I know I say this every single month but truly October has gone so fast! From arriving back in England from Corfu on the 7th, I’ve not really stopped since then with gigs, meals out, seeing friends, cinema trips, shopping trips and trying to start the Christmas shopping on top of family stuff going on and being struck down quite suddenly with a god awful cold! It’s been a packed month full of decisions about the future, exciting times on both a professional and personal level and hopefully a nice indicator to the future that the next few months should be good as long as I continue to work hard and make more of an effort [at work and with my friends]. It’s only 2 months until Christmas and I’ve only bought 3 presents so far so my ridiculously, already done all the Christmas shopping by now self is freaking out, so until the end of November here is a round up of my month.
Listening to: A huge amount of old school favourites like Foals, Friendly Fires, Haim and Funeral For A Friend while travelling to and from Corfu as well as plenty of new music since returning from holiday. I came home to an inbox bursting with new music and I’m very grateful to be in a position to be sent the quality of new bands and songs on a daily basis as I am being and that is why I’ve rejigged my blog slightly to get more new music to you sooner so you can hear it all too.
This month, I have reviewed EP’s/albums from Russia’s Antethic with their album ‘Origin’ and a new take on folk from Forty Elephant Gang with their debut EP ‘Slow Down The Days’.
While new music-wise I’ve featured acts such as Eoin Glackin, Sheffield’s Inherit The Stars with their new single ‘On Our Own’, Manchester’s Lowrise with debut single ‘Fate’ and the brilliant new UK guitar act Morain.
Check out this month’s playlist below:
Watching: Scandal Series 3, The Originals Series 2, Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, Downton Abbey Series 5, Gotham Series 1, Criminal Minds Season 10, The Great Fire. Seriously there is so much good TV on right now that it is tempting not to leave the house like ever just in case I miss something. Thank God we live in 2014 and the age of Sky Plus and On Demand TV or my life would be either one of someone permanently behind on TV or one of a tragic recluse right now.
I also saw Gone Girl this month and it was easily one of the best films I have seen this year, the suspense and the whole direction and acting of the best-selling novel was perfect in my eyes. The ending was creepy but utterly perfect and I think it followed the book really well, a few things were missing but in the main the plot followed the novel. I know a lot of people have discussed gender roles in the film but they are also prevalent in the novel too and with such extremes of character Flynn has played on societal issues and given them a grounds to be spoken about which Fincher has taken and escalated through his direction on the film. Whether you have read the book or not, go see this film, it is a wonderful piece of cinema and it was get you talking and possibly spook you a little bit too.
Reading:
This month, I have read quite a few books including Paper Aeroplanes, Goose and If I Stay. The first two I read while on holiday and enjoyed a hell of a lot, I have a review coming up this week of them both so I’ll not say anymore. ‘If I Stay’ by Gayle Forman I also read while I was away and I absolutely adored. Having just been released as a film I wanted to read the novel before seeing it and I’m glad I did as the story is just so heartbreakingly emotional. The story focuses on Mia, a teenager and cello player who lives in Oregon, one morning her entire life changes when she, her parents and her brother go on a drive and end up in a crash that leaves the rest of her family dead and her in a coma. The book is then told through real time as Mia’s spirit sees what happens to her boyfriend Adam, her best friend and the rest of her family as well as through flashbacks of her childhood, her life with Adam and the cello which she so adores. All the time Mia is trying to decide whether to stay with her boyfriend but with the pain of her huge loss or to go and be at peace and hopefully find her family again. I’ll not ruin the ending but it is such an emotional read told so well and I really think if the film sticks well to the novel then it will be a brilliant watch as well as this brilliant read.
Currently Reading: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Eating Out:
I’ve had some great meals out this month from being invited to check out the new menu at Napoleon’s to pre-film burgers at Chiquito’s. I’ve eaten out a hell of a lot recently so November may be a quieter month food reviews wise while I have a rest from mountains of food before December and the inevitable amount of food and alcohol that the Christmas season brings.
Food Reviews from this month: Couch on Ecclesall Road, the Foodie Preview Evening at Napoleon’s Owlerton and Chiquito’s in Sheffield.
Cooking/Baking:
If there is one thing I love it is cooking and especially winter recipes, casseroles, pies and roast dinners are all some of my most favourite recipes to cook as I continue in my quest to become as good a cook as my mother [tough challenge let me tell you!]. Although, what I hate is cooking for myself because like any typical girl brought up by a mother who’s mother had a huge family it means when I cook I could easily feed a full house of 8-10. Though, the thing I love about winter recipes like the Shepherd’s pie I made last weekend is that it will last a few days so though I may have initially made a lot of food, when portioned out in these cute little casserole dishes then they are perfect little meals to be reheated for just me over the course of the week. Winter cost effective cooking at it’s best.
My first attempt at a crumble happened earlier this week, where even though I’m suffering from a very bad cold, I managed to knock together a half decent apple and blackberry crumble. Next crumble flavour to give a whirl – rhubarb and ginger which just sounds too delicious!
Doing:
From top: View from one of the parks in Corfu centre, the awesome lighting at my favourite bar in Corfu, a Hot Apple Toddy cocktail which was beautiful and sent me to sleep as soon as I got back in, another view from the park, an amazing frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
Corfu – I went to Corfu at the end of last month through to the beginning of this month and though it was nice weather for the most part [bar the final couple of days of torrential rain and tropical storms], it was a slightly double edged holiday for me. Some good points like nice food, a good rest, sun and relaxation but bad points like getting bitten ridiculously badly, being kind of stuck in the middle of nowhere and getting pretty ill while I was away. That said it was nice to get away, switch off from technology and have a good think about my life and what I want from my future. I made some big decisions while I was away based on my personal life, my health and my career and I am very excited about the future now, especially of this blog, so I guess some good things did come out of a holiday I may not have initially thought was that great.
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Kids In Glass Houses Farewell Tour – A sad tone ran throughout this night with it being the last time KIGH were ever going to play Sheffield and the last time I was ever going to see them but I thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of the greatest hits setlist from the band. They played with so much energy and it was a great way to play out their final chapter, read my full thoughts in my live review here.
Some Great Finds From The Internet This Month:
– A really really great and informative post from Zoe on how to become a full time blogger, as someone who is a full time blogger, albeit not as successful or well known as someone like Zoe, this was a must read post and it also gave me plenty of tips on how to improve my blogging and blogging schedule and how I can take my blog and my career as a blogger to the next level.
Mixtape Couture 