One year on from finishing university, this felt like a good time for a life update as I am generally adulting way more than I was when I had just finished uni.
When I was a student I called that the "free trial" of adult life because you are technically an adult but for me, uni felt like a transition stage before the real thing. Then once I'd finished uni, I would refer to myself as a recent graduate, or say I'd "just finished uni" but it's a year on now.
Graduating uni - one year on
So in the last year since leaving university, I moved back home and started a job pretty much instantly after finishing my last assignments and dissertation. It was good to finally be earning some £££ after the student life I have to say.
My original plan after uni wasn't to move home, probably like a lot of students but I have been enjoying it and everyone is at different stages at this point in their life.
After working in my graduate job for a year, I was promoted into a more senior role which I will be starting over the next couple of months! This is something I'm so proud of because I really didn't expect this one year on from leaving university.
Related: Making friends as an adult: the low down
When I left university I had no clue really what I wanted to do or what I was good at, I just wanted a job but now that I have been working in marketing as a social media coordinator for a year, it's reassuring that I am good enough at my to be put forward for more responsibility at this stage.
I am going from a Social Media and Communications Coordinator to a Digital Communications Officer, basically a fancy way of saying I will be doing more technical digital marketing stuff than I have been doing up until this point.
New car who dis?
I am writing this on my new car day, which is another life update I need to share! So I had my fiesta since I was 17 and just passed my driving test, I did a blog about passing my driving test too haha that's how long I've been blogging.
Today, I said goodbye to Frankie the Fiesta and got my second car, a 2018 plate Volkswagen Polo. I had wanted a polo to be my second car but I always said I would wait until after uni when I had a job so that's what I did.
I loved my old car but she was getting on a bit and it was definitely time to get a new one, I'm so proud of my new car, and I will be showing it off until further notice.
Mo' money mo' travel
Related: Being in your 20s: the low down
I have always been interested in World War 2 and the Holocaust, even more so since I visited Auschwitz in 2017 and saw some of the horrors that went on there for myself.
Ever since then I have watched a lot of documentaries and films about the Holocaust and have started reading a lot more about it too.
I am also an avid TikTok user, and when Lily Ebert and her great-grandson, Dov, came up on my 'For You' page, I couldn't stop watching their videos. If you have TikTok, I'd definitely recommend watching Lily Ebert's videos here.
In these videos, Lily talks about her experience as a survivor of Auschwitz (along with other camps) and answers a lot of questions that she gets.
Lily is a 98-year-old Holocaust survivor, she was sent to Auschwitz when she was 20 along with her family who were all from Hungary.
The book
In the book, Lily describes her experiences all the way from prior to being taken to Auschwitz, to her life after the war up until 2020.
As aforementioned, I have consumed a lot of narratives around Auschwitz and the Holocaust so I am very aware of some of the brutality and awful things that happened to people. But reading this from a real-life Holocaust survivor, I could feel the emotion that Lily was putting into the book, having experienced it herself.
Related: 5 reasons why books still matter
The book was structured in years, each chapter was a different year of Lily's life and she went into a lot of the details about the atrocities she experienced - which can't have been easy to do.
Due to the topics discussed in the book, sometimes reading it can be quite difficult and upsetting. But when I was feeling this, I had to remind myself that I was reading it from a place of privilege. It is so shocking to me, all the awful things that happened in the Holocaust, but none of that has happened to me and I, along with everyone, need to be educated about it.
In terms of the structure of the book, I really liked the way it was in chronological order over the different years of Lily's life and I liked that Dov (Lily's great-grandson) had written a few parts in it too. Most of the book is from Lily's perspective but Dov explains how they created TikTok and wrote the book. He also explains a bit about how he thought Lily was feeling writing the book.
Should you read this book?
Yes! I would recommend this book to anyone. I believe that we all need to know about the Holocaust and do as much learning about it as we possibly can. Reading Lily's promise, along with watching her TikTok videos is a great way to do this.
A lot of the documentaries out there are really helpful, and they have been constructed by historical experts, but oftentimes, they weren't actually there to experience it. Lily was there, she saw it, she felt it.
Related: My experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Have you read this book? I'd love to hear your thoughts. If not, add it to your list ASAP.
Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived!
Recently, I went with my mum and grandma to watch Six the musical at the Mayflower in Southampton. This was a Christmas present from my mum and we had a great time.
If you're not familiar with Six, it is a musical about Henry the 8th's six wives where they kind of take back the narrative as their own.
It started at 4pm, so we went for lunch in Red Dog Saloon, and did some shopping beforehand.
The musical
The musical itself was not as long as others I'd seen, and there was no interval which was quite good if you don't like to sit for too long.
Our seats were near the back of the stalls in row YY, but we still had a clear view of the stage.
One of my favourite things about the musical was the outfits! The costume department score a 10/10 on that one.
The singing and dancing of each of the queens was so impressive too, all 6 of them were amazing. Incidentally, the 6 queens were the only characters in the musical, the only other people that were on stage with them were the musicians.
Related: RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 2 Tour review
The storyline went chronologically about each queen, they would all tell their story and have a solo. This way, they were all the leading lady and they were reclaiming the narrative. This is because when most people think of the 6 wives, they think of them because they were Henry the 8th's wives.
Now, after watching the musical, I feel like they are way more important figures in history than just being wives of a king. Especially a king that beheaded them, divorced them, and all sorts of other evil things.
Should you watch Six in a theatre near you?
Yes! I would definitely recommend booking Six in a theatre near you when you can. It was educational because now I know which queen was beheaded, divorced, etc - great pub quiz knowledge! It was also funny, and very VERY entertaining with great vocals and dancing.
There were lots of families there with young children, although there were a lot of innuendos, I feel like these would probably go over the children's heads making it funny for adults and suitable for children.
If anyone needs me, I will be listening to the soundtrack until further notice. Warning: the songs WILL get stuck in your head.
Related: 9 to 5 the musical at the Mayflower
What's the best musical you've seen?
So as you may know from my recent Comfort TV Shows blog post, one of my favourite TV shows to watch over and over is Pretty Little Liars. This is pretty much because I started watching it as a teen and grew up watching it.
Related: My top 10 comfort TV shows
I have only recently started getting into reading, I had to read at uni so I didn't really want to read for fun in my free time too. So after watching all the PLL series over and over, I thought why not try reading the books?
At first, I was only going to read the first one just to see what it was like in comparison to the TV show, and here I am a whole series later.
Pretty Little Liars Book Series
The PLL book series was written by Sara Shepard and there are a total of 16 books in the main series. Yes, I read them all pretty recently.
I don't want to give too many spoilers in case any of you would like to read them after this but what I will say is that it is so different from the series.
The first couple of books are a little similar to the first episodes in season 1 but after that, the stories get so different with all kinds of different characters that weren't in the series. For example, Caleb is such a huge character in the series but he's not even in the books at all.
The massive difference is what made me enjoy the books so much because there were so many twists and turns that I didn't expect so it was great to be able to experience those again because I can't with the series now really as I've watched it so many times.
Related: 5 reasons why books still matter
In terms of more differences, I feel like, in the book Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily are heightened versions of themselves. Like their personalities are way more dramatic in the book than what we see in the series.
As the books came out first, and then it was made into a TV show it felt like I had kind of done it back to front by watching the series first. But it was interesting to see the original bits in the book that I could tell the producers had based scenes off of.
It was also interesting to see how they changed storylines in the series. Throughout the books, each chapter is from the different perspectives of each liar. For example, one chapter will be based on Emily, and the next will be about Aria, etc. Therefore, the story kind of went a bit slower because everything was so in detail, but it's not like that with TV so they had to add so much more into the storylines.
Should you read the Pretty Little Liars books?
If you are like me and you loved the series, I would definitely recommend reading the books. I know they are primarily aimed at teens but it doesn't make it unenjoyable for young adults. And, the books are quite short so you can get through them quite quickly. I think I read the last one in 3 days because I wanted to see how it ended so badly.
Also, it is the same but different. It's still the Pretty Little Liars we know and love but so different and it's so interesting to see how their lives differ from the book to the series. Also the whole A storyline is quite different and A is a completely different person. I'm not going to tell you who it is though!
There are 16 books so it is quite a lot to get through but it's good as like a background series that you keep coming back to when you don't know what else to read. I think they took me about 6 months to read and I read some others along the way too.
Related: Books I read in 2021
Have you watched Pretty Little Liars or read the books?
Let me start off by telling you what a comfort series is and why I'm writing about it. A comfort series is a series that you watch over and over again because it brings you what? Comfort. You can have comfort films too, my comfort films seem to be Disney films a lot of the time because I watch them a lot to make me feel happy.
Why do we watch comfort series' over and over?
Watching a series over and over usually brings us comfort because it brings an element of predictability to our lives, especially at times that are unpredictable in our lives. For example, when the pandemic first hit, I took comfort in watching old series that I love because it brought stability in a time when I didn't know what was going to happen. Not to mention the lack of Covid in the series distracted me from the Covid in real life.
We can always rely on our favourite TV shows to bring us comfort, laughs, and even cries when we need them most.
Related: 30 things to do before I'm 30
There are probably a lot of psychological reasons why we find comfort in watching TV shows over and over but for me, I just feel like I can't beat my favourites.
I am ALWAYS trying to find new TV shows that compare (I don't always watch old ones), and it is very rare that I find any that make me feel the way my favourites do.
My top 10 comfort series
Related: A-Z list of movies you need to watch
Does anyone actually read blogs anymore? Well, you are reading this right now, so the answer must be yes but the truth is, it can be difficult to get people to read your blog.
I have heard a lot of people saying that nobody reads blogs anymore, even Amira from Gogglebox said it in an episode not too long ago.
My opinion on blogging is still a big thing is mixed. However, I do love writing my blog posts so either way, I am going to keep writing them.
The rise of video content
For me, it feels like a lot of people get their entertainment on social media through watching videos on TikTok and Instagram reels at the moment rather than reading through a whole blog post.
I really like making video content as well as writing my blogs, so I have been doing both to stay relevant online and to just make things that I enjoy making.
If you are a blogger who struggles with reader numbers but want to make a big impression online, I do think video content like this can reach a lot of new people organically.
I feel like with blogging, you have to put a LOT of effort into making it SEO friendly so that people can find your blogs through searching on Google. Also, a lot of my readership comes from sharing my blog posts on social media anyway.
Advantages of blogging
There are a lot of bloggers out there that are really successful at the moment and I think a lot of people don't realise the success you can make for yourself blogging.
Some bloggers I follow, have left full-time jobs to pursue blogging, and they can make thousands a month by doing freelance blog work. Paid opportunities include paid blog posts, affiliate marketing (which is adding links to your blog and getting a commission whenever anyone purchases something through your link), creating digital products to sell, and many more.
Although people may come to the conclusion that people don't read blogs anymore, the ways to make money online are definitely on the rise, so for this reason I would say blogging is still very much a thing.
Don't give up
If you are an avid blogger and love doing it - don't give up! I have to admit, since the world has started opening up more since Covid, I have been getting a lot fewer reads on my blog. I am not taking this as a negative though because I would much rather everyone be able to go out and do stuff than being stuck in reading my blog!
This also makes me more appreciative of the readership I have now, and even though the reads on my blog posts have declined a little, I am still getting exciting opportunities and growing my social media following.
My advice would definitely be to stay current and keep up to date with new platforms that come your way, but if you really enjoy doing something, there is no need to stop just because there are new things coming.
What are your thoughts on blogging in 2022?
Disclaimer: Some of the restaurants I have tried have been from a PR invite, but all opinions are my own. I have a put an asterisk* next to the ones that were a PR invite.
So a few years ago, I did actually write a blog post about where my favourite places to eat in and around Salisbury were, but I thought I could do it even bigger and better now. A lot of new places have opened since then, and I have also tried a lot of new places since then.
Also, I wrote that at a time when I didn't like Salisbury as much as I do now. When I was at uni I was so anti-Salisbury because I much preferred Bournemouth (where I went to uni) I still do prefer Bournemouth because I love the beach, but I have learned to appreciate my home city more.
If you didn't know, I live kind of near Salisbury but not really that close. I am about a 25-minute drive but because it is my closest city and I live in the middle of the countryside, I just say I'm from Salisbury.
I am making it my mission to try as many new things while I'm in my 20s as possible, that's why I have also written a list of restaurants I want to try in and around Salisbury, as well as showing you my favourite ones.
Anyway, enough about me - let's get onto the foodie info you really want to know! I have split them into categories of chains and independent restaurants in Salisbury. Then I have included some other faves that are worth driving to from Salisbury if you can.
Restaurants in Salisbury
Independent restaurants
Tinga*
Maul's
Reeve The Baker
Pizza Venti*
Nole Pizza
The Salisbury Orangery
Naked Bagel
Chain restaurants
Cosy Club
Related: Flesh and Buns London review
Zizzi
Cote Brasserie
Wagamama*
The Giggling Squid*
Restaurants a short drive from Salisbury
Piazza - Amesbury, 17 min drive from Salisbury
Rosebourne - Weyhill, 28 min drive from Salisbury
The Crown Inn - Cholderton, 22 min drive from Salisbury
The Pembroke Arms - Wilton, 13 min drive from Salisbury
Cholderton Farm Shop - Cholderton, 22 min drive from Salisbury
The Malet Arms - Newton Tony, 22 min drive from Salisbury
Places I want to try
The Chapter House - Salisbury
Boston Tea Party - Salisbury
Lalahan - Salisbury
Grillado - Salisbury
Allium - Salisbury
Haunch of Venison - Salisbury
The Wig and Quill - Salisbury
Southern Quarter - Amesbury, 19 min drive from Salisbury
The Greyhound Inn - Stockbridge, 25 min drive from Salisbury
The Hawk Inn - Amport, 33 min drive from Salisbury
Marco Pierre White Steakhouse - High Post, 12 min drive from Salisbury
And there we have my ultimate foodie guide to Salisbury. Once I have tried restaurants from the list above, I will add them to my recommendations if they are worthy.
There are a lot more restaurants in Salisbury that I have heard good things about but I am still quite fussy with food even though I am trying to be better. There are some Indian and Thai restaurants that I have heard good things about if that is your thing!
Related: Greyhound at Corfe Castle review
Have you tried any of these restaurants? Let me know which ones you like the sound of, or if you have some Salisbury recommendations I haven't put on this list.
So for my mum's birthday in February, I got her two tickets for an alpaca walking experience with Hensting Alpacas near Eastleigh and luckily she chose me to go with her!
We went for the 2 people 1 alpaca experience which was probably better for photo-taking opportunities than one each. I did try to take some selfies with our alpaca but he flinched every time I got my phone out.
Our walk started at 10am, but we had to be there around 9:35 to be ready for the walk. The drive from our house took about 35 minutes which is quite good considering we are in the middle of nowhere so days out for us are usually an hour's drive.
The alpaca walk
The 'walk' lasted 2 hours but I say that in quotation marks as it wasn't a full-on walk for 2 hours, there was a lot of stopping.
First of all, we had a talk to learn a bit about the alpacas, then we all lined up and were introduced to our alpacas. You got the opportunity to walk an adult or a baby but because of the time of year, the babies seemed to be almost as big as the adults. They had both males and females but I believe they only offer walks with the males as they are much calmer, whereas the ladies seem to be a bit more feisty.
Our alpaca was called Ironwood and he was around 10-12 years old (their lifespan is around 15-20 years old so he was a bit of an oldie). As soon as we started walking with him, I was attached! I wanted to take him home, but did you know you are only allowed to keep 3 alpacas or more or they might die of loneliness?
We then did a walk, stop, walk stop kind of walk. The first stop was for a feed which was great. Although Ironwood was a little more hungry than that, he kept stopping to eat the grass the whole way around.
Because we were sharing him, mum walked him halfway round and when it was time to turn back, I walked him for the second half.
When we first saw the alpacas I was a little nervous, just because I am used to walking with a tiny shih tzu and they were almost the same height as us so I didn't know what they'd be like. But they were all so calm and well-behaved - it was amazing
I would definitely recommend this experience to anyone. It was actually the first thing I have ticked off my 30 things to do before I'm 30 list.
After the walk, they gave us some more food and we were able to go into the alpaca pen and feed the girls. It was only fair as we fed the boys while we were out walking with them.
I'm glad we walked the alpacas before going into the pen as it could have been a little scary with all these alpacas running at us for food, but because we were used to one by that point, we knew they were harmless. And once our food had gone, they left us alone.
Hensting Alpacas
Related: 48 hours in Cardiff
This blog was written the day before my 23rd birthday in April 2022 and is up to date with what I have completed from the list so far.
I usually like to write blog posts about my birthdays, I think I wrote one in 2020 about having a lockdown birthday, then in 2021, I don't think I wrote one because I already had one lockdown birthday before that one, and didn't really have anything to say.
This year, I thought why not make a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30. Seems like a good time to start it as I have 7 years to complete it. I feel weird writing this as I started my blog when I was 17 and I do not feel as old as 23 but there we are. Factually, I am 23 but in my head, I am about 19.
After having 2 lockdown birthdays and spending the first couple of years in my 20s stuck in and being very restricted, it made me think that the rest of my 20s is not for wasting. However, it has also taught me to not be too hard on myself if I don't do everything on this list because there are so many things that could affect it.
Anyway, in my 30 before 30 list, I have included lots of things I have always wanted to do, some things I am a bit scared to try, and some things I feel like everyone has to do at some point.
It's only really fun things as I didn't want to include anything serious like getting married or buying a house because sometimes life goes in weird directions and I don't want to put pressure on myself for serious things like that - that can be for later maybe, well after I'm 30.
I did struggle to come up with 30 things at first, so I turned to Instagram and asked people what they thought. A lot of people said to add skydive which I have not added. I know that is a bucket list item for many people but I just feel like I won't do that so why set myself up for failure?
There are a few ambitious things on this list, but mostly I wanted to include stuff I actually will do so when I do turn 30, I can look back and hopefully have done most, if not all of the list.
I also remembered that I can do lots of additional bucket list-worthy stuff if I eventually do decide I want to, I am not just limited to the things on the list.
So here we go! I will be updating this page accordingly, ticking off each thing that I do so keep up to date and bookmark it if you are interested.
30 things to do before turning 30
1. Travel to Asia
I have always wanted to go but couldn't decide on a country so I just picked the whole of Asia to be safe. My top choices at the moment would be Thailand, Bali, or Japan.
2. Cook a roast dinner
I have managed to go 23 years (including 3 at uni) without ever making a roast dinner. This is definitely something I need to do to get my imaginary certificate for adult life. Stay tuned for a pic of the most banging roast you have ever seen - it will probably be chicken.
3. Watch a Liverpool game at Anfield✔️
I went to Anfield for the first time in May 2023 to watch Liverpool vs Brentford. Liverpool won 1-0!
4. Get a tattoo ✔️
I was brave and got my first tattoo in November 2023 and then another in March 2024!
5. Try a new cuisine✔️
I tried Thai food! Turns out I’m a big fan of Pad Thai.
6. Go to Disney World
This is probably my most unrealistic and ambitious goal but I really want to go to Disney World in Florida. Is it embarrassing to go to Disney World in your mid-late 20s? NO. I would just love to go and do the whole shabam with Universal as well. My only issue is I need to find someone to come with me!
7. Move out
Let's hope I move out before I'm 30 although in this economy, who knows?
8. Eat at a Michelin Star restaurant
Even though I am a fussy eater, I love food, and going out for meals and eating at a Michelin Star restaurant is just something I have to do.
9. Buy a designer handbag ✔️
Say hello to my very first designer handbag from Coach. It’s a vintage bag from Vinted (I did some haggling with the price so I could afford it). This definitely won’t be my last designer bag, next stop - a brand new one that’s not second hand hehe.
10. Make new friends✔️
I have made some new friends so far in my 20s but I am hoping to make some more too!
11. Visit Lisbon ✔️
I visited Lisbon in March 2023 and had an amazing time filled with sun, sangria and pastel de natas!
12. Try sushi ✔️
13. Night out in Manchester ✔️
I went to Manchester with my girls in March 2024 for early 25th birthday celebrations! I had such a good time and already want to go again.
14. Winter sea dip ✔️
I was very brave and got in the sea in February 2024. It was seriously cold but felt great after doing it.
15. Visit Scotland
I have been to Wales and Ireland, and obviously I live in England so need to go to Scotland to complete it.
16. Watch Pulp Fiction
Yes, I still haven't seen it. At least if there are more pandemics between now and when I'm 30 I should get at least one of these.
17. Go on a solo trip
I am looking for Eat Pray Love vibes. I keep seeing people go on solo trips and having an amazing time. I just think this would be sooo good for my confidence. Don't get me wrong, I will be absolutely petrified to do this because I get anxious just going on a shopping trip by myself but once I have done that, I will feel so good, like I can do anything.
I will probably just go on a solo trip in the UK though, I am too scared to go abroad.
18. Read 100 books✔️
This was too easy as I actually read over 100 books in 2023 alone. Who knew I would read so much? I may up this one.
19. Visit Harry Potter Studios✔️
Completed with a tasty butter beer in hand. I had such an amazing time at Harry Potter studios in May 2023 and already want to go again!
20. Watch a musical on the West End ✔️
I saw Wicked in September 2023 and it was amazing! Definitely not my last west end show.
21. Go to RuPaul’s Drag Con✔️
I had the time of my life in January 2024 at RuPaul’s Drag Con in London. What a way to begin the year!
22. Visit Barcelona✔️
I went to Barcelona in September 2022 and absolutely loved it!
23. Go to Bombay Sapphire Distillery
The Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery is actually so close to where I live so I need to go!
24. Go to Notting Hill Carnival
Again, Notting Hill Carnival looks so much fun. (I am running out of reasoning as to why I want to do things this far down the list - can you tell?
25. Go on an Alpaca Walk ✔️
26. Take Joe to Longleat
I live about half an hour from Longleat and I went loads as a kid and I really want to take joe because we love animal things like the zoo and aquariums but we haven't got round to it yet. We will go!
27. Progress in my career✔️
Since writing this list, I have been promoted and have also started an exciting new job which I love.
28. Buy a new car✔️
I bought my new car in June 2022, my second car. She's called Paris the Polo. The car I had before this was my first car since passing my driving test so this is a big flex for me.
29. Go on a skiing trip
I have actually been skiing but I went with school so it would be great to go as an adult and be able to stop at the pubs on the way down. Not too many though don't drink and ski!
30. Visit Brighton
I have never been to Brighton before and it's only about 2 hours from me. I've just always wanted to go!
And there we have it. Feel free to use any of these items to build your own list of things to do. It doesn't end there, there are loads more things I want to do than this but I suppose I can add them to the list of things to do before I die - don't have to do everything before I'm 30.
Have you done anything on my list?
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