Currently | March 2019

It's been more than three months since I last wrote a currently post about the little things I've been doing and enjoying lately, so I think it's a good time for a catch up. If you want to know what I've been reading, watching, listening to, and more lately, keep reading to find out!

Let's start with what I've been reading...

Reading

One of my New Year's resolutions is to read more this year, and in January I set myself the goal of finishing twenty-five books before the year is through. I thought I'd be realistic instead of setting the number too high, but I may have underestimated myself because I'm already on my seventh book of the year! I finished five books (and began a sixth) in January alone! I didn't do so well in February, only managing two books, as I had a busier month and spent half of it with a cold.

In January, I read Bird Box by Josh Malerman (which has to be one of the best books I've ever read), VOX by Christina Dalcher, The Next Person You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman, and The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom. I also read a few chapters of The Martian by Andy Weir, but I wasn't in the right mood for it so I put it aside to read The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. I've now moved on to the third book in The Extinction Trials trilogy- The Extinction Trials: Rebel by S.M. Wilson, which I've been looking forward to since I finished the second book in the series last year.  It's like the Hunger Games meets Jurassic Park, and even though it's a young adult series, I'm really enjoying it so far- but, then, I've always been a sucker for dystopian fiction.

Before Christmas, I also read Desert Flowers by Paul Pen, and some of the stories and poems from A Literary Christmas. I didn't have much time or energy for reading in December so I never finished it, but it's one of those books you can pull out every Christmas and read again and again, so I'll definitely return to it in December.

Overall, I've read some amazing books over the last few months, so I'll do my best to write some mini reviews of them all soon... That is, if anyone would be interested?

Watching

With all the reading I've been doing, I haven't watched a lot of new shows or movies so far this year, but I did make time to watch Bird Box on Netflix after I finished the book in January. I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as I loved the book. I didn't like how much they'd changed the storyline, and kept comparing the two in my head. Don't get me wrong, it was a brilliant film, but I think I would have appreciated it a lot more if I hadn't read the book first. It's a thousand times better than the film, and you guys need to read it! I loved it so much it's become one of my all time favourite reads!

Concert Going

During the first week of February, I managed to have some fun away from home for the first time since last Easter, and went to see Boyzone live again in Cardiff and Brighton with my sister. It didn't exactly go to plan after the first show, but both shows were amazing, and I had so much fun. I'm always happiest at concerts and it was exactly what I needed to put a smile back on my face again after a rough few months. For a couple of days, I was almost able to feel like the old me again, pre chronic pain and chronic illness, and that feeling alone was priceless. I'll be writing a separate post about our trip soon.

Listening

Since I went to see Boyzone live, I've mostly just been listening to their last three albums on repeat like a total fangirl, with a little bit of Linkin Park thrown in for good measure. In my last currently post, I said I wasn't loving their new album or their new sound, but I gave it another listen a month or so ago, and now I can't stop playing it. It turns out I love it, and there are actually some really great songs on it.  I don't know how I didn't hear it the first time.

Stitching

I've gone back to cross stitching my colourful mandala cross stitch from The World in Stitches. after setting it aside for a couple of months to work on Christmas craft projects at the end of last year. I've just finished stitching all the colourful bits, and now I just have a shed load of black edging to do to complete it. There's still a lot of stitching to do, but I'm really pleased with how well it's turned out so far.

Playing

I began playing Animal Crossing New Leaf the day after Boxing Day after my younger sister gave me a copy for my 2DS for Christmas, and I haven't been able to stop playing it since. I mean, I do put it down every once in a while so I can do other stuff like sleep and eat, but I've been playing it almost every day since I started. It's so addictive! I don't even want to know how many hours I've lost to this game so far this year! It's a social simulation game where you create and maintain your own town and interact with other characters. You plant trees and flowers, install amenities, build a house and collect furniture to decorate it with, dig for fossils, fish and dive for sea creatures, catch bugs, collect fruit and art, donate things you find to a museum, buy outfits, go island hopping, play time trials... the list goes on. I used to tease my sister for being addicted to it, but now it's got me, too. I'd definitely recommend it to you guys... but only if you don't mind losing five or six hours a day to it, because once you start playing, you won't be able to stop!

Loving

my new Instax mini camera, which one of my sisters gave me for Christmas. It's been years since I last owned an instant camera or even printed off any photos, so I've been enjoying the novelty of having a printed photo in my hands after taking each one. The quality of the photos doesn't compete with today's digital photos, but I actually like the simple, primitive look the Instax gives; it reminds me of the quality of photos we took in the nineties. It was a simpler time, but those days were the best. I'm still getting to grips with it, but I'm loving this camera, and how pretty it is. I've just bought some pastel-bordered film, so I'm looking forward to snapping lots of colourful photos with it this spring.

Enjoying

The sunshine we've been treated to here in Oxfordshire this week. We've had flawless blue skies and sunshine over the last few days, and it's actually been warm. From Monday to Wednesday, it actually got up to 21'C!! In February! You wouldn't think there was snow on the ground three weeks ago. Apparently it was the hottest February on record. It's crazy but I'm definitely not complaining after months of dreary grey skies, dark evenings, and freezing cold temperatures. I wasn't able to go out in it, but it was gorgeous and great to have some decent daylight for taking blog photos, too. It feels like spring is finally on the way.

Looking

forward to spring, sunny days, light mornings and evenings, warm weather, blossom and magnolias on the trees, spring flowers, pastel colours, Easter, more light for blog photos... all of it. I couldn't be happier that it's the first day of spring today; I'm so over winter!

Wanting

All the books, all the gig tickets, more concert adventures, some new dresses, approximately 8232019 new brooches, some rainbow-coloured film for my Instax camera... lotsa stuff.

Needing

A hair cut, a holiday, some new clothes, a life, a new pair of ballet pumps, some more concert adventures, more hours in the day, a solution for my tachycardia, and to learn photo editing so I can blog more efficiently and stop wanting to pull my hair out on a daily basis.

Wishing

I'm feeling really sentimental at the moment, so I wish had a time machine so I could go back and relive my trip to New York, and a whole bunch of concert adventures I enjoyed with friends in the months before I developed chronic pain in 2011. Those were the best times, and some of the last happy memories I have from before I got sick. It was probably the best year ever, until it also became the worst year of my life that September. I miss those days.

Buying

I haven't had many spare pennies to spend lately, but I was finally able to do a little book haul a couple of weeks ago, and treated myself to six new books to read. (Missing from the photo is An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim). I may have also acquired two more Erstwilder brooches, and picked up a full size purple OPI nail polish called 'Berry Fairy Fun' to replace the mini bottle I got in my Advent calendar and have almost used up. The nail colour is amazing.

And that, in a nut shell, is what I've been up to lately (minus all the boring chronic illness parts I'll go in to another time).

What about you? What have you been enjoying lately?

You Might Also Like
Currently | November 2018
Currently | July 2018
Currently | April 2018