Oh, what a month it has been. It started off with the excitement (and a little anxiety) of having a new job and it is ending with self-isolation and uncertainty of what the future may hold. I hope everyone is staying safe and looking after their mental health as well as physical health during this awful time. This corner of the internet feels like my safe place and has slightly taken my mind off the pandemic and I hope it also helps you too, so go grab a cuppa and let’s get into my monthly favourites.
Amazon Kindle
I have talked so much about how I don’t read enough and that I need to dedicate time for myself to unwind (that doesn’t include endlessly scrolling through Instagram or spending an embarrassing amount of time watching Tik Toks). At the beginning of March, I treated myself to an Amazon Kindle and it is by far my favourite purchase of 2020. Admittedly, I do have Gillian from GillianFinn to thank, as she massively influenced this purchase because of her amazing Kindle reviews. Kindles are so lightweight, making it so easy to carry around and I have been reading it before I sleep as well as during my lunch breaks. This month I have finished reading Louise Pentland’s second novel ‘Wilde about the Girl‘ and it was SUCH a good book and an easy read – I cannot recommend it enough!!
My New Job
So you may have noticed that I said lunch breaks in the paragraph above and YES I have a new job!! At the beginning of January, I found out that my hours at my old job were being massively cut and there was a big risk of redundancy. This affected my mental health a lot, I hated being at home all the time and worrying about financial stability as well as being alone with my own thoughts. On the 9th March, I started my new job as an Office Administrator for a property maintenance company and I am loving it so much. It’s so nice to be back into a routine (prior to self-isolation) and finally earn money again as well as make new friends.
Mindful Eating
I am embarrassed to admit this but during self-isolation, I haven’t treated my body too well. I started the year by hopping on the ‘new year, new me‘ bandwagon and made a few healthier choices, but now the nation is in self-isolation I am guilty of saying fuck it and numbing boredom and worry with alcohol and comfort food. I don’t know if it is cheating by adding this to my monthly faves when I am only just starting, but I am trying to make much better choices and be mindful of what I consume. I don’t necessarily want to lose weight, I just want to reduce my alcohol intake and take care of myself by eating my 5 a day and making the most of my government approved 30 minutes of outdoor exercise.
Abbot Lyon ‘Moda’ Handbag
My lovely boyfriend treated me to the most gorgeous handbag for Christmas and I still cannot get over how beautiful it is. This handbag completes every outfit and is the perfect size for your daily essentials. Abbot Lyon has a wide range of accessories and the bag I have is the ‘Ivory White Moda Handbag Rose Gold‘ and is available for personalisation!
Having a Routine
Whilst being stuck indoors all the time with not a lot to do, it can be easy to waste away the day and try and make it go as fast as possible, but keeping to a routine has helped try and make things seem a little bit normal, despite the chaos. Every day me and Harry has made sure we wake up early and find jobs to do as well as nipping out for a little walk to get from fresh air. Gemma from GemmaaJaynee uploaded a post of how to stay sane during the working week and it includes so many amazing tips that have really helped me stay motivated to keep a routine.
March has been a rollercoaster of the month and my heart goes out to every single person affected by this fucking awful virus. Facetime your friends, stay indoors, watch YouTube videos that take your mind off it all for 20 minutes, and wash your freaking hands. Stay safe my lovelies, I truly hope we will all be stronger once this is over.
Until next time,
Like my posts? Buy me a coffee!
Chloe Burford 
First of all THANK YOU for the mention 💗 Secondly I am so happy that you found a new job and you are enjoying it! Also I think we are all allowed a bit of bad eating/alcohol with everything that is going on! It is a lot to take in, but I too am trying to get back on track with my eating and keep my exercise up! Stay safe xxxx
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Youre so welcome sweetie, your blog is by far one of my favourites!! Thank you for such a lovely comment, it means the world to me and I am so grateful!! Youre so right, it is so easy to find comfort in junk food but I am determined to try and start exercising more and looking after my mind. Thank you once again for being so supportive! Stay safe xxxx
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thank you lovely that means so much!! I hope at some point in the future we get to have a blogger lunch or something! Also good luck with exercising more and look after yourself hun xxxx
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Glad you’re enjoying your kindle, I read ebooks occasionally through apps provided by my Library/work but still love the physical feeling of holding a book! I’ve been curious to read Louise Pentland’s books I might add them to my ever growing TBR list! Yay for being a fellow administrator, that’s what I do too 🙂 I’m finding during the isolation period I’m eating less and only eating when I feel hungry, having three main meals a day is better for my body rather than little snacks often. That handbag is gorgeous, what a lovely present! Look after yourself xx
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting honey, I appreciate it so much!!! I am the exact same, I do prefer a physical book but I love how lightweight and easy a kindle is to carry around. It has made me read so much more!! Louise’s books are so good and such an easy read, I defo recommend!! Thank you so much once again sweetie, I hope you are well and staying safe!! xxx
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I can certainly see the appeal of kindles, it’s great that they offer a new way to read 😊 I am doing good and staying safe, there will be an announcement today as to whether or not New Zealand will stay in lockdown for more time or not – personally I think the country should for another week or two x
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So glad you’re loving your new job !! Don’t beat yourself up for not necessarily treating your body the best during this time – it’s scary for everyone and you’re definitely not the only one using comfort food as a distraction, it’s like the only pleasure we have right now !! So glad you’re loving your Kindle too, I recently started using mine again and I’m obsessed with it, can’t believe I ever stopped !! xx
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Ahhhh thank you so much sweetie pie, you always leave such lovely comments!!! This time is so scary, I cannot wait for it to be over and we can get back to normality. Kindles are so amazing arent they?! I cant believe it took me so long to buy one, I am so obsessed!!! Stay safe lovely xxxx
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This was fab to share thanks chlo! Have you been doing your new job from home now? 🙂 Don’t feel bad about unhealthy eating, I think everyone is in the same boat right now. If that’s what it takes to keep us going then I will be divulging! xxx
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Thank you so much for reading and commenting sweetie, your support means the world to me. Yes I am working from home, but I so wish I was back in the office. It is so much more difficult to learn a new job when you are at home! Stay safe honey, I hope you are well xxx
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Congrats on the new job Chloe x Super happy to hear you’re enjoying it, despite this weird and unusual time of “self-isolation”! I have my home office all setup and I can easily really switch my brain to “work mode” when I wake up in the morning. Now that I am working at home, it is actually harder to switch it off. Anyway, as you well sad, having a routine is super important in order to be productive and get things done.
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Thank you so much honey, this means the world to me!! I totally understand what you mean, I don’t like working from home for that reason. You end up not really settling because you are associating work life with home life! I hope you are well, stay safe honey xx
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I love my kindle! I am someone who loves the smell of paperback books but I realised when I moved into my student flat and then into my one bedroom flat that it was not realistic to keep buying new books because of the amount of space they take up. The kindle is lighter, waterproof (perfect for putting in your backpack when you are also carrying a water bottle and your lunch) and means I can easily switch between two books with ease rather than carrying them both with me. I still buy paperback books from time-to-time from my favourite authors but the majority of books are on my kindle. Also you can set up family sharing so my best friend and I can share the books we have purchased since we have such similar tastes. xx
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I am the exact same, I have a book shelf and I adore having books and feel so much better when I am turning actual pages. But I stopped reading because books are way to bulky to take when you are out and about! I think my kindle is my fav purchase of 2020! Wow I didn’t know family sharing was a thing, I so need to look into this! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a lovely comment as always, I hope you are well honey xxxx
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HELLO BEAUTIFUL! How are you? ❤️❤️❤️ Congratulations on your new job gal, seriously you smashed that, it took you what, a month to find something new? Chloe you’re in demand gal! Well done! I really hope you can get back to work asap and continue to enjoy your new job and coworkers, you deserve it! ❤️❤️❤️
Love the Kindle purchase! Reading is SO much fun and such an amazing way to drift off into another world ❤️🧡🤍 I’ve not read either of Louise Pentland’s books- but based on your recommendations I’m definitely going to keep them on my list to consider buying at some point! I need some books like this so I’m definitely going to have to remember these next time I do a book shop! Thanks for the recommendation!
Boyfriend did so good with that handbag 😍😍😍 I love it and you look gorgeous and radiant as always! Beauty!
Sending you so much love Angel!! Stay safe and healthy, and enjoy those books and tik toks to take your mind off things!
Lots of love to you xxx
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I’m so happy that you have a new job and are really enjoying it. That is so good ❤
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Thank you honey!! xxx
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