Recap 2020; September

Seriously, WHERE IS THE YEAR GOING?! While I'm glad 2020 is almost over I'm also worried that 2021 won't be any better and I had very sentimental plans for my birthday that I would literally be crushed if they didn't happen. Then again I was really sad about the other 5 trips this year we had to cancel.

It's also moving month and I didn't do crap to prepare like I normally do; September didn't slip passed me but for some reason I wasn't as responsible as I usually am and I honestly need to snap out of that because I don't have space or time to let things slip passed me. Postpartum Depression is weird and I wish it would just leave me alone already! I feel like I'm fighting a fog constantly.

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Read

This month I didn't read much. I had started Shadow of The Fox by Julie Kagawa since I heard so many awesome things about it and I loved her Iron Fey series back in the day but I just could not follow this one and it was making my head spin! And I was listening to it which makes it even worse.

I switched over to Wicked Saints and it's interesting so far but I haven't finished it yet.

I've got a ton of books bookmarked on my Scribd account and samples of books I want to read from Amazon; I may start doing book reviews of those. Someone I follow did a thing like that and it was pretty cool.

I started Alice The Absent: A Splintered prequel story by A.G. Howard. I need to finish that series too. But Morpheus gets on my nerves.

I did read a sampler of Lore by Alexandra Bracken thanks to Hyperion and NetGalley.

Yes, I did give in and start up my NetGalley crap again. Don't judge. Idk what I'm doing either.

Life | Monthly Recap; Empties August 2020

When was the last time I did an empties post?!

I've obviously been using products but I haven't really burned many candles down the last few months, I fell out of lighting candles which is so strange since it's kinda my thing. The bedroom light had randomly blown out though and so I started using this wax melt light up thing Bubba got me for Valentine's Day 2 years ago; picking a wax melt for the night for Tums and I has been something I've actually been looking forward to.

I'm ready to say goodbye to Summer, and hello to Fall and all it's foliage and beautiful shades of colors! Granted TX doesn't start to cool down until maybe mid Nov and even then it's like Summer dry heat one day and ridic cold 12 hours later. I honestly HATE Winter is TX, I have anemia and it physically hurts for me. I dream of the hot Winters in Florida I miss so much!

Here are my empties for the last bit of Summer!

Life | 5 Self Care Products I Swear By

I'm big on self care. It's something that's super important to me and something I try to make time for. Any way that I can get myself to relax and do something I enjoy through out the day even if for just 5 minutes helps me stay stable.

There are a few products I try to make sure to use daily or weekly and they're things I look forward to using!

Self care is a nonstop activity that I feel like should be pretty high on a priority list, though I know for most people they either don't know where to start or don't know how to make time for it.

I always heard stories about first time moms who never get time to themselves and can't even find time to shower and told myself I wasn't going to be like that. Yes I watch my child all day long but luckily I have a husband who watches her on the back end of the day so I can have a few hours to myself. I get not everyone is that lucky and I get even if you don't have a kid life can totally get in the way.

Over the years I've tried incorporating little things into my day here and there and finding what works for me; and my habits seemed to have changed almost seasonally, but here are some things I try to stick to!

Recap 2020; August

How is it possible that this year is traveling even faster despite the on and off lock down's?! This year is just zooming by; it's almost Spooky and Holiday Szn and I'm glad to have something to look forward to.

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Read

In August I managed to read about 3 books;

The Will and the Wilds by Charlie Holmberg was one of those reads that I didn't love but I couldn't put down! It was SO weird. I have more of this authors books on my Kindle that I have yet to start on. No idea why I started with the latest one lol but I'm excited to dive into her other books! I also wrote a book review on it on the Places + Peonies blog!

Fairy Tail Vol 1 was up on Kindle Unlimited so I figured WHY NOT. I'm a huge fan of Fairy Tail. A little too huge. It's the one anime that just lifts my spirits and I rewatch it ALL the time. It follows pretty much the intro episodes of the anime. But it was still neat to see in manga form!

Six Figure Blogging in 3 Months was a borrow from Scribd. I've bookmarked a ton of blogging/social media books trying to get updated on the change of the internet world. The problem is that you don't really know what some of these books include. I didn't find that this one was too helpful. It does have a great resource page for affiliate programs to look into, but other than that... I didn't find any other part to be as helpful.

Review | LUSH Mermaid Tail

LUSH Mermaid Tail Bubble Bar

Mermaid Tail from LUSH was one of the many bubble bars "Tums" got me for Mother's Day. I LOVED this bubble bar! The only thing is that the tail takes up a lot of space and so if you're trying to cut this one in half it's a little challenging. I didn't bother so I ended up just using the whole bar which I'm pretty sad about cause it was so pretty (I somehow forgot to snap a pic of my bath art)!

LUSH describes this bubble bar as;

The human world is a mess. Get away from it all with our undersea wonder, Mermaid Tail. This two-in-one bathing buddy combines a softening, silky bath oil with one of our classic bubble bars. Choose your own adventure: you can snap off the top for a dreamy, creamy bath to soothe dry skin and tired limbs; you can crumble the base beneath running water for sky-high bubbles; or you can combine them together for buttery, bubbly bliss. Meanwhile, the sweet citrusy scents of lemon myrtle and grapefruit oils will boost your mood, while a dose of heady ylang ylang keeps you grounded. No matter what you choose, wouldn't you say your collection's complete?

There wasn't really any problems with me and the glitter this product had... and I recently discovered I hate glitter in my bath products!

I'm a sucker for citrus scents, always! So this one was one that I also really liked scent-wise. I always find citrus scents to be so calming and I recently found out that it's perfect for anxiety aromatherapy! I just wish the scent was a little bit stronger with the bubble bars.

Other than that, I am finding LUSH's new products ARE becoming more moisturizing and I'm living for this considering I forget to put on lotion ALL THE TIME. Don't ask, I don't know why.

Hoping this bubble bar sticks around for a bit longer so I can grab another one!

Have you tried LUSH Mermaid Tail? If not, what's your favorite LUSH bubble bar?

Life | I miss you dad

I don't tend to write too many personal posts here; although I wanted to when I started this blog. It's just hard when people aren't driven to blogs for personal posts like they use to be. And I know the whole "it's your blog, post what you want!" but you also don't want to let your readers down. Idk, maybe it's just me?

I'm rambling.
I also have a migraine.
And I'm writing this at 616am.

One year ago today my dad passed away in his sleep.

He had been battling cancer for 8 years. I hadn't seen him in 6 years. That will always be one of the hardest realities to face. I wouldn't say my dad and I were close exactly, but we got along better than me and my mom did while I was growing up. I was a spoiled jerk as a teenager (just thinking back on how I acted gets on my nerves but I was also a very angry teenager for reasons I don't really want to mention) but I was definitely always a Daddy's Girl.

Reading | Fall TBR 2020

Today I'm talking about my Fall TBR, not to be confused with my annual October Reading Challenge.

I've been out of the reading scene for awhile now and I'm not really sure why. I had such a strong start in the beginning of 2020 and then suddenly I didn't. I like the way my husband explains it; "I wouldn't call you stopping more like you're just taking an extended break,"

I did manage to complete my goal of reading 2 books last month (just barely tbh) and I'm aiming for 2 more this month. I hope to get through these books (somehow) before October. I chose these to get me in the Fall mood! And also because they've been on my TBR forever that I should just read them already!

All but 2 are from either Owlcrate or Owlcrate JR.

I've heard such good things about all of these reads that I feel like I'm missing out by taking so long to read them already! I'm currently starting on Shadow of the Fox and House of Salt and Sorrows.

Weirdly enough I don't really have any Kindle/ebooks for this challenge! That's definitely a first.

This is one I'm super excited to get into! The cover is stunning, I love the art style. And it sounds really interesting as well. You can read about it here on Goodreads! I find that most middle grade reads have super heavy themes and some have been know to make me feel like my heart is breaking and choke me up a bit. It's crazy! I guess because it's the concept of kids having to deal with this crap when they shouldn't have to? I'm not sure but I get emotionally invested for sure.

It's also YA week!

Do you have any books you plan to read this week/month?