Currently | October 2017

It's been ages since my last 'currently' post, so I thought it was about time I sat down to chat about some of the things I've been enjoying lately, and to fill you in on what's been happening, so here we are. 

Let's get cracking!

Reading

I recently finished This Must Be The Place by Maggie O' Farrell and The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks, and last weekend I finished another Maggie O' Farrell novel called The Distance Between Us. I really enjoyed all three of them, but particularly The Distance Between Us, which I couldn't put down. I've now moved on to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, although I'm only a few pages in so far.  I got hooked on the TV show, so I just had to give the book a read, too.

Watching

I've watched quite a lot of new-to-me films over the last couple of months including Passengers, The Arrival, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Bridget Jones' Baby, The BFG, Ghostbusters, Moana, Finding Dory, Beauty and the Beast, Doctor Strange, Allegiant Part One, The Visit, and Gravity, to name a few. As for TV programmes, I haven't been watching a lot, but I really enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale. It was really heavy and totally fucked up, but just too good to stop watching.

Listening

Since Chester Bennington committed suicide in July, I've mostly just been listening to is Linkin Park's back catalogue on repeat, but I guess there's nothing new about that! I'm still playing the latest album 'One More Light' to death, but now the lyrics are heartbreaking because you can hear how much he was suffering, where as before they were just great songs. Heavy and One More Light kinda break my heart.

Stitching

I recently finished the rainbow Spectrum mandala cross stitch from The World In Stitches that I shared a peek at in my last 'Currently' post and blogged about in full here. I've also just completed a little colourful fox cross stitch from the same company, and now I've gone back to a Christmas sampler I began earlier in the year.

Painting

It's been several months since I started painting again, and I've been enjoying it so much, I've been painting fairly regularly ever since. I finished the compass canvas I showed you a couple of months ago, and have now moved on to another Johanna Basford canvas with a pretty seahorse design. I've gone for a colour scheme of yellows, oranges, pinks, and purples, and I've gotta say, it's so much fun painting with such pretty colours!

Looking

forward to Autumn, and all the good Autumn things. Colourful foliage, candles, cosy blankets, pumpkins, fireworks, hot drinks, comfort food, chunky knits, wearing gloves with everything, layers, Autumn colours, jewel colour nail polishes, cosy nights in, ankle boots, Autumn walks... all the good stuff.

Planning

lots of blog posts for Autumn and Christmas. Whether I'll be well enough to blog them all is another question! (Although, I've already got two Christmas posts scheduled, so I'm doing okay so far!)

Enjoying
Spending the dark Autumn evenings curled up under a blanket crafting, watching movies, and reading with some candles burning. I hate the dark evenings, but spending them like this is oh so cosy.

Wishing
I had gone to see Linkin Park at the O2 like I'd planned on July 3rd, instead of being sensible and avoiding London because of the risk of another terrorist attack. I am even more bummed out about this now Chester has died, and I'll never get another chance to see them play live together as a six-piece. Even if Linkin Park continue without Chester, which I think they will, it'll never be the same again. Lesson learned: never let anyone talk you out of something you really want to do!

Buying

I haven't been able to shop much lately as I still don't have two pennies to rub together, but I spent my birthday money on the Too Faced Chocolate Bar and NYX Ultimate Brights eyeshadow palettes in July, and they're both absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to play with all of the shadows, but in true blogger style, I need to take blog photos first so I can review them both for you! I also just treated myself to a pretty Sass and Belle jewellery dish baring the words 'follows your dreams', using some of the vouchers I earned from Swagbucks... mostly to use as a blog photo prop!

Needing

I've just worn a hole through my favourite duvet cover, so I'm in desperate need of some new bedding. I'm also in need of some new ballet pumps as my last good pair have fallen apart, and could do with some hair dye as my roots are getting ridiculous. I also need some money so I can afford the things I need; having no money sucks and it's getting problematic.

Wondering

how much money I could get for a kidney...

Wanting

I'm dying to get my hands on the Essie nail polish Advent calendar that's just been released, but it's £80 (currently on promo for £50) and I'm skint, so I'll have to start saving. I'd also love to get my hands on the Ciaté calendar when it comes out. And maybe the OPI Advent calendar, too. Okay, just give me all of the beauty Advent calendars; I want them all!

Winning

I won a set of three purple, blue, and white ombre swarovski glass nail files from Mont Bleu on Twitter a couple of months ago, which was awesome because I love their nail files- they're the best I've ever used. They're so gentle on the nails, and easy to use for great results, even if you're useless at nail filing like me. I keep the small one in my handbag for nail emergencies on the go, and use the medium and large for every day filing at home. I love them!

Wearing

I've barely left the house in the last couple of months, so I've mostly just been living in my pyjamas. I'm currently wearing a pink flamingo motif vest top and raspberry heart print PJ bottoms; they're so comfy!

Worrying

about my heart which is still racing away eight months on. I still don't know why it's happening or what's causing it, but I'm becoming more and more sure that electronics are to blame. I'm struggling to go near my laptop, phone, Kindle, TVs, even the sockets for any length of time because I can feel the electrical energy coming off them all, and my body keeps picking it up and buzzing like pins and needles from the static electricity. The longer I spend on electronics, the faster my heart gets, so I'm having to limit the amount of time I spend on them, which isn't ideal when you're a blogger (it's the reason I've not blogged a lot lately), but my heart becomes steadier the longer I stay off them. It's been happening for about two or three months now, although I'd been having these issues with my laptop for most of the year. It probably sounds absolutely bizarre and you're wondering if I've lost the plot- I'm feeling like maybe I have- but I think I may be on to something here. I asked my doctor if it could be the cause, but she's never heard of this happening before so she's unconvinced, but hasn't ruled it out. My heart is apparently healthy, my bloods and blood pressure are normal, I've cut out caffeine and stopped taking the medication I thought was to blame, so I'm running out of other explanations, and I just have a gut feeling that I'm right. Have you ever experienced any issues with electrical energy from gadgets before or is it just me?

Before I go, I just want to say 'thank you' for all of your kind comments after I experienced Paypal / eBay fraud last month. I thought you might like to know I managed to get everything refunded thanks to Paypal and the three very understanding eBay sellers, but unfortunately, I still have to pay the fees for going over my planned overdraft limit because of it- which I can't afford because I haven't got any money coming in. I spent 45 minutes on the phone to the bank being passed from person to person, but they didn't give a shit, and wouldn't help. I consider myself lucky to have got the transactions refunded, but the overdraft fees are still a headache I don't need. Still, it could've been worse and I could've been out of pocket for all of it... so I'm grateful for that... and hopeful karma will get the thieving twat in the end! 

So, that is what I've been up to lately. What's been going on in your life?

What are you currently enjoying?