Vignettes: The Mellow Days of March (Life Lately- Books and More).

 March is slowly coming to a end and these last few days of the month have been good to me. First up, it's been raining, giving us a much needed respite from the heat. We are supposed to have rains all week and I am so grateful to have a break from summer. Today already feels so cool and has me reaching for my quilt. 

Bliss. 

The last few days have included some bizarreness, what with people slapping people at the Oscars! For shame! 

I still can't quite believe that really happened!!! 

Apart from Pop Culture meltdowns, there has been happy mails, good meals and some seriously good reading. 

My dearest Anupriya sent me some belated birthday presents in the mail and they made my day. Little things that I love so much. 

A pouch. (Which I am already using to store my Washi Tapes) 

Scrunchies. 

Soap. 

Two adorable bookmarks. 

A notebook.

A coaster. 

A fridge magnet. 

All lovely and most of it comes from her mind and her incredible ventures. 

A Snato Lemon soap that spells summer. I can't wait to use it when the weather is hot and sticky. 

Two gorgeous bookmarks and this summery and happy notebook in my favourite colour. 

I will always, always love scrunchies and can never have enough! 

Love these two, so well made and so pretty. 

My nights have included some quality time with my journals and planners and putting pen to paper and if you know me, you know how happy it makes me. 

It's honestly a good way to end my day, taking stock of all that I did, getting goals for the next day and writing my feelings down. 

My kind of beautiful mess. 

Life has also been full of quiet mornings full of reading and being. 

Still reading this beautiful book and really taking my time savouring it. I am making a conscious effort to not rush through and really let these words wash over me. I think this book might roll over to April and I am not mad about it. 

:) 

I am only 70 pages in so far and really enjoying everything about it. 

I have been reading other things as well. 

I actually read a whole book today. Just hunkered down and got my reading on. 

Boys Don't Cry by Meghna Pant: I read this book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down though God knows it was making me livid. It really, really got under my skin and I wanted to scream. It's the story of Maneka who at the beginning of the book has just walked out of a very toxic and abusive marriage, she then gets arrested for the murder of said abusive ex and the book is basically her telling the story of her relationship and her marriage to a cop during an interrogation. 

The subject matter is what made my blood boil. Seeing Maneka go through the numerous micro-aggressions  in her married life and seeing her husband and his parents constantly chip away at her sense of self and make her feel small and stupid and not worthy made me so angry. 

It made me mad because this happens. All the time. Far too often. To women like you and me. You meet someone, fall in love and get married only to find out that he isn't at all what you thought he'd be like. The man and his family treat you like a doormat and a glorified slave and you have to put up with it in the name of being a good bahu. I have seen so many women continue in said relationships while losing their shine and joy little by little. 

I randomly came across this book and bought it and I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it. 

4/5 

Pick it up but if Violence, Abuse and Gaslighting (there is a lot of it here) trigger you, please approach with caution. 

**** 

So that's what life has been like lately. 

Hope things are good wherever you are.