Seeing Spots

I haven't done a goals update since August, life, time, the will to blog has all run away with me but I decided as we are almost in 2018 I would do a final update.

I feel like I've hardly blogged this year and that's perfectly fine. I think one of the things I said was I would blog as little or as much as I wanted. This isn't my job, I blog for fun and the fun is lost once you start to force yourself to do something.

I'm averaging around 7 posts a month which isn't terrible. In the beginning, a lot of the posts seemed to be update posts. I think next year I'm going to try and blog more fun things. I'm not sure what these fun things will be but I'm sure I will think of something.

The area I was really trying to focus on was social media growth and while I only met one of my targets my growth was amazing. Numbers are not the be all and end all but it's so nice to see.

Below is the number each channel grew by and the target percentage. These were recorded on 27th December - Official end of the year will be taken on 31st December.

YouTube	94	66%
Google+	40	85%
Bloglovin	181	85%
Pinterest	652	83%
Facebook	170	103%
IG SW	591	84%
Instagram	553	95%
Twitter	668	99%

In the end only three of us could make it and luckily the snow wasn't as bad as the forcast had predicted so we made our way in to Saddleworth. 


The festive afternoon tea was £20 each with a £10 per person deposit to be paid at the time of booking. Included in the price was a sparkly glass of Prossecco and it really was sparkly as well as sparkling.


You've heard of my glitter hatered when it comes to Lush but in wine I'm all for it and on cakes and sadwiches and life! It's Christmas!!! See I'm cheerful and life glitter but keep it off my bath bombs!

This might have been one of the best value afternoon teas I've ever had. There was a huge amount of food and the portion sizes were on the large side. I'm greedy and I've never had to ask for a take home box before but I did this time.


There was a really good mix of savoury and sweet items and there was a little suprise of chocolate coins, chocolate santa and snowmen under the crackers.


Sweet:
Mini Macaroon, Mini Mince pie, start shaped ginger biscuits, millionaires shortbread and mini ferro roche cupcakes. Not forgetting scones with cream, jam and fresh raspberries.
Savoury:
Waffle with bacon, Brie and cranberry rustic roll, Turkey and stuffing on granary bloomer and a bucket of soup.


As well as the prossecco the first hot drink is also included. I decided to go for tea which another friend went for and we got a huge pot which was made with real tealeaves which I love but never use at home.


It fely magical watching the snow fall which you can't really see in the picture. It made me feel in the mood for Christmas.


What have you been doing to get in the festive spirit?

For the last couple of years, I've had a December break in the Canaries. Last year I went to Gran Canaria and this year I was in Lanzarote. I didn't expect it to feel festive but I have to say Lanzarote made me feel more festive than I was before I left.


I mean lighty up reindeer along the sea front in Aricefe made me smile.

There also lots of pretty lights in all the resorts but I adored the ones in the capital, the flowers below looked like cherries when they weren't illuminated and I'm glad we were able to stay long enough for them to be lit up.




As much as a traditional tree is lovely, I was very taken with this one. It looked so much better in real life. My photo does not do it justice.


The Biosfera Plaza Shopping Centre in  Puerto Del Carmen had brought a little bit of Christmas magic alive. There were so many little things to see and a very cute grotto that was open on Saturdays. 

 I was very taken with the lightbulb light fitting, they have a range of statement lighting. This one wasn't with the main lighting section and I think that's why it caught my eye.


I also think I need a teal footstool in my life but I am quite taken with the mustard ones as well.


In this store, they mentioned each department decorates their own trees in each of the departments. My favourite was this one with all the kitchen items. I adore those little buckets. I have no idea what you'd do with a bucket so small but I want one.


Another weakness of mine is mugs we have a cupboard full of them and we've even had to get rid of some to make room for my new ones but I spotted this one reduced to £1.70. I was planning on trying to hide it as I'd left my purse in the cafe in the other building. I also think they'd turned the tills off but my photo doesn't do this justice. If you like mugs you will understand


There is such a wide range of products, as well as the practical items you need for a home they also have some more quirky items which would be perfect for gifts, I mean who wouldn't love a dino egg cup. I would have an egg every single day if I owned one of them.


And what better way to illuminate said egg than with a matching lamp! Can you imagine if I had my own house! Laurence Llewellyn Bowen would be quaking in his boots at my style choices.


We headed back to The Emporuim Store to embrace Christmas, even someone who is the Grinch (and that was me last week) can not fail to feel a little bit festive. There is so much magic and even staying in the Christmas section you could lose an hour or more.


The buyer for the Christmas department talked us through some of the things they look at when deciding on what to stock and the themes. They have 5 main themes this year with the first one being Toy Shop, with lots of elves and my own personal nemesis the Nutcrackers. I'm sure a lot of people love them but they would be in my room 101. I need a huge room 101, but they have been added to my Tom Cruise List.


I'm struggling to remember all of the themes but I there was a definite woodland vibe to the next area with lost of natural colours and woodland creatures.


My favourite theme was the one in the above picture which sadly didn't photo well, there was a lot of copper and it felt warm and cosy and I'm a sucker for a lighty up star.

 There was a huge number of proffessionally decorated trees which are a work of art in themselves. They really showcase how you could decorate a tree for a showhome but they really help you to visualize how you could do something similar at home. I love the idea of using oversized silk flowers and bird ornaments within the tree as well as the usual ornaments.

A less than festive post today but I've been sat each night thinking about writing the next blogmas posts with my laptop firmly closed, a brew on top on it. The remote next to the cut as well as some post that needs to be moved.

It all feels like a lot of effort. For me, blogging is very much a hobby. I occasionally get a product to review or a nice event to go to but it's not a source of income and I guess in that way it should make it easy. Blogging isn't easy, it takes time effort and lot of brain power.

Planning, promoting, engaging and I don't do nearly enough of any of this. Do I need to? Maybe not, if it was my job then I hope I would.

I always feel like I don't fit in the blogging world but I can't stop. I'm older than a lot of bloggers but I don't have a family of my own so while my age bracket fits with a lot of parent bloggers I don't have children. I don't have a partner so things like the valentines PR emails which will start to be sent out very soon. You may scoff but last year I'm sure they started between Christmas and New Year.

I wonder why I bother but then I stop and take breaks and I miss the blog. I miss the time I can pour all the things in the messed up mind of mine out on a page. I'm not sure I ever get across what I mean but I try and it helps to free up a little bit of space.

Next year I'm not going to put pressure on myself. I'm going to blog when and what I want.

Re-branding has been on the cards for a long time but I think I'm over that. Seeing Spots is who I am. My main driver for re-branding was a beauty blogger I met at an event who asked me if the name came from me having bad skin! You've never seen anyone dig a deeper hole and make it worse for themselves.

My advice would be blog for you and not to be famous, not to be rich and work hard. Remember things are not free and make sure you value yourself as well as everything else