January Favourites ’22

Can you believe it’s almost the end of January already?! 2022 is already flying by and I don’t like it. 😛 I know I always say this every month, but I know I’m not the only one!

January for me was crap to say the least as both me and Dane were really sick for the first week of it with chest infections (thankfully not Covid!) and without going into too much detail, my mental health has been really bad. I’m hoping it’ll improve moving forward…

I think another thing that sucked was due to us being sick on my birthday, I didn’t exactly have the best day. Memorable, yes, but crap. 😛 I know we’ll be making up for that at some point soon, which I’m really excited about. What though, I don’t know.

That being said January wasn’t all bad! Money wise I did pretty good considering how long people wait for payday in office jobs (six whole weeks!). I came into 2022 with the attitude of, “Spend less and sell more!” after doing really well with selling old stuff I no longer want on Vinted. If you’re interested in what I’m selling please ask for my store link, I won’t post it publicly on my blog. I’m finally going to clear out a lot of my old clothes from my old room, which is WELL overdue seeing as I moved out almost six years ago. xD

I’m hoping for February to be a better month, mainly health wise but also money wise too. Me and Dane have set a lot of home improvement goals for 2022 and I hope to get started on a lot of them this month, including a LOT of spring cleaning!

I don’t know why but I’m incredibly excited for spring this year. Maybe because of nicer weather and baby animals? 😛

Are you looking forward to anything in February? Make sure to let me know.

Anyhoo, on with the monthly favourites!!!

Favourite Beauty Product – Happy Place Cosmetics Bougie Body Scrub.

If there is one product I cannot live without in my bath/shower it’s the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs. They are the best I have ever used and smell amazing to boot! Black Friday they brought out some amazing deals, including body scrubs being on offer, so I bought a bunch of them to keep me going for a while, including Bougie. Bougie is a dupe of Lush Yog Nog, which is one of my favourite scents, from both brands! The HPC body scrubs foam up when you add a little bit of water, so not only do you feel nice and scrubbed after use, but clean too! I especially love to give my whole body a good scrub once to twice a week, depending. Mostly however I love using my body scrub on my legs before shaving. My legs were getting really dry at one point and even with a good moisture, they just seemed dry and itchy. Since using the scrub on them before shaving that dry and itchy feeling has gone and I’m so relieved. I need to do a review of HPC in the future, as not only do they create amazing things for your bath and shower, but for your home too with the wax tarts!

Favourite Film – Ron’s Gone Wrong.

Unfortunately I don’t have any “massive” films to shout about watching. Me and Dane are too anxious to go to the cinema so we’ve not been able to watch anything new lately. However, over Christmas we did binge watch a lot of films on Disney+ and Ron’s Gone Wrong was one of them. I’d been itching to watch this film for a while as not only had I seen it spoken about online, but I’d watched the trailer with Dane and found it adorable, which is exactly what it was. Ron’s Gone Wrong is about a new robot (B-bot) that children are using to find friends they’ll have in common and more. It’s basically a phone but disguised as a toy robot for kids. Barney is the only kid in school without a B-bot and it shows how much it affects him and even when Barney does get one, there’s something wrong with it. I won’t talk too much about the plot in case of spoilers, but I highly recommend checking it out, it’s got a really good message to it for younger and even older people about how much technology can affect us forget about what’s actually around us. I had a little cry at the end too. :’)

Favourite TV Show/Anime – Attack on Titan Final Season.

I’ve really been itching to talk about this this month and before I do, do not worry! There won’t be any spoilers shared here. A massive one came up on the latest episode (23/01) and DAMN I’m so glad we watched it. I’d have hated to see spoilers the next day. Anyhoo… Attack on Titan means a lot to me for various reasons and due to that I’m really sad to see it coming to an end to be honest. It’s one of the first (if not the first) anime me and Dane really got into together. We discovered Attack on Titan back in June 2014 when we went to Bristol for our first anniversary. Dane had heard loads about it and decided to buy some of the manga volumes in Forbidden Planet, as well as find the first episode online for us to watch. Dane fell in love with it, as did I and before we knew it, he’d bought all the manga there was on offer at the time and we found the first season to watch online too. I still remember getting to the last episode of season one and saying to Dane, “Next episode!” with him replying, “That’s it, we need to wit for the next season now.” This was almost ten years ago… How crazy is that? It’s amazing and sad at the same time that we’re now on the final season! It’s kind of the end of an era for a lot of people, including me and Dane. So far though, the final season is amazing! I’m still leaving each episode screaming at the screen saying, “WHAT? What’s happening?”. xD

Favourite Music – PVRIS Shuffle and Bring Me The Horizon – Kingslayer (feat. BABYMETAL).

I don’t know why (well I do, because I love them) but lately I’ve been listening to PVRIS so much. I think it’s because when I’ve been in the office for work, or been working on my own stuff at home, I’ve found that they’re my go to choice when I just need to concentrate and get on with things. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before on my blog, but PVRIS are actually doing a tour in the UK in May which I REALLY want to go to, but I don’t know if I can justify it with Covid and such? Purely because I’m seeing My Chemical Romance a week or two after and I’d be gutted if I came out of the PVRIS gig with Covid and couldn’t then see MCR… So yeah. That sucks at the moment! I’m still not writing it out because you never know, but yeah…

I also wanted to share with you a song I discovered around Christmas/New Year that Dane showed me. It’s by Bring Me The Horizon but features BABYMETAL, it’s amazing and I fucking love it! It’s really catchy, can be danced to as well as sang along to as well as it has a mixture of screaming and singing. I’m not a massive Bring Me The Horizon fan (not so much the music…) but I do love BABYMETAL. It’s just a perfect song to me and you should give it a listen.

Image taken from Amazon

Favourite Book – The Sad Ghost Club Volume Two.

Guys I actually did some reading in January! Can you believe it? 😛 I LOVE The Sad Ghost Club and as soon as I heard that the second book was coming out, I knew I had to get it. I pre-ordered as soon as it could be and it arrived on my birthday. As I mentioned at the start of the post, both me and Dane were really sick at the start of January, which sucked. This also meant I didn’t get to do anything for my birthday, apart from cuddle up on the sofa and cuddle with Dane. This being said, I did also read The Sad Ghost Club Volume 2 and I really loved it. I won’t say too much so it doesn’t ruin it for other people, but it really did touch upon people’s anxieties even more, which I loved. I could relate to Socks and it really tore on my heart strings. If you love The Sad Ghost Club on Instagram or any other social media, then you need to pick up the books to read. They’re so wholesome and make me smile when I feel down. I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Image taken from PokeCommunity Daily

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

I was actually going to mention Pokemon: Legend Arceus today BUT it only came out yesterday so seems a bit premature to mention it so quickly. I’ve found myself picking up Shining Pearl quite a bit over January. Mainly because I REALLY wanted to try and get the main bulk of the story completed before Legend Arceus came out. I did in fact do this, but now I’ve opened the national dex and need to bloody complete that! 😛 This being said, Shining Pearl has been so nice and relaxing to play, especially when I wasn’t feeling very well and had the energy to do something more than binge watch Netflix and TV shows on Channel 4. I forgot how long the gen four games are, but I’m not complaining as it’s much better when you compare to Sword and Shield. I did mention it in November when the gen four remakes came out, BUT I did in fact buy Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond, as I expected Dane to play with me. As he isn’t doing such a thing and I’d like to 100% complete Shining Pearl, I will eventually play Brilliant Diamond on his switch so I can swap exclusives and such. Is that sad? Yeah, but whatever. 😛

Another thing I wanted to mention here that’s game related is, I’ve decided to create a games completion thread over on my Twitter, which you can find here! My friend Connor did this in 2021 and he really inspired me to do it myself. At the moment I only really have one game on there, but I’m sure that list will grow! I really want to work my way through some of my games this year. I’m sick of buying new when I have half completed ones gathering dust.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pingki Buddy plush.

I don’t want to talk tooooo much about this plush as in April I’ll be talking in depth about all of the penguin friends that Pingki has created. However, I couldn’t not talk about my Buddy plush today as it’s so bloody cute! If you haven’t already recognised Buddy, he’s heavily inspired by a certain jock penguin from Animal Crossing… 😛 I pre-ordered this cutie from Pingki back in September 2021 and eagerly waited almost four months for him to arrive! It’s such an adorable plush, a nice size for cuddling and especially perfect for taking lots of photos of, as you can see above. 😛 Just an FYI, Buddy is currently sold out and I’m unsure when he’ll be back up for pre-order since the April pre-orders are all booked up!

In the December pre-orders I also pre-ordered the rest of the penguin gang and I’m already counting down the months until April when they’re due to start being shipped to their new homes! We have Baby, Bestie, Slushie and Brainfreeze. I wasn’t planning on getting them all due to lack of space, but I’ve decided to keep them on the back of our sofa as they’ll look really cute and like they’re watching TV with us… Which any Animal Crossing fan wants, right?

Loungefly Sanrio kawaii wallet.

At the start of January I snagged one of my Loungefly grails and for a fucking bargain too! If you don’t know what I mean when I say a grail, it means an item that you’re after that’s hard to find and rare, expensive or both. I feel like this wallet came out between 2020 and 2021, but don’t quote me on that. I just remember it coming out and really wanting the wallet, as well as the matching backpack too (which is also on my grail list!). I found this wallet on Vinted for a steal and decided to treat myself to it straight away. A couple of days later it arrived and I adore it! It was brand new with tags and under £25. I feel like the person who sold it to me knew the value and didn’t want to be a twat about selling it for a stupidly high price? I do have one flaw with this wallet though and that’s it made me feel a little anxious about keeping my bank card and ID in the usual places, so they’re elsewhere. I thought I’d mention this as I know this wallet style is a popular one that Loungefly make, so if you’re looking to buy this style of wallet from them, please bear this in mind! In the future I’m semi hoping to snag the backpack for a bargain too! 😛

Baking – Salted caramel and salted caramel shortbread.

As me and Dane had some stuff to use up in the house, as well as friends to see I decided to not only make salted caramel, but also to make salted caramel shortbread too! Both were a success and it’s made me realise just how much I do love baking! I mean, I know I love baking but you know what I mean. 😛

I’ve made the caramel shortbread before and don’t recall it being a bit hit with everyone, but this time when I made it, Dane and our friends loved it! It made me so happy to hear everyone’s praise and it’s just made me want to bake more and more! Maybe 2022 will be the year I do lots of baking? Watch this space. I absolutely adore baking, it’s a big passion of mine but at the same time I hate it because then I have to find people to eat it all, or me and Dane scoff all the yummy goods. 😛

I’m going to pop the videos about of the recipes I used as they’re really simple, easy to follow and highly recommended!

Fluffy cardigan.

One of my birthday presents from my mom this year was a fluffy cardigan and I fucking love it. So much so I wore it everyday for a week before washing… Grim yes but true. For Christmas my mom bought me and Dane loads of winter warmers such as a fluffy hot water bottle, teddy bear bedding and a gorgeous cream fluffy throw. Her gifts have really been appreciated to say the least, especially when we were poorly. Due to all these warm goodies and the gas prices going up, I suggested to Dane that we make the most of her gifts and turn the heating off in the day, which he agreed. Since then those winter warmers have been getting some use!

My mom had seen this fluffy cardigan on QVC and decided to order us both one and she gave it to me a couple of weeks ago. It’s so soft and fluffy, baggy, has a MASSIVE hood and is just perfect to throw on when you’re feeling chilly or want something comforting. I’ve practically lived in it! Dane jokily wore it the once whilst I was cooking dinner so I snapped a photo on my phone and sent it to my mom. To my surprise she ordered another one, so me and Dane could have one each! That’s my mom all over, bless her.

I am rather excited for us to get another so I can rotate wear them and always have one to live in when it’s chilly!

Image take from GIPHY

Being sick, boo.

Finally I’m going to talk a bit more about what a shit start to the year I had, and Dane for that matter! Right at the end of 2021 me and Dane started to feel under the weather and we put it down to being a cold, but that soon turned out to be a chest infection, which was evidently worse for me than it was for Dane. I came into 2022 with conjunctivitis in both eyes, a horrible cough and sore throat and no to mention no fucking sleep due to the previous two illnesses. It was vile and no matter what me and Dane did to try and shift it, nothing would. It seemed at one point like it was getting worse! Most of our days in the first week of January were spent on our sofa binge watching anything and everything we could on Netflix and All 4.

Of course I can hear you asking, “It wasn’t Covid then?” Nope, thankfully, but trying to find out if it was or not was a fucking pain in the arse! We’d both booked PCR tests on the Monday to find out if we had it, only for them to arrive on the Thursday. Post was very delayed due to the weird bank holidays we’d had at the start of the year, as well as both the Royal Mail and NHS struggling due to rising Covid rates. We’d tried to book to go to a test centre but had no luck, however, one sleepless night we were awake around 3am and managed to book drive thru tests in on the Wednesday. Thursday morning, we found out we were Covid free, as well as see our PCR tests arrive. They’ve been kept somewhere safe for potential future use.

Alongside all that with us being sick, not only did I not get to do fuck all for my own birthday, but I didn’t get to do anything for mom’s either and it really broke my heart. We didn’t get to do anything last year due to Covid and this year I was sick. My mom’s birthday is the day after mine so we do always try and go for a meal, whether it be her day or mine. We’ll go and do something in February no doubt, but it just felt really shit this year and it’s definitely not put me in the best of moods this month due to that.

During me being sick I lost my voice, which was incredibly uncomfortable and annoying. My voice still breaks every now and then and I’m worried whatever was wrong with me is still present in my system. I’m definitely hopeful that February will not contain any sicknesses of any kind. 😛

So, there we have it guys my January favourites! I really missed not writing this style of post since December when I wrote about my November favourites, but it’s definitely good to be back!

What were some of your favourites from January? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take care and have a lovely and safe weekend!

February Favourites ‘21

Can you guys believe it’s March tomorrow? I can’t. February went by really quickly and you know what, I’m not complaining about that. I’m going to be honest, February was a shit month for me and I’m really glad to see the back of it. My mental health was really tested for three weeks solid and there was a time where I was in a really low place. To be honest at the time of writing this (Thursday 25th) I still have a couple of days left of the month to go, so fingers crossed the rest of the month treats me well!

I just want to be honest with you guys. The first week I felt numb and empty and it was mostly PMS related but I started to think about life before lockdown, COVID and my parents. I really miss them. The first thing I’m planning to do when lockdown is over and it’s safe to do so is see my parents. I was also starting to think about how I miss my aunt who passed away in September. I think about her almost daily and yeah. It’s shit.

The second week I can’t talk about too much. My mental health was just bad, I was a nervous wreck and I just couldn’t stop crying some days. Just to get this out there, I’m okay now and these feelings have now passed… Thank fuck.

The third week (well this week really…) things just didn’t seem to go right. Dane was told to self isolate at the end of the second week, we’ve had some issues in the house and we’ve been irritable and miserable as fuck. Thankfully we’re both feeling a lot better now.

I just wanted to get that off of my chest. Just because I appear happy and cheerful on my blog and social media, it doesn’t always mean I am and the same goes to everyone. I’m quite good at putting an act on when the time comes. It’s something I’ve had to do my whole life in regards to my mental health.

I also want to say a massive thanks to the handful of friends who have been there for me this month when things were rough. I miss and love you all. :’)

Besides me feeling like shit, February was also a month where I decided to go on a spending ban. I’d been very spend happy in January and due to it being a long month (payday wise) I was kinda skint. The February spending ban went pretty well… Until shitty week two out of three where I ended up treating myself to some Black Milk Clothing pieces… Oops. 😛 Aside from that, the spending ban went really well and it’s actually inspired others to go on a spending ban with me too! I’m already planning to do it again in March AND people will be joining me for that!

Of course if you’re interested to follow along, or maybe even join yourself I’ll pop the template I’ve created for March above. I’ve been posting daily to weekly updates on my Instagram page (theremightbecoffeeblog) stories. Come and join in!

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling on about spending bans and more, let’s talk about my favourites from February. It may have been a crap month but I loved so much stuff and have been excited to share it with you all!

Beauty

• The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel.

I’ve spoken about this shower gel from The Body Shop many times and I really do love it. I tell this story every time I talk about this shower gel, which I’m sure everyone is bored of now. 😛 Basically my mom used to always buy me a bottle of this shower gel whenever we visited The Body Shop (once every few months or so?) so whenever I use it, it reminds me of when I was younger. I had a £5 birthday voucher and I didn’t want to worry I lost it, so bought myself a MASSIVE bottle of the strawberry shower gel. It’s something Dane loves just as much as I do so it works out nicely. I’ve been using it loads this month and not only does it smell amazing, but it has left my skin feeling lovely and soft too. 🙂

So… Now it’s time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month! If there isn’t anything I’ve done I’m not going to mention. I haven’t mentioned a movie this month as I don’t actually think I/we watched one!

Favourite TV Show – Attack on Titan Final Season.

It saddens me to say that we are on the final season of Attack on Titan, it only feels like yesterday that me and Dane were watching it for the first time (we’d travelled to Bristol for a long weekend for our first anniversary)… That was almost seven years ago! I love the show and I for one am sad to see it come to an end. So far this final season has been AMAZING and it’s something me and Dane have either watched Sunday night before bed, or Monday morning before work. I don’t want to say too much due to spoilers but it’s amazing and very “WHAT IS HAPPENING!” Moments throughout. This is because I don’t/haven’t read the manga yet. I plan to in the future. I definitely recommend watching Attack on Titan if you never have and want to!

I just want to add here that I was going to also add another TV show I’m loving right now… But I’m going to wait until next month when it’s due to end. Spoiler, it’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2… 😛

Favourite Book – Remina by Junji Ito.

GUYS I actually read a book! One book, but A book! This is actually a manga that Dane bought for himself that I ended up reading before him. It’s the latest manga from Junji Ito and it was a strange but enjoyable read. It’s about a young woman called Remina whose dad has discovered a planet, which he names after her. The planet isn’t good, shit goes crazy and people start to blame Remina for it, due to their shared name. For those of you who aren’t aware, Junji Ito is described as the “king of horror manga” due to his unique art style. It’s incredibly detailed and beautiful, although creepy all the same. This isn’t a long manga, but a lot of packed in there! I didn’t really like the ending, but I don’t know what else I expected really. This being said it’s amazing and I recommend giving it a read if you’re already a fan of Junji Ito’s work, or a new reader of his work like I am.

Favourite Music – Childish Gambino – Summer Pack.

I recently discovered the track “Summertime Magic” by Childish Gambino through a game and I have fallen in love with it. From that I also discovered “Feels Like Summer” as both songs were on an EP called Summer Pack which I really love. I’ve found myself listening to them whilst working, even whilst writing up this post on and off too. I’ve never really listened to Childish Gambino before but I’ll definitely listen to his work more in the future for sure! I’m not super excited for the summer yet due to everything going on in the UK at the moment with lockdown and COVID, but as and when we can have a fun summer again, these are songs I’ll be playing whilst cooking something on the BBQ and sipping on a cocktail!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Ark.

Ark is a game me and a group of friends have been playing recently after we bought a server and with Dane and a friend of ours both needing to self isolate in February it’s been good for them to have something to do during the day, as well as in the week. I’d never played Ark before so I was feeling a mixture of excitement and anxious of what to expect. All I knew about it was that it’s a survival game surrounding dinosaurs. We’ve been playing it for over a week now and we’re all having an amazing time! 😀 I’ve become the one who looks after the dinosaurs and tidies up around the place. 😛 We have two robot stegosaurus’ which I called Daft and Punk. Yes, I’m a loser. 😛 It’s just such a fun game and I honestly recommend it to everyone who fancies something new to play. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s free on Xbox too!

Just a few of my favourite things.

• Creating an amigurumi – Animal Crossing Bizkit dog villager.

Not long after the third lockdown began in the UK I decided I would take up a new hobby and that new hobby was going to be amigurumi! I’d been mesmerised by it for quite some time thanks to Instagram and I thought, “Why not give it a go myself?” I’m not going to lie, the first time I gave this a go I was stressed out and anxious that I’d picked up a hobby I couldn’t actually do… My aunt always tried to show me how to crochet when I was younger and I never got the hang of it. Dane was really good and helped me so much with learning how to do some of the basics of amigurumi and if it wasn’t for that, I think I would have given up.

I worked on this project for a couple of days and didn’t go back to it for a few weeks after getting busy. I don’t know what happened but when I picked it back up I just… Got on with it and something that I’d struggled with so much the two weeks prior just came natural to me! I haven’t finished Biskit yet, but I plan to at the start of March. I’ve been a bit too busy lately to pick it up back but I only have a leg and his ears left to do.

Due to the amount of wool I have left I’m actually planning to make another one to either gift to a friend or keep hold of. In the future I would love to do some more projects similar to this including more Animal Crossing dog villagers, Pokemon and maybe even try and find a Puppycat (Bee & Puppycat) and Morgana (Persona 5) design to play with too.

If you’re interested in this design too and fancy giving it a go yourself then make sure to go and check out HanisCrochet! I bought my PDF pattern on her Etsy store and she’s been so lovely and helpful when I’ve gotten stuck or confused with the pattern. I’ll link back to the Biskit pattern here. The next one I plan to buy from her is Cherry so I can make one for Dane, as well as my friend Gabriella. 🙂

• Pikarar photoshoot (read the post all about Pikarar here).

I’m not going to talk too much about this but I LOVED this mini photoshoot that me and Dane did for my Pikarar review! I had loved the mini photoshoot we’d done for my Black Milk Clothing x Pokemon collection post (which you can read here) so I knew I wanted to do another. Our front room is perfect for these photoshoots and I’m not going to lie, 2021 will hopefully bring more!

As you will have noticed on my blog, as well as on my blog social media pages my image has changed to be the one where I’m wearing my yellow Pikachu crane Pikarar t-shirt. I loved how natural the photo came out and I found by wearing something Pokemon and geeky related it’s more related to what my blog is about.

What do you guys think about the photos? 😀

• Food – Pancake day,fFakeaway and Japanese ramen.

February was a month of me cooking some yummy meals and if there is one thing I really love to do, it’s cooking. Towards the start of February we had Shrove Tuesday/pancake day! I always make pancakes for me and Dane when pancake day rolls around and I knew we had to have them with bacon and syrup! They were really yummy and now I’m craving them again. 😛

I’ve cooked a couple of “fakeaway” meals during February including Nandos and this burger meal we did! The burgers are Linda McCartney’s vegetarian pulled pork burgers and they are AMAZING! I cooked up some chilli halloumi to pop on top and on the side, as well as some salt and pepper chips. This was such a lovely dinner and it definitely hit the spot.

Finally earlier this week I made ramen. It’s been BLOODY FREEZING this week in Birmingham and both me and Dane needed something to warm us up, so I decided to cook us ramen. I used Oumph! spiced kebab meat which is vegetarian and it’s okay… But it’s not something I’d pick up often as I find for the price it isn’t worth it. I’m not 100% vegetarian (flexitarian?) but I’m not someone who eats kebabs so I’d rather have this, if that makes sense? 🙂

• Black Milk Clothing x Pokemon.

Pokemon Day was yesterday and can you believe Pokemon has been around officially for 25 years? I feel fucking old… 😛 I mentioned earlier in this post that I had splurged on some Black Milk pieces towards the end of February and pissed my spending ban UP THE WALL! One of the two pieces I picked up is the Pokemon Dreams Snuggle Suit that I’ve had on my wish list since the collection came out in 2020. I’ve been wearing this on and off toward the end of February and it’s so comfortable to wear during games evenings and chilling with Dane. Black Milk Clothing have their Pokemon 2.0 collection coming out TONIGHT (in the UK anyway…) and I’m planning to buy a couple of things from it. I’m eyeing up the Snorlax snuggle suit but… I don’t think I will. One is enough for me me thinks.

So that is everything from my February monthly favourites! As I said before, February was rubbish for me but writing this post I’ve seen some things I really loved and enjoyed this month, which has made me feel a bit better. 🙂

What were your favourites from February? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time all, take care, keep safe and see you soon!

May Favourites ’19

I cannot believe we are officially over halfway through 2019! The year is flying by, but I feel the past two months really have flown since I’ve been at my new job. It’s been amazing so far and to be honest with you the end of May and start of June have been amazing for so many reasons!

After years of wishing to go, on Wednesday me and Dane FINALLY booked our trip to Japan! I still cannot believe it’s happening and the sooner it sinks in, the better. I’ll be writing all about this in June at some point. 🙂

I’m off work next week which I’m really excited for as I haven’t actually had any holiday since my birthday in January. Me and Dane have loads planned, including going to Manchester for a few days and even going to see The Book of Mormon there! 😀

Anyhoo, I’ll try and give a massive life update post soon on my blog instead of using my monthly post to give you guys TOOOO many updates.

On with the monthly favourites! 😀

• Colgate Naturals Charcoal Toothpaste.

If there’s something I love, it’s a toothpaste that tastes sweet, foams loads and leaves my teeth and mouth lovely and clean. This is a new charcoal toothpaste by Colgate so on a food shop at the start of May I saw it was on offer so decided to pick it up. Well, I picked a couple of these because I do love a charcoal toothpaste. Since buying it I really do love using it morning and evening. If anything, it’s a pleasure to use. It doesn’t go black when brushing with it, which is fab! I know some people don’t like that when it comes down to charcoal toothpaste – this is nothing like that!

• Lime Crime Wet Cherry Gloss in Cherry Bomb.

In the Easter sales I ended up grabbing some bargains, including the Lime Crime best of red lips and this was one of the four products inside of the set. Out of the four this is definitely my favourite to be honest, which took me by surprise! I’m not going to lie – whilst I thought the wet cherry glosses looked amazing, for £16.00 I thought they were a rip off for something you could pick up on the high street for half of the price and less! I’ll admit it. I’ve now eaten my own words, these lip glosses are definitely a game changer. They’re so light, not sticky and so much more pigmented than I thought they were going to be. If I fancy a bit of colour, but don’t wish to wear anything heavy I’ve been reaching for this. The wet cherry glosses also smell AMAZING! They remind me of the Yankee Candle Cherries On Snow and I can only image this is what an American cherry pie must smell like.

• Decleor Hydra Floral Everfresh Hydrating Wide-Open Eye Gel.

Since I started my new job, I’ve been seeing my mom more – which is so lovely. We tend to pop to the shops together after I finish work or relax. On one of our shopping trips I picked up a new eye gel for myself, that isn’t this one however. The one I bought was anti-aging and BURNT MY SKIN! It was horrible and I was beyond gutted in so many ways. My mom gave me this eye gel as she knew how I was after a new one. So far this one has been amazing and I haven’t had any issues. It’s a lovely cooling gel and even though I’m sure it isn’t anti-aging but I feel like it does help with brightening my eyes a tad.

• Optex Intensive Eye Drops For Dry Eyes.

I really do love using eye drops, especially during he cold and hot months especially. Depending on the type of eye drops I buy, depends whether I repurchase them again or not. I don’t feel like I’ve ever really enjoyed eye drops as much as I have with the Optex ones. I find these work really well for me, especially as the hayfever season has officially started. These really help my eyes first thing in the morning to wake me up, as well as refreshing my eyes. I make sure to use these daily to keep my eyes from drying up whilst the weather is on and off of what it wants to be! 😛

• L’Oreal Men Expert Pure Power Black Charcoal Face Wash.

IDGAF is this is a product for men, I’m still fucking using it! 😛 It it works for blokes, it’ll definitely work for me. 😉 If you know what I mean! This is actually Dane’s face wash, which he loves to bits! He’s had this since about March/April now and around the time he first got it he recommended I give it a go to see what I thought of it. I LOVE it! A little bit of it goes a long way and it goes REALLY creamy and with loads of lather. It gives a lovely cooling feeling on the face, which is great when the weather is really warm. I give this a go once a week to once a fortnight and it really does give my skin a bit of a boost.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from GIPHYGIPHY

Favourite TV Show – Attack on Titan Season 3.

I was so happy for Attack on Titan to be back for the rest of season 3 at the end of April and weekly me and Dane have tuned into Crunchyroll or Funimation to make sure to watch the latest episode. We’re caught up so far at the moment and each episode has me on the edge of my seat and by the “to be continued” at the end of the episode, I am already craving more! Dane knows what’s happening throughout the series at the moment as he’s all caught up on the manga – so he’s always one step ahead of me in regards to what’s going to happen… Which sucks. 😛 One of the episodes recently was really emotional for me and I really need this weeks episode soon!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Detective Pikachu.

I have been so excited for Detective Pikachu since it was announced months ago so as soon as tickets were released for this film at my local cinema I made sure to get our seats booked! It was an awesome date night out to be honest with you and I couldn’t have been any happier as I left the cinema after watching this. It was everything I wanted and more and I would love to go and spontaneously go and watch it again. I played the 3DS game of this and it was completely different with the story line in various ways. I honestly enjoyed the film more, because whilst the game had more information about Tim’s father and clue searching the film had more about what happened to Tim’s father. Recently Nintendo announced that there is going to be a sequel to Detective Pikachu on the Switch, which I am SO EXCITED FOR! 😀 Honestly if you haven’t been to watch this film yet, go and see it before it’s gone from cinemas.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – A Polar Bear In Love Vol. 4.

I love this manga series so much and I was so scared that volume 4 was actually the last volume in the series! Thankfully this isn’t the case, but this volume was really emotional and it really tugged on my heart strings. I’ve mentioned this manga series on and off in the past on my blogs monthly favourites, but it’s about a polar bear who falls in love with a seal pup. Of course polar bears eat seals so the love is seen as strange, especially by the seal who at first is constantly scared that the polar bear is going to eat him. Along the way they start to travel together and even make some friends along the way. This manga has been turned into a mini series, which I really need to watch more of! 😛

Favourite Music – I Prevail – “Bow Down”, PVRIS – “Fire” and Grimes – “We Appreciate Power”.

If there are three songs I couldn’t stop listening to this past month, it was definitely the three shown above. I discovered all these thanks to listening to KERRANG! Radio during the week at work and I’ve fallen in love with them all! “Bow Down” has some screaming singing in there, as well as some normal singing. I love the combination between the two singers and it works really well! I love singing along to it on my way home from work, as well as in the evenings when I’m chilling out. PVRIS are a band that I feel I’ve discovered too late! I now really want to get their albums to listen to, as I really love their songs, especially this one. It’s so damn catchy and I always find myself singing along to it, especially if it comes on when driving. Finally we have Grimes “We Appreciate Power”. I’ve always listened to Grimes on and off over the past 7 years and I do rather like her music. Another artist whose music I need to download and listen to more!

Image taken from Tumblr

Favourite Game – Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

This is a game I have not been able to stop playing whenever I have a moment to pick up my phone to play it. I play it in the morning when I wake up, if I have a spare 10/15 minutes before work, during my work break and then in the evening on and off after work. I don’t know how I have suddenly grown so addicted to it, but I have and I’m loving it! 😛 Even talking about it now, I’m going onto the app to see if there is anything I need to do! I am so excited for Animal Crossing to come out on the Switch and I’m keeping fingers crossed that Nintendo will announce information at E3.

So those are all my favourites from May! Again, I cannot believe it’s June already. The start of June is always a busy month for me and Dane, including celebrating when we bought our house as well as our anniversary. We’ll be 6 years together this time next week and it’s crazy how time flies when you’re having fun. 🙂

I’d love to hear what your favourites were from May! Make sure to let me know in the comments down below. Do you have a busy month ahead of you? If so, let me know about that in the comments too.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you have an amazing weekend. 😀

 

August Favourites ’18

YAY it is finally September, my favourite month of the year! I can’t wait to get started thinking about all the awesome things that are happening this month. I liked August, but it just lasted a little too long for my liking.

August was also an exciting month and I can’t wait to talk about both that as well as what this month brings in a post very soon.

For now though, it’s time to talk about my favourites from August and considering how much of a blur last month was, I worry I won’t even remember any of my favourites. 😛

Here goes, enjoy!

• The Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Lotion.

I feel bad as I already know I’ll have two The Body Shop products mentioned on this post, but sod it! Clearly they’re doing something right. Anyway, after finishing off my L’Occitane foot cream I’ve now moved onto FINALLY using and finishing The Body Shop foot lotion. I really love this foot lotion and have done since I bought it many moons ago. It’s old, I know but it certainly still does the job. It’s got a lovely peppermint menthol scent to it and leaves my feet feeling cooled, smelling fresh and feeling smooth all day. I use this in the mornings before I head to work. You can still buy their cooling foot lotion, but it doesn’t seem to look the same as it used to. Mine is pink, whilst the newer version looks blue on the website. Either way, it’s amazing stuff!

• Lime Crime Plushies in shade Gum Drop.

I’ve been so excited to mention on this product on my blog! I haven’t bought myself a lip product for absolute months now and in all honesty it’s due to how anxious I’ve been about wearing lipsticks. Not just that, but the effort of wearing it at work has also affected it. However, I really do miss wearing lipsticks and whilst I don’t wish to wear them everyday, I’d definitely like to wear them more often. I’ve had the shade Cherry Soda in my wish list folder for the longest time and decided to finally pick up that shade, as well as another. I’m so glad I opted on Gum Drop to be honest with you as out of the two, I feel like I’ve worn this one more. It’s such a me shade as it’s sheer berry shade and if there’s one shade I love, it’s berry. It reminds me a little of MAC Rebel, which is my favourite lipstick shade ever. I’ll be writing reviews on the Lime Crime Plushies soon, so keep eyes peeled for that!

• Tesco Comfort Eye Drops.

This is such a random product to add to this list this month, BUT these eye drops were a life saver at the time of purchase. We’d headed to Coventry to see Dane’s parents for the afternoon, which was lovely but as we left and were on the way to theirs my one eye was incredibly dry and VERY sore. At one point I was even worried that I had an eye infection heading my way. I didn’t want to spend a fortune on eye drops but I needed something decent. These cost me less than £2.00 and they did such an amazing job. I don’t feel like they’ve done anything dramatic for my eyes, but they definitely make my eyes feel better, especially whenever hayfever was around in August! It’s made me realise that I need eye drops in my daily routine now.

• The Body Shop Passionberry Lip Balm.

I picked this lip balm up a couple of months back, as whilst I don’t need anymore lip balms in my life, I always end up buying more. In all fairness I get through my Vaseline tins quite quickly, especially when I’m using them at work all day! Since my lips haven’t broken out and been gross and infected for almost a year now, I feel more comfortable with wearing coloured lip balms! I picked up two of these, but the one I was after the most was this purple shade in passionberry. Oh my it smells divine and is a really thick lip balm too. I feel like this really nourishes my lips and feels more like a gel butter instead of a balm. I also picked up strawberry, which is a gorgeous red shade. I know for a fact I’ll be wearing these loads throughout autumn and winter during work, as well as out on the go.

• Lush Plum Rain Shower Gel.

I’ve only recently been using this shower gel after owning it for about 2 or 3 months! My manager actually bought it for me as a belated birthday present, which was incredibly sweet! I remember her saying, “I went in to get Snow Fairy as you said how much you love it. But seeing as they didn’t have that, I got this for you instead.” How cute is my manager?! This shower gel is one I wanted to try from Lush when it first came out. Although I probably won’t pick it up in the future, I am definitely loving using it! It’s a gorgeous dark purple colour (which is my favourite colour) and foams up so well from just a little bit of product. It also smells amazing, just like plums! It reminds me of Christmas to be honest and this is purely down to The Body Shop plum shower gel they had out for a few years.

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken fromm Giphy

Favourite TV Show – Attack on Titan Season 3.

I feel like I mentioned this recently… But in all honestly I don’t recall at all talking about season 3 of Attack on Titan! It’s been out for quite a few weeks now and me and Dane watch it every Sunday morning/afternoon on Crunchyroll. As each season has aired and played, the story has just gotten so much better. I am for sure loving season 3, as so much is coming out and it is AMAZING! Dane already knows what’s happening as he’s up to date with the manga. There have already been some awesome scenes and massive pieces of information coming out, especially in last weeks episode. However, I’m not going to talk about this here though so I don’t spoil anything for anyone. BUT if you have always wanted to watch Attack on Titan, I honestly tell you to go and do it and if you want a new manga to read, go and read the manga too. 😛

Image taken from Giphy

Favourite Film – A Quiet Place.

Me and Dane watched this recently over the August bank holiday and oh man I WISH so badly that we had gone to the cinema to watch it. It’s stars and is directed by John Kransinski and his co star Emily Blunt is also his wife! I learnt this whilst watching it, which was pretty awesome. It’s basically about some alien style creaters that come to earth and if you make a sound the aliens will hear you and kill you. The film is CONSTANTLY on the go and keeping you on the edge of your seat. Me and Dane felt so tense throughout the movie in our living room, so God knows how we’d have felt if we were in the cinema! We didn’t buy this, we rented it but I would have happilly paid for this, it’s such a great film. I heard a few days after watching this that they’re already planning for a second one, which I’ll definitely go and see in the cinema.

Image taken from Giphy

Favourite Book – Persona 4.

I saw my best friend Gabriella for her birthday in August and we had such a lovely girly day together! I had her birthday presents with me and she had my belated birthday presents with her! She bought me an amazing Persona 5 Morgana t-shirt as well as Persona 4 Vol. 1 manga! I’ve been meaning to pick it up for ages now but just not got around to it just yet. I’ve already read it and I loved it so much, far more than Persona 3! Persona 3 Vol. 1 before the shit out of me, but Persona 4 has left me wanting more and I can’t wait to pick up the next one(s) already. Such an amazing present, thanks again Gab! 😀

Favourite Song/Album/Artist – Radio Bam and Hoobastank – The Reason.

So I’ve popped Radio Bam on here this month as I’ve been doing nothing but listening to full Radio Bam episodes most of this month. On and off over the past 10 years I’ve been listening to Radio Bam and I always end up stop listening as I just get bored of it, or I just can’t be arsed with it. Thanks to YouTube and someone uploading all the episodes to their channel and playlist I can keep up with what episodes I’ve listening to. I also love listening to Radio Bam whilst I do blog work, get ready in the morning before work and when I wine down in the evenings. I wish I could get the episodes on my phone or iPod so I can listen to the podcasts on my way to and from work.

Alongside Radio Bam I decided to add Hoobastank – The Reason as I forgot about this song existing! I remember when it came out in 2004. I would have been 14 when this came out and DEEP in my skater phase, with my emo one just around the corner. I remember it would come on KERRANG! all the time, both the radio as well as the music channel and I didn’t really like it much as the video confused the hell out of me. It randomly popped up on my recommendations recently on YouTube and I gave it a listen. Now I’m in love with it and intrigued to check out the rest of Hoobastank’s music.

Image taken from Giphy

Favourite Game – Viscera Cleanup.

Over the bank holiday in August me and Dane ended up buying this game and played it together on the Sunday and Monday and it was so much fun. I understand why it got so much hype when it first came out and even now! Basically some weird murder sprees have occured in work style places and it’s your job to clean up all the blood, guts, body parts, etc. We’ve played a couple of levels but the one that broke us both was the Christmas one where Father Christmas has gone on a mass murder of all his elves and reindeer. The funniest part was we would find TNT all over the place and it would constantly blow us up without even realising. It was hilarious and crazy all at the same time. I definitely recommend you watch people play it if your PC or laptop isn’t powerful enough to play it. Oh man, it’s hilarious!

Wow this post feels like it took forever and to be fair it really did… But I have a reason why!

I might have bought myself a new laptop to be honest with you… 😛 So my day was starting this post, stopping to look at laptops, ordering the laptop to pick up, going to pay and pick it up, setting it up at home, having dinner and FINALLY finishing off this post!

If I get the chance too I’ll definitely talk more about my laptop in the future. I just wanted something new and lighter. I’m already so happy with my decision to buy this and the past 10 months of saving for this has been totally worth it!

Anyway, what were your favourites from August? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

Currently #10

It’s July and it has also been WAY TOO LONG since I last wrote a currently list! List number 9 was way back in March. It honestly feels like yesterday when I was writing that one which I’ll also link here if you want to go and check it out! 😀

Due to the minor issues that have come up on my blog with Photobucket (which I wrote about recently here) not allowing my images to show anymore (IN MY HEAD IT’S ACTUALLY A FUCKING CAR CRASH AND I’M BURNING…) I’m trying to quickly get a blog post out there for you awesome lot!

It’s my day off and I could easily say I have done sod all, but I’ve actually done LOADS of housework and had to pop out with Dane this afternoon to run some errands and get the McFlurry that I’ve been craving for God knows how long (FYI before anymore suggests, no I am not pregnant. I’m just a fat bitch and love ice cream. :P) so that was pretty awesome, especially considering how hot it is today.

So now after playing Persona 5 for a couple of hours and cooking me and Dane dinner I’m now sat at the computer with every window open, my headphones on and my random playlist of music on.

Let’s get on with currently number 10! 😀

Watching – I can’t honestly say I’ve watched anything major recently. Me and Dane finished RuPaul’s Drag Race season 9 and my girl Sasha Velour won, which I was so damn happy and proud of! She definitely did the best throughout the competition in my opinion so I’m just so chuffed. Me and my best friend Gabriella have already said we’ll be going to see her live when she comes to the UK. Oh man I cannot wait for that day! We also finished watching Attack on Titan season 2 and it was fucking amazing! I didn’t feel bored at all throughout and if anything was on the edge of my seat after every single episode. Dane is up to date on the manga series at the moment which is quite far ahead of the anime, so after every episode ended I would turn to him and ask him to explain what’s going on and what will happen next. I won’t talk too much about it as I know whilst a lot of UK fans have watched it, I also know some who read my blog and haven’t. I don’t want to spoil any of it for you lovely lot, just hurry up and watch it already! 😉

Image taken from Netflix

A show we did binge watch last month however was GLOW, which is a Netflix exclusive show created by the same people at Orange is The New Black, which we also binge watched last month and for your information, Piper still annoys the fuck out of me. ANYWAY! GLOW is about the Glamorous Women of Wresting and is set in the 80’s. From looking for a gif for this post I discovered that this was an ACTUAL thing in the 80’s, which I think is pretty cool! At first I wasn’t sure if I would like the show as the trailer didn’t really do it any justice after watching. I also worried I would dislike the main character Ruth. She’s an aspiring actress who can’t seem to get a break and a role that she so badly wants. That is until she joins GLOW. Some other stuff happens along the show and it just makes the show great! My favourite character by far is Sam, who is the director of GLOW. He’s got a sarcastic and dry sense of humour which I love so damn much. At times I just wanted to reach into the screen and pat him on the back… and maybe a cuddle. They’ve already announced a season 2 by the looks of it and judging by how season 1 ended it needs to have another season! I cannot wait to be honest as I already know it’ll be amazing. I already miss all the characters.

Reading – I’ve really not been reading as much as I used to and instead have replaced that with playing Persona 5 and focusing loads of my blog. This is also mainly due to manga series I’m reading being finished or having to wait for new volumes to come out. I did however recently buy Your Name (Kimi no Na wa in Japanese) manga, to coincide with the anime movie with the same name. I finished the first volume recently and it is amazing! I’m really excited to read the rest as they have added a little more to the manga than they did in the anime. I also recently bought volume 3 of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. I really love the manga as again, it is telling  more of a story than the anime did. Volume 3 also appears to introduce a new dragon that watchers of the anime won’t have seen yet! Other than that, that is all I have read recently. I still have K-ON! to read but I want to save those for my holiday. I can’t see this happening however. 😛

Listening – I haven’t really listened to any new albums lately, not even the new cKy album, which I have shocked myself with! Sadly I just haven’t felt like I’ve had time to sit down and properly listen to it. I might however get Dane to download it tomorrow if not over the weekend for us to listen to together after I finish work over the weekend.

I have found myself listening to loads of anime and game music however, which I’m loving! One of the opening songs from Gintama has stuck in my head and I love it so much! There is a full version of this song but I thought I’d just show the one from the actual opening. This is an anime Dane has been watching so when I heard this song I instantly fell in love with the chorus. It’s just so damn catchy and sounds so positive. Also as weeabo as this sounds, Gintama is a little itty bitty titty hot. xD

Otherwise any other music I’ve been listening to lately has been a mixture of Nirvana, Daft Punk and random bits and pieces on both my YouTube account and on my iPod.

Eating – Mmm food huh? I haven’t really been eating properly lately due to my mental health acting up. I find if anything I’ve not eaten anything special and just binging on carbs, but that’s the norm for me! 😛 Me and Dane have eaten less takeaways lately which is great of course! 😛

Me and Dane did recently visit an amazing milkshake and waffle place with our friends Lee and Sam and it was amazing. I went for a Ferraro Roche waffle and surprisingly I ate it all! Me and Dane also shared a Nutella milkshake actually out of a Nutella jar, which had a brownie on the top! It was really nice but a little too sugary for myself. Otherwise it was great and I can see us all going there again in the future.

Wearing – God it’s been so damn hot that I feel like I’ve hardly been wearing anything! Been living in dresses and my short pyjamas pretty much. I bought a couple of Pokemon pairs from Primark recently and I still wear them to death and wear them loads. I’ve also been wearing the cKy baseball tee I bought at their gig to death! I love it so much and a part of me can see me taking it on holiday to wear to chill out in in the day and evenings. I also bought myself a Pikachu dress recently and I’ve only worn it once so far but I intend to wear it again very soon. For how much I paid for it it’s so damn comfortable and makes me feel great when I wear it.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Wanting – Oh what don’t I want? To win loads of money on a scratch card, to have more holiday time from work so I can do stuff to the house and speaking of the house new windows! A holiday to Japan is also another thing I desperately want right now. There’s all sorts I want though to be honest. I’ve fallen in love with a few pieces from the VANS x Peanuts collection, as well as some Killstar dresses. OH and don’t even get me started on some of the latest Nendoroid releases that both me and Dane want. It’s all just money though at the moment. Right now though all I want is a break. A break from my anxiety as my head is on and off a mess right now and it pisses me off something awful. 😦

Wow so that was my currently number 10! I love that I’ve written that many over the past couple of years now and it makes me so happy. I’m not going to stop here though, I’ll continue writing these as I really love to be able to keep you guys up to date on things I’m currently loving.

Of course I would love to hear what things you’re currently loving. Make sure to let me know in the comments tomorrow if not over at my Twitter page @maybeecoffee

Until next time take care all, I hope you’re having a great week so far. Not long not and it’ll be the weekend!

TV Shows I’m Loving At The Moment

Now I wouldn’t exactly call myself a coach potato but I feel like this is pretty much an accurate term for me lately. As of late after both me and Dane finish work we either sit and play games online with friends or binge watch various TV shows. Mostly the later though…

There just seems to be so many TV shows out lately with new series that we need to watch! There’s so many that almost everyday we have a new episode to catch up with. This sounds worse than it actually is… 😛

So come and have a read about what TV shows me and Dane have been binge watching lately. You never know, you may just get some inspiration for what you can watch yourselves. 😉

• RuPaul’s Drag Race – S9 (Netflix)

I’ve been a fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race for as long as I can remember and as soon as a new season comes out I always make sure to keep up with the episodes. Spoilers are one of the reasons why, but it’s mostly due to wanting to keep up with which queen(s) are doing the best. I’ve always watched the show with Dane, which is really nice to be honest! I didn’t think he would be interested in giving it a go due to what it’s all about, but he loves it! My favourite in this season so far is Nina Bonina Brown. This being said though I’m not a massive fan of season 9 so far… It just seems like the queens don’t give much of a shit, or give too much of a shit. No one is really standing out right now for me. I just hope someone does soon! I want another Jinxx Monsoon! She’s my favourite queen! For the first time in the UK this is available on Netflix as and when a new episode airs. I used to have to look online for videos to watch when it came to getting my RuPaul new show fix!

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – S1 (Crunchyroll and Funimation)

Out of all of these TV shows being mentioned in this post this is definitely one of my favourites. I’ve mentioned this show on my blog before. It’s about a dragon who is pretty much adopted by by a human and who falls in love with said human. More dragons come to the human world, another one who comes to live with them and others who live with other humans. It’s a very funny show and heart warming at the same time. I’ve started to read the manga of it and it is amazing!

• Attack On Titan – S2 (Crunchyroll)

Both me and Dane have been waiting what feels like forever for season 2 of Attack On Titan to come out! We both love the show and we’ve been worried that the next season would never come out. It’s been out for a couple of weeks now and it’s amazing. Dane pretty much knows the basics of what is going to happen due to reading the manga. I haven’t yet read the manga for Attack On Titan and I’m unsure when and if I will. If you loved the first season of Attack On Titan then make sure to watch this season!

• 13 Reasons Why – S1 (Netflix exclusive)

On this list this has to be my favourite one on the list! As soon as me and Dane watched the trailer for this on Netflix we knew that we would want to watch it! It’s based off a novel of the same name and the show is said to be loads better! The show is about Hannah, a girl who has committed suicide and records 13 tapes explaining why she killed herself. It’s an emotional roller coaster and to be honest it made me feel really low at the end of it. It’s an amazing show though and one I recommend everyone to watch as soon as possible! I might pick the book up in the future to read if I fancy it. This is a Netflix exclusive so if you want to watch it you need to have a Netflix account… Or you can be naughty and find it online to watch.

• K-ON! – S1 and S2 (DVD)

Like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid this is another one of my favourite TV shows on this list. Dane recently became interested in watching K-ON! and popped it on for us both to watch one day. Since then we have been hooked and it’s definitely become a massive new love for us both. We haven’t finished watching season 2 yet, but I’ll be sad when we do however. I was going to buy Dane all of the seasons on DVD as well as the film on blu-ray but I left it in the end. I’m sure we’ll buy them on our week off together next week. I’ve bought all of the manga of K-ON! and I’m loving it so far!

• Masamune-kun’s Revenge – S1 (Crunchyroll and Funimation)

This is a show I have loved and then been bored with… Which is strange! Dane has felt the same way about it as well. We usually stop watching things we get bored with, like anyone would be to honest. The only reason we have kept on with it is because we have watched so much of it already. It just doesn’t feel like it is going anywhere right now and we’re about 10 episodes in. I was going to buy the manga of it to read but I am so bloody glad I haven’t… This show just doesn’t feel like it’s going to have a decent outcome. This being said it is good… But I don’t recommend it. I would recommend all the other shows on this list more!

• Peter Kay’s Car Share – S1 and S2 (BBC iPlayer)

This is one I haven’t really watched with Dane. He’s not particularly interested in stuff like this and although I’m not a MASSIVE fan I do love this show! It reminds me of the summer I was at university studying my MA and when Dane practically lived with me for 3 weeks whilst my family was away on holiday. It was lovely and pretty much a test drive for what it would be like if we lived together. So when season 2 came out recently I had to watch it as soon as possible! As the title suggests it’s about a car share. He drives and his colleague keeps him company in the car. You see their relationship grow from just colleagues to friends, to possibly something more. I was disappointed to learn after watching episode 4 that that was it… No more episodes for season 2. I mean what the fuck Peter Kay?! I say this due to how the last episode of season 2 ends. I can’t say anything without giving away any spoilers, but it’s a mixture of really shit and the perfect cliffhanger. Both season 1 and 2 are on BBC iPlayer at the moment so go and check them out if you’re interested.

• Eromanga Sensei – S1 (Crunchyroll)

This is a new anime to be added to Crunchyroll recently and it’s one people either love or hate due to what it’s about. I’m watching it for a mixture of reasons. 1. The main female character is so fucking adorable and 2. I like the fact that she’s a manga cartoon artist and that her brother (the main male character) is a manga/light novel writer. These are both the sorts of job roles and creative talents I give my characters when I write. The part about the show that is riling people up is the fact that the two main characters are siblings (well adopted siblings…) and they’re meant to have a relationship together… Awkward… This aspect doesn’t appeal to me at all but the story line otherwise really does. It’s only 2 episodes in at the moment so I’ll see how it goes, but so far this relationship side hasn’t really shown. A few creepy bits have though… Otherwise it’s pretty funny at the moment and I’m enjoying it.

So those are some TV shows I’m loving right now! I feel like I have a show a day to catch up on, which is really sad but it gives me something to look forward to after work I suppose!

It’s not on this list but I’m currently watching Sirens, which aired on Channel 4 6 years ago! WOW I FEEL OLD!!! What TV shows are you loving and binge watching right now? Are you watching anything that’s on my list? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely Easter and are equally having a lovely week.

His N Her Manga Collection and Q&A

As regular readers will know, me and Dane are both massive fans of manga and our love of it is only growing more as we start and end another manga series.

I was writing and aiming for this post to be up on my blog around World Book Day but sadly due to life and how busy it can be, I never got around to finishing and publishing it on my blog.

BUT no time like the present and I’ve accumulated more manga since World Book Day which is amazing of course! I of course have included Dane into my manga collection as with both of our books combined we have a great collection so far. I also did some questions for both me and Dane to answer in relation to manga. So it’s kind of like a his and her manga post today! I hope you enjoy it.

Manga We Own

Dane:

Attack on Titan – Vol. 1-20

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Vol. 1-5

Attack on Titan: No Regrets – Vol. 1 and 2

Berserk – Vol. 1-6

Death Note – Vol. 1-6

One Punch Man – Vol. 1-10

Natalee:

Azumanga Daioh

Nana – Vol. 1-21

Nichijou – Vol. 1 and 2

Paradise Kiss – Vol. 1-3

A Silent Voice – Vol. 1-7

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Vol. 1-4

Wolf Children

Your Lie in April – Vol. 1-11

Manga We Want:

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall – Vol. 6

Attack on Titan: Lost Girls – Vol. 1 and 2

Berserk – Vol. 7-38

Masamune-kun’s Revenge – Vol. 1-3

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid – Vol. 1 and 2

Nichijou – Vol. 3-6

One Punch Man – Vol. 11

Sherlock: A Study in Pink

Sword Art Online: Progressive – Vol. 5

Dane Questions & Answers:

• What was the first manga you read?

Admittedly I have gotten into manga much later than I could or should have. My first manga was (is) actually Attack on Titan. After watching countless anime I watched the first season of Attack on Titan and couldn’t wait for the next season so I began reading the manga.

• What is your favourite manga to date and why?

Easily Berserk. I have seen and heard about it in the past but always thought it was a manga that was “edgy” for the sake of being edgy. Granted the first arc of the manga does show Guts to be an edgelord (someone, especially posting on the internet who uses shocking annalistic speech and opinions that they themselves may or may not believe to gain attention and come across as a more dangerous and unique person) but he is kept likeable and grows over the course of the manga.

The world of Berserk is a dark one, the manga is very explicit in this and does not shy away from some truly WTF moments. It is not for everyone. It begins with Guts getting freaky with a crazy demon only to kill it mid coitus which is a great way to show what is in store for you. This is one of its greatest assets the fact it is not afraid of going balls to the wall with its story, there are some truly great characters and events that will make you smile and sometimes you will be cutting onions outside in the rain whilst miraculously keeping the book and everywhere but your face dry.

One of the other assets that make this manga worth people’s time is the superior artwork that goes into it. Kentaro Miura is a master when it comes to bringing his panels to life, the character design and the detail (particular the full spreads) are just sublime and you have to see them to believe. Every artist has their moments where some things don’t look quite right but Miura can be excused when he does things like this:

Seriously, anyone should give this article (http://www.exprofundis.com/the-art-of-berserk/) a read because it helps break down the inspiration behind some of the art and showcase some of the best images.

The manga was not my first experience of Berserk. I had tried to watch the anime on a few occasions but never got into it. I have always found it difficult to watch most 90s anime because it doesn’t always gel with me. After giving the 90s season another go I surprised myself when I had a thirst for more, so, like I did with Attack on Titan I began reading the manga. I also heard about the three films which cover the golden age arc, which is the same arc as the 90s series. To me the CGI in those films works really well and I enjoyed those adaptations the most and really makes you wish they carried on making more. The problem is neither really follow the manga chronologically, the 90s anime has a few minutes of the black swordsman arc to go into the golden age arc and obviously the films skip the whole first chapter. So what you are left with is no true adaptation of a brilliant manga.

This then leads me on to why you should stick with the manga for the time being: The 2016 Berserk anime series. Since the first season has finished airing it has been greenlit for a second season. It was amazing to hear that we would finally get to see the full story of Guts in animated form. Only to be disappointed with a horribly directed and crudely animated shit show. The story was mostly there, even some moments which fans expected to be censored or cut (If you dare Google rape horse). I won’t go into too much of a critique but it had some good moments but was overshadowed by some really bad moments. It showed promise and I hope that the studio receive more time and money to give Berserk what it deserves.

• Any online websites or phone apps you suggest for reading manga on?

If you really can’t get the physical books to read I would recommend the manga rock app. It’s free, has decent scans and is what I used to read Berserk and some works by Junji Ito.

• What is a manga you regret reading and why?

I don’t really regret reading any not in that regards. I have looked at some and thought “nah I can’t be arsed with that” but never have I spent the time to read one and thought why did I bother.

To answer the question in a different manner I would say I regret reading some of the short stories Junji Ito has created. They leave you with a sense of uneasiness I haven’t felt from a book before. He is the master of the full spread shock and horror. The stories are some of the most unique I have experienced too, the creativity astounds me and leave you eerily excited to know the outcome but you are always left with a gaping hole because horror stories hardly ever end well.

• What is a manga you can read over and over again and why?

All the manga I am currently or have read is still in production so the stories are incomplete. I have Death Note but that is on my to-do list. So the only manga I can legitimately say is Berserk as I am currently on my second run after finally purchasing the physical copies.

• What is a manga you would suggest people read when first getting into it?

Attack on Titan was a very easy manga for me to get into, it has a decent story and is mature enough to keep me entertained. It is also one that lacks the typical tropes I have found with Japanese media; the fan service, unnecessary cute characters, sweat drop and so on. I don’t mind those things generally but sometimes I feel they remove you from the immersion in a story and western viewers may not appreciate too much of it.

• Is there a manga you think is overrated?

I cannot allow myself to say a manga is overrated because I have not experienced enough to judge. Although I will bash something in my own time I would feel unfair to claim something I have little exposure to. Especially as I can understand liking something that the general public would see as weird or too nerdy just because it’s different.

• Is there a manga you think is underrated?

Anyone who has read Berserk I hope will understand why people like it, even if they don’t themselves. I don’t think there are any that I have seen which don’t have a cult following or a new anime adaptation due out.

• Would you read any of the manga Natalee owns? If so which one(s)?

I would definitely give Your Lie in April and Nichijou a read as I have already taken a quick look and they have peaked my interest. Nana and Paradise Kiss aren’t really my thing, both are most likely brilliant in their own right (the anime for Paradise Kiss kept me interested enough) but it’s just not my thing.

• What’s a manga you love but hate the anime of?

Berserk, as mentioned above. Hate is a strong word for it though.

• What is the next manga you wish to buy and read?

I am currently purchasing as many Berserk manga as possible but it doesn’t really count as one I am due to read as I already have caught up to the latest chapter.

I haven’t really thought that far ahead to be honest so I genuinely don’t know.

Natalee Questions & Answers:

• What was the first manga you read?

The first manga I read was Elfen Lied. I had wanted to read manga for years but I never knew which one TO read. After watching the anime over a handful of times I knew it was time to find the manga to read. Physical copies are hard to come by in Japanese and I don’t think they’re available in English so I resorted to reading it online.

• What is your favourite manga to date and why?

This is a hard one because I love all the manga I have completely finished so far. I honestly can’t answer this question with one manga to be honest. I would like to say A Silent Voice as the story is so realistic and one that has really pulled on my heartstrings. It left me thinking too which I loved. This being said I also loved Elfen Lied and Nana, although Nana isn’t officially finished yet.

• Any online websites or phone apps you suggest for reading manga on?

I have used a phone app in the past but I can’t remember what it was called. I hated it. It wasn’t the app itself but just the way I felt about it. I can’t remember the website I used when I read Elfen Lied. I just Google’d it to be honest when I wanted to read it.

• What is a manga you regret reading and why?

I don’t think there’s a manga I regret reading to be honest with you. I usually check out the anime before reading the manga so I’ll always know if I’ll like the storyline or not. I don’t regret reading it because I haven’t bought it, but I do want to get Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid but the artwork doesn’t look as nice as the anime does… I could see myself regretting buying that one for example.

• What is a manga you can read over and over again and why?

Definitely Elfen Lied as I love the story. I especially love how different it was to the anime.

• What is a manga you would suggest people read when first getting into it?

Something light and quirky is always a good choice. Azumanga Daioh is one of the first I read and it’s an easy one to read and very funny! I suppose any anime you have watched and fallen in love with you should read the manga because the chances are you’ll love that more!

• Is there a manga you think is overrated?

From what I’ve seen it’s definitely got to be One Piece. I haven’t read it and I don’t even know what it’s about but fuck it takes up most of the manga books in shops such as Nostalgia Comics in Birmingham and Forbidden Planet’s all over the country. I’m sure it’s amazing and all but there’s just so many volumes! Same goes to Naruto as well.

• Is there a manga you think is underrated?

I want to say anything by Ai Yazawa but this being said I don’t think she’s underrated. Paradise Kiss is a classic alongside Nana, which isn’t even finished yet and very much sought after these days by Ai Yazawa fans alike. I’m saying it’s underrated because of how long the hiatus of Nana has been now. People have probably given up now on ever knowing what happens in the end. I however have a little bit of faith left in me. I hope we find out sooner rather than later what happens.

• Would you read any of the manga Dane owns? If so which one(s)?

I don’t know to be honest… I’d love to read Attack on Titan and One Punch Man but I would worry they’d involve too much action for my liking. Surprisingly I love this in Sword Art Online: Progressive but I don’t think I would like it in Attack on Titan and One Punch Man. This being said I love the anime of both of these, especially the action behind them!

• What’s a manga you love but hate the anime of?

I recently started watching the anime of Paradise Kiss to coincide with me reading the manga and so far I’m preferring the manga a hell of a lot more! I just find that there are huge chunks missing from the anime which sucks! The same can definitely be said for Elfen Lied too, which leaves the ending in the anime in a really poor manner. There is so much more to the story than the anime lets on which is extremely frustrating. I definitely recommend reading the manga if you love the show. It’s shit loads better!

• What is the next manga you wish to buy and read?

I don’t want to buy it because I wouldn’t be able to read it BUT I really want to print off all the Elfen Lied manga and pop them into a folder so I can physically read them. I would want to do the same for other manga that isn’t available in English.

Besides that I want to try and have a look at Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid before reading to see if I’ll like it and Masamune-kun’s Revenge as I recently started watching the anime which I’m really enjoying. I can see the manga being just as good to be honest.

So that is our lonnnng manga post! Do you like reading manga, or have you just started reading manga? Make sure to let us know which series you’re reading or have read! We’d love to hear from you all.

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Hyper Japan 2015 Part 1

I have struggled to start this post because I just didn’t know how to start it, and due to that it’s actually a day late… Oops! I’m literally just going to throw myself into it and ramble on about things in the order they occurred on the day, which I’ll warn you was long and also picture heavy! I also bought quite a few things at Hyper Japan or was given plenty of freebies, which you can see above, but I’ll go into more detail about those throughout the post.

This post is actually going to be split into two parts, because as I’ve been writing it, it’s just appeared to be WAY too long! So I’ll have part one up today, and part one up tomorrow!

Although we were shattered, we were ready for Hyper Japan and made sure we got up bright an early to get a big breakfast and then head over to the O2 where the event was happening. I’ve never been to the O2 in London before so I was in shock when I saw how big it actually is. But to get there we took the cable cart over which was pretty cool, although I was really anxious when we went over the first time, damn anxiety!

We arrived and the queue was ridiculous… However we had paid a little extra to get fast registration tickets, so we were lucky and didn’t need to wait in that queue. I later read online that it took people an hour to just over it to get into the arena. Not good! We had a bit of trouble waiting in the queue but for once my anxiety didn’t hold me back from voicing my concerns and I spoke to a member of staff about what was happening. Basically, people were pushing in and then laughing at us all who they had pushed past. Me raising these issues got us to the front of the queue, which we couldn’t complain about.

When we finally got inside we were even more excited! The O2 wasn’t that busy but it was sure heaving with restaurants. It just meant if we didn’t wish to eat at Hyper Japan, we had some choices around us.

There were various places you could visit at Hyper Japan including, Eat Japan, Hyper Fringe Market, J-Culture, Hyper Kawaii, Hyper Live, and the first place we visited, Hyper Game & Anime Park. This was probably one of the funnest places for us so it being the first place we went into was pretty awesome.

As the name suggests the Game & Anime Park was of course full of those. Nintendo was of course the main gaming event in there with loads of different demo areas for various different games, as well as a huge stage where members of Nintendo were talking people through new and upcoming games, as well as some cool events happening. We went there to watch about the latest game from Animal Crossing, Happy Home Designer (I’ve already pre ordered it!). I’m a huge Animal Crossing fan so I was super excited when we were told that event was happening on the stage. We watched the whole thing and due to being such awesome people, we were given a free Mario Kart 8 keyring, which I gave my boyfriend.

As well as that there was also a Playstation 4 console where people could demo the new Sword Art Online game, which is coming out in autumn this year! Exciting news for Sword Art Online fans like me and my boyfriend. We both had a go on the demo which latest about ten minutes and it was a pretty straight forward game. There was a huge queue when we first went into the Game & Anime Park so when we went in for a second time, that’s when we got to have a go.

Of course due to Nintendo being there, they also had some of their Amiibo items on display for people to look at, which of course we did. The ones I got most excited for were the yarn Yoshi ones, which have come out to accompany the Wii U game Yoshi’s Woolly World. They come in three colours, my favourite of course being the original green Yoshi. These are made out of real wool so not only do they look like little woolen figures, but they actually are!

Going back to Animal Crossing and the new game Happy Home Designer, these are coming out alongside it so it was nice to have a look at the cards that will be coming out for it. You use these cards to call different villagers and people in the town then and there instead of waiting ages for them. It was also nice to discover that Nintendo are bringing out an add on for old 3DS, and 2DS ‘s where you can use the cards, instead of needing to but the new 3DS.

Not long after the event where the people of Nintendo were talking about the new Animal Crossing game, a Pikachu suddenly waddled past us and over to the main Nintendo section. We followed it to discover that you could have pictures with it, so we got in the queue and got our pictures taken! It was so adorable and I wish we could have gone back and had some more pictures of it. But alas, we had things to do.

Before we left the Game & Anime Park I had a quick picture (or two!) with a massive Colossal Titan head that had been blown up with air for people to take pictures with. It’s from Attack On Titan, one of mine and my boyfriends favourite manga/anime. My boyfriend didn’t bother having any pictures with it, but I made sure to take advantage of it, as it was pretty awesome and the picture I got of me with it is definitely one of my favourites from the day.

We picked up a few bits and pieces from the Game & Anime Park and my boyfriend was lovely enough to buy me a handbag. I had my eye on it since the seller announced they would be selling them at Hyper Japan over on their Facebook page. When I told them I wanted to buy one they were lovely enough to let me look over the bag I got to make sure it was okay and such, which of course it was. It also came in a dust bag which I love! I keep it in there when I’m not using it to keep it nice and fresh looking. It’s a dupe of the Samantha Vega handbag which I’m fine with, as it’s a nice dupe and when I’ve used this bag since me getting it, it’s amazing quality and is really sturdy and great! I’m super pleased with it, and for £35 it was well worth the money. My boyfriend also bought me some green tea matcha Kit Kat’s, which were only 80p each! By far the cheapest ones in the whole of Hyper Japan.

We moved over to the other areas of Hyper Japan and probably spent most of our time there looking around all the various stalls and stands.

This is the Tofu Cute Candy Festival and something we visited twice because we loved it so much! For just £6 we got all these treats to eat and try, so we got two of these. There were various things we got from Pocky, Kit Kat’s, chocolate, sweets, and as you can see on this picture, a green tea matcha mochi, where was delicious. It was a great way to sample things before buying them in the shop next door. The shop was so busy too, it was probably one of the busiest stalls of the day.

As the Saturday Hyper Japan day is split into two separate events people are told they need to leave for half an hour whilst the event is swapped around so before we headed off we ordered a picture to be drawn of us together, as well as picked up a picture of me that someone had drawn in the Fringe Market.

We also decided to grab some food from the Eat Japan section. We bought some tuna onigiri, and to the Japanese onigiri is like a sandwich to us, which I LOVED! They were two for £6, which wasn’t cheap for but for how filling it was, it was really nice. I think we’re going to try and make these ourselves in the future.

Then we headed back to the hotel as we were pretty shattered and wanted to drop off some of the stuff we had bought, as things were beginning to be quiet heavy. The queue for the cable cart was long! But luckily we were alright and soon got into a cart with some people. I felt a lot more relaxed the second time we rode it and I would love to go on it again in the future.

And whilst I was going to continue talking about Hyper Japan, I’m going to stop for today and call this part one out of two. This post is just turning out to be way too long to fit into one post without it not beginning to be boring.

So tomorrow I shall talk about the second half of Hyper Japan in part two!

What do you think of my first Hyper Japan experience so far? Did you go to Hyper Japan? Let me know in the comments.

Until tomorrow, take care all.

Netflix Tag!

Image taken from weheartit.com

1.What are your favourite things to watch on Netflix?

I love watching anime on there to be honest! I’ve watched Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, and Fullmetal Alchemist. I’ve been watching quite a bit on there lately but something I’m watching at the moment of House. It’s a really good show and I can’t believe it’s taken me over ten years to finally watch it.

2. What are you currently watching on Netflix?

House! xD

3. If you could have any series, old or new put on Netflix, what would it be?

I’d like Catfish on there to be honest because I really love it and it’s hard to find online to watch to be honest. South Park would be great too.

4. What is your one peeve about Netflix?

That there’s more newer shows on there than old. I want some older stuff on there too and maybe some British drama too.

Image taken from weheartit.com

5. What are your essentials for a perfect night in with Netflix?

A long series (possibly anime), green tea, and cuddles with the boyfriend.

6. Recommend one series or film for someone else to watch?

I recommend the anime on there to be honest as it’s amazing. Check out Sword Art Online! Also Pokemon, re-live your childhood.

7. Name a series on Netflix you keep meaning to watch but haven’t yet?

Erm… Probably the rest of Dexter. I’ve watched up to season four now.

8. Did you discover anything awesome because of Netflix?

I discovered how great House is, how much I love Fullmetal Alchemist and also how much I love Sword Art Online.

Very random blog post today but I fancied giving it a go! Do you watch Netflix? If so, why not take part in this quick tag? It won’t hurt!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a good weekend!

I’m Going To Comic-Con!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Yep you read the title correctly, I’m going to Comic Con this year… The Birmingham one of course!

As I have mentioned over and over, from time to time on my blog I am a massive nerd and my boyfriend shares this passion with me. We wanted to go to Comic Con in Birmingham earlier this year in March but it was last-minute and we were pretty poor at the time, so we ended up leaving it. This sucked whilst I was on my way home from Coventry on the train, as it passes Birmingham International, and as Comic Con is held at The NEC (which is practically next door to the airport) there were loads of people dotted around who had attended Comic Con.

We both said how we would go when the next Comic Con came around and now eight months later and we’re actually going! The tickets are booked, neither of us are working and we have some spending money to burn. We’re ready!

Due to how nerdy my boyfriend and I are, I can see me buying my boyfriend loads of Christmas presents, as well as some presents for one of my best friends. I won’t lie, I can see me buying myself some bits and pieces too…

Image taken from weheartit.com

Mish Mreow who is one of my favourite bloggers attended Comic Con in March and when she posted (you can check her posts here, here and here) some pictures from it, I was green with envy! The first image she posted was of loads of Pokemon plushies and I squealed with excitement! I know already that either my boyfriend will spoil me rotten and buy me quite a few for Christmas, or I’ll spoil myself rotten and buy myself some as a treat… Either way I’m going to be coming home with a Pokemon plushie!

My boyfriend is a huge Attack On Titan fan and he has actually gotten me into it since our holiday to Bristol and I couldn’t thank him anymore. I am going to be spoiling him to plenty of Attack On Titan goodies this Christmas. He does read my blog and he knew before reading this post that I would be spoiling him. So I am hoping there will be plenty of Attack On Titan goodies to choose from, as if I can pick him up some presents next weekend, then that’ll keep me happy!

My manga of choice at the moment is Nana, but I’ve had to stop reading it since the summer, due to no stores selling the next books I need! So I’m hoping that at Comic Con they’ll have the books that I actually need. Fingers crossed!

Now, some of you may be wondering if I’ll be cosplaying? Sadly my answer is no. I used to cosplay on and off when I was younger, but as I’ve got older I’ve found it’s more fun to watch people do it, than join in. Plus I can’t be bothered to spend loads of money on a cosplay outfit and instead invest said money in merchandise!

Are any of my readers going to Comic Con, or have you been before? If you’ve been before please let me know what it’s like in the comments, I want to know what I have in store for me!

Until next time, take care all and have a good weekend.