Everything I Loved In January

So that's the first month of the year gone - blink and you'd have missed it, basically. I know I say that every time, about how quick the month has gone, but this is especially different because it's January and January usually goes sluggishly slow. I don't know what's different about this one, but for me, it was! So what have I been loving over the past month? Let me take you through it all :)

Using our log burner for the first time

We bought our house in the November just gone and it came with a massive log burner. To be honest, we weren't really sure whether it was safe to use or even what we could burn in it, but after a lot of research and looking back through the paperwork our solicitor gave us, we eventually decided that it was indeed safe to use and so we got it going one very cold night. 

Now that we have the knack for lighting the log burner (when I say 'we' I really mean Tom, haha) we've been lighting it up every time the temperature drops and it's so effective you wouldn't believe. It heats the entire living room (which is rather big) and then, eventually, the heat flows out of the door and throughout the entire downstairs. It even makes its way up to the landing so it's nice and warm when we go to bed - game changer for sure and we love it!

My new gold earrings

I got a new pair of gold earrings in the shape of a flower for Christmas from my parents and I'm absolutely in love with them. I now just want a proper occasion to wear them because they're just too beautiful to wear around the house or to the supermarket. I don't know where they're from, but I'm sure you'd be able to find something similar from an independent jewellers :)

A slouchy white turtle neck jumper

I bought this jumper at the start of the month. It's from Debenhams by a brand called 'Nasty Gal'. I though the cut looked really flattering and I loved the slouchy, boxy look of it online. It was also a really nice colour. It's not quite white, but like an extremely light, pale pink and it's actually really complimentary when paired with high-waisted jeans as it cuts off at the lower back and (almost) the top of the hips. I'll leave a link to it if I can find one, but if not, I'm sure you'll be able to find something that closely resembles it!


Tea tree 'Skin Clearing' facial wash by The Body Shop

I tried this last winter by way of a little sample bottle and I actually really liked using it. I genuinely thought that it made a difference to the look and feel of my skin so I eventually got around to ordering a full-sized bottle at the start of the month and I've been reminded of exactly how much I loved it back in January last year (read my full review of this face wash here).

Up until I bought this one, I'd been using the lemon face wash from The Body Shop (see what I thought to that here), which was actually really nice to use and it did make a difference, for sure, but I fancied a change - hence why I opted for the tea tree one. Who knows, maybe next time I'll go back to the lemon face wash, haha.

Adding new photos to my album

I'm one of those people who absolutely loves to have physical photographs to look at. I have really fond memories of looking through old photos with my family from my childhood. There's something about not knowing which photo you're going to flick on to next or who's going to be in it or where it was taken or even the date it was taken on. But when you get there, it opens up a whole bunch of memories and it forces you to reminisce and think back to a time that meant something to you.

I only print the photos that have wonderful, happy memories attached to it or I'll take a photo of something significant and print that, like my first car or our first house or our first Christmas tree in our own house etc. But most of my photos feature family and friends so that's all that matters to me. 

There's just something nice about knowing that you'll be flipping through these pictures with your children or your grand children, even, and it just makes me feel very proud and very happy to have started this wonderful albums. It's like I've kept a visual diary for all this time.

When I have photographs printed, I write on the back of them, detailing a number of different things:
  • The date it was taken or the month and the year
  • Where it was taken
  • Who is in the photo
  • The age those people were when the photo was taken 

Chilli con carne

Chilli con carne is just one of those dishes that is filling, warming and extremely delicious. We like to cook our chilli in the slow cooker (which is a game changer, let me tell you) and that's super handy, especially when we both work full time and find that we're constantly running out of time to do other things, like go to the cinema or even do our weekly food shop, haha. If you've not had a bowl of chilli for a while, then here's your nudge to make some! See my chilli slow cooker recipe here :)

Harry Potter

Who doesn't love HP (no, not the condiment, haha)? I'm yet to meet a person who doesn't love the franchise and that doesn't really surprise me. The films came onto Sky Movies not long ago and since then, we've been setting some time aside to watch the films from the start, in order. 

I always forget how good the series actually is until I see them again and then I remember why they're so successful. We also watched the HP reunion that was shown on Sky and it filled us with such nostalgia that we just had to give it another watch and I'm glad we did because I'm obsessed again haha.

A new Cath Kidston mug

We went to Cheshire Oaks on New Years Day (Read about our full trip here) and whilst we were there, we popped into the Cath Kidston shop to see what they had to offer. Other than buying a couple of Christmas plates, I also picked up a new mug and it's basically designed to look as if there's a London bus filled with passengers and it's my new favourite mug! 

It's a great size, the design is fun and the shape of the mug itself is slightly different from the other available, so I just had to chuck it in the basket! I've been using it every day ever since :)

Emily in Paris

I was adamant that I wasn't going to get into the 'Emily in Paris' hype, but here we are, haha. I thought I'd give the first episode a chance and lo and behold, the character works in the same industry as me, almost doing the exact same thing, minus the luxury brands and one year Paris placements, haha. 

I was actually quite taken aback by the 'scandal' involved in just the first few episodes and I found myself rooting for people to get together who I perhaps shouldn't have done, but it just sucks you in! If, like me, you weren't interested in this series at first, then give it a go because I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

Our new corner sofa

We had our new corner sofa delivered this month and it's absolutely the best thing we have bought for the house so far. It's a five seater and very deep so you can properly spread out and relax on it, unlike the two seater we had before. It's called Euphoria from DFS in the colour 'Breeze'. There are plenty of other colours available, but we quite fancied this one :)


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I hope you enjoyed this blog post? Let me know in the comments below what you loved throughout January and I'll see you all again soon with a brand new blog post!

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