Little Loves #3.

I've been a bit lax on the blogging front recently, I'm not sure why, last weekend I had a whole 2 days off while Sam was working 13 hour days and yet I couldn't just sit down and write something. I started a new job the first week of January so I suppose that's taking up a lot of my brain space! I'm enjoying the job so much, learning loads and being more independent in my work. I suppose that can be a first little love on this post but i'll get back into the things I'm sure people will enjoy reading about!

This view.

Last weekend I watched the snow fall, wondering if it would stick and then watching as it did, thankful for the fact I didn't have to go out driving in it! When I can step back and watch the snow without panicking about having to drive in it it can be something I really enjoy. I love those cliche things about how it blankets the world and makes everything look fresh and clean at least for a little while before it turns dirty and grim again! 

The online community and support. 

Junior Doctor, 28, uses THREE bags for life for one week of shopping. Excessive. #smearthedocs #moetmedics pic.twitter.com/ZH2L2i3B7g

— Jacquina (@jacquina) January 10, 2016

A few weeks ago The S*n posted an article online about the Junior Doctors leading the strike action smearing them for their 'lavish lifestyles' dubbing them Moet Medics. They had done some super top notch investigative journalism in the form of going on these doctors Facebook pages and saving their holiday pictures in order to decide for themselves what kind of lifestyles they lead. Any normal, good person of course knows this is ridiculous and I think The S*n forgot who they were dealing with when they decided to #smearthedocs. Very soon a couple of hashtags were born and the online Junior Doctor community hit back in the way intelligent, funny people do: by thoroughly taking the piss. I myself, along with my junior doctor boyfriend (pictured above) joined in with our picture, showing our weekly shop at Aldi, and before I knew what hit me, my tweet was somewhat viral (compared to most of my tweets!) ending up with over 60,000 views and enough likes and retweets that I had to turn my notifications off for a few days and a feature on Buzzfeed, BT and a few other online articles! I'm only including the figures here to show the comparative support. Out of all those views, all those retweets and the articles, I only had 3 negative tweets back about this picture. Everyone else was joining in with the campaign, being completely hilarious and satirical, just how we should be in the face of ridiculousness. I was so happy then, even as a nurse, to be part of that community. You can't bring people like that down, they work too hard and do too much to let idiots (it took 4 people to write the so-called article!) bring them down. Well done Junior Doctors, you're awesome. 

Book Exchange.

How great is it to receive a proper parcel in this time where even your bank statement doesn't drop onto your doormat anymore? Last week my friend Bekki and I decided to exchange some books we had both been loving, wonderful idea, you get a new book for the cost of postage! Bekki completely blew me away with this package she sent me, everything in it was so thoughtful, I can't wait to get started on the book and to do this again in the future! One of the reasons is so I get another go at my parcel! I was so excited I quickly rushed out before the post office closed to buy an envelope and post my book onto her that I didn't think to add extras in. 

Sex and the City. 

I was too young for this show the first time around but I got the box set for Christmas and I'm loving it so far! It is dated of course, I'm only on season 2 so I believe we're still stuck in the early 2000s but I'm still enjoying binging this while my boyfriend plays football manager on his computer in the other room. I swear we don't conform to gender norms as much as this in all aspects of our lives! One thing I can't help but draw parallels from is the fact that Carrie seems to write one column a week and live an amazing life in Manhattan, reminds me of what people these days seem to (incorrectly!) think of full time bloggers. Work one day a week, earn exponential amounts of money and always have time to drink with your friends. I wonder how this affected the people watching it the first time it aired in the 90s, but thats just me, mostly I try to zone out and enjoy the dirty jokes. 

I'm hoping to be back into my blogging groove after this, I have a week off at the moment for my birthday and we're going away for the night as my gift, can't wait! A seaside getaway is perfect at any time of the year as long as theres a fish and chip shop open! 

My Illustrated 2016 Goals!

Yes, another post about goals in 2016, I'm sure you're completely fed up of them, these ones are different though (aha!) because the lovely Emily of Jammy and Jelly has done an amazing piece of art which portrays my goals!

Emily tweeted out asking people for their New Year's Resolutions to draw, something I believe she's done for a few years now.  I absolutely love this one that she drew of mine, and I'm so happy that she's said I can use it in this blog post. So, here are my resolutions:

1:: Exercise more! 

Completely cliche I am aware however i'd really come to enjoy exercise last year and I was probably doing a good cardio/weights workout 3 times a week with some yoga thrown in too! I can't believe it looking back because of back to back ankle injuries one in October and another in December just as I was almost back to normal set exercise completely on the back burner. This year I want to work towards that enjoyment and frequency of exercise again, once my ankle is up to it again of course.

2:: Read 30 books! 

If you read my last post about my 5 favourite books of 2015 then you'll know I set myself the challenge of reading 25 books in 2015 (surpassing it by reading 26 woo!). This year I want to go a bit further and do 30. I also want to keep the part of the resolution last year of reading more books by women and more non-fiction books, this year expanding it by reading more by WOC and from the LGBTQ+ community as well. 

3:: Learn to play the harmonica!

I know this seems like a bit of an odd one, Sam bought me a harmonica for Christmas because of a few comments I've made about always wanting to know how to play it, I blame being brought up on Alanis Morisette for this urge! I was so happy with the gift (even though Sam was totes nervous thinking I might think he was taking the piss) because I had only ever mentioned it offhand but it really has been something I've wanted to learn but never really had the drive to go and buy a harmonica in order to learn. He also got me a beginners guide so watch this space for harmonica solo youtube videos ;). 

I also have a few others of eating more green things/less pizza and making sure mental health is a priority this year but I'm sure they weren't quite as interesting to illustrate so they didn't get a look in for my list that I gave Emily!

Let me know what your resolutions have been if you keep them! I've seen a lot of stuff around the internet about not needing a New Year to make changes and that is completely true but hey, if the reason is there and it helps give some people a purpose behind their goals, who is it hurting? 

My 5 Favourite Books of 2015.

New Year's Day 2015 found me downloading the Goodreads app and setting myself a reading challenge of 25 books through the year, I also wanted to read more books written by women and more non-fiction books. I managed 26 books in the year (although one was only 80 pages I still counted it) and I think I managed the other 2 as well.
Here are my 5 favourite books I read this year, not necessarily published this year and in no particular order. I noticed after I photographed them that I didn't actually include any non-fiction books that I read so I'll do a little mention of those at the end.

1:: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. 

I read this at the very beginning of the year so I'm searching my memory for the reasons I enjoyed this, I must start writing reviews on Goodreads instead of just rating! Station Eleven is set after a virus wipes out a lot of the world's population, it follows various survivors living their lives in what would have been the USA all of them connected by one actor who died the night the 'plague' broke out. It's a real page turner, jumping back and forth between the past and present constantly finding more and more links between the characters and showing that survival in this world isn't enough, living has to happen as well. I found it so interesting because of how this world works post apocalyptic event, something I've spent too much time thinking about! 

2:: The Hourglass Factor by Lucy Ribchester. 

Another one I read earlier on in the year, I picked this up purely because of the beautiful artwork on the cover, so glad I did! This book is set in the early 1900s surrounding the Suffragette movement and a girl trying to make her way in the newspaper industry. I found this book so wonderful to read because it is completely immersive, sometimes overly descriptive writing makes it hard for me to focus on the story (Hello George RR Martin!) but this book did that without me losing track of the story that was going on within the lovely descriptions. It feels well researched and although obviously some artistic licence has been used it's so interesting to read of an England in this time. 

3:: Extraordinary Means by Robyn Scheider. 

This is the second of Robyn's books that I've read and I find her writing so easy to read that I consumed this book within a day, something i haven't really done since I finished uni. It's about teenagers with life-limiting and potentially terminal illness living together in a modern version of the once common sanatoriums. Unlike some other books about sickly teenagers who speak like adults and are about as deep as the pacific ocean this feels believable, teenagers who sneak off to get drunk and try figure out how to have sexual encounters without setting off the health monitors that track every anomaly in their vital signs. I really loved this book, and yes, it did make me cry. 

4:: The Bees by Laline Paull. 

A surprising favourite for me, this was probably the strangest book I read this year. It's a book, as the title suggests, about bees! It seems to me (a Sociology A level student who peaked at a C) to be a narrative on society based around a beehive. It's so interesting to see how beehives work as it really seems to have been researched fully into the workings of honey bees with some added sentiency and emotion thrown in there. Another page turner for me, I became so involved in the main characters life that i couldn't wait to see what would happen to her as she challenges the norms of the beehive and faces some great enemies in the form of wasps and weather. I would really recommend this book however definitely go in there with an open mind, its a weird one! 

5:: I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson. 

If I had to pick I would probably say this was my favourite book of the year. This book hits all the spots for me: it's funny, sad at times, compelling and beautifully written. The structure of the book follows twins Noah and Jude however in different times in their lives, so at any given time you're only seeing one character through the others' eyes. So much has changed in the years between the 2 stories that it only makes it more necessary to just keep reading, just one more chapter before you sleep in order to find out how these changes came to be and whether any of the issues or conflict could ever be resolved. The imagery used in this book is so unique and every metaphor used seems just completely purposeful and perfect. Brilliant. 

Special mention non-fiction favourites of the year. 

Yes Please by Amy Poehler. 

Grace's Guide by Grace Helbig. 

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai. 

Sense of Self.

Ingrid Nilsen has done a series on her YouTube channel called 'Sense of Self', I love the format of the videos, so far she has done 3 episodes of it with other youtubers. The premise of the series is her exploring their space (with their help) and looking at one thing which represents each of the 5 basic senses. I've found with this series it offers an insight into what someone places around them that means something to them, because to choose their 'item' for each of the categories I really feel it has to mean something. I decided to use the basis of the sense of self series to create this blog post (after a bit of a crisis as to whether it would be plagiarism!) to show you a little more insight into my space and the things around me that I really feel represent me. 

S M E L L 

This candle is just all kinds of awesome, before moving in together Sam and I went to a little boutique style shop in my hometown and found a tiny version of this candle, we picked it up on a whim after both being completely surprised by the smell. Often when we're shopping in a place with scented candles we spend ages sniffing them all and only offering the other one a sniff when it smells particularly bad (TK Maxx is a good place for this game) and I really thought I would have hit the jackpot with this one on the bad scents game but it smells AMAZING. It's really heady and smokey but not in the way I expected when I picked it up, the patchouli adds a subtle earthy scent that I'm really failing to describe properly! After we had sparingly burnt all of the small one and moved 200 miles away from where we originally bought it we were on the hunt for a big version of it.
It turns out paddywax is stocked quite well nationally, Urban Outfitters in store and Beauty Bay online being 2 of the places I've found them but not this scent! After much trawling I eventually found them (for a reasonable price, after seeing them on eBay for about £80) on Amazon, this was in the middle of some trouble i'd been having where my wages at my new job hadn't come through but I immediately ordered 2, thats what credit cards are for, right? Since then it has been the smell of our home together, being burnt regularly but sparingly, the scent fills the room quickly and theres even a hint when the candle isn't lit.

T A S T E 

In my opinion there is no better food than humble peanut butter, I remember my addiction to the stuff starting as a teenager when it was the best snack to have on toast and I was frequently told off for eating it out the jar 'Joey style'. After moving out I definitely went through a phase of doing that or eating just a spoonful of peanut butter since I was an independent laydee who could make her own damn choices but soon realised it wasn't so great for the healthy eating kick i'd been on! I've tried the peanut butters that are all 100% natural and meant to be used as added protein in smoothies etc, and they're good, but they don't serve the proper purpose of comforting, salty spread that I will use anything as a vehicle to get into my face. My current favourite for eating peanut butter are the little aldi crackers pictured above, the cranberry in them adds a nice contrast of sweetness (similar to the peanut butter and jam sandwiches i consumed almost daily as a teen) and I find they're perfect for an afternoon slump snack when needed. I didn't realise I could write so much about peanut butter, and thats with some of it cut out as well!

 T O U C H

 It's no secret that I'm addicted to comfort, I love nothing more than getting snuggled up on the sofa with a cosy throw and lots of cushions, it's the hermit lifestyle that I love. These 2 are my current favourites, the furry one my most recent purchase from Primark, I think it's to make up for not being allowed pets in this house, and the red throw is from Sainsbury's. It's also now on sale (in store only) for half the freaking price I got it for :( Never mind, it was still quite a steal at £25. I've been looking at and longing for more expensive throws from the likes of Anthropologie and The White Company for some time and even though we are a young couple with no pets or children I can't quite bring myself to get them in case of any spillages or clumsiness (on my part) that could ruin something so expensive, I know, that's what being brought up poor does to you! These being reasonably priced mean they can be changed on a whim whenever the next fluffy thing catches my eye, within reason Sam, don't worry!

S I G H T 

This may seem like a strange one, but for my whole life I have been someone who is rarely seen without a book, if I'm going to the hairdressers I often take 2 books in case I finish one while I'm there, i always misplace books in the house because I carry them around with me to read as I'm doing various tasks and I'm going to need to get another bookshelf soon because mine is overflowing a bit. I am a book hoarder, always have been, always will be. When I was younger and only had one room to contain my things in, there wasn't a surface in my room that wasn't covered in books. I don't understand how someone can do the 'one in, one out' policy of buying books, I'm all for sharing the book love with friends and charity shops but I just can not bring myself to do it often! I've had maybe 3 major book clear outs which have gone to the oxfam bookshop but a few months after my last one I accidentally bought a book back that I had previously donated. After that happened I just bought a bigger bookcase so I could keep all my babies safely instead of balanced all over the place. I'm a rereader of books, I've lost count of the amount of times I've read the Harry Potter books, I honestly wish I'd kept a tally somewhere because I think it's in the hundreds, no exaggeration, reading books for me is how some people are with fragrances, they can transport me right back to a feeling I had the first time I read it. I have books I always read around christmas, books I read when I'm feeling sad or happy, there are old books for every mood and yet I'm constantly buying new ones. The top picture is the book I'm currently reading and the bottom picture is my current to read pile, not including 'Girl on the Train' because Sam is reading that. I've mentioned before that I'm doing a Goodreads 'reading challenge' this year because I felt like I hadn't read enough in 2014. I'm doing okay but need to get cracking if I'm going to complete it!

S O U N D 

I am sorry that this post contains yet another picture of my phone on a marble background, I should have really had some foresight into the 'Now Playing' post I just did as it left me stumped for what to do for sound for this post! I don't really have an ultimate favourite artist and my taste changes so much based upon my mood. When I thought about it I thought about an app I've got on my phone called 'Sleep Pillow', this was a lifesaver when I lived in flats when I first moved out alone especially with doing night shifts and having to sleep during the day when there was grass cutting going on around me etc. Its a white noise app with lots of different sounds to choose from, some of them are crap and i would feel completely ruin good sleep but my favourites are the rain and fan noises. Now Sam and I live together I don't need this on every night like I did when I lived alone (I know, I'm so bloody co-dependant) but it's great still for sleeping during the day, either after a night shift or y'know, when napping. I also like it for if I'm working on something and need some noise going on that doesn't distract me like the TV or music does sometimes.

That's me all done with my sense of self post, I have to give all credit to Ingrid Nilsen for the premise of this post, I was so inspired by her videos that I had to give it a go myself. I hope you feel like you've learned a little something about me :)