Last Week's Shenanigans (13th May - 19th May)...Birthday Haul!

I have honestly had such a lovely week, largely down to the fact that Monday was my birthday! I of course got some lovely presents, and on Tuesday Mat took me out on a shopping spree to buy some bits! It was a lovely idea (I rarely treat myself) and I can't wait to show you guys what I got, especially from our trip to Foyles. The rest of the week was very relaxed with very little in the way of work!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'A Short History Of Myth' by Karen Armstrong: Gift (14/05/19)
- 'Burning Your Boats' by Angela Carter: Gift (14/05/19)
- 'Spark Joy' by Marie Kondo: Gift (14/05/19)
- 'The Female Of The Species' by Mindy McGinnis: Gift (14/05/19)
- 'Fire & Blood' by George R. R. Martin: Gift (14/05/19)
- 'Muse Of Nightmares' by Laini Taylor: Bought (16/05/19)
- 'King Of Scars' by Leigh Bardugo: Bought (19/05/19)
- 'The Emotion Thesaurus' by Angela Ackerman et al.: Bought (19/05/19)

Last Week's Shenanigans (7th May - 13th May)...It's My Birthday!

Yay! It's my favourite time of year! I booked a whole week off (starting Wednesday 9th) in order to maximise celebrations and had a really enjoyable time off with Mat. Firstly, we went to go and see Kinky Boots in the West End! Honestly, the show was so enjoyable and I really recommend it to anyone looking for something funny and feel-good while visiting London! We went for lunch and dinner while out too, which was nice. We even had some delicious pancakes!

On Thursday we went to Canary Wharf for dinner out with some friends and had a wonderful evening enjoying the views by the river! It's been so nice to relax and I've loved having the freedom to socialise at my own pace as well. On Saturday my parents came to visit and I really enjoyed spending time with them! Then came my actual birthday and it really was such a wonderful day. I was spoilt rotten by both my wonderful fiance and my friends who came round later on in the day! We played a hilarious game of Scrawl too - for those that don't know it's basically Cards Against Humanity, Pictionary and Chinese Whispers combined!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'And The Mountains Echoed' by Khaled Hosseini: Gift (10/05/18)
- 'Ash Princess' by Laura Sebastian: Physical ARC (12/05/18)
- 'No. 1 - No. 80' by Various (Little Black Classics): Gift (12/05/18)
- 'Alice In Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll: Gift (13/05/18)
- 'The Love Interest' by Cale Dietrich: Gift (13/05/18)
- 'A Study In Charlotte' by Brittany Cavallaro: Gift (13/05/18)
- 'The World Of Ice & Fire' by George R.R. Martin: Gift (13/05/18)
- 'Wires & Nerve' by Marissa Meyer: Gift (13/05/18)

Last Week's Shenanigans (8th May - 14th May)...IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! Haul Included!

That's right guys and gals, it's my birthday week! I have to say, in some ways it has been a little tough. A lot of things happened that threatened to make it a horrible week. But so many fantastic things happened too and I am really focusing on those because in the end I had a great time! On Monday I went back to Ashford to see my family and sort out a couple of appointments. I met my sister for lunch with Mat too and we had a lovely catch-up and food at a nearby pub. The evening with my parents was great fun too and we ate a delicious curry before heading home.

My next day off was on Friday and I took it as a well needed lazy day after a tough week, as well as the start of four days off for my birthday! Hooray! Mat bought me some chocolate and treats and we watched Howl's Moving Castle, one of my all time favourite films.  The next day was of course my birthday! I had such a great day with my wonderful boyfriend who treated me like a princess (tiara and all) all day! We played a fun game of Tales Of The Arabian Nights! If you're into board games, I highly recommend it! Then in the afternoon we went to Stratford's shopping centre for a treat! I had a wonderful time and ended up with quite the haul of presents!

I got vinyls from my family - Busted's Night Driver, Lana Del Rey's Born To Die and Mumford & Son's Sigh No More which is incidentally my favourite of their albums. I had it on CD growing up so it was a real pleasure to add it to my growing vinyl collection! I also got the Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 CD (I am a huge fan of the mix of songs on those albums) and Moana, a gorgeous Disney animated film! Mat got me an iPad Pro and pencil and I feel so lucky! My old tablet was dying a bit of a death so I needed this one! While out shopping I also got a Funko POP figure of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, a Happy Birthday candle by Lily-Flame and a tea set from Typo!

The next day, I saw all of my friends! It was a lot of fun sending time with all of them and playing games! I received some lovely gifts too - a new colouring book, lip lustre and travel pass from Tash & George, a cool Typo mug-flask from Genny & Joe AND a beautiful necklace from Karl and Megan! It was a wonderful end to a roller-coaster of a week and really made sure that my birthday week ended with a bang!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'The Sleeping Prince' by Melinda Salisbury: Bought on Amazon (09/05/17)
- 'Godblind' by Anna Stephens: Approved by Netgalley (11/05/17)

My 22nd Birthday Haul!

I don't plan on doing my post on my two week hiatus until  tomorrow, so instead I'll settle for telling you all about the Birthday bits that I received both on my Birthday and today when my parents came to visit and drop the rest off. I of course took a picture to give you all a taste of my haul, and I'll explain in more detail after!

I trust that most of you will probably have looked straight at the books, but I'll list everything in case you're interested! So obviously my first presents came from my wonderful partner Mat who as you all know, took me to Paris as a Birthday treat. While we were there however, he surprised me on my actual Birthday with something I didn't expect. A trip to Disneyland! Most of you might not know how special this is to me, but I have never been in my life and have always adored Disney/wished to go. My wish finally came true! The tickets came with a little toy Lady whom I adore. Just before we left Paris, Mat also took me shopping and bought me a few cosmetic/beauty bits and a beautiful Michael Kors rose gold watch, which is something I have been wanting for a very long time. My whole time in Paris was one of the best things I could have asked for and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Upon returning home, I had a lovely box of 'Happy Birthday' chocolates waiting for me from my two lovely flat mates, Meg & Tash. Chocolate is actually the love of my life so they definitely made a good choice there! The rest of the presents I received when my parents came up. Most of my family outside my parents and sister gave me money. The books however, came from my close family. Book-wise, I received:

• 'The Sin Eater's Daughter' by Melinda Salisbury
• 'Bitter Greens' by Kate Forsyth
• 'More Than This' by Patrick Ness
• 'The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers' by Christopher Vogler

The first three are fiction books I have been after for a very long time (or at least, as soon as I heard of them, and I am so pleased to finally receive them! Thy all look so good and I look forward to hopefully finding three new authors to love! As for the last one,it is a non-fiction book I have been interested in reading for quite a while. Mythology has always fascinated me and it's influence on writing is sure to be an intriguing topic that I would like to know more on.

My sister, as well as two of the books, bought me whole host of 'Frozen' related bits (Top Trumps cards, a poster, a tumbler, a mug, a notebook and pens, stickers, key rings, etc.) because I absolutely adore that movie. It ended up having a bit of a Disney theme all in all and I was ultra pleased with all of my presents.

Daily Shenanigans, 13/05/2014: My 21st Birthday!

Well this post is coming a little late, but that's because I've been quite busy today! It's my birthday! I'm home now and have had a lovely day with Mat and my family, and I'm blown away by some of the gifts I've received! I'll do a quick haul because some of you might be interested and there are a few books scattered in there which I'm desperate to fan-girl about! I must apologise for very poor picture quality!

These are the presents I received from Mat and I'm so taken aback! I'll mention these first because I have already spoken about most of them but I was so happy with them! I mentioned that he got me a cute Eevee toy and Totoro toy yesterday while shopping. I probably also mentioned the Chocolate egg which I got yesterday as an early present! Well the one I received today was so unexpected and I still can't believe he got me one but it's a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3! I knew he was planning something bigger for my 21st, but this? I did not see it coming! I'm so grateful for everything he got me, as well as the lovely four days in London he treated me to. I've been spoilt rotten!

Next up are some of the presents I received from extended family. My Nan and Grandad bought me a gorgeous necklace which I adore. they let me look at it when I visited them a couple of weeks ago to make sure I liked it, which of course I did! It's beautiful! They also got me one of the two big keys, all wrapped up in pink as a bit of a joke. The second key is personalised and from one of my Aunts! speaking of Aunts, I have two more. One of them bought be a lovely bracelet and key-ring, while I received lip make-up from the other. I loved all of these presents!

This is actually a really terrible photo but pictured are the lovely and exciting presents that my Mum and Dad got me! A book on the Stage Show 'Les Misérables' (which I watched and adored). The 'Sherlock' series 3 DVD (which I am so happy about, it was on one of my Wish Lists). Tickets to see 'Let The Right One In' in the West End which I knew I was getting but I'm so looking forward to the show. The Swedish film is great! And last but certainly not least, the entire Harry Potter book collection! This present was entirely unexpected too and I actually almost cried! These covers are my favourite too so I was really happy!

Now for some reason this picture came out really well but there's a lot to cover here so I'll list them all anyway! These are the presents from my Sister, Bev who also has a blog at Tutus And Ballet Shoes and I love them all. She got me the 'Frozen' DVD which made me actually squeal when I saw it! She bought a couple of Owl-themed notebooks because I need some for general blog planning etc. There was also a lot of chocolate because it's probably my biggest addiction! And one of my favourite presents from her was a beautiful Snitch pocket-watch that actually opens and has pretty wings and tells the time and it's gorgeous (I love my Harry Potter themed bits and bobs).Now for the books which I'm sure you're all dying to hear about! First, 'Scarlet' by Marissa Meyer. The second in the Lunar Chronicles, I now have extra incentive to read them! The first three books of the 'Peter Grant' series, 'Rivers Of London', 'Moon Over Soho' and 'Whispers Underground'. Man I want to read these books so bad but simply thought I'd never get round to owning them! And last but not least, the entire 'Game Of Thrones' series! Wow I want to read these so badly but I must resist and get through my other reads first. 

And that about sums up my collection of Birthday bits! This is probably the longest Daily Shenanigans post I have ever written but it has been quite a day. I spent the evening with Mat and my Family, watching 'Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix' which happened to be on. I've really had such a nice day, though it's back to reality with work tomorrow!