Sundaze 121

My head has been all over the place this week, so I’m oh so grateful to have this time set aside just to pen a super laid-back Sundaze update. It’s easily my favourite day of the week and my favourite type of blog post to create. There’s truly no school like the old school.

In truth, my week was completely overrun by work. I’m still at full client capacity, work wise, so my evenings have consisted of the ‘bra off, hair up’ routine, dinner, work, Love Island, and pass out unceremoniously at my desk before waking up at 1am for a shower. That work-life balance just keeps getting better(!) But I guess it’s good to be transparent about these things, because so often I get comments and emails from readers wanting to know how I manage my time so well. Spoiler alert: I don’t always get it right.

Why Sundaze?

I thought I’d kick-start this week’s Sundaze with a quick re-introduction to the series. I started it back in January 2016 – a month that ended up being very tumultuous for me! – in a bid to reinstate some of the good ol’, homegrown blog vibes that I so dearly missed.

Sunday is and has been my favourite day of the week for YEARS.

Before I moved to Hong Kong in 2014, my siblings, cousins and I would descend upon my Granny’s home every Sunday evening for dinner, a family hang-out and, mostly, just a great time. We all looked forward to it so much and would always, always carve the time out to spend with each other, which is certainly a rarity in today’s go-go-go mood.

Then when I moved, I reinstated it in my apartment. Each Sunday evening, I’d get home and make dinner, Skype my family and enjoy some at-home time ‘with’ my loved ones. Sadly while I was living in Hong Kong, my beloved Granny passed away and our Sundays have never been the same since. This series is now a laid-back, hang-out-together ode to our wonderful weekly routine.

Love Island

Against my better judgement, I’m watching Love Island this year.

It’s been such a busy season of life for me that I’m grateful to have something relatively easy to watch and rant about on Twitter! I mean, could I be making better use of my time? Quite possibly, but sometimes self-care is literally just camping out on the sofa watching Love Island and surmising how people can so easily pull off wearing a full face of makeup, a bikini and heels.

A book-reading slump

After a deliciously ‘productive’ reading sprint last month and towards the start of this month, I’m definitely experiencing a reading slump.

I read so many brilliant books then, that I’m now finding it hard to immerse myself in anything new. But like I’ve mentioned already in this post, sometimes it’s nice not to force things for the sake of ticking off another book from a list.

I’ve created plenty of bookish content lately too so if you’re that way inclined, you can discover my KonMari book edit, find all the books I’ve loved this year, and see what’s on my summer to-read list.

Our weekend in Margate!

Last weekend I took a break from my Sundaze series.

Not only was it Father’s Day, Harvey and I were celebrating three entire years together. Three!

We both took Friday off work and hopped on a train down to Margate for a whistle-stop, overnight stay. It was such a lovely weekend that I’ve decided to devote an entire post about our trip! It’ll be published next week.

Links I’ve Loved

Anna shared a post full of her budgeting tips and why Monzo is floating her boat. Lots of you expressed an interest in learning more about budgeting after my post on Thursday, so I’m sure you’ll love this one.
I’ll always be a huge advocate of visiting my hometown; Sophie wrote about how to spend 24 hours in Ipoh, Malaysia. A must-read.
In true Crazy Rich Asians style, our family genuinely do make dumplings most weekends. Here’s a simple recipe for dumpling wrappers!
I’m hoping to get back into running this year, so Rebecca’s post full of everything she wishes she knew before she started running was perfectly timed.
Last year, the girls and I headed to Northern Ireland for a delightful weekend getaway, and Hannah’s finally shared her super-detailed guide to the Causeway Coast. You NEED to bookmark it.
It’s officially the British summertime! Amanda penned an incredible post detailing the ABCs of summer.