Scentober

{Eds note: the lighting was awful when I took these, but I couldn't wait to get burning them so the photos were sacrificed for a gorgeous smelling flat}

What do you do when you don't feel well? Buy lots of gorgeous smelling candles of course. I had planned for an adventurous Saturday, but my body had other ideas. Waking up with a voice like Kermit the Frog left me feeling pretty sorry for myself, but gave me a good excuse to visit my faaaaavourite shop, Home Sense. If you hadn't already guessed, I'm a complete sucker for seasonally scented candles, and spend forever sniffing out my signature scents. Don't get me wrong, I love the freshness and fruitiness of spring and summer candles, but autumn and winter candles are what I'm all about- they're just so cosy, and fuzzy and you get the picture. So if you're after some gorgeous smelling candles for October, look no further. 

As it's only just October, I had to fight the urge to dive into the Christmas section, and instead headed straight for all the pumpkin/harvest/vanilla scented wax of dreams. I never used to be a fan of the pumpkin scent. When I used to carve pumpkins when I was younger, it used to leave me scrubbing the smell off my hands, but as I've matured, there's something quite sweet and satisfying about them. Coincidentally, all of the candles I picked up were made from the same company- Chesapeake Bay Candles, you've nailed it. 

• Creamy Pumpkin | Pumpkin Foliage | Wild Pumpkin
  This was the first candle I picked up, partly due to the fact you get three scents in one product, how's that for value for money. This candle is what I imagine star-fishing in the middle of a pumpkin patch smells like. The musky wooden tones blends perfectly with the sweetness of the pumpkin to create this heavenly scent, which you can pick up for £3.99.

• White PumpkinOut of all of my purchases, this one is probably my least favourite, buuuut it made the cut, so it's still pretty damn good. Before burning, you have to smell it more than once to get a whiff of all of it's flavours as you'd call them. It's not a sweet as an orange pumpkin, and has a bit more of a crisp aroma to it, making it a perfect bedroom candle.

• Harvest SangriaAfter visiting Spain and Portugal this year, my love for the countries grow, so anything with the word 'sangria' catches my eye. It smells just like my harvest festivals at school used to, with a fruity twist of the Sangria. Obvs, you guys won't know what my harvest festivals used to smell like, but think hay, pumpkins and Autumn air, how nostalgic.   

• Vanilla Creme
  Now this candle is the creme de la creme of vanilla candles. I'll quite happily put my hands up and admit that I am partial to a sickly sweet candle, but it normally has to burnt alongside a less-sweet candle to balance the ambience, so this one goes perfectly with the White Pumpkin candle. It's the tallest of the bunch, and smells exactly like a bakery that's just baked up a batch of vanilla cupcakes.

• Golden Fall 
  These tealights smell exactly how you'd imagine Autumn to smell like. The smell like you've just been out for a walk in the crisp Autumn evening, and you've come home to some freshly baked cinnamon buns, with some pumpkin soup burning on the stove. I'm not quite sure how they've managed to squeeze all that into a tealight, but for £4.99 for 24 tealights, I'm hella happy they did. 

I can tell you one things, my flat smells absolutely amazing right now! What are your go-to October scents?

What I Read On Holiday

So, I'm a bit of a bookworm especially when it comes to holidays as allllll I do is read. This year I went away for 10 days and got through 8 books, pretty impressive huh? So the last of my summer posts brings to you my 'what I read on holiday' list. Most of these aren't summery books, and will be as equally enjoyable when you're curled up on the sofa, wrapped up in a blanket, sipping on a milky hot chocolate, sounds dreamy doesn't it? 

1. Dream A Little Dream- Giovanna Fletcher
It's no secret that I'm a huuuuuge fan of the Fletcher family. I have been to 3 McFly concerts and obsess over all of their #futuregoals vlogs, so it's only right I work my way through Gi's books. I read You're the One That I Want on my city break to Barcelona, so for this trip I ordered Dream A Little Dream, partly because the front cover screamed summer at me. I loved this book, and was genuinely sad when I finished it. If you're someone that loves a romantic story then this'll be right up your street. It's funny and super relatable, and I have the Christmas novella in my Amazon basket ready to be ordered!

 2 Just One Year- Gayle Forman
This book follows on from Just One Day, and has taught me one thing- always, always, always have the sequel(s) to hand. There is nothing worse then a book ending on a cliffhanger, and you not having the next one on in the series. Unfortunately, this book also finished on a cliff hanger, and I'm yet to purchase the next, but it did answer some unfinished questions. As a classic lost love kinda tale, you get to see things from a different perspective, and you'll find yourself wanting to skip to the end, to find out some answers.   

3. The Rosie Effect- Don Tillman
This book follows on from The Rosie Project, and lived up to my expectations. I struggled to get into the first book as it wasn't my typical romantic narrative that I was used to. It follows the thought process of a guy named Don, who is one of the most socially awkward characters I've ever come across, but also becomes one of the funniest characters I've ever read about. Without giving away any spoilers, The Rosie Effect continues to follow his journey into a milestone you'd never think he'd get to, with an ending that leaves you warm and fuzzy inside. 

4. Me Before You- JoJo Moyes
Beware, you will need tissues. After all the hype surrounding this book, I couldn't not get it and boy oh boy, it didn't disappoint. I was captivated after the first page, and just couldn't put it down. This story isn't your conventional boy meet girl novel, no no. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you angry and it'll make you cry. I was left sobbing by the pool, feeling emotionally lost, now you've gotta be a damn good author to have that effect on your readers. 

5. After You- JoJo Moyes
I'd learnt from my previous mistakes, and also bought the sequel to Me Before You with me, so I could continue reading about the characters I'd dedicated so much time to. If you're as invested in the first book as I was, then this one is a no brainer. This story follow the journey over unexpected bumps, and twisty bends, but you'll be guaranteed some closure. 

6. Beautiful Broken Things- Sara Barnard
I'm not going to lie, part of the reason I bought this book was because of the front cover, it's all gold and shiny. I did read the blurb too though, and was quite intrigued by it not being a romance novel. It tells a story of teenage friendships, which took me back to my teenage days, in a good and bad way. It left me feeling pretty nostalgic, and was a breath of fresh air in comparison to my usual romantic stories. 

7. Watermelon- Marian Keyes
Still to this day, I have no idea why this book was called Watermelon, not a clue, but it was a gooden none the less. This was a, 'I've got one book left for the flight home and one more day in the sun' book that I picked out of our apartment's bookshelf, but it didn't disappoint. It focuses on one of five sisters, each of whom have their own book, and will have you belly-laughing in no time. It's written in first person, which took a little getting used to, but it definitely brought the story to life. I'm now on the hunt for the next sister to read about. 

My amazon basket is filling up pretty damn quickly!

Lagos // Barbosa Bar & Kitchen

So if you read my last post you'll know that I have recently returned from a super sunny holiday in Portugal. It was the dream, and I'm still suffering from the holidays blues (even as I have a Christmas countdown on my phone). Lagos is a great little place, with some gorgeous eateries, which is where we stumbled across the beauty of Barbosa Bar.

Okay, I lied. I actually found this pre-Portugal, after looking through tags on Instagram, but it paints more of an exciting picture if it was an accidental find doesn't it? + we did have to track down the exact location, so there was a small hint of stumbling.

 After a few confusing moments of trying to get in when they weren't officially open, (their windows said 10am, Facebook said 11am & the staff said 12pm) we were finally allowed through the doors, and I headed straight to the courtyard. It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. Tiled walls, pallet benches, big plants- the whole interior was right up my street and oh so Instagram.

Obvs we didn't just come here to stare at the decor {I could have easily done} so we found a comfy spot and ordered some brunch. To drink we both opted for a refreshing lemonade- but these had a twist. I went for the pineapple and basil, and Jay went for the lime and mint, and my goodness I neeeeed to recreate this, it was incredible. For food, I originally opted for the yogurt w/ granola and berries, but the yogurt was yet to be delivered, so instead I went for the croissant with homemade jam, and it was delicious. Jay went for a fancy panini, which came out looking super yummy and was gone in a flash, which was his way of saying it was good.

I could have happily pitched up for the whole day, but that wouldn't have been fair for other like-minded Instagrammers, and I had less than 24 hours to top up my tan, so every second counted. If you're off to Lagos anytime soon, I'd definitely add this spot to your to-do list.

Lagos

It feels like a lifetime ago that I was prancing around in bikinis and swooning over the gorgeous beaches. It's only been just under two weeks, but if I could, I'd be hopping on the next plane out there. This was my third visit to Portugal, and Jay's second, but it was our first time in Lagos, so it was super exciting for the both of us.

Our home for the ten days was Apartmentos Turisticos Marsol, a quaint little complex equipped with plenty of cacti and a twelve-hole mini golf course just north of the main-centre. We knew the moment we drove through the town that we were going to have a jolly good holiday, and when the owners of the apartments have a giant smile on their face at your arrival, you know you've chosen a gooden.

The first evening was spent mooching round the gigantic Intermarche, where naturally I bought too many bars of Milka and not enough OJ. But with a fridge full of food, we headed off into town for some dinner. Our route took us down a steep old hill, which was never too fun on the way up, but when there's gorgeous cobbled streets, tiled walls and bustling souvenir shops, you can't really complain.

For the rest of our holiday we managed to split our days between relaxing by the pool and snorkelling in the sea. I'm a sucker for the big, blue ocean and when you pair that with the Algarve's gorgeous coastlines, you have a hard time dragging me away. We also managed to choose the hottest day of the whole holiday to explore the town by light, thank goodness for the rows of ice-cream shops & the gorgeous little place that we stopped by for some brunch- keep your eyes peeled for the next post.

In the evenings we managed to spend half of our nights cooking in the kitchen, and the other half trying out some gorgeous eateries. The favourite probably has to be O Camilo, a terraced restaurant that overlooked the beach. I was definitely not prepared for my sea-bass to still have the head on, I managed to play it cool though and keep my shit together. {Secretly I was dying inside!} After eating we'd normally wander round the town, stand and watch the buskers, grab a ice-cream and head back to play cards. One great place I deffo recommend for an evening is Pro Putting Garden. Think of a golf course, think of a putting green, then merge them together. It's great fun, and guarantees lots of laughs! I could keep rambling on forever about what we got up to, but I don't want to bore you. There's stills some exciting holiday blog posts to come. before the Autumn weather sets in- although I think it might already have!

Monthly Round Up: August {2016}

So that thing I said last month about not leaving it till two weeks in before writing my monthly round up, yeah it didn't happen. I'm afraid a super, sunny break away in Portugal kinda got in the way and I'm not even a single bit sorry. {Well, maybe a little, but not by much}. With the return of GBBO (not even going to mention the recent devastating news we've received) & the team GB spirit, August was a pretty damn good month, with very few hiccups!

The Good
The good obviously has to be the fact I celebrated my birthday and went on holiday in the same month- what gets better than that? In the first week I received some wonderful gifts, saw Finding Dory and scoffed my way through more cake than the Bake Off tent produces. In the last week I was spending my days lying in the sun, swimming in the sea and getting through my mountain of books.

The Bad
I ended up having a pre-holiday MOT with a trip to both the dentist and doctors after convincing myself that everything was going wrong with my body. I deemed holiday-worthy though, and was reassured that my teeth, and head, and tummy is all okay and not failing me.

The Ugly
I dropped my phone down the toilet and it spent 48 hours in a bed of rice. Luckily, it survived. However, having no phone and temporary internet down time when your trying to work from home can send you into a panic when you start thinking of all the different scenarios that could happen when you have no contact to the outside world. {I can be a bit of a drama queen if you haven't already realised}

The Weird
I passed my probation at work which means I have now been there for over 7 months. That's over 200 days. Where has the time gone? I remember when back to my first week where I managed to get blisters on both my feet to the point they bled, my salad dressing leaked in my bag and I stepped into the deepest puddle in the world.

The Wonderful
My Mumma and sister came up for a flying visit, which gave me a chance to have some well-needed girly time. They also brought with them presents in the form of Disney DVDs and Jammie Dodger tubs. I also got to play host and provided them with chocolate, haribos and biscuits- Beth's Bread 'n' Breakfast will be starting soon.  

Here's to the start of an organised blogging schedule!

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival

I never need an excuse to escape to the countryside, but if was to have one then a super, popular scarecrow festival would fit the bill perfectly. On the edges of the Yorkshire Dales lies the rural village of Kettlewell which puts on an almighty display of straw filled figures every summer. When I lived at home we used to head to a nearby town to wander round their Scarecrow festival on an evening so really it was the ideal continuation of tradition. 

In true Beth-Jason fashion we didn't take into consideration that the heavens had opened the day before, so sandals and boat shoes weren't the most sensible of footwear choices. Luckily for me, I had some wellies in the boot but no socks. Even luckier for me, there was a walking shop so I now have some £12-worth woolly grey socks that make my feet feel like they have their own radiator. Unluckily for Jason he had to stick to his boat shoes, but we did pretty well in avoiding the mud. 

With a trail sheet in our hands, we set off on a self-guided tour with 50% of our time spent admiring the scarecrows. The other 50% of our time was spent peering into people's homes, looking up cottages that were for sale and deciding what our scarecrow entry would be. It's safe to say when it comes to villages, Kettlewell is the place of dreams or as some would say #futuregoals.

{I also learnt to skim stones here, so if that isn't a good enough reason, what is?}

Little Things #26

My, oh my, time flies when you're having fun. Or in other words, you're super busy at work because you're going on holiday and you have far too much to do and not enough time. It's been weeeeks since I last gave you a little update on what's going on in my life and keeping me ticking over, so in a bid to avoid packing for my holiday, I thought I'd do just that.

• I passed my 6 month work probation and I'm one step closer to my country manor house. 
• McFly turner 13 so I celebrated with a party-for-one {aka listening to them all day}
• I turned twenty-two and celebrated with a Jammie Dodger cake and a trip to the cinema to aee Finding Dory.
• Many evenings were spent cheering on Team GB
• I'm nearing the end of my work notebook which means I can indulge in one of my favourite things to shop for. 
• I experienced my first 'bring-a-dish' event for a Sunday 'garden-warming' BBQ {I loved it}
• We finally went to Scarborough and the donkey's were wearing hats! 
• My suitcase is 70% books after going a little OTT on Amazon.
• Bake Off returned to our screens and I was loving life.
• It's less than a month until Once Upon A Time returns to our screens!
• My Mumma and sister hopped up on a train for a swift visit and it was wonderful. 
• It also meant I gained two more Disney DVDs and finally got round to watching Zootopia. 
• They also bought my some super cute biscuit tubs to transport Jammie Dodgers to work in- if you haven't already guessed, they're my fav. 
• My new magazine subscription arrived (thanks to my good friend) and the recipes are super dreamy *insert heart-eyed-emoki*
• Miranda wrote the best letter to Team GB #suchfun
• We attended a Scarecrow festival and I learnt to skim stones (& find our future house)
• I ordered some prescription sunglasses and the world was clear once again. 
• I'm going on holiday in exactly 15 hours 

Scarbados

Something University taught me was that spontaneous plans are always the best ones, and when you combine that with exploring new places then they are even better. So, when we woke up to sunshine and scorching temperatures (I've learnt 20 degrees is considered that up North) a few weekends ago we made the impromptu decision to spend the day at Scarborough, the closest thing we could get to Barbados. 

Obviously my touch-and-go stomach decided that it would be a good day to flare up, but after a delayed start we were tooting along. As usual we had a bit of a mare when it came to finding somewhere to park after missing pretty much all of the turns to parking, but after what seemed like forever, we were eventually parked and on our way to the beach (beach, let's go get a wave).  

The last time I went to Scarborough was when I was about thirteen so I can't remember much other than a few penguins at the Sea Life centre, so it was all pretty much new territory to me. I, of course, got way too excited when I saw donkeys on the beach (they had little hats on), and rainbow-coloured beach huts. Once I'd gotten over my excited-ness we found a sunny spot and settled down with some fish 'n' chips- they always taste soooo much better when you're surrounded by the salty sea air. 

In true English style the sun didn't stay shiny for long, so we took a wander over the clifftop and in true Beth style my tummy didn't stay happy for long- this was our cue to leave. Unfortunately this meant we didn't get to relive our Barcelona rowing experience or waste countless 2p's in the arcades, but that just gives us a good reason to go back!