it's me, hi

Not currently a problem (I hope), but it’s me all the same.

Kia ora! 👋🏻 I’m Anjali, and I’m a New Zealand blogger and blog coach in Auckland.

If you love books, travel, creative projects and blogging tips, then you’re in the right place!

Welcome to This Splendid Shambles. I’m so glad you’re here!

Keep reading to find out a little more about me and what you can expect to find on This Splendid Shambles.

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a little about the blog

In 2009 a friend suggested I start a blog, and the rest, as they say (whoever ‘they’ are 🤷🏻‍♀️), is history.

Over a decade later, I’ve grown This Splendid Shambles to what you see today, and while what I write has changed since those early days, the intention is the same: to encourage and inspire.

Books, travel, and creative projects are some of my favourite things to talk about, as well as providing resources, guides, and top tips for blogging (whether you’ve just started or yoúve been in the blogging world a while).

Throw all those things together and you have this mishmash of topics and posts to keep you entertained, encouraged and inspired.

Whether you’re here for the book reviews or the travel posts, the ponderings of my overactive mind or you’re an aspiring blogger looking for some tips, you are so welcome!

Won’t you join me (said in my best Moira Rose voice IYKYK), as I venture through this splendid shambles I call life.

things i love

(aka the short story)

BOOKS

TRAVEL

BOARD GAMES

COFFEE

ROAD TRIPS

BUBBLE TEA

WRITING

LATE NIGHTS

GOOD FOOD

YOU! FOR

BEING HERE

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oh you wanna know more? mmkay

(aka the long story)

They say an ‘about’ page should be more about YOU, the reader (hi reader!) than it should be about me, the writer. But that’s what this page here is for. (Go on, take a geez. I know you want to 😉)

Since we’re taking a moment to talk about Anjali, here’s what we might chat about if we were to have coffee together.

What’s your drink of choice, btw? Mine is a mocha unless it’s after 2pm and then it’s a spicy chai (otherwise I can’t sleep). In the summer? Pretty much the same. Christmastime? Anything gingerbread flavoured. Mmm gingerbread …

I digress. Where were we? Ordering a coffee, that’s right.

Let’s grab that corner booth, the one by the window so we can chat but also people-watch (a favourite pastime of mine). It’s like we’re at the airport 2 hours before we need to be there just to sit and watch (in a non-creepy sort of way, ya know).

I might also grab a white chocolate and raspberry muffin, while we’re here. You want anything?

Oooh, good choice.

I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m not very good at asking questions, so often I’ll follow where YOU lead, especially if we don’t know each other very well yet.

But if we’ve been hanging out for a while, then let’s joke about ‘that one time’, make every second sentence a She’s the Man quote, and suddenly break out in the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song, just … coz.

Let me just get my water bottle out of the yellow fabric bag I bought on an overseas trip a few years back.

It’s packed full of useful things, like my water (duh), a book (again, duh. You never know when you might need to read something. I’d be doing that right if you had ghosted our wee coffee date. Hey no hard feelings – I’m prepared!), a reusable bubble-tea straw, my headphones wrapped around a foam sheep (probably don’t ask) so they don’t get tangled in the numerous pens and hair ties and lip balms scattered through the bag …

I think there’s currently a magnet from my trip to Mongolia in there, too. I love travelling.

How’s your drink?

Good good, mine too. Ooh! Look at that woman’s STUNNING outfit! There, just outside by the bus stop.

I betcha she made that. You don’t see many dresses like that around. I wonder if she uses the same patterns I do when I make my own clothes. My grandmother’s sewing machine has come in handy over the years; the overlocker my grandfather bought me, too.

I’ve always been a bit of a crafter. I used to build my own dollhouses and make a lot of gifts for people, and while my time seems to be taken up with other things these days, I do love creating, still.

Or just let me at an event’s decor. Please. I will clamber up ladders to string as many fairy lights as you need, and can even offer you a photo booth that I made for my friends’ wedding.

I’ve been to a lot of weddings. Like … a LOT. You want a number? Um sure … hold up. *counts through them as fast as I am able* I believe it’s 31 with another 2 in the pipeline. But I’ve always gone as a single pringle, so if you know anyone, hey you know where to find me. (Here, in the cafe, in the corner, probably with a book.)

Speaking of stories … I’ve been reading ever since my parents put Where’s Spot? and The Very Hungry Caterpillar into my tiny hands as a Small, and I haven’t really stopped.

Just don’t ask me to give you a favourite … I couldn’t possibly. My nearly-a-library of books would all scream at me that THEY’RE my favourite … but I don’t have faves.

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Actually … that’s not quite true. My favourite story?

It’s yours.

In 2020 I decided to take everything I’ve learned here in the blogging world and turn it into something good, something helpful for other aspiring bloggers, something bold and creative.

(You can read more about my love of helping other bloggers and sharing blogging tips here.)

I’ve been talking a lot; my coffee is going cold and you’ve already finished yours. Here, take some of my snacks; I’m always happy to share.

So that’s a little bit (or a lottle bit) about me …

So tell me … what’s your story?