Blog life vs Real life | Lifestyle

When I started my blog 2 years ago, I decided right from day one that my blog would be completely separate from my personal life, I took ages to start telling people that I had a blog just because I was scared of people's feedback!

I created a different Instagram account, a different twitter account and never even spoke about it on Facebook! For me it was the only way I would be able to just write whatever I want and say what ever I want without judgement! OK so I know what you're thinking, I write about bloody make up who cares it's hardly ground breaking stuff but for me it was a very different angle to what I had always liked! Another fear was that the people knew I has a degree in Journalism, would they be judging every small little mistake I can and will make! It was too much, so I thought I would just keep it as my own little private space of the internet! I kinda feel that a lot of other bloggers do this as well, I know so many people who kept theirs quiet to start with because I just think it's easier.

As time went by I pretty much stopped using my personal account and just stuck to my blog one under my little Honeypot Blogs title but as time goes on I feel like I'm getting prouder of my blog, all the time and effort I have put into it, it's tiny and but a mere drop in the ocean of all the blogs out there but I don't think I have done a bad job! I have worked with some great brands in the UK and all because I like writing but now as my lifestyle changed I kinda want bring a little more of my blog into my personal life, I've even changed my Instagram name to read my actual name as opposed to just my blog name! I'm even starting to post pictures from my Instagram account onto my Facebook as well though I don't actually link them together, not yet but it's a start!

I feel that because my blog is changing slightly and going towards a more lifestyle route I want to share all of my experiences that I am sharing with you guys but also share them with my "real life" pals as well, I don't expect all of them to read my blog bit it does feel good when they do!

Have you kept you blog and your life separate?

Trip to Berlin | Travel

So you guys have to follow me on Instagram because I have a lot of pictures over there but today I thought I would share with you my experience in Berlin! 

I've never been to Germany before so when I got the opportunity to attend an event with work, well of course I was bloody excited! I actually went when Berlin Fashion Week was on but I didn't go for the shows it was an event we were hosting that coincided with BFW,  but it was still pretty wonderful for me! I was only there for 2 night and flew back to Italy on the third day.

Berlin is a truly unique place and I can't quite put my finger on it but there is a certain darkness about it, where you can see the beauty of some of the buildings but there is just something else there! It isn't one of those places to me that is breath taking with it's beauty, it's edgy, dark and has a vibe about it that makes it seem very different to most other cities I've visited before! Also, it's massive, like really big but the bars and coffee shops have a rawness about them that make the city seem small! I had a few meetings in different coffee shops and they were all lovely because the staff were incredibly friendly but a fight broke out in one place between 3 people which was a bit much!

To get around Berlin was actually very easy, it's got a pretty well connected underground trains but even riding the underground was an experience in itself I came incredibly close to having my phones &/or my purse stolen out of my bag! I know what you're thinking I have mentioned two negatives, I must hate the place? I definitely don't, I know there are some wonderful historical attractions and I only saw a very small area of Berlin because I was there for work.

It was so cold there at it was -7 at times which isn't what I am used to but they also had snow which I loved because I feel like I haven't seen snow in years, it's nice to see a real winter! The people who worked in the stores/restaurants/bars/coffee shops were incredible, the customer service was some of the best I ever had and almost everyone spoke English and if they didn't they still tried to help! I'd say Berlin is one of the places I would have loved to explore more, I would definitely visit again!

Have you been to Berlin?

Ditta Artigianale | Food

Today's post is probably technically more just a drink post as opposed to Food but you know when you're in Italy food always comes with the drink so we'll run with that theme. Also, again picture quality is poor, soz!

Recently I went to a bar called Ditta Artigianale, which is probably more known for it's coffee as opposed to anything else or at least that's what the internet tells me, but the reason we came here is because I've also heard they do the best gin cocktails and drinks. Back in England, I'd rarely have Gin because it can be very bitter which isn't nice but, if I'm going to a place that actually does a variety of different gin based drinks then surely it should be good...and it bloody was. 

The bar was really nice, it definitely had quite a relaxed vibe about it, if this were in England I'd definitely say that it would be in Shoreditch or somewhere like that. The place was pretty busy but we managed to grab a seat in the corner of the bar and was pretty comfortable, as soon as you order you are given a giant bag of crisps which you can kinda see in the background of one of my pictures and this is why I bloody love drinking in Florence, there is always food! But that brings me onto another point, all the crisps are just salted, like even in the supermarket, there's no cheese and onion or salt and vinegar, weird but it's fine.

The cocktail menu, which I forgot to photograph, wasn't really that big , again it had a hand picked selection of drinks and to be fair all of them sounded great. The one I had was Imagin,  which was served as you can see, but the mixer was like an elder flower mixer and was delicious. I loved that the glass had lots of berries in it with a slice or orange and lemon. It was so refreshing and not at all bitter. After the drinks arrived we then also received those tasty little nibbles, going from left to right, the first one is like an anchovies topped bread with peppers as well, in the middle is some delicious beef tartar on a very thin bit of bread like a cracker drizzled with a little olive oil and the last nibble was an odd one. Like I think it was cheese with poppy seed and mind also had nuts in it somewhere, very unusual but delicious all the same. The bill came to 22EUR each, that 11EUR for all the delicious nibbles and drink each, I think that's a bloody bargain. 

What's you favourite drink?  

Long distance friendships | Lifestyle

This post is inspired by a couple of pals who came to visit me recently!

As you know, I'm in Italy, I have some great work colleagues and I have THE best roommates but I can't help but miss all my buddies in the UK! Sometimes I've found it really hard in the evenings because there isn't a massive amount I can do by myself. I know I can call or text but I must admit I can be a little rubbish at remembering to text people, you end up getting so wrapped up in your own little life that things get lost but in all honesty I just think that's part of growing up!

I do have a couple of pals that I can waffle on about utter rubbish with but more often then not I reach out because I genuinely care about how they are doing. For me I love those little moments where you see something and it makes you think of someone else and you have to message them instantly because they would just get it. It can be a little hard when I don't have a regular Internet connection or I'm just busy at work, I end up on missing some conversations which means that I've gotta go old school and text...Yeah shocking isn't it, to actually text in this day and age! The thing that I love about being out here is you value these interactions so much more and it doesn't even matter that you might not get a response the same hour or even in the same day, it just matters that the person is there regardless of location! 

I love having people come to visit beacuse when they arrive it's almost as if there has been no distance between us at all, we can just sit there chatting about whatever over a few cocktails and we could almost be anywhere. I've found it's really not that bad being away from everyone because it's not like I can't ever speak to them, in fact some people I probably message more than I did when I was back in the UK.

I had the best weekend with my pals, we ate, we drank, I gate crashed their hotel room! I might not get to see them for dinner and drinks after work anymore but I'm so lucky because I get to have mini breaks and holidays throughout the year with them. I'll hopefully be planning a little trip to Barcelona with a few of them in the summer which I can't wait for. Now, if only I could find a away of keeping all of them here with me all the time, or put them in my pocket or something...

Have you got many pals that live in different locations to you?

What's next for Honeypot Blogs... | Lifestyle

That's a scary title isn't it? Well, just let me explain...

To my 3 regular readers, you may have noticed that I just haven't been posting a lot and this isn't because I don't like blogging anymore, it's all about the timing! I have started a new job and relocated to a different country in such a short space of time!! I did take a break and wrote a bunch of posts ready to get me started again and then...there it was...LIFE, it bloody got in the way again! Just as I was getting on track I had to stop again, which sucked!  It sucked because everything was down, the views, the followers and the engagement, it was a visual representation that I was failing my blog!

It took me a little while to think about how to carry on, the thing is I have always loved writing and yet here I am struggling to find time to put it all together but how could that be when I have so much more time now? The formula that I have always followed with my content was primarily reviews, 3 pictures maybe 4 and then the reason why I picked the item, the first impression, the results and my thoughts, it followed that specific formula for 2 years! It was only when I was reading a book that I realised it's just too routine, which worked when I had one but now I don't, everything changes all the bloody time so how can I expect my content to remain exactly the same? I just can't!

This means, Honeypot Blogs is going to take more of a lifestyle turn, so expect more personal and more content heavy posts, I'm going to be expressing my thoughts and opinions about topics that are important to me and hopefully something you can relate to as well! I will still be writing about food because...well...just yum!!! This blog will still remain true to me just a little broader in terms of what I am writing about! This way I can sit on a train/plane/in my room and just write instead of needing to see the pictures or the product a thousand times before I finish what I'm writing! Of course my posts will still have pictures but they won't be as structured and staged but more sporadic and real I guess!

You may see the odd beauty post filter through if it has already been in my drafts but they will become fewer and far between.

So let me know what types of posts you'd like to read? Do you even like content heavy posts?