Hi hi hi sweet friends! It’s so nice to be here with you! Recently I’ve been a little out of my posting groove on socials. Not a big hiatus, just y’know, not quite in the flow of it.

Over the 12+ years that I’ve been sharing content online, some weeks/months/seasons are like that. It used to stress me out when I would get out of a groove. Nowadays I accept that sometimes I’m in a flow with things like posting, and sometimes other areas of my life demand more attention.

Recently I’ve been busy recording for my podcast ~ Health Home Hustle ~ which just launched into Season 3!!! (NB: new episodes come out  every Tuesday. If you haven’t been tuning in already, you’ve got lots of juicy eps to catch up on!) And I’ve been working closely with my Studio clients.

Now that we’re in the swing of April, I thought it would be fun to do a quarter year review, of sorts! I shared my 23 for 23 list back in February, and wanted to check in on how it’s going.

Here’s an update on what’s been going on so far!

23 FOR 23: 23 THINGS I’D LIKE TO DO/SEE/ACHIEVE IN 2023

the quarter year review

 

1 ~ GET A SECOND PIERCING IN BOTH EARS. ANDDD MAYBE A THIRD IN ONE OF THEM.

Not yet! But a reader emailed me to say that this list inspired them to get a few new piercings! Yay 💗

2 ~ GET ON TOP OF MY GUT HEALTH.

Yesss! This has been such a game changer for me! In February I decided to embark on a gut health re-set. I limited inflammatory foods + drink like gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and dairy (though I don’t have much dairy anyway) and I also began to take a new probiotic. I prioritised my sleep and general wellbeing habits and I’m happy to report that my gut health is back on track!

One of the biggest shifts for me was re-populating my gut with good bacteria, focusing on a nutrient-rich diet of colourful veggies, salads and some fruit. And then implementing Artah Health’s Enhanced Probiotic, which is hands down the best probiotic I’ve ever taken. Quite literally overnight I felt an improvement!

Thanks in large part to my better gut health, I’ve also noticed that my mood has improved. I had Artah Health’s founder Rhian Stephenson on my podcast (listen to Rhian’s episode here) and she explained that the majority of our serotonin (our ‘happy hormone’) is stored in our gut. Meaning that, if for whatever reason your gut health is imbalanced, it can have a huge impact on mood. I’m so so happy with the results of my gut health re-set and have kept up with the habits I implemented in February since.

Use the code MONICA20 for 20% off of all Artah products should you wish to try them for yourself!

3 ~ PRACTICE GOOD (AND SIMPLE!) MORNING AND NIGHT TIME ROUTINES.

Tick! This went hand in hand with working on my gut health. And as the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, my morning walks are getting all the sweeter.

4 ~ WHEN DRINKING WINE, TRY TO MAKE IT ORGANIC.

Still very much focusing on this one. Whenever I buy bottles for friends nowadays, I try to gift organic wine too.

5 ~ JOURNAL MORE.

I journaled a lot at the beginning of this year, and haven’t done much since. It’s actually something I’ve been really craving again of late, so I just bought a pretty linen notebook to house my current thoughts. I still haven’t read The Artist’s Way so it remains on my list!

6 ~ SORT THE BEDROOMS IN OUR HOUSE.

It’s slowww progress on this one, but we’re getting there! In fact there was recently a BIG development in that Oli and I received delivery of our new bed!!!

We chose Feather & Black’s Cambourne Bed in the ‘latte’ boucle fabric and absolutely love it! We also opted for a Feather & Black mattress (we got the ‘Mylor’ style) and are so happy with it. I’ll be sharing more about our master bedroom soon!

7 ~ GET A NEW SOFA + ARM CHAIRS.

I have my eye on this ‘Arbour Industrial Chair’ from Dunelm, I’m thinking that a pair would look lovely in our living room! These look so much more expensive than their price tag!

8 ~ BE EFFICIENT WITH DE-CLUTTERING.

Working on it. Always working on it 😂

9 ~ REALLY LEAN INTO THE PERKS OF MY JOB.

I do feel like I’ve been guilting myself a lot less about this. Just the other day I gave myself the whole afternoon off guilt-free because I was procrastinating and being SO ineffective haha! It felt really really good to remove the pressure of work and remind myself of one of the perks of being my own boss!

10 ~ CONTINUE TO CREATE VLOGS ON TIKTOK.

This has been so fun! I’ve really loved vlogging on Reels and TikTok this year. Like I mentioned, I’ve been a bit out of my posting groove, but I’ve got lots of footage lined up for editing! You can find me on TikTok @MonicaBeatriceW if you fancy saying hi!

11 ~ REMEMBER TO RUN MY OWN RACE.

🤗

12 ~ VISIT GREECE.

Booked in for May! I’ve been planning my outfits since December haha! On that note I just scored this Hunza G-esque swimsuit for under £20!!! Highly recommend!

13 ~ VISIT MENORCA, AND RE-VISIT NONNA BAZAAR.

Booked in for July!

14 ~ GROW MY OWN FLOWERS.

I literally just potted my first flowers today! And I selected some seeds with Oli’s Mum Fiona so that we can begin growing them in time to flower later this year. I opted for lots of big blousy dahlias, I am S O excited.

15 ~ PICK MY OWN FLOWERS.

There haven’t really been any flowers in bloom yet which I’ve wanted to pick. I did cut some cream-coloured daffodils for a pretty spring table, but I’m mostly excited for roses, peonies(!!!) and dahlias later in the year.

16 ~ CONTINUE TO COOK FROM SCRATCH WHEREVER POSSIBLE.

Mmm I’m not really sure how this one is going?! I’ve definitely cooked more but I wouldn’t say it’s a habit habit just yet. What I have been enjoying is buying fresh fruit and veg from our local green grocer and our weekly market, and then chatting to Ols about what we both fancy having. So this is a yes and no for now haha! I’m cooking more but not frequently. That being said, I’d say we’ve got a good 80/20 vibe going when it comes to cooking from scratch vs oven food, takeaway or eating out.

17 ~ UPDATE MY MAKEUP.

I shared my ‘healthy girl glowy makeup routine’ on Instagram and TikTok recently, which features some of my new favourite makeup products! In particular I’m loving Beauty Pie’s cream blush which offers the perfect just-been-for-a-hike glow.

18 ~ RE-SHUFFLE MY WARDROBE.

Umm TBC 😂 Currently my clothes are still part-unpacked, which is making it difficult for me to get a full view on everything. I did recently go through a few things and create a pile to sell + donate. But I’m stuck on that bit! I’m also a bit stuck on which platform to sell on ~ are you liking Vinted or Depop best atm? LMK!

19 ~ INVISALIGN.

Still something I’d love to make happen this year. It’s mega £££ and it’s hard to balance things like house improvements with personal wants like Invisalign. Who knows? It’s still on my radar!

20 ~ GET TO KNOW MORE PEOPLE IN MY LINE OF WORK.

I’ve been to a fair few events already this year and it’s been REALLY nice seeing people IRL. I have my first press trip coming up soon. I try to push myself to connect with 2-3 people at each event.

21 ~ GET COMFORTABLE WITH SAYING “NO” BUT ALSO “YES”

Just last week I said no to something which wasn’t quite in alignment for me and I felt really proud of myself for doing so. I had to do a hard gut-check to ensure it was the right choice (to say no) for me, and it was. Subsequently I feel like a weight has been lifted and more headspace has been made.

I can’t think of an example of a time I said “yes” when I was on the fence about saying “no” yet. I’ll keep monitoring!

22 ~ GROW THE HEALTH HOME HUSTLE PODCAST

Going strong with this! The second season of the show received 3 x the listens of season one and I’m hoping that season three will do the same and more! It’s honestly SUCH a joy to record and share this show, I hope if you’ve been listening that you’ve been enjoying tuning in too!

23 ~ TAKE DAY/SHORT TRIPS AROUND ENGLAND

I was just in Bournemouth for a co-working day which was so so lovely. Spending time by the coast, wherever that may be, is so therapeutic for me. I’d still love to visit Frome and Bath this year.

~

How are you getting on with your your 23 for 23 list?! I’d love to know!

If you haven’t reflected on how your year is going so far, I really encourage you to do so. Checking in regularly allows us to see what is and isn’t working, and gut-check if we’re on track with what we’re hoping for from the year. I’ve actually made more progress than I thought I had. Equally, going through my ’23 for 23′ list has also highlighted a few things I still have to work on.

Here’s to a great second quarter of the year friends!

Love, Monica x