Coco: My (spoiler-free) ramblings

I saw Coco in the cinema on Sunday and it was AMAZING.

I've had a frantically busy week and haven't had time to plan/write a lengthy blog post, or to take any blog-worthy photographs for that matter, so I thought I'd write a short post on my main thoughts while watching Coco. Don't panic, there are no spoilers!

However, some of these thoughts are mysteriously specific and won't make the slightest sense if you haven't seen the film, so in that case perhaps you should save yourself the confusion and stop reading now. Don't say I didn't warn you.

• Wow, this film is visually spectacular and beautifully colourful.
  
• Coco (the character) is completely not what I expected and I love her.
  
• Hooray, I still remember some Spanish from my A Level days!
  
• Dante's face reminds me of the hyenas in The Lion King.
  
• The plaza reminds me of the Magic Kingdom and I really wish I was back there.
  
• I really love the way they're bringing Mexican culture to life in this film. It feels so authentic!
  
• Why can't you just let the poor boy do whatever he wants to in his spare time as long as he does his shoe-related activities when he's supposed to?
  
• The security in many of this film's prime locations is a lot more lax than I'd like.
  
• That is one excellent twist which I didn't see coming, and this is one heavy storyline for a children's film.
  
• He just admitted to WHAT in a Disney film?
  
• This is shaping up to be even sadder than the first twenty minutes of Up, and that's something I never thought I'd say.
  
• Remember him! Remember him!
  
• There's a river of tears running down my face and I can't do a thing to stop it.
  
• I LOVE THIS FILM. 

Have you seen Coco? What did you think? 

My TV favourites

I'd much prefer to read a book than watch television. I'll quite happily turn off the TV if nothing takes my fancy and curl up with a hot chocolate and my Kindle.

However, there are a few TV programmes I make an exception for and could watch over and over again. They feel 'comfortable' because I've loved them for so long, and they make me forget about everything else just for a minute. They're a bit like a comfort blanket, you could say.

So, which programmes will always put a stop to my channel scrolling?



1. Friends 

I must have seen every episode of Friends about a hundred times by now, and I'm still not tired of it. I might check if there's anything else on if the episode is from Season 6 or 7 (the weakest in my opinion), but on the whole this is absolutely my go-to TV programme of choice. It makes me laugh, sometimes makes me cry, and makes me reminisce about my house sharing days. It does tend to be on Comedy Central whenever I put the TV on, but all ten series are now on Netflix too when I desperately need my Friends fix. I own all the DVDs, but does anyone actually watch Friends DVDs anymore when it's so readily available everywhere else?

2. Neighbours

I used to watch Neighbours religiously when I was a teenager and a student, then working life got in the way and I didn't watch it properly for about eight years. When I was off sick for a while at the end of 2016, I started watching it again and now I'm completely hooked. I spent hours poring over Wikipedia pages to get myself up to date on all the storylines I'd missed (don't judge me, I was recovering and couldn't drive anywhere!), and now I eagerly watch each episode on CatchUp when I get home from work. The hilarity of the ridiculous situations these characters get themselves and other people in to honestly makes my day.

3. Suits

Neil suggested that we should start watching Suits a couple of years ago. I just pretended to watch it at first because I didn't really like any of the other series we'd started watching on Netflix, but it quickly became a bit of an obsession for both of us. After a lot of binge-watching and 'oh, let's just watch one more' moments, we caught up and watched series 7 in real time as it was aired. Due to the unexpected mid-season break, we've watched the whole six and a half series again over the last few months and we're waiting with bated breath for its return later this month!

4. The Big Bang Theory

Although I don't love The Big Bang Theory as much as I love Friends, it's still one of my favourites. I'll happily re-watch episodes of this on E4 whenever Friends isn't on (or if the Friends episodes are from Season 6 or 7!) and I absolutely love Sheldon and Amy. I can't stand Penny, but let's not dwell on that. I must admit that I don't get all the geeky references and it makes me wish I was more intelligent than I actually am, but I still find it hilarious.

5. Outnumbered 

This programme always cheers me up! In some ways it's very relatable, and in other ways it makes me very grateful for my clean and tidy house. Hugh Dennis, Ben and Karen make this programme for me, but I do think they should have stopped filming before the last series as the children are way too old to be funny anymore. As this one isn't shown as often as the others on my 'top 5' list, I always make sure I put it on if I spot it as I'm scrolling through the channels.

What are your go-to TV programmes? 

My post-Christmas sale bargains

I very rarely buy anything at full price. I've always got lots of website links for potential purchases saved on my phone, and I either wait for them to go down in price or for a discount code to swoop into my inbox. This means that the post-Christmas sales are a highly exciting event for me!

I always save a certain amount of money throughout December to make sure I've got enough to spend in the sales after Christmas, and I also had some Quidco cashback and eBay funds to spend.

It's safe to say that I've picked up some amazing bargains over the last few weeks. I use the post-Christmas sales to stock up on new dresses for work, holiday clothes, and anything else I need/want which I didn't get for Christmas.

I've included links for the items below wherever possible, just in case you fancy grabbing a bargain before they all disappear.

Hunter wellies from Schuh - I've wanted Hunter wellies for ages

and got a children's pair in the sale with a discount of £16 (and a huge £61 discount on the pink pair I saw on ASOS). Hooray for having small feet! 

A floral dress for work, a lacy pink dress and a black midi dress from Debenhams. These three dresses combined cost £39, and I saved £96 on them in total! 

A black and white dress for work, a playsuit ready for Florida, and a pink summer dress.

I saved £32 in total on these items which were all from New Look.

A blue summer dress from ASOS ready for Florida.

At £7.50 with a saving of £17.50, I couldn't go wrong!

Rose gold sequin shoes from New Look - a saving of £11. 

Cosy jumper dress from the Fat Face outlet in McArthur Glen - £25 off! 

Winnie the Pooh pyjamas from Asda - a saving of £7. 

A floral openwork charm from Pandora for my

grey leather bracelet - half price and £10 off.

Bath bomb and gift box from Lush - both items

were half price which resulted in a saving of £10.75. The gift card I had from my brother for Christmas paid for these purchases!

Soap & Glory Sugar Crush tin from Boots, half price with a saving of £5. 

And last but not least, the photo doesn't do this beautiful Ted Baker bag justice...

half price in John Lewis with a saving of £40.

I happily worked out that I've saved a whopping £270.25 in total, which is a lot more than what I actually spent. This makes my bargain hunting heart very happy. 

Have you blogged about your post-Christmas sale purchases? Please send me your links if so! 

Best of 2017

Happy new year to all my readers!

2017 was a mixed bag. In some ways, it was even more difficult than 2016 as the reality of what I'd been through the previous year really started to sink in. I hit a very low point between June and August as the one year anniversary of my diagnosis loomed large, and I had lots of niggly health issues all year which caused some frustration. However, there were also many positives to report on from 2017. 

I really enjoyed writing last year's highlights post so I thought I'd do the same thing for 2017 to make sure I reflected on all those positives. Enjoy!

Celebrated three months all clear 

We celebrated my first 'all clear' appointment after my operation with a visit to Via Napoli. This started the tradition of going for a nice meal after every oncology appointment! 

Fake Christmas 

I celebrated fake Christmas with my university friends in Minehead. 

Milton Keynes 

We went to Milton Keynes for the weekend to visit Fee and Dave. I blogged about it here. 

Spa day at the Hilton Hotel 

Nicola and I went to the Hilton Hotel for a spa day and an excellent afternoon tea.

The Lion King theatre break 

Neil and I went to London for the weekend to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. I blogged about it here. 

Celebrated six months all clear 

We celebrated my next 'all clear' appointment in April with a meal at Miller & Carter. 

Walt Disney World 

We went on another amazing holiday to Walt Disney World! I blogged about our meals here, my shopping haul here and my character meets here. 

Sophie and Bryan's wedding 

We celebrated the lovely Sophie and Bryan's wedding day with them at Court Colman Manor in Bridgend. 

First support group meeting

I attended my first ever support group meeting (and subsequent lunch!) which I blogged about here. 

Rhys and Rhiannon's wedding 

We celebrated Rhys and Rhiannon's wedding with them over two days in the beautiful Brecon Beacons. 

My birthday 

I celebrated my 31st birthday with a lovely meal at Bar 44! 

Celebrated nine months all clear 

We celebrated my next 'all clear' appointment in July with our first visit to Moksh. I blogged about it here. 

Jessie 

We brought our beautiful puppy home. I blogged about her first few weeks with us here. 

Weekend in Portishead 

I visited Amy for the weekend in Portishead. I blogged about it here. 

Third wedding anniversary 

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary with dinner at Etc, afternoon tea at Pettigrew Tea Rooms and a visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I blogged about our anniversary here. 

Celebrated one year all clear 

We celebrated being given the 'all clear' for a whole year with an amazing meal at Restaurant James Sommerin. I blogged about it here. 

Florence 

We spent a week in beautiful Florence. I blogged about it here. 

Bristol shopping trip 

I spent the day in Bristol with my university friends, and blogged about my amazing festive pizza here. 

More afternoon teas than I can count 

I had afternoon tea at the Mercure Hotel in Swansea, the Hilton Hotel, Llanerch Vineyard, The Park Plaza, and at Pettigrew Tea Rooms (several times!). 

Christmas 

We had a lovely Christmas with family and friends. I blogged about it here.

So as you can see, 2017 had lots of highs as well as lows and it's important to remember this as I step tentatively in to 2018! 

What were your highlights of 2017?