Hi lovely readers,

I would quite like to start documenting my favourite things every month or so. I know that’s so 2012 YouTube, but I think there’s something charming about it. Plus, it’s a great way to share some great products/ideas with you!

I’m not a necessarily materialistic person. Sure, I like home decor and candles and books and songs and certain gadgets but I don’t thrive on clothes and makeup and accessories. I thrive on good memories – and things that can create good memories.

However, I do have a list of favourites this month that does include things, but there are lots of deeper topics as well.

Let’s get started 🙂

Favourite book

I wouldn’t be Beth if I didn’t include my favourite book from October! To be honest, October wasn’t a great reading month for me. I read enough books but I just didn’t love any of them.

That being said, City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab would have to be my favourite from the month. It follows 12 year old, Cassidy, who has special powers. She is able to hang out with the living – and the dead! I love Victoria Schwab’s imagination. This read was perfect for autumn nights.

Favourite Song

I listen to music pretty much all day, every day. I work from home so I can listen to podcasts, YouTube videos or music whenever I want.

All my favourite artists seem to be releasing music these days so it’s a hard choice but the winner is…

COPYCAT by Billie Eilish.

OH MY GOODNESS – THIS SONG.

IS.

INCREDIBLE.

Just listen to it.

Photograph

Here, I’m talking about photographs from my life – not professional photographer’s pics.

I take a lot of photos (like, a lot) so after scrolling through them all from this month, I’ve settled for this one:

Ok, I didn’t settle at all. Look how cute it is!

It’s me & my sister less than a month after she returned home from a 3 year stint in America. It’s so great to have her back. This picture means more to me than the fact that we look so happy & happened to match trousers that day.

Art

Ok, now we can move on to art from actual artists! I’m super picky when it comes to art but Pinterest is where I find most of my favourites. My favourite this month is:

Alexandra Dvornikova. 

Um… wow?! Not only is it super unique and thought-provoking, it’s very autumnal. It’s the perfect art to enjoy during October.

Clothing

I don’t buy new clothes, like ever, anymore. It’s a mix of having enough clothes and being nervous that I’m contributing to unethical manufacturing. I tend to purchase stuff second hand to at least make a tiny difference.

However, one of my favourite artists, Rae Morris, released new merch during her last tour and at a glance, I knew it had to come home with me! Look at the bright yellow – it’s my absolutely favourite jumper.

Accessory

Something I’ve been loving lately has been my Fitbit. I’ve had it for nearly two years but during our move this summer, I lost the charger.

I finally got a new charger and I have been tracking my step count & exercise again! I can’t say I find the Fitbit particularly motivating, but it does make you feel good when you see how many steps you’re doing!

Food / Drink

I’m a relatively big foodie. I like exploring new restaurants & cafes, but I also like experimenting with food & drink at home. 

However, the best thing I had this month wasn’t at home. It was at Waterstone’s cafe: the Mumbai Railway Chai Latte.

D E L I C I O U S.

I had to take a picture of it so I’d remember it forever.

I wanted to order 189 cups! Luckily, the mix is available online.

Place I visited

I didn’t get out much this month (I’ll explain why later) but my husband and I did manage to find an afternoon to drive to Edinburgh to go apple & pumpkin picking!

I haven’t done this since I was a girl, so it was so nice and autumnal to go back together!

We got a lot of apples, carrots, brussell sprouts and pumpkin. We used the pumpkins for decoration, the carrots and brussel sprouts for a stew and apples for apple crumble.

Celebrity

Celebrity might be an odd one but there are some good people out there! Now, Kristin Johns isn’t really a celebrity, but she’s an influencer. Recently, she launched her brand Kristin Made where she shares recipes, DIY tips and soon, she’ll release products!

It’s great to see someone in a position of influence using it for good. If you haven’t heard of her, check out her brand here!

Home decor piece

As mentioned, I love home decor! Having just moved into my first owned home, I’m really obsessed with decorating it right now. I do a lot of DIY but there are a few things that we’ve treated ourselves to.

One thing I’m absolutely in love with though is this little guy. I got him from a garden centre (it’s ivy) and the bag is from an Etsy shop called Anders and Boo.

It’s an eco-friendly way to keep your plants! Because they’re cardboard bags, you don’t want them to get wet so I wrap up my plants in tinfoil (I don’t know if this is bad or not, I’m not a huge plant person but hey, they’re still alive) or I water them outside of the bag and wait for them to drain before I put them back in.

Movie

I think I only watched 2 movies this month: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sierra Burgess is a Loser. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wins. By a long mile.

TV Show

Okay, I am so excited for this! I have actually been loving the shows I’ve watched lately but oh my goodness, REIGN tops it for me!

It’s about Mary Queen of Scots and her reign. Of course, it’s super dramatised and it makes for such a great watch. There’s murder, supernatural stuff, betrayal, love triangles, hate to love relationships, and much more. I’m so sad that I’m nearly finished it.

Instagram account

There are so many amazing Instagram accounts out there and to be honest, I have about 100 favourites right now. So although I’m choosing one here to shout out, it’s not necessarily my top favourite. Probably because I never have a top favourite for more than a few minutes but…

I am loving Hannah’s feed! Go check it out. I mean, books, flowers & a dog?!

App

I’m loving the 1SE app. It costs £5 but you can record one second of your life every day and make a pretty cool montage of memories!

Podcast

As mentioned earlier, I listen to podcasts a lot right now. Currently, I’m obsesssssssed with Swish & Flick! It’s a Harry Potter podcast where four awesome girls discuss the series chapter by chapter, with bonus episodes in between to go into depth about certain characters, spells, theories & more!

YouTube Channel

I am a big YouTube fan. I’d watch YouTube over watching TV. There are a bunch of channels I’m into right now but one I always get excited about when they post is Our Tiny Tribe.

 

David & Ebony had a little girl back in January, and together, they are the absolute sweeeeetest family! I laugh at every single video. They’re so down to earth and chill, and they don’t vlog about nonsense. Each video is super entertaining.

New discovery

This isn’t really a new discovery, but a rediscovery and that is: mint water.

Every week, I make sure I buy fresh mint from the herb section in Lidl because putting it into ice cold water is a great way to get me to drink more water! It’s simple & delicious.

Memory

My favourite memory from this month is… *drum roll*

Introducing Echo to the family!

Isn’t he the cutest little bean ever?!

He officially arrived on the 2nd of October and we fell in love right away. Sure, we got off to a bit of a rocky start with him completely unable to leave our side but now he’s settled right in and doing really well.

He’s still quite bitey and really energetic but not a day goes by where he doesn’t make us laugh & smile. I know it’s so cringe but I couldn’t imagine my life without him now.

What I’ve Learnt

I have learned a lot this month from training a puppy to learning when to say no but the main lesson I’m taking from this month is: be honest.

All of my relationships were put to the test this month: friendships, marriage, family relationships, even my relationship with Echo haha! But it all came down to one thing: be honest with people. (Okay, you can’t really be honest with a puppy but, you get my point.)

If you bottle things up, they come out in a negative way. Always.

Being honest, and encouraging others around me to be honest, has changed the way I do relationships with people – for the better. 🙂

 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Let me know some of your October favourites.

Sleep less, read more,

Beth