So, 2014 aye

So 2014 huh. The year of slack blogging. This is only my 19^th post this year and for that I am somewhat ashamed. I love blogging, and there have been plenty of things going on that I could have blogged about. I think it’s partly because my job involves writing. So I’m writing all day and don’t really feel like it when I get home.

I have kept a record of every book I’ve read each year since my first year at high school (when I used to read 100+ books  a year – yes I was a book nerd!) and the other day I counted the amount of books I’ve read this year and it was only 11. I was less than impressed with myself so I set myself a goal of reading at least one more so I would get to 12 which equates to one a month. That’s still not very good but I can live with it.

è I’m currently reading Eat Pray Love. It’s excellent. I’ve already got massive wanderlust and this book just feeds that. It’s about a lady who leaves her monotonous life and spends a year travelling Italy, India and Indonesia on her own. It’s such a delicious book.

è Before that I read Pig Island by Mo Hayder. Also excellent. A thriller unlike I’ve ever read before and the entire time I was reading this book I was thinking ‘gosh this would make a good movie!’

Part of the reason that I’ve become so slack at reading is because of the number of excellent television shows these days. Once I find a show that I like, I’ll stream an episode with my dinner every night and then usually watch at least one more episode during the night. This year I’ve made my way through Pretty Little Liars (guilty pleasure – it’s pretty stupid), Luther and White Collar and just this week discovered an absolute gem – How to get away with Murder. Hnnnng this show is fantastic. I love legal dramas (Suits is one of my great loves) so this immediately appealed to me and BY GOLLY it’s good. I’m a little sad though because it’s only in season 1 and only has 9 episodes, which I’ve finished. I also flirted with Teen Wolf this year but got over that after a few seasons. Next up I want to try True Detective, Vikings, Gotham and finally get into Community.

In other news, I’m moving to England next year. I’ve just started the process of getting my working VISA and then I’m applying for a live-in pub job through the London Pub Company. My aim is to do that for 4 months then look for a job relevant to my field. While I’m over there I want to see Europe too. I’m doing this on my own which is scary but I think it will be good for me. I’m going to be forced to make friends and rely on my own resourcefulness.

I’m going to take my time getting to England before I start my job and stop in LA, New York and Reykjavik on my way over. I’m so very excited. It’s going to be epic. I may love it or hate it but I won’t know until I try!

I’m looking forward to the Christmas break! Spending time with friends and family, good food, sitting in the sun with a good book and just relaxing will be so therapeutic. I’ll be in Hawke’s Bay and Hamilton for my break – hopefully the weather is good so time can be spent outdoors.

Bye for now xx

Yo!

Okay okay sorry for not blogging in quite some time. I definitely want to keep the habit up, and will endeavour to do so, but I have just been lacking in motivation a bit. So I shall make this post a round-up of what’s been going on in my life since the last post!

Work – Post-trip depression has died down somewhat and work has been going fairly well. However, we had a meeting with the editor of our sister newspaper a couple of weeks back in which I felt extremely targeted and got quite upset (fighting back the tears). Since then, I’ve tried to make more effort, and haven’t had any complaints so hopefully things are going better. However, when talking with one of the other girls in the office about my issues, she said she also notices the mean way the editor talks to me and constantly criticizes me. So it’s not just in my head. Unfortunately, the editor is the managers’ darling so I don’t feel as though I can talk to her about it.

Gym – I have been really good since I’ve been back, going 5-6 times a week. It’s such a great release for me (especially when issues like the aforementioned are occurring).

Friends –Haven’t seen my Hastings besties for ageeeeeees which has been lame. Spending time with my friends here is always great. It’s good for the soul.

Music – For some reason lately I can’t get enough of Black and Yellow by Wiz Khalifa. It’s not a new tune but it’s just so good and it makes me dance. I also love everything by Miguel at the moment.

Movies – Recently I’ve watched Don Jon, The Wolf of Wall Street, and V for Vendetta. Would recommend the latter two. The first one is, well, interesting. I’ll leave it at that.

TV shows – Almost up to date with White Collar and have one more episode of Sherlock to go. Both are just so great. Suits and Game of Thrones are starting up again in not too long – YUSS. Also, I watched an episode of KUWTK a couple of days ago and was LOLing so much that I’ve now completed series one and two. Guilty pleasure.

Books – Finished Catch 22 finally! It only took me about 2 months haha. Actually thought it was a pretty good read once I was done with it. For the latter half of the book I was appreciating how funny and well written it was. Then read Animal Farm – so fantastic! Am now reading The Book Thief which is Ah-mazing so far. In the interim, I also spent the paperplus voucher I was given at Christmas and bought Gone Girl (soon to be a movie and I’d heard the book is great) and I Quit Sugar by Sarah Wilson which I finished the day I got it. Cutting out sugar is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and having now read two books about sugar, it’s a main goal of mine.

Car – Argh. Discovered my car had a big oil leak which is going to cost far too much to get fixed. Going to take it for a second quote to see if it’s worth fixing. If not, new car time! Sad though, I liked this one L

Family – Haven’t seen them in quite some time and miss them all the time. Seeing my Dad and sister soon though as sister is moving to Palmy in two weekends! That will be cool. I was tasked with finding her a flat, which I did. I hope she likes it! (though I’m sure she will – it’s awesome). Can’t wait to see Dad as well. I’m taking the two of them out to my favourite Japanese restaurant when they’re down. Eeeeep!!

Garcon – Has been far too long since I’ve seen him. Texting has been good though, for the most part. Can’t wait to see him next. We have some stuff to figure out.

Time for a selfie? I think so...

Heh so attractive.

xx

Suits

I have a new addiction. It’s a television show called Suits. And it is amazing. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Never before have I seen such wit, intelligence, handsomeness and class done so well. The show is about fictional Law firm Pearson Hardman, their cases and the various relationships and characters within the firm. One of the main characters, Harvey Spector (played by the very good-looking Gabriel Macht) is like the ultimate man. I’m in love with him. He’s quick witted and owns just about everyone he comes up against. His saucy red-haired assistant Donna is similarly fantastic. Suits is a show that I can really sink my teeth into, and that I feel smarter for watching. And on top of the glorious script and acting, all of the men wear suits. And I don’t think there’s anything that looks better on a man than a suit.

If you do nothing else today, watch the pilot of Suits. You’re missing out on some serious televisual brilliance if you don’t.

xx

Gossip Girl

So today I finally finished Gossip Girl. All 6 seasons done. It's funny because I always looked at the show with disdain (maybe because everyone was so into it and I wasn't allowed to watch it) and thought it looked like a stupid, cheesy soap opera. But once I started watching it this year, I got addicted. Well and truly. I can't really pinpoint what exactly it is about the show that I love so much. I don't particularly like any of the characters, and the storyline isn't all that amazing. I did, however, fall in love with the lives of the characters, so I guess that's it. Their clothes, their social calendar, the constant drama. I guess in a sense I was living vicariously through them, as it's so far from my own life. And in that sense it was escapism for me.

The final episode. My goodness. It was perfect.

A bit sad now that it's all over.

xx

A completely boring browser history

Here are the websites I visit the most often:

Social
Facebook - Unfortunately, I'm addicted. Have to check it multiple times a day.
Blogger - To keep you all in the loop. So this is clearly very important. I love to write, so this is a great forum to do so on an informal basis.
Google Plus - To edit the photos I put on my blog.
Hotmail - For obvious reasons. All that fan mail must be answered.

Blogs
Here comes the sun - I love this blog unconditionally. It's just so beautifully done and the girl who writes it is a New Zealander so it has that local appeal. This blog is why I began blogging.
Nailed it NZ - My good friend Jessie's nail art site! She's amazingly talented and I always love to see her latest creations.

Shopping
Asos - So much range and so cheap! Free shipping too which is a massive drawcard.
The Book Depository - Same deal as above but with books. Have purchased quite a few titles from this site. It's marvellous. Truly.
1day - A one day sale site that sometimes has deals worth looking at. Often provides terrible temptation by offering mass quantities of chocolate and sweets.
Grab One - Seldom any decent deals on here but I check it regularly via email subscription. Did have a lovely high tea last week that was purchased from this site so it's not entirely useless.

Other
Project freeTV - To watch TV online.
Stuff - For news.
Buzzfeed - For hilarity in list form. Anyone who knows me knows that I am an avid list-writer and therefore can understand why this site has massive appeal for me.

Creating this list has made me realise just how boring of an internet existence I have. Please recommend some worthwhile sites for me to become addicted to. Please readers, help.

xx

Arrow

So I watched the first episode of this new TV show called Arrow tonight. A friend recommended it to me so I thought I'd finally check it out. Wow. So intense. Here is the blurb:

"The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, portrayed by Stephen Amell, who, after five years of being stranded on an uncharted island, returns home to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrows"

This all sounded interesting enough. But then I watched the episode and saw the main character...

Talk about babe alert. I'm hooked. Unfortunately there are only ten episodes at this stage so it won't take me long to watch the entire series. I encourage you to watch it too and enjoy Stephen Amell's aesthetics. 

You can thank me later ;)

xx