Tuesday 27 March 2018

Book Review - Three Amazing Things About You By Jill Mansell



"Hallie has a secret. She’s in love. He’s perfect for her in every way, but he’s seriously out of bounds. And her friends aren’t going to help her because what they do know is that Hallie doesn’t have long to live. Time is running out…

Flo has a dilemma. She really likes Zander. But his scary sister won’t be even faintly amused if she thinks Zander and Flo are becoming friends – let alone anything more.

Tasha has a problem. It’s not being nicknamed ‘Bin Girl’ because of an embarrassing incident with a credit card. It’s that her new boyfriend is the adventurous type. And she’s afraid one of his adventures will go badly wrong.

Three Amazing Things About You begins as Hallie goes on a journey. A donor has been found and she’s about to be given new lungs. But whose?"

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I've been trying to write my review of this book for the longest time, but have no idea how to start it. How do you put into words how a few hundred pages can make you see a different side to life?

What I love most about this book, compared to the last one I read (The Fifth Letter By Nicola Moriarty) is that the characters are clearly introduced from the start. Even though you're following three completely different story lines, there wasn't a point in the book where I didn't know who was who or what was happening.

I absolutely loved all three of the stories, but Hallie's particularly touched my heart. I won't give anything away but, you find out towards the end how all their stories intertwine. Hallie is a similar age to me (late twenties) & it made me connect with her even more. She is fighting for her survival, needing lungs from a donor to keep her alive. She is the most amazing, positive character & that made me love her even more! Add in a bit of forbidden romance & I was hooked. Hallie's character honestly couldn't have been anymore likable.

You also get to meet Flo, another lovely character who falls in love with Zander, who has an extremely aggravating sister. What I love most about Jill's writing is she instantly brings you closer to the characters - whether you dislike them or not!

& finally, Tasha, who falls for Rory, the adventurous, adrenaline junky. I actually really liked this storyline as I completely felt for Tasha. Rory is such a strong character & I really related to her when she feared for his life doing some of the things he was doing. I absolutely hate anything remotely daring.. the idea of rock climbing or jumping out of a plane or even going on a ferris wheel is not my idea of fun! But I loved how they came together & became stronger because of it.

As always, I love Jill's writing. There's something so heart warming & beautiful about the characters she creates, you just can't help but love them! I have quite a few of her books on my shelf to read, so expect a few more reviews coming soon!

Overall Rating - 

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Wednesday 21 March 2018

Life Lately #145


Hello lovelies,

In my last post, I mentioned James & I were heading to Crufts for the weekend in Birmingham & if you follow me on Instagram, I'm sure you would be sick of seeing all my dog pictures, but it honestly was so much fun! I got to meet the wonderful JB from The Kingsman & Fru Fru from Beauty & The Beast! I also got to stroke about a million different dogs, I was in heaven.

We stayed in the most adorable Air B'n'B, which was perfect for us. As we were driving up late Friday night, we wanted somewhere we could access after 10pm, which surprisingly limits you on the places you can book! Jo's home was perfect for us & was warm & welcoming when we arrived. Oh & if you haven't booked with Air B'n'B before, you can use my code to get £25 off your first trip! It's the first place I check when James & I are looking for a short break away.

On Sunday it was Mother's Day, so we went over to my parents' for lunch with my grandparents. Mum had made the table look incredible as always, laid out with way too much food. We bought Nan some presents too, here she is buried in a massive box! It was hilarious seeing her open it!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm slowly building up my book collection & recently added Lily Pebbles' book, The F Word. I'm only a few chapters in, but I'm finding it really interesting & very relatable. Have you got a copy?

Last Thursday I met up with my girlies for Pizza & a catch up & it was so lovely to see them & hear all about Boop's birthday! I can't wait to get our plans together for her surprise.. ; )

& finally, I couldn't do another update post without mentioning the snow again.. I mean.. what is actually going on.. it's nearly the first day of Spring!? James & I came back late Saturday night to find our parking space covered by snow, it made our little flat look so pretty. It's now only 2 & a half weeks till we move seriously not looking forward to packing up everything but we're extremely excited to get settled in now. I'm just going to miss our little flat so much.

How has your March been lovelies?

Friday 16 March 2018

Our Adventure To Shere - The White Horse

Shere has been a village I've wanted to visit for the longest time. I'd heard so many lovely things about it; a perfect place to have a wonder with some cute little shops & some delicious places to eat. Also, it was where one of my favourite movies, The Holiday was filmed!



James & I both had a Sunday off together at the beginning of February, so decided to head to Shere, for a stroll through the village & have lunch at the White Horse.

I decided to drive which probably wasn't the best idea, as the village is tiny & alot of people park on the road, making it almost impossible to weave through all the cars! However, we survived.. just..

I'd mapped out a walk around Shere to build up an appitite before lunch, called the Villiage Trail. It took us round the back of the village, through a ford, or you can choose to use the footbridge if you aren't wearing approprite footwear! You follow the path round till you get back into the village, by the River Tillingbourne.





The were loads of ducks, big & small on the river & lots of families feeding them bread. We even saw the most adorable bakery called Crumbs, were children were buying bread to feed to the ducks. It was like a scene out of a movie!



We'd booked lunch at the White Horse for 12.15pm that afternoon & I'm so glad we did! They had a sign up to say they weren't taking anymore bookings & were completely full for lunch. Definitely a popular spot & I'd highly recommend booking if you're going to take a trip there.


The pub itself is in the middle of the village & is a 'proper' countryside pub! By that I mean, picture open fireplaces & comfy arm chairs nestled in an old fashioned beamed pub. It has the cutest little seating area out the back, which I'm guessing is heaving in Summer. We weren't seated near the fireplaces, but everytime I went past to the loo, I would stand & enjoy the warmth from the flames before heading back to our table!

Right, onto the food. James started off with the Farmhouse Pate, which I had a small taster of & it was delicious. They provided us with so much pate, there was plenty to share between the two of us!


We both had a roast for main. We sat near a couple who had arrived a bit before us & when we saw their roasts come out, our minds were definitely made up! You aren't just limited to the 'Sunday Menu' - all of the dishes on the lunchtime / evening menu are available if you don't want a roast.

James chose the Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder & because I couldn't make up my mind, I had the Trio Of Roasts, which consisted of pork loin, turkey & beef. All of it was incredible, but the turkey was my favourite, it was so tender & cooked to perfection.


We managed to eat our way through most of the meal, however there was so much on the plate, it would have been near impossible to finish, even though we tried our best! It was one of those moments when you just think "I'm so full, I'm going to explode, but it's so yummy I just want to keep eating!"

After a half hour break, we decided to share a pudding as they all looked so good. We opted for the Chocolate Fudge Cake with ice cream, which again, I can only describe as amazing. It wasn't too big either which we were both hoping after our massive roast!


I'm honestly not exagerating when I say this was one of the nicest pubs I've ever eaten at & we can't wait to go back again! From start to finish, we couldn't fault it.

It also started to snow when we were getting the bill, which just made the whole afternoon even more perfect.


Have you ever been to Shere? We can't wait to go back to visit The Dabbling Duck.

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Thursday 8 March 2018

Life Lately #144


It feels like ages since I wrote an update post! & it obviously was as my first update is from Valentine's Day!

You might remember if you read my last update post, I bought Cathy a Valentines afternoon tea for 2 at Wyevale Garden Centre. We attempted to get there on the Thursday after Valentines & got stuck on the M23 for 3 hours! We re-arranged it for Sunday & actually managed to get there this time! It was so worth it as well, which was lucky, as I'd never been to the garden centre before, so it was a bit of a gamble. For £5 each, we had a full afternoon tea, complete with sandwiches, scones, cream, jam, strawberries dipped in chocolate, brownies, macaroons & bake wells!

I blogged at the beginning of the year about my goal of reading at least 8 books this year & so far I'm on number 3. I finished this one by Jill Mansell at the end of February & I've written a full post reviewing it which will be coming up soon, but I'm currently on track to read at least 1 book a month, which means I'll be smashing my goal!

Now, I couldn't really do an update post without mentioning the snow could I?! I stayed over at my parent's house while they went away for the night to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday & got to spend some time with my little girl. She's not a massive fan of the snow, it tends to get matted in her long fur coat, but we did venture out a few times before it got too heavy! I can't believe how cold it got as well, I was wrapped up in so many layers! I also wanted to show you this scarf I got from Primark, it was £3 in the sale & is the cosiest thing ever, even though it's constantly malting!

On Sunday, I travelled to Worthing to visit my friend Ricka who has just bought a house nearby. It was so lovely to have a catch up with her as I hadn't seen her since before Christmas & see her new place! We ventured into town where one of my best friend's mum was putting on a book show. We got to meet a few authors & listen to them talk about their books, then had a mooch round the town, before heading back to hers for crisps & tea!  

Later that evening, James & I went to see Allan & Maria for dinner. They've just got back from a 2 week holiday, so it was great to hear all about their adventures over dinner.

& finally, the girls & I got to try the new halloumi with chilli jam at Nandos. It was ridiculous how excited we all were for these & just to confirm, they were amazing!

Oh & the final update for this month is I became contracted full time at work! I've always worked around 40 hours a week at my current place of work, but only been contracted 25 hours & the rest was overtime, so when I was offered a full time contract, I obviously was over the moon. When James & I come to look at buying a house, that will definitely help!

How has your month been so far lovelies? I'm in the best mood as Crufts has officially started & James & I are headed to Birmingham this weekend to see all the doggies! I can't wait.

Saturday 3 March 2018

My Bullet Journal

"All you need is a notepad & a pen.."

What is it?
When people ask me what a bullet journal is, I simple answer with "it's what ever you want it to be". Despite this being incredibly useless to someone who has no idea what one is, the statement is extremely accurate. No-ones bullet journal is the same & you can honestly make it become whatever you want it to be; a diary, work schedule or habit tracker. It's a dotted notepad, with no rules. You create the pages & content & make it as complex or as simple as you like.

What do I need to start a bullet journal?
Literally, a pen & a notepad & you can start creating your journal. You can buy any blank notepad from Amazon, or invest in a 'proper' journal, which is slightly more expensive. 

Extras?
Once you're ready to get a bit more creative, you can invest in some stencils for your journal. I've found these are invaluable when it comes to designing the pages. I've used 'bunting' as headers for some pages, but I've found even the simple square box & circular stencils have been incredibly useful. I also invested in some colouring pencils & pens. If you're going to buy the coloured pens, try to chose ones with fin nibs, just for precision purposes. I've found these work better to get more definitive lines. I'd also recommend investing in some highlighters. I couldn't resist picking up these pastel ones from Amazon! & finally, as simple as it sounds, never under-estimate a pencil, a ruler & a rubber. I draw everything in pencil before going over the lines in pen or colouring them in.

Anything else I need to know before I start?
The most helpful tip I learnt before starting my journal was to do research. I watched hundreds of YouTube videos on Bullet Journaling & researched ideas on Pinterest. I've made a board of my favourite pages, which I've taken inspiration from to make my own journal. There is so much to initially think about, so just take your time & plan out your pages; the order, layout & colour scheme before jumping right in.

Ok, so onto My Bullet Journal.


I knew from the very beginning I wanted it to be simple, but pretty. I decided to start with an Index Table, which will be incredibly useful once my journal fills up throughout the year. I also went through & numbered all the pages so I could flick through the bottom of the book & find the page I was looking for quickly.


The next double page was an Introduction Into 2018. I'm hoping to have at least 2 years in this one journal, so I wanted an opening page for the start of the year. I then drew out all the months for 2018, so I have a calendar for reference through the year. This double page took up so much time as I was determined to make it look neat, with the same amount of dotes between each month & all the dates! You obviously don't have to be as picky as me & I'm hoping as the journal goes on, I'll become less obsessed with making it look immaculate haha!



Next I wanted to include a Goals & Quote Page. Goals I'm actually going to fill up throughout the year & the quotes page is literally for whatever fills my mind at the time.


Next we have 1 of my favourite pages, the Holiday Countdown Page! There's nothing more important than having something to look forward to & this double page spread keeps me on track for our 2 summer holidays we have planned this year. I decided to have a sun & suitcase as my main 'holiday pictures' & then added the sun's rays & items to pack & will colour each one in every month.


Another 1 of my favourite double pages is my 'Movie's I've Watched' & 'Books I've Read'. One of my goals this year as you would have seen if you read my review of The Fifth Letter, is to read more books. I have quite a few on my list to get through this year & I'm already on my 3rd book so far!


& finally for the 'yearly section' of my journal, I wanted to include a Bills & Savings Page. The bills page I'm leaving blank for now until James & I move to our new house in April, so I can do an accurate account of our where our money is going & my 'savings jar' is just to track how much I'm adding to our savings account each month. My goal is to put in at least £100, but anymore than that is a bonus!


& now we move onto my monthly logs.

Firstly, we have another intro page. As I got my bullet journal as a gift for my birthday (16th Jan) that month is looking a little bit bare & instead of rushing myself, I decided to start properly with February. These are the pages I'm adding to each month;




Firstly an intro page to the month. This includes a theme for the month; February; Valentines, March; Blossoming flowers for example. My first page I wanted after the intro for the month was my Birthday List, with space for present ideas. The balloons symbolise people I'm buying cards for, alongside their birthdays. Once I'd designed that page, I wanted to create a Sleep Diary to record exactly how many hours I'm getting a night. Oh & there's an additional column for naps! Extremely important!


The next page is my Habit Tracker. I absolutely love filling this in every day. It gives me the chance to see exactly how many hours I'm working, if I've spent time with friends or family & I've even created sections for food items, alcohol, watching tv & reading, just so I can see if I've managed to eat tick off certain tasks during the day. As you can see.. I worked alot in February.. & watched alot of Netflix, but I did manage to read almost every day!

My next page is an Emotions Chart. I'm going to do a different drawing each month, starting with this rose design for February to keep with the Valentine's theme & I've drawn a bunny rabbit for March! This actually turned into one of my favourite pages from February.


This double page spread is for Blog Post Ideas. A blogging ideas page was definitely something I needed in my journal. I always come up with ideas & forget to write them down or put them on an odd piece of paper & lose it! You can see I've divided this page up & separated it into columns, to help remind me what I need to still do for each post. I'm going to change this up for March & have a double page spread for just ideas, then have the chart on the next page as I ran out of room just doing it on one side!


& my final double page spread for each month is a Memories & Spending Page. Memories are so important to me, I love looking back on the past month to see what fun things I've been doing. The spending page I initially thought would be a brilliant idea, but I haven't once gone to fill it in, so I think I'll be leaving that out for the foreseeable future. I knew initially a few pages of the journal would change throughout the year, so as long as I'm keeping the pages I find useful, I don't mind leaving a few blank.


So that's it for now! I'm going to do an update post at the end of the year to show my development with my journal. It's all about experimenting with different ideas & seeing what works for you as an individual, so I'm hoping to see some developments by the time we get to the end of the year!

Have you started a bullet journal? I'd love to see your journals & what works for you!

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