Lifestyle

April 2024 Wrap Up 

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 April 2024 wrap up! 

I'm ill again which is why this update is a little later this month. 

Here's a break down of what I got up to this month: 

Hair

This is the result:

Health

In general I've been doing better recently but I've fallen ill a few times over the past few weeks.

Here in Rome the weather has been a bit annoying recently. We've been getting all four seasons in the same day. Hot and sunny, windy and rainy, and then hail to top it off... all in less than 24 hours. 

It's impossible to know how to dress in the morning. Layers is definitely the best option, but even then it's a battle of hot and cold on and off all day long. 

This ever changing weather is the main reason why everyone seems to be ill at the moment, myself included.

You might also like: Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health

Blogging

April was my slowest month so far this year and saw a drop in statistics in general. I had a lot going on and just didn't have as much time to dedicate to the blog. My lowest number of blog posts for a month so far this year, and limited promotion of them. 

I'm hoping to do better in May but as I'm starting the month being ill I'll need to play catch up.

One of the things I've noticed most this year is the impact of Pinterest. The months where I dedicated more time to creating multiple pins for my blog posts I set new records in traffic to my site. 

In April I did very limited pinning and it shows. I'll definitely be improving my Pinterest strategy in the future as it has the highest ROI out of all the channels I share my content to. 

Traffic for April: 42,149 page-views

Number of blog posts published in April: 18 

Current DA score: 31

Reading challenges

I'm really pleased with my reading progress in April, not because I read a huge amount (although it was a major improvement on last month and got me out of the slump), but because I discovered a series I love. 

Two of the books I read in April are from the Bow Street Duchess Mystery series and I'm happy to have discovered that there are currently seven books in the series. I'll definitely be checking out the rest of them. Cara Devlin you have a new fan!

The Clock Reading Challenge

The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge

Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge by Lilian Monroe - My Review - Amazon - Goodreads

Murder at the Seven Dials by Cara Devlin - My Review - Amazon - Goodreads

Other books read:

The Getaway by Marnie Vinge - My Review  - Amazon - Goodreads

Death at Fournier Downs by Cara Devlin - My Review  - Amazon - Goodreads

Currently reading:

Red Runs the Witch's Thread by Victoria Williamson - currently on page 13/170 - Amazon - Goodreads

When the Clock Chimes Two by Adriana Licio - currently at 52% - Amazon - Goodreads

Travel

Due to the weather I didn't go out and about much in April. We did go to a Street Food event which was fun. Events like this happen a lot in Rome. The one we went to was at Colli Albani. Prices were a little high but they did have a wide variety of food available and there was a nice atmosphere. 

We made the most of one of the sunny, warm days and had a picnic in a park with friends which was nice. Felt like summer. I have a feeling we'll be doing this more often in the coming months. A good excuse to explore the many parks Rome has to offer.

Fitness

I didn't do a 30 day fitness challenge in April but I did continue exercising. I mainly just did squats and dead bugs. It's definitely easier to stay motivated and exercise regularly when I have a challenge to keep me on track. I'll be aiming to do more set challenges in May. 

You might also like: 30 Day Fitness Challenges for Beginners

How did you do with your April Challenges? What challenges are you doing this year? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

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Lifestyle

February 2024 Wrap Up 

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 February 2024 wrap up! I hope you all had a good month 😊

February is already over. Is it just me or does this year feel like it's whizzing by? 

Valentine's Day, Pancake Day... there was a lot to love about February.

Here's a break down of what I got up to this month: 

Hair

You might also like: A Guide To Different Hair Dye Colours: Tried and Tested

Health

Again, if you've been here before, you'll know all about my constant health struggles. Well, good news! I'm finally getting everything under control again 🥳

My new meds seem to be working for all my various conditions. I still have a few ups and downs but overall I'm doing so much better than I was. My quality of life has definitely improved. 

You might also like: Monthly Goal Ideas for Better Health

Blogging

February was a good month. Not quite as good as January was. February and March tend to be what I call slump months each year (is this just me or does everyone's traffic go down this time of year?). February is also a shorter month and so that makes a subtle difference too. Still, I'm pleased with my results.

I'm happy to report that my DA Score has increased again this month. My number of followers/subscribers on all of my social media profiles also increased this month. 

Traffic for February: 55,551

Number of blog posts published in February: 22

Current DA score: 34

Reading challenges

The Clock Reading Challenge

The Net Galley TBR Reading Challenge

War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson - My Review - Amazon - Goodreads

Five Nights by Rachel Wolf - My Review - Amazon - Goodreads

The Djinn's Apple by Djamila Morani - My Review - Amazon - Goodreads (I was sent both a digital copy via Net Galley and a print copy of this book from the publisher. See Unboxing: Book Mail from Neem Tree Press).

Currently reading:

The Last Passenger by Will Dean - currently on page 14/482 - Amazon - Goodreads

Four Steps to the Perfect Revenge by Lilian Monroe - currently at 10%  - Amazon - Goodreads

Travel

Nothing to report here. The weather wasn't great here in Rome and honestly I didn't want to risk going out in the cold with all the rain and wind. 

Fitness

I did the 30 Day Squat Challenge and loved it! I'll be doing a full blog post soon with all the week by week progress reports for the challenge but for now just know I'm very happy with the results. This was the perfect beginners fitness challenge as it was easy to do and gave visible results in a short amount of time.

If you do decide to do a fitness challenge like these 30 Day Fitness Challenges for Beginners, make sure you take progress photos or at the very least a before and after. It really helps show you the little subtle changes you're making along the way and does wonders for motivation to keep going. 

Given how well the 30 Day Squat Challenge went I've decided to do more fitness challenges in March. I'll be doing the 30 Day Extreme Squat Challenge (which basically picks up where the 30 Day Squat Challenge left off) and the 30 Day Crunch Challenge. I'll report back on both for you to share how each one goes. 

How did you do with your February Challenges? What challenges are you doing this year? Join the conversation in the comments section. 

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