Yes, I’m a 21st century lady without a smartphone.

The main question I get asked is “How on earth do you get places?”. 

The short answer is “paper maps”. 

Here’s a longer explanation:

My go-to tools are the Moleskine City Notebooks and the NFT guides. I’m also a happy Google Maps customer… but on my laptop, with wifi.

How do you get around? Could you go smartphone-free?

As a growing Gryffindor, I’m getting braver at things like speaking up, asking questions, and striking up conversations with random people. 

But I still get star-struck around my literary heroes.

It’s an intimate thing, reading a book, and the closeness I feel with a text is inevitably tied to its author. 

Let’s put it this way. If I love a book, it’s because the author indirectly seduced me with his or her words. The author’s creation brews in my head and weaves into my imagination. It is the closest thing to magic that I have experienced. Maybe I worry that meeting that world-creator will shatter the illusion.

This weekend, I met Gabrielle Zevin. Despite Elsewhere being one of my favorite books. As she spoke to the room, I got so excited by everything she said. I was bursting to say “I would love you even if I didn’t already love you!”. Which is quite overt for this little INTJ. So I didn’t say that. But I found myself getting really nervous in line to get my book signed. 

Usually, I avoid the signing. I slip away, happy to retreat to the world we had built together, sort of. What is so special about a name scribbled inside a book? It just makes me less likely to lend the book out, which is a pity.

But I think it was the themes of this event that changed my mind for the day. Discussion about the community of reading and bookstores made me want to actually get that book signed and point out that we have similar taste in shoes. 

Nonetheless, I’m glad that I can avoid these decisions with Jane Austen.

I wonder… am I alone in this madness, or do authors give you the jitters too?

Fancy an extra Sunday treat? Here are 7 marvellous links for your morning. Brew some tea, get comfy, and get reading! 

♡ Pocahontas wins Most Minimalist Princess in this infograph of Disney princess outfit changes. 

♡ I love this cure for a bad day! 

♡ Men and women described the perfect female form: the fascinating photoshopped representations.

♡ A recap on a sugar free year: how desserts went from a treat to sickly sweet! 

♡ Photographs of kids and their toys from around the world. What would yours look like? 

♡ How Vivienne Westwood uses fashion to save the planet, plus her tips for sustainability

♡ Bogged down bloggers, this one’s for you.

♡ This list of 30 conversation-starters is worth a scroll through

P.S. What do you think of these links and this new series? Let me know!

Who has time to listen to a half-hour podcast these days?

Trust me, I get it. I’m used to reading blogs,watching my favorite TV shows, and making time for books and films. But podcasts? What even is that?

People recommended podcasts to me for the longest time, and I always meant to check them out, but since listening wasn’t part of my routine, it took a while to happen. When I finally got in the habit, I really, really enjoyed what I heard. In fact, I became a podcaster myself!

Co-hosting FabulosiTEA with Caroline from Sparkles and Crumbs is one of the highlights of each week. If you like what you’re reading here, I think you’ll like the podcast too. So if you’ve been seeing the episode announcements, but haven’t gotten around to listening, here are some fun ways to bring it into your routine.

I’m not one to encourage multi-tasking. Please don’t listen to FabulosiTEA while you’re watching Survivor. [the horror!]. But here are some activities that can be supplemented with a podcast.

You can listen to podcasts while…

• Walking – Sometimes I listen to podcasts while I walk to work. You could also use a new episode as an excuse to walk around your neighborhood, with “friends’!

• Doing chores – Clean the floors, fold laundry, organize your desk, paint the walls. Just don’t vacuum, probably.

• Collaging – I like to go through pages from magazines and decorate notebooks with my favorite scraps. Working with visual inspiration is a great way to complement audio inspiration!

• Stretching – Do some yoga or stretches for the duration of the podcast! I wouldn’t run to people talking, personally, but some light exercise could be fun.

• Playing Tetris – I love playing Quinn to podcasts.

• Doodling and note-taking – Here’s a thought. Make a podcasting sketchbook. Title the episode at the top of the page, and take down notes and doodles – whatever takes your fancy. FabulosiTEA in particular is full of Caroline’s well-curated quotations!

• Eating breakfast – When I lived alone at university I would watch my favorite YouTubers or even an episode of Gossip Girl while I ate my morning muesli. It was nice way to kick off the day “with company”. You can even tweet us and join in on the conversation!

• In the tub – Draw up a bath, add bubbles, push play, and relax. And how timely – this week’s episode is about bathing like Cleopatra! (Seriously, if you listen to the episode about baths in the bath, let us know!)

• Travelling – Load your iPod with podcasts before a plane, train, or bus ride. I can’t get anything done on a bumpy bus, so I might as well listen to something to distract me from headaches!

• Commuting – Some of our listeners have voiced that they love to listen while driving!

• Waiting for your nails to dry – I doubt I’m the only one out there who can’t keep still after I paint my nails. I realize that I’m such a busy-body, so I have to sit through a movie or something to force myself to let my nail polish dry in peace.

• Knitting – Especially repetitive pieces, like scarves

• Editing photos – I need complete silence while I write or read, but when I edit photos I like to have something playing in the background.

• Getting up in the morning – If you’re like Caroline, and enjoy lying in, set your alarm twenty-five minutes early, turn on the podcast, and enjoy from your comfy position among the pillows. Bonus points if someone brings you breakfast (or brunch) in bed ;)

• Getting ready for bed – It’s nice to have a calming down routine, and forcing yourself to sit, lounge, or lie back and listen could be just what you’re looking for.

• Sipping cup of tea – Well, obviously, as it’s FabulosiTEA we think tea goes perfectly. Plus, if you sign up for our newsletter, you can see our tea and cake pairings that complement each episode!

How to Listen:

1. Subscribe on iTunes – the episode will download to iTunes on your desktop, and/or to the Podcast app that comes with your iPod or iPhone.
2. Subscribe on YouTube – Alas, there are no visuals, but if you’re used to YouTube, then give us a listen!

We also post links on our sites, and on FabulosiTEA.com – the latter is worth checking out for Caroline’s beautiful show notes each week!

Go ahead – take your pick! And make sure to let us know how you listen.

Less stuff means less time in front of the mirror.

Paring down to a capsule wardrobe meant paring down the choices I have each morning as I get dressed. I discuss this more in my ebook!

What I wear depends on:

1. What’s clean
2. How cold it is outside
3. Where I’m going

Hear more in this video!

How do you get dressed in the morning?