(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!

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