Book Club #1 - Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

I had been wanting to start a book club with my friends for a while but like with most things I get super motivated about them at first then lack the get-up-and-go to actually see them through. I had been a part of a book group with some work mates a few years ago and I knew I'd at least have some people willing enough to spend some time nattering about books with me. In July I finally got around to doing one of those potentially cringy "who wants to do this thing with me" Facebook posts, the kind that can become super embarrassing if no one comments on them. To my surprise around 15 to my friends wanted to join me in my bookish endeavour! Such a literary bunch, my friends!

Thus book club 2.0 was born! We had our inaugural meeting this week at Tinderbox on Ingram Street, home of tasty coffee and even tastier cakes! It's such a great space and we managed to bag a great seating area complete with wingtipped chairs, how bookish. I picked our first read which was Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I choose this book based on the good reviews I had read online and the fact that it was nominated for a few awards including the Guardian first book award and the Bailey's woman's prize for fiction.

Recipe - Homemade Cranberry & Orange Gin Fizz Ice Lollies!

So for my Christmas this year my mum made me some homemade orange and cranberry gin and yes, it was amazing. I've been drinking it on special occasions throughout the year and because it was so amazingly infused with flavours it got to the point where I could pretty much drink it straight. 

Now with the good weather I've been exclusively drinking white wine and chilled fruity ciders, I mean cranberry and orange are winter flavours. That was until I had an epiphany when I was given an ice lolly kit. Thus the cranberry and orange gin fizz ice lolly was born.

Music Monday #1

Welcome to the inaugural weekly music post on the blog. Each week I'll feature my five top tracks from the previous week, I hope you enjoy!

1 - Two Weeks by FKA twigs

I've only just discovered FKA twigs and I think she's one of my favourite artists of the year. Incredible lyrics, incredible voice, incredible video. Fans of The XX and BANKS will enjoy.

Beauty Post - Good Things Manuka Honey Refining Scrub

Today I'm going to review Good Things Manuka Honey Refining Scrub. Whenever I see the phrase Manuka honey on packaging nowadays I immediately assume that the price is going to be through the roof since real Manuka honey can fetch upwards of £35. Luckily, I sneakily picked up this scrub from Boots when it was on offer a few months ago. 

Book Review - Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider

So I thought I'd do my next post here on the blog as a book review. I'm a librarian by day, so books are a big part of who I am, so I hope you all enjoy this.

Today I'm reviewing Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider, which has just been recently re-released under the much better title of The Beginning of Everything.

This book is YA lit and very much aimed at the John Green crowd. So much so that both the quote on the front and the back of the book actually mentions The Fault in our Stars. I was not cynical about this however, a girl has got to get her books sold after all and I don't begrudge anyone a bit of bandwagon jumping.

Getting and Staying Motivated at Work

One thing I really struggle with on a day to day basis is getting and staying motivated at my work. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and the people I work with. The work isn't really to blame here, it's all me.

Maintaining enthusiasm about things is something I can really struggle with sometimes and I often find myself already dreading work on my morning commute. Again, not because I hate my job, but because the prospect of spending 8 hours sitting at my desk is daunting. Because of this I've tried to implement some fun aspects into my day to help relieve any stress or boredom I may encounter.

Beauty Post - The Daily Routine

L'Occitane Shea Butter gentle toner and Ultra Rich face cream

For my first post I wanted to talk about my daily skincare routine. The importance of a good skincare routine was drilled into me from a very young age. More importantly the importance of a good skincare routine using quality products was drilled into me.