June Life Lately

How is it July? I swear this year is going even more quickly than last year.

BUT I am happy that it's July. July means I'll finally be able to do parkrun again in a few weeks and we've got Buckle and Boots Country Music festival to look forward to this month too.

June was a bloody lovely month. I've watched so much football, we've had a little holiday the three of us, I've read lots of books and listened to lots of podcasts and 3 years after we got our kitchen fitted, we finally got around to having it tiled!

My one second every day for the month is below, along with everything else I got up to!

Where I went



I actually went to a few places last month! We went to the Wirral to visit Phil's grandma and she met Bobby for the first time, and we've done another few trips to Lyme Park, one of our favourite places.



A few weeks ago we also had a trip into Stockport Market and had lunch at the Produce Hall which I love, and then cocktails at newly-opened Cherry Jam. Stockport Market is getting so many cool new places to eat and drink - it's changed a lot since I was going there as a teenager!


In June we also took our first ever holiday with Bobby and went to Anglesey! We took Bobby to the beach for the first time, had ice cream, did lots of lovely walks and visited a couple of new-to-us National Trust sites. The weather was definitely not in our favour most of the week but we didn't care. It was so nice to have a little break and our first holiday since February 2020. Very grateful to the pet-friendly option on AirBnb! I can't wait to do it again.

What I did



June brought a very special day in our calendar, Bobby's gotcha day! One whole year of our Bobby Dog! While a year feels like ages, I just can't remember not having him in our lives. He had a very special day wearing his bandana and got a scrambled egg as a treat.


July marks 4 years of living in our house, and nearly three a half years since we got the kitchen done, but we never got around to tiling the kitchen. Finally in June, when we realised we'd done pretty much everything else there is to do on the house, we got it done. Of course I now wish we'd done it ages ago but I am so glad we finally did it!

What I read

June was such a good reading month! I definitely read some of the books I know will be in my books of the year at the end of 2021!

9 books read in June:

The Coming Bad Days by Sarah Bernstein
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth
The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
Come Closer by Sara Gran
The Murder of Graham Catton by Katie Lowe
Filthy Animals by Bradon Taylor
We Play Ourselves by Jan Silverman
Florida by Lauren Groff

I think I read some of the best short story collections I've ever read in Filthy Animals and Florida. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed was also a fantastic collection. We Play Ourselves is destined to be one of my new favourite books of 2021 along with Come Closer which gave me nightmares (in a good way?)

I don't really like thrillers (and regularly forget I don't like thrillers, read a thriller, and then remember I don't like thrillers) but I thought The Nothing Man was brilliantly done, especially if you loved I'll Be Gone in the Dark, which it is heavily inspired by.

What I loved

Getting my nails done is my biggest indulgence. As a life-long nail-biter I'm constantly ashamed of my nails and I've never really looked after them. 

I started getting them done professionally after I got married and nothing compares to the relaxation of the salon, with nothing to think about, just having someone pamper you. I obviously stopped during lockdown and restarted again in the Spring, but I was disappointed to find my old salon had taken over (and then closed), so I've started going somewhere new and I just love it. 



The Skittles manicure I got in June was probably my favourite manicure I've ever had and I'll definitely be getting it again!

My "first day back at parkrun" outfit is ready


As I mentioned in the intro, July means the return of parkrun after the disappointing announcement last month that many parkrun landowners were not allowing for reopening until the government's Stage 4, so the push back from the 21st June reopening meant a parkrun push back too (do not get me started on how parkrun takes place outside and risk of transmission is so low and the government are always banging on about the importance of exercise!). Anyway! You know parkrun is the thing I've been most desperate to have back in my life after lockdown (after you know, seeing my family and friends of course) so in June I treated myself to two new pairs of Contra leggings (which I'm saving for parkrun's return). Contra was founded by Simon Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun, and it is highly ethically produced sportswear and purchases also support parkrun. As you can imagine, ethical production and fair factory-worker wages means a slightly more expensive product, but I took advantage of their summer sale and got myself two near pairs of leggings. I got a new parkrun tshirt for my Birthday back in March (with my home course, Bramhall, on it) as my current one has been worn to death, so with my leggings I am fully ready for my first day back (hopefully!) on the 24th July.

What I watched

I went back to the cinema in June for the first time since August 2020. I find the cinema feels very safe and while I do find it hard wearing my mask for so long I think Cineworld has done a really good job of making it feel comfortable for people who are ready to visit.

We saw A Quiet Place 2 for our first trip which I thought was great fun, and then we went to see a film I've genuinely been waiting for for about 4 years, In The Heights!

My obsession with Hamilton is pretty prevalent on this blog (we were meant to see it for the second time last year) but I also love In The Heights and I'd been so excited to see it. I cried 6 times (some of it just because it was sooooo exciting to see some of my favourite songs performed on the big screen!) and it was just so joyful and wonderful! 

After watching Bo Burnham's Inside in May, Phil has become utterly obsessed with him, so we watched two of his previous specials What and Make Happy last month. We also finally finished I May Destroy You which was just utterly genius, and among all the football watched one film, You Were Never Really Here.

What I listened to

I've been on a bit of a podcast bender lately and listened to loads of new shows. In June I listened to all of Death of a Starlet, and started One Click and Comfort Fod.

I'm also really glad Decoder Ring is back for a new season and it's genuinely one of my favourite ever podcasts.

What I wrote


Oh I actually wrote something in June! I wrote about how hard it is to get dressed post-lockdown. (I also touched a little bit here about how I pretty much only shop second hand now and I think there might be a blog post idea in there somewhere...)

What I read online


Catch up soon!

Charlotte x

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts