OCTOBER FAVES

Last month was a bit rubbish for new, good things in my life but this month I'm back, a little early, with a bumper edition of my favourites...

Warning: it's a long one, sorry. (that's what he said)

I'll start with the blogs I've been loving this month. I've been lucky enough to pop my advertising cherry thanks to Tom over at Daydream In Blue, a pretty damn amazing blog full of healthy recipes complete with mouthwatering pictures and a whole range of reviews and motivational posts. I'm also very excited to see more of his interior themed posts in the future. *gently nudges* I've also been loving Freya from Finding Minerva, who shares the same love of YouTube I do, Elizabeth from I am not blonde, and Bekka from Orbiting Oceans. I can't make this post without mentioning my faves from my friends either - Kirstie (KirstieKinsBlogs), Sara (SmileSweetlyBrokenAngel) and Adam (PopGoesTheCharts.)

I went a little overboard on the 3 for £1 deals and got myself a few magazine subscriptions this month, to slowly get back into reading, cooking and creating. I've especially been loving Easy Cook Magazine and Photoshop Creative this month, Easy Cook for its does-what-it-says-on-the-tin content - easy meals for me to try at home, as well as inspiring new dishes as I substitute different items thanks to my fussy-eating ways. Photoshop Creative is a brilliant magazine full of amazing tips, tricks and tutorials - most of which I'll probably never do but it's great to see little things I may end up using, as well as looking at the ridiculously good reader-made work.

VIVA, formally known as TMF (those were the days, ey?) bought the rights to show the first few seasons of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps at night and I didn't realise just how much I missed the messy BBC3 comedy and its cheap laughs, silly stories and most importantly - incredibly cheesy end-of-series montages. I digged out my DVDs (I have all 8 series) and have started watching it properly from the start again, and I just love it. A new addition to my comedy family is Trollied, a Sky1 show set in a fake supermarket. I've been watching the latest series as a few of my favourite actors star in it and I just love it - it's easy to watch, and just a bit different. I've gone on to buy the first 2 series on DVD (£5 each on Amazon) and I have no regrets. Film-wise I've really been loving 'Wreck-It-Ralph' - a film set in an arcade, as we follow characters from an array of different games as they travel into different game worlds and get into trouble. It is a kids movie but I don't really care, it's brilliant!

The Summer Berry hand sanitiser from Wilkinson still remains to be one of my health and beauty favourites - it just smells amazing. I've also been loving Lynx Dry Apollo, which has got a cooler, more subtle scent, perfect for the winter. Finally, I've really been loving the Garnier Fructis Citrus Putty. I think I've finally been drawn back away from hairspray, and I don't like gel, but this putty is perfect and leaves my hair in perfect shape with less hassle. My go-to hairstyle at the moment is a messy side quiff (if that's a thing) and this really helps me achieve that look.

In the randoms pile I start with candles. I'm slowly growing obsessed with candles - they're very relaxing, they look good and of course, they smell good. I've been loving the Lemon Skittles candle, which you can find in Poundland (they also do Cherry and Orange) which is keeping a slightly more refreshing scent in my bedroom, as well as Yankee Candles' Christmas Cookie. I bought a pack of 12 tealights which were on sale, because let's be honest, Yankee Candles are a little  expensive, but they've really been worth it and give off a more homely oops-you've-caught-me-baking scent. The winter beanie is representing the generally colder weather we've been having - I prefer the cold to the heat, as I'm a big lad and have my own polar-bear-esque central heating going on. It keeps me more awake, and is just more comfortable for me. Finally, you may see a notebook peeking out in the picture. This notebook from Wilkinson is a very surprising 60p and is no ordinary notebook. It's split into 3 sections - lined, squared and plain - I don't really know what I'm going to use each section for but it was cool and I bought a couple because I got excited. I use them to plan blog posts and that at the moment, but I don't think it'll be that long before I start creating pixel pictures with the squared paper... watch this space.

Other things I've been loving include satsumas and just putting black pepper on everything,  homemade pasties and Starbucks' salted caramel hot chocolate. I watched (500) Days of Summer for the first time this month, and I really really liked it, as well as revisiting teen favourite, Easy A. On the tellybox I've also been loving Gogglebox, a show which is simply about different families watching the TV... it's brilliant. I'm gutted that Educating Yorkshire has finished, but it ended with such a good episode, featuring a pupil who suffers from quite a bad stutter, and I'll be honest, I did nearly cry at the end. The Ellen Show has come back better than ever with some great guests recently, and Parks and Recreation's new series may be the best one so far. The return of Sarah Millican's Television Programme has also brought a smile back to my Tuesday nights...

What have you been loving this month?