August Favourites

Leave a Comment
It's that time of the month again. Here are my favourites for August.

Bits for my room
Now that Mum has finished decorating her room, mine is next. I’ve gradually been gathering little bits together for when it’s ready and the other day I found this lovely Inky Butterflies Duvet Set in Asda. One of my walls will be the same sort of pink as the butterflies and I’m having pink curtains with white polka dots too, so this set will go brilliantly. I can’t wait to use it!
This gorgeous memo board is another item for my soon-to-be-decorated room. It will be going on my pink wall so I chose a fabric that was close to the grey walls to bring it all together. I am planning to use it for photos and reminders and the hooks at the bottom will be useful for bits and pieces that I've collected to go on my happy wall. Tori, who runs Belle & Evie, is incredibly creative and so helpful making sure that your order is exactly as you want it before proceeding. I would definitely use her again, maybe for some matching letters.
My Dad and Caroline bought themselves one of these awesome cookie jars and knowing my love for owls got me one too as a surprise. It came with two bags of cookies in it and as I’m currently winning at Slimming World, I gave one bag to my friend and have saved the other for emergencies or Christmas. I’m not likely to use him for treats so I thinking about putting cotton wool balls and cleansing pads in there. Not sure yet.
Books
I've read an unbelievable amount of books this month (for me anyway). I rarely manage to reach the end of one. Here's a quick summary of the ones that I've finished so far.
I got On the Other Side the day before my birthday at Carrie Hope Fletcher’s book signing event, but I didn’t have the chance to read it straight away. Being on holiday meant I could sprawl on the sun lounger and read it in a couple of sittings. It’s about an elderly lady called Evie who arrives at the door of her own personal heaven in her 27-year-old body having passed away peacefully in her sleep. However she cannot enter as her soul is too heavy, burdened by three secrets that she kept when she was alive. The story follows her as she figures how to reveal these secrets to her loved ones therefore enabling her to get to heaven.
Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body is the first book that will be discussed in The Guilty Feminist Book Club. I think Sara Pascoe is an amazing comedian so I was happy to give this a go (some of the books in the coming months don’t look like my sort of thing at all). I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was so interesting. There is a lot of history and science in it which isn’t usually my cup of WKD, but the way she writes made it seem like I was listening to her at a show or on TV and her obvious interest in the topic helped keep my attention. I really would recommend this book to everyone and not just women.
The Marble Collector by Cecelia Ahern was this month’s choice for the book club that I started with a couple of my friends and our mums. I think it is the only book that I haven't finished in time for the discussion where I wanted to finish it carry on afterwards to find out what happens. This is the story about Sabrina and her father Fergus. While Fergus is in specialist care following a stroke that left him with memory troubles, some of his belongings are sent to Sabrina including his extensive marble collection, of which she knew nothing about. As Sabrina journeys to find out the truth about her father's past, she uncovers some truths about herself too.

BusyB Goodies
This is a little early admittedly, but our calendar and my diary for next year arrived at the weekend. Mum and I love the BusyB Couples Calendar and we use them every year. Each month has four columns. One for each of us, one for things we do together and one for birthdays. There is also a pocket for each month where you can put appointment reminders, birthday/anniversary cards, and concert/theatre tickets. The calendar comes with a sheet of stickers to use and a pack of refills is also available.
My diary for next year is the Busy Life Diary in Stripe. I've never used a BusyB diary before, but someone recommended it and I'm so glad they did. In the front there is the usual Personal Details and Useful Numbers section, followed by a year to view for both 2017 and 2018. After that there are month to view calendars for the whole year, which I may use to plan my blogs; I haven't decided if they are large enough for that purpose yet. At the start of January, April, July and October, there are double pages that have space for notes as well as a pocket, which will be so useful for work as we split the year into quarters. The main diary has a week over two pages so I can use one side for personal and the other for work. I think I've finally found my dream diary.
   
iPhone 6 Plus
This was technically a July favourite, but I forgot to add it so it’s going on here now because I can’t leave it out. I’ve been debating going back to an iPhone for a while now even though I swore I’d never have one again. When the battery on my Sony Xperia started to fail I decided to upgrade early and I got the iPhone 6 Plus in Rose Gold (pink!). I got used to using an iPhone again in no time at all and I went for the largest amount of storage so I’m hoping it won’t fill up too quickly. Probably my favourite thing about it is that I can now listen to all my music in the car now as my Sony never worked with the radio. Cue singing the Pitch Perfect soundtrack on the way to and from work every day.

Podcasts
I’ve really got into listening to podcasts recently so I thought I’d share my faves so far with you.

During each episode of The Guilty Feminist Sofie Hagen and Deborah Frances-White discuss, with a special guest, feminist issues while "confessing their insecurities, hypocrisies and fears that underlie these principles". As well as the frank, serious and hilarious discussions that take place, Sofie and Deborah also complete a challenge relating to the topic for that episode.

Global Pillage is a comedy panel show about the diversity of human experience where two teams of comedians take on the audience to answer questions about idiom, culture, customs and norms. it is hosted by Deborah Frances-White and was created as a result of The Guilty Feminist Diversity Challenge.

If you’ve watch an episode on Dave, you’ll know how funny Alan Davies As Yet Untitled is. I’ve only listened to a couple as I’ve been bingeing on the two above, but this podcast contains a small segment from the TV edition followed by oh so wonderful excerpts that didn’t make the final cut.

Younique August Kudos
You know how much I love my make-up. Every month Younique have a special offer for their customers. August was the Defend Innocence Bundle full of special edition shades and an exclusive Defend Innocence bracelet. Included was a Moodstruck Opulence Lipstick in Sitting Pretty, a Moodstruck Precision Pencil in Purposeful and a Splurge Cream Eyeshadow in Hopeful (this last one may be the reason that I bought the set as Carrie Hope Fletcher's followers are called Hopefuls).
For those who don't know, Defend Innocence is a Younique Foundation campaign which aims to "educate parents and empower them to protect their children from sexual abuse while leading a public dialogue to bring the epidemic of abuse to light."

#365daysofselfcare Sticky Notes
Recently The Blurt Foundation is an organisation which works towards increasing awareness and understanding of depression It recently started the #365daysofselfcare project to encourage everyone to do something for themselves every day, no matter how small. These sticky notes are available on the website, but of course you could just take a photo and pop it on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag. I try and decide what I’m going to do in the morning, but don’t always remember. On those days I sit and think about what I’ve done that could be considered self-care and write about that. Either way it’s making you aware about treating yourself more kindly which is a good thing.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month's favourites and if you read any of the books or listen to the podcasts that I've mentioned, please let me know what you think in the comments below. I’d love to hear your recommendations too.

Oh, and just before I go, I suggested that my friend Katy did my Quick-Fire Questions post as a vlog. She agreed on the proviso that I was in it so you can see my first YouTube appearance (not including Giovanna Fletcher's book signing videos where I can be seen lurking) here.
SHARE:
Next PostNewer Post Previous PostOlder Post Home

0 comments:

Post a Comment

CUSTOM BLOGGER TEMPLATES BY pipdig