Friday Favourites 16th - 29th September 2017.
FF29.09.17
It's Friday and I feel like this week has dragged. Nothing terrible has happened, in fact, lots of lovely things have happened (thus how I manage to make a favourites list) but it's just felt like an actual age and I haven't felt on my A game. On Wednesday morning I was walking round Tesco and I could just tell I was radiating a bad mood - the resting bitch face was veryyyy bitchy.
The squad all felt the same, we all had a moan, we all seem to go in cycles together and we all toasted the start of a new month. I believe the words 'it's a fucking write off' were uttered, you know the sort of week. Luckily, there's actually been a few rays of sunshine that saved the favs list being just "I went to bed" or "I had a good sulk".
1. Sundaze.
It seems like a lifetime ago now but a fortnight ago after we'd come back from the bloggers weekend away I had a busy week and I needed a break and I only went and got one. I normally go to my Mum's and have a big ol' roast with my family but that weekend my brother and his family were away for the weekend and Joss was working and I just spent the Sunday on the sofa. I did some laundry and stuck the slow cooker on but mainly I caught up on shit programmes like Rob & Chyna and medical programmes like Ambulance and I wrote 4 blog posts and it was bloody divine.
2. Exciting post.
So last week I got some very exciting post that swiftly got taken away from me and hidden until my birthday. My birthday present this year is a sexy lil DSLR and I only went and bought it off my gal Megan. I knew I wanted a new swanky camera, I knew I couldn't afford a new one, I was asking around on Twitter and with my squad and whadda ya know- Megan was actually selling one and now it's mine and I love it. Full blog debut coming after my birthday obvs but this was the first pic I took on it.
3. Cosy clothes.
Oh lord isn't it nice to get the knits out again?? I have been firmly in wooly jumpers this week and have taken an unusual step back from my usual jeans and Vans for a new uniform of leggings and skirts or jumper dresses. I saw a girl in the shops at the end of last week in a denim skirt with tights and boots and a mustard jumper and I was like 'yes, this is my Autumn staple' and I've basically lived in it all week. I'm just about holding off on the temptation to get my bobble hat collection back out of the cupboards....
4. Hair did.
Your girl got her hair cut for the first time in 2 years. My hair is the thinnest hair hairdressers have ever worked with (legit direct quote) so to compensate for the lack of volume I tend to grow it long and it's been my go to since the disastrous bob/fringe cut of 2011. I've dip dyed it pink two years in a row but it had finally just about faded out and my brother was round having his hair cut and my Mum was dying hers and I thought ah fuck it so I got my Mum's bestie to chop a few inches off so I have a below shoulder lob and a flippin love it. I will undoubtedly miss the past my boobs length and the curls it was naturally forming in about a week but for now it feels all thick and luxurious and a bit more 'done' than the rats tails my Mum said I had.
5. It.
Bit of a controversial one because I don't actually like horror films but Stephen King's It was really good. Mainly because I'd spoken to Tina beforehand and taken her advice and took a blanket scarf with me so I watched most of it from behind that. But apart from the jump scares and all round creepiness the film as a stand alone was really good and I actually can't wait to see the sequel - just have to wait for 2019. You get really invested in the storylines, the kids are amazing in it and there's enough non scary bits to balance the film out. Recommended if it's still in your local cinema.
6. Gals day out.
My mumma and I had a girls day out in Cardiff last week when I said I wanted to choose some bits for Autumn. We stupidly planned it on the same day I did a supermarket run, had to walk the neighbours dog for an hour, my Mum was working and we had our hair done but hey what's life without a bit of rushing huh? We went into town and picked up some bits and bobs for her like new skinnies in M&S and some cards and we spent about an hour in Primark shopping. I chose some new pjs and a jumper for my birthday, I found her a cute lil striped knit to wear out for a meal and we generally had a really successful trip and got everything we went for and it was sunny so that's always nice.
7. Milestones.
I hit half a million pageviews on my blog! My stats this month have been shocking (more to come in my monthly review at the beginning of October) so it was nice to have a lil lift and hit a milestone mid month at least. My blog has been tracking stats since January 2016 so to have tipped over half a million pageviews in 20 months ain't half bad.
8. Primark Haul.
Well seen as we were in Cardiff it would have been rude not to have a mini spree in Primark wouldn't it? A bunch of things I bought were set aside as birthday gifts from family members who don't know what to get me for my birthday so I'll be pretending to be surprised on the big day next month but I got some really nice things. I got 2 big wooly jumpers, one grey and white and one black and white cos I'm all about the oversized knit life right now and I got a blouse and a scarf and a thin ribbed jumper for layering too. I also picked up a few essentials like brow pencils and wooly tights and a pair of jeans which were ripped and I didn't realise so they went back.
9. Real blogger.
I feel like there are some things in life that scream blogger and buying fake flowers and mountboard is one of them. As an art student buying mountboard is no mythical experience for me, I have spent a hideous amount of money on it in my time but I've never bought it specifically to keep clean and not cut and only use for blog photography but now I have. Hobbycraft are currently doing a 4 for £12.00 deal on A1 mountboard and if you have student discount you get that on top of the deal annnndddd they're giving away student goody bags too full of pens and paints and stuff - not sponsored just a genuine recommendation of somewhere I love. I got a black, a cream, a fuchsia pink and a grey blue mountboard from there and I intended to get some flowers too but the stock in the Cardiff store was pretty lacking so in the end I got some on eBay for like 3 quid. Flatlay dream.
10. Matalan bae.
I have always said Matalan is one of the most under rated highstreet stores and I think everyone thinks you still have to have a card to shop there like you did for Costco and Macro back in the day. But now dear friends anyone can shop there but if you DO get a free loyalty card and you spend enough dollah there like me they send you a swish black executive card and you get first access to the sales and special discounts and things like that. I went to Matalan in search of a black top for my Mum and a popper A line denim skirt for me and I nailed both - they never let me down. I also really interestingly fell in love with the Christmas homeware range. I do this every year, it's not a shock, I love what they do but when I first saw it online I was like ok yeah cool that's nice but it didn't jump at me like it has in other years. Let's just say online doesn't do it justice and you need to get yo ass to store to shop it cos it's SO much nicer irl.
11. Road trip.
This week we had Joss' grandmother staying with us and she needed taking back to her house after an appointment late Wednesday night (a cheeky 3 hour round trip). We went for a meal together which didn't finish until 9pm so we had a pretty late one taking her home and in hindsight we would have planned to sleep the night there but we did it and it was pissing with rain and motorway driving was hideous and we were exhausted getting in but actually it was really nice. We chatted all the way down there about her life and the family and her late husband (who I only got to meet once and feel like I only know through stories) and her travels around the world and when we got to hers at gone 10pm we had a cuppa and looked at the family wedding photos and just had a nice time. And then on the way home the weather eased and it felt just like a nice road trip somewhere exciting (even if it was just home to our bed and the dog) and we talked work and life and family and our future and idk, as a couple who've been together 7 years and live together you don't actually get that much time just the two of you to do that kinda stuff anymore. It sounds odd but you really don't, so when you do it's all the better for it.
12. Christmas blog series.
Ok so fine I might be getting a little ahead of myself here but when we were away a few of the blog squad were outlining their plans for Christmas content to get prepared and I got the bug. Suddenly all I could think of was Christmas DIYs and how early I'd need to get my brand collabs sorted and when would I need to shop for wrapping paper and my Christmas blog series was born. I'm not going to bother going into it now because that'd ruin a future 'announcing my Christmas blog series' post and gal gotta save that content but I like it, I'm happy with what I've hashed out and I'm excited to get creating. Just know that it'll be a furious OMFG PANIC late November cos you all know I don't schedule in advance.
And that my friends concludes another Friday Favs for another month - the next one will be THE WEEK BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY.
