November Favourites ’22

Holy shit guys, we are overdue a blog post, let alone another favourites! I’m wary now that I’ve been M.I.A. for almost a month and I do have my reasons why. I thought I’d write my favourites from November, whilst I also share where I went.

November was a mad month, especially towards the end of it, with some highs and lows to finish it off. First of all, I had Covid. Right at the end of November I tested positive and it sucked. I’m negative now, but I still have a cough (and sometimes head cold symptoms) that I’m just waiting to clear out of my system. Hopefully in time for Christmas…

It was my first time with Covid and I hope the last realistically. Self-isolating was the worst for me as it meant I was trapped in one room (two if you include occasional bathroom trips) relying on Dane to look after me and a crappy airbed for comfort of an evening. I didn’t enjoy it and it really did start to give me really bad mental health issues towards the end. The sickness itself was meh. I had a really bad temperature and all around just didn’t feel great, I just wanted to lie on the sofa or in bed all day, which I mostly did the weekend I found out I had it.

As I’ve been sick both at the end of October and the end of November, I really hope December doesn’t decide to join in too. In 2021 I was really sick at the end of December/start of January and that was vile, a lot worse than Covid, so I’m praying not to be sick like that again ever. 😛

Anyhoo, enough of the bad and onto the highs! As we all know, Pokemon came out mid November and since it released I’ve been playing it on and off, and thoroughly enjoying it, may I add! I’ll speak more about this later in the post. I also went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham, which was amazing! Again, I’ll speak more about this later on in the post!

With no time like the present, let me get onto all my favourite from November, even with sodding Covid towards the end. 😛

Beauty – Lime Crime Wet Cherry Lip Gloss in Black Cherry.

With my lipstick journey I’ve gone from wearing lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, tints, and of late glosses. This has gone around full circle ever since I was old enough to be gifted make up as a young teenager, and lip gloss has made a come back for me! I find if I just want a bit of colour, lip glosses are great for that, alongside lip tints! I watched a beauty account on Instagram showing off some gorgeous black cherry glosses, so I decided to get myself one! I own one of the Lime Crime wet cherry lip glosses, which I love, so I thought I’d get the black cherry one. Prior to getting sick with Covid I was wearing this on a daily basis, as I just loved how light you could wear the colour, as well as how buildable it can be. I highly recommend the Lime Crime lip glosses if you want a gloss with some good colour, smells yummy and isn’t sticky!

Movie – Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl.

Technically this film classes as December, but I thought I’d mention it for November, because why not! We have been waiting YEARS to watch this movie, and finally we were able to yesterday. We’re big fans of the anime Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, so back in 2019/2020 when we heard about there being a film made of a sequel to the anime, we wanted to watch it. However, it’s only seemingly become available to us in the UK more so recently, and even then it’s only through someone uploading the movie onto YouTube. We watched it and it was such a beautiful film. If you’ve watched the anime and would love to know what happens next, make sure to go and watch the movie too. If you search for it on YouTube, you should find it straight away. I don’t want to link on my blog as realistically it being on YouTube isn’t the best.

Music – Electric Callboy.

So, as I mentioned at the start of the post, towards the end of November me and Dane went to see Electric Callboy in Nottingham. It was by far one of the best gigs I’ve been to in my life to date. I originally said it was in my top 5, but now it’s in my top 3!!! The whole vibe of the show was incredible, everyone was clearly there for a good time and everyone did just that. Each track they played from old and newer stuff got everyone going mad, including us of course! We both had a sore throats after attending the gig as we were both screaming the lyrics, and our bodies ached from dashing and moshing as much as we could. We got decent places to stand too as we started queuing quite early, so we were on the balcony, right at the front, which we loved! We’ve already said we want to go and see them again, as we had such a blast! I’d love to book to go and see them in Europe somewhere, or even London at some point next year, but we’ll see! Another cool thing is you can kind of see us on the photo that they took at the end of the gig! We’re on the left of the photo and I’m holding my bright yellow rain coat… 😛

Game – Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

As I mentioned at the start of the post, we got our copies of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and whilst we haven’t been binge playing them, I have really been enjoying playing Violet! Sword and Shield are both games I’ve enjoyed, but found you could complete the story in a day. However, Scarlet and Violet is, to me, a little overwhelming in the sense there is so much more to do! You have the gyms, titans and star challenges, as well as the usual filling up the Pokedex from catching and breeding, as well as battling with people. There’s A LOT to do in Scarlet and Violet and due to that, I really love it! I’m enjoying playing it as and when I want as well, instead of feeling like I need to pick it up to play most evenings. I wanted to show off the cute pictures I got of me and Fidough on my first day of playing. Fidough is for sure my favourite Pokemon to come out of Scarlet and Violet and I can’t wait to get some Fidough merch from the Pokemon Center due to this!

Just a few of my favourite things…

Lumichee 100% Cotton Batbat Hoodie

Lumichee “Monochrome” Mini Batbat Plush Series 4

Adorabubblesshop Ditto Cookie Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Adorabubblesshop Ice-Cream Pom Candy Wrapper Loop Strap Charm

Tomodachi Monster Cereal Vol.4 Pins

Black Friday

Did I go spend happy over Black Friday? Yep, I certainly did! If I’m honest I didn’t just shop for me either, I did save quite a lot of money on Dane’s Christmas presents, which was incredibly handy as it meant I could spoil him (and me) more. 😛 Black Friday happened when I was really sick with Covid, and not only did I go spend happy for Dane, but I definitely did for me too as I was feeling sorry for myself. As you can see, I bought quite a few bits and pieces from various places! I decided to get some more goods from Lumichee, Adorabubbleshop, as well as Tomodachi! They all had vouchers for Black Friday, which I just couldn’t pass up! I’ll be looking to write a blog post all about Lumichee in January, as well as showing you guys the volume 4 pins from Tomodachi, as I spoke about them at the start of the year!

Wales trip

I’ve been so excited to talk about our trip to Wales, but due to being so quiet on here this is the first chance I’ve had to really talk about it! At the start of November we went to Wales for a weekend to a shepherds hut on a farm in North Wales. The hut itself was absolutely gorgeous and everything we wanted! We made sure to book it in the autumnal months too so we could make the most of some of the features of the hut, which included underfloor heating, a log fire indoor, a firepit outside, as well as a hot tub! We definitely made the most out of all these features of the hut, even though the weather was raining and vile! We managed to dodge the rain every time we wanted to use the hot tub! Whilst we were in North Wales, we ventured to have a go at clay throwing, where we made a pot and a mug each! We are yet to receive these in the post, but as soon as we do, I’ll make sure to show them you guys!

I really can’t wait to venture on a holiday or short trip with Dane again, I really loved our weekend in Wales.

We made a Christmas advent calendar!

Finally I wanted to quickly show you guys the advent calendar we made this year! This project was ongoing for about a month, and even came with us on our trip to Wales, as we had planned to carry on with it there, but never got around to it. We finally finished it on Saturday and we both love what we have done with it! We kinda wanted it to be like a gingerbread house, but it’s not really become that. It’s definitely become our own unique thing and we love it to death! We’ve hidden some of the images of the doors as these are inspired by rooms in our home, so we’d like to try and keep this private. I also added some stickers from Pikarar as they just look so cute and it seemed the right time to use them! We picked our calendar up from Hobbycraft to decorate and it was so much fun for us to do together. If anything, we’ve said how we want to do more crafting together!

So there we have it! A long overdue blog post from me after almost a month and I think it falling around favourites time has worked out quite nicely.

I’d say sorry for being absent but, I’m not going to. This isn’t my job at the end of the day, it’s my hobby and one that just had to take a break whilst I was busy and sick. I do wonder if in the New Year how often I’ll write, in the sense of if I’m too busy, I’m not going to force anything, a choice I’m sure you guys won’t mind. 🙂

So, with that being said – how have you guys been the past month? Have you started your Christmas shopping? Bought any goodies during Black Friday sales? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve all been keeping well. 🙂

September Favourites ’22

I can’t quite believe how quickly September flew by. Literally it felt like yesterday it was the first full week of September, so the fact it’s now the second day of October… It’s just mad!

I’m rather excited for October due to Halloween, as well as Bonfire Night looming. It’s also at the end of the month when me and Dane have some time off together to celebrate the colder celebrations of the year and more. Not to mention the excitement of Pokemon Scarlett and Violet coming out next month too! November is an exciting month, but I’ll save chatter about that for next months favourites post. 😉 So yeah, October is a bit of a calm before the storm kind of month for us.

A lot happened in September with (what felt like) events left, right, and centre! I do just want the world to slow down a little to be honest… I’m wary we’re less than 100 days until Christmas and God knows how many until my 33rd birthday… I looked… 96 days…

One thing I’m especially excited for for the rest of the year is how many people I’m meeting who I’ve befriended thanks to the internet and similar interests. This time next week I’ll be meeting up with someone I befriended through a Discord, which I know we’re both excited for! 😀

I’m going to jump straight into the September favourites, as I’m wary I’m going to waffle on! 😛

Beauty – Dove Body Scrub Pomegranate Seeds & Shea Butter and Dove Body Scrub Crushed Macadamia & Rice Milk.

This was a more recent purchase that I got towards the end of September, and in a short space of time it has fast become a favourite! I love a good body scrub, especially foaming ones as I feel like they’re sort of cleaning as they scrub. Anyone else feel like that? Anyway, to be honest I mostly use body scrubs on my underarms and legs before shaving. However, I will use all over too if I feel it’s needed. I picked up two types of the Dove body scrub, Pomegranate Seeds & Shea Butter and Crushed Macadamia & Rice Milk, as at the time of purchasing (and publishing this post) they were buy one get one free from Superdrug. I have wanted to try the Dove body scrubs for a while now, so didn’t see the harm in taking up the offer! These have fast become a staple for sure as they smell really good and leave my skin feeling soft and moisturised after use. They’re not rough in terms of scrubbiness, which is ideal if you have sensitive skin. I had a horrible allergic reaction on my legs to a body scrub recently (name here) so my legs are grateful for the Dove body scrubs, that’s for sure. My only problem with the Dove body scrubs is that we don’t have as much choice as America do. For example, they have the Brown Sugar & Coconut Butter, which I would LOVE to get one day!

Movie – Kalifornia.

I’ll pre-warn you now, the trailer for this film is so cringe and typical of the early 90’s. I remember watching this film with my parents when I was a teenager, and although it’s classed as a horror/thriller, we found so many parts hilarious due to some of the stuff Early would come out with. Kalifornia is about a writer and his photographer girlfriend, who are planning to drive from Kentucky to California, writing and taking photos for his book as they go. Due to the costs of such a trip, they advertise for people to travel with them, with the advertisement being filled by Early and his girlfriend. Prior to leaving and during their trip, things go from weird, to bad. On my dad’s birthday we spoke about the film again, one Dane had never heard of before, so I decided to buy it for us to watch one evening. I think due to the trailer (and the way we sold it to him) Dane didn’t expect much from it, but by the end of the film, he commented how much he enjoyed! I highly recommend if you fancy giving it a watch! It has a big cast with Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes.

TV Show – Bee & PuppyCat.

I’ve been so excited to talk about Bee & PuppyCat this month! As regular readers may have seen, I did talk about the show prior to it’s launch on Netflix at the start of September (which you can read here). I really loved the updated version of season one, however there were some hilarious and memorable moments from the original that I was sad not to see. I can only imagine they were so good previously that recreating them again wasn’t doable… But I don’t know. I won’t spoiler by mentioning what they are, but in the future I might write a blog post of what I thought of the Netflix version. To conclude here, I’m so excited for another season (there better be one!) as well the hype that is now around the show. I’ve always followed the hashtag on Instagram for the show so I always saw people’s posts about it. Since the show came out last month, I’m always seeing and discovering new people through Bee & PuppyCat, which in turn just makes me so happy!

Music – Electric Callboy Tekkno.

Electric Callboy’s new album Tekkno released towards the end of September, which both me and Dane were excited for! We were also meant to go and see the guys play last week but due to one of the singers falling ill, the gig has been postponed, which is a shame, but at the same time it’ll still be an amazing show! 😀 Tekkno is such a fun album and one I’ve been finding myself listening to lots since it came out, with putting it on in the morning on my way to work, whilst I’m working, as well as on my drive home! Electric Callboy are a band everyone should check out at some point, with their sound being a mixture of metal and electronic. We discovered them in 2020 when “Hypa Hypa” came out. Our friend told us about it and since then we’ve both been hooked!

Game – Bear & Breakfast.

I’ll be honest, as the days loomed for this game coming out, I did contemplate whether or not to buy. A review I watched mentioned how repetitive the game is, which wasn’t such an issue for me, but it did kind of put me off. Alongside that, I already have plenty of games to play so I was a bit torn. In the end, I bought it and have played it on and off the past couple of weeks! Bear & Breakfast is a game where you’re a bear and start a chain of bed and breakfasts in your woodland to try and encourage humans back to the forest. It’s a very basic game, but fun nonetheless if you want a game you don’t want to have to think too much about! Sadly the past week I haven’t touched it, as I’ve been working on some last minute cross stitch projects… More about that under other. 😛

Just a few of my favourite things…

Nature Centre, Birmingham.

I went out yesterday with my bestie and our best boys to see some cute animals at the Nature Centre in Birmingham, then lunch at our favourite independent coffee place. It was so lovely and I’m so glad the weather held up for us, as prior to that it has been fucking miserable! I started to really get into the autumnal feels and I honestly can’t wait for more of that. My bestie loves red pandas, so I told her it was time for us to go and see some in Birmingham! We picked the perfect day and time to go as there were hardly any people there, and with some coffees in hand, we walked around the park, in awe of the cute animals in front of us. I think the red panda knew it was the main reason for us going, as it really did do some poses for us. 😛

THIS IS HALLOWEEN, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!

Back in the summer my dad asked me if I could get him some vegetable seed packets. They didn’t have one he was after, so as I joke I decided to pick up some pumpkin seeds for him to try growing. They weren’t cheap, so I paid for them and we had a laugh about it. The above photo is from yesterday. I cannot believe just how well his pumpkins have grown! They look incredible and I’m so proud of him for giving it a go! He did give one to me to grow too, but we didn’t have the luck he did. This photo just gives me so many autumn and Halloween vibes, both of which I’m excited and beyond ready for now!

“Kiki, look it’s me!”

FYI I will be posting a blog post up all about this glass, and shirayukinikki, the store/artist behind it so keep eyes peeled for that this month! Back a couple of months ago me and one of my newer friends decided to go halves on shipping some glasses by shirayukinikki to us. Since this arrived last month, I’ve been using it for iced drinks, alcohol and even just glasses of squash. I really love the Jiji and Lily bakery design behind it and couldn’t resist. Of course if you aren’t aware, the design is inspired by Studio Ghibli film Kiki’s Delivery Service, which you should go and watch if you haven’t before!

Kawaii goods.

Finally, I want to show off some cute items that arrive the past few weeks, because why not!

The first image is of my honey bear gacha by shigematsu_kun that my friend Emily was kind enough to add to her From Japan order for me! I’d seen someone buy the four honey bear gacha and showcase them on an Instagram reel, I knew I needed them! Once Emily sent them to me, I decided to stick them on my desk monitor as I thought it was the perfect home for them! I love when I’m working from home, or sitting at my desk that I can look up and see the four little cuties sat there! My desk is growing more adorable and I love it!

The second image is of my Toast the raccoon plushie by Yencat! I backed it on Kickstarter earlier this year in February, alongside with a plush pouch too. This guy is a CHONK and I love it! It’s a lovely plush for cuddling due to this, but as I already have one mochi plush I use for cuddling, I’m going to purely keep Toast for display purposes. As I may have mentioned before on my blog, raccoons feel like my spirit animal and due to that I do adore them, but this is actually my first raccoon plush! I don’t think I could have chosen a better one, do you? 😛

So, there we have it guys, my favourites from September! It flew by, didn’t it? 😛 I am excited for October though due to more autumnal vibes and Halloween. 😛

What were your favourite things about September? Are you excited for October too? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and enjoy the rest of your weekends. 🙂

July Favourites ’22

I can’t quite believe how quickly July has flown by, it’s crazy to think it’s August on Monday. After the suffocating few days of heat we had a couple of weeks ago, I am READY for autumn and winter for some colder days, weekend baths and getting cosy in some of my favourite clothes. Who else agrees with me? 😀

I mentioned last month that I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about July and to be honest with you all, July has been a shit month for me. Without going into too much detail, my mental health hasn’t been good and I’m kind of at a bit of a loss at times. This sounds really sad, it isn’t as bad as it sounds, I think it’s just a lot of stuff happening in all different parts of my life and it does suck. I’ll be okay though, I’ve been through worse. 🙂

With the doom and gloom out of the way, I’m semi excited for August! I have a dad and daughter day planned next week, as well as some days off to spend with time Dane and do some dog sitting, which we’re both looking forward to! I really hope August is kinder to my mental health. :’)

Enough of me rambling, on with the monthly favourites!

Beauty – Soap & Glory The Real Zing body wash and body sorbet.

I mentioned in my July wish list last earlier this month how I really wanted to pick up the Soap & Glory The Real Zing body wash and body sorbet. I did end up picking these up just before we had the few days of extreme heat and I’m so glad I did, as the body sorbet really did help cool down my skin. The Real Zing collection smells gorgeous, zingy lemon and lime and if you loved the Sugar Crush range, you’ll definitely love this! The body wash is really creamy and a little goes a long way on my silicone sponge. The scent doesn’t last or stay strong, but it’s great for mornings in the shower when you need to wake up. After using the body wash, I apply the body sorbet, which is definitely a sorbet/gel texture. A little goes a long way and feels lovely and cooling when applying to the skin. The only flaw I have with the body sorbet is the more you rub, it starts to ball up and look like dead skin, which is never a good look! The scent doesn’t last to be honest and I’ve yet to receive a compliment of, “Ooo you smell nice!” like what I get with the Sol de Janeiro goods I use. Alongside that, as The Real Zing contains alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) there is a warning on the packaging for both the body wash and body sorbet of a sunburn alert! AHA may increase skins sensitivity, hence the warning. Typical I bought this and then the heatwave hit us! This being said, I’ve been fine. One thing I’ll say is I don’t know if I’ll buy these again, as although the price was amazing and these leave my skin feeling lovely and soft, I think I’d rather spend more on Sol de Janeiro so the scent lasts longer.

TV Show – Barry, season one-three.

Barry is a TV show that started in 2018 that someone I work with told me about. The someone in question tends to have good taste when it comes to shows, movies, games, etc. So, me and Dane decided to give it a go and we LOVE it! Barry is about Barry, an ex army hitman, who one day moves state for a hitman job and finds out he wants to quit being a hitman to pursue an acting career. This isn’t straight forward for Barry however. If you like the sound of this, make sure to watch the trailer! If you love Dexter and Bill Hader (who stars and created Barry) then you will love this show! We’re almost at the end of season three and can’t wait to see how it ends, especially as season four has been confirmed!

Music – Teardrops – Bring Me The Horizon and Spaceman – Electric Callboy.

Music wise has been a bit “odd” this month for me as I wasn’t really all that fussed about what I was listening to, but a couple of songs that stand out are these. Whenever they came on, I just felt the need to jam out, sing loudly or just bop my head if I was at work. I love rock music like this. 😀

Game – The Swords of Ditto: Mormo’s Curse.

This is a game Dane bought many years ago now for us to play together! It’s a (name) which I’ve never played previously, or since picking up The Swords of Ditto: Mormo’s Curse to play with Dane. This is such a cute game, with amazing vintage style music and hours of play. Your character is brought back every 100 years to take on Mormo’s curse, with the sword of Ditto in hand. It’s up to you to bring peace to the land. You’ll keep dying until you reach the end and with cough co-op, you can do it with a friend, like what me and Dane have done. We semi rage quitted this game as we kept dying and coming back, however we recently picked it up during the heatwave to try and see if we could finally finish it. We thought we had… We still have a lot more gameplay and hours to put into this game, but it’ll definitely be worth it in the end! We picked this up on Nintendo Switch and I highly recommend it to others!

Just a few of my favourite things…

OkieDoodleStitches Pokemon Eevee cross stitch.

If there is one thing I really got back into doing during Covid it was cross stitch. It’s a hobby I picked up when I was ten and my mom bought me a Forever Friends cross stitch kit for Christmas. Not going to lie, I still haven’t completed that, but it’s in the bottom of my embroidery box, waiting to be completed! I’m sure I’ll finish it one day… Anyway, it all started with working through some of the patterns from diyCrossing that are Animal Crossing inspired. These have been a lot of fun and I do plan to do more, but I was after Pokemon cross stitch kits/patterns to try next. I went to Etsy and found some cross stitch patterns from artist Sevi Yummy, whose work I adore! OkieDoodleStitches is the one behind bringing Sevi’s work to cross stitch patterns, which I’m so grateful for! I decided to go with the Eevee design as the first and throughout July I’ve been working on it on and off, especially towards the end of July. I don’t think this piece will be finished for another week or so, but I’m so excited to finish it! I’m showing you some of the progress so far, but I would like to write a blog post about it in the future. What do you guys think, should I? 😀

Black Milk Clothing Trash Pandas Dress.

This piece by Black Milk Clothing quickly made it’s way onto my DISO (desperate in search of) dress after I didn’t purchase it months ago. The trash pandas design is by Caley Hicks, an American designer who works with Disney, as well as on her own goods, including this amazing trash pandas design! I’d asked BMC ages ago about making this design a reality and low and behold they did it! I doubt it was because of me, but yeah. 😛 Anyway, I was told by one of my friends that BMC had listed the trash pandas strappy dress as seconds and it was a hell of a lot cheaper than it had been originally, so I had to snag myself a bargain! Raccoons are one of my favourite animals, and I feel like they’re my spirit animal too, so I’m so happy to not only own a piece from BMC that was designed by Caley Hicks, but also with these cuties on! I’m yet to wear this, as I don’t like wearing strappy pieces that show off my arms, plus it’s very low cut… So, as you can see from the image above, I need to layer this with a t-shirt underneath. I’m hopeful I can wear it with a thin jumper in the winter!

Pokemon Center Alolan Vulpix AirPods Pro case.

I mentioned on my July wish list that I was planning to pick up a new AirPod Pro case form the Pokemon Center and I’m so glad I did! I didn’t exactly need a new AirPod case, but the one I was using previously was about a month old and the lid kept coming off, which was incredibly annoying, so I wanted to grab something a little more sturdy. The Alolan Vulpix/Ninetales one isn’t just a massive improvement quality wise, but it’s bloody adorable, as the photos are showing I’m sure! I’ve had so many nice compliments on it, which is always appreciated, and I’m planning to grab a beaded bracelet keychain soon so I can attach it onto the hook of the case. If you’re looking to grab a new AirPod Pro case make sure to check out Meccha Japan for a cute one, as they have a massive range to choose from!

The Folky Fox ghost fox necklace.

The Folky Fox is an amazing artist who creates adorable pieces from polymer clay, including jewellery. I picked up my ghost fox necklace last year around Halloween and have only just started to wear it, as I was anxious I would ruin/break it before. I’m so glad I’ve started to wear it though now as with my mental health no being great, when I’ve worn my necklace it’s really cheered me up as it’s absolutely adorable and includes two of my favourite things. I’d love to look at buying another necklace from The Folky Fox in the future, including the flying fox/bat necklace. If you like the look of the fox ghost necklace and would like to get one of your own, The Folky Fox has pre-orders open at the time of writing this post, so please make sure to go and adopt one. 🙂

I’m an affiliate for oshoppu!

Finally I want to share some exciting news that happened yesterday which is… I become an affiliate for oshoppu! This is amazing news and I’ve been really excited to share it with you guys on my favourites for the month. This is a relatively new store that has come to my attention, which sell Japanese stationary, apparel and kawaii goodies including plushies. I’m hoping to place an order in the near future as I’ve seen a plushie I’d really like to get to add to my collection! If you guys want to check them out, I’ll pop the link here. It’s now on the right hand side of my blog BUT if you do want to make an order, make sure you use code THEREMIGHTBECOFFEEBLOG to save 10% on your orders!

So there we have it guys, my monthly favourites for July!

How was July for you and what did you get up to? Make sure to let me know in the comments, as well as what were some of your favourite things, and if you have anything exciting happening in August. 😀

Until next time, take care guys and have an awesome weekend!