Notes from September

September is my birthday month and I am now the grand old age of 33. I like being 33 because I like odd numbers, and I also like the number 3. Fascinating huh?

My birthday was very cute and I did the following things: received some beautiful flowers from my husband at my office, had a Caffe Nero Milano hot chocolate, went to the Pizza Hut buffet at lunchtime with my colleague and went to see John Robins' stand up.

However my real favourite thing about September is that I can get out this hat.

Other things I have been...

Reading

•  A lovely little piece about my favourite scary movie, Casper
•  Being a celebrity publicist does not sound glam
• The power of 90 - 120 minutes 

I read four books this month and it was a MIXED BAG.

• The River by Peter Heller was a slow, meandering, very sombre book with long descriptions about rivers, fishing rods and so on. Not one for me.
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was great and original, but something stopped me from giving it the old 5 stars. I think it was that I never fully loved the characters. 
•  The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. I feel like saying I really didn't like this book is doing the sensitive source material a disservice because it is based on a true story and I've no doubt that that story is fascinating. However, the way this book was written was just so simplistic and cliched; it felt like a waste! The cringeworthy descriptions of romance and sex made me eye roll on the bus and the writing reminded me of Shantaram, which is my absolute worst book of all time. Sometimes if I'm sad I look up 1 star reviews of Shantaram on GoodReads because they always cheer me up. 
• A non fiction book I read was The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin, whose podcast I love. Her theory is that all people fit into one 'tendency' and this dictates how we meet expectations. It is a fun and interesting theory but I still can't decide which tendency I am! 

Listening

I think I have reached peak podcast people. I have even had to unsubscribe from some, it was just getting a bit much. After the August slump, where lots of 'casts take a break, my app was going cray with all the new releases and I'm still working my way through. It's silly really as the only person who says I have to get through them all so quickly is me, it's not like they are going anywhere! I guess I'm scared I'll miss something ToPiCAl and important, like an event with my favourite author that's happening in the community centre at the end of my road. The thing is, if I do whittle down my list and have like, 2 or 3 left to listen to, that also makes me annoyed because WHAT IF I HAVE NO MORE TO LISTEN TO?!? 

Watching 

Great British Bake Off, obviously, and also Bake Off: An Extra Slice which features comedian Tom Allen talking to the studio audience about their bakes. He is a sarcastic dream with the funniest, quickest quips. I watched Hustlers at the cinema and it made stripping look super fun, especially if you look like JLo. As a birthday treat, I watched 3 Men and a Little Lady for the millionth time which is in my top 5 films of all time. Oh the '90s.

Enjoying on Instagram 

• This outfit is PERFECT for when you can wear bare legs and a knit. Which happens for about 3 days a year. 
• I love this woman's whole vibe and I also love these shoes
• I want to touch these flowers so much
• The prettiest drink in all the land

Eating

I went to Tibits, a vegetarian buffet style restaurant in London. It was quite pricey cos, London, but all the food was so fresh and interesting, and as I love a plate of picky bits the absolute most I had a whale of a time. Now I have to tell you about the best cake there ever was. It is a vegan ginger cake from this book by Honey & Co (who I am now obsessed with and would like to run not walk to their cafe - in London, of course) but I heard about it from my colleague who made it and brought it into work. Since she brought it in I have made it two times and I think about it daily. It is gingery, moist and has pears inside and on top, with the most delicious crunchy crust. My gosh. This cake. 

Doing 

I went to Friends Fest and it was a fun day because I was with fun people but the event itself I would describe as fine. I will never get over the cocktails, which were £8, in pre-mixed bottles and filled 3/4 of the way with ice. NEVER. As mentioned previously, it was my birthday which was pleasant, although I had to go to work on the actual day. Boo!

October is nice but I don't like the slow crawl towards dark in the morning and dark in the evening.