Yearly Wrap-Up 2017

I can't quite believe that we are already in 2018. Last year flew by for me, probably because I was very busy working, rebranding my business and taking care of my two year old.

As a result, I didn't have much time for reading or writing, so I'm afraid my poor blog was neglected. I plan to invest more time and energy in it this year as I do miss taking part in the blogging community and making time for myself to be creative.

My Top Ten Moments of 2017

I always love looking back on the year that's gone and reflecting on all the positive things that have happened. 2017 wasn't my best from a creative point of view, but I had some fantastic times with family and friends and those are the things that matter most to me. Time spent with loved ones is never wasted!

Here are ten of my favourite moments from 2017:

I'm Back! What Happened on Hiatus?

After a super long hiatus, I'm finally returning to blogging! My absence has largely been due to my maternity leave ending in September last year and finding it hard to juggle hobbies like blogging and reading alongside the demands of full-time work and looking after my daughter.

I have really missed sharing my book reviews and artwork on Creative Therapy and engaging with my book blogging family. The time now feels right to get back into regular posting again, so stay tuned for the announcement of a new blogging schedule!

So, what have I been up to all these months? Here's an update below:

2016 #LoveAThon Questionnaire

Today is the start of the 2016 Love-a-Thon hosted by Alexa Loves Books, The Novel Hermit, Stay Bookish and The Daily Prophecy.

The Love-a-Thon is an event dedicated to spreading positivity and love. It’s time dedicated to visiting other bloggers, leaving a comment or two, making new friends and fostering positivity among the members of our amazing community.

The event includes mini challenges, Twitter chats and giveaways galore! It takes place from February 20, 12:00AM EST to February 22, 12:00AM EST.

Today we are all sharing our answers to a questionnaire so that our readers and fellow bloggers can get to know us a little better.

Yearly Wrap-Up 2015

It's that time of year again when I take time out to reflect on the best and worst of 2015. It's been an amazing year for me, the highlight being the arrival of my little girl, Leona May.

Check out the 2015 End of the Year Book Survey to find out all about my favourite books from last year and have a look at my 2016 Reading List and Challenges to see what I'm planning to read in the year to come.

My Little Girl is Here!

I'm afraid my blogging is going to be a bit sporadic for a while as I adjust to life with my newborn. Leona May was born on 29th December at 12:18pm, weighing 7lb 3oz. She is very demanding and I am struggling with sleep deprivation but she is totally worth it. We are all completely in love with her and excited about our new life together.

As I get into a better routine I hope to be able to post regularly again, but it's not so easy typing one-handed! I'd just like to thank all my readers for their support and patience. Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2016.

Preparing for a special Christmas or New Year delivery

Sorry I've been away for so long. November seemed to fly by in a whirl of parties, meals and appointments, and so far December is going just as quickly. My main excuse is that I've been busy preparing for our new arrival-our little one is due on December 23rd, so as I write this we only have a week to go (although I suspect he or she will carry on the family tradition of being nearly two weeks late). 

My nesting instinct has definitely kicked in and I've been stockpiling supplies, washing clothes, packing my hospital bag and preparing the nursery. I've also had a major-de clutter to make way for all the baby stuff, so I've spent many evenings and weekends sorting boxes to donate to charity or listing things to sell on e-bay. I managed to get ready for Christmas super early this year, with all my shopping done, presents wrapped and decorations up by Sunday 6th. Normally I'm more of a panic-buy-on-xmas-eve kinda girl, so I feel very organised for once.

Holiday in Poland Part II: Kraków and the Dragon Under the Castle

Welcome to the second and final part of my story about my recent trip to Poland. The first part covers my experience of a traditional Polish wedding and local culture. This post is all about one of the major tourist cities in Poland: Kraków.

Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland and was once the capital. It was about three and a half hours away from the original place we stayed at, near Aleksandrów.  

Holiday in Poland Part I: The Wedding, Czarny Staw and Zgierz

In August I travelled to Poland for my friend Milena's wedding. I'd never been before so I didn't really know what to expect. But it was a fantastic experience and I'd definitely like to go back.

 Over the next two days I'm going to talk about the places we visited and share some of my photos. I hope you'll join me for the journey!

An Apology, Life Updates and Some Exciting News

Sorry for the lack of posts since late May. I've been very busy at work with exams season and in my other career-based projects, as well as with lots of events in my social and personal life. I was also in a bit of a blogging slump ever since the marathon of the A-Z Blogging Challenge, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was great to share some of my creative artwork and poetry again, but I was tired out afterwards. I also took on a few too many book reviews and found myself rushing to get them posted in time. Things are finally starting to settle down and I'm feeling much less burnt out and ready to get back into the swing of things with blogging regularly again.

So what have I been up to for the last couple of months? Well I've been expanding my writing, editing and design business and have recently designed the website for my local Italian restaurant, Italian Connection. Please check it out and let me know what you think. I've also been doing some personal tutoring. As well as that, my day job has been full on during exams season and there have been so many meals and parties. This last weekend was a particularly busy one, with a wedding reception, meet-up with old friends, murder mystery birthday party and family birthday dinner. All the socialising was fun but my introvert batteries are feeling a little drained!

Here are a few other things that have happened recently:

Poll: Help Me Choose a New Name for my Business!

Hi all, today I'm looking for a bit of help and inspiration. I've decided to invest some more time and money into my writing, editing and design business and am trying to come up with a new business name. I'd like a name that reflects the variety of services I provide, which include proofreading, copy-editing, graphics and web design. I've narrowed it down to the following names, which are all currently available in the UK and as domain names.

I'd really appreciate it if you could take the time to vote for your favourite below. If you have any alternative ideas, please post them in the comments.

Thanks! I'll let you know soon which one I choose, and then I'll start redesigning my website. Stay tuned!

Yearly Wrap-Up: 2014

So another year has flown by, and it's time to reflect on the best and worst bits, as well as what I achieved during 2014. Check out the 2014 End of the Year Book Survey to find out all about my favourite books from last year and have a look at my 2015 Reading List and Challenges to see what I'm planning to read in the year to come.

This year was probably the best year of my life (so far) as it was the year in which I married my best friend, started a new job and went on honeymoon to Tenerife.
Keep reading to find out more about my year.

Monthly Wrap-Up August 2014

I normally forget to do these monthly wrap-up posts, but I thought I'd better get into the habit again. I'm on a bit of a blogging roll recently and hopefully the momentum will last.

Monthly wrap-up is an opportunity to reflect on the month that's just passed and what I've achieved and review my goal's for next month.

August really flew by because I was off work-it only seemed to last about a week! But never mind, I still managed to get a few things done in that time.

Our Honeymoon in Tenerife Part 2: Local Attractions

Today I'm following on from yesterday's post about my holiday in Tenerife. I already talked about the local area, the beach and the fiesta, so today I want to tell you about some of Tenerife's main attractions: Jungle Park, horse riding, boat rides, Playa de las Américas, Mount Teide and Siam Park.

Jungle Park

Jungle Park is one of two large animal parks in Tenerife. I have mixed feelings about it overall. On one hand it was a fun day out-the scenery is beautiful, they have a lot of unusual animals (over 300 in total) and the bird shows were amazing. They had parrots that could perform tricks, we saw eagles and huge African vultures flying and saw a Stork up close as it fed. They also have a big obstacle course through the park and a bob sleigh, which are fun for kids.

Two macaws during the parrot show [© A V Brown 2014]

Our Honeymoon in Tenerife Part 1: Sun, Sea and Sangria

Recently, my husband and I spent two weeks in Tenerife for our honeymoon. It was an amazing holiday. I'd never flown on a plane before, so I was quite nervous about that. But it was all fine, apart from experiencing aero-sinusitis (aka the feeling of a pickaxe stabbing my brain) as we descended. I thought I'd share some details and pictures of some of the places we visited on our holiday, in case my readers ever visit the island. This will be the first of two posts-the next one will be all about the local attractions.

We stayed with a very generous friend in a lovely place called Playa de San Juan (St. John's beach) in Guía de Isora on the West coast of the island (see map below).

Self-Esteem Challenge Day 5: Your Proudest Accomplishment

Today is Day 5 of the Self-Esteem Challenge, originally from Better than Dark Chocolate. It's a series of questions and prompts to get you thinking about your good qualities and things that make you happy or proud. See my introductory post for more info.

What's your proudest accomplishment?

My proudest accomplishment was probably getting my 1st Class Honours degree in Literature and Philosophy. It was a tough journey as although I'd always wanted to go on to higher education I found it hard to be away from home. I'd been brought up in the middle of nowhere amongst miles of open fields and I hadn't travelled much, so my world up until 18 was fairly small. I also came from a close-knit family and hadn't really spend any time away from them.

My Wedding (Part 1) Best Day Ever!

I'm back! After four weeks of living in post-wedding bliss I'm now ready to start blogging again. It's been an amazing month.

[© A V Brown 2014]

My wedding day was absolutely perfect. After planning and worrying for the last two years everything finally came together and it couldn't have been any better. I stayed at the hotel the night before with my bridesmaids and a few friends and family members and we had a lovely dinner together. Then the next morning we had a full English breakfast (minus the meat for me of course) before the hairdresser and make-up lady arrived. It was a very relaxed and stress-free morning- apart from the awkward moment when I got stuck in the bathroom!

I'm Getting Married in the Morning!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to check in and say I'm sorry for missing the last three A-Z challenge posts. I've been really busy and stressed out this week preparing for my wedding tomorrow and something had to give-unfortunately it was this blog. I'm taking a brief hiatus over the weekend to enjoy my wedding and will hopefully be back next week with my belated X, Y and Z posts!

Wish me luck!

Book Blogger Love-a-Thon Mini Challenge 5: Letter to Myself

The fifth mini challenge of the 2014 Book Blogger Love-a-Thon is to write a letter to yourself. You can either write to your younger blogging/writing self or to your future blogging/writing self.

I've decided to go for the second option.

Yearly Wrap-Up:2013

I hope everyone had a fantastic time over the holidays however you celebrated. I had quite a busy Christmas travelling between families but it was fantastic to see everyone. New Year's Eve was more relaxed, and we're currently enjoying a lazy week at home until we go back to work on Monday.

The year has flown by and I can't believe it''s 2014 already! It should be one of the biggest years of my life, as I get married on May 3rd! There's still a lot of planning to do before then, so I best get stuck in. I'm also looking forward to having a nice long summer holiday with my new husband and jetting off to Tennerife for a couple of weeks.

But before I start focusing on the year ahead I like to reflect on what I achieved in the previous year. Here's my 2013 in review.