Happy 2017, Happy Beth.

Happy New Year and welcome back to my blog. It's been a bit quiet over here, partly due to the fact that work and life got in the way, and partly due to the fact I'd lost my love for my blog. The content I'd been producing wasn't content that held my heart. I was writing and publishing because others were, leading me to churn out posts that I didn't 100% love, and wasn't 100% happy with, and therefore, eventually I stopped altogether. 

But, with the new year, I'm feeling refreshed and revitalised and ready to fall back in love with writing again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not setting any new years resolutions to define my style or post x times a week, because that's not how I want my blogging life to be. My new blogging path is going to be a care free journey. I want to write about things I want to, not what I think I should be doing or what other people are doing. I want my blog to look how I want it to look, and not what other's look like. There will be no more comparing. No more half-hearted posts. And definitely no more shitty photography shoots {if you can even call them that}.

So, expect to see new posts, and know that when you're reading them, I've thoroughly enjoyed writing them. Expect to see a new design that I whole-heartedly love, and expect to see the parts of my life I choose to share with you. Sit tight and enjoy the ride, because I know I'm going to. 

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!