My 3 Blogging Goals for the Rest of 2017!

Hello lovelies,

Wow. We are almost in September. It's hard to believe how quick this year has gone. This year has been an important one for 'whatchloewrites', as I got back into blogging and decided that I really want to take this seriously and see how far I can go.

This year, I have been putting a lot more time and effort into my posts- writing most of them in advance and scheduling when I want to publish them, trying to take better photos and trying to increase my blog traffic. It is so demoralising when you put your heart and soul, your time and effort into a post and only 1 person views it; and unfortunately, for me, it seems that this is what is happening time and time again. So, I have enrolled in a free course on WordPress's Blogging University (I know, a traitor to blogger, don't hate me), to hopefully help me increase my traffic. It is called Blogging: Branding and Growth, and is a 10 day online course which aims to help increase blog traffic.

Their first tip was to narrow down the reasons why I blog, and from this, create 3 specific targets with a time scale to help me focus and define what success means to me. So, these are my 3 blogging goals for the rest of 2017.

1. To gain 20% more followers by the end of the year.
2. To make friends within the blogging community by spending at least 1 hour a week reading blog posts, writing comments on blog posts and networking on social media sites such as twitter.
3. To publish at least once a week from now until December.

These are my 3 specific statistical goals for the rest of this year! I, of course, have more blogging goals but those are not as specific, such as: take better photos, publish and advertise more on social media, and learn how to use 'Bloglovin' to its full potential.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

What are your three specific blogging goals to meet by the end of this year?

With love,

Chloe x

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What's in my handbag?

Hello lovelies,
         
I have been wracking my brain trying to think of post ideas, using what I like to read and Youtube videos I like to watch as inspiration, and I realised that some of my favourite posts to read and watch are 'what's in my handbag?' posts, so I decided to post one of these for you. 

The handbag that I use all the time at the moment is this absolutely gorgeous brown Michael Kors bag in the colour 'luggage' that I bought with some of the money that I got for my 18th birthday nearly two years ago.

Now, I'm not one to splurge on expensive designer handbags, shoes or clothes, but when I saw this out Christmas shopping in Bristol with my dad on Christmas Eve (yes, the Hughes' leave everything to the last minute) I knew I had to get it, but that it was too close to Christmas or my birthday, which is on New Year's Eve, to put it on my list, and so a month later, using some money I had received over the festive period, I threw caution to the wind, stopped listening to everyone who said I was wasting my money, and splurged the £315 on the bag of my dreams.

I love everything about this bag. The size is perfect to fit all my crap that I cart around with me, but not too big that it looks awkward and unnatural. The versatility of having drop down straps and a long across the shoulder straps means that I can take it literally anywhere. The interior is stunning and practical, with 4 open pockets and a zipped pocket; and the 'luggage' brown colour means that it can match with any outfit, but isn't as boring as a black bag.

Now, getting into all 'my crap that I cart around with me. The first thing that's always in my bag is, of course, my phone. I have the iPhone 7 in 'black' which is the matte black shade. The case that I have on my phone at the moment is this one by Kate Spade. It's a really cute clear case with rose gold dots scattered across it, and the signature Kate Spade logo at the bottom. I can't find it online so I'm not sure if they sell it any longer, but I got it when I bought the phone and I think it was around £35.

The next thing in my bag constantly is my purse. For this Christmas/ birthday I am asking for this matching Michael Kors purse, also in the 'luggage' brown to go with the handbag, but for the time being I've got this cute little black purse that I got for Christmas a few years ago from 'the dogs' (hence the dog on the front). I think 'the dogs' AKA mum bought it from Debenhams, but I'm not sure.

It's a bit tattered because I've had it so long, and it hasn't got much inside it in the way of money-lol @ student life :( - but I think the size is fab as it fits perfectly inside any bag, including little clutches that I take on nights out, and it has lots of compartments to hold all my bank cards, gift cards, ID, student ID, stamps, receipts, etc.

Of course I have my keys in my bag, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to go anywhere/ get back inside the house. On my keys I have my house key and car keys, which are attached to a little keyring that Sam bought me that has a picture of a Little Miss character and says 'Little Miss Late' on it; and my key to my university house which I will be living in from the end of September. This key is attached to a keyring with a little plastic diamond on it that I won in a Christmas cracker. I put my uni house key on this keyring to separate it from the others, so that when I do move back to Bath and leave my car at home, I don't need to take all my keys with me and my mum is able to drive the car if she needs to.

The next thing that I keep in my bag all the time is my headphones, which are usually kept in one of the little pockets inside the bag. I've only got the bog standard, run of the mill iphone 7 headphones, so nothing exciting, but you never know when you're going to need them and the worst thing is when you're sat on a long train journey and realise you've forgotten them. Trust me, it's happened to me, FML. I roll my headphones up and secure them in place with bobby pins so that they don't unravel and get all tangled, and in the process I am killing two birds with one stone as this means that I always have emergency bobby pins on me too, incase of a hair emergency. There are also always a few loose bobby pins in one of the pockets. (No birds were actually killed in the making of this blog post)

My next item in my bag is my sunglasses. Now that it's summer in England we sometimes get treated to a few measly hours of sun and so these bad boys are needed just in case Mr Sunshine decides to show his face. These sunglasses are nothing special. I do not trust myself with expensive designer sunglasses as I either break them or lose them- the last pair ended up in the sea in Devon and will probably have washed up on the coast of Africa by now. So because of my inability to look after sunglasses, I stick to the cheap pairs. These ones were actually from Boots at the airport on my way to skiing and cost me £10.

I always carry perfume around with me, and I often carry a deodorant around in my bag too, just incase. The perfume that I am loving for daytime recently is this Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and Cucumber one which my mum bought back from Duty Free for me last summer, it's so fresh and smells gorgeous; but I also absolutely love to carry round Benefit's 'Ring my Bella' perfume as it smells divine, is in adorable travel-sized packaging, and has a punny name. -sorry-

I always carry my hairbrush to sort out any bad hair days that might occur. This one is like a circular paddle brush that is perfect for sorting out my knotty scrag of rats-tails and transforming them into luscious locks.

I will usually have whatever lip product I am wearing that day in my bag, alongside a chapstick to touch up my lipstick with and make sure my lips continue to look silky smooth. I'm not really a lipstick kinda gal so at the moment I have been slathering my lips in lipsalve to soften them, and then applying my Model Co Illusion Lip liner, which is the perfect natural nude, made to create the illusion of fuller lips. 

I suffer from Asthma and panic attacks so that means that I always have to carry my inhalers around with me. Luckily, I hardly ever need to use them, but I have my brown preventer that I am supposed to take twice a day, and my blue reliever that is taken as needed.

And that's it. That is the rundown of all the stuff that I carry around with me in my gorgeous handbag.

I hope you enjoyed this post, I know it was a little different but I am excited to be posting some different stuff and I am glad to be back!

With love,

Chloe x

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Exciting news!

Hello lovelies,

I am trying to upload at least once a fortnight, and I have my scheduled blog post going live tomorrow at 7 (make sure to give it a read!) so today's blog post is just going to be really short and sweet!

I have some very very exciting news! Next July I am going on a 15 day 'voluntour' trip to Thailand! Travelling has been something that I have wanted to do for a really long time, but since I chose not to take a gap year and I didn't particularly want to spend my entire 4 month summer away from my family, friends and Sam, it's something that I never thought I'd be able to do. However, after speaking to my friend Rhiannon who has spent 3 months of her gap year in India, a month in Uruguay and, most recently, 2 weeks travelling around Asia, I decided it is something that I really want to make time for! (Hey Rhi, if you're reading this, thanks for inspiring me!) After hearing that she only spent 2 weeks travelling around Asia, and listening to her incredible stories, it made me realise that  didn't have to break the bank and spend months on end in a country that I've never been to before, on my own- instead, I could have a taste of it, whilst only really being apart from my home comforts for 2 weeks- the same amount of time I'd spend in an all inclusive resort on a Spanish island anyway.

This is where STA Travel come in. I have been subscribed to STA for a few years after I registered my interest about going on a gap year with them at my UCAS convention back in 2015. I, luckily, never unsubscribed to these email updates, and the same day as Rhiannon helped me realise my epiphany, I received an email from them, discussing all their different volunteering opportunities. There were loads to choose from, but the one that caught my eye the most was volunteering with elephants in Thailand.

After speaking to my parents and researching more into the opportunities that STA have, I discovered their 15 day Thailand Voluntour, which sounded perfect! This is the itinerary:

I've already taught a bit of English in a school in Gambia, and that combined with my love of the gentle giants meant that I just had to choose the elephant one!

I went into the STA shop in Bath last Sunday and put a deposit down on the whole trip. So, on the 19th of July 2018 I am flying to Thailand to start what I am sure will be one of the best experiences of my entire life!

Of course, I am going to blog about the whole trip. I'm planning on writing a travel diary and basing my blog posts around that so that I don't forget about anything, but I was wondering what else you'd like to see? A 'What I am packing for Thailand' post, a 'What's in my long haul hand luggage bag' post? Please let me know in the comments! I'm so excited about this opportunity and I just want to thank everyone at STA Travel (if any of them randomly came across this post) for answering my endless questions and getting everything booked up for me! If any of you are wanting to book with STA travel and want to ask me any questions about them please do feel free- I'm not sure how much I'll be able to tell you until after the trip though.

I hope you enjoyed my excitable ramblings about next year's summer fun, and I hope you look forward to the blog posts as much as I am looking forward to writing them!

With love,

Chloe x

10 things to be happy about

Hello Lovelies!

 I'm back (again...oops). Despite having every intention of keeping to a weekly schedule, and ideas of increasing my posts to twice a week in my horrifically long summer, with uni exams; moving back home for the summer; sorting out my house for second year and tonnes of -unsuccessful- job hunting, I haven't really had the time or the motivation to continue planning or writing any blog posts. However, I'm feeling a little bit more motivated and I feel like I should put all of my effort into something that I really am passionate about for the last few weeks of my summer, rather than continuing to look for a crappy part-time job for the last 6 weeks of living at home before I move back to Bath. Everyone gets a bit low at times, and it has been a particularly difficult summer for me as I have felt very lonely, bing the only one out of my friends at home to not get a job. However, I have created this list of 10 things to be happy about, ranging from hugely important things to tiny details. Hopefully these things make you happy too.

1. Dogs. Just dogs. That is all.
2. Baths. Whether you like bubbles; hate bubbles; use bath bombs or just lay in the warm water, baths will never stop making me happy.
3. Lighting a candle for the very first time. They always smell good, but nothing is more satisfying than lighting the wick of a candle for the very first time.
4. Fresh bedding. Nothing beats clean sheets. NOTHING.
5. Having an amazing boyfriend/ group of friends. Remind them of how special they are to you. It will make their day.
6. The scent of freshly cut grass. It literally smells delicious.
7. The sun. I don't believe people who say that they dislike the sun. How can you hate the sun? Everything is better when the sun is out.
8. Family. Don't take your family for granted. They may be annoying and get under your skin at times, but they love you and are always there for you.
9. The smell of books. I don't know why they smell so nice but they really do. Especially old books.
10. Being healthy. This is something that young people tend to take for granted, but we need to stop. We should be so grateful for our lives, as many people are not as fortunate as us to live long, healthy lives.

I know this is a short post but I just want to make sure that every one of you is feeling positive and happy. I hope you can relate to this list of things that make me happy.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

With love,

Chloe x