December

My 12th and final Monthly Roundup. I can't believe it has been a year! It's a tradition i've enjoyed and stuck to with OCD like passion but for 2012 i've decided to maybe do a weekly or bi-weekly thing. To encourage a less spaced put but still regular post and also because the world could end at any second so i need to leave less time between summaries of my life :)


December 2011 mostly consisted of assessments and Christmas for me but the last couple weeks in particular have been lovely! I've either been at home in Exeter or at my Grandparent's house, i've done virtually none of the work i have 10 days to finish and i have been eating pretty much anything in a 2 meter radius of my mouth. I got to see lots of friends too, who i'm sure have felt entirely lost since i went to uni!

A shopping trip with Sammy-Jo: New Uni Friend Extraordinaire.

3 shots of "Uni. Xmas". I cooked a huge meal for my flat before we exchanged pressies and got superbly drunk!

3 Views from Home.

 Christmas Day, when i covered myself in glitter and flowers, got my grandma drunk and danced with her in the kitchen to Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. It was amazing!

I guess that sums up December pretty well. It's been a good month, slow and stressful start with a mellow middle and sparkly finish (i am covering myself in glitter tonight!).

I do have one unseen OOTD to share with y'all, from Christmas Day when (well within my rights as baby of the family) i basically played dress up:

 

TOP:EVANS SKIRT:H&M BOOTS:DR MARTEN

As previously mentioned i danced around the kitchen with my Grandma in this but i also had a bit of a rum induced rave with my cousin during which i tried desperately to convince her that this outfit made me look like Rhianna...

In a kind of non-direct probably only makes sense to me way, this outfit sums up my style in 2011, i wore whatever i wanted. I did my best to ignore all "rules" and try things i never did before. For example i am now the proud owner of several skin tight black skirts and at least 2 striped jumpers, STFU fashion rules!

2011 was so amazing, i'm not sure i want to try and explain, i'll probably just mess it up.

I'm eternally grateful for this year and i eagerly await the next one!

November

NOVEMBER WAS BUSY AND WENT QUICK!



That is basically all i really have time to say but in the interests of procrastination i will elaborate!

NOVEMBER WAS VERY BUSY AND WENT BY VERY QUICKLY!
Honestly, i can't even think of what i've done, all the days/weeks have merged into one and i have been super busy! And now it's Decemeber, and i'm still busy, but i now get the pleasure of the pre-xmas pressure too! Joy To The World.

I haven't even taken any photos.
I Suck!

Hopefully shit will calm down soon!



(lamest monthly round-up post ever, sry guyz)

October

first things first, let me say this:

and this:

now, with the formalities out of the way, i'll get to rounding up my month!

October, much like September has been busy. My course at university really got going in terms of work load and assessments and finding my place in Worcester and in a new group of people took a lot of time too. The last 2 months have been a lot of hard work so it's harder for me to write a super positive review of the month than it was earlier in the year. However, despite the hard work and other difficult shit that has gone down i'm really enjoying myself and seeing a lot of payback for the effort i'm putting in!
For example in my first practical assessment (a physical theatre piece), me and the rest of my group got an A-, i smiled til my face was sore after that! And because i'm completely at peace with making a tit out of myself in the interests of artistic endeavour and being awesome at life, here is a picture of me in character for said assessment, i was a crazy tea lady who was in love with her boss:

So basically; September and especially October have made me remember and value lessons i learnt long ago:
Optimism, Perseverance and Giving 100% to the stuff you love and are passionate for.

Extremely Random Picture Selection, from top to bottom:
1 - Spot the Squirrel
2 - Nacho Night
3 - Nails inspired by the patterns on my new coat (which i'll post on very soon, fingers crossed!)
4 - TOGA! TOGA! TOGA!
5 - SQUIRREL!
6 - Bacon Weave
7 - My Massive Mystery Bruise
8 - Worcester in the Sunshine
9 - I Cooked (another) Roast Dinner

September

 [I VERY QUICKLY NEED TO INFORM YOU, THE READER, THAT THIS IS MY 200TH POST! YOU MAY NOW CONTINUE :D]

September has undoubtedly been the most crazy month of my year thus far. I feel like i have possibly written that before but this time; i really mean it.
How many emotions/life changing events/bottles of wine etc. are supposed to go into 30 days? Because i feel like i have taken more than my fair share!

Obviously, the biggest thing that has happened to me this month (not even counting how it acted as catalyst for several smaller things) was my move to Worcester to start my Drama & Performance BA at university.
I'm two weeks in now and i've done one full week of proper "lectures" i use the old inverted commas there because i don't really have lectures in the traditional sense, i mostly spend my sessions on my feet in a studio space doing anything from reading Oedipus for 10 minutes to spending an hour doing Yoga and Capoeira.
It's all very new and exciting and awesome but simultaneously, because i've been out of education for two years, it also makes my brain hurt :)

Not much in the way of pictures i know but i'm going to do a few posts this week which will all be picture heavy. Moving here and finding the days just slipping away un-noticed has definitely made me realise how on the ball i am going to have to be if i want to be able to juggle all the different parts of my life, blogging included. Time to learn how to schedule posts i guess, then i can spend free time making lots of posts so y'all are never without your BMB fix!

Just to round up this round-up i'll tell you that i haven't seen any new films or re-discovered anything i haven't mentioned before, TV has pretty much been non-existent except for last night i looked after a friends kids and crammed in as many episodes of Criminal Minds as possible whilst i had access to a TV and Music wise it's been the usual!

August

I'm convinced this is a lie, i'm convinced someone is fucking with me, i'm convinced that it is in fact not the start of September but at the very most the first days of July.
I feel robbed. August went so quickly it was virtually non existent.

Except it did exist and it fleeting though it may have been, it was beautiful.

Not many pictures taken, mostly due to it being hectic (my lack of OOTD's is appaling!) These represent some of the things i've been up to fairly well: girly nights in with friends, braiding my hair in new ways, baking, reenacting with gorgeous people and eating lots of oddly shaped home grown veggies!

I've spent a lot of August away from home or at home preparing for university and i have been terrible at managing my time. Blogging is a really important part of my life but it;s something i like to put quite a bit of planning and effort into so unfortunately when things suddenly become very hectic and crazy it gets a bit left behind. I know i'm going to be busy at uni. but hopefully i'll have some sort of routine which means i can continue to blog regularly, it might just take a couple weeks for that all to fall into place.

My list of "Entertainment" for August is short and sweet because i didn't have the time to read or watch tv or discover new music. So basically i had:
John Mayer's Continuum and various Black Key's albums playing as background music,
on my rare spare evenings i watched the Inbetweeners because i actually haven't seen all the series and want to before i watch the film and
i mostly read maps and google directions out to my dad whilst he drove us up and down the country : )

September is set to be another busy one. I move to uni in two weeks but before that i have another weekend away (3 in a row spent in a tent now!) and a little visit to my Grandparents.
Luckily i've managed to acquire almost everything i needed but i still have some bits and bobs to gather up which are proving very hard to find.
Thank god i'm now unemployed because trying to do all this and work would have actually killed me!

July

I have blogged so much this month, way more than usual and almost more than any other month since i started blogging! I'm not moaning or anything though, I've felt very driven to keep posting and finding inspiration has been really easy. It does however mean that i have very few pictures to share as part of my end of the month post. I take a camera almost everywhere with me and take pictures at every opportunity but there are some that will never be blogged, (i have to have a part of my life stay private) and pretty much all those that were appropriate to share have been.
I did find a very small selection though, all at the end of the post.

MUSIC:
Basically this month i have almost exclusively listened to:
both Fleet Foxes albums
I See A Darkness by Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours
The Reminder by Feist and
whatever dirty, filthy dub step i can get my nasty hands on : )

FILM:
Bridesmaids, hilarious stuff and i re-watched Almost Famous which is without a doubt a beautiful film.

TV:
Got myself well and truly addicted to Sirens on Channel 4 and i don't know if it counts at TV but I'm the last week i have discovered Epic Meal Time and it's fairly safe to say i am a huge fan!

BOOKS:
July has been an almost book free month. I desperately need suggestions for new reading materials, please help!

I'm freaking out now it's August, in two months I'll be living away from home for the first time, I'll be at university, I'll be committing myself to a lifetime of debt, I'll be doing all these big scary things that for the last few moths have seemed so far away! However, despite the fact I'm pretty much bricking it, I'm still going to enjoy the rest of the summer as much as humanly possible. This year has been the best in, dare i say it, forever and so far, touch wood, this summer is shaping up to be the same. So with my glass half full and my cloud lined with silver i am marching face first into August. Hopeful, happy and ready to party : )

 

June

 

From Top to Bottom

my lovely friend Catherine and I before going for drinks

a picture of me from a whole Saturday spent lounging by the river

home brewed mulled wine warming up by a fire

a gorgeous bright blue sky

my self done red leopard print pedicure

my happy face covered in glitter

I can't believe June is done. Gone. Bye-Bye. Kaput. Like, i just can't!

The other day i was talking with someone who i met at the start of June and i said it didn't feel like the time i'd known them had passed really quickly, but i take it back now. This month has flown by, faster than the speed of light!

It's been amazing & i can't quite believe i've managed to fit so much wonderful-ness into one month. There weren't necessarily big life changing events but i'm a sucker for the little things. The weather has been stunning and i've really enjoyed things like being able to just sit in my garden to eat lunch or drink my morning cuppa (told you, SUCKA for the small stuff) and to be honest i just think after a long dreary winter the sunshine is all i need to make me jolly!

MUSIC:

Katy B - On A Mission (whole album)
Skrillex - Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (whole album)
Ray Charles - What'd I Say Parts 1 & 2 and I've Got A Woman
Dr. Dre - Gin and Juice
Bring Me Your Love - City and Colour (whole album)
Ed Sheeran - The A Team
Adele - Lovesong
Wretch 32 ft. Example - Unorthodox

FILMS:
I went to see the Hangover Part II which was hilarious and the night before i had to watch the first Hangover as i'd never seen it so yeah, sort of been quoting those two a bit. I also watched Adventureland which i thought was pretty cute so definitely recommend that for a boredom cure.

BOOKS:
I read World War Z by Max Brooks in 2 or 3 days so i have now read all his stuff, anyone with an ounce of interest in zombies should do the same; the man's a genius!


So that was June: Lightening Fast and Super Awesome.
It just occurred to me that we're now half way through 2011 and now my brain is like WHAAA, HALF WAY! I feel extremely blessed, the year so far has really been so good and brought me so much happiness. And, i still have so much to look forward to!
I'm an optimistic person most of the time, always trying to see the good in every situation but, like everyone, i've been through some shit and all i ever really wanted was to have a month or a week even where i could say i'd been happy and peaceful and content and the good far outweighed the bad. But i guess life back then had other plans. Here i am now though; happier than ever having had six straight months of bliss! Just goes to show that all you need to do is stay strong, have hope and good things will happen : )
Here's to six more months...

May

May has been the fastest passing month of 2011 by a mile! So much so, i forgot to do this post on time. For the first couple of weeks after getting back from the States i felt very out of sync, it felt like i'd never left yet a whole month had passed so i was essentially a month behind, bad times.
I had such an amazing day yesterday and was dreading all the menial tasks i had to do today like washing and hoovering but then i remembered BMB was due a monthly round up so this is a very welcome relief from boring housework : )

I am so glad this month has been good. I was quite worried i'd be on my post holiday blues the whole time but in all honestly aside from a couple of moments where i missed Seattle i've been a proper happy chappy.
We've had consistently nice weather, i spent two weekends camping & reenacting, i met some new and pretty dang awesome people, it was my birthday, the list goes on and on.
The one thing i am a bit bummed over is that i FAILED at taking pictures. My promise for June is that you guys will get a seriously picture heavy end of month post.


MUSIC
As always; just listing the stuff that srsly sticks out.
Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! (the whole album in it's awesome entirety)
Seasick Steve - My Home (Blue Eyes)
The Very Best of Otis Redding (again, the whole album)
Lady GaGa - Judas
Adele - Hiding My Heart

FILMS
Someone take me to the cinema, i haven't been in so, so long. It's a damn shame. I watched Little Miss Sunshine on the flight home right at the start of the month, what a cute and awesome film, so good! I guess May was a bad month for me and cinema.

BOOKS
I read Recorded Zombie Outbreaks and The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks but aside from those i've mostly been on a magazine binge. I was getting bored of glossy pages though so i'm pretty thankful to the person who has just lent me World War Z by Max Brooks : )

I always write this little bit at the end like "So this was an amazing month, so good blah blah blah" and it just occurred to me how much that makes it sound like i was expecting a shit time. I don't panic myself into a stupor on the 1st of every month thinking it's all going to crumble around me as the days pass, honest. I guess i just A: Need a way to end the post and B: Want to celebrate how awesome my life is!
So yeah, May was a fantastic month, I am so excited to see what June brings i'm finding it hard to contain myself! Love to y'all.