My Top Fives of 2016

After writing all about my top 10 beauty products of 2016, I realised that I really wanted to chat to you about some other things that have made my 2016 a little better. So, without further ado, here are my top five books, TV series' and documentaries of 2016. 
Top Five Books
5.) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. It's no secret that I'm a big lover of Victorian fiction, and this lady's two sisters. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a novel that really pushed the boundaries of what was deemed to be good social and moral conduct in its time. The main female protagonist has fled from her abusive husband, and moved into Wildfell Hall. Her refusal to attend church, and the fact that the landlord of the hall is a man unleashes some ugly rumours in her community. Through her, we see that there is no strict right or wrong, and the guidelines for a Victorian woman's conduct get blurred. I've reviewed this on my secondary blog here.
4.) The White Queen by Philippa Gregory. I used to love Philippa Gregory, but I haven't read one of her books since my pre-uni days. It was an absolute joy to go back and get down and dirty with one of history's most-talked about eras: the time of the Plantaganets and Tudors. The White Queen is all about a common woman who is fortunate enough to have a king fall in love with her and legitimately marry her. Well, sort of anyway. Soon however she discovers that being a Queen is not as easy as it seems, especially when you truly love your husband. You can read my full review of this here.
3.) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. This one has been plastered all over the internet this year, mostly because of the (slightly offensive to say the least) movie version, which featured an able-bodied actor playing the part of the disabled male protagonist. The book however really opened up another side to disability for me. Usually it's glossed over, or the character is displayed as being incredibly positive despite the challenges they face. In Me Before You Will really struggles with some severe mental health problems as a result of his accident and life-changing injuries. I've reviewed this in full here. 
2.) Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson. I really found a love for thrillers in 2016 and this was definitely (obviously) up there with the best. Christine Lucas, the novel's protagonist, essentially suffers from short-term memory loss, and has been doing so since she was in her early twenties. Every night when she goes to sleep she forgets any of the memories that she's amassed in the second half of her life. She considers herself to be a burden to her loving husband, and seeks help from a psychiatrist. The secrets that she unearths are utterly terrifying. Read my full review here.
1.) The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I read this and Before I go to Sleep back to back and they were both so good that they've filled the top two spots of my favourite books of 2016. The Girl on the Train has been all over social media because of the release of its film version, and it's something I NEED TO SEE. Rachel, aka the girl on the train, takes the same train journey every single day, and is obsessed with the same street. When she hears that a woman has gone missing from the road she becomes obsessed with finding what happened. The problem is that Rachel is an alcoholic. No one will take her seriously, and the novel even questions whether we as readers can either. My full review is here.

Top Five Documentaries
5.) Life of Mammals. We all love a bit of Attenborough. Mammals to me are the most interesting type of animals, and I loved watching this series. There's just something so soothing about watching David Attenborough talk about creatures on our planet when you're all bundled up in a dressing gown with a roaring hangover.
4.) The cost of cute: the ugly side of the puppy trade. If you're not following Grace's blog then that's something you really need to sort out. This woman has done some amazing things over the past year, and making this documentary for the BBC was one that I loved seeing her do. This documentary made me weepy in parts as I began to realise how cruel humans can be to animals purely to make profit from them. 
3.) Planet Earth II. Need I say more? Seriously though, the footage on this, the most recent of Attenborough's documentary series', was absolutely insane. It captured so much detail of the lives of animals in different climates across the globe. My personal favourite of the series was possibly the cities episode, as it really opened my eyes as to how urban and natural lives merge in cities around the world.
2.) Clean Eating's Dirty Secrets. For starters, the name of this is kind of epic. Secondly, it's another of Grace's documentaries for the BBC. I'm a little obsessed with both this and 'The cost of cute'. This one completely opened my eyes to what's going on behind the scenes of the clean eating trade. For so long I duped by it: I actually started Nourish ME because I wanted to get more involved in 'clean eating'. Although I've come to see the truth a little bit in the past couple of years, this truly made me realise how disturbing and dangerous the trend is.
1.) Blackfish. I couldn't leave this out could I? I'm actually not a big watcher of documentaries. Unless you count the odd ones on TLC, or Tattoo Fixers. This, however, was something I knew I needed to watch. In case you haven't heard of it, 'Blackfish' is a doc all about the use of orcas in entertainment in America, particularly at Seaworld. With the death of Tilikum (Seaworld's most famous, and most dangerous orca) last week, Blackfish is more relevant than ever. The popularity of the documentary was a large factor in Seaworld's decision to officially end the use of orcas in shows once the generation of whales that they currently have dies out.
Top Five TV shows
5.) Orange is the New Black. You can tell how good this list is going to be just by the fact that this is last in the top five. OITNB is something I've watched for a couple of years now and I loved the new series, even though a lot of people found it a bit meh. Can we just talk about that ending though? No spoilers, but jheez I need to find out what happened already. This was possibly my favourite series of OITNB yet. 
4.) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. This is one of my favourite TV shows ever, and the new series was just as great as the first one. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a satirical comedy about a girl trapped in a bunker for over a decade by an extremist reverend. When she's rescued she moves to New York and must learn to adjust to modern city life. 
3.) Stranger Things. This was all over the internet back in September/October, and when I finally submitted to the hype I could see why. 'Stranger Things' is set in a small town in which a boy goes missing. We see him disappear, as if into thin air, despite being seemingly chased by something that is very much real. His group of friends do their best to find him, and soon realise that Will's disappearance has a lot more to do with the supernatural than anyone first considered.
2.) Gossip Girl. How did I make it into my twenties without watching this? This was practically life changing. If you've ever watched and enjoyed shows like One Tree Hill or 90210 then this will be right up your street. This is a series that I would 100% rewatch, and it made me keep on watching endlessly. The last episode was a little ... odd though. If you've watched to the end then let me know what you thought of it!
1.) Homeland. I feel like I've had a real mix of shows on here. 'Homeland' focuses on an FBI agent called Carrie Mathieson who works on gaining intelligence in the Middle East. She is effectively part of an anti-terror unit and is one of the best. Sergeant Brodie is a soldier who was held by a terror cell in Afghanistan for seven years. When he's released, Carrie is the only one who considers that he might not be as innocent as he seems. Yet she's proved wrong. As she begins to trust herself less, the audience gets an insight into how somebody who struggles with bipolar disorder behaves under intense stress. 

So there we have it, my top fives of 2016. What would yours be?
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Dealing with the post-Christmas dip

I've had this post scheduled for a while, but I didn't  consider how much I might need this as well as others might. I see so many blogmas posts to do with the hype of Christmas, and how excited people are. There also seemed to be a whole tonne out there this year talking about the fact that it's okay to feel like your mental health is taking its toll on you when everyone else is excited. And it was so fab to see that. But talking about feeling low, or down post-Christmas? Nada. Zip. Nil. 
Right now I really need that kind of post. It is a hard time of year, and I really think it's overlooked. Everybody comments on how shitty it is to be going be to work, but usually comment that they're glad Christmas is over. And when you say you're upset about it? Laughs, sniggers or a little eye-roll that just screams *good lord they're pathetic*. 
But do you know what? It is okay to be sad that Christmas is over. It's a time when you get to relax, spend time with your family, eat all your favourite foods and take some time out for yourself. It's natural to feel upset that it's gone. On top of this, there's this ultimate pressure to create your 'New Year new you'. Whether that's getting a better job, a new figure, or some other extreme task, there's this expectation that we're all going to be driving towards the 'best version of ourselves'.

January is the month when my mental health is always at its worst. I feel lonely, cold, the weather is dismal, I have no money and I find it so hard to completely refresh as the New Year hits. But, I know there are things that I can do to help myself, even if they seem hard.

Christmas is a season of giving, and that's one of my favourite parts of it. Everyone seems so much kinder and more patient (although I'm sure if I spoke to someone who works in retail they'd dispute this, hehe), and I miss that when January hits. Doing a little bit extra to help people out during January is a fab way to extend that Christmas spirit. I've been donating unwanted good to charity shops and buying books from them too. Having a browse around charity shops is so nice in January when you don't have much money left. I simply couldn't afford to buy brand new books, and they make me so happy, so popping into a charity shop and picking a new-ish one up is something I love doing. 

By time January rolls around, everybody seems a bit done with it getting dark early in the evenings. It was cute whilst we wanted to get all cosy with our fairy lights and films and feel hygge, but now we've taken those things away and it just feels dreary. So what if we bring those back? There's no rules against making your room look cutesy with fairy lights all year round, or taking time out to watch a good film snuggled up under a cosy throw. 

Even though January is meant to be a time for being extra active; working all hours of the day and night to secure your goals, easing yourself back into the swing of things is totally acceptable. Keeping up a self-care routine and taking a few hours out to just chill and do what you want to do each evening is something that's really important. Whether it's colouring, watching Netflix, playing a video game or even just catching up on Youtube videos; whatever you do to chill out, make time for that. 
Loneliness is the thing that hits me hardest at this time. I love having family around over the festive period, especially as I don't get to see them too often now that I've moved away from my home town. Visiting family and spending quality time with them is something you could set up to do in January, and it would give you something to look forward to. My sister is going back to uni (3 hours away from me) tomorrow, and so I'm going to schedule a trip in my diary to visit her soon. This way I have something to actually be excited about in the next few weeks, and it'll hopefully motivate me to keep going with everything I need to do. 
If you're feeling really down, it might also be time to evaluate your mental health. SAD, or seasonal affective disorder, affects more of us than we think, and looking into whether you might be impacted is definitely worth it. We've got a SAD lamp in our home, and even though I don't suffer from the illness, I find it helps my mood as well as my partner's. Aside from that, if you're really struggling, you can always call the Samaritans, or visit your GP and discuss an action plan with them. 
So in essence, avoid isolating yourself, treat yo-self and take time out to rest up. We're all in this horrible phase of the year together, and I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see some leaves coming back on the trees.
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2016 highlights and what I'm looking forward to in 2017

I know we've all probably seen enough 2016/2017 blog posts to last us a decade, but I'm in love with them. I've read so many recently, and everyone has something different to say. It's also so nice to see people making goals, achieving things they're proud of, and feeling inspired for the new year. I also know that I've written a few of these New Year style posts already, but I just can't (and won't) stop. 
I've had a pretty rubbish start to 2017 if I'm honest. I was working New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and I've been struck down with a pretty bad bout of poor mental health. I've been struggling to do even the simplest of tasks, like showering, or cooking myself dinner. This has been extra hard as I see everyone getting to grips with their New Year's resolutions and starting 2017 off with a bang, whilst I'm left trailing behind.
So, to perk me up and remind me that this relapse in how bad my anxiety/depression is won't stay forever, I thought I'd look back on all the fab things the past year has held for me. 
2016 started off pretty well. I spent the first week in January skiing for the first time. This was both terrifying and exhilarating, and I pushed myself further out of my comfort zone than I ever have done in my life. Looking back now, it seems almost surreal that I managed it. Skiing in the snowy mountains of the Alps with my boyfriend; sipping on ciders to warm our bellies up between runs; trying out a whole truckload of new foods. Now when I look back on it I can see how dreamy this holiday was, but at the time I was living in fear every moment for the next challenge. Having said that, I 100% would go back again.
After this I had six months off of work due to my poor mental health. I won't lie, it was a rubbish six months. I had no motivation, no money and quite simply no happiness. Moving out of a rubbish student house in June helped so much. I finally managed to get myself back into a state in which I could start a part-time job again. This still feels like such a massive achievement for me, especially as I've stuck at it and I'm still there now. 
I moved in to a new home with my boyfriend. Although we've lived together for the past four years or so, it's always been with other people too. This was our first opportunity to really have a place to ourselves and I love it. Being in my own space, with furniture and decor that we chose ourselves has done wonders for my mental health. Plus, it meant that I got to host Christmas for the first time, which was absolutely exhausting but so, so worth it. 
So, how can 2017 top 2016? Well, for starters I have a job still. It's not the second week of January yet, but I'm fighting my horrible moods to keep going in for all my shifts. There's also something really damn exciting happening that I have kept quiet from you all until now. I may have given some hints in the pictures for this post, but guys I AM GOING TO FUCKING DISNEYWORLD. Yep, in April I'll be heading off to Florida with an assortment of family members and my boyfriend to spend a good two weeks exploring this state. If you've got any suggestions other than the obvious then please please hit me up with them. We'll be staying in my uncle's house in Davenport and I just cannot wait. 
Up until April I'll be doing a whole lot of saving. My tips are all going away in my Snow White jar that you have to smash to open. No cheeky maccies from my tips for me anymore. But, after this holiday I'm going to be using my money to start learning how to drive. I ordered my provisional license on the last day of 2016 and it arrived yesterday (eeeek). I'm so so scared about doing this, but I know it'll be worth it.
What are you looking forward to in 2017?
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