Mary-Anne is one of my favourite people to connect with on Instagram. I discovered her as she is the creator of HeartyNotes. Mary-Anne puts little heart notes around central London with inspirational quotes on them. I started to see them at the beginning of this year during my commute to my new job, I always take pictures and send them to people I feel need to see them. There has been many days when I've needed words of inspiration myself and this has really helped me! (Take a look at her website here)
1. Firstly Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. You know I love HeartyNotes can you tell us how you started this and why?
I started HeartyNotes in September 2019 after returning from Burning Man Festival in Nevada. If you are not aware of Burning Man, it is a spiritual and art-focused week-long festival in the middle of the desert. It is always a very creative and grounding experience for me. There is so much creative expression in one place, whether that’s outfits, music or the incredible art projects.
In a vastly digital world, it can be challenging to feel a sense of “self-worth or self-love” as there are so many ways we can compare ourselves to others and wish a change in our own lives. As an Instagram lover, I have always spent a lot of time on the platform. What I began to recognise is that in this digital world, we often forget to connect with people in the “real” world. We sit on our sofas browsing the lives of others and wishing things could be different, offering a “like” here and there but without any real human connection. We also forget that some of what we see online is a “highlight” reel of people’s lives, 10% of who they are and what they have been through. We all have different experiences in life that offer us different perspectives and no two journeys are the same. For me, this journey has brought with it so many lessons in self-love. I have learnt more in the last three months than I ever did before. As much as you can discuss challenges you're facing with friends and family, the real work has to be done by you, and you alone. I recognise that words, affirmations and quotes have an incredible impact on my state of mind. So I have focused on only following those types of accounts on social media, reading those types of books and listening to those kinds of podcasts.
In shifting my environment to one filled with more positive words, an idea formulated in my head. Out of my attempt to amalgamate the two things I was very passionate about (human connection and self-love), #HeartyNotes was born. I write down things that come into my head, things that have inspired me in the hope that they will inspire others too. When I have built a little pile of inspirational hearts, I stick them around Central London.
2. Can you explain your journey and progress on self-love? I feel like this terms is used a lot, yet many people still struggle with it.
I have always used inspirational words or quotes to get me through difficult times. I just love how a few words can change the focus of your entire day. In 2015 I was 21 and had just started working as an admin girl for a mobile accessories manufacturer and distributor in Coventry. The business I had joined was only eight months old, and the owner had huge ambitions about creating a brand bigger than Apple for mobile accessories in the UK market. I accepted that job as a way of paying my way through a law degree with the Open University. As this was my first office job, I realised that I had a lot to learn so I knuckled down and focused on watching, listening and learning from this incredibly talented owner. Over 5 years I had watched and mirrored his every move and what began as an admin job turned into so much more for me. Working to improve my communication, sales and presentation skills in an intense, non-stop, hands-on training environment I began pitching and presenting to top tier retailers, and succeeded in securing some of the biggest deals the company had ever achieved. In 2018 I was invited to become the Sales Director of a business that had grown from £0 sales to £14million in revenue in 2019. To say those five years were intense would be a HUGE understatement and naturally, I was so incredibly proud of all I had achieved.
In 2018, I had decided that if I was to progress quickly in the Company I would need to adopt a “fake it till you make it” mindset – it worked! I shadowed the owner, watched his every move heard every conversation and made meticulous notes. I practised pitching in my bedroom mirror and made pretend sales calls in the car on the way to the office each day. I had completely and utterly evolved into a mini version of the owner. I could sell like him, talk like him and act like him. In May 2019 I decided it was time for me to move on and use all the skills I had learnt to start my own business. What I quickly learnt was that my strategy of “fake it until you make it” had given me so very much, so many incredible business skills, but, what I hadn’t learnt was one extremely important thing.
I was in a yoga practice at Burning Man festival in Nevada, when the yoga teacher Donovan told us all to stand up, wrap our arms around ourselves and say the words out loud “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you” - I couldn’t do it! With tears streaming down my face, I didn’t know how or why I felt like that. I had no self-love! What I began to understand was that I had spent so many years feeding on the gratification of others that I actually didn’t know how to give that to myself. I had spent so long “faking it until I made it”, that I had allowed my self-belief, my self-worth and my self-love to be reliant on what others thought of me rather than what I thought of myself. It was at that moment that I wondered if anyone else had experienced that.
Learning to love yourself is not surface level stuff, it’s deep. Through meditation (Sarah Blondin ‘Self-love’ meditations) yoga and reading I have learnt more and more about the way I treat myself. That inner voice, the inner critic we all have. Loving yourself is not about being self-obsessed or egotistical it is about treating yourself with the same affection and respect that you would treat anyone else. When you start to notice the words you use towards yourself it becomes easier to change those habits. What once was “oh you are useless” can become “it’s a great start but you need to learn X or Y” . Our minds fascinate me, they really do, they can be our best friend or our worst enemy.
3. I'd love to know more about journaling and feel like now is the bet time to start a new routine, which can then continue when life gets back to normal. What are your top three tips?
I've got to be honest. I don't think I could recommend one habit enough. Morning pages or morning journaling have dramatically changed the way I start my day and ultimately live my life. My 3 top tips would be.
- Start with morning pages – which simply is writing 3 pages of whatever falls out of your head as soon as you wake up
- Make a promise with yourself and stick to it! Every morning, the first thing you do is pick up that book. (leaving it by your bed on top of your alarm/phone makes it so obvious you can’t forget!)
- Have no judgement – just write whatever comes out of your mind and when you're done, shut the book. Sometimes your notes won’t tell you anything at all and that’s absolutely fine.
4. Do you have any new plans for HeartyNotes in the future?
LOTS of plans! I have a lot more art at the tips of my fingers at the moment so I’m going to focus on that for now. I have ideas falling out of my head in the middle of the night haha my notebook is full of them! Who knows where it will go! For now, I’m enjoying the ride.
5. What's your favourite HeartyNote so far?
HARD question. It would have to be ‘you can choose happiness even on the darkest days’ this was my most shared heart. I had so many messages from people thanking me for changing their mindset. It was so incredible I cried! Haha
6. I'll be asking everyone this question. What one piece of advice would you give to people to remain positive?
Take a step back and observe the way you are consuming information. Where /Who is it from? Would they be in your life if we were not going through a crisis? Do they impact you in a positive or negative way? Once you have answered, you know what to do. Step away from the NO’s and move gracefully into the YES’s.
I hope you love this interview as much as I do! Come back next Sunday for the next one and you can read my last interview with blogger Nicole Sage here.
Love
Nicole
xx
1 comment
Train your mind to see the good in every situation
We are living in a time with much uncertainty and negativity. However one thing I've learnt recently is that you need to see the good in every situation. Last week I got told that I will be going on furlough. And you know what, thats ok! I'm healthy so I'm lucky right now. In order to turn this negative situation into a positive one, I've come up with a list of 5 positive things to do during lockdown.
1. Have A Project To Work On
After a phone call with my God Mother who gave me some really good advice it got me thinking about all the things I an do with my time now I'm not working. (Remember we probably will never have time like this again.) She said to me in future interviews they will want to know what you did during this time when in isolation, so set yourself some projects to work on. This can be big things or super small things but something to give yourself purpose during this time.
For me my main project is my blog, I love blogging but have put it to one side over the years because my mind has been focused on other things. But now I'm ready to spend more time on it and get creative again. To help me to do I've joined Grow & Glow. I've done this as I want to learn more about social media and blogging in order to improve my own channels and bring you the best content I can.
2. Check In On Yourself
This morning before writing this post, I was watching Alfie Deyes Vlog here. (I'm loving his videos at the moment!) he was talking about something I found really interesting and that is checking in on yourself. He explained that it's good to every 6 months/year take a couple of days out to check in on yourself. To do this take time to stop and look at your life and what you're doing both inside and outside of work making sure you are on the right track to your main goals. Also making sure you're spending your time with the right people who are good in your life. Most of us have the time to do this right now. And I think it's important before life goes back to normal to reassess your normal and what parts of your normal life you want to carry on with and what parts you need to change.
3. Spend More Time Reading
One thing I always put to one side is reading, however when I do read I love self-help books. Recently I finished reading Vex King's book Good Vibes, Good Life. Here is one of my favourite quotes from his book, 'Being thankful is one of the simplest, and yet most powerful, habits you can cultivate. By counting your blessings daily, you can begin to condition your mind to look for the good in everything around you.' Vex talks about how to turn your negative thoughts into more positive ones by talking about different life experiences most of us go through. When reading this book I also felt so much more grateful for things I normally take for granted. This week I'm going to go back over this book and highlight key quotes I love so when I need to I can flick through the book and easily see the main quotes that inspire me.
4. Do Some At Home Workouts
I'm loving seeing so many people do at home workouts at the moment! I think it's amazing and something that I'm trying to do as much as I can. If you're a friend of mine you will know I LOVE Kobox, as the boxing club is closed a the moment they have been posting live workouts on their instagram page here. I love doing live workouts because it's the next best thing to going to a class, it's great to get involved in the comments and most classes follow a playlist on Spotify that you can download.
5. Take Part In Online Workshops
Brands/Influencers have been getting so creative over the last few weeks. I'd highly recommend checking out your favourites to see what they have been doing to see if you can get any inspiration of things to do. On Sunday I watched a live workshop on Marguerite London's page with Zeena Shah. The workshop was called mindful marbling, all about how to use Nail polishes and paints to create a marble effect on paper/other items of your choice. This was such a simple thing to do with items that I already had in my house yet was so therapeutic and I ended up making a really pretty heart painting that I will buy a frame for and hang up in my bedroom.
Picture from Pintereset
Let me know any positive things you have been doing in the comments, I hope you are all staying safe and well.
Love
Nicole
xx
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Hey Guys,
I hope you are all keeping well. I'm back with my blogging game in full swing, I've been thinking for a little while now about what sort of direction I want to take my blog. And as much as I love sharing my latest outfits, London life and travel. I also want to share people who inspire me! So I've decided to start a new little Sunday series for April where I interview women who inspire me. First up is Nicole Sage who blogs over at Sleek-Chic. I've been following Nicole since she started blogging. I feel like I know her although we have never met! I adore her style and her eye for detail in her photographs.
1. Hey Nicole, thank you for taking part in this interview. How long have you been blogging for and what made you want to start a blog?
I started blogging in the summer of 2013, I'm now approaching 7 years of blogging which is crazy. When I started blogging it was purely something to keep me occupied during the summer before I returned to university. I never imagined I would still be blogging 7 years later alongside heavy work commitments. I read blogs for such a long period of time before starting and I just thought 'why can't I do that?', I guess they say the rest is history.
2. What sparks your creativity and new ideas for blog posts?
A lot of my posts these days are centred around my personal life, these are the posts that just flow out of me and I love to write as I'm not forcing anything. Navigating the struggles of adult life generally sparks a lot of ideas for my blog posts!
I still write a lot of other lifestyle content in general though and a lot of inspiration for this comes through Pinterest, what topics are currently trending, is there anything I can tap into? I look at google trends a lot to see what people are searching for and if so, can I write a better post than the ones ranking on page one of google? I have a strong background in SEO so always write blog posts and think of ideas with my SEO hat on!
3. What do you love most about blogging/blogging community?
The blogging community makes me feel like I'm truly part of something. I have made so many genuine friends online in the last 7 years that I've never met, but I know if I needed to speak to someone they would always be there for me. I love the positivity and creativity that I sponge off other bloggers and it's amazing to be connected with so many like minded individuals at the click of a few buttons. The community has definitely changed as the blogging sphere has grown, but the OG's will remember what it was like back in the day!
4. In what way has social media affected your life? This can be both good and bad. And how do you think people can use social media in a better way to be more positive?
There have been periods of time where social media has had a really negative impact on my life. This has mostly been when I've been going through a hard time in my personal life and I don't want to be bombarded with happy people and ultimately comparing myself to other people. Whenever I've fallen into a negative head space I have to come off social media for a while until I'm mentally feeling better. I did this for 3 months before Christmas and it was the best thing I ever did. I was then in a position where I was starting to miss it as I feel so much more connected with people when I'm on social media.
With the current situation with Coronavirus, social media is the one thing that is allowing us to stick together, and I love it, It's making people feel less isolated, we're seeing more authentic pictures on peoples feeds and it feels like the old blogging days are back!
To keep a healthy balance with social media I think it's super important to have periods of time off the apps such as an evening a week or allowing yourself to check at only certain periods of the day. Curating your feed to follow only people that make YOU feel good about yourself is something I can't recommend enough.
5. Do you have any future plans for your blog/media channels?
I seem to go through waves of inspiration with my blog and social media, there is so much I want to do but it can often be delegated to the back when work commitments take over and some weekends I just want to switch off completely.
I'm still trying to think where I want to take my blog in the future, I want to continue with lifestyle content but fashion has always been a huge part of my life, this is why I think the content I put on social media and my blog should differ slightly. I want my Instagram account to be focused on 9-5 workwear, flatlays and interiors. But I'm also wanting to have one specific niche so when people land on my Instagram page thy know what they are going to find. Hopefully the time during lockdown will help me to nail these details down!
6. I'll be asking everyone this question. What piece of advice would you give to remain positive?
Surround yourself with positivity. Turn the news off, mute accounts on social media and focus on the good things. I do this by way of reading my favourite books, turning my favourite radio station on in the morning and dancing in my living room and eating a packet of mini eggs each night because it makes me happy. Do the little things that make you happy during this time and remember that better times are coming.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this post! I will be back next Sunday with another interview with creator of HeartyNotes Mary-Anne.
Love
Nicole
xx
I started blogging in the summer of 2013, I'm now approaching 7 years of blogging which is crazy. When I started blogging it was purely something to keep me occupied during the summer before I returned to university. I never imagined I would still be blogging 7 years later alongside heavy work commitments. I read blogs for such a long period of time before starting and I just thought 'why can't I do that?', I guess they say the rest is history.
2. What sparks your creativity and new ideas for blog posts?
A lot of my posts these days are centred around my personal life, these are the posts that just flow out of me and I love to write as I'm not forcing anything. Navigating the struggles of adult life generally sparks a lot of ideas for my blog posts!
I still write a lot of other lifestyle content in general though and a lot of inspiration for this comes through Pinterest, what topics are currently trending, is there anything I can tap into? I look at google trends a lot to see what people are searching for and if so, can I write a better post than the ones ranking on page one of google? I have a strong background in SEO so always write blog posts and think of ideas with my SEO hat on!
3. What do you love most about blogging/blogging community?
The blogging community makes me feel like I'm truly part of something. I have made so many genuine friends online in the last 7 years that I've never met, but I know if I needed to speak to someone they would always be there for me. I love the positivity and creativity that I sponge off other bloggers and it's amazing to be connected with so many like minded individuals at the click of a few buttons. The community has definitely changed as the blogging sphere has grown, but the OG's will remember what it was like back in the day!
4. In what way has social media affected your life? This can be both good and bad. And how do you think people can use social media in a better way to be more positive?
There have been periods of time where social media has had a really negative impact on my life. This has mostly been when I've been going through a hard time in my personal life and I don't want to be bombarded with happy people and ultimately comparing myself to other people. Whenever I've fallen into a negative head space I have to come off social media for a while until I'm mentally feeling better. I did this for 3 months before Christmas and it was the best thing I ever did. I was then in a position where I was starting to miss it as I feel so much more connected with people when I'm on social media.
With the current situation with Coronavirus, social media is the one thing that is allowing us to stick together, and I love it, It's making people feel less isolated, we're seeing more authentic pictures on peoples feeds and it feels like the old blogging days are back!
To keep a healthy balance with social media I think it's super important to have periods of time off the apps such as an evening a week or allowing yourself to check at only certain periods of the day. Curating your feed to follow only people that make YOU feel good about yourself is something I can't recommend enough.
5. Do you have any future plans for your blog/media channels?
I seem to go through waves of inspiration with my blog and social media, there is so much I want to do but it can often be delegated to the back when work commitments take over and some weekends I just want to switch off completely.
I'm still trying to think where I want to take my blog in the future, I want to continue with lifestyle content but fashion has always been a huge part of my life, this is why I think the content I put on social media and my blog should differ slightly. I want my Instagram account to be focused on 9-5 workwear, flatlays and interiors. But I'm also wanting to have one specific niche so when people land on my Instagram page thy know what they are going to find. Hopefully the time during lockdown will help me to nail these details down!
6. I'll be asking everyone this question. What piece of advice would you give to remain positive?
Surround yourself with positivity. Turn the news off, mute accounts on social media and focus on the good things. I do this by way of reading my favourite books, turning my favourite radio station on in the morning and dancing in my living room and eating a packet of mini eggs each night because it makes me happy. Do the little things that make you happy during this time and remember that better times are coming.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this post! I will be back next Sunday with another interview with creator of HeartyNotes Mary-Anne.
Love
Nicole
xx
Hey Guys,
So a week ago last Friday I got back from my very first sailing holiday with Med Sailors, writing this post and collecting all of my photos together is bringing such joy as it really was an amazing holiday and a great experience! I've never travelled solo before but after my trip I found this quote on Pinterest and it is 100% true!
'Travelling alone will be the most scariest, most liberating, life changing experience. Try it at least once!'
If you have never had a solo trip and in a position where you can....I highly recommend you do. I can't explain enough what an amazing experience it was.
I decided to book my trip thought a company because I wanted my route and accommodation planned for me to take the stress out of things. Also for safety reasons, I've never travelled solo before so I wanted to make sure I would feel safe. I have seen a few Bloggers and Youtubers post about MedSailors and heard many good things about them. MedSailors have a few different routes and countries you can go too. The main reason I decided to go to Croatia was because I had been a few years ago to Dubrovnik and loved it. After that I really wanted to explore more of Croatia.
There are two different routes for Croatia and I opted for the Discovery route.
The route is as followed:
Day 1
You start off in Split, this is where check in is and to be honest I can not give my opinion on Split because I literally got a taxi from the airport to the marina and thats all I saw! We got to the boat about 3pm and I was so nervous meeting everyone for the first time. But I had nothing to be nervous about as everyone was so easy going and there were nine of us on my boat. Some people came together and others where solo travellers. But as a whole group we got on so so well and ended up spending all of our time together as a big group when we got to land.
The first stop on day one is Solta which is a tiny island with just one restaurant and one bar. And you get to see the most amazing sunset here. I soon realised when arriving to Solta that sailing life is not luxury! I shared a tiny cabin bunk bed room, had little space to get ready...showers on the back of the boat and quickly learnt that I would be dealing with bad hair for a week! But a couple of hours in I was totally cool with this and enjoyed the sailing life.
Day 2
Day 2, started off with very rough waves (I did think at this point what the hell am I doing here...this isn't for me. Luckily this was the only day we had rough waves and the rest of the week was completely fine.) We spotted for a swim stop half way to our destination and then ended up in Vis Town, we had the afternoon free to do as we wished. Our group found a beautiful bar with the most amazing view called Fort George.
That night we had a punch party with all of the Med Sailors boats before heading off for dinner.
Day 3
Day 3, we went to a town called Komiza. We got to swim in the blue caves before arriving to Komiza and then spent the evening exploring the beautiful little town for dinner. This was probably one of the most chilled days we had and spent most of the day swimming/sun bathing.
Day 4
Day 4, we went to an island called Vrboska other wise known as little Venice. This place really did remind me of Venice with the beautiful old looking buildings and bridges. Our evening activity was Wine tasting at a farm called Hora. I had a traditional Croatian meal (which was lamb and vegetables.) This was a really relaxed evening with beautiful views during sunset.
Day 5
Day 5, we went to Hvar now this was my favourite location and I've already told my friend Charlotte that we need to go on holiday here for a week next Summer. Hvar is such a beautiful place, with so many great beach bars and restaurants. We got a coach from the boat to a beautiful view point, then walk down to Hvar. What I loved about Hvar is that is a great party location, however the have so many more chilled bars and spots to sunbath too so you get the best of both worlds.
Day 6
Day 6, now this day was for recovering after a night out in Hvar! We went to Supertar another beautiful little island. Med Sailors organised drinks at a beach bar and this was the first sandy beach we had come across in Croatia. We had a super chilled evening with dinner and the great sunset again!
Day 7
Day 7, was spent travelling back to Split and saying goodbye to all the new friends I had made.
I really enjoyed my experience with Med Sailors it was great just to spend a week by myself making loads of new friends and meeting people from all across the world.
I really want to do the Greece route next year. The only thing I would say is staying on a boat for a week isn't the most relaxing accommodation, if I was to do something like this again I would next time add one a couple of days at the end of my trip and stay in a nice hotel to relax!
I hope you enjoyed this post...have you ever been on a Med Sailors trip?
Lots of Love
Nicole
xx
Back in the beginning of May. Myself and my friend Alex took a trip to Rome for 3 nights for her birthday. If you have been reading my blog this year you will know that Italy has quickly become one of my favourite places to travel recently. We had a great time in Rome and I would highly recommend a trip if you have not been yet. The weather was super hot too...which meant we did need the odd chill out break during the day for ice cream and aspiral spritzer because we did a lot of walking!
Rome has many big sites that are must see's. I've been to a fair few different cities in Europe and I would say that Rome is one of the busiest especially in touristy areas so I would bear that in mind if you are planning a trip. The best way to get around Rome is the Metro we got a three day pass which I believe was 18 euros! Much cheaper than travelling around London. It was so easy to get around which is always a good thing when you are in a new city.
In a way Rome gave me a similar feeling to New York on my first visit, I know they are completely different cities but I've seen all the sites so often in photographs and on TV, so it felt really exciting to finally get to see them in person. The Colosseum and Roman Forum are two must sees. A good tip is to book guided tours for these, we booked ours on the day outside the Colosseum you will see lots of people walking around offering you different deals. I can't remember now what company we booked ours with, but it was a great tour and you can barter them down with the price too.
One of the best things about Italy is the food...I mean that's the main reason I visit Italy. We went to an amazing food market called Mercato Testaccio. (Their website is here.) They have 100s of fresh food stalls. I had pasta and a beer for about 6 euros, and I have to say I think it was one of the best pasta's I've ever had! I brought some pasta and pasta sauce home with me, I'm actually really gutted I didn't buy more as it was so tasty. The best way to get over those holiday blues is by bringing food back home with you!
Just like Milan we found an area just outside of the centre of Rome for food and drinks. (I'm so bad as I didn't write the name down, however just make sure you always go just outside of the city centre to discover some cute bars and quieter areas, which are much more affordable for food and drinks!)
I now really want to plan another trip to Italy next year...any recommendations would be great!
Love
Nicole
xx
One of the best things about Italy is the food...I mean that's the main reason I visit Italy. We went to an amazing food market called Mercato Testaccio. (Their website is here.) They have 100s of fresh food stalls. I had pasta and a beer for about 6 euros, and I have to say I think it was one of the best pasta's I've ever had! I brought some pasta and pasta sauce home with me, I'm actually really gutted I didn't buy more as it was so tasty. The best way to get over those holiday blues is by bringing food back home with you!
Just like Milan we found an area just outside of the centre of Rome for food and drinks. (I'm so bad as I didn't write the name down, however just make sure you always go just outside of the city centre to discover some cute bars and quieter areas, which are much more affordable for food and drinks!)
I now really want to plan another trip to Italy next year...any recommendations would be great!
Love
Nicole
xx
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