Hello!

Another month, another list of things that got me through the month! August has flown by in a heartbeat and I’m sure I spent 90% of it working or thinking about work – it’s been manic busy and I’m actually kind of glad it’s nearly over! September is my favourite month (not just because it’s my birthday month…), I love the back to school vibes and soon it’ll be cold enough for me to be snuggled under a blanket at basically all times.

But before I get lost in cosy autumnal vibes, here’s what I treasured in August.

What I bought

August was a big month – my phone contract was up for renewal and even though I haven’t ‘bought’ it, I’m still counting it. I upgraded my three year old phone to a shiny new one that doesn’t have a headphone port (and I’m still bitter about it), otherwise it’s basically the same and I’m realising I’m way less bothered about having the latest tech than I used to be. The fancy new Hasselblad camera is very nice though.

The big purchase of August was my beautiful new Macbook Pro – my previous one lasted a solid 5.5 years, but it couldn’t get me through my days of video meetings anymore and considering I use my laptop predominantly for work, I needed an upgrade. Hence, shiny new Apple product that I know is ridiculously overpriced but:

1. It’s pretty
2. I edit videos using Final Cut Pro which is exclusive to Mac
3. It’s got the cool touch bar thing at the top of the keyboard
4. It’s pretty

Don’t judge me 🙏

What I cooked

I’m still on that HelloFresh hype (hit me up if you want to try a free box!) but my favourite recipe hands down in the cheesy oven baked risotto with rocket salad – I’ve never enjoyed a salad so much in my life, the risotto is so good and being oven baked means I don’t have to hover over it for 45 minutes. And it always cleans really well, no burning to the bottom of the pan! So delicious, thoroughly recommend!

What I snacked on

I’m going through a cake phase, and the mini Victoria Sponge cupcakes from Sainsburys are second to none. Otherwise, I’ve very much been enjoying a kitkat.

What I sang along to

What I watched

I’m knee deep in medical dramas at the moment – when my partner’s home, we’re watching Grey’s Anatomy for the first time (we’re halfway through season 2, I’m aware we have so much to catch up on) and when he’s not home, I’m binge watching The Resident on Disney+ at a probably unhealthy rate.

I don’t know why, I’m just loving a medical drama right now. The Resident is more serious, Grey’s Anatomy is more sitcom-y and if I want a proper comedy I’ll catch an episode of Scrubs but I’m having a great time with my TV viewership this month.

Wedding planning update

Last month it was fake flowers, this month it’s fireworks – not a huge update, I asked a company for a quote and I haven’t heard back yet but I’m hoping Bonfire Night this year will serve as great inspiration.

What I read

This was a much slower reading month for me – I started with the 500 page sequel to last month’s read Adrenaline, The Last Minute by Jeff Abbott which was really good but not quite as gripping as the first one, so took me a couple of weeks to finish.

Next up was The 39 Steps by John Buchan – written in the early 20th century, I’m not usually one for reading books of that era but I have a personal mission to read everything on my shelf and it was only 150 odd pages. 1 star read – it was fine, just not to my taste.

And I’m currently reading The Shelf by Helly Acton – I started it literally last night and read 99 pages in one sitting. It’s like reality TV in words and I’m lapping it up. Full review will be on my Instagram before the end of August I reckon!

I’m also currently listening to The Magpie Society: One For Sorrow by Amy McCulloch and Zoe Sugg – with the occassional two hour round trip to work and back becoming more frequent with starting to work in the office again, I figured I’m going to have plenty of time to listen to books! I’m almost halfway through this book and the acting is somewhat terrible, the story predictable, but a post private school murder mystery is funny to me – very easy listening YA.

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Every month I wonder if these posts sound really fake and cringy and every month I absolutely fly through writing them because I love writing about things I enjoy! All the more reason to keep doing it!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx