Saying Goodbye

So, I know I said I would wait until January to launch my new blog, but I couldn't wait. My excitement got the best of me, so without further ado, here is: Jes + Bleu.

It would mean a lot to me if you could go ahead and check out my blog and it's one entry so far and instead of following Naturally Jes, follow this link here.

There will be a new post coming this Saturday - for Halloween - on Jes + Bleu, so be sure to keep a look out for that!

A Farewell For Now...

Oh my Goodness.

It has been forever since I have been on this platform – four months to be exact – which is a really long time for me and maybe for you too.

Usually I would sit here and explain how sorry I am for my absence, but won’t because I know you already understand how life gets sometimes. So I’ll spare you from that proverbial lecture. 

However, I do want to tell you something significant about Naturally Jes, both good and bad news.

I’ll tear the Band-Aid off and begin with the bad news: NJ as of today will be no longer.

For the past two years that I have been here, I have met so many wonderful people and I have learnt so much about myself – and about you too! – but let’s face it… NJ has lost its touch. It isn’t me anymore and in the past four months I haven’t updated, I have grown so much as a person. I’ve outgrown my blog. And I know what you may be thinking: “just revamp your blog to suit you?”… and it’s a great suggestion – really, it is – but the truth is … I don’t want to.

So, as of today, Naturally Jes will bid you a farewell.

That being said, I did say there was good news and the good news is: it isn’t the end of Jes (me)!

Despite Naturally Jes being no longer, it doesn’t mean I will be disappearing off of the face of the Internet. I will be around, however it may not be for another few months.

Around the end of January, I will be re-launching a new blog, which is so exciting for me!

A new layout, a new URL, a new everything, but for that to happen, I will need until the end of January to plan and implement everything. So, if you are still interested in hearing what I will be up to in the next year or if you still are interested in Naturally Jes, please do stick around until January and I will be prompting my new blog here on Naturally Jes.

Before I sign out again for another few months, I just want to sincerely thank every single one of you for being there for me, for celebrating with me and just for being there, to be honest.

I love every single one of you and I hope you will join me on my next journey.

I’ll see you then!

I'm Back!

I feel like I owe you an apology for my absence, but do I really need to justify myself?

The truth is, life is complex. Life is filled with unforeseen prospects. Life is intrusive. I am human and there is only so much a human can control and manage until they have to stride away from something or everything to allow them to breathe wholly again.

You may or may not remember this, but at the beginning of April I confessed my uncertainty about my future. I did not know what I wanted to do with my life, but after reading and re-reading over your comments – which by the way I still appreciate so much – I decided to continue with my course and I am happy I did.

I am in my second last term of my last year. A lot has been going on, hence why I have not made an appearance on my blog for quite some time, but as I said earlier in this post, I feel like I do not need to justify myself and to be completely honest with you, I don’t know how consistent I can be with my blog until I have completed my course.

I can only try.

Nonetheless, I would like to sincerely thank you – if you’re one of them – for staying with me and being patient with my blog and me.

And please note that I am fine. I am healthy. There is nothing neither psychically nor mentally wrong with me. I just needed to take a holiday from my blog, but I am so glad to be back!

In Rye | Travel

 

Even though it was only a day tip – I wish it were more than just a day – to Rye, I can’t begin to explain how wonderful the day was overall.

The Peninsula Hot Springs, as you now know, was amazing, but there was something so special about spending valuable time with my closest friends two hours away from home. I mean, nearly all of us are in University and we obviously have our own lives so it’s most definitely not every day that we get to do this; having this moment with them and sharing these memories with them made me feel appreciative of what I have and who I have in my life because honestly – cue the sentimentality – my friends mean the world to me, and their company is more than special to me, too.

After the Hot Springs we went to the beach nearby and had lunch. We spent the day building sand castles, attempting cartwheels on the beach and of course, for me, taking picturesque photographs of the beach and eating ice cream. And despite it being autumn, the day was superb. There was hardly a cloud in the sky.

But, as I mentioned in my previous post, this wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Indy and her turning twenty. So, let’s raise a glass to Indy!

Hot Springs | Travel

 

It was my best friend’s twentieth birthday on Thursday.

For her birthday, Indy organised a day trip to Rye – which is more or less the bottom of Victoria in Australia – to pay a visit to the Peninsula Hot Springs. Rumor has it that the Hot Springs is the first natural hot springs and day spa centre in Victoria. It’s apparently made up of natural thermal mineral waters that basically turn into these to-die-for spas. To say the least, it was incredible and tranquil – especially the view from the highest spa. It was a photographers dream, I can say that much, and I’m afraid the photographs below won’t do it justice. That is how beautiful it was!

We spent up to five hours going from spa to spa, to sauna to sauna and by the end of those five hours, I felt like my skin was never going to un-prune (is that even a word?), but it was worth it.

The Turkish bath (Hamam) was one of my favourites. Basically, if you don’t know what a Turkish bath (Hamam) is – according to Wikipedia – it is a sauna distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam. It’s a method of cleansing and relaxation. At first, I was very reluctant because when I stepped in I could not breathe for the life of me because of the steam, but once I adjusted, it was relaxing and cleansing to say the least because steam actually exfoliated our skin.

My least favourite thing about the Hot Springs was leaving. I didn’t want to leave. I mean, despite me turning into a prune, I had a ball and I would totally recommend it if you’re going to Victoria anytime soon, or live in Victoria and have never been!

But it wouldn’t have happened without my dearest friend, Indy. So thank you Indy for an amazing day! 

Also, after the Hot Springs, since we were far from home and had nothing else to do, we decided to spend the day in Rye visiting the beach nearby. I will share those photographs in another post, another time.