Day 11: Three things I'm Loving

1. My Job

I really feel like one of the luckiest people that I have a job I love. I’ve worked with some really great people and it hasn’t even been 2 months since I started. I’ve got a good deal here!

2. Christmas

This build up to Christmas is great and so exciting. Taking part in doing up my work place for the Christmas season has really lifted that Christmas feeling.

3. FOUR

The fourth One Direction album (sorry, really not sorry), I wonder how long it took to come up with that name!

November

It’s almost the end of the year which obviously means Christmas but also the beginning of the New Year.

I do enjoy the build up to Christmas, as the lights get switched on and it gets dark really early. The shop windows are decorated really festive and the light pours out on the street, I love it!

I plan my presents out so well for Christmas, I like to put a lot of thought and love into them. I way prefer buying for other people than myself; I’m super kind like that.

Seeing as it’s coming to the end of the year, I thought that now would be a great time to declutter and get rid of lots of things that I don’t need as by the time it’s December I will be getting into the swing of Christmas and getting ready for the festivities. This also means that when it comes to January I’ll already have a clean slate and I won’t need to start the year by doing that!

This month also brings 6 months of blogging, how crazy is that! But I’m going to do a whole other blog post about that in the middle of the month!

I’ve got so many exciting things to share with you this month!

God Only Knows

I've been playing this basically on repeat the past few days, how cringe am I. You need to listen to the most perfect collaboration in a while!

Obviously I'm slightly biased, but One Direction were pretty amazing in it!

It was produced to celebrate the launch of BBC Music, and what a celebration!

What do you all think of it?

My favourite place I’ve visited…

This is New York obviously. Hands down the most amazing place I’ve ever been, sure there are going to be so many other places I’ll visit, my list is ever growing, but my heart will always be with NYC I’m afraid.

There’s just something so big and busy and hectic that makes it so exciting. The next chance I get I will be over there like a shot, though that’s only because I’m lucky enough that my Dad has to go over there once a month to work.

On my most recent visit in October 2013, we went to the zoo (I LOVE zoos), saw the New York Marathon, visited the Natural History Museum and also visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as well.

My favourite part would have had to be the zoo!

Another place we visited, which was truly incredible, was Ground Zero. I was old enough to remember 9/11 so when I went there I got a bit choked up at what an amazing place it was. It’s definitely somewhere that I want to visit again and I think there’s a museum there now which I can imagine would be absolutely fascinating (museum nerd right here).

Brooklyn Bridge is beautiful. I struggled quite a lot with walking about, we were constantly walking everywhere and Brooklyn Bridge isn’t exactly a short walk! The views from the bridge were amazing. Here are some of my favourite pictures:

I was talking to my brother a few weeks ago (he’s 12 and the most I can normally get out of him is a yeah every now and then), and he said that he loves New York and it was loads of fun. There were lots of good shops we went to – FAO Schwartz and the Apple store was incredible. He also told me that the walking around was fun, as well as the museums he visited, the statue of liberty boat ride and the year before they went up the empire state building (I’m unbelievably jealous).

I also spoke to my friend, Sarah, who visited in 2010 and she said she really enjoyed it as well. Some of her highlights were the Rockefeller centre, going to Planet Hollywood and the film props there and also Ground Zero. She also said that the New York tour bus was good and her family also took a horse and carriage through central park and they were told what movies were filmed where.

I love talking to people about what they do when they go places, so I can get ideas of what I want to do when I go to those places!

After talking to Sarah and a few others, there’s still so much that I haven’t seen and that I want to go and visit, I just need to get back there soon!

I love Autumn because…

Now the summer has ended (boo) and we’re going into Autumn. This has to be one of the better seasons for me, even if it means going back to School or University. While I was planning this blog post I came up with a whole page of reasons I like Autumn.

To start with the air gets more crisp and fresh as the cold sets in, none of this hot and muggy nonsense we’ve been having in England.

The changing colours of the trees and the crunch of leaves under your shoes, how can you not love it? Dog walks in the autumn are definitely the best! And not forgetting when it gets darker a bit earlier in the evenings…

TV…need I say more. All of my favourite TV programmes start again in the autumn, there’s just so much to watch and X Factor is basically the count down to Christmas right?

It also means it’s almost time for Thursday late night shopping too. Wandering aimlessly through shops as dusk settles and the shop lights light up the street. Walking through the markets is so much nicer than when it’s boiling hot and it’s something I’m going to make more of an effort to do.

Not forgetting the food (you knew it would come up at some point!).the hot soups, homemade stews, apples at Halloween, all kinds of pies, huge pots of chilli and yes, of course, a Sunday roast dinner! No more of all this salad business, but don’t worry I’ll be finding autumn alternatives and keep you posted!

I don’t normally treat myself to new clothes that often, I get a few staples and work around that. However recently I’ve felt the urge to look for a few new bits thi season. I’d love a chunky cardigan for when it gets colder and I need a new coat too. I can’t wait to get out my woolly chunky snoods, they are unbelievably warm and great for when you go on walks. And boots as well, always a must.

It also seems like the perfect excuse to have a bit of down time to myself. After summer being so hectic and just plain crazy, it’s time to have those cosy Sunday nights that don’t require much thought. Light up a nice smelling candle and do some writing or watch my favourite TV programmes and let everything else wait till Monday morning.

Fortunately, or unfortunately in some cases, I’m all into new starts. So, as September is in full swing, and we’re already a week in, it’s time to pack up the rest of my things and move back to Kingston ready to find a new job. I actually cannot believe it’s already a week into Septembers. It feels like only last week it was the beginning of the summer holidays.

Lastly, but by no means least and without a doubt the best bit, it means it is time to almost get ready for Christmas. And I LOVE Christmas, I mean really love it, but I will have to save that for another day or I will get too overexcited and it’s only September after all.

So for now, I will live in the moment and enjoy Autumn while it is here!