Sundaze 216
This September has felt so very sweet. Now that the days are getting a little shorter, I’m definitely in the mindset of making the most of those precious daylight hours and generally getting ‘back’ to a lot of things. It’s been such a busy week that I’ve pretty much spent all of my spare time asleep, writing lists or making headway through endless WhatsApp group chat replies. (Honestly, it’s like a full-time job sometimes, isn’t it?)
After lots of ~work~ since January began, I also feel like I’ve established a pretty great balance between self-care, self-love, time with friends and family, and time to work. Right before a date(!!) on Friday night, I sat and took stock of everything that’s making life feel incredible at the moment and it blew my mind. Greater things are always, always on the horizon – you just need to sail those rougher seas.
The September start and getting ‘back’ to things
I wrote a little about the September start last week and how much it benefits me, and this week is where it all fell into place. For starters, I’m back to the Barre again! I really fell off the working out and wellness regime in our third lockdown and, now that my local studio has moved a touch too far away, it was too easy to simply… not work out. Louise and I completed Couch to 5k over the summer and then didn’t run again. But now I’m back to regular Barre classes and I’m LOVING it – these classes are really where I feel ~alive~. I’ll share more about my Barre experience soon, in an updated post, if you’d like?
Not so similarly, I’m also back at the library! It’s been months and months since I last visited my local library (for obvious reasons), and I was thoroughly excited to pop in and borrow a few books. I’ve bombed it through my TBR stash, so it feels nice to have three ‘new’ titles to pilfer through as autumn arrives.
Strictly is back!
Excitingly, Strictly Come Dancing is back on in the UK! International readers, SCD is a ballroom dance competition featuring celebrities paired with professional dancers, and it is THE BEST show. My Saturday evenings are now devoted to Strictly until Christmas. This series looks SO good too. Not least because Nancy Xu is finally going to be a competing dancer! I couldn’t believe my eyes: a Chinese dancer on primetime TV?! I can barely believe I’ll get to see a Chinese person on TV every single week! Representation is so important, kiddos.
Christmas is coming to Daisybutter
This week I popped my sociable and networking hat on and ventured to London for The Big Christmas Press Show. One of the perks of having blogged for over 10 years is that I get to go these trade events to gain a sneak preview of launches, to share with you! It was a fun if not tiring day out, and I cannot wait to get started on producing this year’s Christmas content for you all. Of course we’ll have my annual gift guides with a Daisybutter twist, but the show really sparked my creativity and I have SO many fun content ideas I want to work on. (Better late than never!)
Links I’ve Loved
- TV seems to get especially good in autumn; Lily from Pint Sized Beauty shares her top cosy TV show and film recommendations for the season.
- Into zodiac signs? Here’s what you should read this autumn, based on your sign, according to The Everygirl.
- As somebody that has also journaled for years, I just loved Megan Portorreal’s feature all about what they learned after revisiting their teenage self through old journal entries. What a brave feat!
- Because there can never be too much book content, this end-of-summer book haul from Brine & Books was a great read. My TBR list is growing minute by minute!
- I’m a sucker for a routine. These after-work routines promise to make you better at your day job or activity.
- A standout read for me a few years ago was ‘When Asian Women Are Harassed for Marrying Non-Asian Men’ by Celeste Ng on The Cut. It resonates even today, so I thought I’d reshape.
- Lastly, I adore these 10 date night ideas that are gentle on the pursestrings. Time to drop a few hints, I think…
Posts This Week
How was your week? Who are you rooting for in Strictly? (It’s Tom Fletcher and Judi Love for me.)