September Life

HOW I'VE BEEN FEELING

I can't quite believe how quickly this post has come around again! September has absolutely flown by don't you think!? All in all it's been a pretty good month for me but I have been a tad disappointed by the persistent warm weather. There I was with all my new Autumn jumpers at the ready and sadly they've all had to stay on hold in the wardrobe. Fingers crossed for colder temperatures in October! 

WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING

I kicked off September with a trip to Devon & Exmoor for our last Summer trip of the season. We booked a week's stay at a gorgeous self catering house which exceeded our expectations. It was so stunning we really never wanted to leave! You can read all about my trip in my Devon & Exmoor blog post.

A highlight of September was going to see the new Bridget Jones's Baby film at the cinema. We don't really go to the cinema very often so it always feels like a bit of a novelty when we do and this visit was even more enjoyable because of the film. I really wasn't expecting anything from it but it turned out to be laugh out loud funny! I would definitely recommend going to see it if you haven't done so already. 

Continuing along the baby theme, this month I babysat for my best friend for the first time ever and it went exceedingly well! There were no tears and I got her off to sleep so I felt pretty pleased with myself. Her baby girl also turned one this month too so it was nice to be able to spend some time with them and enjoy a teddy bears picnic together to mark the occasion!  

Aside from all of that fun, life has been pretty chilled this month and it's been nice to be able to take it easy and enjoy slowing down the pace a bit. Despite the unusually warm weather, I have enjoyed seeing the early signs of Autumn and I bought some nice new things for the home to help to make it feel more autumnal and cosy. 

My husband bought us both a FitBit so I have been making a conscious effort to get out for more walks and i've been trying to keep my daily step count up, although hitting 10,000 steps a day seems pretty difficult! 

Our puppy Suki turned 6 months this month and it was time to book her in for her spayed operation which we were dreading. It was so hard taking her into the vets and leaving her there. It was the first time being apart from her since we got her so we felt quite sad and worried about the whole thing. But it was for the best and there was no way we wanted to risk her getting pregnant and having more pups on our hands! 

I also dyed my hair red this month! I came across this vegan and cruelty free hair colour in Holland & Barrett and so decided it was time for a change. I was really pleased with the results and loved the colour, although I have found that it fades quite fast so I may need to find another colour which has more longevity. 

WHAT I'VE BEEN EATING

There was one weekend this month where the weather wasn't great and it felt all dark and cold indoors so we decided that the time had come to make a roast dinner! We don't make roasts very often, as I really have to be in the mood for it, so this was the first roast we had enjoyed for a long time and it was so delicious. We kept it simple and just used stuffing in place of a nut roast and it worked just as well. 

I also don't tend to drink many hot drinks during the Summer months and I don't believe that they cool you down like everyone tells me! So this month I ventured to Costa's and got myself a nice tea to enjoy on my dog walk. I was also excited to try a Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks but I found out that the syrup they use within this flavour contains milk powder so sadly I won't get to experience one of these until Starbucks change their recipe. 

I also got in a visit to Pret's this month and I was pleased to find that they had one of my favourite vegan sandwich options on the shelf. I love their combo of avocado, rocket and red pepper tapenade. I still haven't visited the veggie Pret in London so I was glad to hear that they will be keeping that store open. 

A highlight of September was hearing that a new vegan cafe had opened up in Sudbury, just ten minutes up the road from me! I couldn't wait to visit and try out their menu which included this delicious french onion soup. The full review of Kind Cuisine can be read here! 

Other big news this month within the vegan community was the release of these new vegan friendly ice creams by Alpro. Fortunately my local Tesco's had some in stock and so I decided to pick up both the hazelnut chocolate and coconut flavours to try for myself. They also do a vanilla flavour too! 

WHAT I'VE BEEN BUYING

This months shopping has been all about getting my home Autumn and Halloween ready! I paid a little visit to Chelmsford's new HomeSense store and I ended up in there for ages because they had too many pretty things. I am so happy there is now a HomeSense near to me although I am not sure my bank balance will be! You can take a look at all of my new purchases in my Autumn Homeware Haul video. 

I also spent quite a bit of money on the new Halloween releases by Lush. I was so excited to get my hands on some of these products because they all looked amazing, with the majority being vegan friendly too! I decided to vlog my trip to Lush on launch day and my first impressions in a new video this month. 

Another favourite purchase this month was a couple of items from Waitrose's new ECOlogical cleaning products range. I had heard that this range is both vegan friendly and cruelty free, as well as kind to the environment. When I looked on Ocado's website I was surprised by how affordable and good value these products are. When the products arrived I was even more amazed by how gorgeous they smell! A definite hit with me and I shall certainly be buying them again. 

WHAT I'VE BEEN BLOGGING

Yes To Cucumbers
Hempz Body Scrub
Reasons To Love Autumn
Weleda Nourishing Hair Oil
Devon & Exmoor
Gappy Gobs Pet Portraits
Kind Cuisine

WHAT I'VE BEEN VLOGGING

Cruelty Free Faves #3
What I Eat In A Day Vegan
Why Go Vegan?
Lush Halloween Haul + First Impressions
Autumn Homeware Haul

INSTA HIGHLIGHTS 

WHAT I'M EXCITED FOR NEXT MONTH

I am so excited for October and everything that comes with it! I am hopeful that things will start to feel more Autumnal and festive from next month onwards. I'm really looking forward to going pumpkin picking and carving up our designs for Halloween. I also get really excited about Halloween! We don't have a huge amount planned, it's just a great time of year! I also have some spooky themed posts planned for my blog which i'm looking forward to sharing with you all. There's a couple of blogger events and vegan events planned for October which I am hoping to make it to. Aside from that I am mostly looking forward to cosy evenings in, watching scary movies and eating some Halloween treats!