JUNE ROUNDUP

June... June, June, June. To be fair, I don't really know how to start this blog post. There I was, thinking June would be the month that everything turns around. June usually brings the times where my life seems to improve by around 5 notches, on a scale of 1-10, at least. Summer is on the way, my skin starts to clear up, everyones in good spirits, but no. Not this year buddy.
June's been awful for me to say the least. I've been off sick from work the entire month, which builds up tremendous feelings of guilt, anxiety and worry due to letting all my colleagues down and generally being a part of the non working life. HOWEVER, I am starting to see a small light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm currently sat in a coffee shop, sipping a soya hot chocolate, and watching the random spells of rain we've been having on and off for the past 3 hours, meanwhile, slightly sweating because the temperature is still humid AF. Anyway, today is the day I decided to actually come out of my little hell hole, of being too sore to wash or move, and get some shit done. I've just come from seeing my doctor, for the 3rd time in the past 4 weeks. She is SO kind and pays such an interest in my life, whether it be my home life, my work, my family and of course, my health. I feel so fortunate to have such positive beings in my life at such a hard time. *Praising hands emoji*. I also want to mention how lovely people have been this month about my blog, its so nice to see people actually reading my content and commenting on the way I write etc. It means so much to me, so thank you!

ANYWAY, on to the limited things I've been up to this month...

EATING WELL & LOOKING AFTER ONESELF

Whenever I get unwell, I tend to go into a frenzy of eating well, sleeping well, feeding my brain and body with all the best things I can. Mainly because I have the time I guess? It is hard to eat healthy and drink the right amount of water every day, but I'm doing pretty well so far. I've avoided dairy for the entire month and I'm eating more fruit and veg than ever. Can't be bad, right?

THANK GOD FOR THE NATIONAL TRUST

I've spent a good portion of this month exploring different National Trust parks, and of course my beloved Westonbirt. I find I can really have a break from everything when I go to such places. Theres never usually much signal on your phone, and your problems seem a little smaller, even if just for a couple of hours. I'm going to put a post up all about Dyrham Park, which is the closest park to Bristol and the place where me and my friend Christina ended up actually signing up for a yearly membership. Heres to a year full of adventure, free parking, and nature!

FOOD AND SILLINESS 

Theres one thing that has occupied my time this month - eating. I'm so glad that I find so much joy in eating. Whenever I'm eating, I swear I think about nothing else but whats going on in my mouth (lol). I feel like its a blessing that no matter whats wrong with me in life, I will always find the time to eat. I've also spent time with some of my closest friends, which always makes me feel better. Sometimes you feel as though the last thing you want to do is to see people when you're feeling so shite, but once I'm forced out of bed to get dressed, maybe put some eyebrows on, and meet my friends, it always makes me feel 110% more productive and happy once I come home. I'm made to feel like they don't judge me for the way I look or if I'm acting a bit off/anxious that day, they just try their best to make me laugh and smile. I'm so thankful <3 

WOULD IT BE MADELEIINE GRACE BLOGS IF THERE WAS NO DOG WALK PHOTOS?

Its actually been pretty hot this month, shock horror. We are ACTUALLY having decent weather in the middle of Summer?! This means I've been taking Theo out either really early in the morning, or later in the evening, considering he's a black dog with a tonne of curly locks, he gets so hot just wondering around the house during the highest temperatures of the day. I continue to express how much joy my little pupper brings me. Hes like my left arm at the moment considering I'm home so much. He follows me everywhere and always jumps onto my bed every morning for an after poo snooze. Bless his little poodle soul. 

THINKING, PLANNING, RESTING

Majority of my time this month has been spent doing a lot of thinking & planning. I've been researching a lot into the medication I'm about to take (this timex next week! eek!), and a little bit more about the biology behind my problem etc. Its been interesting, I guess. I've also been thinking a lot about my 25th birthday in August, as well as my Step Sisters Babyshower (which I cannot confirm the date, place, time, or theme on here, as I know she reads my blog - soz). I've been planning little DIY projects I can get stuck into, meanwhile trying to not go out of my mind with the lack of routine and human interaction, lawl. I feel like this post was a little short in comparison to my others, which annoys me as I wanted this year to be jam packed with adventure and plans! Hey ho, hers to the next month where things hopefully start to turn a corner. Hope you've had an amazing June and enjoyed all the glorious weather we've been having! 

PS - If there are any other Bristol/Cardiff/South West bloggers that read my blog, please feel free to get in contact! I'm longing for some blogging friends and to plan future posts for my blog, with the extra help of outfit photographers etc!

Thanks for reading, as always, Madi x

MAY ROUNDUP

Here we are again, ANOTHER month has just flown by before my very eyes. I can't believe I'm sat here and its currently the beginning of June. June always reminds me of 3 things - Summer, my oldest friend's birthday, and feeling good. June is usually when things seem to turn themselves around from hoping and wishing for good weather, to actually getting good weather (pfft, alright Madi), holidays start to crop up, you hear stories from everyone about new adventures they've taken, and everyone just seems to have a little more spring in their step. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this months seen any sunshine. If anything, we've had a serious case of weather bipolar!

I'm pretty sure this month kicked off with me being ill. (wow, what a surprise). In general I've been completely and utterly exhausted this month - with everything! Mind, body and soul. Even putting my trousers on in the morning has been a struggle for me. I couldn't really tell you why though, I'm not sure if its because my general health and auto immune condition has really fucked me over this month, or my mood is just generally a struggle to pick up. Alas, I have done some nice things - of course including Budapest! (See previous post for photogs and recommendations!)

WOODS, FRIENDS, & PUPS:

Look, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll know by now that my life pretty much revolves around dog walks. Luckily for me, my friends live pretty close by, and when the weathers good, its pretty easy for us to just drop a message into the Whatsapp group to see if anyones down for walking the dogs in our local woods - Snuff Mills/Vassels Park. I think this was a Saturday, always a day guaranteed to be filled with all sorts of dogs/puppys - what could be better, really?

FAMILY ROAST:

Best. Meal. Ever. One of my favourite things ever is when me and my little friendling family get together to cook meals. For some unknown reason, I'm always left with the simple jobs out of our little group, like - the cheese grater, or the carrot chopper... its as if they just KNOW I'll probably kill myself when it comes to boiling water or hot ovens.. cute. Just looking at these photos, I wish I could demolish it all over again. 

TRAIN RIDES & MORE FOOD:

I spent a substantial amount of time on trains this month, going to and from Cardiff to visit a guy I was dating. Something I've never done before - 1. Just casually dated someone without prospect of a relationship and 2. Dated someone in a different country. Both of which, intrigued me and confused me. Alas, a good experience! It was cool being able to jump on the train/in my car and escape life in Bristol. It was like my uni days all over again! HOW CUTE, is this puppy on the train though?! I purposely followed this man from the platform right to his seat so I could sit opposite. This day my mum came to meet me in Cardiff for the day to have a mooch around the shops - how funny that we turned up in the exact same jumper. 

More meals! This night was a Mexican with Esther and Austin. One of the cute things about going to my friend Esther's, is that I can take Theo with me to 'play' with her dog, Dylan. I say 'play', because most of the time, Theo either spends his time annoying the shit out of Dylan, to the point he'll just go and hide himself away in another room, OR, just just tries to hump him. Sorry Dyl. We did however, get them to have a mini photoshoot together, with the bribery of 'chewy's' (see photo of said 'chewy' above Esther's iPhone - worked a 'treat' wheyy ;)). 

WESTONBIRT:

Would a monthly round up of mine really be a monthly roundup, if I didn't include photos from Westonbirt Arboretum? Don't think so! Every time I visit this place I'm instantly googling new camera equipment as soon as I get home, (before realising I can't actually afford it right now). This day we bumped into a pure Toy Poodle (Theo is a cross between a Miniature and a Toy), she was SO CUTE and SO SMALL I couldn't quite believe my eyes. Literally the split of Theo except even smaller - and I thought Theo was small! (Heres me forcing Theo for a photo with me in the hand made wigwam esque creation we found in the middle of the woods). 

FUDS:

Heres photographic evidence of me really trying my best to make healthier choices. I am OBSESSED with making pancakes recently. I seem to have a recipe NAILED and I enjoy it every time without fail, (remember when I said I'd do a blog post about said recipe? yeah.. I'll get there.) I also had a catch up with Elly this month, we've seemed to make it a little fortnightly thing - seeing as our rota's seem to match up quite nicely in that way! We devoured a Nando's, followed by looking round all the baby shops we had within walking distance. For the first time in my life I GENUINELY felt broody, I can't get over how cute some of the clothes/shoes/prams/accessories etc are, for tiny humans these days. I mean, of course that feeling left my very soul as soon as I left Mothercare, BUT, I guess it was a warm and fuzzy little feeling while it lasted.  

MOL'S (ANI-MOLS)

Something very essential to my de-stress and unwind process in life, is spending time surrounding by my mol's. I don't even need to be touching them, or that close to them. As long as I can see their little faces/furry bodies, I'm pretty content with that. I've been super duper sick with my skin/immune system playing me up lately, and every morning without fail, Theo will come and greet me with a kiss, shortly followed by him nestling himself into me and falling back to sleep. I'm just so thankful for their little souls. <3 

May's been weird for me! A pure mixture of ups and downs. I feel as though I need a change maybe? but my body says 'um...no?' to literally anything right now. My current state of health is not even being able to get dressed so, yeah, thats fun. It's been pretty hectic, but at the same time not a huge amount has happened, asides from Budapest, life's been pretty standard I guess! 

Hows your month of May been?

Thanks for reading! 

Madi x

APRIL ROUNDUP

LATE AGAIN - what am I like! I feel like I'm either super super busy lately, or super exhausted/ill. *rolls eyes*. I feel like I've done tonnes this month, (and I wonder why I have no money, ever). Lots of exciting things have happened, news shared, people met etc.
This month kicked off with a trip to the Zoo with my step sister Elly, she's not long found out she's pregnant with a baby girl and we're all kinds of excited. I've never had it where someone close to me/my age is expecting before, its super cool to finally have someone to buy all the cute bits in work for.

THE ZOO:

I haven't been to Bristol Zoo in what feels like a bazillion years. Forgetting Spring time is baby animal season, I don't think we could've picked a better time to go! A picnic and cup of tea after our arrival, and we were ready for ALL THE ANIMALS. My personal favourite was the new baby pigmy hippo (!!!!!).

PARENTAL DISBUTE:

                         

As always this month saw a tonne of pretty dog walks. I feel like me and my friends as a collective are going through the phase we tend to go through once every couple months - feeling the strain of living at home/with parents etc. Its been nice to catch the end of the day sunsets, talk it out together, watch the dogs play, grab a prosecco, and just chill. An occasional breather, from the fact we're drowning in a sea of unaffordable houses, argumentative households, and underpaid jobs - is always welcomed. Its pretty awesome we all live within a close proximity of each other so we have a means of escape from time to time. Speaking of which, the last photo is from one of our dine in nights at Esther's. We're getting pretty good at the whole cooking a meal for more than one person thing. Tasty ones at that! 

ROAD TRIPPIN':

This month I've had a few *super proud* moments. Ever since getting my new car I've found a new confidence in long distance driving, (maybe because it doesn't shake while travelling over 70mph). On Easter Sunday I plucked up the courage to ask my mum and oldest bestie, Maddie, to accompany me to my aunties BEAUTIFUL house, in Tring, Hertfordshire.  I completed the drive there in just over 2 hours, managed to stop over at a services and gave Theo his first experience of stretching his legs and tasting the communal dog bowl of Reading service station. The day saw us having a countryside walk, consuming lots of Earl Grey, catching up with my cousins, drinking champagne and eating a roast dinner. Something I definitely want to make the effort to do more often!

MORE SPRING WALKS:

I don't think these photos really need any text, I'm just so obsessed with this time of year, photography wise. I've never really noticed how pretty everything is during Spring, before this year. I think the fact I now have Theo to walk, definitely makes me appreciate the finer details of the outdoors more. Every flower, tree, or pretty scenery I see I instantly snap it, without really thinking about the composure or lighting etc. (Here are the good ones).

FOOD & BEVS:

Ah Food and Drink, how you are such a staple of my free time. The above photo was at Zizzi's with my step sister. Every time we meet we are ALWAYS, ALWAYS hungry.. I mean she has an excuse, shes eating for two.. I do not. ALAS, this was a calzone with dairy free cheese - don't mind if I dewww. Below was ANOTHER bank holiday Monday a couple weeks back (can I just say how much I'm loving all these bank holidays, popping up all at once). We went to the Golden Heart and enjoyed a cider & some pub grub (while escaping the most HORRENDOUS weather bipolar I think I've witnessed this year).

PLAYTIME:

I don't think I will ever tire of little tripz out with my friendlings. Even though we now have cars, jobs, and responsibilities, I still feel like giggling teenagers whenever we do such activities. Whether it be somewhere more far fetched, or just our local town center. I just love the freedom of grabbing an over priced beverage and bundling into each other while we walk, giggling about the night before. As most people who know me, Clifton is one of my FAVE places to hang on a sunny afternoon, or wonder round in a hungover daze. (See photos above). I couldn't resist asking Christina for an 'OOTD' in front of this very bright and bold graffiti we came across. I feel like I haven't done outfit posts in LITERALLY years, (maybe because I haven't), but its definitely something I want to try and put more effort into again - considering the amount of clothes I have could open a small shop at this point, it might be nice to show them off once in a while...

FUR BABIES:

As always, but especially this month, I have been loving SO HARD on my little mol's (ani-mols). I don't really like to dip into it too much on my blog, because I want it to be a place I can reflect on over happy times and remember good memories, however my depression and anxiety have really fucked with me this month. Even saying 'my' before those two dreaded words makes me feel weird. Me? Depression and anxiety? surely not - (on top of all my other health problems, bladdy 'ell). However, I'm also not really scared to talk about it. This months seen me break down in work numerous times, countless doctor visits, questionnaires and referrals. All good things, in my mind. A step in the right direction. I honestly don't know how people live without pets of any kind. They literally feed my soul with all kinds of good vibes, happiness and hope. (ALSO AREN'T THEY JUST SO CUTE?!)  

POORLY SICK:

I've just about recovered from the dreaded Tonsillitis that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. It was one of those illness' that seemed to brew so slowly for me. I was SO drained for around 2 weeks, (more drained than usual *rolls eyes x2*), achy and I kept getting numerous headaches (which is one thing I never get!), so I knew something was up, but kept trudging on. Alas, my body failed me at the beginning of May. Thank god for Penicillin and puppy cuddles!
I'm SoOoOo excited for the Month of May, again (like March' late blog post), I've done quite a bit already! Me and Christina are going to Budapest at the end of the month which I physically cannot wait for, I feel like its been forever and a day since I've escaped the streets of good old Bristol town.

I PROMISE TO MYSELF I'LL BE ON TIME NEXT MONTH!! 

Thanks for taking the time to read, 

Madi x