May Favourites ’22

Another month is due to end and with that we of course have our monthly favourites! I can’t believe it’s June in four days time, the year is just flying by and I’m not liking it… But I am sort of liking it because excited things are coming up at the start of June!

May was a weird month for me, it was full of bank holidays, and annual leave which left me wanting more four day weeks at work. As well as that, last week me and Dane went to see My Chemical Romance and let me tell you it was amazing! I haven’t been to a show that big to date. The atmosphere was great and took me back to when I’ve seen them live twice previously, as well as to how I used to be when I was younger. If it wasn’t obvious enough, I was a little emo kid. 😛 I’m going to save more details for later on in my monthly favourites, because it obviously counts!

Aside from that, June is looking to be an exciting month for me and Dane! We have the UK Games Expo coming up with my best friend and her boyfriend and then me and Dane have a week off together for our nine year anniversary, which in itself has flown by! For our anniversary this year we’ve decided to go to Manchester for a few days, which we’re so excited for! Like MCR, I’ll talk more about it later in my monthly favourites, as whilst it hasn’t happened yet, it’s something I’m excited about, so it classes as a favourite… Right?

Me and Dane also finished our first Dungeons & Dragons campaign too, which lasted for three years! We had so much fun playing it and can’t wait to start a new campaign in June/July.

On top of all that I’m going to be bloody skint this month, with MCR, UK Games Expo, Manchester AND my car needing to be taxed and serviced… It’s a good job I have plenty to keep me busy. 😛

Content wise for June I’m hoping to bring you some kawaii AF stuff, as well as some future posts about our Manchester adventures, especially geeky places to shop, fun things to do and good places to eat. I hope yah’ll are excited for it!

Anyhoo, on with the monthly favourites! I really hope you enjoy this months post, I feel like it’s going to be full of me being excited about adventures and MCR. 😛

Favourite Beauty Product – Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask in Berry.

I was planning to write a blog post showing off all the goodies I picked up from YesStyle a couple of months ago, but I decided against it as I thought I’d end up showing off the goodies in monthly favourites posts anyway (which I have!). One of the items I picked up is the Laneige lip sleeping mask in berry, which I have wanted to try for as long as I can remember. It’s recently started to hit the UK beauty stores, so it’s becoming more available to us in the west, however the price for the pot is a bit of a joke… Hence why I turned to YesStyle. From memory I only paid £10 for my lip sleeping mask, whereas here in the UK stores will charge £19 for it. Anyway, I’ve been using it for almost two months now and it’s definitely safe to say I LOVE it! It has definitely made an improvement to my lips, which is great with summer coming around. I don’t just use this at night like it’s known for, I use it in the morning before I start work (if I’m not wearing a lip tint that is), and I apply it before bedtime too. The mask is said to work best overnight as it “dissolves” all the dead skin on your lips, so you wake up with lovely soft lips. A lot of people claim it does what it says, but others claim it’s just Vaseline in a fancy jar, with some colour added to it. As someone who uses Vaseline on a daily basis, this is thicker than Vaseline and really does feel like it’s moisturising more, but that may just be me? To add a little bit of this stuff goes a long way, and due to that, I’ve not really made much of a dent, which is good! To add here, I picked up the Berry scent and it doesn’t really smell or taste like berries to me… But that doesn’t bother me, it would be a plus but yeah, it’s one of them. I’d say if you’re thinking of trying the Laneige lip sleeping mask, go for it, especially if you suffer with dry lips and live for lip balms! If you buy from YesStyle you could always get some of the little “sample” pots too to see what you think of it before buying a bigger jar.

Favourite Film – Jackass 4.5.

This is a recent addition to Netflix and one I was super excited to see! As many regular readers and friends will know, I’m a MASSIVE Jackass fan. I mentioned last month how I’d watched Jackass Forever and that I didn’t love it as much as the previous films they’d made. Jackass 4.5 really did make up for that, I laughed so much and even had to look away a few times in the fear of feeling (or being) sick! It was amazing, I just enjoyed it so much. The amount of times though that both me and Dane said, “Why didn’t they put that in Forever?” was crazy. I need to buy Jackass Forever and 4.5 at some point to add to my collection. If you have Netflix and love Jackass, definitely make sure to check it out! You find out a lot about the new crew members too, which I really liked. I’d love to see them come back and do more now after watching 4.5

Image taken from Empire Online.

Favourite TV Show – Moon Knight.

I’ve been a mixture of excited and nervous/sad to watch Moon Knight, but me and Dane decided to binge watch it one day over the last bank holiday in May and I can honestly say it’s my favourite Marvel TV series to come out to date! There was so much I loved about it, but the thing that made me sad was the fact it’s one of Gaspard Ulliel’s last acting role before he passed away in January. That being said, the show itself was amazing and I need more! The story of Steven/Mark and their role as the Moon Knight, as well as the dark themes and character build up were just incredible! Everyone did an amazing job and honestly, I loved it. Let me say this without spoilers when I say, Steven must be protected at all costs and he’s now up there as one of my favourite Marvel characters alongside Deadpool.

Favourite Music – My Chemical Romance.

Okay, the part of this months favourites I know some of you have been waiting for! At the time of writing this post I am still struggling with some post gig blues and I don’t really know when they’ll go away? I just crave more after last Thursday’s gig and I wish I could go see them again already! First things first, the show was amazing. Gerard dressed up and the band played a lot of popular songs from all their albums to date, including “Helena”, “Teenagers”, “Welcome to the Black Parade”, “Famous Last Words” and of course “I’m Not Okay”. We got to the gig shortly after doors opened, got some merchandise, drinks and headed to our seats. Our seats were shit as they were high up and all the way at the back, even with the screens you couldn’t see fuck all. This being said, I didn’t let it affect my experience of the gig, I was so in my element singing along to the words, watching the screens, the stage and everyone else around me that I was past caring after a while. I almost cried whilst listening to “The Foundations of Decay” due to how proud I am of the band, as well as how happy I am to see them back, as well as almost crying singing “Famous Last Words” and “Welcome to the Black Parade” as they both mean so much to me. MCR are one of the bands that were always there for me when I was struggling with my mental health growing up and especially the day my gran died. I went home to be on my own to grieve and ended up putting on The Black Parade so I had something to occupy my mind. When the song “Disenchanted” came on, I couldn’t stop crying and since that day, it always makes me sad to hear. Alongside all this the show was just incredible! Everyone was so friendly to talk to (when we did) and the atmosphere was one I’ve missed from previously seeing MCR play in 2007 and 2011. I’m just dying to see them again now… Maybe standing tickets next time for shits and giggles or at least closer seats! I was going to write a blog post about the whole day, but I feel like this is enough. 🙂

Image taken from PC Gamer.

Favourite Game – Valheim.

This is a game Dane has been pestering me to play with him for as long as I can remember and finally in May I cracked and bought it, which made him so happy! Valheim is a Viking style game where you need to gather resources, build a base, defeat the enemies nearby and ready yourself to defeat even bigger enemies! We spent a weekend playing it together and I soon got my bearings with how the gameplay worked and was. However, tragedy happened when not only did I lose a lot of my stuff in a tomb (and couldn’t get back!), but then some boars we had captured and bred were all killed by an enemy! We both rage quitted after the latter and didn’t touch it for a week or so… Until one of our friends came to join us one evening to play and since then we’ve been playing it more. She’s really helped us build our base, defeat more/bigger enemies, as well as teach us a lot more about the game as she’s been playing it longer than we have. It’s such a fun little game to play, more so with people than alone and I highly recommend it!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Picking up old games/game completion goal – Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX and Persona 5 Royal.

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned on my blog since the start of 2022 how I have started working on completing games I currently own and making note of them on a Twitter thread here. This is something I was inspired to do by my friend Connor, who took part in it last year. I have a lot of games I’ve bought, played for a few hours and then never picked up again. Some games I could sell, whereas others I can’t as I’ve bought on stores/Steam. I decided to start spending less time sitting online window shopping and more time playing the games I love, but have allowed to gather dust!

The first one I want to talk about is Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX. This game is a remake of the original Mystery Dungeon games that came out in 2005 on the Game Boy Advance and DS, I still own both of these and loved them to death! The remake DX came out in 2020, just before Animal Crossing: New Horizons so I told myself I would try and complete it before Animal Crossing came out, which didn’t happen. However, what did happen is I got stuck on the second boss (Moltres) and no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get past them, so I ended up resetting the game and starting again. I grinded for ages to make sure I was ready for that boss battle again and last weekend I felt ready to take the boss on! I turned to Dane prior and said, “If I don’t beat this fucking thing, I’m selling the game.” Thankfully it wouldn’t come to that as I beat Moltres, as well as the boss after that too (Articuno), so I look like I’m going to be fine from there! I’m so glad I’ve picked this game up again, it’s making me feel so nostalgic to between 2009-2010 when I picked up both of the original games to play.

Alongside playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX, I’ve also started playing Persona 5 Royal again, which is something I also picked up in March 2020! I hardly played it due to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and only played the first palace and some of the second. I decided to play it over a bank holiday weekend and haven’t looked back since. I genuinely forgot how much I love Persona 5 and the characters behind it, it really means a lot to me as the original game helped me through some dark days. So far I’ve completed the second palace and I’m probably near to beginning the third one from memory. I always recommend Persona 5 to people to play, but these days I often suggest people playing Persona 5 Royal, just because it has more to the story than the original. I’m probably going to focus on completing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX first and then on Persona 5 Royal, depends on my mood I guess. Currently my PS4 is in the living room, which I’d love to move temporarily to my desk in our office so I can play it with Dane in the background as company, but we shall see!

Image taken from UK Games Expo.

June adventures – UK Games Expo and Manchester.

As I mentioned at the start of this post I have lots of exciting things booked in and planned with Dane and some friends at the start of June, which I’m really looking forward to!

First we have UK Games Expo the first weekend of June, which is a board game convention in Birmingham. Me and Dane went in 2019 and spent WAY too much money (which you can read about here), but we had an amazing time and always said we’d go again, but of course Covid happened… That being said we’ve finally plucked up the courage to go again this year. Due to my anxiety of Covid still, I do still wear masks in shops, as well as around the office at work, so I’m not 100% sure if I’ll wear my mask or not at the convention yet… I’m worried it’ll be really warm and I could maybe die from the heat haha! We’ll see how it goes though! There’s going to be some amazing vendors there from years before that I’m excited to purchase from and support again, plus I’m hopeful we can all play lots of board games and have fun! I’m so happy my best friend recently got into board games, because it means we can all venture to cafes and play games more! Me and Dane got into board games before Covid and then Covid happened… And we couldn’t play board games with many people. 😦

Then as I mentioned before, for our nine year anniversary we decided to go to Manchester as we’ve booked to go to Point Blank Shooting with a voucher I was gifted for my 30th. Point Blank Shooting is a simulation shooting range and bar, offering food and drinks whilst you play on the shooting simulation games! We plan to go and have a day of shopping in Manchester and then head to Point Blank Shooting, finishing up at some themed bars on the way to our hotel. The next day we plan to have some breakfast, more shopping, a big lunch and then heading to Bury for The Arcade Club! My friend Daysei is always telling me how much fun it is there and after showing Dane how many floors of arcade games they are, we booked it in to do! I’m honestly so excited for our gaming and shopping days away for our anniversary, it’s going to be so much fun.

I’m hoping to write Manchester guides and reviews of places we go to, so keep eyes peeled for those!

My Chemical Romance merchandise.

I mentioned earlier about how I went to see MCR last Thursday, well of course I had to grab some merchandise as well and man I bagged a few bits, one which has been semi sought after since. I want to state now, none of these are for sale. xD I also want to state, I apologise for how shit the photo is!

I decided to grab both the tour t-shirts, as well as the Boy Zone t-shirt as well. I couldn’t decide which tour t-shirt I wanted as they were both cool in their own ways. I’m so glad I picked up both after trying them on as they’re so comfortable! All of the t-shirts are in a men’s size large and I could have probably gotten away with a medium, but I like my t-shirts baggy!

The tour t-shirts have the tour dates on the back for their shows between 16th May until 18th June which is always a good t-shirt to have. On the front of the short sleeved is an updated version of the bloody bride and groom from the Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge album, which I just had to get for that alone! On the front of the long sleeved there are some skulls and bones, as well as “Decay” written backwards. I LOVE the long sleeved t-shirt the most and already can’t wait to wear it. I’m really into my long sleeved band t-shirts lately to wear with joggers, skirts and trousers for a relaxed look.

Finally the Boy Zone t-shirt that everyone has gone mad for! I knew I had to pick this up and even though I probably won’t wear it out and about, I’ll definitely live in it at home on lazy days. It was designed by Kerin Cunningham with support from Gerard Way. It honestly reminds me of my early teens where I would always buy the music magazines that was full of bands, love quizzes and more. I honestly love it so much!

So, there we have it guys, all of my favourites from May! I honestly can’t believe we’ll be going into June in less than a week now, it’s really flown by. The whole year is, Christmas is just 6 months away now… How crazy is that?!

What were your favourites from May? Did you go and see My Chemical Romance in May too? If you did tell me all about your feelings, thoughts, etc! I’m eager to hear everyone’s stories and experiences. 🙂

Until next time all, take care and have an amazing weekend!

March Favourites ’22

I don’t want to be a broken record, but honestly 2022 is flying by! I can’t believe it’s April, but I’m definitely excited for this month! Not only is it Dane’s birthday, but it’d also Easter, which is one of my favourite events of the year. Alongside those two factors, me and Dane have some holiday today… Aka a long weekend for his birthday and Easter, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Currently the only thing I don’t like about April is how skint I’m going to be from spoiling Dane for his birthday, but it could be worse. 😛

March was okay for me, I had some rocky moments but nothing to write home about. I did good with money again, which is always good, but with Dane’s birthday coming I might be a little skint this month. 😛

Not going to lie, March felt like my blog was boring and didn’t have much content. I just had brain fog and couldn’t think of anything decent to write, unfortunately. However, April is going to be full of amazing content and I’m so excited for it! I won’t mention anything, let it be a surprise! 😉

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling, down to the favourites!

Favourite Beauty Product – Sol De Janeiro Coco Cabana Gift Set.

If there is something I have really been loving this month it’s been the two Sol De Janeiro gift sets I picked up! I bought both Bum Bum and Coco Cabana, with the latter being the one I started to use first. Both gift sets contain the body cream, body cream-cleanser and hair and body fragrance mist, as well as a reusable pouch. I snagged these gift sets with my mom from Look Fantastic, as they had an amazing deal at the time to snag these gift sets really cheap, so we bought one each! However, I ended up with two Coco Cabana gift sets as my mom wasn’t keen on the scent, which definitely isn’t the case for me. The Coco Cabana scent reminds me of my teenage years where I constantly used The Body Shop’s coconut body milk, as well as coconut scented beauty products in Fuerteventura too. The body cream-cleanser is really thick and moisturising, but one gripe I have is that I don’t feel like a little goes a long way. I put this down to the moisturising factors behind it. The body cream is for dry skin, but that being said it isn’t heavy and thick, but sort of like a thicker gel texture. It definitely leaves my skin feeling soft and moisturised after use, even my hands!. Finally the fragrance spray, this is GORGEOUS and I have to remind myself not to go mad on it when using, as my little gift set bottles are only 30ml! I’m already planning on buying all of the products in their full sizes when I’ve used the gift set sizes up! My skin has really thanked me for taking care of it a little more the past month. My arms were starting to become really tight feeling due to how dry and tight they were, and the backs of my knees were suffering with eczema/dermatitis too. Thankfully I’ve fast turned that around and I’m so much happier for it. 🙂

Would you guys like to see a review of both the gift sets/ranges? Let me know in the comments! I’m toying with it, as they are really lovely products that deserve shouting out about!

Favourite Film – Turning Red.

I HAVE BEEN SO EXCITED FOR THIS FILM! Literally the Friday evening it came out (11th March) I cooked me and Dane one of our favourite meals (macaroni cheese) and we sat down to watch the film. I’d tried to guess from the trailers and clips what was going to happen somewhat in the movie and I never guessed it to be fair. For those who are yet to watch it, Turning Red is about Mei Lee, a thirteen year old who loves boy bands (4-Town), doing her bit for the planet, and especially her best friends! Unfortunately for Mei, she’s also trying to be a good daughter, which conflicts with her loves at the best of times. One morning Mei finds herself waking up and she’s turned into a red panda! I said it on last weeks blog post about My Dress-Up Darling (which you can read here) but I LOVE slice of life and coming of age shows, films, etc. They tend to bring me so many nostalgic memories and feels which overall just make me feel so happy. This is exactly what Turning Red did for me. It’s based in 2002, when I was twelve years old and just about to become a teenager! I listened to all sorts of music, but definitely loved Daft Punk and Avril Lavigne. It was also an age I’d really started to discover the things I would love now, including Hello Kitty , Cinnamoroll, Pompompurin, Mashimaro and more! The one thing I especially love about Turning Red is how it’s the first Pixar film to be led by women, this is big and I cannot wait to see more female led films in the future. I’m just so sad for everyone who worked on this film, who never got the chance to see their film make it to the cinema, especially with how much love and praise it has received.

Favourite TV Show – Euphoria.

I have been wanting to watch this TV show since it came out in 2019, but due to where it was being shown and the fact I don’t have it, I’ve just never been able to… Until now. With season two recently coming to a close, I was desperate to watch and thankfully for me, I knew someone who was able to let me watch it! I’ve so far watched season one and I’m almost at the end of season two. I’ve really fallen in love with it, as I’m a sucker for slice of life (as I’ve seemingly spoken about a lot lately on my blog!), as well as teen drama. I fell in love with it from a very young age (want to say when I was ten?) so it’s something I’ve always enjoyed ever since, even writing my own teen novel(s) and scripts from time to time. Euphoria is about Rue and some of her classmates/friends at her high school. Rue is the narrator of the show and therefore the main character, and tells us as the viewer about herself and the people around her. The topics in the show range from love, drugs, alcohol, sex and general “issues” teenagers tend to deal with at one point or another. Someone once said to me, “If you like Skins, you’ll love this!”. Now, I fucking hate Skins. The show has always felt very trashy to me, so I’ve never enjoyed it. I watched the first episode in college and was immediately put off, however, Euphoria ticks all the boxes for me! If you’re able to watch it and are okay with all the topics mentioned, definitely give it a go as and when you can.

Favourite Song – Architects – Dead Butterflies.

This is a song that started playing in Dane’s car the one day we were on a trip somewhere and I made sure to add to my playlist, as I enjoyed it so much! Since then I haven’t stopped listening to it, nor the album (“For Those That Wish to Exist”) that it’s off of. Architects isn’t really a band I’ve listened to before, although I do know of them. I really do like this song though and just had to share!

Gif taken from Tenor.

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Elma’s Office Lady Diary.

I recently picked up volume four of Elma’s Office Lady Diary (as I was missing it), so over lunches and the odd weekend I’ve been catching up on manga. I really miss reading it and have really decided lately to get back on it and catch up on series I need to finish reading, as well as series Dane owns that I want to read as well! Elma’s Office Lady Diary is a spin off of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, which is one of my favourite anime series, and quite possibly the longest manga series I own! Elma in turn is my favourite dragon character as I feel like I can really relate to her. She’s sweet, always wanting to do the right thing, but most of all wanting to eat all the yummy food! Plus, as an office lady myself, this manga spin off for Elma just makes me smile from ear to ear. I’m glad I finally started to read this series! I’m so excited for volume five to come out in the next month or so!

Image taken from Eurogamer.

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

This is a game I’ve been coming back and forth to since its release towards the end of 2021 and it’s one I absolutely love! I think it’s because it’s really simple, yet nostalgic at the same time. Since I completed the story, I’ve been going back on every now and then to try and 100% complete the Pokedex! I’ve been exploring the underground mostly to try and accomplish this by catching lots of new Pokemon, as well as lots of breeding and egg hatching, and even digging the walls in the underground for plenty of rare items! It’s just been really relaxing and nice! I’m yet to complete the story for Pokemon: Legends Arceus, but I’m still not 100% in love with that game… I’ll finish it one day. Me and Dane were only on about it last weekend how we need to pick it back up, but he’s been obsessed with Elden Ring and now we’re both obsessed with Tiny Tina’s Wonderland… Spoiler for next months favourites. 😉

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pokemon Nendoroid figures.

As many of you know, me and Dane collect Nendoroid figures from Good Smile Company and have done since late 2014. I decided during Covid to start collecting series that I needed, with Star Wars being successfully completed. I then moved onto Pokemon, which has been bloody hard and heart breaking to boot. A lot of the figures are harder to find due to them coming out a long time ago and due to this, the prices are really high. I managed to snag quite a few in 2021 for good prices, which I was really happy about, but finding Cynthia, N and Champion Red has proven to be a challenge due to fakes and prices. I did however recently snag Cynthia and N from a UK seller on eBay for a great price! Now all I need is Champion Red… Which unfortunately won’t be as simple, especially as there’s currently one on eBay for over £300! I’m keeping my eyes peeled, but yeah. 😛

Dr. Martens x Lazy Oaf Buckle Boot.

I’d be fibbing if I said I’d been after these Docs for a long time, but I feel like on and off over the past year I’ve definitely liked the look of them! Someone I follow on Instagram has a pair of the Lazy Oaf Heart Buckle Docs and due to her, I decided that I’d really like a pair to wear with my Black Milk Clothing dresses and more! After scouring the internet for a few months, I finally found a pair for sale for £150, which I didn’t think was too bad for an almost new (tried on and maybe worn once from memory) pair of Docs, especially as these are also limited edition. They came out originally in 2019, but I missed out on snagging a pair at the time as I was saving up for my Japan trip. Now I finally have them though and I adore them… But I’m yet to actually wear them out and about. I haven’t yet as I just haven’t had the chance to, even though I’ve owned them a month. I’m anxious of my feet getting destroyed, but at the same time I do want to wear them! I think I’ll go for a walk in them around the local area with my ankle protectors on (Amazon link) to break them in more! I was toying about reviewing these on my blog, as well as some handy Docs tips that I know of, would you guys like to see that in the future?

Turning Red, Mei Lee Red Panda plushie.

I briefly wanted to show off this massive fluffy cutie that arrived at the start of March, my huge Disney Store Mei Lee red panda form plushie! I couldn’t resist ordering this as I’m a massive sucker for red pandas and plus I’ve been super excited for Turning Red to come out, as I mentioned earlier. This plushie has been living on my office chair and has proven to be an amazing cuddle buddy whilst I’m working (both work and personal stuff), as well as whilst I play games. This plushie wasn’t cheap at £40, but totally worth it!

My Dress-Up Darling… Annnnnd future content to look forward to!

Finally I want to give you all a reminder how much I’ve really fallen in love with My Dress-Up Darling! The first season of the anime finished at the end of March and since then I’ve been taking my time to read the manga, so I can make Marin and Gojo last as long as I can! If you really loved this manga/anime, or would like to discover a new series to read/watch, make sure to go and check out last weeks blog post all about My Dress-Up Darling. Since writing it I have since been inspired to write more posts about manga/anime series I love, including Nana, Elfen Lied and Bee & PuppyCat.

So there we have it, my favourites from March! March really did fly by and I don’t feel like I did a fat lot to be honest with you… I think my favourite thing we did in March was visit my best friend and her boyfriend in Nottingham! Nottingham is a city I’ve wanted to visit for a while and with my bestie living near the city centre, it was so much fun to finally visit it with her!

In March I really did reflect on what content I would like to bring to my blog in the future and I’ve come away with so many ideas, that I cannot wait to write and share with you all in the coming months!

What were you favourite things in March? Also, is there any specific you would like to see, or at least see more of on my blog? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

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!

September Favourites ’21

I cannot believe it’s already October! This month has flown by and it’s been a mixture of good and bad for me. I won’t go into the latter but I’ll definitely share some exciting stuff me and Dane got up to during the month!

I’m quite glad for a new month to be honest, purely for the bad that’s happened and I especially cannot wait for Halloween at the end of the month, some time off for me and Dane as well as Bonfire Night too, even though that’s November. 😛

For October I have decided to go on a spending ban too, I need to start saving for Christmas, which will be here before we know it! I’ll talk more about that on next weeks post (wish list).

Without further delay, let’s get on with the monthly favourites!

Favourite Beauty Product – Blistex MedPlus Lip Balm.

I don’t know what happened at the start of September but at one point for about a week my lips were so dry, sore and sensitive! So much so, at one point I was anxious I had eczema/dermatitis on my lips! During mine and Dane’s week off we went shopping and I decided to pick up this Blistex lip balm in the hops it would help my lips, which it did, thank fuck for that! Quite frankly since buying this I’ve been using it on my lips when they feel sore or sensitive and due for a flare up. This was only £2 from Bodycare, but I know it’s around this price elsewhere too from places like Boots and Superdrug.

Image taken from Giphy

Favourite Film – Free Guy.

I literally watched this film the evening before writing this post as it’s on Disney+ (thanks Sacha for telling me! :D) and I was SO EXCITED for watching it! I remember when this film was announced, as well as a trailer, I was so hyped. Ryan Reynolds is my favourite actor, so whenever he’s in a new film I always tend to check it out. Free Guy is about Guy, a NPC (non playable character) in a Grand Theft Auto style game. One day he realises he can do more and is more than just a guy who works in a bank. It’s an amazing film and I highly recommend everyone to watch it, especially if you love Ryan Reynolds like me, as well as games. 😀

Image taken from Amazon.com

Favourite TV Show – Kenny Vs Spenny.

Kenny Vs Spenny is a TV show I kept (and keep) going to and from and I love it so much! It’s one that Dane actually introduced me to around the start of our week off together in September and it’s also one he thought I’d heard of. This is due to the fact it’s similar to Dirty Sanchez and Jackass, which are both right up my street. Kenny Vs Spenny came out in the early 00’s, which you can tell if you watch it. The show is hilarious though and is about Kenny and Spenny, two best friends who set each other challenges. The winner gets the loser to do horrible prank style stuff. Kenny is always cheating and due to that often wins over Spenny, so when Spenny wins it makes me so happy. I’m constantly rooting for Spenny. 😛 I highly recommend you giving this a go, all six seasons are over on Kenny’s YouTube account, which I’ve linked you back to. 🙂

Favourite Music/Album – Lil Nas X – Montero.

Lil Nas X’s new album Montero came out a couple of weeks ago and since then I’ve been listening to it on and off. I love some of the songs from Montero and I think Lil Nas X is such a legend! This isn’t my usual music genre of choice but I do really love this album. It’s got a little bit of everything in there (lyric topics wise) and I’m always there for that! I’d say whether or not you like this genre, definitely give Montero a listen as you might be surprised at just how GOOD this album is! I’m listening to it as I write this post this evening. 😀

Image taken from Giphy

Favourite Game – WarioWare: Get It Together!

Gaming in September for me has really been lacking due to a mixture of being busy and just not being in the mood. However, I have played a bit of the new WarioWare game on Nintendo Switch as Dane pre-ordered us both a copy. It’s been so much fun to play alone as well as together as it’s full of small quick paced party style games, which can be frustrating and funny all at the same time! This is the first time I’ve played a WarioWare game and I’m glad I’ve finally gotten to give it a go. If you fancy getting this game but want to see what you think of it, make sure to go to the Nintendo eShop and download the demo to try before you buy. 🙂

Just a few of my favourite things…

The Steamhouse Bakery.

I have been excited to talk to you guys about The Steamhouse Bakery and why (if you’re in the Midlands) you need to visit in on your next trip! I heard about The Steamhouse Bakery during lockdown last year ad have wanted to go there ever since. So, during mine and Dane’s week off last month we decided to go and we went all out… In a way! 😛 We had yummy coffee, bagels and of course had to get some cakes too!

We bought a bagel of each, but decided to share them so we could see what they were like! I went for The Workman (Smoked Bacon, Scrambled Eggs & Sausage) and Dane went for The Southern Gent (Roast Chicken, Bacon, Mozzarella, BBQ Sauce & Leaves). Both bagels were amazing and as you can see from the photos, you get plenty of food too! We were stuffed and couldn’t eat any dinner due to that fact. 😛 We also ordered some cakes, I had a Nutella and Bueno brownie and Dane had a Twix doughnut.

The Steamhouse Bakery have three stores, based in Leamington Spa, Worcester and Redditch. So if you’re in the Midlands (or live here like I do), there’s a chance on your next trip out to Worcestershire, you might be able to drop into one of the stores to try their amazing baked goods… And coffee. 😛

Holiday to Wales.

A couple of weeks before September, we decided to book a few days in Wales, just to get away and have a break. We haven’t had a holiday (as in get away from home) since Japan in January 2020 so this trip away was a little overdue. We did a tour of the coast of Wales travelling from Pembrokeshire, to Aberystwyth, and finally to Snowdon. During out time there we did lots of walking, visited our friends farm , walked on some beaches and stayed in a luxury cabin with a HUGE bath and double showers. It was a lovely break away and we’re already planning to go to the luxury cabin again in the future!

Black Milk Clothing Ghost Unicorns Sheer Romance Dress.

This photo is actually from the luxury cabin in question, but I wanted to show off my Black Milk Clothing ghost unicorns dress, as I LOVE it! This is the first time I’d worn it, which was just on the way home from Wales. I then wore it again for my dad’s birthday meal out! I LOVE the romance style of BMC’s dresses as it’s so flattering for my figure and I always feel fancy wearing them (I own two including this one). On our way home from Wales we stopped off somewhere for food and the woman who served us commented how lovely my dress was and how it had a pink glow around the restaurant as I walked around. Her comments really made me smile. :’)

Ghost Items!

I have to show off some of the new spoopy items I’ve received from orders and pre-orders, especially these two ghostie cuties! I love kawaii ghosts, I have done since I was a kid, so when Halloween comes around, I always like to snag a few spooky pieces.

The Sad Ghost Club brought out a limited edition plush back in July and I made sure to pre-order my own as soon as I could! My Sad Ghost arrived a week or so ago and it’s so cute and perfect. The Sad Ghost Club is something I really adore and their posts on Instagram really do help me when I’m feeling low. I feel like it’s been around forever and it’s always been something that comes up on my social media now, it’s sort of like a norm for me now. So, to have my own Sad Ghost as part of my plushie collection really does make me happy!

I also managed to snag this large DW Home ghost candle from TK Maxx… Well, technically I sourced it through a group on Facebook and someone was nice enough to pick it up for me and ship it. This candle smells like vanilla cupcake and honestly, the picture doesn’t so it just of just how big this thing is! It weighs a ton but that cuteness really does pack a punch. This ghostie lives on my bedroom window shelf and it makes me smile looking at it each morning and evening. I’m planning to light it soon… But at the same time I want to keep it nice! xD

Autumnal Gel Nails!

Finally I want to share my newest and current gel mani with you all! I know nails might not be some people’s thing and I get that, I do. But my nails mean a lot to me now. I’ve mentioned before on my blog (I’m sure…) how bad my nails condition used to be. I’d cut them down so short they would bleed and they looked tiny and more like children’s nails than a grown adults. Due to how often I cut them down, they didn’t get the chance to grow. This was down to my anxieties and I often cut them down to stop myself from chewing and biting them.

When I started going to my nail tech almost two years ago now, I wondered if getting my nails done with gel would be for me. Who knew it would be, eh? I bloody love my nails now and love seeing them look healthy, long and gorgeous all the time. I don’t have my nails long, because I do still like them neat and short. If I have them long, I end up chewing on them and the gel doesn’t last five minutes.

My friend Bintou (hey girl! :D) recently had her nails painted pretty much the same as mine, which in turn inspired me to go with some gorgeous fall colours for my recent mani! I love them so much and they’re definitely up there as some of my favourite nails! 😀

There we have it guys, my monthly favourites from September!

What were some of your favourite things last month? What are you looking forward to in October? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Roll on Halloween I say!!!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you have a great start to the month. 🙂

Goodbye 2020!

Image taken from Pinterest

I can’t quite believe a whole year has flew past us as we prepare to go into 2021… Sorry but 2020 was a big year for me for so many reasons but of course it wasn’t a great year either…

2020 was the year I entered the 30-35 tick box and I don’t feel ready to turn 31 next week. :S It was also the year me and Dane travelled to Japan for the first time. It was amazing and I’m so glad we were able to go before COVID started to manifest. I remember my dad messaging me our second week into the trip and saying, “There’s a virus called coronavirus going around Japan. Be careful!” and us shrugging it off. Oh how times have changed, eh?

Going back to that trip, it was amazing and I have clutched onto the memories we made and photos we took to get me through 2020 when I felt rubbish. I’m really hoping 2021 will be better COVID wise as I would love to return back to Japan in 2022, maybe even 2023 if that’s the case.

Image taken from GIPHY

Me and Dane have already said we’d like to go around March/April time to see the cherry blossoms, travel around more (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima) and especially go for Dane’s birthday this time around. We’ve also discussed going for Christmas/New Year at some point too as that would be lovely. We could eat KFC, stay at a private onsen for a few days and again, travel around and have the perfect kawaii/otaku Christmas… But we don’t know when this will be. It’s just an idea.

I wanted to briefly do a bit of a chat about how 2020 was for me overall (including my favourites), mention how December has been and of course talk about 2021 and what I’m looking forward to so far.

I need to get this off of my chest out of the way because it’s still semi ongoing and it’s pissed me off something awful.

I mentioned back in September 2019 on a post (8 Games I’m Excited To Play) about being excited for a game I’d backed on Kickstarter called Calico. The game released 15th December 2020 and was announced on the Nintendo Indie World Showcase. As someone who had backed the game I was pretty meh to discover that people who HADN’T backed the Kickstarter had access to the game before we did and may I add, for less monies… Just felt like a bit of a punch to the stomach. I’m on the Discord channel and started hearing nothing but bug complaints/feedback from people who had been playing the game. Turns out not much testing had been done… Not good! I waited a week for my game code on the Switch, but no sign and I was given excuses of, “we’re new to this, wasn’t aware how long it would take.” etc. Then North American codes were being sent to people in the EU, which of course wouldn’t work. It was just a bit of a shit show to be blunt. I asked for my money back on Sunday, which has been processed and I’m waiting for. I can’t be arsed to play Calico now. It sounds like a rushed out mess and I just don’t want to support a game like that. I’ve heard nothing but complaints from friends about it who have played. I’m happy to have supported the game and help it come to life, but I’m not happy to wait and constantly feel mugged off. The developers have now advised for UK backers to ask for refunds so they can go and buy it themselves on the eShop.

It’s just so poor and clearly rushed out. I was really excited for this game and especially when they announced it as coming out a few weeks back. Dane was away with work and with the game coming out I thought, “Awesome, something to keep me going until he’s back home!” which of course wasn’t the case.

If you’re thinking about getting Calico, get it on Steam if you can. The console versions are full of bugs (I think some may have been fixed?) and from what has been said it can take a while to get them fixed. Or just wait a while for it to go down in price, as I’m sure any bugs will have been amended by then too. I’m not saying don’t support the game, but be wary of the bugs…

I’m sorry if that above has come off as bitchy but I was so frustrated for those two weeks that I just had to be honest with you guys on my experience. I’ve got two other games backed via Kickstarter and from the start I’ve definitely had a better experience with them, so I have very high hopes for how the games will be when they release. 🙂

Now that little rant is out of the way, I thought I would mention some stuff I have loved this year!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Okay, who DIDN’T love this game in 2020? For some it was a sort of lifeline during the start of COVID, I know it was for me. I don’t play it daily now, but when I do pick it up it just relaxes me straight away and it’s also a game I love playing with my friends online. The Toy Day event on Christmas Eve was so lovely and started to get me in the Christmas spirit. I know a lot of people who ended up buying a Switch/Switch Lite due to the need to play Animal Crossing on it, I even helped two of my friends get a Switch/Switch Lite of their own so they could play!

The Mandalorian – I’ve honestly loved this series in 2020 and it’s actually one me and Dane binge watched over the Christmas period. I couldn’t get into it last year, especially with our Japan trip coming up so we just… Didn’t get into it. Season 2 is AMAZING though and I was all there for it. I highly recommend watching The Mandalorian even if you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, as it’s just good all around show that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Plus some of my favourite Star Wars characters make appearances in season 2, which made me so happy!

PVRIS Use Me (Deluxe) – Use Me released this year and I had been excited for this album since it was announced. I discovered PVRIS when I started my job in April 2019 and I have since fallen in love. This album is one I’ve found myself listening to time and time again, whether I’m out and about driving/walking or working in the house. I’ve found myself dancing in the kitchen whilst making a cup of coffee, that’s just how much I love it. My top three tracks from the album are – “Gimme a Minute”, “Stay Gold” and “Loveless”. They’re all such amazing songs, with “Stay Gold” being my favourite on the album… And the one I danced to in the kitchen whilst grabbing coffee. 😛

Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm – This balm has to be mentioned here because it really has helped with my hand in 2020. My eczema/dermatitis is still ongoing and hasn’t improved at all and I’m still waiting to see a specialist. Since about August I’ve been using this balm and it really does help with the dryness and cracking and since using it religiously, my hands haven’t cracked and bled for as long as I can remember. I’ll be continuing to use this for as long as I can as it really does help. 🙂

Aveeno – I’m just going to add Aveeno as a whole, as this is another product that has really changed my life since purchasing it, in so many ways! I use the intense body lotions on my hands, which has really helped recently and I even bought the shower cream to see if that would help too. It smells delicious and makes my body feel lovely and soft. I highly recommend Aveeno in general, let alone if you have really dry skin like myself.

There are a few things in 2021 that I’m excited to have come up!

31st Birthday – This is actually a week from today and yeah it’s scary how quickly it’s come around! I think for the day I’m going to bake some red velvet cupcakes, play with my new resin molds and get a takeaway. At the time of writing this post, Birmingham has actually gone into tier 4 and I’m gutted. Good job I’d planned to do something at home, eh?

Eight Year Anniversary – I can’t believe me and Dane have been together eight years in 2021… It’s really flew by and I hope we can do something for it in 2021. For our seven year anniversary we went for a drive around the countryside and grabbed a Japanese takeaway on our way home. Who knows what we’ll do this year, but I’m sure it’ll be good. 🙂

My Chemical Romance in June – That’s if COVID doesn’t come along and cause it to be postponed/rescheduled like it was this year.

Potential planning for Japan trip #2 – This would be amazing to do! I really hope it can be done towards the end of 2021…

Maybe a puppy(?) – We were really close to getting a dog in 2020 but due to the issues we faced with adopting we gave up and said we would wait and either try to adopt again (although doubtful…) or get a puppy in 2021. If we go for the latter, I already have a breeder in mind that we want to go with… We shall see what happens. Getting a pet is a big thing and we need to make sure we’re ready and able to do it.

Speaking of 2021, I also  wanted to mention what posts I am hoping to bring to you guys in 2021, these are just some ideas of what I have swirling around my head. This isn’t definite, as it never is but it’s ideas I would like to get down on my blog eventually. At the moment it’s mostly independent stores I’ve discovered/known about for years and bought from! There are a lot of USA based independent stores mentioned here as due to the changes in the UK with VAT, a lot of them have stated they aren’t able to sell to the UK anymore, so I went all out!

Quirkory – I’ll be writing a review of the Mostari Mystery Pack, as well as the Animal Crossing Gimme my Joycon 2 enamel pins I’ve pre-ordered. They won’t arrive until January/February.

Lunaticgumis – I’m planning to talk about the Puppycat Amigurumi, stickers and enamel pin I picked up a month or so ago. I wanted to talk about the goodies I picked up before Christmas but I just didn’t have time, sadly.

Pikarar – I only discovered Pikarar in October/November time and I’m already in love with their designs and items! I’ve so far made two orders, one being a pre-order for after Christmas. When my pre-order arrives, I’ll be showing you all what I bought! It’s mostly clothes. 😛

SleepingWolvesArt – Review where I’ll be talking about some notebooks (which have arrived) and enamel pins (literally just ordered) I’ve bought.

Sugar Bunny Shop – It’s still on it’s way to me but I ordered the Doki Fox sweater I’ve wanted for MONTHS.

So there is a sneak peak of what I will be sharing in the future on my blog! Of course I will talk about other things in between, but until the weeks/months come I won’t know 100% what may come up to discuss. As always I’ll have my monthly favourites and wish list too.

I can’t quite believe 2021 is just around the corner and we’re entering it with practically in lockdown, which sucks. Whatever though, it isn’t going to affect me much in regards to work, or my social life. I’ll just miss not being able to be closer to some form of “normality”.

I’m not feeling glum about 2021 and if anything I’m hoping to grow some of my hobbies, as well as see some of my friends again who I haven’t seen for ages.

What are you excited for in 2021? Is there any specific content you would like to see more of on my blog in the New Year? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, Happy New Year for tomorrow/Friday and I hope you’re all safe. 🙂