You've been a strange one. From blazing hot sunshine to epic downpours, it seems, like me, you haven't been quite sure if you're coming or going. I've been a little bit all over the place myself this month, very unsettled and some days have been cloudier than others. You'll be gone soon August and although I'll be sad that you're taking summer with you, I'm looking forward to the crisp, fresh start that September brings along with it's slightly less welcome cooler weather.
There have been some bright and happy moments that have helped me through your month, August and this post is all about the joyful things you've brought me.
01. Guava Juice
I first discovered the joys of guava juice whilst visiting my sister in Malawi last year. It was almost unbearably hot every day whilst I was there and one of the many joys was being able to cool off with little cartons of this beautiful drink. When I got home, I briefly looked for it on the shelves but was unsuccessful and just figured that you couldn't get it here. Fast forward to shopping in Asda a few weeks ago and lo and behold, there it is, guava juice, in England! I was so happy and stocked up in large quantities. It's been so beautifully refreshing on the hot and sticky days we've been having this month and I'm so grateful that it's back in my life again.
02. The Body Shop Tea Tree Cool & Creamy Wash
This face wash has been a bit of a lifesaver this month because all hell has broken loose on my skin due to my very unsettled diet and sleeping pattern. It's creamy consistency means that it's not stripping like some other tea tree products and it really does a good job of calming down redness and reducing breakouts. I also love this because it works really well in the shower which is great for my bad days when I don't have the energy for a full over-the-sink skincare routine. It's also a really good price at only £6.00.
03. The Great British Bake Off
So I can't believe I'm admitting this, but until this month I'd never seen The Great British Bake Off before. I knew that everyone goes crazy for it and I figured that it was just another competition show like Masterchef or The Apprentice, which I find kind of exhausting. But this month it a new season of Bake Off started and I decided to give it a go. Boy am I glad I did, it's AMAZING. It's so different to all those other competition programmes because it's so much nicer and less stressful and there's CAKE (duh). I think what I like about it is that everyone's so nice to each other and I actually really enjoy watching the challenges. I also love joining in the #GBBO chats on Twitter every Wednesday. I've also got my boyfriend into it and I think he's even more obsessed than I am, he keeps prompting me to watch YouTube videos of profiteroles and pies. It's very sweet (HA! so punny...).
04. WH Smith 30 Assorted Fine Liners
At the beginning of August I scored what was quite possibly the bargain of the century (or at least of the month). I was casually browsing in WH Smith one day, drooling over the stationery, as you do, when I came across this amazing pack of 30 fine liners in all the beautiful colours of the rainbow. I'd been lusting over an £18.00 pack of 30 Staedtler fine liners which I had tentatively placed on my Amazon wishlist so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that the WH Smith set was only £5.99! I nearly fainted then and there. Well that's a slight exaggeration, but I was at the till before you could say 'stationery addict'. I've been using them whilst journalling and in my Johanna Basford colouring book and they write and colour beautifully. I'm so in love with them, especially the more pastelly colours, so run out and grab these now if they're still there!
05. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
I had a hard time choosing, as I read some excellent books this month, but I think this was probably my favourite read (so far, as I'm slightly pre-scheduling this so I haven't finished my monthly reads). I was kind of nervous in case I didn't like it as I've loved her other books so much but I was not disappointed. It was really amazing and I'll talk about it more in my monthly wrap-up.
06. Podcasts
This month I've been loving podcasts so hard. It all started out with Serial, which I know I'm majorly late to the game on, but after all it's major hype I finally decided to give it a go this month and I was totally hooked. If you somehow haven't heard of it (have you been living under a rock?!) then I'll tell you that it's a series of 12 podcast episodes that revolve around the 1999 murder of high school senior Hae Min Lee. It's kind of hard to explain why it's so amazing so you should just trust me on this one and give it a go, even if you're not usually a true crime fan I can promise you that you won't regret it. I finished up Serial in just a few days and was left wanting more, as the second season hasn't started yet, and that's when I discovered Criminal. The narrative reporting style is similar to Serial but each bite-size episode revolves around a different topic to do with crime. It's super interesting and addictive and if you loved Serial then you'll love this. I've also been really enjoying This American Life, which is a podcast institution in itself so doesn't really need explaining. If you've never tried podcasts before, I urge you to start now.
So those are all the things that have been brightening my days throughout August. As I said, I'm looking forward to September as a fresh month full of possibilities.
What's been your favourite thing about August? Please let me know below!
1 comment
YAY THE BAKE OFF! I'm so happy it's back, I feel lost without it.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to read Attachments so I'm pleased to see it's in your favourites! xx
Kathryn | Chapters of Kat