Hello Loves!
I kinda dropped the ball when it came to blogging last month.
I just took a break and didn't force myself to post quite as regularly as I normally would. As a result of which for the first time this year I missed a monthly favourites post...something I was so proud of putting out every single month.
So since it's the end of July and it's time to share another round of faves, I figured I'd just combine two months and give you a round up of a few of my favourite things from the last two months.
So here we are...June and July and some Joys from both these rainy months.
Buckle up...
Here we go...
Let's talk about June first.
Let me just say that June was an incredible, incredible month.
One of the bests I've had all year.
It was a blessing.
Full of amazing books.
Lots of reading.
Binging books.
And so much happy mail!
I cannot even!
1. Reading: I read some 15 or16 books in June and I loved most of them. Sadly my June Wrap-Up is also something I skipped but I will be putting it up soon and I will share about the books I read and loved. I read a book a day on most-ish days and felt like my old self was resurfacing. It made me so happy.
2. Art Journaling: I set up a new tiny art journal and let myself be creative more often and created little spreads, some dinky and some not-so-dinky. It made me happy and I am so glad I carve out time to let myself colour and paint and collage. It makes me so happy and I am determined to do more of it.
3. Spooky Books: I read so many thriller and even some horror stories in June. Rains + Scary books are some of my favourite things in the whole entire world. And June blessed me in this regard.
4. Bookmarks: I added so many gorgeous bookmarks to my life in June that I cannot even begin to tell you. Some I bought to support indie-artists in raising funds for Covid Relief and those made me especially happy.
Art, portraits and pressed flower beauties. I will never not want pretty bookmarks and art in my life.
I bought beauties from Tori, Deyaa, Papyrus Cotton, Painted Petunias and Page Break. All women run IG shops. And incredibly talented folks.
5. Blog Turned 8 Years Old: My precious blog, my little corner of the internet turned 8 years old. I bought a fewwww books to celebrate this momentous occasion. Ate cake. Felt loved. And felt really grateful and proud of myself to continue this labour of love.
6. Eating Mangoes Properly and a Lot of it. Thank God for delicious mangoes!
7. The New Conjuring Film. Uff, I watched it on a day I was most sad and it lifted my spirit in ways only a horror film can. Most appreciated. However, the film itself isn't perfect. It is not scary at all TBH and perhaps my least favourite in the series.
8. Chai. Rains equal chai in my world and I drank and brewed a lot of tea and loved it. Chai and buttered toast is my all time favourite comfort food and I ate a lot of it in June.
9. A new pouch from Joyeeta. With a happy little Doggo on it. My sister is currently using it to store her Kindle.
10. Bags from Taaga by Reema. I talked about these in my previous post.
11. A few new pens and markers from Scooboo. Also some new painting and art supplies.
12. A few new book sleeves. I promise to take about them soon.
Like I said June was a bloody good month and I am so grateful for it's many many blessings.
OK now July.
July has honestly been a bit extreme.
There have been some very BIG Joys and some very Low Lows.
Ugh!
But overall, July has been kind.
Here are my July Favourites:
1. Reading my 100th Book: Reached my reading goal of 100 books this month. Read a Ray, Feluda story to ring in my 100th read. Felt most satisfied and very chuffed.
2. Got Vaccinated! Well got my first dose and thank God for finally finding a slot. All thanks to Baba who was relentlessly looking for slot for us. The following days were agony of body ache and over but a week later I feel fine again.
3. Morning Pages: July started with some very happy mail and some very thoughtful gifts from our friend Meenakshi who sent us some 8 journals! I started July hoping to write more and work on some story ideas and this gift, which arrived on the 1st set me up nicely and made me follow through on my promise. So I set up a journal for my morning pages and wrote pretty much everyday. Either soon after I woke up or just before I went to bed and it's done wonders for my mental health.
4. Brooches from Naksha Art: Got another set of happy mail from Naksha. These bird brooches made us so happy. They are so well made and my sister's bird loving heart just loves them. Will share a proper haul soon.
5. A New Handbag from Karan Handicraft: I moved into a new bag this month. After February. Not that I am going anywhere but still. It felt nice to move into a new purse. This one arrived from Karan Handicraft and I love it so much. A mix of leather and bamboo and it's lined on the inside with Ajrakh hand blocked cloth. It's a total delight! It is beautiful inside and out and so well-made. It is our second bag from them and I see us getting more from them in the future.
6. Terrace Time: Weather permitting, we spent a lot of time on the terrace this month and it was nice, so nice to watch the world go by and read and write with my plants.
7. Art Journaling: Journaled a lot this month. In both my little journal and my regular sized journal. It was great as always.
8. Reading: My reading life was pretty good this month. Since I read only Indian books in August, July acts a little like a chance to read the world. I read from from so many different countries this month: Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Botswana. I read some incredible books that I will talk about in my Wrap-Up tomorrow.
9. New Plushies: We got two veryyy squishy friends from Purkal Stree Shakti. An elephant called Chutney and a Cow called Idli. They are so cute and squishy and make me so happy.
10. Mango Bobbie from Chiaroscuro: My BIGGEST JOY this month and my absolute favourite thing EVER has got to be the kindest gift from the wonderful folks over at Chiaroscuro who turned six in June and very kindly sent me a little goodie.
I literally shrieked when I opened my package and found my dream bag in it and that too in my favourite colour!
A Bobbie has been on my radar for ages and I cannot believe I finally have one.
Such a thing of beauty no?
I am so moved that they sent me a Bobbie of my own. I cannot wait to go out in the world with her.
Chiaroscuro is hands down my favourite place to buy bags from, we've been buying from them since 2017 and we love everything about them. They make some beautiful bags, that are well-made and sustainable and there is so much to choose from. So much! We own over 20 things from from and we always have our eye on one or more bags. For instance, I am currently mildly obsessed with Jake.
This is what he looks like.
Isn't he so handsome?
He's meant to be a laptop bag but I plan on getting him and using it as a satchel.
Pretty no?
:)
July has been so good.
Oh I have one film favourite too.
Ah!
Done!
Here are all the things I've loved in the last two months.
June and July have been good to me.
Sure there have been some blue days every now and again but for most part I found joy in books, stories, films and the kindness of people.
I hope you had a good July too.
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