June // Travels, cat thiefs and living in a YA contemporary

June…has been a busy one. By my standards, at least. To this anxiety ridden introvert who used to need as much time alone as she did around people, this month has been intense. To be honest, my scheduling still is intense, but maybe I’m getting used to it now.

Because at the beginning of June, I started my summer internship. I’m currently working as a communications and digital media assistant for a charity in my city, working 8:30am-4:30pm every weekday, yaddah yaddah yaddah. But Ashleigh got a (temporary) job! Doing full working days isn’t something I’ve done before, and I’m glad to finally have some experience on my CV. It’s also finally allowed me to buy a camera for my booktube channel, something that’s long been overdue. But I do have to admit I’m finding it hard to manage at times. My mental health in itself can make things a drag, and not having the time I usually have to myself anymore can wear me out rapidly. But it’s not even that…there’s just the plain simple fact that I can’t wait for it to be over. I’m not having a particularly bad time or anything, there’s just not as much to do as I expected, and sitting around for hours everyday surrounded by people I don’t fit in with, feeling clueless and unsure and attempting to think up something productive to do every single hour of the day…I’ve started to get a sinking feeling when thinking of work the next day. I’m trying so hard to stay positive – “only 5 more weeks to go! You’re getting paid and the work isn’t even hard! You actually DO enjoy the work! You’ll have something on your CV! You’re forced into going out and not spending every day alone over summer like you feared!” – but it’s exhausting to keep it up all the time. So here we are.

So as you might expect, the weekends have been the highlights of my month. But even more so because they’ve been full of day trips to see friends.

Midway through the month I visited Lincoln with Charlotte (@bookmarks and blogging), and it quickly became a place I loved. We did a mini bookshop tour, visiting four different bookshops and even a Bookstop Cafe – all of which you can see on my channel, because lo-and-behold Ashleigh remembered to vlog something!

But really, Lincoln is such a beautiful city with its old buildings, cobblestone streets and yes, even Steep Hill had me in awe, despite the ascent. We’ve already made plans to return in July, and I could not be more excited.

But we’re not done with the train hopping. I also visited Leicester, after “officially” gaining a new person in my life…

Twitter went a lil wild 😆

Should’ve expected a community of bookworms to love a cutesy story really. I feel like I’m living in a YA contemporary story.

Before the month was out I managed to pester Charlotte some more, joining her in a trip to Nottingham to visit the cat cafe! I’d never been to a cat cafe before, and it was just as amazing as it sounds. I adored being able to see all the different personalities in the cats, witnessing them run about the place while eating my lunch. I particularly fell in love with one called Chestnut who kept whipping out his paws to try stealing the lettuce on my plate. My ninja skills were tested that day. I loved it.

And to end the month, I took full advantage of the summer sun and visited my favourite place, a valley of woodland with a river entwining between the tree trunks. We were greeted with intense greenery, and my heart felt happy.

While work is adamant on bringing me down most weeks, I’m glad the weekends are allowing me the summer we so rarely have in the UK. Yes, I’m exhausted all the time now, but I’ll have my summer holiday soon enough.

Here’s to July x

Until next time…