July Life Lately

It's August! Which means we go to Canada NEXT MONTH!!!!! We booked our honeymoon to Canada nearly a year ago and I can't believe it's nearly here! We'd better get planning what we're going to go (eg. where we're going to eat).

July has been busy but fun - we've been away two weekends out of four, and Phil was away all four weekends, so we've not had loads of time at home together in July. I'm looking forward to some time together this month!

It has been quite nice though so have a few weekends on my own though - sunny Friday evenings with one of my closet friends eating vegan fried chicken at Manchester International Festival, tapas lunch with my cousin, a party for my friend's Dad, dinner with my parents, showing our wedding video and photos to my Nan, watching lots of Parks and Rec and making things for dinner Phil doesn't like!

Here's what I got up to in July, and here's my One Second Every Day of the month...

Where I've been

Lots of long drives this month! At the start of the month we spent the weekend in Norfolk for one of Phil's friend's 30th Birthdays. We stayed with his parents in their beautiful house in the countryside, squeezed in some parkrun tourism at Thetford and had a lovely time catching up with Phil's friends from university.

Then two weeks later we headed back to the East of the country for a wedding! Another of Phil's friends from university had the most beautiful wedding in Hitchin, with a gorgeous marquee at Shortmead House. I absolutely love a wedding in a marquee! We squeezed in some more parkrun tourism in the morning, got dressed up and had the best day, and then danced all night. It was such a lovely day for an amazing couple.

On the way back from the wedding we stopped off at Bletchley Park. I've wanted to go for absolutely years and we always said if we were ever in the area we'd pay a visit. It was absolutely brilliant. There's just so much to see! We spent a good few hours there and didn't get close to seeing everything, but your ticket is an annual pass so you can come back any time in the year, so I'm hoping we get a chance to go again. Most of what I knew was from The Imitation Game, so there was so much I didn't know, and it's an incredible interesting, moving and interactive museum that I can't recommend more!

What I've been doing

This month, I finally had the chop! I've been talking about cutting my hair for years but every time I've bottled it. I love my long hair and it's become my signature style, but it was also getting a bit boring, not to mention hot in the summer! I was going to do it a few years ago, but then we got engaged and I wanted it long for the wedding. I spent weeks before my appointment dithering, and in the end I just went for it. I absolutely love it! It took me a while to get used to, but now I love it and I'm so glad I did it!

I set my reading challenge at a fairly achieveable 52 books this year (I read 94 last year) with the wedding and the honeymoon, but it turns out I've been reading just as much as ever. So this month, 6 months early, I hit my reading goal of 52 books! I have no idea what my aim is now for the next of the year but it's nice to not have one! I've read some brilliant books this year so I might do a mid-year review of my favourites.

Phil and I love dogs. Love them. We tell each other about dogs we've seen during the day, we will both stop mid-sentence to point out dogs, we watch dog videos to cheer ourselves up, we stalk other people's dogs on Instagram. We love them. We talk about getting a dog a lot, but we don't have a lot of experience in actually looking after them, so a few months ago we signed up to Borrow my Doggy. Reader, it's been a rollercoaster. We've had people cancel on us the day of the meet up, people cancel the day before, we've been completely ghosted. We were starting to give up, and then one day I decided to check, and there was a beautiful golden retriever in our area. I sent over my standard message but I wasn't feeling hopeful, but then we got a reply. And then she was free to meet up. And before we knew it we had a date.  Even half an hour before we still thought we were going to get stood up, but nope, we arrived at the house and knocked on the door.

And that's where we met Benji! He is the most beautiful puppy, incredibly exciteable and social and loves to play! We've taken him out twice now and have a great relationship with his owner who is happy for us to let her kno when we want to borrow him. He's hard work but it's good practice and it's great to have the option of playing with a dog whenever we like! It took us a long time to find a good match but I'm so glad we stuck it out!

What I've read
Eight books this month:

Salt Slow
The Red Word
Let the Great World Spin
Three Women
Attrib
Lanny
The Ecliptic
The Interestings

My favourite was The Interestings which I absolutely loved and was a bit bereft when it was over! I also really loved Lanny which is being talked about a lot at the moment for good reason.

What I've been watching
Two cinema trips this month! Midsommar which I loved except for that one bit and I knew about it and looked away but then it was in a flashback?! It was one of those that I can't stop thinking about and I just want to read everything about! If you've seen it and loved it, this episode of The Evolution of Horror podcast is well worth a listen.

We alsowent to see Spider-man: Far from home which I really enjoyed, maybe even more than the first one?!

What I've read online
Lithub - Free to be you and me and childfree
Grazia - I don't feel smart enough for 2019
Stylist - I had a miscarriage at Disney World
Vox - Why is everyone on Tinder obsessed with tacos?
A Rosie Outlook - Out of alignment
The New Yorker - The kiss that changed video games
Yes and Yes - How to use envy as a tool
Plus Size - A Love Letter to Beth Ditto
The Guardian - I learned I could do my job and not be ashamed of having a baby
The Times - When Harry met Sally - 30 years on
The Metro - How to be happy for your friends when you are jealous of their achievements
Prospect Magazine - The battle over bread
Huffington Post - The moment I knew I wanted kids (as told by 5 women)
Refinery 29 - I'm the only queer person in my friendship group and it's really lonely
Design Sponge - Simple tips for success
The Guardian - Why we can't get enough of audiobooks
Grazia - Things you only know if you don't have a girl gang
Food 52 - The truth about caramelising onions
The Guardian - Top chefs share their simple recipes
Writing between pauses - 6 lessons from 6 years of marriage
Stylist - I didn't know I was suffering from burnout, until I was made redundant
Medium - The secret to getting ahead is doing the work others don't
Plus size - What shame can't achieve
The Midult - Do you "save for best"?
The Guardian - Where's the advice for men on how to propose?

Hope you're having a lovely August so far!

Charlotte x