good
The good obviously has to be the fact I celebrated my birthday and went on holiday in the same month- what gets better than that? In the first week I received some wonderful gifts, saw Finding Dory and scoffed my way through more cake than the Bake Off tent produces. In the last week I was spending my days lying in the sun, swimming in the sea and getting through my mountain of books.

The Bad
I ended up having a pre-holiday MOT with a trip to both the dentist and doctors after convincing myself that everything was going wrong with my body. I deemed holiday-worthy though, and was reassured that my teeth, and head, and tummy is all okay and not failing me.

The Ugly
I dropped my phone down the toilet and it spent 48 hours in a bed of rice. Luckily, it survived. However, having no phone and temporary internet down time when your trying to work from home can send you into a panic when you start thinking of all the different scenarios that could happen when you have no contact to the outside world. {I can be a bit of a drama queen if you haven't already realised}

The Weird
I passed my probation at work which means I have now been there for over 7 months. That's over 200 days. Where has the time gone? I remember when back to my first week where I managed to get blisters on both my feet to the point they bled, my salad dressing leaked in my bag and I stepped into the deepest puddle in the world.

The Wonderful
My Mumma and sister came up for a flying visit, which gave me a chance to have some well-needed girly time. They also brought with them presents in the form of Disney DVDs and Jammie Dodger tubs. I also got to play host and provided them with chocolate, haribos and biscuits- Beth's Bread 'n' Breakfast will be starting soon.  

Here's to the start of an organised blogging schedule!

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival

I never need an excuse to escape to the countryside, but if was to have one then a super, popular scarecrow festival would fit the bill perfectly. On the edges of the Yorkshire Dales lies the rural village of Kettlewell which puts on an almighty display of straw filled figures every summer. When I lived at home we used to head to a nearby town to wander round their Scarecrow festival on an evening so really it was the ideal continuation of tradition. 

In true Beth-Jason fashion we didn't take into consideration that the heavens had opened the day before, so sandals and boat shoes weren't the most sensible of footwear choices. Luckily for me, I had some wellies in the boot but no socks. Even luckier for me, there was a walking shop so I now have some £12-worth woolly grey socks that make my feet feel like they have their own radiator. Unluckily for Jason he had to stick to his boat shoes, but we did pretty well in avoiding the mud. 

With a trail sheet in our hands, we set off on a self-guided tour with 50% of our time spent admiring the scarecrows. The other 50% of our time was spent peering into people's homes, looking up cottages that were for sale and deciding what our scarecrow entry would be. It's safe to say when it comes to villages, Kettlewell is the place of dreams or as some would say #futuregoals.

{I also learnt to skim stones here, so if that isn't a good enough reason, what is?}

Little Things #26

My, oh my, time flies when you're having fun. Or in other words, you're super busy at work because you're going on holiday and you have far too much to do and not enough time. It's been weeeeks since I last gave you a little update on what's going on in my life and keeping me ticking over, so in a bid to avoid packing for my holiday, I thought I'd do just that.

• I passed my 6 month work probation and I'm one step closer to my country manor house. 
• McFly turner 13 so I celebrated with a party-for-one {aka listening to them all day}
• I turned twenty-two and celebrated with a Jammie Dodger cake and a trip to the cinema to aee Finding Dory.
• Many evenings were spent cheering on Team GB
• I'm nearing the end of my work notebook which means I can indulge in one of my favourite things to shop for. 
• I experienced my first 'bring-a-dish' event for a Sunday 'garden-warming' BBQ {I loved it}
• We finally went to Scarborough and the donkey's were wearing hats! 
• My suitcase is 70% books after going a little OTT on Amazon.
• Bake Off returned to our screens and I was loving life.
• It's less than a month until Once Upon A Time returns to our screens!
• My Mumma and sister hopped up on a train for a swift visit and it was wonderful. 
• It also meant I gained two more Disney DVDs and finally got round to watching Zootopia. 
• They also bought my some super cute biscuit tubs to transport Jammie Dodgers to work in- if you haven't already guessed, they're my fav. 
• My new magazine subscription arrived (thanks to my good friend) and the recipes are super dreamy *insert heart-eyed-emoki*
• Miranda wrote the best letter to Team GB #suchfun
• We attended a Scarecrow festival and I learnt to skim stones (& find our future house)
• I ordered some prescription sunglasses and the world was clear once again. 
• I'm going on holiday in exactly 15 hours 

I'm Feeling Twenty-Twooo

If you didn't sing 'ooo-oooooo' after reading this blog title then you need to seriously consider what you're doing with your life*. Lol, jk, apparently, twenty-two year old me is even more sarcastic than twenty-one year old me, which is something many (many being Jason & my mum) didn't think was possible.

I am officially 6 days into the year of it being socially acceptable to sing Taylor Swift when someone asks 'how are you feeling?' and I'm digging it. I think it's mainly because I don't really feel any older other than the fact that the bill-man still expects you to pay him even if you're celebrating Beth-day. Question- When do you start to feel a day older? Because I'd quite like to prepare for when that moment comes.

A beautiful bouquet from Bloom & Wild from my BFF (& a magazine subscription which I'm uber excited for next month) | A super snazzy stripey top from ASOS | Lovingly created tickets for #FRIENDSFEST until the real ones arrive (brithday is a personal touch) | A fancy flamingo scrapbook that fulfils my inner artistic goddess | Exclusive New Look dollar to keep my wardrobe in tip-top condition| The dreamiest set of tealights you'll ever smell

This year's birthday was my first ever birthday I've spent at work, and away from my family- they weren't even in the same country. {They did manage to wake me up at 6am though after forgetting they were an hour ahead, luckily I was in a good mood}. I did however keep up the tradition of opening my cards and pressies in bed, which 57% made up for the fact I wasn't able to lounge in bed for another couple of hours. The other 43% came from the fact that my work buddies had made my first work birthday a pretty good one by booking for me and Jay to go to #FRIENDSFEST in September, along with presenting me with some gorgeous smelling candles, a pretty little orchid for my desk and a yummy Victoria Sponge- Blue Digital, you da best.

And what does a twenty-two year old do when she gets home you're asking? Shewalks through the door to flowers and fairy lights all over the flat courtesy of her wonderful boyfriend, eats some dinner and heads out to the cinema to watch Finding Dory complete with pick'n'mix, because Beth-day wouldn't be complete without Disney. (It was great in case you were wondering)

*If you don't want to consider what you're doing with your life then you can at least watch this and it all might be a little clearer. 

Happy 6 Months To Me

Today marks 6 months since I first stepped into the offices at Bramley Grange, and I've been on one hell of a ride {a good ride}. My probation period is officially up, and I'm now a fully-fledged member of the digital marketing team, go me! *dances around the room* I still have mountains to climb when it comes to learning, but since starting there I have learnt some fascinating things about me, the industry and working life in general.

1. Don't ask me to make your hot drink if you want it within 2 minutes. {I wouldn't ask me to make coffees either unless you like it really strong or really milky}
2. Tape measures can provide endless hours of entertainment, but can end up annoying colleagues if over-played. 
3. Everyone has normally lost the plot by Friday afternoon.
4. I have limited self-control when it comes to any kind of office treat- I knew this anyway but work has just re affirmed that I can not resist a doughnut or two, or three.  
5. Organisation is the pinnacle to a stress-free day/week/life.
6. Clients don't always want to be on your team, strangely sometimes they'd rather be the opposition. 
7. Re-brands are stressful, especially when it comes to business cards.
8. A recent office shuffle round means I've got one of the best seats in the house- a radiator behind me and a window next to me #ballin.
9. It cab be super hard trying to explain to someone that what I (we) do isn't just try to get them to the top of Google. 
10. Just like school, I hate photo days.
11. The best part about filling a notebook is a trip to Home Sense to source a new one. 
12. Messy draws = messy mind
13. Sometimes clients just don't get it, and you have to be okay with that. 
14. Sleep is for the weak, the digital world doesn't stop.
15. When it comes to networking I either become mute or become the most boring person in the world- I'm working on it.