Sunday 26 July 2015

108. July Favourites

Hello everyone, it's monthly favourites time and I have everything from a shop to a candle that I've been loving this month.

1) Dettol mould spray - If you have read The Life of a Mancunian Sheep for a long time then you may remember my favourite cleaning products post from 2013. This is the best bathroom cleaner I've come across. It has left our tiles and shower unit sparkling white and the best thing about it is that you don't even have to scrub. Simply spray on and rinse off. I leave it overnight but if the strong smell of bleach gets too much for you then rinse off after 5-10 minutes. I actually bought 3 bottles of this in a pack off Amazon, it's that good!





2) Primark ankle high socks - Even in summer, I just have to wear socks (unless I am wearing sandals or flip flops) and these are perfect because they are a nude colour so they don't look weird with flats. You get 5 pairs for £1.50 and although they only last one or two washes before they get holes in the toes, you can't really complain at that price. I wouldn't mind buying some that are of a better quality but I haven't found any in M&S which is where I buy socks from usually. Other shops do have the ones that are like shoe liners but I'm worried that they won't stay on and that you'll be able to see the top of them on your ankle.





3) Vanilla Frosting Yankee Candle - Up until a couple of years ago, I hated candles (I know, how could I?) because I just found them boring and pointless (unless they were birthday cake candles, I've always loved cake) but now, I love them. I haven't actually had the time to bake since my bake sale for Parkinson's Awareness Week back in April but this candle fills the house with the scent of freshly baked cake.



4) Paperchase - Paperchase is one of my favourite shops because they have the most gorgeous stationery with really cute and pretty floral patterns. I've taken countless trips to my local store this month because I've needed to buy lots of cards for birthdays, graduation and also my stationery for work. I've been using an academic diary but now that I've finished education, I've bought an 18 month Moleskine planner so that it sees me through until the end of 2016. It comes with really handy stickers for work and play commitments. I also bought a couple of notebooks for myself, I'm using the floral one as a diary that I've been keeping since I turned 21.

Paperchase have recently brought out their Treat Me card which is fabulous because you get 15% off with your first purchase after registering your card and you also get a £5 voucher as a birthday treat. My local store has a cafe too and you can get a free hot drink from there but as it was Ramadan, I didn't bother. You can find out more here: https://www.paperchase.co.uk/treat-me-info










5) Gardening - Gardening has been one of my favourite hobbies for as long as I can remember. I used to have my own vegetable patch even when I was a toddler and used to help my parents by planting carrots, peas, beans and tomatoes. Unfortunately, I've had to place my green fingers on the back burner for the past 5 years due to A-levels and university but this month, I took a trip to B&Q and HomeSense and have had lots of fun gardening again. I've planted petunias, fuschias, pumpkins and courgettes amongst other things. I last planted marrows in 2010 after finishing my GCSEs and they were massive so watch this space for the pumpkins and courgettes!



6) Films - I've watched a few films since Ramadhan finished last week so have included two in my favourites. One is a recent release and the other is a film that I wanted to watch but didn't have time to because of university.

a) Ant Man - So my Marvel obsession continues into July. Don't worry I'm not going to watch this 3 times like I did with Age of Ultron (she says now). Quite a few people are skeptical of an ant sized superhero but I knew Marvel would deliver. Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly are all brilliant but my favourite character was Luis who is played by Michael Peña, his storytelling is hilarious. Evangeline Lilly looks so much like Cobie Smulders in Ant Man that I had to ask my friend Alex what Maria Hill was doing in this film. The story is a heart warming one as Ant Man is very much Marvel's answer to Robin Hood. I love the relationship Ant Man has with one of the ants, Antony and also with his daughter, Cassie. I strongly recommend that you go and watch this unless you suffer from myrmecophobia. There was a scene with a gigantic (relative to Ant Man) rat and I almost died. 


Rating 5/5: 




b) Love, Rosie - I love Lily Collins and Sam Claflin after watching her in Stuck in Love last month and him in The Hunger Games films so decided to give this a watch earlier this week. Rosie (Lily) and Alex (Sam) have been best friends since they were children and are practically joined at the hip until they're 18 when Alex decides to apply to Harvard to study medicine and encourages Rosie to apply to Boston to study hotel management. They are both accepted but unfortunately, something big happens to Rosie which prevents her from joining Alex in America. She's left behind and their lives become very different to one another so they drift apart and each time they try and become close to one another again, someone else is involved romantically with one of them. 


Although it is quite a predictable will they, won't they? chick flick, Lily and Sam's acting and on screen chemistry is undeniably brilliant. They are best friends and I guess that's what your spouse should be because best friends love each other no matter what. 


Aside from Alex and Rosie, my other favourite character was Ruby (Jaime Winstone) who is Rosie's best friend after they meet in a very unlikely place (I can't say anymore about Ruby without giving a massive spoiler away). Ruby is very straight talking and a great friend to Rosie. Suki Waterhouse is also in the film and she really isn't a very convincing actress, later on in the film, her character becomes a model so I guess she didn't have to act. I really liked the two lead characters and the storyline is quite cute but the number of predictable twists was getting a bit ridiculous:


Rating 3/5: 





7) Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand. I love Jess' voice and have done so since hearing her on Clean Bandit's "Rather Be" and Route 94's "My Love" last year. I'm obsessed with this song and have had it on repeat this past week. My favourite lyric is: "Break my bones but you won't see me fall". 



What's been your favourite film, song and shop this month?


Until next time, take care.

Love,
Mancunian Sheep x

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