• Life

February, For Me

Cape Verde

And that my friends is another month done! Usually February isn’t my best month because of the cold and gloomy weather, but this month I’ve managed to get some sunshine both abroad and in the UK. 😱

This was how the month of love was, for me.

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS

Travel

  • 🏝 Matt and I kicked off our year of adventures travelling to Sal, Cape Verde. In case you missed it, it was incredible.

Work and speaking

  • 💼 Completed my first rotation in my graduate training programme, I’m now onto to a development role.
  • 🌟 Otegha Uwagba spoke at the BT Gender Equality Network event about building a personal brand and shared her journey from working at a corporate job to now freelancing. As a big fan of her podcast as well as Women Who, her talk further inspired me to continue doing what I love in the online world in addition to my full time job.
  • 🎤 I spoke at BCS Yorkshire Branch, Diversity in IT event at Sheffield Hallam University about ways we can do to improve diversity in technology and Code First: Girls’ 2019 cohort at Leeds University about my experience with CF:G and ways they can maximise their opportunities.

Online

  • ❤ I wrote a Valentines Day blog post to all the boys I loved before 😆
  • 💜 I’ve moved February’s Inspiring Figures to March due to travel, but you can still catch up on last month’s feature with Brinda here.

Personal

  • 🥰 Matt and I hit our 2 years anniversary
  • 🌿 I spent a weekend in Derby for Matt’s birthday, we visited the Peak District which was the refreshing weekend that I needed!
  • ☀️ It has felt like summer in February!

3 THINGS I’M HAPPY ABOUT

1️⃣ Travelling to Cape Verde

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start our year of adventures!

As I wrote on my blog post, I didn’t know what to expect with Cape Verde, I’ve never been on that side of the world before and research online didn’t give too much away… This made me feel both uneasy but excited at the same time.

It turns out, I was totally surprised by how much I enjoyed it! ✨ It was such a fantastic experience, I learned a lot about the Cape Verde Islands, spent time on the beautiful beaches and met some lovely local folks as well as fellow tourists. I can’t recommend the beautiful islands enough! We will definitely be making a return.

2️⃣ Positive feedback and engagement on speaking gigs

I’ve been doing a couple of talks both at work as well as outside of work at events. I’ve been feeling a lot more confident each time, and each time I get this rush (similar to my post workout) that just feels amazing. But nothing beats great feedback from others and by great – I mean both the positive and constructive feedback.

I’ve been feeling quite lucky with my audiences this month as well, everyone has been so engaged with their questions! 🙌🏻 Thanks to everyone for coming along and supporting – I really appreciate it. ✨

3️⃣ 2 years with Matt

It seems crazy that 2 years have already passed since Matt and I officially started dating. From graduating from University, getting jobs and moving in together – it’s been wild! 🙈 Every day I’m very grateful for the incredible time I’m having with him, as I wrote in my letter, I’m glad I’m on this life journey with him. 😊

For our 2 years celebrations, we ate some delicious food at our new favourite restaurant (more information below), travelled to Cape Verde and created a book of photos from our 2017 memories (created by Google Photos!) Here’s to more adventures ~

FEBRUARY IN PHOTOS

Cape Verde, Barton, 2 years celebration, Gym

FEBRUARY FAVOURITES

For all my favourite items each month, check out my Amazon list! !

  • 📚 The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle – a fantastic book about the whys and hows of staying in the present moment. I’m listening to the audiobook which has been a great experience!
  • 💙 Calm – specifically their new flight anxiety sessions, this has helped a lot with the anxiety I get when flying; reminding me that I’m safe and that any discomfort I feel will all pass soon.
  • 🍓Miller and Carter Restaurant in Leeds – Matt and I went here for our anniversary, it has become a new favourite for steak and their amazing desserts. 😋
  • 🎬 How to Train Your Dragon 3 – you ain’t ready, kids.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

NEXT MONTH

  • 💪🏼 I want to make fitness a top priority in March. Because of travel for most of this month, it’s been slow getting back into it!
  • 👩🏻‍💻 I’m so excited to be starting my new rotation as part of my graduate scheme, where I’ll be doing more development work and learning more about some new technical concepts I’ve not come across before!
PN in Greek

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