July Favourites ’20

I can’t believe it’s August already, can you? I for one am glad as July was so bloody stressful and it drove me mad due to that fact. I just couldn’t wait for it to end to be honest, it started to affect my mental health, which is never good so to have a new month will be good. Plus, September is my favourite month of the year and I want to make sure to have a relaxing month before that favourite comes up. I could write a post every year as to why I love September… Maybe I’ll do it again this year? Let me know if you’re interested.

July wasn’t just a month of being stressed out however, it was also a month of getting good things done, including our bathroom and my nails. We had some issues with our bathroom in May with water damage and decided instead of just getting the water damage repaired, we would look and see if we could justify getting the whole bathroom done. Alas we did justify it and a couple of months later the work was completed and we now have our gorgeous new bathroom! We’ve had the work completed for two weeks now and I have loved it so much. I was going to show off the completed bathroom on my blog, but I have since gone against that as I’d like to keep some privacy.

As well as my bathroom being done, nail technicians were able to open their salons again, so I went to get my first gel manicure done in almost 4 months, which I was very happy about. Yesterday I went and got them done again and I went for black and holographic silver, because why not. 😛

Image taken from The Latest Kate

As always I like to share a positive photo here from The Latest Kate as I find her images are really sweet and the message behind them meaningful.

Here’s to August being a relaxing month, before my favourite comes. 🙂

• Bath Bake Love Cherry Lime Sugar Whip.

I have know about Bath Bake Love for quite a long time now through Instagram, but I’ve never bought from them until now. I feel like I’ve been missing out for a long time as I honestly love their products. So far I’ve bought quite a few of the sugar whips (including Frosting Fairy, Billionaires Shortbread) and some other items they create and sell. The one sugar whip I have fallen in love with is Cherry Lime, it smells just like it and it makes me so happy. I haven’t used it as much as Frosting Fairy, but that’s because I’m savouring it a little. The sugar whips are really creamy in texture and like a mousse, which make it really easy to lather them up and wash with. They make you smell really good and feel soft! The Cherry Lime scent is very zesty and summery, hence why I’ve loved it so much this past month. I can’t wait to use it more and I’ll definitely buy it when it’s restocked next. PLUS look how pretty the product is with the bright pink and green foil inside! It’s actually inspired me to potentially get my nails painted in these shades towards the end of the month.

• Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette.

I decided to use some of my “older” perfumes up that I’ve had for quite some time. Years ago my mom bought me a set of mini Marc Jacobs perfumes and I’ve never used them… Until now! These bottles are TEENY and they aren’t the easiest of bottles to work with, but I just dab some of the scent on my neck, wrists and inside my elbows. For an EDT this scent lasts ages! It’s really light and I rather like it, although I doubt I would buy the full sized bottle. I’m not a massive fan of the Marc Jacobs scents, although I really do love Decadence.

• Revolution Skincare Blemish and Pore Refining Serum – 10% Niacinamide + 1% Zinc 30ml.

My good friend Claire recommend this serum to me a while ago, so I decided to buy myself a bottle of it back in June and since then I have on and off used it. I do really love it and I ended up buying some more niacinamide items from Revolution Skincare too, which I’ve been using alongside the serum. Niacinamide is good for oily skin types as it balances oil production and improves texture by making pores look smaller. Considering how warm it’s been towards the end of this week, after using this on my skin in the morning with my moisturiser, my skin hasn’t been as oily on my nose as it usually is! I’m going to keep trying this though, as I do feel like it’s starting to do something for my skin.

• romand – Juicy Lasting Tint Autumn Fruit Series Shade Cherry Bomb.

In June I ordered some goodies from Yes Style and it was a mixture of regret and happiness. I was happy to finally own some more Korean lip tints but regretted it due to the fact it took a whole month to arrive and I was paranoid about customs charges. However, looking back I don’t really regret it and I think I was just on edge and anxious. I’ll happily order with Yes Style again, especially as I’ve seen some stuff I would love for the future. That aside, I ordered two lip tints by romand and out of the two, Cherry Bomb has been my favourite. It’s a gorgeous cherry red lip tint that really does last ages on the lips. I’ve found myself wearing it on the rare occasions I’ve left the house, but I’ve mostly worn it whilst working from home. I recommend these lip tints to everyone and I already know I’ll be buying more romand products in the future.

• The Body Scrub Peppermint Candy Cane Body Scrub.

This is one that I received a couple of Christmases ago and have FINALLY gotten around to using! It’s one of The Body Shop scrubs and I honestly wish I had used it sooner as it’s amazing. It’s a very thick sugar scrub which really does scrub away! I’ve been using it on the tops of my arms, bum, thighs and even my feet. It’s worked amazingly on the latter but has left me feeling a little smoother than usual everywhere else. This was only a small pot as it was part of a set, but if I ever see this pop up in sales on the website in future, I may have to buy a bigger pot. It also smells AMAZING by the way!

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

Favourite TV Show – I May Destroy You.

First of all, this TV show is amazing and I cannot recommend it enough to you right now. In all fairness this does have some warnings due to scenes of sexual abuse/rape. The show is written and stars Michaela Coel (who also wrote Chewing Gum) and is about a writer who goes for a night out to take a break from her work. The next day she can’t seem to remember what happened during the night out, or how she even got home. Everything begins to unravel and she soon grows to realise she’s been raped during her night out. With the help of her friends she gains support, as well as tries to get justice for what happened to her and more. I definitely recommend watching it, it’s an amazing show.

Favourite Movie – A Whisker Away.

This film was an absolute delight to watch and after a takeaway me and Dane snuggled together and watched it on the sofa. It’s about a girl who is in love with a boy and the only way she can get close to him is by turning into a cat. We watched it dubbed, but it is subbed on Netflix as well. The story itself is adorable and we have all been there at some point in our youth with lusting over someone but not being able to get them to like you the same way! My only gripe with this film is that both me and Dane felt like it went on for a little bit too long… Which started to ruin the film for us. This being said, I would happily watch this film again as it did make me smile and the kitten that the girl turns into is adorable!

Image taken from Tumblr

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga.

FINALLY I HAVE READ SOMETHING! Can you believe it?! I had a quiet weekend in July and decided to start making my way through some of the volumes I haven’t read yet in my manga collection. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was a priority to me as it’s one of my favourites and I know quite a few volumes have come out for this and the spin off volumes (Kanna’s Daily Life and Elma’s Office Lady Diary) too. I feel so much better for catching up on my manga series but I do need to read more! I feel like I need to just assign myself two evenings a week to just read, as I’m terrible these days for reading and I don’t know why? I’m going to blame gaming as I feel since I bought my Switch Lite I’ve neglected reading, which is a shame. Not only do I have manga to read, but comics and even “normal” books to read too!

Favourite Music – Dai Numo – SUITED.

Years ago on Soundcloud I discovered Dai Numo and I have never regretted that day. I LOVE his music and keep wanting him to release more. I listened to his album on and off to and from Japan, whenever I visit Fuerteventura and when I really need to knuckle down with work of any type (work or personal). I thought I’d share a couple of songs above, but I’d highly recommend you go and check out his Soundcloud AND Bandcamp where you can download the album. I can’t describe what kind of music this is… It’s like chillout hip hop? I love it either way and I definitely recommend it for everyone to check out.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Aggretsuko: The Short Timer Strikes Back.

First of all guys I just want to say, I am still playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, however I am not on it ALL the time. It has began to “bore” me a little, but lately I decided to sort out my island and redo parts of it, so every other day I’ve clocked onto Animal Crossing a couple of hours. However, recently an Aggretsuko game came out, ready for when the third season hits Netflix at the end of the month. This isn’t an in depth game in anyway shape or form, but towards the end of July I got addicted to it! It’s a free game and I can’t recommend it more if you want a puzzle game to play.

So those are my favourites from July! Again, I can’t believe it’s August already, the eighth month of the year! Next month will be my favourite month of the year and then before we know it we’ll be in autumn, Halloween, Bonfire Night, winter and then Christmas before we get a new year!

2020 hasn’t been amazing due to COVID, but we’re over halfway through this year now.

How has July been for you? What were your favourites? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care all!

January Favourites ’20

Guys we are officially into 2020 now and I can’t believe it’s already February! January flew by for me due to being in Japan for 2 weeks but even so, still can’t believe how quick the month went by!

I know for a lot of people however January was very slow… 😛

January’s favourites are going to be a bit odd due to being away in Japan, but at the same time they’re going to be good, I know they are! I’m not changing how I write my favourites at all. I’ll still be sharing 5 beauty related products I have been loving as well as my favourite TV show(s), movie(s), book(s), music and game(s). 🙂

I hope the start of 2020 has been great for you guys, my readers and I hope it hasn’t been rough at all.

On with the favourites!

• Japanese Character Bath Bombs.

Whilst I was in Japan I used quite a few of the character bath bombs they had for sale in the shops. They didn’t cost much (Between £2-£4 depending on the character and store) and were really nice to have handy in the hotel room if we’d had a long day of walking and needed a soak. Dane actually used and had more baths than me, which was a massive shock! We’ve brought loads of these back to the UK with us, as we loved them so much. They often come with the characters inside that is on the cover. For example I picked up a shiba dog bath bomb and hence got a little white shiba dog inside, so cute! These weren’t bad for the price and one bath bomb was definitely enough to feel pampered. I felt soft and smooth after using one of these in the bath. I honestly recommend them if you’re in Japan! I feel like they’re better than Lush to be honest with you… 😉

• Etude House Dear Darling Water Gel Tint in shade RD302 Dracula Red.

I bought this lip tint whilst I was out in Japan and I honestly regret not buying more! It’s a gorgeous dark red shade I have had my eye on for years! It wasn’t expensive either, which was even better. Aside from my Laneige lip bar, this lip tint (review here) was my go to lip product the duration of my holiday! It’s really easy to apply and a little bit of this product goes a long way. I mostly like to use it to give a bitten look to my lips, which wasn’t easy to do with this lip tint at first, but the more I have done it, the easier it has gotten. I will be writing a review on this lip tint, as it’s too good not to share on my blog!

• L’Occitane Zesty Lime Hand Cream.

I haven’t used this hand cream for quite some time, which is mostly down to using up other hand creams first! This is a gorgeous thick hand cream that smells of limes, yummy!  I remember stocking up on loads of these during my MA in 2015 so I have a lot to use up! I decided to take one with me to Japan to use during the day and it really was a treat to use in the mornings before we ventured out for the day, as well as whilst we were out and about. I’ve stopped using it since we got home, but this really did help my hands when they were feeling dry and sore. I was recently diagnosed with having a form of dermatitis on my hand, which kept flaring up during the trip. This hand cream really did help it on bad days, alongside my dermatitis creams.

• Tepika Hand Sanitiser.

I know this is a strange one to add this month to my favourites but I just need to mention it for so many reasons! First of all look at the packaging… It has a cute little happy raccoon on it! Due to this me and Dane called this the “happy raccoon” whenever we wanted to use it. Aside from the cute raccoon on the front, this was also really good because it didn’t smell overly alcoholic, was gentle on my eczema skin and the packaging was handy for how you get the product out… I feel like that last part didn’t make sense! Either way this stuff is amazing and I honestly need to try and figure out a way to ship some over to the UK!!!

• Marc Jacobs Decadence EDP.

This is a perfume I keep reaching for at the moment and it’s the one I took with me to Japan too. The scent is perfect for any time of year and any occasion. My brother bought it for me quite a while ago now and it was so funny how this perfume came to be my gift. Just before Christmas in 2015 I went to Fuerteventura with my dad for a few weeks. This perfume was quite new so I decided to give it a try and see what I thought of it. I loved it and was close to buying it… But instead me and my dad went to a bar for some drinks. Just as we sat down with drinks my brother called my dad and said, “I’ve given mom Nat’s Christmas present.” Fast forward to Christmas Day… My brother bought me Decadence… Which I had nearly bought! How crazy is that?! So yeah, this is one of my favourite perfumes and I always wear it when I fancy something unique and different. I also love the bottle is comes in, which is in the shape of a handbag, strap included… 😛

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

Favourite TV Show – Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.

I actually watched this documentary towards the end of December but thought it was worth a mention as I really enjoyed watching it. What you think is a documentary about a cat killer, actually turns out to be a human murder. I remember Dane telling me about the murder not long after we got together, so when we discovered what the documentary was about, we were even more interested whilst watching it! This documentary is very triggering in various ways and upsetting due to that. I love watching stuff like this, so I really enjoyed it. Definitely go and watch on Netflix if you can!

Favourite Movie – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I watched this film on the flight home from Japan and it was really good! I don’t recall if me and Dane wanted to go and watch it in the cinema when it came out here, but either way we got to both watch it for free! It’s about an actor and his stuntman, as well as some other characters throughout. It’s all based around true events, as well as fictional characters. Whilst it’s a great film, I did start to wonder halfway through, “Where’s this going? What’s the point?”. This was quickly answered however, in such an amazing way! I honestly recommend you watch this film if you get the chance to! It’s not the best from Quentin Tarantino, but it’s still decent. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – …

I didn’t read anything as I was on holiday… This was not a holiday where I could lounge around and read… I swear I am going to start reading more now I’m back from Japan. I have so much manga to catch up on. I need to make a monthly list of which series/volumes I plan to read!!!

Favourite Album – My Chemical Romance – “Welcome to the Black Parade”.

With the announcement of My Chemical Romance coming to the UK for 3 dates in June, I have been listening to them loads both during my time in Japan as well as when I got back home. I tried to order tickets to the first 2 shows My Chemical Romance announced, but was unsuccessful, which sucked. I was definitely in a sulk about this… UNTIL my friend Claire brought it to my attention that they had announced a third show! I managed to get tickets which I was SO HAPPY ABOUT!!! That day I did nothing but listen to My Chemical Romance during my shift at work. It was bliss and I loved every moment of it. 😛 I’m so excited for June now, I’ll be going with Dane too and it’ll also be the third time seeing them live… YAY!

Image taken from Polygon.com

Favourite Game – Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.

I know this game is only a demo at the moment but I have been LOVING it so much! I played both of the original Mysery Dungeon games this one is based off of and I was beyond excited to give the demo at go. I played a little of it on my way to Japan on the plane, but I played more of it on my way home whilst we waited to board out flight, as well as on the plane. It looks amazing and plays really well. I’ve already pre ordered the game and cannot wait for it to arrive! I’m going to finally be kept busy on my Switch again in March and I am beyond excited for that!

So my first favourites post of 2020 is complete! I cannot believe it is already the start of February. Can you guys believe how quickly 2020 is going by already?!

How was the first month of 2020 for you guys? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as what your favourites were this month!

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

Nintendo Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition

You guys voted for today’s post over on my Twitter account, so I’m being a good blogger and bringing it to you today! 😀 I did also mention in my wish list for November that I had bought this too.. 😛

I decided recently that it would be a good idea to order my own Switch, whether it be the original or the Switch Lite due to Pokemon Sword and Shield coming out, as well as mine and Dane’s upcoming Japan holiday.

I settled on a Switch Lite, especially the limited edition Pokemon Zacian & Zamazenta one! If there is one thing I disliked about the Switch Lite’s when they were released in September is the three colours they came out with. Yellow, turquoise and grey. YUCK! Why not a purple, neon green or red, for example?

So when I saw that the Pokemon edition was grey, cyan and magenta I knew I had found the Switch I was after! I didn’t really want to go for a Switch as me and Dane already own one (it’s his!) which would be sort of pointless. So the Switch Lite was just a better option for me!

I am so excited for so many Switch game releases, including Pokemon Sword and Shield on Friday and Animal Crossing: New Horizons in March 2020.

I already plan to take my Switch Lite with me to Japan and (as sad as it sounds) to work some days for lunchtimes when I want to play Pokemon or Animal Crossing.

So, I’m going to show off what the Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition looks like! You may be thinking about picking this up yourself, or just want to know what a Switch Lite is like in comparison to the Switch.

I hope you enjoy this post today! It won’t be anything special, but I know you guys wanted me to write about it… So I am! 😀

First of all the box it comes in! It’s nothing special but shows on both the front and back what the Switch Lite will look like, both on the front and back. In the box you get your Switch Lite console, as well as a charger. The 3DS never came with a charger, so I’m really pleased that Nintendo learnt from their past mistakes and made sure to supply one with the Switch Lite.

Apart from this, there isn’t much to the box at all! However, the Switch Lite itself is gorgeous, in so many ways.

The Switch Lite is amazing! It’s gorgeous to look at, feels good in the hands (both weight and feel) and is a perfect handheld console.

It’s a light grey colour with accents of both white, cyan and magenta. The cyan and magenta were chosen after the names of the two new legendary Pokemon – Zacian (sword) and Zamazenta (shield). Cyan is blue, magenta is pink. I didn’t really think of this until the Switch Lite arrived on Friday. The cyan and magenta work really well with the light grey colour of the Switch Lite overall and if anything, makes it pop!

A D-Pad has now been added to the left hand side of the Switch Lite, which used to be 4 buttons previously on the Switch. This is the only noticeable thing in all honestly.

Something else I noticed is how much better the ZL and ZR buttons feel on the Switch Lite in comparison to the Switch. They just feel firmer and that little bit more satisfying to press… I hope this makes sense! 😛

Another thing, I don’t know if it’s because my Switch Lite is new, but I’m struggling at the moment to open both the game card slot at the top and the microSD slot at the bottom. This being said, Dane didn’t have an issue when I asked for some help! I think I’m just being too sensitive with my Switch Lite, which makes sense.

On the back of the Switch Lite is a gorgeous design of both the wolf legendary Pokemon, Zacian (sword) and Zamazenta (shield). The outline of both the wolf designs is in a darker grey which pop out of the back of the Switch Lite! It looks amazing and works well with the light grey and white which is on show around them.

My one issue with this however is the fact they could have added each legendary on the same side as their matching colour, instead of the opposite… I know this sounds fussy but in my head it makes sense…

So that’s all I can think to talk about with my Switch Lite! I really love it and have played a little but of Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee! but I have been on the lookout for a small game to play between now and the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield.

Before I wrap up this post I thought I would show off some comparison images of both the Switch and Switch Lite alongside one another!

So! That is the Nintendo Switch Lite Zacian & Zamazenta Edition! 😀

To buy this it will set you back £199.99, however I picked mine up from the official Nintendo UK store for £179.99 and I bet yourself wondering how I got it so cheap?

When me and Dane visited the Pokemon Center London (which you can read about here!) we popped upstairs to demo Pokemon Sword and Shield and we were given a new guidebook about Nintendo Switch, which included a 10% discount code for the Nintendo UK store! You can get one of your own by following this link! Fill in your information and you’ll receive one in the post. 🙂

What do you guys think of the Switch Lite that I picked up? 🙂 Do you own a Switch or Switch Lite? What games are your favourite and which are you excited for? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend! 🙂

October Favourites ’19

We literally have 2 more months until 2020… This is scary. I can’t keep saying each month, “WOW THIS YEAR IS FLYING BY!” because it’s so repetitive… It is scary though, isn’t it?

October was a pretty busy month for me! As I write this blog post I’m currently on my last day off from work after an amazing week off. We didn’t do much in all honestly, it was more of a mixture between doing things fun together and relaxing separately and doing our own thing. We also went to the Pokemon Center in London on Monday, as most of you seem to have already read and enjoyed! It was a crazy day and I will link the blog post here so you can go and read it for yourself.

October really did fly by and I’m so not ready for November already! It’s going to be such a great and yet busy month, but I’ll talk more about that on my monthly newsletter, which will be live later today. SO make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already so you can see what I’ll be up to this month. 😛

Anyhoo, I’m going to plod on with the favourites of the month!

• Nivea Indulgent Moisture Coconut Shower Cream Gel.

I picked up this shower cream gel from Poundland (obviously for a £1) on the whim that I needed some more shower gel and this stuff sounded good. For a £1, this is such a great shower gel as it really does leave my skin feeling baby soft after getting out of the shower. It has a gorgeous soft coconut scent to it too, which is always lovely! Coconut scents really do remind me of Fuerteventura so I always love to use coconut scented stuff in the shower/bath. This is such a good find for the price and I’m definitely going to pick it up again in the future.

• Baylis & Harding Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Cream Hand Wash.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this hand wash on my blog before and it’s really one I love! It’s not the best in the world for my eczema prone skin, but it’s better than most, that’s for sure! I recently had a phase of using Method’s foaming hand wash and I tell you what, it ruined my bloody skin! It made my hands so sore and they would split if I didn’t put much hand cream on them. Once those hand washes were used up, I decided to go back to my Baylis & Harding one, which smells gorgeous and keeps my hands feeling clean and somewhat soft. I really need to find a good hand wash for my hands. 😦

• Bath & Body Works Black Cherry Melot Hand Sanitizer.

I recently had a clear out of some of my old beauty related matter and I stumbled across a little metal tin FULL of Bath & Body Works hand sanitisers! At least 10 in there that are either brand new, or been used a few times. I was in need of some more sanitiser to keep in my bag so I decided to throw the Black Cherry Melot one in. This smells gorgeous and reminds me of autumn due to the warming scent of black cherries. Whilst me and Dane were at the Pokemon Center in London we used this hand sanitiser before we had something to eat and the scent lasted ages! It’s gorgeous! I’m planning to use up all of the bottles I have and then somehow buy some fresh new smells in 2020. 🙂

• Lush Candy Cane Reuseable Bubble Bar.

This doesn’t look like the traditional/usual Candy Cane from Lush and this is because I’ve broken it up so it’s a little easier to use in my bath sieve. I’ve used a couple of chunks of these this month in the bath and even used one in a bath I ran for Dane. This isn’t something I’ve picked up recently and was actually a part of a Secret Santa gift from my previous job last Christmas. The person who bought me my Secret Santa gifts did good and I loved everything she bought me! 🙂 This bubble bar doesn’t smell anything like peppermint, as you would expect it to and it doesn’t even smell of candy, as the name could suggest. It smells of bloody lemon… Lush’s favourite scent (insert face palm here)… This being said it leaves a lovely light red colour in the water and leaves me feeling soft. This has lasted ages and as you can see from the photos, I still have a fair few chunks left. I actually plan to use this in the bath tonight! 😀

• Taya Copaiba Amazon White Clay Advanced Blend Thickening Shampoo.

Finally we have a new shampoo! I was in need of something new as my previous one was really close to running out. I decided to go with Taya Copaiba again as I loved the shampoo I had previously from the brand. This one is a thickening shampoo and it really does thicken! I’ve used it a fair few times now and do feel like my hair looks and feels thicker after drying and especially when I plait my hair ready for the day! The only issue I’ve had so far is that this seems to take a lot to foam up and go through the hair without using too much product. I’m sure this is something I will get used to soon. 🙂

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

Image taken from GIPHY

 

 

Favourite TV Show – The Dog House.

This is a TV show over on Channel 4 that me and Dane binge watched recently in a couple of days. We love dogs, so when we saw there was a TV show to show people rehoming dogs, we knew we had to watch. There are so many lovely dogs on the show and it makes us happy to know they were all adopted by loving families. We wish we could get a dog, so the fact we can’t, it’s nice to get some joy from TV shows like this. 🙂 Plus all the cute dogs and puppies on there made us happy! It’s an 8 episode series and sadly we have now finished it. 😦 I hope we get a second series of this show already.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Joker.

We haven’t been to the cinema since July, so I decided to book for us to go and watch Joker a couple of days after it came out. It was worth going to and both me and Dane loved it! The film is a mixture of drama and thriller and really does work well. I love seeing how Arthur declines throughout the film and how well this is done by Joaquin Phoenix. The best thing about watching this in the cinema was the sound, which was amazing! Honestly loved this film and I’ll definitely look at picking it up on DVD or Blu-Ray when it comes out.

Image taken from Good Reads

Favourite Book – Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe (link)

I haven’t been reading my manga/comic books again… I honestly just don’t feel like I have time to sit and read right now and I know this sounds like an excuse but I honestly do feel that way. I would take books with me to work to read, but I like to do my blog work on my breaks at work and soon enough I’ll be taking a Switch to work to play… Probably… Either way, you get the gist! This being said, I have on and off been reading a cartoon over on Webtoons right now called Lore Olympus, which is about Hades and Persephone. I’m really enjoying it and I really need to keep on reading it.

Favourite Album – Calvin Harris – Ready for the Weekend.

I go through phases of listening to certain albums that I haven’t listened to for ages. The album I am talking about this month is one of them. I LOVED Calvin Harris back in the day, but after the Motion album, I kind of fell out of love. He’s just changed a lot from back in the day and whilst he’s improved dramatically, I just have too many memories of his first two albums and how much I loved them when I was younger. They were all the songs I’ve heard when on nights out with friends and I especially loved Ready for the Weekend because of this. I remember when “Flashback” came out and I was at my “going out” prime. I was out most evenings partying with friends and would always request this song to play. I still love it to bits and whenever I’ve been driving home from work I’ve played it. Honestly, just love it! 😀

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Borderlands 3.

I could have mentioned this game on last months favourites to be honest, but it came out at the end of September, so I didn’t play it much throughout September. This game was constantly played by both myself and Dane and I’ve honestly enjoyed it so much and still am. I’m not a massive fan of first person shooters as I’m just rubbish at them, but the more I played Borderlands 3 the better I got and the more I enjoyed playing! I decided to go for a siren and have really enjoyed stomping on my enemies and sending them flying. 😛 We’ve also played this online with friends, which has also been loads of fun! 😀 November is going to be such a busy gaming month what with Luigi’s Mansion 3 being out now, as well as Pokemon Sword and Shield. So, make sure you’re prepared for lots of game talk in November’s favourites post. 😛

So, that is all of my favourites from October! I honestly can’t believe how quick this month has flown by! It’s been a really busy one, but one I have loved too. I was so excited for certain things such as the Pokemon Center London, getting my nails done at a salon and especially my week off with Dane. It’s been good but I don’t know if I’m prepared for Christmas yet… 😛

How was everyone’s October? What were your favourite things and what did you get up to? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below. 🙂

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re ready for the weekend! I know I am. 😛

Japan Series – Where We Plan To Go

Hello and welcome to the second post of the Japan Series! I posted last month on my blog the exciting news about how me and Dane are FINALLY going to Japan in 2020. It still hasn’t sunk in, but almost daily we are talking about it and where we want to go, whether it be to visit, shop, eat and drink.

We are constantly asking people and researching. I thought I would share with my gorgeous readers where we are planning to go and why!

Image taken from Ghibli Museum website

• Ghibli Museum

This is a place I have wanted to visit ever since I heard about many years ago. I LOVE Studio Ghibli so much and alongside Elfen Lied it’s what actually got me into anime in the first place! I have fond memories of my dad and me watching Spirited Away one day after school during a rain storm outside. Years later I bought it on DVD and not long after me and Dane got together, I took the DVD to his house so we could watch it. I even want a tattoo of Haku on my bicep! It’s just a film I adore to the bottom of my heart. The museum apparently isn’t mind blowing, but I don’t care. I still plan to go! You have to book tickets a month in advance, so Dane has daily reminders a month before we’re off to Japan to book the tickets so we don’t miss out! I plan (if I’m allowed to do so!) to take loads of photos of the museum and possibly spend a little bit too much money in the gift shop. 😛

Image taken from teamLab Borderless website

Image taken from teamLab Planets website

• teamLab Borderless and teamLab Planets

These gorgeous light museums are somewhere I have wanted to visit for quite some time now and I am so excited to finally have the chance to go when we visit Japan. I’m not a massive museum or art exhibition person… I can at times find them quite boring, but these interactive light installations look amazing. You can download an app to use alongside the experience, which I really like the look and sound of. You need to book in advance and from memory it said two months, so myself and Dane will be keeping our eyes peeled for when we can book!

Image taken from Sanrio Puroland website

• Sanrio Puroland

This is a place I’ve ummed about for ages because I really want to go, but I don’t know if I love Sanrio enough to… In the end however, I would really love to go! It looks like it’s a good day out to go and explore, see a couple of shows (maybe) and just go around the area. Of course there’s lots of shopping to be done throughout too. I say I don’t love Sanrio, but I do have a lot of memories with Sanrio. I remember back when I was coming towards the end of primary school and in my first couple of years of secondary school, I adored Sanrio and couldn’t get enough of it! I fell in love with Chococat, Cinnamoroll (alongside his friends Azuki, Milk, Chiffon, Espresso, Mocha and Cappuccino) who came out in the early 00’s and especially Pompompurin! The most recent character Aggretsuko is amazing and I adore her so much. The more I write and think about it, the more I really would like to go to Puroland whilst we’re in Japan!

• Nara Park to feed the deers!

This is somewhere in Japan I REALLY want to go to but I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not… Basically Nara Park is located in Nara, which is nearly 4 and a half hours away by train… Unless we get up really early and go to Nara for a day… I don’t know if we’ll be able to go or not. In Nara Park you can feed the deer that live there. They bow their heads for food and as a reward, you feed them. Both me and Dane love animals, so it’s something we would both love to do whilst we’re out there. I feel like Dane will sort it so we can go, but I’m worried it won’t be able to happen… We shall see! 🙂

Image taken from Kyoto Animation website

• Kyoto Animation

This isn’t somewhere me and Dane thought about going before the tragic arson attack that happened at Kyoto Animation on the morning of 18th July 2019. We LOVE loads of anime that has been released by Kyoto Animation such as K-ON!, Nichijo, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, A Silent Voice, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid and Violet Evergarden. It broke out hearts when we heard about what had happened to the studio and it still to this day upsets me. It hurts even more that the director of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid died in the attack of Kyoto Animation. This is by far one of my favourite anime and manga series to date and I know they had just started to work on a second season too. I want to go and pay my respects to be honest and I’m hoping that when we’re out in Japan, Kyoto Animation will have begun to rebuild and me and Dane will be able to see how it’s forming and growing again.

Image taken from Tokyo Skytree website

• Tokyo Skytree

This is somewhere I really do want to go to in Japan… However I am also shit scared. I’m not a massive fan of heights in all honesty and I especially hate using lifts. Of course, both of these need to be used when it comes to visiting the Tokyo Skytree. This being said I know Dane really wants to go and visit this whilst we’re in Japan and to be honest with you, I would hate to come back from our trip and think, “I wish we had gone and done it now.” So yes, I will suck it in and go! If anything whilst I will be scared, I know I’ll also love it!

Honestly guys, I could go on for hours about all the places in Japan that me and Dane plan to visit, but I could be here for ages and would definitely bore you all! 😛 These are the main places we plan to go and would love to go whilst we’re in Japan.

Our holiday STILL hasn’t sunk in for me and honestly, it won’t until we’re boarding the plane and I’m beginning to have a mini panic attack!

What do you think to the places both me and Dane would like to visit in Japan? Make sure to let us know in the comments and hey! Even suggest any if you’ve visited Japan yourselves!

Next time I plan to talk about food and drinks places we plan to visit, including cafes! 😀

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

 

Independent Shops Tour in FarGo Village

When I travel and visit new places there are always a couple of things in particular that I look out for when I’m there, good food and drink and AMAZING geeky shops to visit and spend all my cash at!

When Amy (Writing into the Ether) asked if she could take me around FarGo Village in Coventry on a little tour, I couldn’t say no really. Although my boyfriend is from Coventry and we often ventured into the town centre when he lived there, we never really went to FarGo Village. Why? I don’t actually know!

We’ve been since, but Amy took me around everywhere, which was so much fun!

In return I recently took Amy on a tour of my favourite places to visit in Birmingham, which she’s written about and posted today on her blog! I’ll link her post here so you can go and read where we went. Birmingham is amazing for geeky shopping, as well as amazing Asian food and drink, so much so we are planning another trip to tick off the places we didn’t manage to go.

FarGo Village is classed as Coventry’s creative quarter and from photos I actually thought it was bigger than it is. I feel like that due to the fact they’ve made so much use out of all the space, which is amazing. It reminds me of the Custard Factor in Digbeth Birmingham, which is somewhere I practically lived in as a student and in my early 20’s.

FarGo is an artistically re-purposed industrial space in Coventry City Centre, designed exclusively for creative, independent businesses and like-minded visitors. Located on Far Gosford Street, a recently regenerated area with a rich cultural heritage.

We are fiercely independent! We have an eclectic mix of over 40 independent businesses based here, including a craft brewery, artisan food, vegan shop, printing , a museum dedicated to Sgt Bilko and a Crossfit Box!

Quote taken from FarGo website

FarGo Village isn’t just a place to go shopping but is also great for food and drink! As of yet I haven’t actually eaten in FarGo Village, although I have eaten at places on Far Gosford Street. I’m sure in the future I will have something to eat at FarGo Village!

They so have SOME geeky things, including some Studio Ghibli art books which you can pick up from TAG! Artwork.

FarGo Village isn’t full of geeky places to shop, but it does have a lot of amazing independent shops to visit, with some already becoming must have shopping destinations for whenever I visit Coventry moving forward.

The first place we ventured to was Sgt Bilko’s Vintage Emporium which was pretty cool! It’s a vintage memorabilia shop with various different geeky bits and pieces, from Doctor Who, Star Wars, Marvel and more! They had loads of comic books in there where you could grab 10 for £10, which Amy took advantage of. I’m not a comic book girl myself and much prefer manga. This being said, the shop still had some amazing geeky pieces though, a definite must place to go if you’re into vintage geeky films and TV shows, I’m more of an otaku girl. 😛

We popped into Budda Boutique where I picked myself up some incense cones, which I have since used and have made my house smell gorgeous. This is the perfect place for hippies to visit, as it is a holistic shop that sells various different products ranging from clothing, healing crystals, jewellery and more! I loved collecting and using healing crystals growing up so whenever I venture into shops like this it really does bring back some nostalgia for me. This is a lovely store and one I will go back to time and time again when I visit FarGo Village.

We ventured onto the opposite side of FarGo Village to have a look at some of the stores I love the most in Fargo Village.

TAG! Artwork is definitely one that has caught my eye due to the cute and quirky books they sell! They do also sell art supplies too but I was in there for the manga! They sell quite a bit of manga to be fair, which is really nice. However, a lot of the manga they sell is also faded from the sunlight, which is a bit of a shame all around but mostly due to the fact they’re selling these for full price too. :S I’d want a discount considering they’re technically “damaged”. They also sell some quirky books and I regret not picking up the book Japanese Floaty Food Guide as I would love to have this for when I go to Japan. Next time I’m in FarGo Village I plan to pick it up!

Container No.8 is full of some right little gems and it’s a shop I would love to buy something from, but both times I’ve been (once with Amy and once with Dane) I’ve always wanted to be good. If I had of splurged a little, I think I would have ended up getting one of these cute little dinosaur necklaces by Bekbek Makes. Honestly, I always eye these cuties up whenever I go in but I just never buy one. 😦 I really love the green triceratops pin badge that I saw, but again. I left him behind. 😦 Bekbek Makes does have an online shop, which I have linked back to under the sellers name here. 🙂

Check out some of the items I love from Bekbek Makes:

Stegosaurus Necklace Large – Pastel Purple & Blue

Triceratops Pin Badge- Dark Purple & Green

Stegosaurus Pin Badge – Pink & Green

Container No.8 was a bit of a mix match of local sellers produce and items, which I really like! It means there is one shop with all sorts of different goods. These cute little honey bar bottles were too cute to not snap a photo of.

I’m not a vegan, hell I’m not even a vegetarian but The Green Unicorn Vegan Store is an interesting little store and I actually picked something up from there during our shopping trip. This gorgeous little store is promoting not only vegan produce but also for people to cut down and stop using plastic, which is something I would like to stop doing and I’m trying to do. The Green Unicorn Store is perfect because you can bring in your own jars, bottles and more to fill up with goods and take away. I ended up buying some cloth bags which I now use when I’m out shopping and want to buy fruit. I feel good not using plastic one use bags. 🙂

The last shop we ventured into before we decided to get a drink was, and I LOVED it so much! Fantayzia Designs is a retro style store that creates things out of stuff people bring in, as well as sell some of those items too. For example the owner has created lamps out of old cassette tapes, which looked really cool! I’m gutted I didn’t take a photo of them to be honest.

I love how the entrance to the shop has some chairs and vintage games on old TV’s. Anything like this attracts me straight away and when we went inside I made sure to have a look at what vintage games, consoles and more that they had on offer. I’m a console collector so I’m always into finding gems like this. Due to this however, it did break my heart a little to see this Game Boy Pocket turned into a clock… 😛 That being said, it was pretty cool all the same. ^_^

When we were shopped out we decided to head to my favourite place in FarGo Village, Bubble Boba for some must needed drinks and natter. I ordered the Red Velvet cheesecake, which was AMAZING! Definitely my favourite drink from there now. I visited Bubble Boba for Mockail Party and Masterclass recently, which was organised by Bubble Boba and Amy, which you can read about here.

It had started to rain not long after we sat down outside Backhaus & Co with our drinks so we finished chatting, drank up and headed for shelter in The Big Comfy Bookshop.

I really love The Big Comfy Bookshop and this was my first time visiting. I haven’t ventured into FarGo Village since me and Amy did so I haven’t been back, but honestly that place is perfect for anyone who just wants a bit of piece and quiet to write on their own, or with friends. I wish there was somewhere like this near my home so I could venture there after work to grab a coffee and do some blog writing.

The thing I love the most about The Big Comfy Bookshop is how all the books they sell second hand books and let you sit to read them too. I found a gem from my teenage years and it made me so nostalgic! I still own the novel Guitar Girl which I still love and read occasionally (maybe I’ll write a story post about this book in the future?). I also found some amazing cookbooks for sale! They also have a selection of manga on the shelves, which they need more of. 😛

We stayed for a drink, a bit of cake and some more natter before we parted ways. It was a lovely day and I really enjoyed the little tour Amy gave me of FarGo Village. I really want to go again when they have an event on. They had a car related event on this day which to be honest annoyed me. People were revving their cars occasionally which just ruined the relaxed mood for me. I can’t moan about that too much however, as I know this doesn’t always happen in FarGo Village.

We didn’t managed to pop into some shops, as I have a feeling due to it being Sunday, they were shut. I think this is such a shame as it means if people work in retail and get Sunday’s off, they miss out on all the gems in FarGo Village.

Some of the places I’m sad we missed out on are:

Olivia Thomas Handmade – I don’t recall if we saw this or not, or if we did and it wasn’t open but the handmade pieces by Olivia Thomas look and sound gorgeous and I’d definitely love to go in the future to pick some pieces up for myself, as well as for friends and family as gifts.

Oshin Art & Craft – This place reminds me of Japan and I don’t know why. It just looks so crafty and kawaii inside, but I feel like when I went in before it just wasn’t for me. I’d love to go again to see what it’s all about!

The Drawing Room – A tattoo shop where (obvs) you can get tattooes done! I know a few people who have a few pieces done here, especially by Kerste Diston (kerste_tattoos on Instagram). Her pieces are gorgeous and she recently posted a photo of design she drew of Haku from Spirited Away.

Overall I loved the little tour Amy took me on of FarGo Village! I don’t think I could have asked for anyone better to take me around. Amy is so passionate about FarGo Village and it shows constantly. I can understand why she loves it so much, it’s such a quaint little place full of unique shops and little treasures. I really want to venture to FarGo Village more in the future, especially when there are events being held there.

Oh by the way, look at how famous Amy is in The Big Comfy Bookshop! 😛

If you’re ever in Coventry will you be popping into FarGo Village? Do you have anything like FarGo Village where you live? If you do, please let me know about it! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far.

The Perfect Daily Journal – Mal Paper Daily Goal Setter*

If there is one weakness I have, besides Nendoroid figures and salmon nigiri, it’s stationary. I love a good notebook and/or journal and I’m always a sucker if I see a really good one in store or online. I’ve had to simmer down with buying them lately after having a HUGE clear out at home and discovered 20 unused notebooks in our office… Oops! 😛

Although I don’t need another notebook/journal in my life, I had recently started to think, “Should I get one for my trip to Japan?” because then instead of keeping anything I need to know on my phone, or on an email online somewhere, a notebook would be handy. It would mean I can carry it around with me, take it to Japan, make notes in as and when, etc.

I know a lot of people like to use their phones and online devices for planning now, but I’m still happy to use pen and paper. I feel I get more done and jotted down if I use a notebook. I don’t end up getting sidetracked by Instagram and games (especially Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp).

Recently Mal Paper contacted me asking if I would like to be gifted one of their Daily Goal Setter‘s to review on my blog. This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time in the run up to my Japan holiday and I as soon as the daily goal setter arrived, I knew it would be perfect for this, as well as other things!

This was a gifted item for promotional and reviewing purposes, so all views on this post are entirely my own.

First of all I want to talk a little bit about Mal Paper (bio about Mal Paper taken from the Our Story section of their website).

The word Mål, pronounced ‘mo-l’, means goal in Swedish.

We also take inspiration from the Scandinavian clean and clutter-free way of living. As a result, Mål Paper designs and produces stylish, simplistic and effective stationery that helps us to be more productive by focusing our minds on the most important tasks.

Our range of products is the result of seeking a solution to solve the common problem of jumping from one task to the next, without prioritising them or even completing the previous task. We were tired of having countless ‘to-do’ lists on notepads, notebooks and journals that did nothing more than complicate our goals and tasks further, to the point of feeling overwhelmed and uninspired to hold ourselves accountable.

Our mission is simple. Focus on creating products that give the user clarity on what they want to achieve with a clear path on how to get there, all while promoting a positive mindset to carry over on to their daily activities.

Earlier this year Mal Paper decided to start a Kickstarter campaign for the daily goal setter, which did really well! It would seem after the campaign ended and people had been sent and received their daily goal setters, that Mal Paper opened their online store.

Let’s talk about the daily goal setter, I honestly cannot wait any longer to show you this gorgeous bit of stationary.

This is a sturdy hardback journal that comes in three different colours, black, grey and pink. As you see, I opted for the latter colour. I’m a girl, how could I say no to pink? 😛

The first thing I noticed with this journal is how soft the PU faux leather is that makes the journal – it definitely makes it comfortable to hold and feels very fancy! It’s good size too for an A5 journal and contains 244 pages – which is 6 months worth of planning right there!

The pink colour is gorgeous and goes with my laptop really nicely, with the text on the outside being in gold. The spine even has Daily Goal Setter and Mal Paper on so this can be popped into a book shelf if you wanted to which I really love.

A few other things the journal includes are 2 divider ribbons and a document folder at the back of the book. I love when notebooks come with document folders as it’s a place I usually keep things that aren’t super important but good to have with a specific notebook to reference. For example if I have a flyer or leaflet from a blog event that I need to refer to, notebooks are the best place to keep these! The 2 divider ribbons will come in handy too, especially as they’re both different colours too. I like how they’re grey! It compliments the pink so well.

Enough of the outside of the journal, lets get into it!

The journal has a contents page – which I’ve never seen before but for some reason it reminds me of a bullet journal.

The contents include:

The daily goal setter, cheat sheet, goal setting, mourning routine (gratitude, affirmations and daily tasks), evening routine, weekly routine, monthly routine, example pages, long-term goals and medium term goals.

So there is PLENTY to do with the daily goal setter!

As you flick through the pages you begin to understand why that contents page is necessary at the start! Mal Paper have made sure to pack loads of good information in here to get people started with their daily goal setting, which is handy. Personally I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.

They go through how you can set goals and how to set effective goals at that. I like how it goes into detail to be honest with you, I mean it’s okay to wing it but sometimes people need a bit of guidance with these things, I know I do!

You can tell a lot of thought and love went into the daily goal setter when it was being made and I really love seeing this through the guidance. I’ll definitely be taking all of the tips through the journal for goal setting with me to work to be honest as these will come in handy whenever I have projects coming up and how I want to plan for them. I feel like everyone needs a goal setter like this on their desk because it’s perfect for people who have busy jobs which involve thinking about loads of different things.

AND if you thought the written guide(s) weren’t enough, they even throw in an example of how your weekly and daily reviews should look. Could it get any better? Well…

You get your lists of long-term goals to create (which I am so excited to get written down!), as well as medium-term and short-term goals.

There are some monthly calendar templates in there you can play with for any particular months you want to plan around, for example if you’re having a busy blogging month due to events and gifted items that you’ll review as a blogger, this would be ideal to keep on top of all of those.

Personally for my holiday this will be perfect to plan what me and Dane would like to do whilst we’re in Japan.

Something I rather like about the daily goal setter is how they have inspirational quotes throughout, whether it be a page or on the bottom of the certain pages.

Before you get to the majority of the journal which is the daily tasks, you come to the weekly tasks – which will be really handy for if I’m having a busy blog week and need to keep on top of things to do with that, as well as for the 2 weeks me and Dane will be in Japan. This would especially help with planning to go do things and plan around whereabouts in Japan we’ll be with where we could go shopping and go to eat.

The majority of the daily goal setter is daily tasks, which I really like as it means I have more room to think things I want to jot down and fulfil over the day.

There are blank notes pages at the back of the book, as well as a 2019 and 2020 calendar so this would definitely be ideal if you’re a student planning to study in September this year – or even in s secondary school student preparing for your GCSE’s.

Mal Paper also have a guide on the website for how to use the daily goal setter – which is really handy for people looking into buying one for themselves and what to expect.

The daily goal setter will be perfect for so many people but personally I feel like this will be great for people who work in an office environment and have lots of different tasks and objectives to keep on top of over the course of a day, week and/or over various months. Due to this, this would also be perfect for a student too, whether they’re in secondary school, college or university.

The daily goal setter of course is perfect for bloggers like myself, especially those of us who do this for a living and need to keep on top of blog posts, social media, blog events and more!

Personally I really do want to us this for the months leading up to my Japan holiday as I can write so many ideas of places me and Dane plan to go, where we want to shop, eat and more. Even stuff about the trip there and home.

Alongside that I would also love to use it for blog related matters, so I can write down weekly reviews and tasks I set myself for posts I want to try and get written and scheduled, as well as social media posts I would like to plan to go up on places such as Instagram and Twitter.

If you think that the daily goal setter might be for you, but you aren’t sure – Mal Paper actually offer a free download of the daily goal setter and it’s really easy to do. All you have to do is follow this link and subscribe to their newsletter. Simple! You’ll receive a PDF in your inbox and you can try before you buy.

The Daily Goal Setter costs £20.95, which isn’t the cheapest journal in the world, but personally I feel this is well worth the money as it’s of a high quality and you feel like you’re getting what you’ve paid for with that. All of the cheap notebooks from Poundland will never make up for something as high quality as this. Plus Mal Paper are a UK company and I especially love to support companies created in my country. 🙂

Overall I absolutely adore Mal Paper’s Daily Goal Setter and I honestly cannot wait to spend a relaxed evening sat down with it, writing down my goals for the rest of the year, as well as my ideas and plans for both my blog, as well as my holiday to Japan!

What do you think of the Daily Goal Setter? If so which colour would you opt for and what would you use it for? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

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

Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Party*

If there is one thing I really love it’s food and if there is another thing I love it’s making food. So when I was invited by Coventry Bloggers to attend the Auntie Anne’s pretzel party last month, I definitely couldn’t turn it down!

In Birmingham we don’t actually had an Auntie Anne’s, although we used to many years ago before Grand Central was finished and this amazing little pretzel place was taken away with the rest of The Pallasades shopping centre. So for me it’s very nostalgic to go into Auntie Anne’s whenever I visit Coventry, as well as a MASSIVE treat.

There are a couple of Auntie Anne’s stores in Coventry, one in the Ricoh Arena Park Shopping Centre as well as West Orchards Shopping Centre too, with the Pretzel Party being in the latter!

We were told we would get the chance to make our own pretzels and although I’ve made my own at home in the past, I didn’t quite know what to expect when it came to making pretzels with Auntie Anne’s!

I was so excited for the event and made my way to Coventry nice and early to make sure I got there in good time, which I did. Me and the Cov Blogger girls got talking before the event and it was a lovely start to a Sunday afternoon.

This was a gifted experience for promotional and reviewing purposes, so all views on this post are entirely my own.

We were told we would each get the chance to make a sweet pretzel with either vanilla sugar or cinnamon sugar. As I’ve only tried the latter I was excited to give vanilla sugar a go!

We went up individually to the table and was shown how to roll out the pretzel dough and then do a special technique to get that pretzel shape we all know and love.

I was really nervous about this at first, but after watching Amy (Writing into the Ether) give it I go, I was confident enough to go next!

It was so much fun and I was so pleased that I got my pretzel shape first time around! Apparently I did the best out of everyone and due to this I featured on the live video that day over on the Coventry Bloggers Instagram page.

Once these were all done, they were put on a tray and ready to be put into the oven! Whilst the first group of us were waiting for our goods to bake we were give an amazing little goody bag each, as well as some new sweet goodies to try.

In our goody bags we either received Cinnamon Nuggets* or Vanilla Nuggets*, I received the latter and they were so yummy! So bite sized and perfect for on the go if you want something sweet to snack on. These were lovely and warm when we were given them too so I made sure to eat as many as I could whilst they were. I did end up taking half of the pot home to share with Dane. We also got a cup of their Fresh Lemonade* which was so damn refreshing and yummy! I’d never tried it from Auntie Anne’s before and I really did enjoy it. I could have easily had another cup.

We got to try one of their new sweet treats which is a pancake/crepe shaped pretzel dough mixture with loads of chocolate drops inside! It was okay, but a little too chocolatey for me…

I’m not a Twix fan but when I saw that they had wrapped pretzel dough around one, I knew I had to give this a go. That was good! I really enjoyed it to be honest with you and would definitely pick it up again if I fancied something really sweet.

After we got to try those sweet treats, it was time to coat our cooked pretzels in yummy sugar goodness! I opted for the cinnamon sugar as I intended on giving Dane my cooked pretzel. He loves them just as much as I do, especially the cinnamon sugar ones. Due to this I sadly never took a photo of the pretzel… 😦

Shortly after this and as the event was beginning to come to a close, I decided to grab some yummy food to eat around Coventry and then headed home.

I honestly love Auntie Anne’s so much and whilst I’m talking about it, I’m seriously craving everything, especially my favourite – the little hot dog rolls. I also love the dutch ice (Slush Puppies to you and me!) and was sad that I didn’t pick one up that day, as it was really warm!

Overall I had SO MUCH FUN at the pretzel party and was delighted to take part in the live stream too!

Do you like pretzels? Have you been to Auntie Anne’s before? Let me know your favourite flavour of pretzel. Mine is either sesame or pepperoni and cheese.

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

Japan Series – We’re Going To Japan!

Image taken from GIPHY

This is a series I have spoken about starting for about a month now and finally I’m starting it! This series is one I didn’t know if I would ever write about, due to the fact some dreams just don’t seem like a reality.

However, me and Dane suddenly decided that enough was enough. Before we knew it we were approaching 6 months into 2019 and we hadn’t even come close to booking out dream holiday to Japan. No matter what we had decided we wanted to go in 2020 and that was that.

Before I go into any details leading up to booking our holiday, I want to talk a little bit about this new series on my blog and what you as the reader will come to expect from it each month.

Yes, it will be a monthly series and from what I can tell, it’s also going to be indefinite! This isn’t the first Japan series I’ve written on my blog, back in 2014 I decided to do a 4 part series about Japan, why I wanted to go as well as things to do with Japan that made the series what it was. I’ll link all 4 posts below so you can go and check them out. I know I gave them a read through whilst writing this post.

Japanese Series: Manga

Japanese Series: Asian Food

Japanese Series: Places To Visit (including Dane’s!)

Japanese Series: Studio Ghibli

Image taken from GIPHY

Not going to lie, I gave the manga post a read and it made me laugh at my younger self.

“As you can see from the above image, I own quite a lot of manga books so far, eight in total, seven from one manga series and one from another.”

Over 5 years have passed since I wrote that post in February 2014 and I own so much fucking more than that now. The seven books I own from one series is Nana – which I have already doubled on by now owning all 21 volumes. I could list all of the manga I now own but I would be here for ages and that’s for another post in the future.

I didn’t read the other three posts in detail but from skimming, not a whole lot has changed in terms of where both me and Dane would love to visit in Japan.

We’ve had dreams of going to Japan for a holiday in mind for all that time and now we are finally making it a reality. I still can’t believe it to be honest with you… It still hasn’t truly sunk in and I don’t think it will until I’m packing my bag for the holiday and getting on the plane for the 11-12 hour flight… That I am dreading.

Image taken from GIPHY

As excited as I am for my trip to one of the places I have dreamed of going for over 10 years, I am shit scared for the flight there and back from Japan. I hate flying at the best of times and that’s just with a 4 hour flight. I’m sure and know I’ll be okay, but nonetheless, I’m still really anxious.

I feel like I’ve rambled loads so far on this post and I do apologise for that… I just want to try and get as much into this post as I can! 😀

As this is the first post of many in this new Japan series, I want to basically lay it down what the future is going to be like for these posts.

I want to talk about what research me and Dane did before booking our holiday, including booking flights and hotel, as well as how we saved the monies and paid for the holiday. I’ll also be showing off loads of blogs and YouTubers who helped along the way without realising it.

Then I want to talk in posts about which places me and Dane are planning to go to, as well as book which will be for food mostly, as well as fun days out.

I just have so much stuff I want to talk about on this series and I am really excited for it!

I hope you guys are just as excited for this series as I am to write it for you all, as well as me.

What are you excited to read in these Japan series posts? Are you happy with seeing them once a month? Or would you like to see them twice a month instead? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope I haven’t bored you too much with this post. 😛

July Wish List ’19

Where did June go? I felt like it was only yesterday that I was preparing for a nice week off with Dane and then BAM HELLO IT’S JULY! Honestly though, how shite was June weather wise? It was well and truly awful to be fair and I’m glad we’re getting some nice sunshine right now. 🙂

I’m currently sat at my dining table with a gorgeous cup of Ed’s Coffee House caramel coffee and I’m planning on writing as much as I can before I need to head out later for a D&D session! This months wish list was pretty hard to be honest with you as I’m trying to be good right now due to Japan coming up, (I know it’s 5/6 months away but it will be here before we know it!) which is boring but meh.

Anyhoo – I hope your enjoy this months haul! I feel like there’s so much Japanese inspired stuff there. 😛

• Vans x Lazy Oaf Old Skool Platform (No longer available)

I know these are limited edition and no longer available (unless you pay an absolute fucking fortune!) but I still want them. I regret not buying them so damn much when they came out last year. Like stupidly regret it. Recently I noticed someone was selling my size on eBay at a decent price. They looked legit and when the seller offered to knock £10 off – I bought them straight away. Over a week later I was chasing the seller for my shoes and ended up getting a refund. I was so pissed off… I really wanted the shoes, especially for such a bargain. I’m still on the hunt for these and if you happen to find any in a size 7 for a decent price (no more than £60 with postage!) please let me know! 🙂

• Elfen Lied Omnibus Volume 1 (link)

I cannot tell you how happy I was when I recently discovered that this manga was coming out in English. Honestly my younger 16 year old self would have been over the moon with this coming out. Basically this manga has been running in Japan since 2002 – which is nearly 20 years ago now since it first came out. This was the first manga I read, as well as the first anime I watched. Elfen Lied is pretty much what got me into the things I am today, which is amazing to be honest with you so it really does mean the world to me to finally see the manga in English.

Now you’re probably wondering, “Okay hang on Nat! You said you’ve read the manga… But it’s only just come out in English? How did you read it then?” The magic of translation my friends! 😛 Someone translated it years ago online so I remember when I bought my first laptop 10 years ago (FUCK I FEEL OLD!) I found the manga on a PDF reader and basically flicked back and forth over the pages, reading it. 😛

It looks like there will be four omnibus volumes overall, which the second one due out in October. I would love to see the anime redone – just like they’ve done with Fruits Basket recently. I’d still love to see Elfen Lied Nendoroid’s released too. 😛

• Pokemon Holiday Night Collection Ichican Kuji (link)

This is a kuji I’ve decided to do! I’ve never done one before to be perfectly honest with you so this will be a first! It just looks too good to resist having a go on. I’ve regretted not taking part in some of the Animal Crossing kujis in the past and that in itself annoys me. I’ve got this through YY Kawaii on her Instagram merch page (link and link) and the prizes are adorable! There’s a couple of plushies, some holiday travelling essentials, pots and towels. It makes a change seeing some “useful” items in a kuji as opposed to the usual charms, towels and random figures. I really hope I get some good pulls from this!

• Insert Coin Clothing Persona 4 Teddie Pocket Tee (link)

I’ve already pre-ordered this tee, but I just had to mention it here today as it’s too good not to! 😀 I LOVE Persona 5, as my readers all know and I have had a go at Persona 4 Golden (which I am currently stuck on!) which I also really love. I’m reading the Persona 4 manga too, which I actually enjoy more than the game… But this may be due to the fact I’m stuck on it… 😛 Either way I saw the cute Teddie pocket tee and just knew I had to have it! I recently bought myself an amazing black pair of mom jeans from New Look and I intend to wear them together loads throughout the summer, as well as the rest of the year. 😛 Of course I would be a fool not to wear this to Japan too.

When this tee arrives – I’ll definitely be doing a post on why I love Insert Coin Clothing’s tees so much! I have this one, as well as their Persona 5 Morgana tee too.

• Sarah Dandh Animal Crossing Mug (link to store and Twitter)

I noticed this mug was going around my Twitter feed about a week or so ago and honestly I have fallen in love with it and I really need it in my life. I really don’t need anymore mugs, but if I didn’t pick this up I would honestly be a fool and regret it until I did. I LOVE Animal Crossing and as an ex barista I also love the coffee theme of the mug. It was always one of my favourite parts of Animal Crossing: New Leaf to daily go and work my shift at The Roost Cafe, as well as sit and drink some pigeon coffee. It looks like the mugs will go on sale on Sarah Dandh’s store on 10th July – so I’ll be making sure to pick one up. 😛

• Ohayou! Good Boys (& Girls) Enamel Pin Project (link to Kickstarter)

Finally we have one of my favourite independent artists out there, who has done it again with her recently Kickstarter campaign! 😀 As soon as I saw she was going to be adding Animal Crossing designs to the campaign, I put myself down for two pins and it will be both KK Slider and Isabelle who I opt for. I actually already have an Isabelle pin by Ohayou! but it won’t hurt to have another one, will it? I don’t have a KK Slider as of yet and look how damn cute this boi is! I honestly can’t wait to get these already as I’ll wear them together on my jacket(s) as well as potential ita bag in the future. This campaign has now finished, BUT Ohayou! is a good egg and will probably have them for sale in her store anyway. 😛

So that’s my wish list for July! Again, I honestly cannot believe we are over halfway through 2019 now. It’s scaring me as not only does it mean I’m getting closer to being 30 but it also means it’s closer to us going to Japan and I am SO nervous for that!

Which items do you have on your wish lists this month? Do you have your eye on any of the items I have too? Make sure to let me know in the comments below! 😀

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week, almost the weekend now, eh?