January Life Lately

As it is every year, January was loooooong! We've had a particularly quiet month which means I've read and watched lots. I have really enjoyed lots of nights in and quiet evenings but I am so ready for a little bit of daylight my life - the dark mornings have been getting to me a bit to be honest!

But February is here - the last full month of my 20s! I am really looking forward to a bit more light, a bit more time outside - especially as we're off to the Yorkshire Dales for the weekend at the end of the month, starting to train for my next hald marathon and maybe a bit less wearing of my big coat?

Here's my one second every day of the month, and here's everything else I got up to in January:

edit: Oh apparently I took like, 2 photos this month!

What I did

Last year we ran parkrun on New Year's Day which was amazing, but I really wanted to do the infamous parkrun New Year's Day double this year. New Year's Day is the only day of the year where you can do two parkruns in one day as they are staggered to be at different times, and if you find two close together you can manage to squeeze in two.

It justs so happened that we could hit up two of our old home courses for our first two parkruns of the year - South Manchester parkrun at 9am where I somehow managed to get a PB despite it being one of their busiest ever events, then off to Stretford for another run at 10.30am. I absolutely loved it and really hope we can do it again next year!

January also brings Yoga with Adriene's 30 days of yoga which I completed again for the third year in a row. I love doing this in January before I start training for my May race in February.

Where I went

A few little trips this month! We headed to Staffordshire to see my friend Ellen and her boyfriend, Alex. We went for a walk and for a pub lunch - the perfect Saturday! 

We also headed to Portmeirion last weekend for Phil's Auntie and Uncle's 40th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately it was a bit of a drizzly grey day so we didn't get to see it in all its glory so we definitely need to head back again to see it in the sunshine.

What I read

Really good start to my reading goal for 2020 with 11 books read in January:

Hits and Misses
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage
The Woman Who Fooled the World
In the Dream House
Trick Mirror
Beast
Dept of Speculation
How to Break up with Fast Fashion
Circe
Water Shall Refuse Them
A Line Made by Walking

I listened to The Woman who Fooled the World on audio and I absolutely loved it. Really recommend for fans of books like Bad Blood or anyone fascinated by the Belle Gibson story.

Other favourites this month were In The Dream House, and Lauren Bravo's book How to Break up with Fast Fashion which I read in a weekend and proceeded to fill two bin bags with clothes! I love Lauren's writing but I was a bit nervous to read this and I didn't really want to stop buying clothes! But it was a huge eye-opener, with great advice and not at all preachy. I really recommend if you want to understand more about the impact of fashion on the planet.

What I watched

I love this time of the year for the cinema as there's always so many great films out, and it's an idea day out on a rainy Sunday. I took 5 trips this month:

Jojo Rabbit
Cats
Just Mercy 
1917
Parasite

Yes, I went to see Cats. I went with my two best friends as a joke and we laughed so much we cried and then had a Nando's to debrief afterwards. It was such a good laugh. And it was in fact even worse than I expected.

We'd been excited for Parasite for months so we were over the moon when it was announced as a Cineworld Unlimited Screening (ps. if you're considering membership, my post about Cineworld Unlimited membership might help you decide!). It was weird and brilliant and thought-provoking. I really recommend it.

And of course, 1917 is absolutely brilliant and I'm fascinated by reading and watching anything about how it was made.

At home we watched four films this month:

Superbob
The Talented Mr Ripley
Under the Skin
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I'd read the book of The Talented Mr Ripley last year and absolutely adored it, and I really loved the film. And now we've watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo I just need to (finally!) watch Alien 3 to have watched every single David Fincher film.

We also finally watched Fleabag having heard so much about it and loved it - we've only watched season 1 so far but I'm really excited to watch season 2, and Mark Kermode's documentary on The Exorcist, Fear of God, which is finally on iPlayer.

What I enjoyed

I had a vague recollection of sending myself a Future Me email to arrive at some point on New Year's Day and it was so exciting when it finally came! I am definitely going to send myself another one for in a few year's time.

After wanting one for a while and struggling with the dark mornings of January, I bought myself a Wake up lamp with an Amazon voucher I've been hoarding since last Christmas. I don't exactly wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed every morning, but I do find it wakes me up gently and it means I can charge my phone on the other side of the room and not spend 15 minutes on Twitter before I get up.

Finally, as a secret santa present, my friend Eve got Phil this Blockbuster Video board game. We expected it to be a bit of a film quiz, but it's so much more than that. If you like films at all, it's so so so much fun, especially if you want to see your friends acting out Lawrence of Arabia and Saving Private Ryan.


What I read online

Writing Between Paues - Top podcasts for personal development
Niamh Caitlin - 2020 Vision - shout out to my cousin Niamh for restarting her blog. 
Lauren Bravo - Everything I learned about relationships in my thirties - I absolutely adored this about the quiet domesticity of a relationship

What I wrote

Hey I actually blogged this month!


Hope your February is going great!

Charlotte x

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