Scottish adventures in Loch Lomond on my birthday. Technically the end of April (not May/June) but I’m sure you’ll forgive me. I have so many nice photos from that day!
A sunny weekend in York!
Making wooly friends in the Peak District.
A cloudy day in Paris.
Barcelona – drinks on our terrace and strolling alongside the harbour.
It’s been a little while since I wrote about life here on my blog. I have a tendency to be hard on myself for not getting enough done in my free time, and I hate to be absent on my blog for so long. Looking back on photos (because how else does anyone remember what they’ve done?!) it seems like I’ve been quite busy! No wonder I’ve not had time to write about my travels – I’ve been too busy living them. Over the last two months I spent a weekend in York, a weekend in London, went to the Peak District for a yoga retreat and travelled to Barcelona for Primavera (via Paris!) I’ve spent a couple of Saturdays doing events with work and hosted three sets of friends for visits in Scotland. Phew!
One of the biggest changes in my life over the last two months is that I’ve started doing yoga twice a week. I go to a yoga studio in Edinburgh before work to practice Ashtanga. It’s really unlike any practice I’ve ever tried before. I’ve done yoga at student societies and church halls and in my living room with YouTube before but never managed to fall into a routine. The yoga I do is self-led – you’re taught the flow of poses and you arrive when you like and go through the routine at your own pace. I love the non-competitive aspect of yoga, and it makes me feel so strong and capable. Within a month I was able to touch my toes! I was probably 9 the last time I could touch my toes. If you’ve struggled with yoga before, I highly recommend trying a class at a dedicated yoga studio. I’ve found the teachers are so attentive and I can trust them to know exactly where my limits are – they encourage me to do poses I think are too advanced for me and I’m always surprised when I can hold them! We all know that office jobs are bad for us but yoga makes me feel like all the parts of my body are slotting back into place after I’ve spent too much time behind a computer, or travelling with heavy bags.
I’m still struggling with skin problems. I’m pretty sure it’s eczema and I’ve had it all over my face, hands, arms and legs for the last year. I know it flares up when I’m stressed but I’m not sure it helps to know that, since a little bit of stress in life is unavoidable! I’m finding conventional medicine pretty unhelpful – all the GP can do is prescribe me increasingly stronger steroid creams. I think I might be allergic to gluten so I’m going to try being gluten free from next week onwards. I love bread so much and I have an unlimited supply at work – wish me luck! Have any of you experienced eczema? Have you found any natural cures or alternative medicine to be helpful?
For July and August I’m planning a thrifty summer at home (asides from a little staycation in the highlands.) James and I have booked to go to California in September (yay!!!!) and I need to save up! The fall of the pound post-Brexit is making saving a lot harder because you get less dollar for your pound now. I had never even considered the economic consequences of the referendum. Luckily, our expensive accommodation is already booked, so it shouldn’t affect our plans too much. I just have to resist the temptation of spending all my money on shows when the Edinburgh fringe rolls around in August.
I love travel as much as the next person but (controversial opinion alert) I think it’s a little overrated. Staying home for the weekend is one of my favourite things to do. I think I get it from my Dad – we call it “pottering” – when you just spend the day doing little chores and tidying and lounging. Weekends of pottering are my favourite. Throughout the year I spend so much time travelling. I go to London often and home to Leicestershire sometimes, and around the country to see my friends. I know I’m lucky to be able to travel but it’s so tiring. At the moment I’m really enjoying arriving at work on a Monday and feeling rested, rather than arriving at the office after taking the early Monday morning train from London and wanting to sleep for a week. With James living in Edinburgh over summer (rather than London) I’m cherishing these weekends with little planned. This weekend we might walk to the Botanic gardens and go for vegan pizza. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be!
What’s been going on in your life recently friends?
Lovely to see some of your travels! I’m all for weekends spent recharging one’s spiritual & physical batteries with pottering (we say puttering over here). Need a bit more of them myself, which sounds silly as I can sort of make my own schedule. So you’re definitely not alone in that. WHERE in California will you be?? And do you change planes in any city, like New York or DC? We might do a meet-up. xx
Puttering is such a cute word
We’re going everywhere pretty much! LA, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Yosemite & San Francisco. We’re flying direct, but definitely tell me if you’ll be nearby (end of August / start of September) because that would be lovely xx
Wow, you really are going everywhere, up the Coast will be gorgeous for you, and you’ll love Big Sur. Be prepared for a very dry climate in general, desert temps (and air con) in the South, but as you get up towards Big Sur, the nights should become quite cool & moist. You know the quote from Mark Twain? (The coldest winter he’d ever spent was the summer he was in San Francisco.) But sometimes they can have a heat wave in the city in Sept/Oct. And many places up north aren’t air conditioned, so that’s a bit like Blighty. Layers, plenty of layers and you’ll be fine! Oh ~ the further North you go, the colder the ocean… but you might be a bit more used to that than most. Will let you know if I’m out that way then, for sure! xx
I can’t WAIT for the heat! I think Joshua Tree is supposed to be very hot in September so we’ll have to do all our walking in the morning / evening but at least the campsites will be less busy… I think James is most excited for Big Sur and he’s got a long list of Big Sur related literature to get through before we go. Haha, I’ve done plenty of wild swimming in Ireland / Scotland so I should be able to cope with cold seas. Thanks for your tips! xx
The main difference between East & West Coast summer temps is the humidity. West Coast is a dry, semi-arid climate. Here on the East Coast humidity is the determining factor: today’s high humidity adds 8 degrees to the actual “what it feels like” temp. Good for James for his reading!
I love pottering about! I just don’t get enough time to do it. I’m the same when it comes to beating myself up for not getting enough done in my free time, and while I’m trying to consciously leave Saturdays free at the moment for sleeping in and not getting out of my pyjamas, it’s hard when you’ve got so many deadlines. Ugh.
I’m in the same boat with a September US trip too – I’m going to New Orleans. Hoping for a wee bit of movement on the currency front or I think I’ll be staying away from the shops…
Lis / last year’s girl x
Sorry to be nosy.. hehe but New Orleans is my favorite US city.
Please give me a shout if you’d like any recommendations. I left a big chunk of my heart in that city! XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
Not nosy at all, I have now bookmarked every single one of your anniversary trip posts to read when I have a minute! Bouchercon, the big crime and mystery writers’ convention, is in NOLA this year so I’m basically tagging along with my husband – so will be exploring the city on my own, pretty much. All recommendations welcome! x
Seeing this way late! But yes please, feel free to shoot me an email or something at anytime! My love for NOLA knows no bounds. I constantly crave returning.
XO
Pottering is the best, right? Pyjama Saturdays sound amazing, it’s lovely to be able to pencil in downtime for yourself like that. Ooh, enjoy your New Orleans trip, it sounds incredible! I can’t tell whether I should get my dollars now or wait for the pound to recover but there’s just no way of knowing which way it’ll go – I don’t understand economic enough to be making decisions like this! xx
Ah yay, what a lovely set of photos and months in this recap. I really love sheep, is that strange?!
So glad to hear that you are well (minus Brexit of course…) and that you are enjoying your summer thus far! KC and I have been traveling too much recently. I whole-heartedly agree with your assessment. Travel is very important, and fun, and I feel lucky to be able to do it… but there is such a thing as too much travel, and travel that is not at all relaxing. We are looking forward to a July/August (mostly) at home. I’m trying to plan as little as possible, as “pottering” around sounds absolutely divine right about now! Yoga is definitely a thing I want to make more time for while being at home more. 
Where are you going in California? If you are headed to San Francisco, let me know! We were just there in April. I hope that you are able to figure out some things due to your skin flare-ups and continue to enjoy summer. 
XO – Alexandra
Simply Alexandra: My Favorite Things
Thank you Alexandra! Totally not strange to love sheep, I love them too. One day I’d love a big farmhouse where I can keep rescue animals and sheep and cows and chickens saved from factory farms. I hope you have a lovely summer doing some pottering
It’s nice to have time to make things and do up my flat and stay in my pyjamas until midday! We’re going everywhere! LA, Joshua Tree, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Yosemite and San Francisco. Please hit me up with your tips, I’d love that! We’ll be staying in Hayes Valley which I’m super excited about xx
Hi Jess, just seeing this because my wordpress skills are lackluster.. but I wanted to let you know that my San Francisco/Big Sur/Carmel posts are going up every Wednesday and I think I have at least 3 up as I type this! Please feel free to check them out, we saw some really lovely things! I think the last one goes up the first week in Sept. so by then you should see everything. Definitely check out the lovely gardens (japanese tea and conservatory of flowers) in golden gate park in SF! Those were my favorites! That sounds like quite the trip! I hope that you have a blast and I can’t wait to see the recaps! I would love to go to Joshua Tree and Palm Springs!
XO
Don’t worry, I miss stuff all the time! Thanks for the heads up, I’m definitely going to binge read your travel posts tonight
The gardens are a great recommendation, I love stuff like that! It sounds perfectly chill, which I prefer to doing busy tourist activities. I can’t wait to share the photos on here! xx
Seems like you have been having such a blast. I haven’t been hanging out with friends for a while. Been super busy with school and work. Also, I totally feel you on the desk job and yoga. It is so important to get up and move. By hands especially are in a lot of pain from all the typing. Thanks for sharing doll.
❤︎
Dakota D.
http://fannypacksandvisors.com
Instagram/Snapchat: @missdsquared413
Aww hanging with friends is the perfect summer activity, you can’t beat it! I’m sorry your typing is giving you trouble – hand pain is the worst! Hope you manage to find a solution xx
times with friends are the best times x
Yukova Blog
Absolutely true! x
These pictures are magical. They’re giving me some major wanderlust!
xo
Siffat
http://icingandglitter.com
Thank you Siffat, I’m so lucky to have been able travel so much in the last couple of months
Love this location! Stunning photos.
http://www.maggiekrol.com/rose-gold-beauty/
Xoxo, Maggie
Thank you! xx