A few of my favourite things #103

It’s been over a month since I posted one of these! My mental health took a bit of a dip and I didn’t blog for three weeks. While I’ve played catch up with my blog schedule, I decided to hold off on these weekly updates, but kept the ol’ Instagram up to date (I think it’s my favourite platform, despite the criticisms).

Here’s a look back at the things that have made me smile over the last few weeks.

Martha Brook Stationery Social

The highlight was definitely the Stationery Social. I had such a fab day swooning over gorgeous stationery, meeting some Instagram friends IRL, and taking part in nerdy workshops. I can’t wait for the next one.

Good Point

Speaking of Insta friends, I met the awesome Stationery Magpie ahead of the launch of her new business: Good Point. How wonderfully nerdy is this (gifted) tee?! It’s super comfy and I love the unisex fit. Plus they’re super sustainable as they’re printed in the UK and sent in plastic-free packaging. You can order your own here. While you’re there, check out these cracking tote bags too (there might be a giveaway coming soon…).

New books

I’ve been giving my library card quite the workout lately and I’ve also received a few review copies and competition prizes. I’ve easily got enough books to keep me going into the new year.

I ordered a bunch for Jenson for Christmas too. He loves Julia Donaldson and they were on offer on Amazon (2 for £7).

While we’re on the topic of books, I must give another shout out to my book of the year: Fariha Róisín’s How to Cure a Ghost.

All of the pens

Some absolute queens signed up to Grow & Glow using my affiliate link and I’ve started using the extra monthly income to treat myself to a cheeky Cult Pens order. I started with the Pentel Touch and moved on to the Zebra brush pens – reviews coming soon. Plus there’s a Stabilo brush pen giveaway on the way!

I also picked up these adorable erasable pens in Ryman (for a mere quid each!) when I went and got these cracking pastel drawers. I needed something for all those lettering pens!

Lettering

Speaking of lettering, I’ve really enjoyed getting to grips with my new pens and trying different styles. I feel like I’ve stalled a bit with my progress so I need to get back to my resources – my copies of issues two and three of Simply Lettering are still unopened.

I’m taking part in the #RockYourLettering challenge this month, which is also helping me to find more awesome accounts to follow.

I also found a way to combine lettering with Jenson’s education!

School

Jenson started school and I celebrated with a lunch date with The Mums (those of us who met through a combination of antenatal classes, pregnancy yoga, and Baby Aquatics). It’s the end of an era – and I’m the only one with an only child. It’s crazy has much has changed in the last few years.

Jenson’s really enjoying school so far and loves learning. I hope this lasts a good few years yet.

Baking

Can you believe the kid actually has homework?! On top of daily reading (which we do anyway) and phonics, he had four small projects to complete within a fortnight, one of which was to bake something. We quite often do banana bread but we tarted it up a bit and did banana and carrot cake, complete with icing and walnuts (I usually can’t be arsed with the extras). We used this Waitrose recipe and it’s the best thing I’ve ever made. Admittedly, that benchmark is pretty low given my baking ‘skills’ but yum! Will definitely make this again.

Pumpkin patch

Of course, school means trying to make the most of the weekends, so I’ve been prioritising all of the fun times. We went back to the Trevaskis Farm pumpkin patch (fourth year in a row!) and had loads of fun with his cousins.

He always prefers to pick a pumpkin he can actually carry himself

Check out the muddy clothes in this final pic – he went to town on the muddy puddles. That Peppa Pig has a lot to answer for!

I hope you’ve had a lovely start to autumn. Being Cornish, of course I love the summer, but this time of year is so flippin’ beautiful.