A Very Autumnal September Life|Style|Bites

I know it's the clichéd way to start a monthly favourites but September has just flown by, and I cannot believe it'll be my birthday in less than a week! I feel like we are well and truly into Autumn now. It's getting a lot darker a lot earlier and it's making me want to be all cosy. I even put up my first Christmas post of the year, how crazy is that?

I've spent quite a lot of time this month focusing on the feel of my blog. I wanted to give it a more cohesive look, and I recently created a funky new header to go along with that. Although I'm never 100% happy with my blog, I'm probably the most content I've been with it in a long time. I was also pleased to have reached 400 followers over on Instagram. I was pretty late to the Instagram game, and still have days where I can't really be bothered with it, but it's been one of my favourite social media platforms this month.

When I haven't been blogging, my go-to evening set-up has been a nice candle (I've been testing out Yankee Candle's Sweet Treats collection), my cute Primark Feather Fairy Lights and Netflix. If you read last month's Lifestyle Favourites, you'll know that I started watching Pretty Little Liars again. I am now just starting, so I've only got a season and a half to go before the big 'A' reveal. Of course I already know who 'A' is, thanks to some very irritating people on Twitter. Knowing the outcome does make me think a bit more about the signs when I've been watching it. At some points it seems like the Liars have worked it out, but of course there's twist after twist to lead them off the scent.With all that PLL watching, I literally didn't watch one film all month. I have so many films on my 'To Watch' list on Netflix, and really need to get through some of them!

I've also been watching a ton of YouTubers this month, and I feel like my subscription list is getting longer and longer! I'd never really watched her before, but I got really into Lily Melrose's Moving Vlogs, which documented her move from London to Brighton, living alone for the first time and a hella lot of Ikea. All good stuff. I've also been catching up with Fleur De Force's daily vlogs from Vlogust (vlogging every day in August). To my surprise, Mum seems to love Fleur too! My final YouTube favourite this month is The Elle Next Door. I've read Ellie's blog for quite a while (it's stunning by the way), and she has such a fun, addictive personality which really comes to life on camera. On the blog front, I've been seriously into In The Frow's slick new design, and Victoria's coverage of London Fashion Week has been the next best thing to actually being there. Fashion week gives me ALL the FOMO...

Whilst I haven't managed to do as much reading as I'd have liked, I am currently working my way through two books. The first is one that I'm sure you'll have heard of, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. This book documents Marie Kondo's childhood as a self-confessed neat freak, and really encourages positive habits when it comes to decluttering. You only need to peer around the door of my bedroom to see that a clear-out sesh needs to happen. I've also been reading The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop by Abbey Clements. This is such a fun, girlie read, and I love a bit of travel in a novel, it makes me dream of far-off lands. On the music front, my most played song this month has been Here by Alessia Cara. You can read about the rest of my September music picks here.

This month I said goodbye to my trusty Next Black Ankle Boots. I'd literally worn them down until they had holes in the soles, and I was sad to see them go. I'd looked in Next for a replacement pair, but the only ones they had were around £50, and I didn't really want to spend that much. Mum picked me up a really similar pair from Lidl of all places when she was doing the weekly shop, and they are such a gem! Comfortable, stylish and well made, I was so impressed that I even bought a back-up pair!

I was pretty restrained when it came to buying clothes this month as I've really been thinking about what I'm buying thanks to The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up. One of the only items I bought was this lovely Embellished-collar Layered Shirt (£10) from Primark. I snapped this up as it didn't look like something that you'd usually get in Primark and I got so many compliments when I wore it.

One of the things that really signifies Autumn is the iconic Starbucks Pumpin Spiced Latte. I'm really going to town, getting as many in while I can. I particularly love the Autumn-themed cups Starbucks have introduced this year. They are definitely very representative of the season and are a lot more Instagram-worthy than the usual white cups. In keeping with the spice, I also picked up some of the Beanies Gingerbread Instant Coffee (£2.50) to have at home.

I don't feel like I've been particularly social this month, everything I've done has been pretty low-key and centred around food! I did head to London at the start of September to celebrate my friend's birthday. We ended up eating at Hammersmith Indian 'bazaar' restaurant, Potli. We ordered a variety of dishes to share, including the fenugreek-laced Paneer Lababdar (my personal favourite) and the Rattan Manjusha Kofta: soft dumplings made out of nuts, jaggery, paneer and spinach, in a creamy tomato sauce. The selection of Papadums was also highly commendable; each had a different texture and flavour. All the dishes went down a treat, and I loved that each one was so unique. We received great service at Potli and thought it was a lovely place to to try some authentic Indian food.

I've got quite a lot planned for October. At the start of the month it is my birthday, so I've booked a week off work to relax and recuperate. I really need to up my yoga-game as I've been feeling really achey lately and I plan to spend some time relaxing and having some me-time. I'm also planning to head to London for the Olympia Beauty Show, have a girls night out in Birmingham and finally sample the Leicester Tapas Trail!

What are your plans for October?

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Don't forget to check out Damzel In This Dress, my October Blogger of the Month!