(An extremely late) October Favourites!

Yes, I realise we are entering the second half of November and nearing December. I'm rubbish, I have no excuses as to why I didn't write this post earlier. But anywho, here we are now, and it's better late than never!

So the Christmas season is upon us and I for one cannot wait. In fact, as I am sat here writing this, I have my Christmas jumper on and I'm watching Elf - which is THE greatest Christmas film, end of discussion. Some say it's too early, but in my opinion, the minute Costa bring out their Christmas menu I am fully involved in the festive cheer! 

(yes my Christmas jumper has bells on it and yes it means I can be heard a mile away)

Moving on.

1.) Live Music

I spent October dividing my time between home and Nottingham. This was due to the fact that one of my closest friends birthday was at the start of October, I then had tickets to see Ed Sheeran, Rixton and Klaxons over the following 3 weeks so for me it was a busy and exciting month albeit very costly!.That it why my first 'favourite' is live music.

(Ed Sheeran, Klaxons and Rixton from L to R)

It's typical that I will go months without attending a single gig an then over the space of two weeks I will go to three! None of which disappointed.  

On the 21st of October I was lucky enough to have tickets to see Ed Sheeran. He was amazing. The number of emotions I went through from the minute he stepped on opening with 'I'm A Mess' (which is definitely in my top 3 on Multiply) through to his final song 'Sing'.  I'm always a bit cautious when artists play arena venues as quite often the intimacy is lost amongst the huge screaming crowds, the mile gap between stage and audience and the huge production. HOWEVER I cannot stress how incredible it was to see Ed play on his own, no backing tracks, no other musicians on stage with him, just him and his guitar. Automatically I felt like I was in a venue half the size of the Capital FM Arena. He was one of the most incredible artists I've seen live and I urge anyone who didn't get tickets this time round to snap them up next time he tours the UK.

Exactly a week later on the 28th of October, Kat and I went to see Rixton. Firstly let me contextualise the reason behind our decision to purchase tickets. A while back when we were students who wasted away our days watching daytime television we were watching Loose Women. It was Colleen Nolan's birthday and her son Jake had sent in a birthday message. Colleen then proceeded to say how well Jake and his band were doing in America. Immediately Kat and I pondered over what 'band' this was so we went on the trusty YouTube and found Rixton. They're songs were catchy and every time I heard them from that moment onwards it would remind me of that day and Kat. It was merely an ironic personal joke that had gotten out of hand. We then saw them on the day we say McBusted and actually they were extremely talented musicians which is bizarre to admit about an artist who comes under the same category as 'One Direction' or 'The Vamps'. These guys have worked so hard to get to where they are now. So when we saw they were playing in one of our favourite venues in Nottingham we decided to go and it was a wine fuelled, cheesy, singalong evening spent with one of my favourite humans. Despite the fact we were the oldest there by about 5 years, it meant the bar was always clear and we could see over everyones heads, splendid! 

And finally on the 1st of November (Ok not exactly October) we went to see Klaxons on their last UK tour! Klaxons were my favourite band when I was about 15/16 so I felt so nostalgic when they played tracks from 'Myths of the Near Future.' Gravity's Rainbow was my jam for the whole of 2008. They were really good live however I was so shocked to see so many YOUTHS who were smashed out of their face on a Sunday night. I realise that makes me sound about 40 but really, it was not the atmosphere I was expecting. Despite this it was a great evening and I'm gutted they're coming to an end.

2.) Ponchos

The next item on my list is fashion related which is bizarre as I'm not one for following the trends however this has been a favourite since I was about 7 and I'm so glad it's now acceptable to wear them again. Ponchos - they are so good for that in between Autumn and Winter weather! Not as cosy as a proper coat, however, a step up from jumpers and cardigans. I'm so glad they've made a long awaited return.

(Left from New Look, Right from Debenhams)

3.) 'Graduates in Wonderland: A Memoir of a Friendship'

The third item is a book which I have been addicted to. If you have recently graduated I urge you to read this, it will make you feel so much better about the 'not knowing what the future holds' feelings we all have. There are a few people I know who have walked straight into a job, hats off to them! However, seeing it posted all over social media led me to believe that I was the only one who has no idea what I want to do. This book will and has diminished those worries.  I'ts called 'Graduates in Wonderland: A Memoir of Friendship' and is a collection of emails sent between Jessica Pan and Rachel Kapelke-Dale that documents their post-college lives. Whilst one is travelling around China, the other is finding her feet in New York. I think one of the reasons this book has really helped me is because my closest friend is off travelling for 12 months in January. This book is just proof that it is possible to stay in contact, thank god for the internet. Seriously seriously this book is hilarious, heart-warming and just so lovely.

4.) Inside Llewyn Davis

My penultimate item is a film. I didn't get a chance to watch it in the cinema when it came out, I believe it wasn't shown for that long, It is a film by the Coen brothers so immediately I knew it was going to be great. Inside Llewyn  Davis follows the fictional struggling folk musician Llewyn Davis over the course of a week. The cast includes Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake and Oscar Isaac and the soundtrack includes songs by Marcus Mumford. The film just ticks the right boxes for me. The cast and the soundtrack is incredible and I love the way it's filmed, every scene, in fact every frame is beautifully presented. It isn't a heartwarming feel good film but it does have elements of comedy. If  you enjoy early 60s folk music, men with beards or cats then do watch this film. 

5.) Pretty Little Liars

And last but not least is my guilty pleasure. It is no secret I love Netflix. A couple of months ago athriftymrs blogged about a proxy called Hola which bypasses American site allowance. I downloaded this and now have accesses to the US Netflix. There is an overwhelming amount of choice and I saw Pretty Little Liars was on there. I watched a couple of episodes when it was first aired on MTV but really didn't have a clue what was going on. It's one of those programmes where you need to watch every single episode because so much happens. I started watching it from series 1 at the start of October and I'm currently on Series 3 episode 9. Each series has 25 episodes each lasting 40 minutes, you do the maths. It's just so addictive plus Ian Harding is a beautiful man. 

And that pretty much sums up my October! It was such a good month in which I definitely relived my student life...my bank account is also resembling it too. I hope everyone is starting to feel all festive, I cannot wait until December is upon us and everyone's mood shifts and decorations can appear! 

 Speak soon

TTFN!

x

Photos that make me smile.

So I've seen on Facebook the '5 photos that make me smile' (I don't know what to call it...tag?!) circulating. I thought I'd post mine in a blog post and I must say now, I could not cut it down to 5, so instead here's my 11 photos that make me smile...doesn't really have the same ring to it. I'm going to put them in order of when they were taken as I spent too long figuring a way of placing them.

Moving swiftly on.

Starting with Steph circa 1996/1997 completely and utterly rocking the home made cardigan/wellies (even though I see no rain)/ice cream all around the face combination. This is 100% my favourite picture of my dad and I of all time. The admiration I have for this man is displayed in this picture and despite the many times he gets on my nerves, he is one of my favourite people and I genuinely enjoy and look forward to the time I get to spend with him.

On the very rare occasions in life you meet someone who you just click with. Although we both attended each other's birthday parties when we were barely walking, it wasn't until we were put together in a school production in sixth form where we realised how similar and how well we got on. She is by far THE funniest person I know and will without a doubt have me in stitches everytime I'm with her. She is one of the few people I managed to stay in contact and actually SEE throughout Uni. This was taken on a snow day where we spent about half an hour actually outside and the rest of the day eating chicago town pizza whilst watching films. I just loves her I do!

This was taken on NYE 2012/2013 and contains a lot of my favourite friends from home. We only see each other around 3 times a year but it will always fall back into how it was in the sixth form common room. Lotta love for these girls.

A lot of people that I know who went/go to Uni end up joining lots of societies and being a social butterfly. I was told your number of Facebook friends would double with all the people you would meet. Alas, I was too lazy to join societies and I fell very comfortably into this little group and I'm so happy I did. I definitely think I prefer a close knit group of friends rather than many 'acquaintances.' That's not to say I didn't have other friends on my course and from my halls...I did, and I made some very good friends, however if I had a problem, it would definitely be someone from this group that I would go to, and I know/hope that I will stay in contact with them for years to come!

This photo was taken at Chloe's baby shower (denim jacket.) As much as I complain about my job, these girls made it enjoyable. Although it's just Chloe and I left of this motley crew, I have met some of the most fantastic humans through it and am still in constant contact with all of them,

Taken at what was my favourite night of 2013, this boy is on of my closest friends. We'll go months without speaking and he'll pop up one day asking my opinion on a pair of shoes. He's hilarious, we're practically the same person and my mother loves him. He is the Patsy to my Eddie.

I was very lucky that Kat introduced me to her course girls. I feel like an honorary Sociology student as they've adopted me into their group.  We went out dressed as mimes and whilst everyone's make up managed to look slick at the end of the night, I looked like a sweaty mess who had an affair with a circus clown. Nevertheless, it was one of the nights in my final year that made all the dissertation stress worth it.

I have no idea how I would've coped without these girls in my final year.  Kat was the best housemate anyone could ask for and Bex would calm me down with her homemade comfort food and Costa breaks. I haven't danced/laughed so much the night this was taken. Sometimes a girls night out is the best medicine.

My 21st birthday, my closest friends and lots of Jager. No more to be said.

And somehow we did it, we graduated. This look of happiness reflects the amount of stress and breakdowns we went through over the last year. There is no-one else I would have liked to go through it with though. I think both Soph and I agree that we'd like to thank Mr Cadbury for aiding us through the hell that is third year.

And last but not least is this cherub. I could not ask for a better friend. I am genuinely shocked at the chances of two people as similar as us being put together in a flat in first year. I would not swap her for anything. This was taken at McBusted over the summer and it was by far one of the best days of the year. I cannot express how much I miss living with her, no one to help me get my shit together or to watch daytime TV with. *sobs*.

N.B. I was going to include a photo of my mum and I however I couldn't find a single decent one on social media and I couldn't find the photo albums ( I have a feeling they're in the shed and aint nobody got time for spiders and cobwebs) but I adore her a lot a lot.

If you reached the end of this post, congratulations! I'm sorry it was so long and rambly. I just have a lot of love to those I'm close with! I'm going to do my October favourites either tonight if I have time, if not tomorrow after work. It's already half way through November...good job Steph.

TTFN!

x