February Favourites ’22

I know February is a short month anyway, but 2022 is flying past and I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m glad, because I want spring to come for light nights and slightly warmer days/better weather, but at the same time, I don’t want time to go too quickly as before we know it, we’ll be back at Christmas all over again!

I was recently speaking to someone about the idea of going to Japan again in 2023 and was met with, “Wait, you only went last year?” I went to Japan two years ago… Proof that as you get older, the years fly by quicker!

Alongside that, since turning 32 in January, February has been a month of me going, “Jeez I’m really getting old now, aren’t I?” and that’s kind of made me feel weird. It’s crazy how quick time flies after you turn a certain age (want to say 21). I do sometimes wish I’d spent more time enjoying my twenties, but that being said I don’t have any regrets.

ANYWAY today’s post isn’t about that stuff and is of course my monthly favourites! February was a strange one as whilst I definitely have things to share with you all, I don’t feel like I have a lot of general stuff to share?

As always, I hope you enjoy reading about things I loved throughout February.

Favourite Beauty Product – SBC Cotton Sensitive Body Wash.

I’ve been so excited to share this body wash with you all today as since receiving it around the start of February, it’s really improved my skin, which in turn makes me happy! My mom is the person who got me into SBC and their skin care, especially their body washes which seem to live in our bathroom for at least half of the year! This SBC body wash smells just like fresh washing and leaves my skin feeling baby soft, which is something I don’t achieve often! I’m shite for looking after my skin with body lotions and potions, not going to lie! A couple of pumps of this on my new silicone shower sponge and I’m guaranteed to be left a cotton scented lather and soft skin after I get out of the shower. This body wash is dermatologically tested which is great for me and my eczema, which recently flared up on my legs. This body wash did really help with it though, with no discomfort or stinging during use. I highly recommend this if you want something fancy in your shower, but have sensitive skin like me.

Favourite TV Show – The Legend of Vox Machina.

The Legend of Vox Machina is a new animated series on Amazon Prime that Dane has been looking forward to since March 2019 when the Kickstarter launched, which he backed. So, when the show finally launched in February, he was all over it for us to watch, which of course I was down for. Vox Machina is based off of the first Critical Role campaign/series, which if you didn’t know is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign written by Matt Mercer and played by a group of voice actors (Marisha Ray, Sam Reigel, Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brien, Laura Baily, Taliesin Jaffe and Ashley Johnson). It’s really popular and has recently gone into it’s third campaign/series! Dane is all caught up on the campaigns and loves Critical Role, I’m not an avid watcher of their campaigns but if Dane has it on, I will watch it on and off. Although the show is based off of D&D (and the Critical Role campaign) Vox Machina can be enjoyed by anyone, even if you’ve never watched the campaign it’s based off like me, or even if you aren’t a fan of D&D! It’s got some amazing adult comedy, bit of singing, lots of fighting and action and all around amazing show!

Favourite Music – Spiritbox – Eternal Blue.

Spiritbox are a band that Dane introduced me to a while ago now and for some reason I thought I’d mentioned them on my blog previously, which doesn’t seem to be the case! The song that caused me to really get into this band is the one I’ve added above called, “Secret Garden”, which is such a nice, mellow rock song to enjoy. I’ve especially been listening to their first album Eternal Blue when I’ve gone into the office to work, as well as when driving to and from places. Eternal Blue came out towards the end of 2021, so it’s a fairly new album, which I didn’t realise until I was writing this post. The band themselves are described as metal (progressive, alternative, etc) so if you like this genre of rock, make sure to check them out!

Image taken from Nintendo Life/Nintendo.

Favourite Game – Pokemon: Legends Arceus.

How could I not mention Legends Arceus this month? It came out at the end of January and every other weekend me and Dane have stayed in the house the whole time playing it. During the weekends where we’ve played it, we’ve snuggled up on the sofa under blankets and with hot drinks as we play this together! I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t 100% sure about the game when I first started playing it and felt a bit nervous of all sorts of aspects, mainly because it wasn’t the same as I was used to, due to the RPG gameplay. However, the more I’ve played it, the more I’ve started to relax and enjoy it, especially with Dane. I’m yet to finish the games story and in all honesty it’s not one I’ve been hooked on/about. In typical Japanese RPG fashion, the talking goes on and on and whilst I’m happy with it in Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal, it’s something I don’t like for Pokemon. Due to this, I’ve mostly skimmed the story, which in itself is a shame. This being said I really do enjoy and love the game, bugs aside too! I’ve recommend it to so many people, it’s definitely one to play as a Pokemon fan, especially if you love RPG.

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pokemon Center Vulpix Plush.

I was so happy to get my hands on this Pokemon plushie at the end of January. It’s been on my plushie grail list for as long as I can remember and after January payday, I decided to finally order one! This cost me less than £20 with shipping from Japan and I’m so glad I finally decided to get it! It’s from the Chiku Chiku Sewing collection from 2015 and I didn’t realise when buying it that it was new with tags, which is even better. I had some people online query if it was a fake plush, which was a tad annoying, but alas it’s very much real.

Image taken from Black Milk Clothing. Unfortunately I don’t have any decent pictures of me wearing this yet… 😦

Black Milk Clothing Ghost Foxes Bishop Longline Dress.

This is a dress I decided to get to replace the Ghost Foxes Mini Strappy Dress, (which I have since sold) I bought back in July 2021. Although I’d removed the tags and washed it, I’ve never actually worn it and seeing the bishop dress style come out, I knew I had to get it. I LOVE the bishop style and already own three dresses in this cut, this one making it four. I’m planning to wear this dress for both work as well as in general. With it being white, it may be more the latter and especially for days out where I’m not eating or drinking anything that could stain and ruin this dress considering it’s white. I also picked up the longline so that it’s longer on me. The normal bishop cuts are okay on me, but if I can have a dress longer, I’ll always go for it! The length of this is amazing, it felt a little bit too long at first to me as I’m not quite used to it, but it’ll be perfect for work especially! The print is beautiful too with the ghost foxes on it. Foxes are my favourite animal, so I’m always a sucker for pieces with them on.

Cute outfits/clothes.

This is something I’m going to talk about in more detail in a couple of weeks on a post but I swear, getting myself some new staple pieces has been a big thing for me in 2022 so far. I don’t know what it is but I decided this year that I would love to do more with my style and change it up a bit. I’ve spent a lot of the past two years wearing the same baggy joggers, t-shirts and hoodies due to Covid and I want to change that. I want to dress up for the sake of it and feel cute whilst doing so, plus I think it would really do my mental health some good. I feel like a lot of pastel and cute prints have come into my wardrobe and I’m so excited to wear them all for work, as well as in general. If you want to see some of the stuff I picked up during February, make sure to keep eyes peeled for that post in a few weeks! For the time being, I’ve popped some of the items I’ll be talking about soon above, including Tallulah’s Threads, Disturbia and The Sad Ghost Club.

New enamel pins.

I ordered a couple of new enamel pins recently which was nice! I don’t know why but I feel like enamel pin purchasing has definitely slowed down a little, which is always good as quite frankly, I’m running out of space!

The sausage dog pin from MossFrogPress has been on my favourites list on Etsy for as long as I can remember. I made some monies from selling some pins at the end of 2021 so I decided to use the money I made to pick up this pin. As it was coming from America, the shipping was more expensive than the item itself, so this wasn’t a cheap pin in that aspect. Definitely worth it now! It’s such a cute pin I get to look at everyday when I get ready.

I finally decided to back FoxLeap’s enamel pin club on Patreon at the end of January so I could snag the Patreon exclusive Lady puppy pin that Sophie had made. Not only did I get my Lady pin (as this was a freebie), I also got a The Cat Returns pin too (which I chose), some prints and even a freebie Alolan Ninetales pin and mini pin! Sophie is one of the kindest and most generous people I know and definitely an enamel pin artist you should check out. Her Patreon is all about you picking what you would like that month, from a list of choices. No one else (as far as I’m aware…) offers this type of pin club.

Finally this is an enamel pin from Depop that I snagged second hand. This enamel pin is by Sugarbones, a Canadian artist I adore! I love her Studio Ghibli and Animal Crossing designs, but she decided in 2021 that she would move away from fan themed pieces, so whenever I see one I missed out on previously, I’m going to try and snag! Haku is my favourite Studio Ghibli character, so any gorgeous pins I see with him on, I have to buy! 😀

Kawaii AF Kickstarter campaigns!

Finally I’m here to share some adorable Kickstarter campaigns I’ve joined or at least had my eye on joining. They’re all so cute! I told myself in 2022 I wouldn’t back as many Kickstarter campaigns to try and save money, but some are just too adorable not to.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Toast the Raccoon Cute Plushie Toys + Keychains – link (ends April 8th 2022).

This campaign is adorable and straight away as soon as it launched I backed it! It’s by Yencat and is based off of her popular and original character Toast, who as you can see is a raccoon. I LOVE raccoons, they’re my spirit animal due to their love of food and being chubby, I can relate to both of those. 😛 Yencat decided to create a plushie Toast, as well as an enamel pin and plushie keychain. I’ve backed for all of them and already counting down the days until it arrives! The Kickstarter ends in April, so if you like the look of this campaign, you have plenty of time to check it out and back it yourself.

Image taken from Kickstarter.

Delicows ~ enamel pins & more – link (ends March 19th 2022).

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this briefly on my post about Quirkory and their Patreon pin club (you can read all about it here) but if I didn’t, I’m mentioning it again as earlier this week Quirkory released a new Kickstarter campaign, all about cows! Delicows is a mixture between delicious (food and drinks) and cows. Hence, Delicow! There are loads of different types of designs to choose from and I’ve backed for five of the designs in question, Cowpuccino (ideally one with Shugarlump), Moocha Latte, Cowreo, Peppermint Moocha Latte and maybe Darcowness. It feels like there’s a design for everyone in this collection and considering there are 24 plus designs to unlock there’s plenty of choice for everyone!

Images taken from Kickstarter.

Cute Animal Knitted Sweaters and Enamel Pins – link (ends March 3rd 2022).

This is a Kickstarter campaign by Dogzsquadarts I really like the look of at the moment and one I’m tempted to back before it ends in a couple of days! I am trying to be better with my money in 2022 and so far, it’s been going really well! I’ve already bought a shit ton of clothes and I don’t know if I want to buy anymore due to this fact. This being said, two of the pieces from this campaign are adorable and I do feel like I’d love at least one of them in my wardrobe! There’s the Shiba Inu sweater, as well as the Golden Retriever cardigan that I would love to get, but… I don’t know if I can justify it? I’m going to see how I feel about it, they’d both be adorable to get but unfortunately they aren’t pieces I could wear to work, otherwise that would probably spur me on more.

So there we have it guys, my favourites from February! What did you guys love throughout February? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

Little Ivy Rose & Co – Pokemon Wax Melts*

I am so excited to talk about something a little different on my blog than usual! I don’t think I’ve ever spoken about wax melts on here before, but candles have definitely come up in the past!

I LOVE candles and have especially fallen in love with burning wax melts since I started working from home in 2020 due to Covid. These days I burn wax melts when I’m working from home, or having lazy weekends at home with Dane. I don’t own as many candles right now, but they tend to get burnt when I’m too lazy to burn wax. I just love my home smelling gorgeous no matter what time of year! I tend to burn a wax tart both upstairs and downstairs, usually with the same scent burning, but sometimes I do mix it up to make my own unique scents. I recently tried one of the wax melts I’ll be talking about today alongside with a scent (by another brand) that smells like Lush’s Yog Nog and the house ended up smelling like a lemon meringue! It was so good and I want to do it again!

Today’s blog post is all about Little Ivy Rose & Co and her amazing wax tart store! Tasha’s candles not only smell gorgeous, but they’re definitely aimed at people who love their characters, such as Pokemon, Disney and Harry Potter.

The Pokemon themed wax melts were all kindly gifted to me by Tasha as a thank you for supporting her and her Etsy since it opened towards the end of 2021. This being said, I’m still going to mark this post as gifted, as I did mention to Tasha that I was planning on writing a blog post all about Little Ivy Rose & Co on my blog as soon as the chance came up! Apart from the descriptions of each wax tart scent, all words are my own and items that are gifted will be marked with an *.

Before I really talk about Little Ivy Rose & Co and the gorgeous smelling wax melts I was sent, I want to share a little bit about Tasha and her business first!

Little Ivy Rose & Co began in April 2020 making wreaths, but in December 2021 Tasha began to make candles and wax melts, which is when I discovered her! I discovered Little Ivy Rose & Co around the end of 2021 on Instagram when her sister (PokieMix) was advertising Tasha’s candles on her stories. I saw a Snow Fairy dupe (Winter Fairy) and knew I had to check her out! For anyone that isn’t aware, I LOVE the smell of Snow Fairy, so whenever I hear of good dupes of it, I’m all over that. I want my house to smell of Snow Fairy all year around. 😛

I really wanted to pick up one of the large Winter Fairy candles but due to spending so much over Christmas and a huge collection of candles and wax melts waiting to be burnt, I had to leave it. Unfortunately due to that, I missed out on snagging this candle. If this is still available when I’m paid next, I may need to order one to burn whilst me and Dane have lazy days together, as he loves Snow Fairy too!

Just before the start of 2022, Tasha announced she would be bringing Pokemon wax melts to her store, which I was super excited about! I’ve always wanted to try Pokemon themed wax melts before from sellers on Etsy, but just never gone for it. There has always been a few scents I’ve loved the sound of and a newer one especially, all of them will be spoken about on today’s post!

One of the wax melts I’ll be talking about wasn’t gifted by Tasha originally but was actually bought for me for my birthday in January (thanks Sacha!). I’d always planned to talk about this wax melt in question, but now it’ll be down as gifted seeing as I have a brand new one to burn! 😀

Each pack of wax melts comes with six cubes. I found each cube gave me between 8-12 hours worth of burning time, which is pretty good in my opinion! So, overall for one pack you’re looking at between 48-72 hours of burning, which is really good in my opinion for the cost of them! Each packet costs £4.00, which either way I think is a decent price too for how much burn time you’re getting!

There are a range of scents to choose from and there’s definitely something for everyone. There isn’t just Pokemon either, as mentioned previously in the blog post, there’s also Harry Potter, Disney princesses and none themed wax melts too. I love how there’s something for everyone as everyone’s taste in scents differs. I much prefer food and sweet smells myself, whereas some cannot get enough of floral scents.

Image taken from Little Ivy Rose & Co

As all the wax melts I will be sharing today are Pokemon themed, I wanted to share all the Pokemon scents so far below (ones in bold are what I’m talking about today).

Pikachu (Lemon Sherbet), Bulbasaur (Fresh Cut Grass), Charmander (Woodsmoke & Leather), Jigglypuff (Candy Floss), Snorlax (Lavender), Meowth (Dark Opium), Wobbuffet (Midnight Jasmine), Squirtle (Cypress & Sea Fennell), Psyduck (Seychelles), Ponyta (Amber Orange), Slowpoke (Birthday Cake) and Eevee (Chocolate Orange).

Enough chatter, let me share with you these gorgeous scented, kawaii wax melts!

Pokemon Pikachu Lemon Sherbet Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

Juicy lemon and lime and a splash of sweet orange and hints of red fruits, strawberry and raspberry followed by a fizzy tongue twisting sherbet.

This wax tart is so delicious and I’m sad it didn’t last me very long the first time owning it, as I just couldn’t stop burning it! This Pikachu wax tart smells of lemons, but refresher sweeties type lemon which is sharp but still sweet smelling. The throw of this is amazing and can leave a room smelling amazing for hours, it’s definitely one I recommend if you want to try something with lemon in and especially great to gift to someone who loves Pikachu. Due to the wax tart being lemon scented, as well as Pikachu inspired the wax melt is of course yellow.

I’m sure I speak for many when I say one of the reasons I love wax melts and candles is due to some scents giving you nostalgic and happy memories (as well as some cringe worthy ones you’d rather forget!) when you smell them, which is definitely something this wax melt does for me! I remember as a child/early teenager me and my dad would go to arcades to play on the 2p pusher machines and they usually had prizes them in such as keyrings and sweets. We always tried to win both of them but one day I remember we both came home with a small bag of lemon refreshers that lasted us ages! This is exactly what this reminds me of. It’ll be one I’d burn throughout the summer, as this was usually when we visited said arcades.

Pokemon Jigglypuff Candy Floss Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

A sweet candy floss accord with sticky sweet sugar notes and hints of strawberry, raspberry, vanilla and sherbet.

I’ll be honest straight away when I say out of the three wax melts here, the candy floss Jigglypuff scent isn’t the strongest of the bunch when smelling it in the packaging. That being said, this isn’t a bad thing as I know a lot of people who dislike strong wax melts and candles as they find they get headaches from them. Plus it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the same once it is burnt in my wax burner, which it honestly wasn’t! The throw of this one was so creamy and sweet and one that Dane really loved! It reminded us both of Bonfire Night in 2017 when we bought candy floss to eat whilst we watched the bonfire. As Dane loves this scent so much, it’s definitely one I’ll burn when we’re both at home together!

Pokemon Snorlax Birthday Cake Wax Melt* – £4.00 (link)

A mouth watering birthday cake depicted here by a blend of fresh fluffy sponge encasing whipped double cream and fruity strawberry jam.

Not going to lie, this is my favourite scent out of them all and one I’ve been really excited to try since Tasha announced it on her Instagram around the end of January/beginning of February. About a month ago me and Dane went to Homesense (because, why not…) and I took to having a nose at the candles, as you do. I bought one for my mom but left without one myself, which I was a tad gutted about as they had the most AMAZING birthday cake scented candles! So, when Tasha announced the Slowpoke birthday cake wax melt, I KNEW I had to get one! This smells like everything I imagined it to and because of that, I am in love!

As it states on the description, it sounds like a strawberry vanilla cheesecake type cake and it definitely reminds me of that! In the packaging the wax melt is very strong scented and even more so when I burnt it in my wax burner! The throw lasted hours and really did perk me up on a miserable, stormy day! It reminds me of the summer and having ice cream and sweet treats whilst exploring a countryside town. I already know I’ll be buying some more of these for myself, as well as other for their birthday’s!

So those are all the wax melts I was sent and have tried from Little Ivy Rose & Co to date! There are so many I want to try though at the moment including Ravenclaw Blueberry & Vanilla and Disney Meeko Biscuits (which I inspired Tasha to create!).

If you really like the sound of what Little Ivy Rose & Co are offering but don’t know where to begin when it comes to burning wax melts, don’t panic, Tasha got your covered!

So, what do you guys think about Little Ivy Rose & Co? I personally love them! If anything it’s really encouraged me to use more of my wax melts now I’ve gone through a big chunk of my stash.

Although I’ve popped the Little Ivy Rose & Co store and Instagram page throughout the post, I’ll pop them below too:

Store

Instagram

I want to say a massive thank you to Tasha for being so lovely to me the past couple of months since we started talking on Instagram. Our love of candles and raccoons has really flourished and I’m so happy I got the chance to write about her on my blog today!

Any scents or themes you like the sound of more so than others? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time guys, have an amazing weekend and stay safe and well. 🙂

January Favourites ’22

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyhoo, on with the monthly favourites!!!

Favourite Beauty Product – Happy Place Cosmetics Bougie Body Scrub.

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

Favourite Film – Ron’s Gone Wrong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image taken from Amazon

Favourite Book – The Sad Ghost Club Volume Two.

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

Image taken from PokeCommunity Daily

Favourite Game – Pokemon Shining Pearl.

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

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

Just a few of my favourite things…

Pingki Buddy plush.

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

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

Loungefly Sanrio kawaii wallet.

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

Baking – Salted caramel and salted caramel shortbread.

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

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

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

Fluffy cardigan.

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

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

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

Image take from GIPHY

Being sick, boo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

January Wish List ’22

Hello 2022! I can safely say it’s already been pretty crazy/crap for me and I can only hope it gets better from here! For the first couple of weeks of the year, both me and Dane have been really poorly (no, it wasn’t Covid, thankfully!). Not only have we had colds, but also a chest infection, which has really sucked. I’m still suffering with a loss of voice and cough, but I’m hopeful this will be gone by the end of this week.

Alongside that, 2022 is already flying by what with my birthday being almost a week ago already, as well as payday and Chinese New Year only a couple of weeks away too!

It wouldn’t be January though without one of my monthly posts, with the first official post of 2022 (not including my Happy New Year post…) being my wish list for January. I’m not going to lie guys, I’m seriously trying to be good this month, what with a longer wait until payday, as well as being spoilt over Christmas and birthday last week. However, there are some cute buts and pieces I’d love, but also have pre-ordered that are due out this month.

So, sit back and grab a hot drink as I show off and talk about my wish list for January 2022.

• Dr Martens Devon Heart Leather Platform Boots – (link)

I don’t need a new pair of Docs, but I’d like a new pair… Why? I don’t actually know. I’m going to blame all the fashionistas on Instagram inspiring me. In 2021 I really started to think about fashion and more about how I wanted to start dressing again. However, Covid and lockdowns have prevented me from really getting out there with my new pieces. This being said, it doesn’t stop me updating. 😛 I love the couple of pairs of Docs I own, but a simple zip/buckle up pair would be really nice to own! Docs can be a little cumbersome to do up at the best of times and sometimes I can’t be arsed for that. These would look great with dresses, skirts and some trousers too! This won’t be a purchase I make anytime soon, but definitely a nice one to have on the list.

• Hamtaro Nendoroid – (link)

This is a pre order I’ve had with Gamersheek since about April 2021 and it’s crazy how quickly time flies, isn’t it?! I seriously can’t wait for my Hamtaro Nendoroid to arrive. I was never able to watch the show as a kid, but I spent many IT classes and lunchbreaks at school on the internet looking at the Hamtaro website. It was all in Japanese and I didn’t understand a word, but I found colouring pages I would print off to colour at home and more. I loved it and I wish I had found the show it watch when I was younger. This being said, it’s never too late and this year I’m planning to try and find the show to binge watch!

• Nintendo Tokyo Animal Crossing Gloves – (link)

I discovered these gloves around Christmas and was dead set on ordering myself a pair, as the UK is pretty damn cold at the moment… However, I’m going to wait until payday at the end of January to order these! As many readers will know, I love Animal Crossing and I especially love being warm, so a cute as fuck pair of gloves like this, is a definite must. These are Nintendo Tokyo store exclusive too, so I’d especially love to get hold of them if I can for sure. I’ll be picking them up from Meccha Japan, which is a Japanese store I recently discovered. I’ll be writing a review about them VERY soon so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that!

• Monki Cloud Faux Fur Jacket – (link)

This is an item I added to my wish list and semi regret for a few reasons. First reason, it’s actually out of stock now and not like to be back IN stock, so it feels sort of pointless. Second reason, I really did fall in love with this jacket and wanted, but since looking back I think the COMPLETE opposite now. It’s bloody expensive for what it is at £75, but I don’t think it’s my style… When I was in Japan in 2020, I saw a fluffy jacket similar to this one (baby pink, dark purple, black, white and red) and I really fell in love with it, but never bought due to how much it cost and again, not my style. I do love soft things like this and the idea of having one as a jacket would be great, but at the same time, I have a dressing gown at home to snuggle in and it was half the price. 😛

• Stitchtothepast Animal Crossing Stargazing Celeste Cross Stitch Kit – (link)

If there is one thing I have really been craving to do lately, it’s cross stitching. It’s also an old childhood hobby I picked back up towards the start of 2021 and didn’t continue with into the latter of last year. 2022 is going to be different and I really want to try and do as much cross stitch as I possibly can! My best friend (hey Gab!) bought me an Animal Crossing Shino cross stitch kit for Christmas, which I’ve been enjoying doing so far! I’ve also seen a cross stitch pattern I want to make into a project and buy to do and hang up by our front door. I’ve also seen this cross stitch kit that I would also love to do and hang in the house somewhere. Unfortunately the kit is currently sold out, so I’m hoping it comes back into stock soon so I can give it a go! When I’m paid at the end of the month, I’m planning to go to Hobbycraft to grab some goodies so I can start my project!

• Nintendo Switch Pokemon Legends Arceus – (link)

Finally I have saved one of the best for last and it’s the new Pokemon game Legends Arceus! I’ve had this pre ordered for both me and Dane for quite some time now from Gamersheek and I’m hella excited to chill with Dane the weekend its out and play as much as possible! As Cyndaquil is the fire starter and my favourite starter ever, this will be my Pokemon of choice! I can’t speak for Dane which one he’ll pick. I decided in 2022 to start making my way through current games I own and make a list of them on a completion thread I’ve created on Twitter. I’ve linked it for you all here to keep tabs on, but I wanted to say again a massive thank you to my friend Connor for inspiring me to do this! Connor did this in 2021 and it was so inspiring to see him progress through his games collection.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for January! What do you guys thinks? Any items you’ve spotted that you’d love to? Or maybe you already own them or have them pre-ordered too? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time guys, take care and I hope you’re having a great week so far!

Why I Started Streaming On Twitch

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter, can you already believe Easter was a week ago? Let’s not even talk about how crazy the weather is and the fact I haven’t eaten my Easter egg yet… 😛

The past couple of weeks have been a mixture of crazy and chaotic, as well as pretty cool and awesome. I wanted to share the latter with you and this includes me starting to stream on Twitch.

Yep, I’m a Twitch streamer now! I know I’ve spoken on and off about it on my blog and social media pages in the past but I’ve finally started it and have been at it for two weeks now!

I’ve wanted to stream on Twitch for a long time now, well over a year in fact and in March I finally decided to bite the bullet one evening and have a play around. It was whilst Dane was away working from home that I did a test stream on Dane’s Xbox playing Super Lucky’s Tale. I only played for half an hour to test the waters and see how it went and it was amazing! Some of my friends joined to see what I was up to and I had a few comments. I fondly remember Vikki (Cuteek) joining and rooting me on, which was amazing!

I then decided later on that week that I would officially start streaming on Twitch! I opened up with Persona 5: Strikers and not only did some of my friends join, a lot of my online friends and friends of friends did too and it was amazing! I was so happy and felt more confident with my decision to finally stream.

However… Streaming has come with some “tough” decisions, alongside juggling my personal life and blogging around when I stream. I want to just chat with you all about my experiences and thoughts since I started streaming two weeks ago, as well as a semi funny story along the way.

First of all I want to mention how I played Persona 5: Strikers on two streams and decided it wasn’t a game I wanted to stream and stopped. As regular readers and friends of mine know, I LOVE Persona 5. It’s one of my favourite games and is definitely up there with Pokemon and Animal Crossing. I was so excited to have Persona 5: Strikers as a streaming game of choice and that it would be a first playthrough too. However, during my second stream playing it, I didn’t “enjoy” it. Persona 5: Strikers isn’t the same style of gameplay as Persona 5 and Persona 5: Royal in the sense of it’s a hack and slash style game instead of turn based. I’ve not really played hack and slash games before so this was new to me. Not just that, I wanted to invest myself into the story but that was proving hard to do when I wanted to talk to my viewers at the same time. So, it was with a heavy heart that I decided to discontinue playing Persona 5: Strikers for the foreseeable future.

Alongside playing Persona 5: Strikers I’ve started playing Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! from the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. I’m playing a brand new save, as I’ve 100% completed this game on my own save years ago when it first came out. These streams are chilled and fun! I mean, who doesn’t love Spyro, eh?

I was mainly playing games on my Xbox after the first week of streaming and on Monday Dane turned to me and said, “Nat? Why don’t you look into buying yourself a Switch so you can start streaming Nintendo games?” The idea had already been swirling around my head since Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out in March 2020 and especially since I’d started streaming. However, due to money and buying a capture card too the idea just didn’t seem doable at the present time.

This being said I thought about the idea quite a bit that morning and it didn’t take me long before I was Googling for the Animal Crossing switch console. I regret not buying this switch back in March 2020 when it came out alongside Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s not a console that is easy to get hold of new these days as it’s pretty limited and I ended up settling on buying a second hand one from CeX, which we ordered and collected on Monday. I wasn’t exactly happy with how much I paid but at least I had 24 months warranty against it. When I got the switch home I was anxious I’d made a bad decision with the price I paid. The switch wasn’t exactly in the best quality considering how much I paid and this anxious feeling didn’t really pass. The screen was scratched quite badly in the bottom right hand corner, inside the box was filthy (dust/fluff) and the joy cons and switch overall was covered in scuffs and dust. I gave it a clean and turned it on to play and it worked fine! Dane popped on a spare screen protector he had from when he bought his switch and we ordered a capture card and a new micro SD card.

Come Wednesday evening and I streamed Animal Crossing on my stream and it did REALLY well! I was chuffed as fuck and came off the stream feeling great. I’d popped the micro SD into my switch earlier that day and during the stream I’d taken a lot of snapshots and wanted to make sure they’d save to the micro SD okay. They hadn’t saved because the switch hadn’t even acknowledged the micro SD… Which was strange. I did loads of troubleshooting that I knew, as well as via the Nintendo UK website and nothing worked. I started to worry I’d bought a switch that didn’t work and the more I tested, the more this worry became a reality. I went to bed miserable.

I woke up miserable too but determined to find a brand new Animal Crossing switch. I did a Google search and found one BRAND NEW and for less than I paid for the second hand one from CeX. I did a bit of research about the online store in question as I’d never heard of them before and honestly, the price of the switch seemed too good to be true… The reviews were mostly good, but mixed nonetheless. As we could pay through PayPal we took a chance and ordered. Just over 24 hours later, the switch arrived. It was indeed the real deal. Legit, brand new and perfect.

I streamed on Friday using it and faced no issues. The second hand CeX switch was packed away and returned yesterday with an refund issued yesterday too.

Now we have that bit of the story out of the way, I want to share my Twitch experience(s) so far.

I’ve been streaming on Twitch for two weeks now and it’s definitely been a learning curve and a fun one at that! I’ve streamed various games so far and I’m slowly starting to get a firm schedule in place. I have to keep reminding myself that it has only been two/three weeks (seven streams in total) so it’s technically still very early days.

So far I’ve streamed Persona 5: Strikers, Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage), Ark: Survival Evolved, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.
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I would honestly say the most popular game I’ve played to date is by far Animal Crossing: New Horizons which gained me a lot of followers as well as a chatty audience to boot. I’m really excited to be playing Animal Crossing again on my stream.

Speaking of playing this on my stream I think for the time being I have finally settled on a schedule that I’m really happy with for now. All streams run between 7pm-9pm GMT. Monday I play Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (once this is completed I’ll move onto Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon), Wednesday I play Pokemon Mystery Dungeon DX (however, this stream didn’t seem to do very well on Friday so this is subject to change if this continues) and finally on Friday I play Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

I’m not going to share 100% what happens/will happen in these streams, especially the Animal Crossing one. You’ll have to come and see for yourself. 😉

In the future I’m looking to add New Pokémon Snap into the mix, which will be really cool to play! I’d also love to play the newly announced Pokemon games – Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. These both look amazing and it would be so much fun to play them with my Twitch audience! Maybe not 100%, but when it comes to searching for new Pokemon to find and catch/breed that’s where I could host a “chill and fill my Pokedex” type stream.

The one thing that I haven’t declared yet is that I’m not affiliate or anything like that, I’m just your regular streamer… Hoping to make affiliate some day! I do have my goals set for the future of Twitch but if I don’t make those goals, it’s not the end of the world. This is just a bit of fun and something new for me to do as COVID and lockdowns have really shown me how creative I love being and how I want to do it as much as I can. This being said – I would love to make affiliate by the end of May ready for the summer.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love writing on my blog, but sometimes it’s really nice to add to that with chatting and playing games on stream three nights a week. 🙂

If you would love to check out my stream please click on the link below and make sure to follow if you’re interested in future streams! I do have all my previous streams on the channel so you can watch previous streams back if you’ve missed out on any. 🙂

There Might Be Coffee Twitch channel

Please bear in mind I am still new to this, I don’t have hundreds of followers, viewers or comments/chat so this is still a learning curve and early days for me. Every view, comment, share and follow means the world to me. 🙂

Thank you for reading me waffle about my Twitch stream and how excited I am about it! I hope you can follow me on my little gaming stream journey and I really hope you enjoy my content if you come and check me out!

I want to finally finish this post by saying a massive thank you to my boyfriend Dane for helping me out with Twitch. He’s been the one who has guided me in what I need to do in regards to OBS, Stream Labs and more. He sat with me the whole evening before I did my first official Nintendo stream and went through how OBS works, how capture cards work and more. He even paid for my capture card and Animal Crossing switch, which I will be paying him back the next couple of pay days.

So Dane, thank you for not only being my rock, thank you for being my admin and technical guy too when it comes down to Twitch. It would be wrong of me to take credit for the behind the scenes work when it’s been Dane learning how to do it and teaching me. 🙂

Please let me a comment down below of what you think, as well as any game suggestions you’d love to see me play!

Until next time guys, take care and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend.