2015 - The readings

Another year, another look back at my readings.

1. Dracula, Bram Stoker ****
2. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote ***
3. The guest cat, Takashi Hiraide *
4. A dance with dragons: Part 2, George R.R. Martin ****
5. Three one-act plays, Woody Allen ***
6. If I die in a combat zone, Tim O'Brien ****
7. Livro, José Luis Peixoto ***
8. A blink of the screen, Terry Pratchett ***
9. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank redemption, Stephen King *****
10. Still Alice, Lisa Genova, ***
11. The humans, Matt Haig ***
12. O turno, Luigi Pirandello ***
13. The particular sadness of lemon cake, Aimee Bender **
14. Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone, J.K. Rowling ****
15. Inferno, Dan Brown ****
16. A lâmpada de Aladino, Luis Sepulveda **
17. Lord of the flies, William Golding ****
18. De amor e de sombra, Isabel Allende ***
19. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl ***
20. To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee ****
21. Papertowns, John Green *****
22. Metade maior, Julieta Monginho ***

Thankful Thursday # 19

Wow, I can't believe another week has flown by! Here's what we have for today:

1. My boyfriend; my love, my rock, my shelter, my own cheerleader, always boosting me on.
2. My secret Santa. I got a gorgeous owl mug and delicious caramelly chocolates - nice going, Santa! I'm also very pleased to see Santa did well with the rest of my co-workers, so I'm happy everyone is happy with what they got!
3. Spotify. How have I lived my life without this for so long??? Also, getting Spotify for 3 months for £0.99? Yes, thank you!
4. Christmas lights. I am genuinely happy when I get my music on, a candle perfuming the room and the Christmas tree all lit up. Bliss!
5. My gym membership. Today there was a lady at my gym who was absolutely over the moon about being in a gym (this was at 7am, mind you) and it made me think about how that thing that I so often despise is actually a privilege. How fortunate I am to have easy access to a great gym!
6. Christmas cards. I'm so going local on this! I now love giving out Christmas cards and displaying them proudly around our flat. Yay! 

Thankful Thursday # 18

Another week, another gratitude exercise! Here we go!

1. My boyfriend, the person behind all my successes, my shelter when the storm hits, my home wherever I am.
2. My co-workers. I have been under a lot of stress and today I did something I try my best to avoid - I asked for help. And help came by the handfuls. Today my colleagues did me proud of being a team.
3. My steaming chai. Just what I needed to calm the mind after a big day.
4. Spotify. Because listening to Disney classics while you work is awesome!
5. Christmas! I think because I tried to delay giving into the Christmas frenzy (it is not okay to obsess about it in October!!) I am really enjoying now.
6. My new backpack. Comfy, spacious, waterproof and drop dead gorgeous! Making me look good on my way to work!
7. Having a wonderfully comfortable bed. Never underestimate the appeal and luxury of a nice bed. I've grown to love mine to an insurmountable extent.

Thankful Thursday # 17

Good morning, everyone! I'm a little bit upset with myself that I haven't been around as much, but other things got in the way, and then there's Christmas just ahead, so... you know how it is! Onwards with our first December Thursday!

1. My boyfriend (the man is a saint!)
2. My job. Christmas at my job is taken VERY seriously, and that makes me very happy all December long. Also, loving the people you work with does help!
3. My handmade smoked sandwich - yum!
4. Christmas projects! Knitting, stitching and cross stitching aplenty! It's just a shame that I always leave it so late in the year, so it's going to be a mad month!
5. Things that go wrong but make a funny story (like the fire alarm going off at the gym when I was in the middle of my morning shower).
6. Having most of my Christmas shopping done. I find that buying the perfect present when you find it (even if it's in August and you're on a beach holiday) makes the job a lot easier and you get much happier with what you picked because it wasn't a forced decision.
7. Secret Santa. We always do Secret Santa at work, and this year I found something months ago that I thought would be a great crowd pleaser, but it would be particularly awesome if it went to a specific person. And I pulled that person's name out of the hat! So yay! Really pleased!
8. Having lunch at the Christmas market on a workday. At least once a week it's nice to unwind from your shift by going on a stroll and seeing all the Christmas stalls.
9. Easy iron trousers - can I get a Hallelujah?
10. My boyfriend. Because it's never to much to underline how grateful I am that he's in my life.