Category: Personal

Dear Diary #2

Posted October 20, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Personal / 0 Comments

What I’ve been doing this week

This week was not easy. Lots of stuff happened and I was super happy to make it to the weekend.

On the plus side, I made some fun purchases. I picked up my Christmas tree on Friday. I’ve already started a stash of decorations thanks to Primark’s selection of Disney decoration sets. I’m going to add to it over the next few weeks. Now I have a selection of baubles I want to concentrate on finding quirky one off decorations so the tree has hidden surprises for anyone looking at it.

I also purchased new glasses. I have gone for round, Harry Potter-like frames in rose gold. I’m going to pick them up near the end of next week. I’m super excited. I have been continuing to build Harry Potter themed properties in The Sims 4 to celebrate. These frames are very different from the chunky, plastic ones I’ve been wearing so far. I’m looking forward to changing my style up.

Apart from that I have been dealing with the usual work problems (😥), keeping up with writing Blogtober posts, and walking my dog. Oh, and I’ve been reading The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic and starting to watch part two of the Netflix show- both of which I have been enjoying.

Speaking of Sabrina, I managed to find my old stash of Sabrina the Teenage Witch comics this morning. I am so excited to go through them and do a reread.

Plans for next week

My main wish for next week is to have no near death experiences. That might sound strange but I really have had a rough week and I can’t take it two weeks in a row!

Obvs I have to pick up my new glasses.

In terms of blogging, I’ve got a few ideas for posts. I want to write more Sabrina themed posts, share a day in the life of my dog based on her activities today, and I want to post some book reviews. I might throw in a post on my new glasses this week or next week, as well. At some point I want to talk about my Sims 4 characters and houses too.

Speaking of next week, I can’t believe that will be essentially the penultimate week of Blogtober! I’m starting to believe that I will make it to the end without missing a post.

What plans do you have for next week? Let me know in the comments.

Lauren x

Getting Cosy: My Plans this Autumn

Posted October 14, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Personal / 0 Comments

Today I’m going over what I want to do this Autumn. I find rereads and re-watches are the perfect solution for counteracting the chill of Autumn, so those activities take centre stage. Basically, it’s time to wheel out my favourite ways to get cosy!

Movie Marathons

I really want to re-watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also want to rewatch a few Ghibli films, especially Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Cat Returns.

Finally, I want to have a Disney movie marathon. I want to watch some of the animated classics like Robin Hood. I’ve been watching a lot of live-action ones lately so it would be nice to go back and check out the originals again.

Reread Favourite Novels

Top of this list is The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, Charmed Life and Conrad’s Fate by Diana Wynne Jones, and Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat.

Each of these are comfort reads that remind me of different times in my life. I know them inside out but I never get tired of reading them.

Manga Readathon

I would love to reread all of the Ouran High School Host Club volumes (and rewatch the anime). I don’t think I’ve ever read them all straight through, there’s always been a time lapse between picking up each volume. I’d like to experience it as a unified story from start to finish.

Light All The Candles

Dark evenings + scented candles = my happy place 💙. Chuck in a bean bag chair to snuggle in with a good book and I honestly could not ask for more.

Write, Write, Write

I am planning on getting a lot of writing done this season. From Blogtober to NaNoWriMo (and beyond), I have a full schedule of writing projects to get through. I’m so excited to dedicate some time to being more creative.

Have Fun With The Sims 4

I am so addicted to Sims at the moment. I play it every evening. At the moment I’m building a Harry Potter inspired house that is so cute so far. And I love my little Sims families so much 💜

Here I have my latest family surrounded by Ghibli posters, with a phoenix familiar, string lights, and books strewn everywhere. Heaven.

Spend Lots of Time With My Dog

Of course, I am going to have lots of autumnal adventures with my pup. that kinda goes without saying!

What are you planning to do this autumn?

Lauren x

My History With Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Posted October 12, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Personal / 0 Comments

Halloween is almost here so today I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on my favourite witch.

This was me dressed as a witch when I was younger, black cat and all. The inspiration for this costume was my obsession with Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I even remember having a little fake hoover instead of a broomstick.

Sabrina the Teenage Witch has been a part of my life for a long time. I started watching the TV show starring Melissa Joan Hart when I was tiny. I also watched the animated TV show, inherited a large collection of Sabrina novels, subscribed to a Sabrina beauty magazine, and collected the comics.

I loved the idea of this young, go-getting girl, who was different and special, having adventures. I think a lot of other kids my age probably did as well. The dual life she has to balance, represented here as the relationship between her mortal and witch life, is a theme a lot of people can empathise with. Everyone has been through a situation where they have to keep part of themselves secret, even from those they love the most.

So much of my free time growing up was spent living in Sabrina’s world. I remember walking around junior school with my nose pinned in various volumes of the novels. And I remember walking down to the comic shop with my dad to collect the latest instalment and then reading it in the corner of a barber shop while he got his hair cut. I remember dressing up as a witch on Halloween on more than one occasion to commemorate my favourite character.

I was really excited the The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina came to Netflix because it was great to see Sabrina revived. I’ve seen a lot iterations of Sabrina, including the manga phase (which I loved). Honestly, all of them are great and worth exploring.

Are there any characters you grew up that have influenced your life?

Lauren x

Dear Diary #1

Posted October 6, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Personal / 0 Comments

“The first rash of fallen leaves crackled beneath Hazel’s feet, like a carpet of brittle paper.”

–The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Autumn is here. It’s getting colder, the trees are changing colour, and the days are getting shorter.

What I’ve been up to so far in October

From the Sunday dog walk.

The main focus of my free time this month has been to create Blogtober posts, where you post every day for the month of October. I didn’t plan any content in advance so I type each post on the fly.

It hasn’t been too bad to come up with things to post because I have a lot of notes for book reviews that can be typed up and edited, so I’m not always starting from scratch each day.

I want to post some more diverse content over the course of the month and expand past reviews, though. I would like to do more discussion posts like my post about opening lines to books. Dissecting language, scenes and characters in books is my favourite hobby. It’s not good from a ‘spoilers’ point of view so I don’t know how many people will read these kind of posts, but gosh do I have fun writing them.

I haven’t been doing a lot of reading so far in October, but once I have finished writing up two more reviews (for Swordspoint and Life and Death ) I am going to get stuck into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. At the moment I am using a TBR jar to lucky dip the books I read. So far it’s been working out really well for me.

A lot of time I would have used for reading has been spent on gaming. My current poison is Sims 4. The new Realm of Magic game pack is super cute. I love having spellcaster Sims. They can now get brooms and wands. It my current obsession. I might do a post about my current Sims family in a future post.

My October goals

My main goal is to successfully post every day this month. I refuse to fail at this. No matter how tired or out of ideas I am, I’m not going to stop. I will find something to post. Even if it’s just a photo with some thoughts.

I also want to read more books and keep my reading journal up-to-date. I got a beautiful notebook from my grandma for my birthday and I’ve been really good so far about writing my thoughts in there. I’m going to stick to my lucky dip method of choosing which books I read because that’s been really fun so far.

My other goal is to get new glasses this month. Not sure what style to go with yet. But I do want to go for something different if I have enough courage to do so. I usually go for plastic frames so maybe I’ll try some metal ones? Part of me wants to go for full on Harry Potter style ones 😛

What are your goals for this month?

Lauren x

A Letter to My Dog

Posted October 4, 2019 by Fictional Fox in Personal / 0 Comments

Dear Willow,

First of all, I want you to know you are a good girl. It’s true that all dogs are essentially good. But you are my dog and I want you to know that I think you in particular are very, very good.

Other words I would use to describe you: sweet, loving, zany, intense, excitable, sincere, kind, full of life, imaginative and stinky.

I do really love you, Willow.

I love how excited you are to wake up every morning and see us, your family. You never take a single day for granted which is a beautiful thing.

I admit, sometimes I get frustrated with you. But ultimately I know that you mean no harm. You love attention (good or bad) and your not ashamed of it. I kind of admire how you are always un-apologetically yourself. Not many people can say the same.

I felt like you didn’t trust us during our early days together. We had to earn your affection the hard way. But I can’t doubt your love now, especially when I hear your paws scratching at my door like Anna in Frozen asking Elsa “Do you want build a snowman?”

You are my sister and I wouldn’t be without you.

So, carry on being yourself. From barking at animals on the TV to getting attacked by cats in the dark, you are the most unique dog I have ever met. Never change, Willow. You are perfect exactly as you are.

Love,

Lauren x