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November Newsletter

Hi everyone,

It’s that time of the month again, and my jam-packed newsletter is here! As November is a five week month it’s felt like ages since I wrote my last newsletter, but I have crammed so much into these past few weeks and am so excited to tell you all what I’ve been up to! Here goes…

I celebrated Bonfire Night

 

My favourite time of year 💥🎉😍🍂 #bonfirenight #fireworks #autumn

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Bonfire Night is undoubtedly my favourite time of the year, I just LOVE it! I love wrapping up warm, grabbing a sparkler and gazing towards the skies as they light up with firework after firework. The food is a winner too, who doesn’t love tucking into a  hot dog (or three) whilst watching the fireworks go off?! I was lucky enough to go to TWO local displays this year and they were both wonderful.

I watched Ghost the Musical on stage

Musicals are soooo my thing, I love everything about them and am attempting to see as many as I can over the next few years! This year I’ve already seen The Bodyguard, Chicago and Les Mis, so watching Ghost was my final show of 2016 and what a show it was. Every single element from the cast to the music to the performance was mesmerising; I cried like a baby at the end but I loved every minute of it! Congratulations to the fantastic cast, crew and production company for putting on SUCH an amazing show.

I attended WTM London for the first time

 

 

I was sooo excited to attend my first conference at WTM London this year and couldn’t wait to start rubbing shoulders with brands, tourism boards and fellow bloggers at the biggest travel trade show in the world. I met so many people and learnt so much in such a short amount of time, one day definitely wasn’t enough to take everything in. Read all about my amazing time at London’s ExCel Centre here – I already can’t wait to return in 2017!

I won FREE return flights with Jet2.com

 

 

So anyone that knows me will know that I have really BAD luck at winning things. I never win on scratch cards, on lottery tickets or at any competition at all, until this month when I was one of 20,000 lucky people who won FREE return flights with Jet2.com’s  Name It competition! I was sooo overwhelmed I couldn’t believe it! I have the choice of visiting over 58 of Jet2’s fab European destinations in summer 2017 and I need to pick my holiday destination by 16th December, so I don’t have long! At the moment I’m torn between a cheeky week in Tenerife, or a little city break to either Dubrovnik, Geneva or Warsaw – people of WordPress… HELP ME CHOOSE! I might run a Twitter poll because I genuinely can’t decide.. watch this space…

I visited London three times in space of 7 days

 

 

It’s no secret how much I love London, and I was delighted when I recently got the chance to visit the city three times in the same week. I did some sightseeing on the Southbank, some wandering around Winter Wonderland and accidentally stumbled upon the UK premier of Fantastic Beasts in the middle of Leicester Square! London is looking particularly beautiful now that all the Christmas lights are up, and I just love the city at this time of year.

I entered Accor Hotels latest competition

 

 

I found this competition after scrolling past something on Twitter but I was also emailed directly about it and was invited to enter before the deadline closed, so thought I would get my entry in nice and quickly! AccorHotels is inviting bloggers to share their top tips on how to spend 24hrs in their fave cities. Naturally, I chose to write about the Big Apple as I literally had just 24hrs there before I had to jet back to sunny London the day after Independence Day! The prize is an incredible 9 night stay in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris which, for me, would be my total dream trip so I’m keeping everything crossed that I may have a teeny tiny chance of winning. Have a read of my entry – and GOOD LUCK to all other bloggers entering, don’t forget to use the dedicated hashtag #AccorHotels24Hrs

I spent a festive day at Winter Wonderland

 

 

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know I’ve been to Winter Wonderland recently as my feed is FULL of festive images from my day out there a couple of weeks ago. London’s Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary this year, and my fourth annual visit to the wintry spectacle certainly didn’t disappoint! I had a wonderful time and already can’t wait to return next Christmas (am I really thinking about next Christmas already?! Time – Please. Stop. Going. So. FAST!!

I reviewed a lovely hotel at the heart of the Cotswolds

 

Another day, another hotel review! Wonderful stay in the heart of the #Cotswolds – full review and blog post coming soon! #Oxfordshire

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Last weekend I had the pleasure of staying in one of the cosiest Cotswolds retreats, The White Horse Inn at Duns Tew. I was reviewing the Inn on behalf of a PR company and had a wonderful time. The staff made us feel so welcome, the room was sooo nice and cosy, and the dinner and breakfasts the next morning were AMAZING! The White Horse Inn was such as lovely location to spend my last weekend in November, and I would whole-heartedly recommend it to those looking for the ultimate getaway at the heart of the Cotswolds. Full review and blog post coming soon!

So there we go, I told you I’d had a busy month! It seems like November has gone by nice and slowly, and has given me chance to catch my breath after my hectic summer and busy autumn. I can’t quite believe we are about to enter our final month of 2016 though, where the HELL has this past year gone?! I’m in full festive mode now, I’m halfway through my Christmas shopping and I’m looking forward to the big day. Have you got yourself prepared for Christmas yet? Are you spending the festive period away from home? Tell me all your plans!

Love Jess x

 

Unexpectedly #London bound… Again! ✨💃 #selfie #happytuesday #backtomyfavecity

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October Newsletter – Happy Halloween!

Hi everyone,

Happy Halloween!! Can’t quite believe that it’s that time of the month again… Newsletter time! I thought my October was going to be pretty quiet, but it ended up being unexpectedly busy! I’ve been up to all sorts of exciting things and, as always, am more than happy to share them with you all… Here goes!…

I went on my first ever press trip!

 

 

So October has been an exciting month for me, mainly because I was invited on my first ever press trip! The wonderful team at Visit Bath invited me to spend a couple of days exploring their beautiful Spa city and I was able to obtain press passes to check out some of the city’s best known attractions. I had a brilliant time stepping back in history at The Roman Baths and climbing Bath Abbey for spectacular panoramic views of the city. I also spent the morning relaxing at the beautiful Thermae Spa before staying at the luxury Francis Hotel too – check out my full hotel review if you’re visiting soon and are looking for somewhere to stay! I was well and truly spoilt and already cant wait to return to beautiful Bath!

 

I registered to attend WTM London

 

 

So I’ve signed up to attend my first ever travel trade show and I am SO excited! WTM London is probably the biggest travel show in the world, with thousands of exhibitors from all corners of the globe coming together for three days of travel showcasing. I’ve been busy booking meetings in with various exhibitors and am hoping to meet with many more tourism boards, press members and fellow bloggers at the event next week. It has come round so fast and will be the biggest conference I’ve ever attended so I am really looking forward to it!

 

I became a tourist in my home city (again!)

 

 

I treated myself to a day off last week and spent some time exploring my beautiful home city, Oxford. I never get the chance to explore it properly and am always in a rush when I’m there (Christmas shopping is so stressful, I don’t care what anyone says!), so I thought it would be fun to spend some proper time seeing all the touristy things! I actually went on a first date with someone and we had such a fun day out, it was so refreshing to do something different for a date rather than just going out for a drink! I made a little Oxford ‘bucket list’ as it was his first time visiting the city, so we climbed St Mary’s Church, saw the Radcliffe Camera, explored the Ashmolean Musem & took a selfie under the Bridge of Sighs! It was so much fun and it reminded me how much I loved Oxford! What do you guys do for first date ideas? I love the concept of putting something travel related in there, I think it’s so much more exciting than just going to a pub and it can take some of the ‘first date nerves’ out the picture too!

 

I got scared silly at Thorpe Park’s Fright Night

 

👻 F R I G H T N I G H T 👻 #WeSurvived #ThorpePark #fbf #halloween

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I had never been to Thorpe Park before so when one of my  best friends suggested we head over for one of their Fright Night events I was so keen! I love theme parks and rides and love all things spooky and Halloweeny (that’s a word, right?!) so couldn’t wait to get my freak on and be scared silly. I have to say, it was crazy busy and the wait times for rides were insanely long, but we were there really for the Fright Night so we did a few rides but then spent the majority of time in the mazes. I was expecting them to be a little tame but oh my god they were SO SCARY! I was having heart palpitations, jumping out my skin and screaming my head off the whole way through, but it was so much fun and I will definitely be going back next year – what is wrong with me?!

 

My freelancing business has really taken off

 

This is how I feel right now. Today I calculated that I've earnt *almost* as much each month as I was earning in my old 9-5 job! I knew I could do it!!! I've started with nothing and built up my little business all by myself. At times I felt like giving up, like I wasn't good enough, and like I had no right to make a career for myself, but today I've felt so inspired and so pleased that my hard work seems to be paying off. Any doubts that may have been in my mind have now been dismissed and I am SO excited to continue my journey in my new career and see where this takes me! Here's to future success and many more adventures 📝💻✈️🌍 #MondayMotivation #freelancer #bloglife #virtualassistant

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I know I said this last month, but my business has continued to grow since then and I’m now earning almost as much as I was at my old 9-5 job!! I’m so so grateful to be content with doing what I love for a living, and it’s going really well so far. I’ve grown from nothing and now have six clients and am taking on an exciting new project soon which will expand my business even further. In case you don’t know what it is that I do, I’ve set myself up as a Virtual Assistant and I’m offering a range of services from social media management and content writing to Skype sessions for fellow bloggers and ad-hoc computer admin work for some of my larger clients. I seem to be getting busier as the days go on and am so pleased with how my little freelance life is turning out. Please contact me directly to see how we can work together!

 

I’ve been LOVING the autumnal weather

 

🍂🌳 #blenheimpalace #woodstock #oxfordshire #cotswolds #oxford #GB #UK #england #visitengland #lovegreatbritain

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I was sooo sad when my amazing summer came to an end this year, but I have to say that I have been loving the autumnal weather we have been having over here in the UK throughout October. It hasn’t been overly cold, and we’ve had some beautiful blue skies and crisp autumn mornings that have seen me take the dog out on lots of walks, especially round the grounds of the beautiful Blenheim Palace! I love everything about autumn; the colours of the trees, Halloween and Bonfire Night and I love the countdown to Christmas – can’t believe how fast the end of the  year is approaching though… slow down already 2016!

So that’s how my October went! How did yours go? Were you as crazy busy as me, or did you have chance to have some down time? Let me know what you’ve been up to, or what you’ve got coming up for November – mine is going to be a busy one with trips to London and Essex already pencilled in!

Love Jess x

 

It's timeeeeee 😈🎃👻👯 #Halloween

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