My Month in Favourites – May 2016

I'm currently in the Netherlands enjoying some of my favourites things in life; my family, all of the cheese, Dutch shops and oranjekoek (an orange cookie-cake hybrid my mum saved for me from King's Day) and I can pretty much write a whole favourites post just about my time here. But since it's only been 2.5 days out of the whole month I won't, and instead my favourites consist of some clothes, a book (surprise, surprise), a great restaurant I ate at in the past month, and hand soaps I'm absolutely addicted to.

Carvela Kurt Geiger Brogues

We've had some really nice weather in May, which came as quite a surprise considering that we had snow (!) as well and I have finally gotten to wear my gorgeous brown leather Carvela Kurt Geiger brogues which I bought for a bargainous £29 from Shoeaholics last year.

They're unbelievable soft and comfy and while I'm pretty much wearing them Friday-Sunday right now, they make me wish we didn't have a smart business dress code at work (which for me translates to black, black and more black) so I could wear them every single day of the week.

London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning

While the whole point of my Month in Favourites posts is to talk about anything but books (because they already get the majority of coverage on my blog), I cannot not mention the incredible London Belongs to Us by Sarra Manning. This is one of the best contemporary young adult novels I have EVER read. It was a love letter to London and hilarious to boot and I cannot stop giggling when I think about all the things that happened in it. Find my full review here and make sure you pick up a copy when it hits the shops on Thursday!

Top With Peter Pan Collar

I have been looking for a top with a Peter Pan collar for a long time (and not just because it's called a Peter Pan collar, though maybe a little bit because who doesn't love subtle literary references?) and I FINALLY found one that totally suits me. I admittedly only picked this one up on a whim because of the collar as I thought the black/white top/shirt combo was a bit dull otherwise but with the short sleeves and different materials at the top and bottom (it is one top even though it looks like two) it's actually super fun, and it fits my work's dress code, win/win!

The brand is Wallis (which I wasn't familiar with before buying the shirt, but I will definitely look into again) and I bought it from House of Fraser. It was marked down from £28 to just £14 and it's still available so if you're interested, check it out here (excuse the creasiness in the photo, I just washed it)..

TigerTiger Haymarket

I had a lovely evening with my friend Catriona a few weeks ago in which we went book shopping, saw a film at the cinema (Florence Foster Jenkins) and went out for dinner. We ended up going to TigerTiger Haymarket which I'd walked passed tons of times but never actually been inside of. It's part of a chain and their food is really diverse (different cuisines on a single menu, so there's something for everyone).

I absolutely loved the meal I ordered: chimichurri Salmon (fresh salmon, glazed with a chili & garlic chimichurri sauce) with green beans and sweet potato fries on the side. Salmon is one of my restaurant go-tos but I've never had it with chimichurri before and it worked SO well. The sauce was a tad greasy but the flavour was incredible and the salmon was cooked to perfection too. I'm definitely going back there!

Bath & Body Works Foaming Hand Soaps

Speaking of Catriona, she recently brought me back some of the Foaming Hand Soaps from Bath & Body Works and oh my, I love them so much! The subtle fragrances are beautiful, I love how the soap foams (hence the name, lol) and they're super moisturising, making my hands feel soft after every single use.

She already brought me one back after Christmas (which I'd only just finished) and this new collection will tide me over until I go to Canada in October to do some serious stocking up myself. As it will be autumn then I cannot wait to buy every single soap containing a cinnamon, ginger or pumpkin scent!



Hope you all had a brilliant May! What were some of the favourite things you've done or bought in the past month?