November Life Lately
IT'S CHRISTMASSSSS!
Well, it's December at least!
My tree is going up at the weekend (more on that below), my Christmas jumper is coming out and I'm working through my Makeup Revolution advent calendar (thanks Mum!).
I have so many blog posts I want to get done before the end of the year, including my year in review, favourites of the year and... my ten years of blogging anniversary!
So without further ado, here's what I got up to in November.
(And here's my one second every day of the month)
What I did
So, as I mentioned last month, November meant a new job! My last day at Stagecoach was wonderful and awful and sad and amazing all at the same time! My team decorated an entire meeting room for me and got everyone in while I opened my presents. The commercial director and head of marketing both said a few words about me and I obviously cried! I got some absolutely amazing gifts, from a bus Christmas tree decoration to a trip to go cuddle alpacas, to a beautiful Pandora necklace to a box full of Stagecoach merchandise! I had a wonderful turn out to my leaving drinks and I felt so proud to have worked with such an amazing team. I was incredibly sad to leave but so happy to have made such amazing friends and had so many wonderful opportunities.
And then of course, when one door closes, another one opens and I started my new job as CRM manager at Manchester Airport Group on the 18th November! I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks as I already feel so settled already. I work with an absolutely brilliant team and I'm really loving it. And I can see planes from my desk (bonus!).
With starting a new job we'd kept November pretty quiet, which meant we had a little bit more time for spontaneity (I know! Us? Spontaneous?!). We've had a couple of date nights, friends over for board game night and evenings out this month which has been really lovely.
We've also used a lot of our spare time on stuff for our house. Yes, we've been in here over 2 years but we've been really taking our time with things and now the wedding and honeymoon are over we've had a bit more headspace to get things done. We've ordered new carpets which are coming on Friday (and then we can put up our tree!), we've been sorting out some bits of painting, reorganised the kitchen, had a big trip to IKEA and we've asked for a new TV cabinet for the living room and a fireplace for the front room for Christmas. It feels like we're nearly there now with the downstairs of our house! I can't wait to spend a bit more time in the front room now the winter is here - it's such a cosy space with a lovely bay window where we have our Christmas tree, and I know it will be so nice once the new carpet is in this week (and maybe a new sofa in the new year...)
Where I've been
The 8th November marked mine and Phil's 6 year anniversary and he's just about letting me celebrate our "dating" anniversary as well as our wedding anniversary (and our engagement anniversary...). We got off to a great start in the morning by getting each other exactly the same anniversary card...
We had booked a celebratory meal at the Oddfellows on the Park. This is actually where we went out for our anniversary meal last year, but for Phil's 30th my parents got him a voucher for the tasting menu with a wine flight, so we thought our anniversary would be the perfect opportunity to use the voucher.
The food there was amazing last year but I cannot recommend the tasting menu more. Each course was absolutely exquisite, incredibly interesting and a bit fun. Phil had the classic menu and I had the vegetarian option. The staff were brilliant, explaining every course and every wine, and we had such a brilliant time. Don't be fooled by the thought of a tasting menu - we were so stuffed by the end we couldn't finish our (second!) dessert! They change the menu every season so I'm tempted to go again next year again (I'm still thinking about that celeriac and truffle soup...).
We had another evening out in November to a gig with two of our best friends, Meg and Si. We'd seen Glass Caves busking in Manchester city centre years and years ago, and when Si was booking tickets for the gig saw I liked the band on Facebook and asked if we wanted to come along. The band were brilliant and we had such a good time!
What I read
Eight books read this month:
The Last Girlfriend on Earth
The Exorcist
Dark Matter
The Truth and Other Lies
Miller's Valley
Changeling
One True Thing
Starve Acre
I thought I would struggle to keep up with reading this month as I drive to work now and lose my lovely 20 minute bus journey commute each way, but I've been really trying to make time for reading in the mornings and evenings to make up for it.
My favourite book this month was The Last Girlfriend on Earth which my friend Alex lent to me. I devoured the whole thing in a working day I loved it so much. I also absolutely loved Miller's Valley, which led me to One True Thing, both by Anna Quindlen. For horror I finally read The Exorcist, and I'd been so excited to read Starve Acre and Changeling and they did not disappoint!
What I watched
Two cinema trips this month to see Doctor Sleep and Knives Out which were both brilliant. I'm a huuuuuuge fan of The Shining and I was over the moon when I found out Mike Flannagan was directing Doctor Sleep as The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favourite TV shows ever. I loved Doctor Sleep so much and have been surprised by how much I keep thinking about it!
At home this month we've watched:
In the Mood for Love
Spirited Away
Paddington 1 and 2
12 Angry Men
Muppet Christmas Carol
I feel like most people know this by 12 Angry Men really is a masterpiece! I also picked up both the Paddington films the day before starting my new job and we watched them both on a Sunday afternoon. Oh and I saw Muppet Christmas Carol for the first time after being terrified of it as a kid (it was great, but the ghost of Christmas future is still terrifying).
What I've listened to
After enjoying Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test last month, this month I listened to So You've Been Publicly Shamed. I've also recently gotten into The High Low podcast and have been listening to the last year's worth of episodes on my drive and it is exactly my cup of tea!
Other things I loved
I'm not super into beauty or hair, but I have picked up a couple of great things this month. I am a bit obsessed with my hair and mostly how long it takes to dry, so I picked up one of those towel turban things for a fiver from Asda and I've been shoving my hair straight in that when wet and leaving it for 20 minutes to dry while I do my makeup and/or read rather than rubbing it to death with a towel straight out of the shower. My hair maybe hasn't dried much quicker but it definitely feels less frizzy and softer which I really like.
I also picked up some reusable cotton pads after someone was talking about them on twitter. I usually get through a couple of pads a night and these are so big I can use one for both my mircellar water and my toner, and then they just go in a bag and into the washing machine. Bargain!
What I read online
The Guardian - How we fell in love with sweet potatoes - yes this is a long read about sweet potatoes and yes that might be my wheelhouse
Unusual Efforts - Andre Gomes and displays of male love
Buzzfeed - 27 Doctor Sleep Making-of Facts
The Atlantic - Stop trying to raise successful kids
Writing Between Pauses - 5 Things I've learned about being resilient
A Cup of Jo - 15 things I wish someone had told me when I started cooking
Huffington Post - Having kids later in life isn't selfish
The Guardian - Why am I happy to spend £20 on four pints of beer but not on a bottle of wine? - this whole concept of money and emotion is absolute fascinating to me
Self.com - When I speak out about fat shaming I'm told "just lose weight"
Yes and Yes - The trap of the overly virtuous lunch (and how to avoid it)
Buzzfeed - 28 pieces of advice people learned from therapy
Hope you are feeling fantasically festive and having a wonderful December!
Charlotte x
Well, it's December at least!
My tree is going up at the weekend (more on that below), my Christmas jumper is coming out and I'm working through my Makeup Revolution advent calendar (thanks Mum!).
I have so many blog posts I want to get done before the end of the year, including my year in review, favourites of the year and... my ten years of blogging anniversary!
So without further ado, here's what I got up to in November.
(And here's my one second every day of the month)
What I did
And then of course, when one door closes, another one opens and I started my new job as CRM manager at Manchester Airport Group on the 18th November! I can't believe it's only been 3 weeks as I already feel so settled already. I work with an absolutely brilliant team and I'm really loving it. And I can see planes from my desk (bonus!).
With starting a new job we'd kept November pretty quiet, which meant we had a little bit more time for spontaneity (I know! Us? Spontaneous?!). We've had a couple of date nights, friends over for board game night and evenings out this month which has been really lovely.
We've also used a lot of our spare time on stuff for our house. Yes, we've been in here over 2 years but we've been really taking our time with things and now the wedding and honeymoon are over we've had a bit more headspace to get things done. We've ordered new carpets which are coming on Friday (and then we can put up our tree!), we've been sorting out some bits of painting, reorganised the kitchen, had a big trip to IKEA and we've asked for a new TV cabinet for the living room and a fireplace for the front room for Christmas. It feels like we're nearly there now with the downstairs of our house! I can't wait to spend a bit more time in the front room now the winter is here - it's such a cosy space with a lovely bay window where we have our Christmas tree, and I know it will be so nice once the new carpet is in this week (and maybe a new sofa in the new year...)
Where I've been
The 8th November marked mine and Phil's 6 year anniversary and he's just about letting me celebrate our "dating" anniversary as well as our wedding anniversary (and our engagement anniversary...). We got off to a great start in the morning by getting each other exactly the same anniversary card...
The food there was amazing last year but I cannot recommend the tasting menu more. Each course was absolutely exquisite, incredibly interesting and a bit fun. Phil had the classic menu and I had the vegetarian option. The staff were brilliant, explaining every course and every wine, and we had such a brilliant time. Don't be fooled by the thought of a tasting menu - we were so stuffed by the end we couldn't finish our (second!) dessert! They change the menu every season so I'm tempted to go again next year again (I'm still thinking about that celeriac and truffle soup...).
We had another evening out in November to a gig with two of our best friends, Meg and Si. We'd seen Glass Caves busking in Manchester city centre years and years ago, and when Si was booking tickets for the gig saw I liked the band on Facebook and asked if we wanted to come along. The band were brilliant and we had such a good time!
What I read
Eight books read this month:
The Last Girlfriend on Earth
The Exorcist
Dark Matter
The Truth and Other Lies
Miller's Valley
Changeling
One True Thing
Starve Acre
I thought I would struggle to keep up with reading this month as I drive to work now and lose my lovely 20 minute bus journey commute each way, but I've been really trying to make time for reading in the mornings and evenings to make up for it.
My favourite book this month was The Last Girlfriend on Earth which my friend Alex lent to me. I devoured the whole thing in a working day I loved it so much. I also absolutely loved Miller's Valley, which led me to One True Thing, both by Anna Quindlen. For horror I finally read The Exorcist, and I'd been so excited to read Starve Acre and Changeling and they did not disappoint!
What I watched
Two cinema trips this month to see Doctor Sleep and Knives Out which were both brilliant. I'm a huuuuuuge fan of The Shining and I was over the moon when I found out Mike Flannagan was directing Doctor Sleep as The Haunting of Hill House is one of my favourite TV shows ever. I loved Doctor Sleep so much and have been surprised by how much I keep thinking about it!
At home this month we've watched:
In the Mood for Love
Spirited Away
Paddington 1 and 2
12 Angry Men
Muppet Christmas Carol
I feel like most people know this by 12 Angry Men really is a masterpiece! I also picked up both the Paddington films the day before starting my new job and we watched them both on a Sunday afternoon. Oh and I saw Muppet Christmas Carol for the first time after being terrified of it as a kid (it was great, but the ghost of Christmas future is still terrifying).
What I've listened to
After enjoying Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test last month, this month I listened to So You've Been Publicly Shamed. I've also recently gotten into The High Low podcast and have been listening to the last year's worth of episodes on my drive and it is exactly my cup of tea!
Other things I loved
I'm not super into beauty or hair, but I have picked up a couple of great things this month. I am a bit obsessed with my hair and mostly how long it takes to dry, so I picked up one of those towel turban things for a fiver from Asda and I've been shoving my hair straight in that when wet and leaving it for 20 minutes to dry while I do my makeup and/or read rather than rubbing it to death with a towel straight out of the shower. My hair maybe hasn't dried much quicker but it definitely feels less frizzy and softer which I really like.
I also picked up some reusable cotton pads after someone was talking about them on twitter. I usually get through a couple of pads a night and these are so big I can use one for both my mircellar water and my toner, and then they just go in a bag and into the washing machine. Bargain!
What I read online
The Guardian - How we fell in love with sweet potatoes - yes this is a long read about sweet potatoes and yes that might be my wheelhouse
Unusual Efforts - Andre Gomes and displays of male love
Buzzfeed - 27 Doctor Sleep Making-of Facts
The Atlantic - Stop trying to raise successful kids
Writing Between Pauses - 5 Things I've learned about being resilient
A Cup of Jo - 15 things I wish someone had told me when I started cooking
Huffington Post - Having kids later in life isn't selfish
The Guardian - Why am I happy to spend £20 on four pints of beer but not on a bottle of wine? - this whole concept of money and emotion is absolute fascinating to me
Self.com - When I speak out about fat shaming I'm told "just lose weight"
Yes and Yes - The trap of the overly virtuous lunch (and how to avoid it)
Buzzfeed - 28 pieces of advice people learned from therapy
Hope you are feeling fantasically festive and having a wonderful December!
Charlotte x
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