Ahh, spring has sprung!
It’s so wonderful being able to drive to work and return home while it’s still light – the days seem so much longer 🙂
Throughout March, I was officially moving into my flat and sorting out lots of life admin – bills, bills, bills – but I still found time to find a few favourite things along the way.
Notes From An Exhibition by Patrick Gale
This book has been on my bookshelf for so long but I’ve never got around to reading it.
I listened to a podcast with Patrick Gale years ago when I was at uni. He was talking about Cornwall and the way he writes and it made me add a ton of his books to my Goodreads to-read list.
Notes from an Exhibition tells the story of Rachel Kelly, a bipolar artist, and her family.
After her death, each of her four children as well as her husband and sister must come to terms with her death and their understanding of such a complicated character.
I absolutely love reading about people – especially families and their dynamics – so this book with its character studies of each individual was so interesting to me.
Every person in the book is so complex that it makes for a very intense and engaging read.
I actually finished this book when I was on a coach trip to Ireland and left it on the bus so someone else could enjoy it too.
Greek chicken
Since I’ve been living in the flat, I’ve been trying to eat less processed food and more actual real food!
It’s so easy to just pick up a ready meal from the supermarket so instead, I’ve been meal planning and prepping in advance so I have to actually make the food myself.
Last week, I followed this recipe from Ally’s Cooking and it was b-e-a-utiful!
I made a little more tzatziki than I should have and I used way too much brown rice instead of farro BUT apart from that, my lunch box was so tasty.
I love the seasoning that Ally recommends and I’d definitely say to give it a go if it takes your fancy.
This little table
The spare bedroom is the one room in my flat with nothing in it – at all!
I’m hoping to get a desk to put in there so I can write in there with no distractions but I also want to buy a bed or sofa-bed so I can have people stay.
Until then, I just have this small table that I bought at Home Bargains a couple of months ago.
It was so cheap – I have a feeling it was less than a tenner – and I can’t wait to cover it in plants & flowers to bring a bit of life to that room.
Monzo
This is going to sound so sad but I love budgeting.
I love working out what I need to pay out and what I’ll have to spend on nice things. Don’t ask me why – I just love it.
Anyway, I was looking for a way to keep the money I owe for bills separate from my other cash. Plus, I wanted to divide the money in my savings up into ‘holiday fund’, ‘gifts for other people fund’ (because I’m forever forgetting birthdays), ‘house fund’ and ‘treat yo’self’ fund.
Enter the amazing Monzo card.
Monzo is an online bank that a couple of friends have recommended to me in the past. You can put as much or as little as you like on the card and it works in the same way as your current account would but you can set weekly budgets on it plus it tells you where you’re spending your money plus you can put some aside into different pots so you can save for different things!!
You can actually use Monzo as your current account but at the moment, I’m keeping all the money for my bills in my usual account and transferring all the money for fun stuff to my Monzo card.
And this isn’t even an advert – this is literally just me getting so enthusiastic about something that I tell everyone and their dog about it.
Queer Eye
Last but certainly not least, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Queer Eye on Netflix last month.
It’s the ultimate binge watch – I just could not stop watching.
If you’ve never seen Queer Eye, it’s a series where five gay men help another guy get their life in order.
It’s uplifting, inspiring and really moving! Seriously, it’s a tear-jerker.
I can’t wait for the next series 😀
And that’s my March favourites in a nutshell.
Hope you all had a fabulous Easter and ate many, many chocolate eggs 🙂
What have you been reading this month?
Allie x
Allie Morgan - Writer & Cancer Survivor 