May In Review: Self Publishing & French Themed Pajamas

June is here which means the first month of winter is about to begin! This last month has been a good one for me with lots of interesting and new experiences to keep me busy. Here is what I have been loving during the month of May:

New thoughts, new ideas: At the end of the month I went to a two day conference for work, and while the majority of what I learnt was specific to my job, there were some fantastic speakers who talked about the importance of goal setting and self reflection that I thought was important for both our personal and professional lives. Sometimes we have ideas or dreams that seem too big or too out of reach to even consider as a reality, but taking a large project and turning it into lots of tiny goals can help us to achieve these dreams. I also like the idea of taking stock of our achievements at the end of the working week. Too often we think about all the things we have to do and forget to take time to acknowledge all that we've already achieved!

Self publishing: Last month I signed up to a self-publishing course and have finally found some time to sit down and have a listen. I'm only about a third of the way through but already have found some really good, helpful and practical advice on how to think about self publishing a book. The course is all online and you have access to it forever which makes it really worthwhile. Self published author Anna Scanlon takes us through the self publishing process and I find it really valuable that she has both self published and been partly through the traditional publishing method herself. I really recommend if you are thinking about publishing your own book or have a self published book already that is struggling to get promoted or sell.

Shopping for winter and island getaways: My shopping bag has had an odd mix of snugly woolen jumpers and tropical print bikinis as we are getting ready for a friends Bali wedding. With the cooling of temperatures I've also been looking for a cute but snuggly set of pyjamas and I have to say this pair from Peter Alexander has stolen my heart.

At the Movies: I've not been a massive cinema goer for the last couple of years but there are quite a few brilliant movies out that I'll be queuing up for. We saw Mad Max: Fury Road last week and I thoroughly enjoyed every action packed second (doesn't hurt that the babeish Tom Hardy stars as Mad Max either.) Also, how good does Jurassic World look? and of course I have to see Pitch Perfect 2 as it's predecessor is one of my favourite feel-good films!

What have you been up to during the month of May?