So I finally got round to reading Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given and thought why not share my thoughts with you? This is my first time writing a book review so I hope you enjoy and let me know if you'd like to see more of these.

First of all, the book was written by Florence Given, who is currently a 22-year-old writer, artist and influencer - the same age as me!

What is the book about?

It's a non-fiction book that talks all about the different areas of being a woman. There are different chapters about relationships, body image, building an identity and the difficulty in doing this in a world rooted in racism, misogyny and sexism.

It is a mainstream dive into feminism and is easily accessible for those who don't want to read mounds of feminist literature but still want to learn about feminism and the need for gender equality.

The aim of this book is to challenge the ideas you thought you already had about the world, gender and identity. Due to studying a lot of the things the book covers at university, I already knew a lot of what was in it however, this book still taught me a lot and has changed my way of thinking even more.

Related: 5 books I wish I'd read sooner

Additionally, the book is filled with beautiful illustrations that Florence Given has created herself. At times, there are triggering subjects talked about such as rape or sexual trauma, (with appropriate trigger warnings in place) and these images just lift you back up after reading about these topics.

This book is definitely relevant at the moment, in a world where some people may even think what? Of course we have gender equality by now? By reading this book, you will know that we don't in this society still.

Should you read this book?

I would definitely recommend this book and I feel like this is an important read for everyone. I definitely learnt a lot and feel like everyone needs to read what is in this book. It hits you with cold hard truths that we all need to hear.

Related: The art of blog writing E-book

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

As a lot of people are travelling more now, whether that be around the UK or abroad, it's important to know what to pack. Many of us will be out of the swing of it due to various coronavirus restrictions on travel, especially abroad.

For this reason, I am going to share with you a few of my travel essentials. I usually try to pack as light as possible because I hate having to carry heavy bags when I go anywhere, so this will probably be bare essentials and I may miss some stuff out that is important to you. These are just my tips.

5 essentials you need for travelling

1. A separate purse or wallet

2. Miniatures

3. Hand sanitiser

4. Portable charger

5. Pain killers

You might be thinking, what is a media kit and why I need one? Well, I'm here to answer these questions and give you some advice on creating one, and what to include.

What is a Media Kit?

A media kit is a document that bloggers, content creators and influencers use to show information about their platform. It's usually shared to brands so they can learn more about the creators they are working with.

If you want to work with brands, it's important to have a media kit that you can keep up to date with your stats. This way if you are emailing a brand to work with them, you don't need to send a long email about the views you receive on your blog or the engagement you get on your social posts. You can keep all this information in your media kit and attach it, such a time saver.

I used Canva to create my media kit and made sure the branding aligned with the colours I have used across my blog and social media channels to keep it all consistent. Mine is also only 3 pages because I feel like for now, that is all that's needed but yours may be more or less depending on how much information you want to put in. I would try to keep it to around 2-5 pages though, to try and be concise.

What to include

Bit of a chatty one - I just thought I'd update you all on my life as I have finished university!

A few years ago, I wrote posts on applying to uni and wrote updates on how my first year was going, but since then I haven't really spoken about it that much on here.

So after 4 years of being a Communication and Media student at Bournemouth University, I have finally finished and I got a 2:1 overall with a 1st in my dissertation! I am now working as a Social Media and Communications Coordinator for the same organisation I did my internship with between second and third year.

I am so glad I went to uni it was such a good experience, obviously there were some downs but I wouldn't change it. I won't get into all of my highlights and lowlights for the year because that would take forever. Maybe I will do that when I am really missing uni but for now I just wanted to update you all.

Related: Top tips for starting university

What have I learnt?

To be honest, I feel like most of the stuff I learnt was about adult life and what kind of person I am rather than academic. Obviously I did learn a lot about media too, I feel like I can never watch a film or read a newspaper article properly again without analysing every word or every scene. But reflecting back, the experiences I had will mean more to me than that kind of stuff (sorry lecturers).

It was a shame that Covid kind of got in the way a little bit of my final year but I have still been able to do lots of fun things with my friends. 2021 is definitely the year of the bottomless brunch!

Luckily, because I live an hour away from Bournemouth I can go and visit whenever I want and I will still have friends living there.

I live in a very small town where I'm never really pushed out of my comfort zone so uni really helped push me to make friends and put myself out there (usually helped by a little Dutch courage too).

Where do we go from here?

As I mentioned before, I am starting my career in social media marketing and I am really enjoying it so far. I'm really looking forward to see how my career goes too. At the moment I am still learning about it while working.

I've had a few questions about university and applying to jobs so if you want to know anything, please feel free to ask me. 

Related: 7 ways to enhance your CV

To be honest, I just can't believe uni is over it's so weird how quickly it went. I still feel the same age as when I started too, I feel like everyone says that.

It definitely feels like the end of an era but also not in some ways because I am still planning to keep in touch with all my uni pals as much as possible.

I am not affiliated with Free Trade but if you download the app through my referral link I will get a free share too.

OK this is my first ever 'money blogger' post and I am really excited. I have been following money bloggers lately and my favourite way to make money on the side that isn't through blogging is through Free Trade. As a blogger, I will often write sponsored blog posts which helps make me a little extra cash too.

I first heard about Free Trade from Reinventing Neesha who you need to follow ASAP if you don't already. She will teach you all you need to know about making passive incomes and saving money.

What is Free Trade?

Free Trade is a trading app you can download on your phone. At first, this put me off a bit because I don't really know anything about stocks and shares, but you don't need to know much when you are using the free shares.

Basically, they give out free shares between £3-£200 when you refer a friend to you, and to the new friend downloading the app for the first time.

If you want to receive free money between £3-£200 then keep reading

This post contains my monthly advertisers.

Welcome to another Meet My Advertisers post. This will actually be my last advertisers post for a while. I have started a new job after finishing uni so have a bit less free time on my hands so I want to focus on creating my other content and writing my weekly blogs.

I have loved sharing some amazing blogs with you and will let you know if I start my advertising service again, but for now this will be my last.

Anyway, keep reading to see some great blogs that you need to check out this month!

5 Blogs you need to check out this month

Check out these posts from Lynn

• DIY trendy bendy candles
• Crunchy roasted cheesy ranch chickpeas

Next up is Sunshine Sarah. Sarah is quite a regular on my advertising posts and if you haven't read any of her blog posts yet, you need to! This blog is one of my favourites as it really does bring a ray of sunshine into my life and Sarah is always so full of positivity. It's definitely needed when the world can be filled with a lot of negativity at times.

Start by checking out these posts

• Can you lose weight and still love your body?
• Why I re-joined Weight Watchers and finding my confidence again

Read these posts from Caroline

Check out these posts by Hannah

• Why you should pre-order books
• Why I moved from Goodreads to Storygraph and why you should too!

Start by reading these posts

Ok so I love cocktails and I love prosecco so I thought this would be an exciting post for me to write! I have been loving going out for cocktails lately but it's still good to know how to make some of your own at home. Whether you are having people round, or whether we are in lockdown number 107583.

If you're a prosecco drinker like me and would drink it anyway, then it's very handy to know how to make prosecco cocktails because they are simple but look far more impressive than just an ordinary glass (even though there is nothing ordinary about it). What is it Gino D'Acampo says? Minimum effort maximum satisfaction - and I live my life by that mantra.

Related: 5 cocktail recipes you need to try

Why Prosecco Cocktails?

I always want to try making different cocktails at home but it can be expensive, and just a lot of effort to buy lots of different ingredients. However, if you're going to drink prosecco anyway then you will already have one ingredient in. 

Also, they are just tasty and elegant and let's not lie, it will make you look fancy if you have guests over. Try any of these cocktails with champagne too if you're feeling really boujee.

5 Prosecco Cocktails you need to try

1. Kir Royale

This is a super easy cocktail, it's literally just a glass of prosecco with some creme de cassis (a fancy way of saying blackcurrant liqueur). At home we usually just use Chambord which is more widely available and tastes like a jammy doughnut. I am not going to give any measurements because everyone has different tastes, but its just a small bit of Chambord or your liqueur in your prosecco.

2. Peach Bellini

Again, super easy! It's just a glass of prosecco again with a little bit of peach puree added. You can make your own puree or just buy it.

3. Mimosa 

You may know of this as a Bucks Fizz, it's a glass of prosecco with orange juice. This is breakfasty for me, I probably wouldn't have it in the evening but a lot of people like it. I am thinking more brunch on holiday vibes. (I saw a video saying how we get away with day drinking by calling it brunch, SO TRUE)

Related: A-Z of date ideas

4. French 75

I hadn't actually heard of a French 75 until I read a blog post from Faye at Female Original. It is usually gin and champagne but as I thought I'd swap it for prosecco for this blog post. Faye has a great recipe to make a French 75 with Bobby's Gin.

5. Pink Gin Spritz

OK, I kind of stole this one from Slug and Lettuce, but we have had to recreate cocktails in various lockdowns when we haven't been able to get them out. This cocktail is a bit bigger than the others so I'd use a gin glass rather than a prosecco one for this. It's a double shot of gin, prosecco and then topped up with soda water or lemonade. Basically like a posh, stronger G&T.

And there we have 5 really easy prosecco cocktails you can try making at home. Which one would you love to try the most?

AD: PR Visit - This experience was gifted in exchange for a review but all opinions are my own.

This week I had the pleasure of visiting the Greyhound at Corfe in Dorset with my friend and partner in crime, Maddie. The Greyhound is a stunning old English pub right next to Corfe Castle, which of course meant there were stunning views in their pub garden area. We had originally booked to sit inside but the garden just looked so nice that we requested to sit out there with the sun shining too. There were also some really cute dogs so that was a plus!

Upon arrival we were greeted by the most lovely staff that just couldn't do enough for us, they were very attentive and chatty - I wish I caught their names now but we were served by a lot of people so I safely assume that they are all as friendly as each other.

Maddie and I both ordered the same thing which was nice, nobody got food envy. For a starter, we had the Dorset Crab Tien (when in Rome). It was really nicely presented and tasted amazing too!

After that, we had the beef and chorizo burger for a main accompanied with halloumi fries on the side. It was a mega burger, you definitely won't be leaving hungry if you order it. The halloumi fries were 10/10 although, I did wish there was a few more of them. 

Related: Places you need to visit in Dorset

We only had soft drinks but were very envious looking around at some of the cocktails, maybe next time.

If you are in Dorset or want to go then I'd definitely recommend visiting Corfe and the Greyhound. It's such a picturesque, historical village and did you know it's home to the smallest town hall in England? The Greyhound is such a lovely way to top off a great day out in Corfe.

I would definitely visit the Greyhound again, it's pub garden area is one of my favourites ever and the food and staff are both great.

Where have you been for food lately that you really enjoyed?

Related: A day at Sculpture by the Lakes in Dorset

Bloggers you need to check out this month

Start by checking out these posts

• How employers can help prevent workplace stress
• 10 lies the eating disorder is telling you

If you need a bit of positivity then you definitely need to check out Sunshine Sarah. Sarah is a lifestyle blogger and content creator that wants to bring a bit more sunshine to your life! I always feel better after reading Sarah's blogs or seeing her uplifting social media posts.

Make sure you check out these blog posts by Sarah

• AD - Femme Luxe Slogan Tees and Loungewear Sets
• Saying Goodbye to Old Insecurities through Photoshoots

Next up, we have Lyla Stone. I have only discovered Lyla's blog recently but I am already a big fan of her posts. She writes mainly about psychology and wellness.

Check out these posts

As a blogger, I am often spending a lot of time on social media. Whether that is to promote my blog, or to research trends to grow my presence, I feel like I spend most of my free time on there. As a lot of us know, too much time on social media can sometimes become a bit toxic, as we may find ourselves comparing our lives to others too much. That's why I've come up with a list of activities you or your child could try instead of scrolling social media for hours.

Social media can be great in moderation, as it helps us to connect with people we may not get to see a lot, especially in recent times in the pandemic. It can also help us to connect with new people too, but it's important to take breaks from it too.

Activities to try instead of using social media

1. Exercise

2. Painting

3. Gaming

4. Reading

5. Go for a walk

AD - This is a sponsored post.

This month marks 5 years of Wool of the King, so I thought I’d share my experiences over the years and the sort of things I have got from blogging and growing my social media channels, including gifted products and payment. I am hoping this post will encourage young people, bloggers or not, to pursue their goals.

Early years

When I first started my blog in 2016, I was at college and I only really wrote blog posts occasionally. It was just a space for me to chat about things I wanted to chat about as a hobby. When I started university, I still only occasionally posted updates and one day, one of my posts got over 1000 reads. I was so happy and this really motivated me to write more, but with assignments, a part-time job and a uni social life, I found it really hard to keep up with my blog so I stopped writing for a while.

It wasn’t until 2020 at the start of the pandemic that I started to write weekly blog posts and really start focusing on my growth. At first, it was just out of boredom, I had so much more free time so I decided to use that time to grow my blog and social media.

Growing my online presence

Once I started blogging more regularly, I wanted to make sure these posts were being seen and gaining an audience, so I focused on growing my social media channels including Twitter and Instagram. As a result of this, my blog views were growing each month and I began to partake in gifted influencer campaigns on my blog and over on Instagram. I was so excited by this because I never expected to be doing anything like that!

If you want to find out more about influencer marketing, check out the Mindy Parisi Influencer Spotlight.

In this instance, engagement is key! The more you engage with others, the more they will engage with you, it’s so important in growing your blog and socials.

Onwards and upwards

This year is the first year I have started making money through blogging and I never thought I would be able to say that. It may not be a lot to some, and it’s not enough to make a living from at the moment but having any extra money through blogging is crazy to me as it started out as just a hobby when I was 17.

So far, I have made money through sponsored posts on my blog, influencer ads, advertising slots on my blog and affiliate sales. Last month I made a total of £184 which has been my highest paid month yet. I would love to be able to write E-books one day and sell those.

I have spoken a lot about blogging in this post, but a lot of my influencer campaigns are on Instagram. These days, lots of brands look to collaborate with content creators on there. I used to think you had to have over 10k followers to collaborate with brands but this is not the case anymore as smaller accounts often have higher engagement.

Read more about the rise in influencer marketing. 

I have really loved my blogging journey, but it hasn’t always been easy. There have often been times where I’ve wanted to give up, or thought no one was going to take me seriously and it’s fine for that to happen. The trick is to just not give up when you feel like that, and keep pushing through with whatever it is you may be wanting to do. I have been blogging for 5 years now, but it has only been in the last year that I have started seeing signs of success.

When was a time that you wanted to give up on something but kept going?

This product was gifted to me as a PR product but all views are my own and I will be honest in my review. This post also contains affiliate links, meaning if you purchase a product through the links I will gain a small commission at no extra cost to you.

So if you're in the blogging community, you will probably already know that Eleanor from Not So Modern Girl, recently released an E-Book called The Art of Blog Writing, and I am so excited to have a copy to review!

Even the most seasoned bloggers need advice on blog writing from time to time and it's always great to hear advice from different sources, so we can keep on top of our game.