March Wrap Up // Harry Potter Vibes & Birthday Treats!

Good afternoon, readers!

I have a question for you: DID YOU MAKE IT OUT OF MARCH IN ONE PIECE? I, my friends, did not. I feel like a walking, talking zombie and I am absolutely cream-crackered! March felt more like 2 months!

THE CHAOTIC THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH:

This can basically be summed up by crazy work shenanigans: first, one of our main members of staff dropped to 1 day a week unexpectedly (and we were understaffed before), secondly, we took on another member of staff who quit 3 days in. So THEN we had to interview for ANOTHER new member of staff, (it’s a really weird feeling interviewing people, btw). We eventually found one (yay!) but now most days are spent training them, which, lemmie tell ya, is REALLY EXHAUSTING.

Actual footage of me at my desk.

NOW, FOR THE REALLY AWESOME THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH:

• I hit 1000 WordPress followers, which was the most amazing feeling and I AM SO EMOTIONAL. :’D
• Pre the work craziness, I got a promotion! I can now call myself  ‘Assistant Practice Manager’. IT’S SOUNDS SO FANCY. 😀
• It was my birthday month, and I did a joint birthday celebration with one of my best friends, and we went to the Harry Potter themed School of Witchcraft and Wizardly escape room in London which was brilliant! We got to wear cloaks, wave wands and solve riddles to pass six of our wizarding classes. We escaped just in time and got an O for Outstanding grade! We then went for an amazing meal at the Dishoom in Shoreditch, where I had THE MOST amazing lamb samosas (I could have eaten them all day).
• The final part of our birthday extravaganza was heading to The Cauldron Harry Potter cocktail experience, which is one of the best things I have EVER DONE, I cannot recommend it enough! You get to make 2 wizard-themed cocktails; you’re given a box with lots of weird vials, there’s dry ice, smoking cauldrons, stirring mechanisms triggered by your wand, and even crazy fire tricks! I just… I can’t even. Every time I think about it I get the hugest smile on my face, and I can’t stop looking back at the pictures and videos. 😀 I’d recommend checking out this Youtube video to see what it’s all about!

Total Books Read:  4| New releases 2| Non-Fiction 1 | Series 1 

March was not the greatest reading month, here’s hoping April goes better!

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon | ★★★ 1/2| Comments: It’s taken me a long time to decide how to rate this one… it was my most anticipated read of the year and I felt, well… kinda underwhelmed? And I feel really sad about it. 😦 I’m still collecting my thoughts but they’ll be a review coming soon!

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan | ★★★★ | Comments: This was a beautiful tale about a Bangladeshi Muslim straddling two cultures and dealing with the fallout when her parents find out that she’s gay. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a very emotional and enjoyable read!

Spellbound by Kelley Armstrong (Women of the Otherworld #12) | ★★| Comments: I feel like this installment was a mess. It didn’t have one cohesive storyline but lots of different threads, half smooshing them together at the end! This felt very much like a bridge novel to get the chess pieces in place for the finale.

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking | ★★★★| Comments: I have made a shocking discovery my friends, I should have been born in Denmark. It turns out that my unofficial life goal has been to seek out feeling hyggelig, and I didn’t even know it! I’m not normally one for these kind of coffee table books, but this one straddles the vaguely amusing with pretty images and some interesting happiness stats, and I think everyone will be able to take something away from it!

What did you read this month?

 

I didn’t have much time to watch TV this month but somehow managed to make it through a lot of movies, which is unusual for me! 

Avengers: Infinity War | ★★★★| Comments: Another great superhero meet-up film. Overall, this was excellent with lots of great character moments and good funnies, but I just felt like it went on a little bit too long??

Love Simon | ★★★★| Comments: This was super cute, and everything I hoped it would be! I was a puddle of emotions, especially in the scenes with Simon’s dad where tears ACTUALLY LEFT MY EYEBALLS. It gets 4 stars, though, because I couldn’t help thinking about all the things I loved from the book that didn’t make the cut, and I also didn’t think Leah’s character was moody/sassy enough!

Oceans 8  |★★★★| Comments:| Okay, so I did this completely the wrong way around. I had never seen any of the Oceans films, but this one came onto Now TV, and I’m a huge Sandra Bullock fan so I decided to give it a go, and well, I kind loved it! Highly amusing and fun, it was well acted and kept my attention all the way to the end!

Oceans 11, 12, and 13 | ★★★★| Comments: So after enjoying Oceans 8 so much, I decided I needed to go back to the originals, and I can certainly see why they’re so popular! They’ve got such clever and interesting heist storylines, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. I loved watching Matt Damon squirming, generally failing at life and getting put down by his co-stars, George Clooney crying at Oprah, and Brad Pitt wearing dodgy outfits! All three films were solid 4-stars for me!

What did you watch this month?

 

Since joining Instagram, I’ve been bombarded with the world of bookish candles, and I am loving every minute of it! I recently came across Elven Wick Candles, one of the only shops whose shipping isn’t astronomical for me, so  I decided to give them a go! I purchased the ‘Luke’s Diner’ candle based around The Gilmore Girls with the scent ‘freshly ground coffee’. 

 

All I can say is ohh my gosh, this is THE BEST SMELLING CANDLE I HAVE EVER COME ACROSS! It does have a coffee scent, but it’s also much sweeter and it’s pure HEAVEN. The best part though? I can smell it on my bedside table even when the wick hasn’t been lit! I also love the cute design and it comes in a really solid jar with a metal lid, so it feels high quality as well!

I am a full bookish candle convert and I will definitely be repeat-ordering this candle, as well as trying out some of their other products! 

What did you buy this month? 

 

Blogs Posted: 2 | Tags 1 | Giveaway 1

I didn’t feel like I got much of a chance to blog this month! 😦

I was hoping to write a review of Dry by Neal Schusterman, and do a discussion post, but alas life had other things in mind for me! BUT, I did have so much fun making my first ever original tag! 

• May at Forever and Everly wrote an amazing review of The Fever King!
• Vicky at Vicky who Reads conducted a blogger and author etiquette survey, collating bloggers responses about author interaction, and it’s very interesting!
• Marie and Drizzle & Hurricane Books recommends 10 YA books that deal with anxiety, and I am here for it!
• Brianna at Brianna the Bookworm celebrates 10 of her favourite female book characters for International Women’s Day!
• Sophie at Me and Ink completes The Coffee Book Tag and uses THE CUTEST gifs!

Let’s Chat!
How was the month of March for you? Did it go on forever like it did for me?!? What have you been reading, watching and discovering? Have you watched any of the Oceans franchise? Let me know in the comments!