It’s Friday night.
I’m sitting on my bed, with comfy clothes on, a dressing gown and a blanket. Friends is on in the background, and I’ve got a pizza on the way.
Tonight’s plans were cancelled, and my period which surprised me by coming five days early has got me feeling rather rubbish so it all worked out quite well really.
September.
Where on earth did it go and what on earth was it?
I have managed to squeeze a lot into a mere four weeks and two days, and I’m bloody exhausted just looking back on it.
Here’s what I did…
I HAVE to start with FriendsFest. Although this was technically end of August, I wrote my last blog before we went so I’m making it okay.
My sister and I had a bloody blast. Many pictures were taken, time spent queuing and favourite Friends moments relived. This was my early birthday present to my sister, and I kept the rest of her birthday on the Friends theme with this birthday card and a Friends tote bag from Poundland.
On the subject of friends, I’ve seen a lot of mine this month again…
Much food was had: Dinner with my friends Dylan and Sara, Sunday lunch with my friends Claire and Carys (who are getting married next year and I’m VERY excited about it) and cooked for my friends Liane and Dean.
Got last minute very cheap tickets (I have a secret source) to Big: The Musical at London’s Dominion Theatre and took (forced might be more accurate) my friend Alex with me to see it. We were due to meet up that evening for a drink, but I couldn’t bypass the opportunity to see the show. I really enjoyed it – thought the cast were brilliant and it was good fun. It’s only on for another month, so go and see it if you can.
I hosted my second games night – we spent the first half of the night playing What Do You Meme and the second half playing 20 Second Showdown which was hilarious!
My choir restarted for the Autumn/Winter term which meant I was reunited with my choir buddies who I have such a laugh with. We went to see Amazing Grace (see ‘I’ve been watching’) and I also went to support them at the fabulous Sing for Water event at The Scoop which raises money for WaterAid. I took part last year, but opted out this year – it was wonderful sitting in the crowd and experiencing from the crowd’s perspective (even if I was still singing along with all the songs!) There were about 500 singers and they were a wall of wonderful sound! See videos and pictures from the event here. A few of us went to Strada afterwards to drink Aperol Spritz in the September sun – it was a fabulous day.
We also went to our choir buddy Kushel’s Macmillan Coffee Morning which he held at his Dental Practice – so yes, we were eating cake in a dentist’s…a very surreal experience. Much cake was eaten, much tea was drunk, and hopefully lots of cash was raised!
I joined in with the Climate Strike on October 20th with 100,000 other people, including a few friends who brought their costume and sign A-game!
I’ve been very cute with my housemates this month too…
Our new housemate Magda took us out on a yoga lesson at sunset in the park. Yes, I am using a a picnic blanket as a yoga mat and no, it did not work.
I suggested we tackle our garden as a team as it had got into a rather overgrown state. Here’s the before & after picture – not perfect but certainly much calmer and it meant I could put my bird feeding station back up, so I’m a happy girl. Big thanks to Sophie’s parents who also took all the garden waste away for us!
And we’ve inherited a cat, a very very very cute one, who obviously belongs to one of our neighbours but seems to enjoy hanging out with us every so often – he even crashed the games night. We’ve given him a name, which in hindsight is probably a massive mistake.
And some cute family time too…
I spent a few days on the Isle of Wight with my Mum, Dad and Nan – who didn’t actually know I was coming until she read last month’s blog post!
My family and I have lots of happy memories of the Isle of Wight – both my Mum and Dad visited regularly as kids, and then in the late 80s my Dad’s parents moved there and lived there for the rest of their lives. They’ve both sadly passed away now, but we used to visit a couple of times a year and spend time with them. Even after they both passed away, we still visited the Island every couple of years, and still have friends over there.
I was trying to remember the last time I’d been over, and thanks to stalking my own Instagram realised it was five years ago when we spent a week there for our summer holiday after my second year of university finished.
We did some truly touristy things: visited The Garlic Farm, The Donkey Sanctuary, Osborne House and Godshill Model Village which were all good fun! We had a lovely meal at this pub which served my kind of portions, drunk my favourite gin at the distillery where it’s made (I might even have treated myself to a cheeky bottle) and had a cream tea too. I loved taking in the views from Culver Down, going for a run along Cowes seafront and reading on the swing seat in our Airbnb’s garden. I also surprised myself by getting very emotional when we swung by my Nan and Grandad’s old bungalow – they were tears of happy memories, but also of sadness that those moments would never come around again.
The trip was short and sweet, I had to cut it a day shorter than the rest of my family as I was due home to look after my nephew, but I wished I’d been able to stay for longer. Whenever I leave on the ferry I feel like I’m leaving a piece of me behind there.
I’m back to looking after my nephew a couple of times a month whilst my sister is doing some part-time studying. He’s three and a half, cheeky and adorable and I love spending time with him!
And went for a 10k run with my sister – 10K! I actually really enjoyed it and felt super strong and accomplished afterwards.
I also FINALLY finished editing a vlog I made of my friend Olivia and I’s trip to Prague, 18 months ago…I know. If you fancy watching it, head here.
Before you accuse me of what sounds like a hunky dory month, there’s been a couple of rubbish moments. One is to do with work which I can’t really talk about here (sorry for the mystery) and the other is that my period this month absolutely messed with my mood, exhausted me and drove up my anxiety to the point yesterday where I nearly couldn’t leave the house.
But shit happens, you process it the best you can and move on.
This month I’ve been obsessed with…
Still loving my pins! I got myself some more Harry Potter ones from KellyLouIllustration, received this foxy wonder from Fox & The Bear after backing their Kickstarter campaign, and got this gorgeous pair from Alena at Owl and Bear Studio who I’m supporting on Patreon.
I’ve been reading…
I’m still on Harry Potter! I’m now about halfway through The Order of The Phoenix. I’m finding it slightly harder to find time to read it mostly because I’ve started walking to work when I can which means I don’t have a bus journey to read on. I was hoping to have finished reading it by the end of September, but alas we continue.
I snuck in a few pages of Greta Thunberg’s “No one is too small to make a difference” on my way to and from the Climate Strike for some words of inspiration!
Want to keep up with what I’m reading? Come follow me on GoodReads.
I’ve been watching…
TV
The Great British Bake Off (which will henceforth referred to as GBBO) is back! I haven’t religiously watched it since it migrated to Channel 4 (I don’t think Noel and Sandi are as good as Mel and Sue, sorry) but I’m determined this year! I have a soft spot for Henry, I think David is good, and Steph is growing on me too.
Also back on our screens is The Circle which is a reality show that started last year. I fell into watching it last year and find it really compelling television! This series has been really good so far – I think James is doing an excellent job as Sammie and I ADORE Tim.
Film
I went to see Amazing Grace with the girls in my choir – we had an absolute blast. Felt like I was in the audience for Aretha’s live recording.
My friend and I spontaneously went to see Hustlers – it’s based on a fascinating true story and a great female cast. GRL PWR.
Tall Girl on Netflix – disappointing and all the women in it are just drop dead gorgeous.
I love the Divergent book series, and equally the first film. But for some reason it’s taken me years to watch the final film in the series, Allegiant. My housemate and I had a lazy day last Saturday and watched all three films. Allegiant was not worth the wait – the first film still holds the crown. Next, The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pt.2 (don’t @ me)
My Mum kept telling me about this film called ‘Welcome to Marwen‘ which my Auntie saw earlier this year and was raving about. It finally came onto NowTV so I gave it a watch and really enjoyed it! It’s based on a true story, and unlike anything else I’ve seen. You can’t go wrong with a bit of Steve Carrell, he is so fantastic. Highly recommend!
Want to know what else I’m watching? Come follow me on Letterboxd.
Looking ahead…
I’m off on holiday next week which I’m very excited about! I’m headed to Pembrokeshire in Wales with my friends for about 9 days. We’re staying at one of my friend’s parent’s house who are away on a holiday themselves and we’ll also be looking after their extremely cute dog. There will be lots of long walks, exploring and relaxing so BRING IT ON.
‘Til next time!
according to gaia 