Lifestyle: July and August 2025 Wrap Up 

What Happened 

Join me as I recap what happened in July and August with my hair, blog, health, reading, travel and fitness.

Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full disclosure about all the legal stuff here.

Unfortunately I missed posting my July wrap up so I'm doing and two for one and giving you July and August together.

Wrapping Up July and August: What Happened

Hair

Health

I was hospitalised twice in the intensive ward in May for multiple blockages in my intestine and a diverticulitis flare. Since then it's been a struggle to get everything back under control and work out what I can and can't eat.

In July I had my mammogram and breast scan done. All good, although I had to do the mammogram a few times as it didn't give a clear result the first few times. I'd forgotten how painful it is. Still, needs to be done and the scan and visit ended well in the end.

I'm currently doing preparation for my colonoscopy which is scheduled for 3rd September. I also have more tests and my thyroid scan this week. Fun times! At this point I just want this week to be over and done with as soon as possible. 

In other health news, my husband is keeping me company at home as he hurt his leg when we went to the beach in July. A simple dive turned into a 5cm rip in his calf muscle. We really are quite a couple aren't we? 

You might also like: Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health

Blogging

Traffic for July: 70,978 page-views

Number of blog posts published in July: 16

Current DA score: 28

Traffic for August:  67,904 page-views

Number of blog posts published in August: 18

Current DA score: 28

In July I was part of a collaboration post Summer’s One Must Read Book 2025 put together by Carol from Reading Ladies with a fantastic group of book bloggers. Your TBR is guaranteed to grow if you read the post! 

If you'd like me to be part of a collaboration post on your blog please get in touch. It's always fun to work with other bloggers. 

Reading challenges

The Clock Reading Challenge 2025

The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge 2025

Currently reading:

Shadow in the Ward by Ari Gray - currently on page 121/345 - Amazon - Goodreads

Twelve Mile Bank by Nicholas Harvey - currently at 9% - Amazon - Goodreads

Travel

At the beginning of July we managed some trips to the swimming pool and the beach and even a few nights out which was nice. Summer in Rome is always packed with concerts and other events (a lot of which are completely free to attend). We also celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary. 

At the start of July I took my youngest inside the Colosseum and the Roman Forum for the first time which was great. I hadn't been back inside for about 23 years (back when I was a tour guide for the Colosseum). It still has the wow effect! 

We also went to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica - one of my favourites here in Rome. As it's the Jubilee, we went under the Holy Door whilst we were there too. 

Unfortunately all our plans for the summer kind of went out the window after my husband hurt his leg as he can't walk on it. It would have been difficult enough going places with all my health problems but that sealed the deal and so we've been chilling at home. 

Fitness

I've been trying to keep my daily steps up (not always easy with my health and the added heatwave). 

I've also been continuing with some arm exercises when I can although I've not managed to stick to a regular routine. 

I'm really hoping things will calm down and I'll be able to get into a more consistent exercise routine again soon. 

You might also like: 30 Day Fitness Challenges for Beginners and Tips to Start Working Out: A Friendly Guide for Women Over 40 (or Anyone Just Getting Started)

How did you do with your Challenges over the summer months? What challenges are you doing for 2025? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

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Lifestyle: June 2025 Wrap Up 

What Happened This Month

Join me as I recap what happened in June with my hair, blog, health, reading, travel and fitness.

Disclosure: The FTC Disclosure Provision is a law that requires influencers to disclose when they are being paid to promote a product or service. So please know that if I'm not making money through affiliate links/sponsored content on the post you're currently reading, it's an oversight on my part and will be corrected soon. Read the full disclosure about all the legal stuff here.

Welcome to my June 2025 wrap up. 

Those of you who read last month's wrap up will already know that my youngest had his Invalsi exams in May. Well, June was time for his final exams. Days of written tests and then his oral exam. I'm happy to say he passed with flying colours and is now officially done with middle school! Proud mummy moment 💖

A lot has been happening regarding my numerous health problems but I'll go into more detail about that later in the post. 

I did manage to fit in some fun stuff too though. 

Wrapping Up June: What Happened

Hair

Health

After being hospitalised twice in the intensive ward in May for multiple blockages in my intestine. I've been on a very strict diet for the past month. I have an extra long colon and diverticulitis which causes a whole bunch of problems.  It is also the reason I have chronic gastritis and suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease. 

I finally got the results of the biopsies they did during my gastroscopy and basically just confirmed stuff we already knew so no nasty surprises.

I've had numerous control visits and more tests done during June. At one point I risked having to go back to the emergency room again but luckily it calmed down again with home treatment. Blood tests showed I still have some inflammation though so I'll be doing another round of tests next week to make sure that's under control.

I've now got a new diet too. Whilst I'm very happy to be able to eat a slightly wider variety of foods it also scares me. It's a huge on-going experiment to see which foods are going to trigger my condition. It also doesn't help that I have a lot of food intolerance issues. 

They've also now scheduled my colonoscopy for September so I need to make sure I don't relapse again before then.

During my last control visit they told me they think I might have celiac disease after all (I've been gluten free since 2005 as they thought I had it, but then decided I was just intolerant as blood test was negative). Now they think I got a false negative and so need to investigate further but only once I've got my diverticular disease under control and have done the biopsies from my intestines. 

I'm glad we're finally putting all the pieces together and working out exactly what is wrong but chronic illness is so frustrating. It's that constant feeling of one step forwards, two steps back. 

You might also like: Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health

Blogging

Traffic for June: 93,220 page-views

Number of blog posts published in June: 16

Current DA score: 28

Reading challenges

The Clock Reading Challenge 2025

The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge 2025

Currently reading:

Shadow in the Ward by Ari Gray - currently on page 116/345 - Amazon - Goodreads

Travel

2nd June is national holiday here in Italy and so we had a beach day at Lavinio with family and friends. Our first beach trip of the year. It was great fun and a lovely time was had by all. I even managed to have my first swim in the sea of the year. Unfortunately I struggled with my health (particularly towards to end of the day) and then it took me about 3 days to recover. Still worth it! 

I also went with my sons to the TIM Summer Hits Music Concert at Piazza del Popolo in the centre of Rome. We'd been planning it for ages and I'm not one to give up easily. Again a bit of a struggle but we all ended up having a fantastic night, singing and dancing. This also took a few days to recover from. Again, it was worth it. 

I've basically decided to try and do stuff when I can. Life is for living and I want as many happy memories as possible.

Fitness

I've slowly been trying to increase my number of daily steps again and doing some light workouts. Not always easy, especially in this heatwave (we're about 40° with the humidity here in Rome at the moment and on red alert). 

I've been mainly doing arms exercises as my stomach area is still too delicate to do much. With all abdominal exercises and even leg work like squats out of the picture (squats actually work your lower abs quite a lot), I've been trying to do arm exercises most days and I'm already seeing a small improvement. I'll put together some blog posts soon with all the exercises I've been doing. All are suitable for complete beginners. 

You might also like: 30 Day Fitness Challenges for Beginners and Tips to Start Working Out: A Friendly Guide for Women Over 40 (or Anyone Just Getting Started)

How did you do with your Challenges in June? What challenges are you doing for 2025? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

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