July

So every month I'm going to make an effort to make note of memorable things I've done, movies I've watched and whole lot of anything else I can think of. I did one of these in April, so if you wanna check that out, go ahead!
In July...
I read a lot of good books!

• Untold by Sarah Rees Brennan 
• Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 
• Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
• Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
• Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
• The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
• The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski
• Popular by Maya Van Wagenen

This past month I've started and finished one of my new favourite trilogies, The Grisha trilogy. If you haven't read it yet, go pick it up or download the eBook because it is fan-freaking-tastic and I was blown away by the writing. I loved the story, the creatures and the characters in this entire trilogy. I even found myself questioning my morals, theres a certain extremely dark character I took a liking to, and I'm not ashamed to say that I totally fell for his charm. Other favourites include, Untold (which is the second book in a series, Unspoken being the first), Open Road Summer and Popular. Popular was amazing. It was the first non-fiction book I ever read and it really inspired me. I think I'm going to pick up the guide this book was based on and try it out myself. 

I watched some cool tv shows. 

• Teen Wolf
• Pretty Little Liars
• The Fosters
• Friday Night Lights

I started two new TV shows this month. The Fosters and Friday Night Lights. I really love the Fosters, but I'm not sure what I think of FNL yet, too early to tell. I'm only 3 episodes in, so maybe stay tuned for next months wrap up to see what I think then ;) I don't think Teen Wolf or PLL is a surprise to anyone. I have an addiction to both. I started watching Teen Wolf because Colton Haynes was in it, and I have a Colton Haynes fetish, but I fell in love with the other characters as well. I gotta say, I'm liking Malia this season. I've seen her get a lot of hate, but to be honest, I think she's a total badass and she's good for Stiles. 

I did some awesome things.

• Went to the beach and SAW DOLPHINS

Okay, so that actually happened yesterday but I'll probably forget to include it when I write my August post, so yeah. This was actually really cool. If you guys don't know, I'm very anti-zoo, anti-keeping-animals-enclosed (UNLESS it's beneficial for them, not for entertainment), so I would never really go to a park to see dolphins. Let me tell you though, seeing them free and doing their thing because they want to is beautiful. 10/10 would recommend seeing animals in their natural habitat, as long as your not invading their space. This is really the only cool thing I can remember doing, but I'm sure there were more.

I also saw The Fault in Our Stars, after I finished my exams at the end of June. 5 star movie, I was so happy with how it translated to film. 

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April

I don't want to call this my April Faves because it's more like an April Wrap Up of things I did, things I read, shows I watched and anything else I can think of.
In April...
I read:

• Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
• The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
• Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• Pushing the Limits by Katy McGarry
• Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter
• Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover by Ally Carter
• Only The Good Spy Young by Ally Carter
• Out of Sight, Out of Time by Ally Carter

I started the Gallagher Girls series in March and became slightly obsessed during the second half of April. I'm reading the final book now and I'm so sad to end the series. I think it'll always hold a special place in my heart, it's definitely one of my new favourite series'. Three of the books I read were new releases on my TBR long before they came out. Girl With A Pearl Earring was for school, and the other two were just for fun. 

I watched:

• Wild At Heart
• Vampire Diaries
• The Originals
• Keeping Up With The Kardashians

I watched no movies this month. I won tickets to an advanced screening of The Fault in Our Stars on May 5th but I can't attend so that sucks. But obviously my watch list is a lot smaller than my read list. I finished the last two season of Wild At Heart, a show I started watching a long time ago. An English vet moves to Africa and it makes for a really amazing TV series. I tried out watching Twisted and Starcrossed, but neither of those lasted very long. 

That's about all I read and watched in April. I didn't include what I did because almost everything revolved around school or work, neither of which are very exciting. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this post. Maybe I'll make it a monthly thing.

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Perfect Playlist #1

It's been almost a week since I've posted, oops. Here's a post about my current fave songs. I make playlists all the time, and I listen to them until I get bored of the songs and then I'll make a new one. The playlist I have now though, I've been listening to for a while and I'm still sooo in love with the songs so I thought I'd share it with you guys!
01 - Do I Wanna Know? // Arctic Monkeys 02 - Alleyways // The Neighbourhood 03 - Kissed, Tricked, Addict // Greta Stanley (a local girl, you should check out her soundcloud here) 04 - She's Thunderstorms // Arctic Monkeys 05 - R U Mine? // Arctic Monkeys 06 - Chocolate // The 1975 07 - Let It Go // The Neighbourhood 08 - She Way Out // The 1975 09 - Arabella // Arctic Monkeys 10 - W.D.Y.W.F.M // The Neighbourhood 11 - Girls // The 1975 12 - Flawless // The Neighbourhood 13 - I Wanna Be Yours // Arctic Monkeys 14 - Welcome Home // Radical Face 15 - Knee Socks // Arctic Monkeys 16 - Always Gold // Radical Face 17 - Snap Out Of It // Arctic Monkeys 18 - Sweater Weather // The Neighbourhood 19 - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High // Arctic Monkeys 20 - Female Robbery // The Neighbourhood
I honestly never make playlists for working out, studying etc. I only ever have one at a time. I usually play it on shuffle and enjoy. I really want to listen to some new artists/bands so leave suggestions below! 
I hope you enjoyed this post, sorry it's so short!


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Insecurities

Everyone has insecurities, whether it's your stomach or thighs, or maybe even the way your voice sounds. I've always been insecure about all of these things, as well as a bunch of other things. But I realise now more than I ever have, that everyone has insecurities, they may not show it but they're thinking about how their legs look in their shorts just as much as you do. 

For me, one of my biggest insecurities is my hands, I feel like they're kind of chubby and not as and just really unattractive. Since starting the job I have now, with all the burns and cuts and scars I've gained, I like the way they look. Not because I like that they're scarred or cut, but because I feel like this job is a life experience that's reflected on my hands.
It's okay to be insecure, we're all going to have bumps and bruises we don't like, but they're part of life and they make us who we are. We might not like our thighs or our stomaches, but someone will. Someone will look at us, and fall in love. Being insecure doesn't make you insufficient or unworthy, it just means you have a healthy amount of doubt. Keeping that in mind though, we need to love ourselves before we can love anyone else. We need to learn to love our insecurities, even if it does end up being a love/hate relationship. 
Another important thing to remember is that everyone has insecurities, even the most confident people. I feel like to a lot of people I come across as having my life very put together, but I'm always so worried that I'm inadequate when it comes to school, and when I speak to people I'm always worried that they're going to judge what I say. But slowly I've learned to not care as much. Obviously I still make an effort, but if someone doesn't like what I say or judges me for how I say it, then I'm not going to waste my time on them. 
Be friends with people who don't pick at your insecurities, who don't think that your insecurities define you. Be with people who make you forget about those little things you don't like about yourself. In the end, it comes down to you and how you choose to react to insecurities, but being around positive people makes it a lot better to deal with. Positivity breeds positivity. 
I hope you liked this post! And remember, you're just as beautiful as the next person, there isn't one solid mould of 'beauty'. 

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Favourite Quotes #1

I've been trying to come up with ideas about what to post today, and in the end I decided to do a post about my favourite quotes. Whenever I read eBooks, I always take advantage of the notes and highlight feature, I really like saving my favourite quotes that way. I usually only find 3-4 per book, but it's something I enjoy. I wouldn't dare highlight one of my physical copies! Plus, not all my favourite quotes are from books. Anyway, without further ado, here are my favourite quotes!

"The only way to survive eternity is to be able to appreciate each moment." -Lauren Kate, Fallen
This quote is more or less a beautiful rendition of live in the moment. We don't know when our time will end, or what's around the corner, but what we do know is that at least we have today. Live in the moment, be spontaneous, don't put things you really want to do on hold, do them now because you never know when you'll get the chance again. 

"Some things aren't meant to be known. Only believed."-Mary E. Pearson, The Adoration of Jenna Fox
We're so caught up on proving everything, we have to find evidence that this exists and that exists, or this is real and that is real. There's very little that people just believe in these days, without trying to prove or disprove. Like other lifeforms (or aliens) for example, sure it'd be great to know that there are actually other living lifeforms out there, but the universe is extraordinary, we can't possibly know where it ends and it's completely legitimate to believe that there are others out there.

"I don't know a perfect person. I only know flawed people who are still worth loving." -John Green
I think this day and age is full of unrealistic ideas and expectations. Flaws are what make us original, people fall in love with them. Imperfection does not mean weakness or inadequacy, it makes you original, different and completely loveable. If everyone was the same, what would be the point of love? What would there be to fall in love with?
This is kind of a deep post, and I have plenty other favourite quotes that are a lot more light hearted, but I didn't think they really went well. Maybe next time! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post! Something pretty different to my previous posts, but I was thinking of doing these once a month, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Pen Pals

Spending time writing a letter, decorating the page and envelope is so pleasing and fulfilling, it's almost become an obsession. I've had a pen pal for a few months now and I recently acquired another, and nothing makes me happier than the time I get to spend replying to their letters. I also really enjoy getting their letters and seeing how they have to say. 

Beautiful Envelopes from Roberta & letters from Heather

For me it's calming to sit down and be creative. I can spend hours coming up with ideas on how to decorate the paper and envelope. It may seem excessive, but this year it's the only free time I've had to myself with school and work. It's something that I enjoy doing and hopefully get to continue to do it. 

Although postage takes a while and that's less than ideal, I love putting letters in the mailbox knowing that they're going to someone who's never met me and judges me only by what I write. I hated my handwriting until I started writing letters, but now I don't think there's any possible way for written letters to be ugly. There's something beautiful and nostalgic about the activity. I think that it's amazing that someone I've met on the internet, 3 states away is in possession of something I wrote, something I've drawn, something I've spent hours on. There's something about that, that makes me so content. It's an amazing feeling and if you every get the opportunity to write to someone, please do so. It's so satisfying and you make a friend in the process. 

Letter from Roberta

I hadn't really been friends with my pen pals prior to writing to them. I met them both through tumblr. I met Roberta when she hosted submissions to be matched with a pen pal. Robi matched me with her and we've been writing ever since! My second pen pal Heather was one of the first blogs I followed when I made my tropical tumblr. Later on, I opened submissions to be matched with a pen pal and next thing I knew I was sending the first letter. I love them both, their letters always make me smile. When I'm having a bad day and I get a letter in the mail, it never fails to make things even a little bit better.  
If you're worried about safety, I had seen both Heather and Roberta's faces on instagram and tumblr before we became pen pals, plus I have a P.O. Box so I wasn't that bothered, but they both gave me their home addresses, so they obviously trusted me. I think there are a lot of people on the internet that you can't trust but if you can find someone you do trust, definitely give it a go!
I hope you enjoyed this post and maybe you're thinking of getting a pen pal! If you are, let me know in the comments below, I might be able to help you out :)

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Succulents & Cacti

Pictured: Ellie the Parodia Scopa Cactus

Two of my all time favourite things are succulents and cacti. I have 8 on my windowsill and I'm absolutely in love with them. They're utterly adorable and there's no possible way for me to kill them because they're incredibly drought resistant. Fun Fact: All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti, so I guess they don't really count as 2 of my favourite things after all.  

Succulents and Cacti are also really affordable. I picked mine up from my local garden centre for a pretty decent price. My cheapest succulent was $3(!) and the most I've paid for one is $13 which I don't find too steep at all, considering how in love I am with them. They're also extremely versatile, you can plant them all in one massive pot and have an incredibly adorable cacti garden or have them in their own individual pots like I do. The possibilities with succulents are endless. There are a bunch of different shapes, sizes and colours of cacti and succulents, you just have to find the ones that you like best! I have a few on my wish list that I can't find anywhere!

I'm not ashamed to say that I've named all of my succulents after book characters. There's Ellie in the picture above, who was named after Ellie from This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith which I read in late 2013 and really loved, plus 7 more. I've even got a Tobias and a Tris. Most of them are named after books I've read except Percy named after the main character of Percy Jackson & The Lightening Thief. I know, I know, I'm like the only person who hasn't read it, but I promise I will soon enough! The names of my other cacti & succulents are Chubs (The Darkest Minds), Isadora (The Chaos of Stars), and Gale (The Hunger Games). My 8th succulent, pictured above, isn't named yet. I've been feeling uninspired and I have no idea what I should name her (yes, I know for sure it's a girl) :(

All in all, if you're looking for some super cute plants that you won't be able to kill because you forget to water them, succulents are the way to go. You can pick them up from your local garden centre and supermarkets even sell them sometimes. I'm going to check out my local nursery and see if there are any cute ones there. Before long, I'll be a complete cacti hoarder! 

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