hi readers & welcome to my first ever blog post — i’ve wanted to create this blog ever since reading butter by asako yuzuku in september 2025 when i was inspired by the character manako, she is a gourmet cook & serial killer, but it was her blog where she shares recipes & her passion for good food that sparked this idea

kinda like if bridget jones diary was online — somewhere to discuss the honest moments behind pictures posted online or detailed reviews of restaurants i recommend, it’s a digital space to be real & for likeminded people who want a slower more intentional place to read & share

i haven’t posted on social media for almost a year & i’ve realised part of the reason for not wanting to is because of the followers i’ve collected over the years who i now have nothing in common with, like people i went to school with over 10 years ago, or people we meet on nights out or through friends of friends & we post — with slim to no interaction with each other, silently observing each others lives

my best friend has recently created an instagram for everything book related content (@alexinchapters_) & she’s created this beautiful community of people online, she’s since met & become friends with some of them & i believe that’s what social media was meant for — not the empty comparison we feel so often nowadays, i want to create something that’s honest & showcases real life

because i love social media, however i struggle with over consuming, comparing & not feeling good enough — so on here i plan to dive a little deeper & talk about real routines, imperfect days, small joys & how to live well offline as well as online, without measuring it against somebody else’s highlights

the thought of having even 3 readers (lewis my partner, alex the best friend & you), if it can make you feel like the pressure has been taken off to be perfect or we can gain a sense of comfort & conversation through normal life experiences, or share current beauty favourites & go to girl dinners, it’ll bring me joy — i miss being creative online & i’m tired of holding back incase what i post isn’t perfect

i’m very critical of myself which often holds me back from doing things, from age 19 (& i’m 26 now) i’ve filmed parts of my life to make the clips into youtube videos to remember all the fun times i’ve had & i have only 14 videos posted, of those 14 videos i’m only almost completely happy with 2 of them & behind that there are SD cards full of content untouched & countless copies i’ve deleted & reedited over & over in the hopes they’ll be good enough for me — & my rational brain tells me you have to start somewhere, that you learn & evolve & get better at your craft over time but that doesn’t stop it from being difficult

when creating this website i did the exact same, it’s been almost ‘perfect’ for months yet i’ve continued to tweak colours & fonts until i get overwhelmed & decide to try again another day — so i’m here now to tell you (& myself) that perfect doesn’t exist, i scrapped the draft blog posts i went back & forth over editing for months & i’m typing this here & now

if you want to start crafting, or a true crime youtube channel, let’s together just, start — & give ourselves some grace because what could we possibly gain by not doing something that could bring us happiness! my mother in law has a rule she applies to her work called ‘80% is good enough’ & it helps her to achieve more without spending too much time & being over critical on projects — & it makes total sense, i haven’t done a single test in my whole life where the pass boundaries have been 100% & that’s helped me to begin again, to give this my whole — but not too much & to allow myself the journey of getting better as i go along