Here in the UK lockdown has been eased ever so slightly but I am continuing as I was before; only leaving the house for exercise and to get food shopping.

There are lots of obvious things I miss – seeing my family (and my dog), holidays, going to the pub etc but I’m also thinking about all the random things that I never realised I would miss so much – getting on the tube, gym classes amongst a bunch of other people, wandering around busy shopping centres.

This is one of the reasons that I have been continuing this series of things that I’ve been enjoying at home; there are so many things that I took for granted before and I’m trying to make sure I appreciate what’s around me; each week I consider a mix of small and large things that have brought me joy, that perhaps I wouldn’t have really thought about that much before and it’s been pretty bloody lovely.

Here’s what I’ve been enjoying this week:

 

Love, Wedding, Repeat

I won’t lie, I assumed this was going to be terrible. I put on a face mask, got my nail stuff ready to paint my nails and pulled a blanket over me; settling in for a pleasingly rubbish Netflix film. But you know what? It was actually pretty damn good.

It’s a classic tale of how things can go wrong on a wedding day, where a mix of people collide in one location. If you like romcoms, I would definitely recommend this for a bit of light relief.

 

Walking One Step At A Time by Erling Kagge

‘After having put my shoes on and let my thoughts wander, I am sure of one thing – to put one foot in front of the other is one of the most important things we do.’

This was given to me as a gift last year and I’m so happy to have finally found the time to read it. It’s rare to find a book so beautifully written, that is also so informative. Erling discusses how walking has been discussed throughout history; it’s mental as well as physical benefits and the joys that can be found in the simplest things.

Ok, maybe I could have picked a better time to read a book about how important getting out the house and walking is but still, it’s a great book.

 

Emma Chamberlain

I’ve been a big Emma Chamberlain fan for a while now – she’s a young YouTuber who is incredibly popular, getting a few million views on all of her videos. She’s had huge sponsorship deals, been flown around the world by fashion houses and yet… Is incredibly normal.

She prides herself on being the Youtuber who is real. Ok, at times she probably is a bit too open and honest (about bodily functions, for example). But I think she’s a great role model – so much of what happens online is fake and she’s far from that.

She’s funny, she’s confident and even though a fair bit older than here (as I’m in my mid twenties) I still completely relate to her. Alright, she might not be for everyone but give her videos a go – you never know.

 

Tea Delivery from Good&Proper

As would be fair to assume from the name of this blog, I’m a big fan of tea. I used to hoard it but more recently I’ve been trying not to do that… Until I may have done a bit of a haul from Good and Proper.

Thankfully, it’s fantastic tea and I’m already solidly working my way through it. There’s just something so nice about brewing a proper loose leaf tea. I’m not sure if it’s the ritual of it or the drinking that I prefer but especially in slower times like these, I appreciate good tea like this.

 

Tiny Desk Concerts

If you haven’t seen these before then you are in for a treat! It’s a YouTube series where NPR get different acts in to perform acts behind a, you guessed it… Tiny desk!

They’ve had some huge guests on including Lizzo, Harry Styles, Chance the Rapper, Taylor Swift, Florence and the Machine, The Lumineers… All behind that tiny little desk.

I’ve been listening to ‘The Secret Sisters’ one at a lot recently as ‘Black Deer Festival’ (country/americana music) that I was due to go to in June has moved to next year but they have released the line up and so I thought I would give it a listen. For me, Secret Sisters have been the stand out act that I didn’t know before listening and now I’m so excited to see them perform live next year!

 

Running

Mostly due to injuries, I’ve fallen in and out of love with running over the years – I ran a half marathon a few years ago but hurt my foot during the race; I still finished it but it put me off running for a while.

I’ve been working up to running a bit more – a physio has helped me a lot with strengthening my body and making sure I’m doing all the right stretches etc, and this year I’ve been slowly running more and more.

Lockdown has been great for this as it’s a good reason to get out of the house and also it’s really upped my confidence running wise. Often I was having to run either as the sun was coming up or going down due to my working schedule but now I can actually run in the daylight, which I have to say I prefer!

I’m signed up to another half marathon this October (if it goes ahead), so I’ve been using Runkeeper to keep track of my training. I’m still a bit of a way away from being able to run a half marathon but I’m going to keep at it and will hopefully get fit enough in time!

 

And finally, this oddly sweet TikTok:

 

Abi

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@travelteatv