Games I’m Loving This Month

This is a post I’ve been so excited to share with you guys this month. It’s all about games, which you guys know I love. 😛

November is a month where LOADS of games (including updates and DLC too) have been released that I’ve been looking forward to for years/months/weeks, so I thought it would be awesome to share them all with you. Some of these games you may have heard about, whereas some you may not have due to them being indie/by small developers.

I hope you enjoy this weeks post, I know I’ve really enjoyed talking about the games and sharing them all with you. I’ll be sharing them in order of their release!

Unpacking – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam, Xbox and and Nintendo Switch.

I can’t 100% remember when I heard about Unpacking coming out, but from memory I have a feeling it was during E3 2021 (mid June) through the Wholesome Games stream/community on YouTube.

Unpacking is a relaxing game all about… Well… Unpacking! You’re unpacking someone’s life out of boxes through various stages of their life, from child/teenager, student, adult, etc. You unpack their items and place them around their room/house until everything is away in its rightful place. It’s incredibly relaxing game and I spent most of launch day playing it. It’s not a game you feel you need to rush through and can pick it up and take your time. You don’t ever find out what the person looks like (not 100% anyway), nor their name, anything about their family and more. You get snippets into their life through unpacking their items, which is something I really loved. It was nice to try and put together your assumptions of their life, what has happened and more. I would go more into my thoughts story wise, but it could spoil the game for others.

Alongside the accomplishment of popping away all the belongings, you do also earn stickers for placing items in certain ways and places, which I love! I need to go back to the game again soon to replay through the levels to earn all of the stickers, as well as maybe change things up? Honestly, this game is incredibly therapeutic and I can really see it helping with my anxiety when I just need to zone out for a while.

To The Rescue! – 2nd November 2021

Available on Steam and Nintendo Switch in 2022.

This is a game I discovered one afternoon whilst browsing through Kickstarter back in August/September 2019. I cannot believe over two years have passed and the game is now out, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait for sure! To The Rescue! is a dog shelter simulator game, where you run a dog shelter, helping dogs to get fostered/adopted, all whilst looking after the at the same time. You can hire people to help you, run charity events to get funds for the shelter, as well as encourage people to come and view dogs to adopt. That’s the main part of the game really, getting the dogs happy enough to be adopted and prevent any euthanasia. This game is very realistic about that fact, you can turn off the euthanasia however if you don’t wish to have that theme in your game. I know I have.

I’ve only played the game once so far and that was the date it launched. On day one of the game coming out there were quite a few bugs, so I’ve decided to wait playing anymore since until a lot of the bugs have been fixed, which they sound like they have from release notes. So, I’ll be picking it up again at some point soon.

One thing I want to comment on so far with playing this game is, the story mode is fucking hard! It’s very stressful and takes away the nice, happy vibes that game shows and comes with. Dane is really good at games and even he commented how hard the story mode is. However, the (sandbox) mode is a lot nicer and you feel like you have a lot more control over what you can do with your shelter, and more. I do need to play some more of this game however as this could have changed since the last time I played the game.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update – 4th/5th November 2021

After the Animal Crossing Direct aired in October, I was ecstatic. I’d not felt so happy and excited about anything for a while and alongside that, a massive part of the community I love were all excited for the update too! Everyone was in good spirits, sharing what they were excited for the most and even some people restarting their islands! I couldn’t do that, I love my island and villagers too much. :’)

Anyhoo, the update came out a day early by mistake! I’d booked the week off anyway before the direct had even aired, so I was READY for the update! Dane woke me up around 6am on the 4th to say, “Nat… The Animal Crossing update is out a day early…” I shot up, updated the game, grabbed us breakfast and a coffee and we spent most of the morning/early afternoon in bed playing the update. It was amazing to sit with Dane and cuddle as we both discovered the updates in the game. Poor Dane, he went on an island trip with Kapp’n before speaking to Blathers, so missed out on seeing Brewster… 😛

I’ve been playing Animal Crossing almost daily since the update came out and have really been loving all the things you can do now. I especially love going on the island trips, as well as grabbing my daily coffee (or two) in The Roost and getting gifts for doing just that! I recently gifted Cookie a takeaway coffee after unlocking it and she carries it around with her every now and then. It’s so precious!

One thing however that DOES disappoint me with The Roost is how you can’t help Brewster anymore like you could back in New Leaf. It was my favourite part of the day (especially as I WAS a barista at the time) when visiting my town and it’s such a shame that’s now gone. I’d like to hope it’ll come back in the future, but I don’t think it’s going to happen, unfortunately. I know quite a few people who were gutted this previous feature has been removed… Maybe if we all moan about it enough, Nintendo might bring it back 😛 Who knows!

Aside from that, I am loving the update. With Pokemon coming out, I may end up playing Animal Crossing a little less, but not too much. I’m really enjoying playing it and will be sad when the time comes where I won’t be playing it as much again.

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Paradise – 5th November 2021

I’m not going to lie, Happy Home Paradise has been out for two weeks now and admittedly, I’ve only played it twice.. Shameful, I know. As my mental health hasn’t been too great since the release of the Animal Crossing update and DLC, I’ve not really been in the mood to play the DLC after the main game. This being said, when I have played it I’ve enjoyed it so much. It’s relaxing to put together villagers paradise homes, as well as see their cute interactions on the beach before and after you create their perfect paradise homes!

On the day it came out me and Dane sat together playing it and compared the homes we’d put together, which I really loved. It was nice comparing what we’d done, who we had on our beaches and more. At one point Willow (sheep villagers) turned up on Dane’s beach and he kept commenting how cute she is, which warmed my heart. Now I’m on the hunt for her amiibo card. 😛

The DLC has brought a lot more to the game than just the usual island life, which I love. I remember back in 2015 when Happy Home Designer came out. I was so hyped for it, but the game itself was so boring and mundane, that I didn’t play it as much as I’d hoped to. Happy Home Paradise is so much different. You can do different things, change things up, invite villagers, design facilities and more!

I highly recommend the DLC if you love Animal Crossing and can’t get enough, I know I’ve hardly played mine, but with what I have done so far it’s so relaxing to play. Personally I think my reason for not picking it up to play as much is I worry the homes I design look shit, poor and tacky. This is due to social media and nothing personal to anyone. I’m not as creative as others when it comes to Animal Crossing, but that’s okay! As long as I’m happy with what I’ve done, it shouldn’t be a problem.

I wanted to pop that reminder here as I know due to social media lately, a lot of people don’t like their islands and have stopped playing Animal Crossing due to high expectations. You do you!

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl – 19th November 2021

At the time of writing this post, I am yet to play either Diamond or Pearl. It’s ready to go on my Switch, but I wanted to get this post written and scheduled ready for the weekend! 😛

I’m pretty busy this weekend of doing stuff at home, as well as binge playing either of these games, so I’ll hold off sharing my thoughts on Diamond and/or Pearl until the November favourites in a few weeks!

However, I’m still going to talk about these games because why the fuck wouldn’t I? 😛

I am beyond excited to play Diamond and Pearl. I pre-ordered both as I planned to keep Pearl for myself and give Diamond to Dane. However, Dane isn’t fussed about playing it, so I’ll just keep Diamond!

My reason for choosing Pearl is a simple one, it’s what I picked up and played back in 2008. Back in Christmas 2008 my dad asked what I wanted for Christmas. I’d always wanted a Nintendo DS, but never got one. The red DS Lite was out and as they were only £100 at the time, I asked for that. They were out of stock EVERYWHERE! I called all the GAME, Toys R Us and Curry’s stores nearby with no luck, all gone. This was a week before Christmas by the way. In one last effort to try and bag the red DS Lite, I called an independent games store in the hopes they had them, the guy has one left in stock so I asked him to pop it to one side and we’d be down soon. My dad took me to go and get the DS Lite, as well as some games as well, which I bought myself. These included Pokemon Pearl and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Pokemon Pearl was the only one in stock out of the two, but I didn’t mind.

That Christmas I binge played both of those games. It introduced me to Animal Crossing, but also re-introduced me to Pokemon. I completely bypassed gen 3 due to my dislike of the Game Boy Advance and had spent around five years playing Pokemon Silver… Until the cartridge broke. 😛

Pokemon Pearl really did re-ignite my love for the games again and since then I’ve pretty much played most of the new (and remade) gen games… Apart from Black 2 and White 2 as I didn’t see the point and I’m not even going to talk about Sun and Moon. 😛

I did also play Pokemon Platinum too, but I doubt we’ll get that added to the series this time around with the remakes.

I’m really excited to be able to replay through the game(s) that helped fuel my Pokemon addictions more, I’m especially excited to get Leafeon and Glaceon, as well as go mining, it was one of my favourite things about the game and I was gutted they never brought it back.

So, there we have it guys, just some of the games I have been loving and also been VERY excited for throughout November. I can’t quite believe the start of December is just around the corner now. Maybe if you like the sound of some of these games, you can stick them on your Christmas lists in the hope someone might gift you with them. 🙂

What games have you been enjoying recently? Any of the same ones as me? If you’ve picked up Pokemon, which version did you get? Honestly, share away! I love talking about games!

Until next time all, take care and having a great weekend.

Quirkory Animal Crossing Gimme My Joy-Con 2 Enamel Pins – Review

I have been so excited to write and share this blog post with all my readers since the start of 2021, but I’ve been eagerly and patiently waiting for these kawaii as fuck goodies to arrive!

I’m here to throw some much needed love around about Quirkory and why their designs make me so happy!

Towards the end of 2020 Quirkory announced via their social media and Patreon that they would be making another Gimme My Joy-Con collection after how popular the first one had been. They brought out a TON of villagers in the collection, twenty-four designs in total! A lot in comparison to the nine designs from their first Gimme My Joy-Con Collection, which you can read all about here by the way.

Here is a list of all the villager (and special characters) that Quirkory designs for the second collection!

Skye, Ankha, Beau and Fauna.

Maple, Goldie, Poppy and Pietro.

Coco, Audie, C.J. and Flick.

Roald, Raymond, K.K. Slider and Sherb.

Julian, Molly, Zucker and Marina.

Cookie, Diana, Rosie and Flurry.

I was so excited as Quirkory began to roll out and show off all the designs and I was starting to prepare myself for which designs I would order. I knew I wanted all of the dog characters in the collection – K.K. Slider, Goldie and I definitely had to order Cookie. However, I also ended up ordering Maple too, as she was a villager I had many moons ago on New Leaf, plus she’s cute. How could I NOT have her?

As these were pre-orders from Quirkory’s store I eagerly awaited snippets of them being made by their manufacturer. These were show both through Patreon (which you can find here) and their Instagram page too. I always love when you get to see the molds being filled with colour.

Then a month or so ago Quirkory announced that ALL the pins had arrived with them and were being ready to be shipped out! I was so excited and couldn’t wait to have them in my hands. They arrived earlier this week and I wanted to share my new enamel pins with you all as soon as possible.

Quirkory were kind enough to send me four free enamel pins too as gifts – Audie, Poppy, Julian and Diane. I’ll be sharing and talking about these on this post too.

Before I go into the designs one by one, one thing I noticed that was done differently with the second collection is the colour variants with the joy controllers. Not only did the overall colour of the controllers get designed based around the villagers in question, but the buttons on the joy cons and more got changed in colour too!

I know when I spoke before about the first collection I was able to go into detail about ALL the design joy con colours, but due to the amount this time, I won’t be able to do that. However, I will for the ones I’ve got to show today!

Cookie with a right handed lilac controller, which has white buttons and a darker purple side.

Goldie with a left handed light green controller, which has grey buttons and side.

Maple with a right handed dark green controller.

K.K. Slider with a right handed light orange controller.

Audie with a left handed yellow controller, which has white buttons and side.

Poppy with a right handed light purple controller, which has light pink buttons and side.

Julian with a right handed light blue controller, which has white buttons and side.

Diana with a left handed dark purple controller, which has teal buttons and side.

All the enamel pins are made out gold enamel and have twin backs to them. On the back of the enamel pins they all say have, “Quirkory Gimme My Joy-Con” which is something Quirkory did with the first collection, so I’m glad they kept this consistency and brought it to the second collection too.

I’ll be reviewing all the pins separately as always and want to state here that these enamel pins launch for sale again on Saturday 8th May! I’ll update the post as and when they’re for sale on Quirkory’s Etsy store, but make sure to keep eyes peeled on both Quirkory’s and my Instagram pages for updates when the enamel pins are available to buy!

Cookie Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

This is by far my favourite design from the whole collection and that’s purely because since New Horizons Cookie has become my favourite villager. Cookie is the pop princess of Animal Crossing and she’s stolen my heart. I mentioned to Quirkory that I would love to see Cookie become a part of the second collection, so when they announced that they’d drawn her design, I was over the moon! The design has turned out perfect and it’s fast become my actual favourite enamel pin in my collection.

Cookie is wearing her blue and white dress that she’s now known for in New Horizons. The lilac controller works really well with the pink of her fur and the blue dress. I really hope Quirkory bring out some stickers and prints with Cookie on soon. I definitely need them.

Goldie Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

Another dog villager to add to my collection and it’s a villager I have LONGED to add to my game since New Leaf. I feel alongside Lucky, Goldie is a dog villager everyone loves as she’s such a cutie and is perfect in everyway. I have Goldie on my island and she’s precious! Again, like Cookie, Goldie is wearing her New Horizons dress which looks exactly like the one in game! The details of the dress are amazing, something Quirkory is amazing with as always! The controller Goldie is holding is light green which compliments her yellow colour, as well as the dress she’s wearing.

I honestly would love for a third collection to come out with more dog villagers, especially Bones who is another of my favourite dog villagers.

Maple Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

This wasn’t a design I was going to purchase, even though I loved it. Purely because at the time it was coming up to Christmas and I wanted to make sure I had monies for anymore presents I needed to buy, etc. However, when I ordered myself the Mostari mystery pack I decided to snag the Maple design too. Maple is a cub I had back in New Leaf so she definitely holds a small place in my heart, plus her design is adorable! She has her cream jumper on from New Horizons and is cuddling a dark green controller which looks a similar colour to the three that is on her jumper. I know for a fact this wasn’t a coincide and was once again Quirkory showing off how much detail they put into their designs.

K.K. Slider Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

This is the only none villager design that I picked up from this collection and of course it’s our favourite singing dog, K.K. Slider. I really love his design, it’s not over the top and is different. I like how on his light orange controller has little musical notes on it! This is something unique to K.K. Slider’s design as the other villagers have stars. I know when they announced this design and the first sketches of it, I was waiting for a guitar to appear somewhere, but I’m actually glad it never did. He’s known for his guitar, yes, but it doesn’t mean he has to have it ALL the time! He’s cuddling the controller instead. 😉

Audie Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

Audie is a new villager to come to New Horizons and is said to be named after one of Nintendo’s oldest fans! She’s a cute wolf character who just shouts summer vibes. She wears a blue dress covered in pineapples and some fabulous shades on her head. Audie is definitely ready for a summer party or a beach BBQ, that’s for sure! I love that Quirkory decided to go for a yellow and white controller for Audie as this definitely works with the summer vibes! I feel out of all of the enamel pins I’m showing on the post, Audie is probably one that would get a conversation going with someone who doesn’t know about Animal Crossing. Purely for how bright the colours are!

Poppy Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

Poppy is such a cute squirrel who I had at one point on New Leaf. She always reminded me of an old friend of mine due to her name and personality, so when I saw that Quirkory had sent me her, it definitely brought back some memories. Poppy’s design is really cute and I think the colours for her fur are GORGEOUS! They’re perfect to say the least and match the character so well. Alongside with the light pink and purple controller, it just works so well. I especially love her little dress, which reminds me of lederhosen a little!

Julian Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

I’ll be honest, Julian isn’t a design I would have picked up for myself but after receiving him in the post, I haven’t been able to stop staring at him. This is in no way against Quirkory by the way! Horse villagers just aren’t ones I’m overly fussed about! However, the way Quirkory have designed Julian makes him look so pretty and fabulous! I love that his eyes are closed to reveal his purple eyelids/shadow and his cute little galaxy hoodie really make the purple colours pop against his blue body and mane. I like that Quirkory went for a teal and white controller too as I feel it works really well with his bodies colours.

Diana Enamel Pin (Coming Soon)

Finally we have Diana, who not only moved into my island not long after all the designs had been shown off on Quirkory’s Instagram page, but I also shared this design on my Instagram page too! Diana is a snobby little white deer who a lot of people told me to avoid, but I really love her! The enamel pin is gorgeous and the colours all pop and look amazing! I love the purple swirl on Diana’s forehead, it just looks really cool as it doesn’t have an outline to it or anything! It just looks cool. Alongside that I LOVE her controller colours! The dark purple and teal work so well together and I’d love a joy-con colour like this for real!

So there we have it guys! The collection will launch again on Saturday 8th May, so if you’re after any of the pins I’ve shown you today make sure to set your calendars for in a couple of weeks!

If there is one design I semi regret not picking up it’s Pietro. He’s so adorable and I just overall love how colourful his design is! I’ll definitely look to getting him in the future.

Overall, I would love ALL of the Gimme My Joy-Con designs, from both the first and second collections. I love Animal Crossing so much, it’s helped me over the past thirteen years I’ve been playing it, especially the past year with COVID. Not only do I want more Animal Crossing merchandise in my home, but I want to be able to support my favourite independent stores/artists whilst I’m at it!

As always I want to say a massive thank you to Quirkory! Not just for sending me my extra enamel pins and not for making me their brand rep, but for making such amazing designs that make me and others happy. Their designs make me smile whenever I look at them. I’ve not been very well mentally lately and whenever I’ve felt stressed or crappy I’ve looked at these enamel pins, which make me smile ear to ear every time.

As always I will of course link below to their store and social media platforms:

Store (Etsy)

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

So, what do you guys think of Quirkory and their second collection of Animal Crossing enamel pins? Will you be picking up any of them when they come out in a few weeks time? If you are which one(s) will you be picking up?

Don’t forget if you do decide to make an order with Quirkory to use my exclusive discount code “TMBQUIRKORY” on the Etsy store to bag yourself 10% your order!

Make sure to check out my previous posts about Quirkory below:

Quirkory – Mostari Mystery Pack Review AND An Exciting Announcement!

Quirkory Lunar Plushie Spookies Enamel Pins – Review

Quirkory Animal Crossing Gimme My Joy-Con Enamel Pins – Review

Quirkory Eeveelution Greek Gods Enamel Pins – Review

April Wish List ‘21

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you’re having a lovely bank holiday so far. At the time of writing this, I’m really excited for my Easter roast that I’m cooking with Dane as well as our chocolate eggs. I’m also planning to cook some mini egg brownies or cupcakes and send half over to my parents and keep half ourselves. I’m not sure which to bake yet, but brownies are looking to be the choice at the moment. I’d buy some cream too to pour over the top, or maybe some custard? OOFT!

Anyhoo… Enough of yummy food. This months wish list pretty much contains items I’ve bought/pre-ordered or hoping to pre-order VERY soon. I’m still looking to be on a spending ban in April because I’m finding it really handy to keep track of what I’ve bought and when, as well as WHY I’ve bought something.

An example of this being March. At the start of the new spending ban month, Black Milk Clothing had brought out their second Pokemon collection and I know I wanted to pick up a few pieces from it. They’re both limited and wouldn’t be brought back, so I bought them. I think items that are limited edition, or rare items found on eBay are acceptable within reason.

Another example, I found one of my holy grail Loungefly bags and it wasn’t cheap. It was a reasonable price considering, but not cheap. I’d seen a piece from Black Milk Clothing’s latest collection (The Thirteenth Tarot) that I wanted to buy, as well as a piece from the first Pokemon collection in the sale. I haven’t bought these pieces due to buying the bag. Granted, I didn’t need any of these things but… I wanted the bag.

Anyway, I digress! I’m really excited to talk about the items on my wish list this month. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing this months wish list post! 😀

• Oyasai Fairy and Manabu Vegetable Knowledge Book by PonkichiM (link)

This is something I didn’t think I’d ever own, even though I really wanted it. PonkichiM is a Japanese artist I discovered well over a year ago now thanks to Twitter and now I’m able to own their art book which is full of their cute vegetable animal hybrids that the artist calls faeries. I told my friend Emily (who I met through Instagram) about PonkichiM a while ago and she fell in love with the artists designs too, which did not surprise me! So, when Emily told me she was going to order the knowledge/art book from Amazon Japan and wondered if I wanted one. I jumped on it and when it arrived at hers I paid her for it. 🙂 Her boyfriend was kind enough to bring it over and post through the letter box and it’s GORGEOUS! I’ll be showing this off in my April favourites later this month for sure. 🙂

• Loungefly x Sanrio Pompompurin Mini Backpack and Purse

I decided to merge these two items together as I have a STORY to tell in regards! So, I’d pre-ordered both of these items through Geekcore and they were both due to come out in April. However earlier this week I received an email saying that this and a few other designs had been cancelled in the UK due to failing quality control… Which sucked. I’d not exactly had the best day so to hear this news was devastating to me… 😦 I’ve had a full refund and I’ve pre-ordered through an America seller I’ve bought from before. I don’t 100% know when these will be out, but I hope sooner rather than later as I cannot wait for these to arrive. They’re gorgeous fluffy bags and of course feature my favourite Sanrio character, Pompompurin. I do feel I’ve paid far too much now to get him into my life, but I guess it’s… Kind of worth it… :’)

• Kaymiibo Animal Crossing Sanrio Homemade/Custom Amiibo (link)

I do feel bad buying fake amiibo cards, but at the same time I don’t when Nintendo is pissing their UK fans about. There. I said it. We were all told by Nintendo UK the end of March, but the worldwide release was the 26th March, which we assumed would be the same here. I waited all day to order a pack of cards, as did others, but nothing dropped. I started to come to a realisation that IF the cards had of come out that day, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any anyway, due to the fact SO many people want to get a packet of these cards, as well as scalpers trying to snag them too. So, I decided to buy some of the custom made ones and when the real cards released, I’d get those too. You know what? Nintendo UK decided to release the cards on the last day of March, without much warning and they sold out quickly, with some cancellations and refunds given to people by Nintendo due to overselling. I know they also released some more packs on the 1st April. I missed both drops and was gutted. I have some big plans for my Sanrio cards and items, which I’m so excited about!

• Pokemon Center Nickit Plush

If there was one Pokemon from Sword and Shield that I fell in love with and called my favourite from that gen, it’s Nickit. The cute little fox Pokemon that specialises in dark moves. I just fell in love and caught one as soon as I could in the game. Sadly it didn’t follow me all the way to the end, but for the start of my journey in Shield, it did me good. I’d waited patiently for a Nickit plush to come to the Pokemon Center and FINALLY it is time! I’ve pre-ordered my plush through YY Kawaii (Instagram – yykawaiimerch1) which I’m excited to have arrive in the upcoming months! Make sure to use code “YYCOFFEE10” to snag 10% off of the website!

• Nintendo Switch New Pokemon Snap (link)

Finally we have a game I’m SUPER excited to see come out at the end of the month and that is the New Pokemon Snap game coming to Switch! I never got to play the original Pokemon Snap on Nintendo 64 as I never owned one and neither did any of my friends. I always have a fond memory of going to Dixons with my dad and running to the back of the shop to play on the N64 that was set up at the back of the shop with Pokemon Snap inside that you could play. I never got the chance to play it every time I ran to the back of the shop, because there was always a kid, or at least a group of siblings stood there hogging it. So, this coming out will be like a part of my childhood I missed out on. 🙂 Eventually I’ll snag the Pikachu N64 AND Pokemon Snap so I can play it myself, at home, without the worry of some selfish kids preventing me. 😛

So there we have it guys, that is my wish list for April and I feel like I’m already skint. 😛

I’m so excited for April, Easter break so far has been amazing, I’m looking forward to my roast and Easter eggs, as well as Dane’s birthday in a couple of weeks time. 🙂

What do you guys have on your wish lists for April? As well as if plans you may have for April too? Let me know in the comments. 🙂

Until next time all, take care and HAPPY EASTER! 😀

September Favourites ’20

Wow, did September fly by or what?! I can’t quite believe it’s October and I’m still saying and writing September down when referring to this month.

As I mentioned this time last month, September is my favourite month of the year, for autumn and it’s always the month I have associated with as a “fresh start”. This is down to starting education in September and preparing myself for that. I was one of those teenagers who started a new year of school with a “new year, new me!” approach… But never really changed much. xD

However, September 2020 for me has been… Shit. Due to lockdown I haven’t been able to do stuff I usually would in the run up to autumn, which sucks, but without saying too much, I’ve been grieving during September and I can only see October being the same. This is also why there wasn’t a blog post last week.

Aside from that September was just bland really. I had to “take a stand” and look after my mental health. I’d found being part of group chats and Discord chats to be too much for me and I’ve ended up muting them for the foreseeable future. That “new year, new me!” stance I’ve always had since the age of 13 appears to have been used this year for sure! xD

This months favourites are strange. I found that a lot of beauty related items I’ve loved have been holy grails for me, especially for my hand, which flared up with my dermatitis. SO, I hope the one product mentioned may help others out there who have dermatitis like myself, or eczema.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling and being depressing (ha! xD), on with the monthly favourites for September!

• Happy Place Cosmetics Wild Child Body Scrub.

I got this body scrub towards the end of July/start of August in my Happy Place Cosmetics monthly box. This is my favourite item that was in the box, but I was wary I wasn’t going to like the scent after reading the description on the website. It’s described as being a dupe of Lush’s 29 High Street scent. This is a definite dupe, but back in the day when I was a Lushie, 29 High Street wasn’t a scent I particularly liked. However, it’s really grown on me and actually reminds me of Christmas! It’s a warm foral, but fruity scent! Lush say that 29 High Street is said to be the scent of a Lush shop when you walk in. I think this has changed the past 8 years however…

Honestly though, the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs are AMAZING and by far the best I’ve ever used. They’re really scrubby, but they also foam up too depending on how much water you add. I don’t feel like I’ve had a body scrub work as well as these do. I use them once a week and they make my skin lovely and soft. At the time of writing this post (evening of 30/09/2020) there are some body scrubs available on the Happy Place Cosmetics website, so if you’re interested in them, go and check out the website.

• Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm.

When I say this product has been a lifesaver, I really mean it. I’ve mentioned on and off on my blog how my eczema/dermatitis is really bad on my hand the past year and at one point over the past month it got so bad and uncomfortable. So much so, it was waking me up in the night due to how itchy it was. I decided to research what products I could buy and use on it after washing my hands and in between the ointment my doctor had prescribed me. Lyonsleaf came up and after doing a lot of reading and watching of reviews on YouTube, I decided to order myself a little tub. It’s honestly amazing stuff! It’s greasy in consistency but a little goes a long way. It doesn’t have a scent or taste when applied to the skin, but in the jar it does remind me of a Sunday dinner/gravy sort of smell, which is so odd! I really do recommend this though if you have really dry skin and need something to soothe it, especially if it’s just patches like what I have.

• Doll 10 Doll Skin Perfecting Treatment Powder.

This is something my mom bought me as a gift quite a while ago. I’ve only really started to use it during lockdown whenever I’m popping out for the day, or fancy wearing doing myself up as if I’m going out for the day. Lately I’ve been venturing out a little more, whether it’s going for a shop, getting my nails done or running errands out and about. This is a light translucent powder which goes on pretty straight forward. It’s been my go to really to remove any excess oil on my t-zone. I couldn’t say if it actually keeps the oil at bay all day but it works for me enough at the moment during “lockdown” and whilst I’m working from home. I’m never usually a fan of loose powders as I find they often don’t get picked by the brush (if that makes sense?) which can wind me up a little as I feel like I’m constantly trying to get an even coverage on my face. This being said, this powder is pretty good for that!

• Nivea Blueberry Blush Lip Butter.

I mentioned this a couple of months on my monthly favourites and I’m mentioning it again! This lip butter by Nivea is so lovely to use and as sad as it sounds, it’s a treat for me to use throughout the week during work. It’s buttery, creamy and a little goes a long way. It feels really nice and moisturising on the lips and it smells absolutely gorgeous! I love blueberries and especially love blueberry scented things so this is right up my street. I usually go to Vaseline when it comes to lip balms, but I’m really loving the Nivea lip butter lately, so this is definitely a product I’ll repurchase in the future. I highly recommend it is you want a good lip butter/cream. It’s not greasy or sticky, yet it lasts ages on the lips!

• Bath Bake Love White Cocoa Fluffy Whip Soap.

The final product I want to talk about for the beauty side of my monthly favourites is Bath Bake Love, an independent beauty brand I have fallen in love with during lockdown. I’d like to write a blog post about them in the future, but I don’t know when it’ll be. Anyway, this is the first and only fluffy whip soap I’ve tried by them and it smells of white chocolate/white hot chocolate. It’s divine and it isn’t just me who loves it too, my boyfriend has really taken to this and has been using is everyday to wash with in the mornings. It’s a thick creamy soap, it looks more like a buttercream than soap and it smells like it too. A little goes a long way and when used in a sponge or a shower puff it really foams up and leaves you with loads of lovely smelling lather/bubbles. This can also be used in the bath, which my boyfriend has done. Bath Bake Love has definitely become a must have for our shower and I cannot wait to try and own more of their products in the future. They currently have their Halloween range on their website, so make sure to go and check them out. 🙂

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

Gif taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – The Boys.

First of all, sorry for the C word being used on the gif… Butcher is one of my favourite characters for the way he is, so I had to include that gif. 😛 We are already six episodes into season 2 of The Boys and so far I’m really enjoying it! There’s been loads happen since season 1 finished last year, which is always good. One of the episodes so far felt really slow and I know I wasn’t the only person saying this. Monday morning meetings are spent with my team discussion the episode of The Boys from the weekend and what we thought of it. We’ve all had the same feelings about it and so far we are all loving it! I really do look forward to spending Friday night or Saturday morning watching the latest episode with Dane. The Boys reminds me of Preacher, which ended last year, just after The Boys began. They’re both based off of comics of the same dark comedy, so they’re good in my books! I definitely recommend checking out The Boys and Preacher if you have Amazon Prime, as that’s where they’re hosted.

Favourite Movie – I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

Although we watched this film at the end of start of September it’s the only film I’ve really watched lately that I could think of adding to my monthly favourites this month. This is one that Dane had watched the trailer for, heard about online and really wanted to watch. We popped it on and I swear throughout we were constantly questioning what the fuck was going on. It’s a psychological drama about a young woman who is contemplating ending the six week relationship with her boyfriend as they drive to his parents house so she can meet them for the first time. It spirals from there, but I don’t really want to say much in case it reveals any spoilers but it’s based off of a novel and is directed by Charlie Kaufman the guy behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you have Netflix or are able to watch it another way I highly recommend it. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Oops…

Oops indeed. I didn’t read anything this month. I really need to just have an evening off of my phone, Nintendo Switch and laptop and just read! Sometimes though I just don’t feel like I have time. I’m always trying to make way for everything and reading takes a back burner. Earlier today I ordered Aggretsuko Vol. 1 comic book! I love Aggretsuko so I’m rather excited for that to arrive tomorrow or Friday to read over the weekend… If I’m able to! Honestly though, I have so many manga volumes and comics to read. I really need to get on it!

Favourite Music – PVRIS – Use Me.

PVRIS new album Use Me came out at the end of August and it’s one I’ve been listening to on and off throughout September, but I definitely need to listen to it a lot more. I wanted to share one of the songs from the album that I’ve already fallen in love with, starting with “Loveless”. This song is clearly about a breakup but it’s got such a lovely acoustic melody behind it, as well as powerful lyrics that a lot of people who have or are going through a breakup can relate to. I just love it so much and after I heard it for the first time, I replayed it a few times and got the lyrics up to read as it played and sing along to. Who else does this? 😛

Overall I really love Use Me but I think it’s one that will have to grow on me. I love PVRIS’s previous two albums so much, but that isn’t it. I think due to the fact 5/11 songs on the album have come out gradually the past year as singles and EP’s, nearly half of the albums isn’t a “surprise”, if that makes sense? Even so, I still love it! PVRIS has fast become one of my favourite bands the past year and a half and that’s not going to change.

Favourite Game – Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition (Nintendo Switch).

I only bought this game about a week ago but it’s already earnt it’s place on my monthly favourites for September due to how much I’ve played it already! The week I bought this was when I received some bad news and I looked on the eShop for something simple to play, but not for a lot of money. I picked Not Tonight up for a BARGAIN price of £1.94! I think it was 90% off so the game was roughly £19? Crazy how cheap this was, but totally worth it! It’s set after Brexit and you’re playing a bouncer with European in their blood. You live in a dump, work for shit money and have loads of bills and taxes to pay. You have to check the ID of people coming in pubs, clubs, festivals, events and even on the border of the UK. I love it, it’s such a “relaxing” game to play which has a dark sense of humour about it. Some people I’ve spoken to about the game said it sounds depressing. It’s really not. If it’s still on offer on the eShop I highly recommend it, I’m sure you won’t miss £1.94 eh?

So, there we have it, my favourites from September. I’ve had to write this post the day before it’s due to be out and I honestly can’t believe tomorrow is going to October. This year has flew, even with the circumstances of COVID. I wish September hadn’t gone by so quickly and I wish myself and my family hadn’t received the news we did… I’m kind of glad for a new month due to that, but at the same time, I don’t know what October will bring. Fingers crossed something good, eh?

What have you been loving throughout September? Are you excited for autumn, the nights starting to draw in and Halloween? I’m excited for Halloween! I’m going to try and use October as the month to watch Halloween movies I’ve always meant to. 🙂

Speaking of, what’s your favourite Halloween movie? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care all. 🙂

Quirkory Animal Crossing Gimme My Joy-Con Enamel Pins – Review

I cannot believe where July is going already. How are we already at the end of week two of July?

The past week for me has been a bit of a nightmare. I’m in the middle/towards the end of getting my bathroom redone and we’ve come across a few issues (not builder related). I just want it finished now to be honest with you so I can FINALLY start to relax and enjoy my bathroom in it’s completed state.

For today’s blog post I wanted to talk about my favourite independent artist/store, Quirkory. A few weeks ago I received some goodies I backed in their recent Kickstarter AC Companions ~ Gimme my Controller, which I have been so excited for!

I just knew I had to share these with you, as well as some special goodies that Quirkory sent me as a thank you for supporting them since I discovered them nearly a year ago through their Kickstarter campaign A profusion of Eeveelutions & Lunar Spookies, which I also spoke about on my blog here at the start of the year.

Quirkory’s designs are chunky, kawaii and make me smile so much when I look at them! Literally, their work brings a smile to my face whenever I look at it and when I see new things posted up by them on Instagram. I even get excited for spoilers they announce!

I’m here today to share with you the Animal Crossing designs overall, as well as the ones I backed and was sent as a gift. May I add – these were not gifted for blog purposes, but between “friends” if you will and as a thank you for how much I have supported them this past year. 🙂

I’m so excited to share all the designs, they’re so adorable and really do put a smile on my face.

The Kickstarter campaign for these Animal Crossing enamel pins had a cute and unique design of Animal Crossing villagers holding Switch Joy-Con controllers, hence the name “Gimme my Controller!”. There were nine designs to choose from, as well as a special Timmy and Tommy Nookloop design.

The nine designs on offer were/are:

Marshal with a right handed light blue controller.

Stitches with a left handed yellow controller.

Merengue with a left handed pink controller.

Lucky with a right handed purple controller.

Kicks with a right handed green controller.

Reese with a left handed blue controller.

Tom Nook with a left handed gold controller.

Isabelle with a right handed indigo/blue purple controller.

Daisy Mae with a right handed light blue controller.

I backed four pins and added the Nookloop design as an additional item. I knew straight away which designs I wanted to go for, but towards my enamel pins arriving, I did realise there were some designs I wish I’d backed for and gotten too.

The four designs I opted for were Lucky, Kicks, Isabelle and Tom Nook. I also added on the Nookloop pin too as an additional item.

I thought I would show you all of the enamel pins I opted for, as well as some freebies I received for backing them on Kickstarter. I’ll also be showing the two enamel pin designs that Quirkory sent me as a thank you…

I’ll talk about the items I received as extras first and then go on to talk about the enamel pins.

I was sent some stickers of all the designs available, as well as a print of Inari and Mosted and a thank you note from Quirkory.

I always love, appreciate and keep the little thank you notes that Quirkory send as they really make me smile. Plus I always think it’s such a nice personal touch when you get a thank you note in your packages, don’t you?

As I mentioned they also sent me a print of Inari and Mosted, which is a design they created back in April for the virtual mall event they were a part of. If you bought anything from their store at the time, you would get this exclusive print for free! I ordered some goodies from the website and this finally arrived. 🙂 It’s so adorable and I even got the digital wallpaper though few months ago too, which I have set as my iPad’s wallpaper. I love how it’s the loop style design that they’ve done a few times now, including with the Eeveeloop from the Eeveelution God collection and of course the Nookloop from the Animal Crossing Controllers collection.

On the back of the print is the shop logo that Quirkory designed for the virtual mall event. It’s so adorable! When I’m eventually back in the office at work, I’ll be sticking this print up next to my laptop so I can look at it whilst I work. 🙂

There was a little pack of stickers in my parcel, which to my surprise not only contained all the characters and designs of the enamel pins, but also two Nookloop stickers. One of which I’d ordered from Etsy months previous as I didn’t realise I would be getting one as part of my Kickstarter campaign.

Animal Crossing Stickers Pack (link) – These stickers are so adorable! They’re matte and on the back of them, the paper you peel away to reveal the stick has Quirkory’s logo all over, which I thinks really cool! I can’t say as I’ve seen this before. I love being able to have the stickers of designs I may have loved, but not wanted to get as an enamel pin.

Nookloop Sticker (link) – This sticker is different to the others in the sense it’s glossy, whilst the other stickers are more matte in texture? The sticker is so cute and I’m really glad I have two. I’ve already stuck one on my iPad case (where most of my Quirkory stickers have found themselves!) and it looks adorable. I absolutely adore the Nookloop design. Both Timmy and Tommy’s faces are so sweet and it just shouts the first day or two of playing New Horizons to me, which I won’t forget.

Finally I will be sharing the four designs and the Nookloop pin. I hope you’re excited to see them all properly!

They’re all made out gold enamel and have twin backs to them. The only design that is different all around is the Nookloop enamel pin, but I’ll talk about that in more detail when the time comes. On the back of the enamel pin they all say have, “Quirkory Gimme My Joy-Con” which I think is such a lovely touch. It shows what collection they’re part of too, which I love.

Lucky Enamel Pin (link) – This is one of my favourite Animal Crossing villagers, plus the dog villagers are my favourite types so I’m always a sucker for Lucky. He’s on my island for the time in any Animal Crossing game, which is amazing! All with thanks to amiibo cards. The Lucky design is adorable and it’s one I instantly fell in love with when it was first shown on Quirkory’s Instagram page. I love the little pink blob on his cheek and that he’s hugging a purple joy-con, as it reminds me of Halloween. This is my first Lucky enamel pin and I’m so excited to add it to my Isabelle ita bag! This is definitely up there as one of my favourite designs from this collection.

Kicks Enamel Pin (link) – This is actually my favourite design from the collection. I’ve always had a soft spot for Kicks but never really known why. When Quirkory showed off the design they had put in place for Kicks, I fell in love. His little face is just so precious and adorable and I want to squish it! I most of all love what he’s wearing, with his brown cap and the blue colouring of his fluffy tail. The mint green joy-con that he’s holding reminds me of the Animal Crossing Switch… Which a part of me to this day STILL regrets not buying. 😦 This pins design just makes me smile so much and I can’t wait to pop it in my Isabelle ita bag!

Tom Nook Enamel Pin (link) – This is definitely one Quirkory thought about and I love that about them. They think about such tiny detailing and I honestly adore them for it. First of all the main thing about this design for me is the gold joy-Ccon. I didn’t see that coming when they announced Tom Nook, but it really does make sense! I also love that he’s wearing his New Horizons outfit, even the khaki shorts! I don’t own any Tom Nook pins yet, but I’m really in love with this one. As much as I love Tom Nook designs, I’m kind of bored of seeing Tom Nook with bags of bells and saying how much he wants yours. This is simple and effective and I love that!

Sadly for some reason I couldn’t get the photo of Isabelle’s pin to take the same way as the other designs.

Isabelle Enamel Pin (link) – I couldn’t not order the Isabelle design. She’s my favourite character from Animal Crossing and I can’t believe she’s only been with us since New Leaf… It feels like she’s been with us forever! I adore her design so much. She has so much personality to her with the fact she’s winking and smiling as she cuddles the joy-con. She’s also in her New Horizons outfit and I love the coral red colour of her shirt, it really compliments her yellow fur. Oh and how about that little tooth showing, eh? KAWAII! I really love this design.

Nookloop Enamel Pin (link) – The Nookloop design is up there as one of my favourite designs in the collection. Tommy and Timmy are so precious and I adore them both… Especially Tommy. They both just look so adorable with this design, especially Tommy with his little flag! Everything about the design is so precious and it really makes me smile. I also bought the wallpaperwallpaper so I could have it on my iPhone, iPad and laptop! I’m planning to set it as my work wallpaper in the future.

Next I want to show off the two designs that Quirkory sent me, which are Marshal and Stitches. When I was showing off all the goodies I received from my Kickstarter on my Instagram stories, I mentioned how I regretted not getting Marshal and possibly Stitch as well. I didn’t see the appeal of Marshal for years… Until he moved into my island on New Horizons! He’s such a cutie and the fact he loves coffee makes me smile so much. I’d like to think he’s me in an Animal Crossing character! 😛

Quirkory also attached one of their thank you notes, but this one was more personal than the others. It was so lovely, especially the “Thank you for everything!” message and the little photo of the couple behind Quirkory. It really put a smile to my face. They also sent me a high quality version of the Inari and Mosted print, which I now have on my plushie cabinet.

Marshal Enamel Pin (link) – This design is so simple and yet adorable! I see Marshal all over it, especially with his grumpy looking frown that he’s pulling and his matching frowned mouth. He also has his fringe and navy t-shirt on. He’s cuddling up to a light blue joy-con. His little cinnamon roll tail makes me smile! I do just love this design and I’m so happy to have it in my collection. I’m definitely going to pop him into my ita bag.

Stitches Enamel Pin (link) – Finally the last design I’ll be talking about it Stitches. An adorable and unique looking bear that I have always wanted on my island… But just haven’t gotten… Yet. 😛 Out of all the designs I think this one is the most colourful and eye catching, which is one of the reasons why I regretted not buying him. This is where Quirkory’s attention to detail is amazing. They’ve added all the colours to Stitches on his fur with the orange, purple, green and blue as well as the different coloured stars on his white t-shirt. Plus, he’s cuddling up to a yellow joy-con which is the PERFECT colour to compliment all of Stitches colours. I just love this design so much.

Well, you’re probably wondering how you can get hold of one or two of these enamel pins yourselves? Well, currently at the time of writing this review, all the pins are on pre-order! So, if you would to get hold of one, two, or more of these enamel pins I would recommend getting some orders in now before you miss out. I know this collection will be permanent but I also know how busy Quirkory are at the moment as they finish shipping Kickstarter orders, Etsy orders and prepare for exciting things for us shoppers and fans in the future… Including a Patreon. I’m so excited for that! 😀

I already know that Quirkory have mentioned plans to bring out a second collection of the Gimme My Joy-Con collection and I HONESTLY HOPE THEY DO! I can already imagine so many more villager they can create, as well as what they could do with them. I have some ideas of my own…

I’d love to see Digby holding a left joy-con (so it’s opposite to Isabelle) and either wear his little yellow rain coat OR be holding a yellow joy-con so it represents his raincoat.

I’d also love to see another one of my favourite villagers – Bones, Cookie, Goldie or Eunice. I would love to see a sheep villager in the collection as they’re my second favourite villagers after dogs.

If you’re maybe not one for enamel pins, but love the chubby kawaii designs of the Animal Crossing villagers, there are other ways you can get your hands on them. You could buy some colouring pages, OR big or small wallpapers. All are digital so you won’t need to wait long before they hit your email address and you can start using them. Make sure to go and check out their Etsy store for more.

As always I will of course link below to their store and social media platforms:

Store (Etsy)

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

So, what do you guys think of Quirkory? This is the second time they have featured on my blog now and they have fast become my favourite independent artists and good friends over on Instagram. I feel like I interact with them all the time and they always reply so sweetly and are always happy.

If you didn’t think their designs could get any cuter after the Eeveelution Gods collection, then we were obviously all wrong! What do you think of the Animal Crossing Gimme My Joy-Con enamel pins? Which design(s) would you like to buy? Which was your favourite? AND most of all, which Animal Crossing villager would you like to see? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

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

June Favourites ’20

I feel like I say this every month… BUT how is it July already?! June flew by and I’m sad to see it gone in a way. However, I am excited for July and what it brings with it.

The start of July me and Dane are getting a new bathroom fitted and we cannot wait! It’s been something we have planned to do since we bought the house four years ago, so it’s great to get it done, finally! We sadly had some water damage back in May and it upset us both a lot. Thankfully this is getting sorted, alongside the bathroom itself.

I’m nervous but excited for all the work to be done and cannot wait for a fresh start to the bathroom! Hopefully I’ll be able to show you guys some before and after photos of the bathroom.

Majority of June I relaxed and eased off playing certain games to play others. It was a strange month to be honest but one I really liked as I loved just relaxing and not doing all that much. I’m hoping July will be more productive… But a little lazy still too. 😛

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 new things in July! I’m excited for what the month holds. 🙂

• Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion.

I recently did a MASSIVE spring clean of the belongings in our bedroom as well as the bathroom and I threw so much stuff away! Loads of old nail polishes, body products and more. I also discovered that I owned this Aveeno lotion too and I’ve started using it daily on my hands whilst working. I can’t have too many lotions at the moment for my hands and feet as I was to try and keep the eczema away as much as I can. Thankfully what I’m doing is working, which is good. I have to be honest though, as much as I love the Aveeno lotion I own, I won’t be buying it again. I’ve paid less for better in all honesty. I would however like to try more Aveeno products in the future.

• Barry M All in One Nail Paint.

This is the only all in one top and base coat that I’ll use and have used for years now. Lately I’ve found I haven’t been wearing much nail polish and instead I’ve just been wearing this clear nail paint instead. I like to have something on my nails and as this is also a nail hardener too, I find it really does help my nails strength wise and they grow quicker than they would without this on. I was hoping for my nail technician to be open again at the start of July, but alas beauty and nail bars won’t be opening… Sooooo I’ll be continuing to look after and paint my nails for a while longer. I definitely recommend this all in one nail paint if you’re on a budget but want something that will work!

• Peripera Sugar Glow Tint in shade Cherry Pie Filling.

I bought this lip tint recently from Depop. I’ve never bought a lip product second hand before so I was a little dubious. However, I haven’t encountered any issues which is great and in all honesty I’m glad I bought this lip tint as it’s amazing! I’ve worn it almost daily since around the start of June and I really like it. It’s a gorgeous dark pink shade, which you can put a little or a lot on to build up the colour. However, this doesn’t tint and stain the lips, which is a shame but even so it’s a lovely colour.

• Simple Kind to Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

With a mixture of hot weather and my hayfever being on an all time high in June, this eye balm was very much needed and really did help to soothe my sore eyes. Whether that was down to the heat, hayfever making them sore and especially lack of sleep due to some nights where I couldn’t sleep well due to the warmth. I’ve used this eye balm on and off for years and it’s something I always go back to.

• L’Oreal Paris Smooth Sugars Clear Scrub (review here)

This is a face scrub if I need to finish using soon so I can buy myself a brand new one! I love this face scrub and it honestly lasts ages as a little bit goes a long way, so much so I’ve owned it for over two years now… A lot of people would have thrown it away by now, but for me it’s done me nothing but good. This is an easy face scrub to use and one that I thoroughly enjoy using due to that. You use it on dry skin and it not only feels gently and effective, but has a lovely warm feeling too. Then you rub a little bit of water into your skin to melt the scrubby sugars away. I always feel really clean and fresh after I use this scrub and still highly recommend it to this day!

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

Image taken from Pinterest

Favourite TV Show – Shameless.

First of all, can we just remember that a young James McAvoy played Steve in Shameless and how gorgeous and amazing he was in it (may I add – still is!)??? ANYWAY! I don’t know why, but I felt the need to binge watch this recently as it’s now on Netflix, which means no annoying adverts to contend with on All 4. I got to about season 8/9 before and turned it off as I got bored and turned to something else. I’m going to ride it through to season 11 and FINALLY finish binge watching it. Shameless has been a show I’ve loved since it came out in 2004 and I’ve watched it when it was on the TV back in the day, on DVD’s and of course streamed on All 4. I refuse to watch the American version by the way, so don’t recommend. 😛 I recommend the UK and ORIGINAL version if you fancy something new to watch!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – The Rescuers/The Rescuers Down Under.

That gif is so accurate for The Rescuers, I swear to God! Amongst the few Disney films that make me cry my eyes out this is one of them, alongside Dumbo! Penny in the first film breaks my fucking heart and I always sob at the scene where people chose a red headed girl over her and she’s praying to get away from the boat, the prison she has been kept in. I decided to binge watch these one evening as I wasn’t feeling great, but wanted something to keep me busy. Both The Rescuers films remind me of my childhood as I adored The Rescuers Down Under when it came out. I have fond memories of it and even photos of me holding the video and book my mom bought me with a massive smile on my face. If you haven’t watched it, GET ON IT! They’re lovely films.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Meh…

I haven’t been reading this month… End of. I did buy the new volume of Snot Girl but in all honesty I just haven’t gotten around to reading it for many reasons. I’m terrible with reading lately and I really need to improve that. 😦

Favourite Music – “Let Me Hear” – Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas and “Tequila” – Jax Jones, Martin Solveig & RAYE.

These are two songs I’ve found myself replaying over and over again lately on Spotify and in turn it makes me laugh how they’re completely different genres. The first song “Let Me Hear” I discovered through an anime called Parasyte which I watched in June (and recommend!) that this song features on the opening credits. I love it and whenever it comes up on my shuffle I sing loudly to it. I’ve also added “Tequila” which is a song I discovered months ago through a Spotify advert. I only really gave it a proper listen recently and instantly fell in love with the beat of it.

Image taken from Nintendo

Favourite Game – Pokemon Cafe Mix.

This is one of the newer game releases from Pokemon, a free to play game on both phones and the Nintendo Switch. I’ve downloaded it on both, but I’ve mostly been playing it on my phone. Animal Crossing has definitely taken a back burner the last week of June and I think it’s just due to be wanting to play other games. Pokemon Cafe Mix is so much fun and it really does remind me of the Pokemon Cafe in Japan (which you can read about here). As this game is free definitely give it a go!

So those are my favourites from June! June was a good but odd month. Again, I’m just so excited to get my new bathroom installed now and have my bathroom back again. I may write about it in the future as to what happened with my bathroom and how we dealt with it all.

What were your favourite things throughout June? How as June for you guys too? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, stay safe and take care all!

June Wish List ’20

I still can’t quite believe it’s June! So much has already happened in June and I’m a mixture of excited for the rest of the month and dreading what it could bring.

Yesterday marked me and Dane owning our home for four years. This has honestly flown by and it only feels like yesterday that we put our offer down on the house and waited those anxious months until we had the keys in our hands! It’s a really lovely feeling and it makes me so happy.

As well as that, on Monday it is our 7 year anniversary. We can’t do much for it, but we may have a lazy morning in bed, play Animal Crossing together and order a takeaway of Japanese food, because why not! 😀 I’m excited to just chill out and cuddle with Dane for the day.

This months wish list was hard to write in a way. I’ve found that due to lock down and not going out at all, I’ve save a lot of money… So, I’ve been really bad and ordered things I’ve wanted for ages. I’ve calmed down a little now as I have made some big home related purchases lately and need to be good with money now.

However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have my wish lists! One of the items on my wish list this month I’ve actually ordered, but I couldn’t think of anything else to add to the list. 😦

Anyhoo, let’s talk about the goodies on my wish list for June!

• Pandora Poodle Puppy Dog Dangle Charm (link)

I do love my Pandora bracelet and when charms are released that shout out to me, I really do fall in love with them and want to buy them. This poodle puppy dangle charm is adorable and shouts me all over. When I was younger I owned two toy poodles, who I loved so much. I haven’t owned a dog for over 10 years now and whilst I would love a dog to come into mine and Dane’s lives, its not ideal right now. This charm is gorgeous and will definitely remind me of the dogs I had and have lost.

• JeanaDraws Animal Crossing Dom Enamel Pin (link)

If there is an Animal Crossing villager I have quickly fallen in love with, it’s Dom. He’s one of the newer villagers who joined through New Horizons and he is adorable! However, he also seems to be like Marmite… You either love or you hate him. I adore him and I need him on my island at some point in the future. I would love a Dom enamel pin to show my love, but at the moment I’ve not found any artists who are making one apart from JeanaDraws. I discovered them through their sakura otter Kickstarter, which I sadly never backed and regret. An Animal Crossing itabag I bought at the start of the year is due to arrive soon… So I would love to pop a Dom enamel pin inside it!

• Razer Kraken Gaming Headphones Quartz Edition (link)

I have been eyeing up buying a set of gaming headphones for quite some time now… But I don’t know why? I play a lot of games, but lately I am just purely playing Animal Crossing, with the occasional hour or so on Persona 5 Royal. However, at the moment with working from home, I would love a decent headset that I can use for both work and home that also looks cool. I know I can get a decent set of gaming headphones for a cheaper price, which is why I haven’t bought these and they’re just on my wish list at the moment. I shall see… I shall see…

• Sukari Moon I Don’t Give a Fluff Enamel Pin (link)

Another enamel pin and this one is bloody adorable! I actually discovered Sukari Moon through this enamel pin, but the limited edition version of it, which is white and shimmery. I would love this pin to wear on cardigans, jackets and hoodies to show how I’m adorable, but I don’t give a damn at the same time. Of course I would also use and wear this on itabags and my Kanken backpack too. They also do a sticker of this too, which I would love to get.

• Snotgirl Volume 3 (link)

This is the item I’ve actually ordered. I love Snotgirl and have already read volume 1 and 2. I’ve waited what feels like forever for volume 3 to come out, as it was due out October 2019, but it’s been delayed for reasons. I finally found it for sale through a third party on Amazon and knew I had to order before it sold out. I usually pick up my comics from Forbidden Planet, but due to lock down that isn’t an option. I also opt for Wordery for my manga and comics too, but they didn’t have this volume in stock. I am beyond excited for volume 3 of Snotgirl! It’s about an influencer with secrets about how she has allergies. Then she meets a girl and shit starts to hit the fan. I definitely recommend reading it, especially if you’re a blogger.

• Toaster Kiwi Animal Crossing Marshal Stickers 2 Piece Set (link)

Finally we have another Animal Crossing item on the list. This one is some cute Marshal stickers. I never got the hype around Marshal until he moved to my New Horizons island. He’s absolutely adorable and he loves coffee! He’s me in an Animal Crossing villager for sure! He randomly came to my campsite too, so it’s not like I added him to my game through amiibo. These stickers by Toaster Kiwi are adorable and really make me happy to see whenever they pop up on my Instagram feed. I’ll order them in the future for sure.

So, there you have it, my wish list for June! I know the items I mentioned weren’t anything special, but it’s all I could think of for this month.

I know May was a month where my blog was a little quieter as I wasn’t feeling great. However, during June I hope to have loads of content coming out every week, which I’m also hoping you guys will love!

Some sneak peaks as to what will be in store are – Redbubble haul, some enamel pin reviews (not sure which yet), Etude House lip tint review and more!

What are you guys excited to see on my blog? Also, what item(s) do you have on/in your wish lists? Make sure to let me know in the comments below.

Until next time, take care all and stay safe!

The Estelleosaurus Animal Crossing Island Getaway Tag

Can you believe in almost a week that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been out for two months? Nope… Neither can I! The time has really flown by and honestly, I am living my best island life!

I don’t care if I talk about Animal Crossing too much on my blog, I love it so damn much and I’ll shout about if I want to! I love reading bloggers Animal Crossing posts too, I honestly cant get enough of it.

During the lock down I’ve not been too great on and off mentally. I’m feeling low, tired and lethargic and the only thing that is keeping me going at the moment (aside from Dane and my friends) is Animal Crossing. It came out at the perfect time considering lock down happened 3 days after the game released.

So, I will continue to talk about Animal Crossing as much as I want to, because this game is literally a huge part of my life right now.

Recently Estelle over at Estellosaurus created an Animal Crossing tag and I KNEW I had to take part! So, let’s get started!

Welcome to the Estellosaurus Animal Crossing Island Getaway Tag!

The rules are:

1. Copy and paste the rules and sentence above. Answer the questions. Duh.
2. Thank the person who tagged you, don’t forget to link to their original post/answers
3. Tag 2 new people to take part.
4. Share your Switch Friend Code at the end if you want too!

Animal Crossing Island Getaway Tag

1. What is your island called? Why did you pick that name?

My island is called Kitsakura and the name is a mixture of kitsune and sakura. I tried loads of names I wanted to have for my island, but they were all too long, so I merged some of my ideas together. I really love the name, it feels unique.

2. Share a picture of yourself on your island.

3. What hemisphere did you choose? Is it the hemisphere you are actually in?

I chose the Northern Hemisphere, as this is what I am in. I know some who changed it, but honestly I don’t see the point. I want the game to adapt to what is happening realistically where I live.

4. Who is your current favourite resident? Who would be your ultimate dream resident?

This is such a hard question because I love all my residents for different reasons! I would have to say Cookie though. This is the first time I have had her on my island and she’s always a villager I have wanted in the previous games. The fact I can finally have her (thanks to amiibo) is amazing and I honestly love how sassy and kawaii she is. I love her so much, I requested for her to be drawn in a commission with me, purely because I love her vibe so much!

 

I honestly love Bones so much 🙂 #AnimalCrossing #ACNH #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/6bhAMN4bml

— Nat 🐱 (@MayBeeCoffee) April 27, 2020

A close second to Cookie is Bones. I had him in one of my previous games and adored his silly, childish behaviour. He’s still as adorable as ever and he honestly brings a smile to my face whenever I see and talk to him on my island.

5. What can you not do on your island that you wish you could?

I’m really missing The Roost at the moment… In New Leaf it was one of my favourite places to go, as well as one of my favourite things to do once a day. You would have to make some villagers coffees for them and make sure to get them right. If you did good, Brewster would give you a special item. I worked as a barista at the time, so that’s why I loved it so much. Honestly though, The Roost needs to return!

6. Favourite season in game and why?

This is a hard one, especially with New Horizons, as so far we have only really seen spring. Overall… I think I have always loved spring for the cherry blossoms and winter for the snow. I especially love making snowmen and when Christmas is around, all the pine trees have pretty fairy lights on them.

7. If you played New Leaf, what do you miss from that game that you wish had been taken across to New Horizons?

The first thing that comes to mind is your villagers coming to your house to visit. You could either invite them or they would ask to come over. I really wish you could do this! I want Cookie, Bones and Goldie to come to my house and see all my cute stuff… As well as all my turnips. 😛

8. Favourite K.K. Slider song?

It’s always been K.K. Bossa since the Animal Crossing anime movie, however I’ve always fallen in love with Bubblegum K.K. after hearing it loads in Cookie’s house! It’s definitely K.K. Bossa though, it’s even my phones ringtone. The scene from the film is really cute and I recommend you to go and find it to watch if you can. YouTube has a fake English dub here… It’s not official dub but they did an amazing job (I’ve watched the Japanese one too).

9. Favourite non resident character?

Definitely Isabelle! She only came around in New Leaf, but honestly she is such a cutie and I honestly look forward to seeing her every morning when I turn my game on, even when she doesn’t have news. I love hearing about how she spent her evening and what crappy TV she’s been watching. Alongside Isabelle I love Tommy, he’s so cute and adorable with his higher pitched voice out of the two Nook brothers.

Finally, I love and miss Resetti. As much as I hated when he would have a go at me in the game if I didn’t save, I always looked forward to seeing him too as it was such a rare occurrence. I hope he comes back in the future… I really do. I know people have said they can hear him when you go to use the terraforming tool… But it isn’t the same. 😦

So, that was The Estelleosaurus Animal Crossing Island Getaway Tag! I love Animal Crossing so much, as well as Estelle, so I knew I had to take part in this tag.

Now for tagging who I want to join in… EVERYONE! If you read this post and would like to join in, please do!

Are you playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Are you still loving it and playing it everyday? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below all your thoughts and feelings on the game.

Until next time all, take care and stay safe.

April Favourites ’20

Can you believe that it’s May already? Damn where is 2020 going, apart from down the pan due to Coronavirus… Sorry for the negativity at the start of my post, but come on… I’m sure you’ll all agree? 😛

How are you all doing during the lock down, both in the UK, as well as where you’re from? Personally whilst I’m enjoying being and working from home, it’s starting to get to me a little. I miss seeing my family and friends, as well as going out for leisure without a care in the world. It sucks feeling anxious whilst going out to buy milk and bread.

However, there are some plus sides to this. I’m getting to spend a little bit more time with Dane, I’m saving money but most of all I am starting to do things with my friends (especially my best friend) and that makes me happy. 🙂 Every cloud has a silver lining.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

Before I start this months favourites post, I just want to say that I’m her for you, as a friend if you need to talk. Right now we are living in uncertain and scary times and my own mental health is being affected right now. I don’t wish to think people are suffering alone in silence. Remember, my email is always open, as well as my DM’s via Twitter and Instagram. We will get through this, we will. 🙂

Anyhoo, on with this months favourites! I’m not going to lie… I kind of struggled. 😛

• Imperial Leather Shake Your Bambootay Shower Gel.

I’m sorry I have another Imperial Leather shower gel up this month, but I bought quite a few before the lock down, okay? 😛 I much prefer this one to the unicorn one I spoke about in my favourites last month, purely for the scent. This has a fruity and fresh scent, which I’ve really been loving using in the mornings before I start work as I find it wakes me up and gets me ready for the day. Plus both me and Dane have found this really moisturising on the skin, which has been really nice. I’m glad I bought a couple of bottles of this now, as I really do like it. 🙂

• Boots Eye Drops for Dry & Irritated Eyes.

I’ve owned these eye drops since my trip to Japan and I still have loads of product left in the bottle. I love using eye drops everyday before I start work/the day in general as I feel it really wakes me up and refreshes my eyes. These have been so essential during the lock down, as I find it just makes me feel that little bit more ready for the day… Especially as I’m working from home. I honestly recommend eye drops to everyone, especially if your eyes feel tired when you wake up in the morning. I find a couple of drops make a huge difference.

• L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Aloe Moisturiser for Combination Skin (review).

I honestly love this moisturiser so much and I’m hesitant to change from this to something else, as I feel like I’ve found something that works so good for my skin. My morning skincare routine has changed during the lock down and I have gone from doing a full routine, to under half of it. I’m only really using my moisturiser, and occasionally my serum and eye gel if I feel I need them. I don’t see the point in using all my products up everyday… This moisturiser has really helped my skin out lately, as my face has felt so tight and dry. I’ve actually had to buy another bottle of this, as I’m really close to this one running out now. I’ve linked back to my review of this from back in 2017. Yes, I have been using this product for 3 years now and I have zero regrets.

• Peacci Nail Varnish in Ophelia.

I couldn’t not mention this nail varnish this month as I have loved it so much. I actually get my nails painted with gel by my lovely nail tech, but obviously due to the lock down, this hasn’t been an option for me… I get my nails painted with The Gel Bottle, who also have a sister company called Peacci. Peacci created the same gorgeous colours that The Gel Bottle do BUT in a nail varnish formula. I can’t get my nails done by my nail tech, so I’m doing myself with the nail varnish alternative for the time being. I picked up two colours, Valentina and Ophelia. Valentina is a pink holographic shade, whilst Ophelia is a dark nude pink colour. I’ve worn these two shades together in their gel form and it’s probably my favourite nail manicure I’ve had to date, hence why I bought their nail varnish versions. I’m currently wearing Ophelia and it’s gorgeous. It’s lasted ages and compliments my skin tone. I’m hoping to do a review of these and Peacci in the future. Would you like to see it? If not on a blog post, maybe an IGTV video?

• Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser.

I’ve mentioned this baby moisturiser before on my blog and here I am again, sharing it with you all and why it’s amazing. I have said many a time on my blog, I have eczema on my hands and it would seem that the older I get, the worse it has gotten. It got to a really bad point before my trip to Japan in late 2019 when I had a massive rough patch on my right hand. I ended up going to the doctors as peoples comments on it were upsetting me. It turned out to be dermatitis and I still need to go to a special doctor for more tests in case there is more to it. Although this patch has cleared up at the moment, it was around at the start of April. The Body Shop hand lotion I was using wasn’t enough and I started using my Childs Farm moisturiser again. This has really helped my hands and at the time of writing this, they’re lovely and soft. 🙂 I honestly cannot recommend this enough! It isn’t just for hands either, it can be used all over the body.

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

Favourite TV Show – Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.

Not going to lie. Tiger King was something I had to watch twice and I’m glad I did. Everyone and their cat (ha!) has watched Tiger King and discussed it in full. It’s a Netflix series all about the breeding of tigers in America and some crime that happened during that time revolving around Joe Exotic. I watched it once and I was very much “What the fuck did I just watch? I don’t actually understand what happened.” A week later, I watched it again and understood (kind of…) what had happened. I was surprised though. I have to say here, I am pissed off at anyone who is making merchandise from this and selling. Don’t sell shit based on animal cruelty, potential murder and all around crime. It’s not cool.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – The Cat Returns.

As we all know, all the Studio Ghibli films are now on Netflix, which is amazing! Me and Dane own them all on DVD anyway, but it’s nice to have them on Netflix to watch as and when we fancy watching them. We recently put on The Cat Returns to watch together, as this is one of Dane’s favourites. I always forget how much I love Natoru (in the gif), as well as many other characters. I was surprised there wasn’t more merch in Japan to do with The Cat Returns.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Urgh. I don’t read anymore haha.

Nope. I didn’t read again this month. Honestly guys, I’m just not finding the time between working, playing games, chilling on video chats with friends and more. 😦

Favourite Song – “Gimme a Minute” – PVRIS.

PVRIS released a new single from their upcoming album this month and I haven’t stopped listening to it to be honest with you. I love everything about it, including the lyrics and the electropop/alternative rock sound that I adore. I only discovered PVRIS a year ago and I have really fallen in love with them. I honestly can’t wait for their new album to come out in July. It was meant to be out today but that was pushed back due to coronavirus… 😦

I honestly love Bones so much 🙂 #AnimalCrossing #ACNH #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/6bhAMN4bml

— Nat 🐱 (@MayBeeCoffee) April 27, 2020

Favourite Game – Still Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Of course this is going to be here for another month… I mean, why wouldn’t it? It’s officially been a month since the new Animal Crossing game came out and I am still playing it everyday. I have all my villagers on my island now, as well as 4 I moved in thanks to amiibo cards. I have started to terraform my island now and I’m starting to get into the swing of things. I really do love this game and I especially love playing with my friends. 🙂

So, those are my favourites from April! Again, I can’t believe we are already into May. It’s crazy how quick the past month has flown by, but I’m honestly going to blame coronavirus for that. I don’t mind how quick it’s going. The sooner things can go back to normal, the better.

What were your favourites from April? Also, how are you all doing during this time? What are you doing to keep yourself sane? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time all, take care and stay safe!

Art by NIU – Animal Crossing Commission

Hi guys, I’m here this week to share with you an exciting post! Yes… It is Animal Crossing related, but is that REALLY a problem? I don’t think so. 😛

In the UK we are still in lock down and I don’t know about you guys, but with this I have been shopping more online… As well as window shopping. I’ve also been spending most of my free time playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so I have been craving some more Animal Crossing merchandise… Like the stuff I bought from Japan wasn’t enough (there will be a Nintendo Tokyo Store haul coming next month!)…

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

I discovered Art by Niu through a Twitter giveaway she was hosting for someone to win one of her Animal Crossing commissions. Of course I had to enter, the design she was showcasing was adorable and I honestly fell in love. To try for the competition you had to do the usual, such as follow, like, retweet and comment which villager you would have drawn and how you would have them be if you won.

I didn’t win – but before I even found this out I KNEW I had to get my own commission from Niu. I love commissions, especially when they’re kawaii and Japanese inspired and of things I love. Animal Crossing is something I have loved since I was 18 so to get a commission done really did make me happy.

The idea I wrote for my entry into the competition was the same one I asked for when I requested a commission from Niu. I had always wanted the dog villager Cookie to come to my town in New Leaf (she wasn’t around in Wild World) but she never did. So, the fact I was able to buy her amiibo card before New Horizons came out made me happy! I could invite her into my game and be happy. Since inviting her I always love to go and visit her on my island now and her happy, sassy presence makes me so happy t see her everyday.

So, I knew I wanted my commission with Cookie. I decided to go with Cookie singing to me (as she constantly calls herself a pop singer/princess) with the music note emotions over her head and me sitting listening to her music with the flower emotions over my head.

I sent an image of both my Animal Crossing character and Cookie stood together so Niu had a reference to go off of. The price I paid at the time was $20 and Niu suggested that I could pay half now, half when the commission was completed, which I thought was really fair! I filled in a little form that Niu sent me, paid my $10 deposit via PayPal and waited.

A day later I received a pencil/pen line sketch of my design and I was in love. I saved it straight away as I wanted to look at all the details that Niu had put into it, from Cookie singing into a microphone, to me clapping with my eyes closed. I was so pleased and couldn’t wait to see the image in colour.

Fast forward a week and Niu sent me my commission and I couldn’t have been happier! The colours are vibrant and my character is exactly how she looks in my game, even down to the rainbow cardigan she is wearing and purple high tops. Even the colours of Cookie are perfect especially the contract between her pink fur and the retro blue dress she wears.

Honestly, everything about the commission makes me smile and I’ve not only been adding it everywhere online (aka profile photos) and making it my screensaver on my iPad, I’ve been showing it off to people online, as well as via messages to friends.

After I received my commission via email, I sent the remaining payment of $10 to Niu and I had my lovely commission!

When I shared the commission Niu did for me onto Twitter it blew up! I’ve never received so many likes and retweets of a post before and it made me so happy that not only did people share my post, but how much love was being shown for Niu’s work. She deserves it!

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

If you would like to get a commission of your own from Niu, whether it be Animal Crossing related or something else, I have included all the information above that is on her Twitter page… Can you spot my commission on there? 😛

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Image taken from Art by Niu’s Twitter page

Niu has also posted some of the Animal Crossing commissions she has worked on so far (including mine), which I thought I would show you all too. 🙂

I thought I would post below some of Niu’s social media handles, as well as other links too:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

Tumblr

Overall I am so damn happy with my commission from Art by Niu, so much so that Dane is going to get one with his favourite villager Cherry (dog villager) and I’m already planning to get another one with another one of my favourite villagers Bones (another dog villager).

Are you playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the moment? How are you finding it, whose your favourite villager, etc? Would you get a commission from Art by Niu? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care everyone!