Summer Favourites

Due to my absence from blogging this summer, I've decided to combine my favourites from both June, July and August collectively. So what have I been able to sink my teeth into whilst the UK has been turning into an oven (hottest summer since '76) I hear you ask? Well, dig into my longest favourites blog post to find out...

Books 

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
If you like Anna Kendrick, Anna Kendrick's twitter account or Instagram, you will love this book, where instead of being constricted to a word count limit, you will find pages upon pages of sassy remarks and funny quips. I laughed a lot reading this book, Kendrick tells stories from childhood through to adulthood reflecting on her career, dating and social life.

A twisted tale by Liz Braswell
A classic Fairytale is given a dark twist in the novels created by Liz Braswell. I could not put this book down! I have gifted the twisted tale of Beauty and the Beast for Christmas, I'm a bit of a slow reader when it comes to books, but I finished this page-turner in less than 2 days. I already knew the story of Beauty and the Beast (one of my childhood favourites), so I decided to rediscover the story with an open mind. Without revealing any spoilers all I can say is that this book would not be made into a children's Disney film anytime soon. It's a fairytale with for adults, Whilst the backbone of the story remains similar, the background stories of smaller characters come into play and have greater significance, the story gets darker and sinister with every-page and (even though I knew the story) I really wasn't sure If this one was going to end in a happily ever after. You'll just have to read to find out. If you're into fairytale magic, and crime shows or novels this may be the perfect mix for you, it's more brothers Grimm than dainty Disney.

Wilde About the Girl by Louise Pentland
Louise takes us back into the life of Robin Wilde in this fabulously moving and empowering sequel. If you haven't read this or Wilde Like me yet, stop whatever you're doing (presumably reading this) and go buy them or borrow them (from a friend or library) and read them. I couldn't put this book down, I feel it was a mixture of already being invested in the characters, getting hooked on the little storylines and intrigued by the drama. This book is not just a modern grown-up fairytale read, it touches on raw and sensitive issues that aren't always spoken about so openly. The characters are loveable warm and welcoming and if you cannot identify with Robin you will with one of the many other fantastic characters in this book. (I don't want to say too much because I'm not a fan of spoilers, and I'm hoping you'll read it too) I laughed, cried, agreed, and was even rather angry at different moments throughout this book, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of reading.

Events

Ed Sheeran Divide World Tour
One Man, One Guitar, One Stage and around 60,000 people up on their feet dancing away. It's the best concert experience I have ever had and on I will probably never experience again. It really is just Ed and his Guitar, and I still can't quite believe it. Even if you're not Ed Sheeran fan, you've got to admit that's pretty impressive. In between playing his songs and having 60,00 people sing them back to him, he chatted to the audience like he had come round for a cuppa and a catch-up. Not only was Ed out of this world, performing songs from all three albums, his support acts were also on another level. I'll be honest I didn't really know who Jamie Lawson was before the concert but recognised a fair amount of his songs, and enjoyed his acoustic-folk style. When Anne Marie came on stage she stole the show, so much so I almost forgot I was there to Ed and felt she was Headlining, she put on an incredible performed all her hits and some lesser-known tunes from her incredible album. She had the stadium singing along with her and for her as well as sharing funny stories in between her set list. 

The World Cup
This year the World cup was simply brilliant, the football seemed to have stepped up a level, most if not all the matches I saw were energetic and eventful. You may be eye-rolling and thinking "well duh, it's the world cup", I hear you, but there was an energy that radiated from the underdogs. The unity and camaraderie of the fans was also something special (Mexico's new found love for Korea was beautiful).

• England, it's the first time since 1990 that England reached the quarterfinals, 1000 since England reached the semi-finals. They played as a team, throughout the tournament. They restored the English faith and love for football. Tell me you didn't think Football might actually come home. In many ways the lads with the three lions on their chests did bring football home, Harry Kane won the Golden Boot, being the player who scored the most goals in the tournament. It's a brilliant team already and it's still got a long way to go so who knows atrophy could be in their hands soon. 
• France was brilliant, having lost out on the 2016 Euro Championship trophy I knew they'd be out for gold and gold is exactly what they got. I'm as patriotic about England as I am about France, I'm incredibly proud of Les Bleus. Again a team that played as a team and played to their strengths. Mbappé Won young player of the tournament at age 19.

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child
Another Christmas gift that got used this summer were my tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I feel incredibly lucky, after two years of waiting I finally walked through the doors of the Palace Theatre in London. Even though It's a show with no audience participation would still call it an experience, we were transported back into the wizarding world, and I really didn't want to leave. It was a show like I had never seen before, truly magical, the set was very cleverly responsive and moved in ways I didn't realise a stage could, the props and scenes were incredible. The magic, spells and enchantments were incredible, I still have no idea how they managed most of the special effects. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has or hasn't read the screenplay.

100 Days Without Anxiety
The challenges I set for myself in order to tackle my anxiety head on became a bit of a chore, I felt like I was doing them just for the blog posts and the hours of editing the videos just didn't seem worth it. During my blogging break, I decided to do some challenges for myself, ones that I didn't have to write or blog about and it made me fall back in step with completing the challenge and helped me focus on why I was doing them and allowed me to enjoy them again. I'm back on track and am nearly at the halfway point.

Beauty

No7
It's so important to protect your skin from the sun. Whilst a little sun is necessary for your daily dose of vitamin D, too much can lead to burnt skin, skin damage and even skin cancer. It's best to smother on the suncream to protect your skin. A lot of people don't like suncream on their face or think that their foundation is enough of a barrier to protect their face. This product actually protects your pretty face from UVA and UVB rays, it's not heavy like most sun creams and doesn't leave you feeling oily. Its perfect to use on its own or as a base for makeup. I use this daily, to protect my skin no matter the weather.

No7
I find it really difficult to find a foundation that matches my skin tone and gives me a good amount of coverage. My olive skin tone either ends up looking orange, pale or cakey, and I find myself jumping from product to product brand to brand. After seeing an advert on TV my sister headed to our local boots where she got a skin match foundation, seeing the results she got and how well the product matched her skin tone I decided to go myself, I was given a couple of different shades to test at home and found a match that I really loved. I use this whenever I need a good coverage to last all day, it feels very smooth and light has a natural matte finish.

Bare Minerals
My go-to summer foundation. I have been using Bare Minerals for years, ever since I had an eczema outbreak on my face, It's mineral based and enriches the skin. The originals it a loose powder foundation, it gives a light coverage and is good to use in heatwave situations where most makeup will melt off my face. It's also my go-to to take abroad, I never have to worry about my foundation bottle exploding, breaking or leaking during travel.

Miscellaneous 

Spice Girls T-shirt
Who wasn't a fan of the first big Female pop group? The spice girls defined part of my childhood, I had a lot of Spice Merch, the dolls, the shoes, the Dvd, the t-shirt even the lollipops (the peak of commercialisation right there). So when I saw this shirt I had to get it, The shirt itself is of good quality (a.k.a it's not see through, hurray), a little oversized but I like that style so it was perfect. I've already worn it a ridiculous amount of times and it may even be my favourite t-shirt. Oh, right, almost forget to say it's from Missy Empire at £14.99.

Air Plant
It looks so cool! I was honestly contemplating leaving this paragraph as that one sentence, it's hot and I'm tired, but my blog is not my Instagram page and I need more than an 8-word caption. The plant is an air plant, I had no idea these existed before now, whilst the instruction say to dampen the soil, the care of the plant is a little more than a quick spritz of water, once a week you take the plant out of the spiral and place it in to soak in a bowl of water for a few minutes, after which you leave it to dry in sunshine for 2-3 hours. (the longest process of watering a plant). The little concrete slab, copper spiral and small air plant create a beautiful piece together.

What have you been loving this summer? Did you enjoy the heatwave or melt every day? Have you seen any shows/films/concerts this summer? Let me know in the comments below.

Hope you enjoyed this Blog Post.
Thanks for reading