Letters Between Friends: Dear Holly

Holly from The Arts Shelf and I decided that this year we're doing a mini series 'Letters Between Friends' in 2018! Holly sums it up better than I could so honestly I just want to dive in!

Hi Holly!
By the time you read this we've officially finished the first week of the new year and it's been one week since I saw you in person. I hope you had a blast bringing in the new year with your family. Parties with my future in laws are exactly as you would imagine, and so we were still up celebrating at 4am *yawn* i'm still crazy tired.

Your goals for 2018 sound wonderful and achievable. I wrote a post about my own goals here: 2018 Goals. For the first time in ages i'm incredibly excited for the upcoming year. As the clock struck midnight, I could finally start shouting that i'm getting married next year! So many things to organise and plan. On that note, i'm considering starting a bullet journal. I'm doing a lot of research at the moment and have drafted a few ideas but either way, it's almost time to go shopping and pick out this years organising tools. We do share a love of Paperchase after all....<3

I'll admit, i'm writing this a little early as it wont be posted until Monday but this weekend i'm having a gorgeous, lovely and quiet weekend with Alex (we're going to see Jumanji!) and I don't want to have to rush anything. You're going to see Les Miserables in London this weekend - i'm crazy jealous! I can't wait to read all your tweets. One of my favourite things is seeing my friends in their happy places and I know how much fun you're going to have. We don't have much booked in this year but i've still got a theatre hangover from seeing The Addams Family in August. As you mentioned in your post, we share a love of Carrie Hope Fletcher - rightly so! She was an astonishing Wednesday Addams, I wish you could have seen her. Hopefully Alex and I will make it to see Les Miz one of these days, we're both big fans of musicals.

I'm easing back into my diet this week but i'm finding it really difficult with so many temptations still around from Christmas. I know it's just a matter of getting back into a routine so i'm trying not to feel so disappointed in myself! I'm hoping that by next week it will have settled down and I just go back to having treats on Sundays. Maybe next time i'm down your way we can go to Nandos or Frankie & Bennys. There are many upsides of living in such a beautiful seaside town but the biggest downside is being so far away from places to go out for dinner! It always feels like a real treat when we get to go further North.

As for reading challenges, i've set myself a goal of 50. I'm doing a lot of shifts by myself at the moment as my team have opted for earlier hours which has meant i've snuck in a little reading and i've already finished 1 book, albeit a graphic novel. Have you read the Locke & Key series? I'm completely addicted. I'm not too far off finishing volume 3, maybe tomorrow night at work ;)

That's all from me this week, it's just been a quiet one of enjoying the calm of January and making the most of getting things organised.

Cazz xxx

2018 Goals

2018....nice to see ya!

Like the majority of people reading this I am TERRIBLE at keeping up with resolutions & goals etc but it doesn't stop me trying. I find it a really healthy way to go into a new year with something to aim for. I personally use the term "goal" because it really is a target to aim for and not something to be upset about not achieving. Every step taken towards a resolution is worth celebrating! With that said, several of my 2018 goals are not for the long term; just a short boost to the new year. So here's what i'm working towards this year, both bookish and none bookish!

Facebook
I actually started this one a little earlier - 30th to be exact! I spent SO MANY HOURS in 2017 endlessly scrolling through facebook over and over and over and...you get the point. I failed my reading challenge and though i'm not blaming it entirely on facebook, I can count just how many hours I wasted LAST WEEK on it instead of reading, and I definitely could have finished a couple more books. My mental health often suffers for it too. With everyone so excited to share every bit of both good and bad news, it can become a bit of a nightmare with the constant comparisons between my life and theirs. Though I fully expect it to only last a couple of weeks, i'm truly looking forward to the app being deleted for a while and just focusing on what I'M doing instead of everyone else!

Reading
I struggled with this one for a while and what to do. I know a lot of people have started setting their challenges on goodreads to 1 so that the pressure was off for the rest of the year. I could do that, I guess but it just wouldn't be as exciting to me. I love checking how far ahead I am or how far behind. Getting that little bit of a rush when you're slacking a little bit and having to binge read over a weekend! So I needed to find a balance between the two. Eventually I decided that i'm just sticking to the original 50 book challenge. 2018 is set to be a busy year for me and 50 will definitely be challenging - I only just made it last year! (53/65)

Buying Books
This is another one that definitely isn't achievable for an entire year but i'm excited about nonetheless.  For as long as it lasts - NO BOOK PURCHASES IN 2018! Oh yeah, you read that right. At some point in the new year i'm going to do some shelf tours - probably in the form of photos because it's less anxiety ridden for me, and you'll start to see the problem I have. My shelves have gone WAY past loaded now. With help from my fiance (did I mention, i'm getting married...;)), we decided that pre-orders don't count as i've had some in the bag for months now and that if anything MAJOR comes out (i'm talking series that i'm already invested in) then he will buy them as gifts for birthday/anniversary/valentines/christmas etc throughout the year so that I don't have to wait too long. As I said, one Waterstones trip with Holly and i'm sure that will all go out of the window but i'm going to try! As a little side note - it's been a LONG time since i've actually bought any books already and i'm SUPER proud of myself. 2018 is the year of slaughtering that TBR!

Weight Loss
I know this is probably at the top of everyones list after all of the gorgeous christmas food but i've actually been working on this already (i'm on week 8!). Granted i've put on 4lb over the last 2 weeks off plan but i've still lost over half a stone already and i'm excited to get back on plan after NY dinner with the in laws.

Enjoy Our Home
This sounds crazy, right? But after almost a year of being homeless and saving for our 2019 wedding, my fiance and I are looking forward to spending a lot of time at home. We've got so many box sets, films and books to get through, plus we've started a growing board game collection (Would anyone be interested in board game reviews on here?! Let me know!). We're hoping to have friends over for film and games nights and just generally get cosy and make the most of our home & save money. Don't worry, we won't become complete hermits - we got a weekend away & concert tickets for Christmas!

So those are my goals - some more difficult than others but i'm genuinely looking forward to seeing what happens! I'll also try and keep you updated on them as and when. You'll notice i've not made any goals to keep blogging & post reviews etc - 2018 is about putting less pressure on myself. Of course i'm hoping these last few posts are a sign of great things to come, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Happy new year!