Trello is my new best friend

Since starting my new job in March, I've become a little addicted to Trello. I haven't had much time to blog this week as I've been ill, so I thought I'd quickly summarise why I love Trello and what I use it for. 

Trello is basically a haven for list lovers and super organised people (a.k.a. me). You can set up boards for various categories, and within those boards you can set up numerous lists and cards. Cards can then be dragged and dropped into different lists when tasks get finished or priorities change. You can do lots of colour coding and add attachments, and it's completely free! 

Trello has a great mobile app as well as a user-friendly desktop version, and I'm now obsessively using it in my personal life as well as in work. 

So, what exactly do I use Trello for and why is it my new best friend? 

Work 

I'm a member of at least ten work-related Trello boards. As a communications team, we use Trello to plan our events and content, allocate tasks, organise workload, keep track of progress and keep on top of deadlines. We also use Trello to work with different areas of the business on wider campaigns and projects. It has a useful 'calendar' feature which allows you to look at the upcoming week or month in its entirety, and I honestly don't know how I'd be able to do some parts of my job without it! 

Blogging

I use Trello to jot down ideas for blog posts whenever they pop into my head. I move cards to my 'blog content in progress' list once I start drafting a post, then they satisfyingly get moved to the 'published' list when they go live on a Friday at 5pm. Trello has a handy 'comment' section where I keep a rough summary of what I want to cover in each blog post, and it's so much neater than keeping a big long note on my phone as I used to do pre-Trello. 

Holidays 

We used Trello to organise our holiday to Florida in May, and we're now using it to plan our trip to New York next week. Neil and I both have access to our 'NYC 2018' board which means any updates we make will sync across all our devices. It's a great way of keeping track of the restaurants we want to visit and to make sure we've actually got enough days to do all the exciting activities we've got planned. 

Christmas 

I used to keep my Christmas shopping list in the back of my paper diary. Not any more! Trello has been a really fantastic tool for noting down who I need to buy for, quickly jotting down gift ideas, keeping track of what I've bought and how much I've spent, then moving cards to that hallowed 'people I've finished buying for' list once I'm happy with what I've bought for each person. 

Is anyone else obsessed with Trello? Let me know if you can think of anything else I could use it for! 

An Instagram summary of the last month...

I've had a crazy few weeks which has resulted in no blog posts whatsoever. Most of my recent blog posts seem to start with a similar apologetic sentence, so I really want to get back into blogging regularly.

I thought I'd kick off my return to the blogging world by summarising the last month using my Instagram photos. It turns out that I've managed to fit in quite a lot! On that note, you'll ALWAYS know what I've been up to if you follow me on Instagram as I insist on updating it daily.

So here goes... feast your eyes on these photographs!


1. Four weekends ago, we walked to Cardiff Bay on a sunny day and had a lovely meal and cocktail in Signor Valentino. I love living so close to such pretty places!

2. I got promoted... I'm now a Communications Manager! It was a stressful few weeks leading up to the interview and official confirmation but I'm so excited about this opportunity. As you can see, Stitch was VERY excited for me.

3. I went for a work night out and had some tasty cocktails in Las Iguanas on a sunny Friday evening. Perfect end to a busy week.

4. I went to see my parents to celebrate my father's 70th birthday. I had a tour of his beautiful garden then we went to one of his all time favourite places... the Harvester!

5. We had a lovely evening at our friends' new house with lots of food and drinks. Sophie made me an amazing (and very aesthetically pleasing) glass of Pimm's!

6. We ventured into Cardiff city centre a few times during the last month. It's looking so beautiful at the moment with lots of pretty flowers and trees in full bloom.

7. We've done lots of work on the house over the last few weeks which has taken up a fair amount of time. Two of my very important contributions were buying this stunning orchid for the living room and re-arranging our bedroom.

8. I went to Southampton to celebrate my youngest nephew's first birthday. Both my nephews are so handsome!

9. I bought the most beautiful new Fiorelli bag... yes, that is important news in my world and definitely warrants an Instagram post (or two).

10. I went to the Smoke Haus and ate (most of) this beauty. Messiest burger I've ever eaten. I had to eat the entire thing with a knife and fork!

11. I enjoyed a relaxing sunny evening in the garden with a cocktail, some light refreshments and my Kindle.

12. I had my first ever personal training session at the gym! It left me ever so slightly exhausted but I'll definitely be continuing the programme over the next six weeks. Operation 'tone up for Florida' is ON.

13. We went to see Inside Out at the cinema (and bought a new Yankee Candle for the living room). Amazing film! You all just have to see it.

These photos pretty much sum up everything exciting I've been up to over the last few weeks. Posts like this make me realise how lucky I am to have so many things to enjoy and to look back on with fond memories. I might start writing a similar post every month as a reminder of what I've got up to... watch this space!