Another month gone and I’m seriously getting a) worried that it will be Christmas soon and b) this year is yet again going to fast. So to calm those worries me and mum have booked a holiday to Corfu for the end of September which gives me something to look forward to, a nice relaxing break, as well as plenty of music, films, gigs etc to look forward to over the remaining months of this year. This month has been another weird one, tough times, bad times but then amazing days and wonderful moments and exciting news/plans so I think the good has balanced out the bad well enough to be happy with July but glad to be moving on into what August will bring. How has your July been?
Listening to:
A hell of a lot of the The Cure, Joy Division and Friendly Fires, two of my favourites that I will always adore as well as Manic Street Preachers from their amazing new album which is constantly on repeat right now to their extensive and amazing back catalogue. There has also been many Tramlines featured acts that have been regulars on my listening from Deap Vally to PINS to the wondeful Cholombian. Then there are the acts I have reviewed/featured from PINS to Anja McCloskey to LVLS and I have also discovered the absolute wonder that is Patti Smith this month after years of vowing to listen to her and I guess it is better late than never. She is wonderful and I love everything, literally everything.
I’ve also made quite a few playlists this month as well as the monthly playlist below, I made a Seaside Roadtrip playlist for a trip to Bridlington earlier this month and I made a Tramlines Acts You Need To See Playlist for a recent Tracks of the Week post that rounded off a week of Tramlines build up on my bloh perfectly I think. Make sure you check these two playlists out as well as the one below and if you want to keep up to date with my day-to-day listening and my playlists then make sure you follow me on Spotify too.
Below is July’s playlist full of all the best bits of music I’ve been listening to recently – old favourites, new discoveries, festival acts that are consistently amazing and my usual loves that I just can’t stop listening to. Enjoy!
Watching: 24: Live Another Day, Season 2 and 3 of Prison Break and the brilliant T In The Park coverage on BBC Three and the Red Button.
Reading:
You can read my review of ‘How To Be A Girl’ by Catlin Moran here.
Currently Reading: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
Cooking/Baking: I’ve been cooking a lot at home recently as I’ve not really made much effort in going out anywhere which is probably to do with how busy and hectic life is at the moment. I’ve not actually taken many pictures of food this month but below is a picture of mine and my mum’s first gluten free pizza. My mum has recently been diagnosed as a coeliac and we are adjusting to gluten free diet for her as well as my vegetarianism it makes for awkward meal prep at times and lots of label reading. We got these pizza bases sent to us from Glutafin and honestly they are so nice, I honestly can not tell the difference between these and normal pizza bases. I added my homemade tomato sauce to the pizza bases and for me Quorn Ham and sweetcorn and for mum some tuna as well as plenty of cheese. I made chilli and black pepper sweet potato fries too which are honestly one of my favourite things in the world at the moment. So simple a dish to make overall and so damn tasty and with gluten free pizza bases that good I think I may jump on the gluten free meals thing too.
Eating Out:
Bella Italia your breakfasts are gorgeous! I love Bella Italia a lot but had never tried their breakfast menu but that changed this month and honestly it was one of the best decisions I ever made food wise. My review went up this week which you can see here but let me just tell you a) it was all wonderful, b) the staff were brilliant and helpful with my mum’s gluten free dishes and c) just go to Bella Italia for breakfast as soon as you can, I know I will be back ASAP.
Buying:
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White/Ivory Lace Dress from eBay – in my quest to become a Haim sister and after seeing their Glasto set I was instantly online for white clothing. I found this on eBay for around £8 and for the quality and the fact it’s been unworn, it was a total bargain. I love this dress and I want to wear it all the time styling it in as many different ways as possible.
White Frayed Denim Moto Shorts from Topshop – my quest to become a member of Haim continued when I bought these amazing shorts for a mere £10 in the sale. Surprisingly for a someone so scared of white clothing in the past I love these as much as the dress and I can’t wait to get styling them up this summer.
Rimmel Nail Varnish in Double Decker Red – a bit of an impulse purchase, one of those I’m waiting for my prescription and I’m browsing and this is a total bargain so I’m going to buy it moments. I love the brightness and intensity of the red shade and in my opinion you can never have enough red nail varnishes as they are such a staple nail colour. Also, Rimmel nail varnishes are always brilliant quality, a bargain at £2.49.
Books – The Library of Unrequited Love’ by Sophie Divry, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher and How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran.
Loving:
Dove Summer Glow Nourishing Lotion – Fair to Medium Skin – If you weren’t already aware I am officially a ghost, I’m so damn pale that whenever I walk into a hospital people immediately assume I am a patient, seriously this has happened to me a lot over the past couple of months. So in my bid to not look like a cast member from Twilight or a seriously ill hospital patient I bought the Dove Summer Glow lotion. I’m very wary of fake tan, I don’t want to look orange but with this being gradual tan and me spending literally hours researching this I decided to take the plunge. After a day’s use I already looked slightly healthier and after 5 days I built up a good natural looking tan [well tan for me]. I’m so impressed with this, that I plan on continuing using it throughout the summer and shorts weather to give me a bit of natural colour that I wish I could achieve naturally instead of just burning [which also happened this month]. If you are super pale and worried about fake tan but want a bit of colour I recommend giving this a go, you can use as little or as much as you want but paley’s make sure you go for the fair to medium lotion first not the medium to dark!!
Rimmel Hide The Blemish Concealer – a combination of hot weather, not sleeping properly and not being a 100% well has lead to me having a teenage style break out this month. Having had pretty good and manageable skin since turning 20, it’s been a while since dealing with something this bad but this concealer has been a total saviour. I use it every day anyway and have for a long time now but it has really shown itself to be a good product during my bad skin time recently, earning this product yet another well deserved repurchase.
Rimmel Cocktail Colour Nail Varnish in Hawaiian Punch – Summer means I actually try and make an effort with bright colours on my nails and that is where this nail varnish comes in. I bought it last year and I love it, a bright pink which verges on the deeper pink side with sparkles running throughout. As with all Rimmel polishes it applies well, dries fast and lasts relatively well. A favourite summer polish of mine.
Charles Worthington Salt Spray – We all know by now that I’m the laziest person ever when it comes to my hair and with it being hot and having a lot on recently I’ve been even worse at styling or looking after my hair. This sea salt spray that I’ve been using for a good couple of years now has been a saviour for me. Simply spray into wet hair, ruffle you hair up and you are good to go when it’s dry for beachy waves. I usually tie my hair in a bun in the morning before I go out to add a bit extra grit to the waves with my hair being curled up while wet for longer that way.
Seeing/Doing: Watching the Tour de France as it hit my fair city on the opening Sunday of the competition. I was sat in the Peace Gardens pretty much all afternoon with the majority of Sheffield it seemed watching the coverage on the big screen. There was an amazing atmosphere there and like I say it was packed out there as it was along the route. I’m so proud of Sheffield and Yorkshire for showing just how amazing we are when it comes big events like this. We did well Yorkshire and if the Tour de France wants to come here again one year it is more than welcome.
There was also a trip to Bridlington earlier this month too. I love Bridlington, I went there a lot as a child and much like Blackpool [another family favourite] I have fond memories of the place. A family friend used to have a caravan there when I was little so we stayed there a lot visiting Bridlington, Whitby and all the surrounding beaches. It’s somewhere I want to go back to for a proper mini break and rediscover those loved places but the trip earlier this month was nice to get away from Sheffield and visit some of the wonderful and cute little places there. I last went there 2 years ago after my Grandad died so it was a happier trip this time but again I’ve grown to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the seaside town as I’ve got older.
At Tramlines, which when this post goes live is where I will currently be at. 3 days of amazing music in my fair city is the best remedy for long summer days when you don’t really have anything to do. There is a very varied and pretty brilliant bill again this year and full reviews will be up on here ASAP.
Some Great Finds on the Internet This Month:
– This post by Chapter Friday sums up perfectly why having sarcastic friends and sarcastic friendships is the best thing you can have. So clearly that means I am the best friend any of you could have because I have sarcasm running through my veins.
– This post about bikini bodies and the pressure the media puts on us by Zoe LDN is absolutely wonderful and inspirational. As someone that has struggled with weight issues from a very young age reading words like this helps me see that firstly it’s not just me in this situation and secondly that I am perfectly fine as I am, I’ll probably never be fully ok with how I look in my head but if I can remember words like this then that will definitely help me.
Not necessarily a find but a great moment for me nonetheless. The wonderful Caitlin Moran, who is basically my life and career idol, tweeted me this month in reply to my praise about her new novel ‘How To Build A Girl’. I seriously love the book and when I love something a lot it is always nice to let the person or people who made/created it in the first place know if you can. I never expected a reply and practically fangirled to death when I saw this on my phone. Life made!
Speaking of life being made, I woke up to this news about halfway through this month. 100 followers may not be a lot for some bloggers but honestly for me it is a hell of a lot. I’ve been working on this blog for years day in, day out and to get the recognition and opportunities I’m getting now means so much. The fact that people read my blog and then want to follow it still baffles me on a daily basis but I do want to say thank you to all of you for sticking by my blog reading, commenting, following and sharing. It means a lot to me and always will, you are all wonderful!! 🙂
Mixtape Couture 