What I have learnt since I quit my job

On Wednesday 22nd January 2020 I left my job of 2 and a half years. I am currently moving house and going to Bali in 5 weeks. I know what you are thinking... Why would you leave now?

I admit this was awful timing I wasn't planning on leaving this soon but sometimes you have to say enough is enough. I have lost people close to me over the last year and it makes you realise how much you should cherish your life and do what makes you happy. My job was not doing this. I would get that sunday dread that most of us get but it would get earlier and earlier in the day until I was actually dreading work on Monday while I was still on Saturday. This lead me to stop doing things because I was exhausted and down and then before I knew it Monday was here.

I am on Garden leave at the moment and interviewing and talking to recruiters all day every day. I still have another 3 weeks to find a role and sure I will be fine.

Since I have been off this last week it has been so nice to be active! I was sitting at a desk at least 9 hours a day only moving for more coffee or a quick toilet break. This last week I have been outdoors, I have done at least 10,000 steps a day, I have spent time with my partner, my Family and my gorgeous Labradoodle and it has made me realise there is so much more to life then that crappy job.

I mean.. I am positive now but I am yet to find a role. But I hope this can maybe give you a bit of a push you need to just do it. I think this will be one of my best decisions and 2020 already is looking like the best year yet

K

x

A Letter to My younger Self

Recently I've been thinking of how I have changed as a person not just from when I was 16 (8 Years ago! Yikes!) but even in the last year. I wish I could of told myself at 16; " Everything will end up okay". "What you do now won't refine you in your 20s"

Until Recently I have always had a case of FOMO (fear of missing out) . I spent more time on social media looking what other people were doing, how other people looked and just wanting to be someone else. A lot of this is due to social Media. However, I am not here to slate it by any means! I love Mrs Hinch as much as the next! I just wish I had spent more time living my life rather than wishing I was living someone elses.

I now do miss out on things with friends sometimes and see the pictures of them having fun. I don't have FOMO because I decided to stay in and not have the hangover and clean and hang out with my puppy! ( I know, I've Changed!)

So Here it goes.. A letter to 16 year old Katie.

Dear Katie (16),

Being 16 is a blessing. You are young, care free, you live at home with a loving Mother and you don't have to clean or do washing! Enjoy it! You don't have to pay rent, pay for bills, pay a mortgage. You get to learn 5 days a week! Anything you learn now will only help you in the future. Soak up every bit of knowledge you can.

Eat that cake! You are not fat! Your bod shape is just different to your friends, I know you don't believe me as you are 16 but it is puppy fat! Don't diet, eat healthy but don't diet. Spend time with your friends. Not boys! Realistically who ever the boy is you will not even know him in a few years time, your friends however, they are for life.

Stop looking through Instagram, Tumbler, Pintrest and what you think is an 'ideal body' go spend time with your Nan and Granddad, you will wish you did when you are in your 20s.

Don't drink alcohol! There is plenty of time for that at university. Don't waste your time drinking lambrini and making bad decisions. be fresh, healthy and active. Save your money for things you wont have money for later; clothes, Cinema, Ice-cream.

And finally spend as much time as possible with your family. I know you think you hate them and they are out to get you but they aren't. They love you and you will miss them so much when you move out or they aren't with you anymore.

Enjoy Being 16.

KK (24)

What to do when you are feeling down

We all get down no matter how good things are in our lives something can always change that mood. Sometimes you may not know what it is that is making you feel like this. You may think you have a great partner, family and job yet still feel down. This is the most important part of making yourself feel better, actually getting to the route of the problem.

I LOVE making lists, no matter what it is for I will make a list. I make a list before tidying, I make a list of things to do at the weekend, for my day agendas at work and so on. When I feel down I make a list of all the things it could possible be for example;

• ·         Family- Is everyone well and healthy and are we all getting on

• ·         Partner- Are you happy in your relationship , are you seeing each other enough, are you being intimate

• ·      Job- Do you enjoy your job, if you do why? This alone could cheer you up or if you don’t why don’t you? Can you change something at work or do you need to find a new job

• Friends/social life- are you seeing your friend’s enough? This is a major one for me I get so caught up with work and my partner and puppy that I think I haven’t actually seen any friends in months! Just having some time with the girls to chat and laugh can make such a big difference!

Once you have found the route to your unhappiness the next step is simple- just fix it! If you don’t like your job apply for a new one! A lot of people including myself have said before they don’t like their job then when I have asked are you looking for new ones the response is no.  It was the same with myself in retail, I hated working every weekend and bank holiday and missed out on so much yet didn’t even look for a new job.  Things don’t fix themselves , you are in control of your own happiness.

If you’re not happy, Fix it !

Facing My Fears

One of my main resolutions for this year is to do more of what scares me. My anxiety gets the better of me far too often and then it restricts me from getting the most out of my life. This year I told myself I'm going to say yes more and I am going to do more of what scares me and it is one of the best decisions I have made!

My main thing is I get too comfortable with the same things so it means i'm too scared to leave that comfort zone. One of my fears was driving, I passed when I was 18 after 4 tests and a year and a half of lessons every week! As you can tell I wasn't a natural. I then went to university so didn't need to drive until I moved back home summer 2016. I got a promotion at my job, which meant I had to move stores to one that was 11 miles away, and I had to go on the motorway!! I drove with no music, clammy palms, shaking from the anxiety but now I love driving! I am currently on a course in Bedford which was an 103 mile journey and I did it with ease and actually enjoyed it. Doing that small step of taking a job further away from home has helped my anxieties of driving and also opened up so many doors as I can now drive to places that I probably just wouldn't have gone to before!

Another thing that scared me at the start of the year that I have already concurred is talking on the phone. I don't know why it scared me, surely it should be easier than talking to someone face-to-face as they can't actually see you but I just couldn't do it. I couldn't even order a take away! Now with my promotion I have to answer the phone a lot and I feel so much better for being able to do it. It makes my life a lot better as I can just ring people for help if I need it, and it saves the time as you don't have to text or email and it has made me confident as a person.

I suggest that everyone should do something that scares them everyday or even every week as it feels great and I feel like I have already accomplished so much this year and it's only Feb!!

Australia: Sydney VS Melbourne

Australia is so big it is hard to decide which parts to visit. We are here for 5 weeks and have already visited Melbourne and Sydney and I am currently in  Adelaide and going to Camberra in a few days. I found Sydney and Melbourne completely different places to visit and thought I would go through the comparisons especially if you don't know where you want to visit, but I would still suggest both if you have the time.

SYDNEY
Arriving in Sydney is so surreal, that is the Australia you see in films and on the TV that was the moment that I thought 'wow, we're actually in Australia!' Sydney is the perfect place for your first visit to the country as it is tourist central. If I were to compare it to London it would be Southbank. You have the iconic opera house which would be like the London eye- but much more impressive. We went to Toronga zoo which was amazing. Its $55 each and you get a ferry to the zoo then a cable cart up into the zoo. I am a big fan of animals and zoos but I do sometimes question how happy the animals are there. However I was most impressed by the amount of space each animal had and they were not squished into small cages. We even got to walk through a bit where there were kangaroos and an emu and they were just jumping around and we could go stroke the kangaroo and feed it which was something I really wanted to do when coming to Australia.

We also did the Aquarium which wasn't as impressive as it was quite the same as other Aquariums you can go too but it was raining that day so thought we would do an inside activity. It is very expensive in Sydney as you can expect and we even paid $30 for two pints of Peroni! I know! However we found after some research if you drink in happy hour it is only about $5 a pint and if you make your way through a few you can actually drink in happy hour from 4-8 in various bars. Overall I loved Sydney and it was just what I wanted as a tourist coming for the first time. I wouldn't go again as I feel I have done it now but would recommend to anyone coming for their first time.

MELBOURNE
Melbourne is a completely different ball game. Melbourne is a combination of Oxford/Regent street (LDN) and cool Brick lane ( EAST LDN). It is a shoppers paradise full of all types of shops including a Sephoria which I was very excited about, coming from the UK where we don't have one. If you want to go somewhere to shop this is where you go. The shopping centres go on forever you could shop all day and not go in the same shop twice.

It also has some cool trendy areas. We went to Fitzroy for breakfast one day which is definitely like east London. We went to 'Marios' which is the cutest little cafe where they make there own coffee and jams and wine. The man who served who i believe was the owner was so friendly and spoke to us about our trip suggested places to go and made us feel welcome. I had fried eggs, sourdough and haloumi and was one of the tastiest breakfasts I have ever had. Also the freshly made orange juice is a must! There is a tram that goes throughout Melbourne but we decided to walk everywhere as the weather is gorgeous and you can see so much more.

Our first hotel was right in the centre so that is when we did a lot of the shops. Our second apartment was near Southbank which is again like being a different city all together.  We walked across Southbank bridge which was decorated for the festive season with a giant mistletoe. We then walked all across the river stopping for a cheeky beer until we ended up at an outside beer garden which a DJ and various food stalls and even some people dressed as zebras having a dance. Such a cool place and you always find something completely different each corner you turn down. I loved Melbourne and would go again and would even like to live there as I don't think you could ever get bored of Melbourne.

Australia: Blue Mountains NSW

I was planning on blogging throughout my trip to Australia, but the honest truth is I have just been having too much fun! But me and my Boyfriend made it half way across the world and yes, the journey wasn't pleasant but was worth every hour.

We are staying with my boyfriend's grandparents who live in Bowral NSW and not too far from them is the blue mountains. Going up and around the blue mountains was so refreshing. From hearing kookaburras in the trees to be able to look out onto nothing but trees and not a building in sight. No stress from work or social life just breathing in the fresh air and catching the sun rays. This is what I needed. I work as a supervisor at a shop and it is a fast paced job and one in which you don't get a lot of fresh air as you are in store for 10 hours so to be able to relax with nature is just what I needed. This is the most beautiful country I have ever seen and I am so excited to explore more.

Review: Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment

The tag line on this Lee Stafford product is "for hair that never grows past a certain length". As soon as I read that I was interested as my hair is not short however it has not grown past a certain length in at least a year, therefore I thought I would try this treatment.

I have never been so happy with a product. You put it through your hair in between shampoo and conditioner and rinse and it leaves your hair feeling silky smooth and tangle free which is good for me, seeing as my hair is so thick and tangles easily. I was sure I could see a difference in length straight away, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I have been using this every time I wash my hair which is every other day fo 2 weeks and my hair is in much better condition and visibly longer too! I would recommend this to anyone who is having trouble growing out their hair. The pink packaging and the pink product inside is a bonus and it smells so good! £8.49 for 200 ml you can't go wrong!!