A-Z OF MOVIES YOU NEED TO WATCH

Saturday

I love making A-Z lists of things but it can be quite hard when you get towards the end of the alphabet. Full disclosure: I do not have anything for the letter X.


A while ago for Valentine's Day, I wrote an A-Z list of date ideas and because I love films, I thought I could create a list for that too. Some letters of the alphabet have lots of really good films starting with that letter, so for some, it was really hard to narrow it down. For others, there were only a few that I'd seen beginning with that letter. For example, I'm pretty sure I have only seen about three films beginning with the letter V, but S had loads I wanted to share.


The films in the following list are all films I have seen, enjoyed, and would recommend to you. If you need watchlist inspo, then look no further. There is a range of genres, some new, some old.


Netflix on tv with remote


A-Z list of movies you need to watch


A - American Psycho

B - Back to the Future

C - Clueless

D - Do the Right Thing

E - Everybody's Talking About Jamie

F - Forrest Gump

G - Get Out

H - The Help

I - In the Heights

J - Joker

K - Knives Out

L - Legally Blonde

M - Mamma Mia

N - The Notebook

O - Only Yesterday

P - Prisoners 

Q - Queen of Katwe

R - Ratatouille

S - Schindler's List

T - Titanic

U - Us

V - The Vow (There are probably better films beginning with V but I have not seen very many beginning with V)

W - Wizard of Oz

Y - Yes Man

Z - Zootropolis (the only film I have seen beginning with Z but still cute).


There we have it, this list was so much fun to make so let me know if you enjoyed it and I can make more. There are so many films I would recommend and if you love films like me then follow me on Letterboxd here.


Letterboxd is an app where you can log each and every film you have ever watched. It's basically a social media channel where you can rate and review films and see what you're friends have been watching.

Related: What to watch on Netflix and Disney+

How many of these have you seen?

2021 Roundup

Welcome to my yearly roundup post where I share with you the highlights and lowlights from my year, 2021 has been a weird year, a lot has happened and although it hasn't been my favourite year, I have had some really good memories and some big changes have happened in my life.


My 2021 Roundup


January 


As usual, January was quite nothingy for me, especially this year as we were in lockdown for the start of 2021. I have to say after 2020 and being in lockdown over the new year period, I wasn't excited for 2021 at all. By this point, we had been struggling with the pandemic for so long I just had no hope that we would come out the other side.

For some reason though, I started being quite productive (I think to distract myself from these feelings) and I started my writing dissertation and also started planning how I was going to make money with my blog. 2020 was the year my blog really "took off" so I used the new year to see how I could make the next step with it. 

Girl at the beach putting her hand out

In 2021, I was able to make £500 through my blog and Instagram with lots of gifted campaigns dotted about too! This has been the first year I've made any money from it so I am very pleased with that! It did take a lot of work that I haven't really been able to keep up in the later part of 2021 though.

February


After planning how I was going to make money through blogging, February was the first month I actually earned anything. It was also filled with lots of freezing cold beach walks.

Christchurch harbour uk

She might kill me for saying this but my mum had her 50th birthday in February and it was great fun. We all made one of those lockdown happy birthday videos for her (throwback!) and it was just great to celebrate something after a gloomy start to the year.

I'm not going to lie, February was probably the worst month for my mental health as I was just so fed up with lockdown and feeling isolated. I find it important to share lows with you as well as highs so you know I'm human and I'm not just showing off the best version of myself online.

March


March for me was mainly filled with socially distanced walks with friends. At the start of the year, I would just complain so much about all of the things we couldn't do but those walks with friends were something I really appreciated and it made me focus on the things that we could do to bring us joy at that moment in time.


Sheep in poole


April


April is my bday month and I had yet another lockdown birthday and turned 22 but this one felt way less restrictive. I was able to see my boyfriend and friends and a couple of weeks after, Joe and I went for an outdoor meal to celebrate when things opened outdoor seating. Classic me to make it a whole birthday month. Stay tuned to see what I do for my 23rd birthday and if we are in lockdown again (my luck). If not, I'm going big!


Girl clinking drinks with friends


Because outdoor seating started opening for restaurants and pubs and I was gagging to be anywhere but my uni bedroom, I went any time that I could for bottomless brunch or for food. But does anyone remember how freezing it was? I just remember thinking it was going to be warm and it really wasn't, I even had to wear gloves at one point.


May


So after all these months of writing my dissertation since January, I finally submitted it in May and basically finished uni. Throughout all of the other months, I was doing loads of uni work too but I didn't mention that because - boring. 


Girl holdinh up bournemouth university dissertation


When I submitted my diss, I got the standard picture with the front page outside my uni. Only the front page - because we submitted it digitally rather than on paper, which I think is so much better anyway.


After finishing, I was invited by the National Express to go on a PR day out with them, so Joe and I went to London for the day on the coach.


Umbrellas at camden market


We also went to a PR evening at Mbuntu's opening night in Southampton. So basically, I was feeling quite VIP in May. Uni was over, and there was a lot to look forward to re the world opening up.


June


First of all, in June, I celebrated three years with Joe. YAY! We went for a nice anniversary meal at Cote Brasserie and it was extra special because we didn't get to celebrate last year. Also, I started my graduate job halfway through June. I am now a social media and communications coordinator at the same place where I did my internship.

Girl and boy in garden

Because I knew I was starting soon, I tried to make the most out of my non-working days so Joe and I took a trip to Weymouth together. We both love animals so we went to the aquarium which was great fun. I also went to Ginjams in Westbourne with my friends which is a gin and cheese bar and had been on my Bournemouth bucket list for years.

Penguins at sealife weymouth

Cheese board from ginjams westbourne

One of my favourite days ever was in June, too. At our uni house, my two friends and me planned a sports day themed party at our house. It was the first party we could have at ours because of Covid and the people who didn't really like to party were away that weekend so it worked out well. It was so much fun and we did some classic games like egg and spoon race.


Another PR invite - My friend Maddie and I were able to try the lovely Greyhound Inn pub in Corfe. I can't recommend their pub garden enough, it was so stunning and there are great views of Corfe Castle.


Girl in summer dress at corfe castle


Also in June, I spoke on the radio for the first time. I was interviewed on BBC Radio Wiltshire as someone who watches Love Island to talk about the new show starting. Big deal for me as I hate speaking on things like that.


July


July was the month I moved back home from uni which was a weird experience. It still hasn't hit me yet that uni is over for good and it's been months since finishing.


As nightclubs reopened in the UK, I was able to go to my first ever drag show, and see my fave Scottish Queen, Lawrence Chaney. I love drag so much and I hope to go to many more drag shows in the future, it was so much fun!


Lawrence chaney in DYMK bournemouth


The day after (suffering from a hangover) I went on my first out of two student nights out in the whole of third year. I was so glad to go on a night out after months of not being able to.


This is the month Joe moved back to London for work too, so since then, we have been getting up to all sorts of fun things that I will let you know about.


August


In August, we celebrated Joe's birthday (he's a leo) and had a lovely meal in Fulham with his family. 

I also had my friend Maddie come to stay at my house so I gave her a very countryside weekend, there were chickens. We moved house last November and not many of my friends have been to my new house mainly due to covid.

Chickens at cholderton farm shop

After much anticipation on whether it would happen or not, my friends from uni and I went to Bournemouth 7s Festival. This is basically the event we look forward to every year and we couldn't go in 2020 so it felt even better to go this year - even if my feet did feel broken by the end of it.


Group of friends at festival

Bournemouth 7s festival


September


At the beginning of September, my mum, grandma and I went to see 9 to 5 The Musical. Going to see shows is a newfound love of mine and I have really enjoyed all the ones I have been to so far and this was no exception.


9 to 5 the musical southampton mayflower


In the middle of September, Joe and I went on a long weekend away to St Ive's in Cornwall. We had the best time there and this was the last of the sunny weather we had this year. Read about our St Ives trip in full here.


St ives cornwall


Towards the end of September, I visited Joe in London and we went to Spitalfields Market, where I had a pulled pork bun, and about a third of a crumble from Humble Crumble because it was so filling. After that, we went to a spontaneous comedy show at Vauxhall Comedy Club and had a really good night.


Humble crumble spitalfields market london


October


October was a month filled with lots of nights out and fun stuff. Firstly, I went on a trip to Incognito in Winchester. If you haven't heard about it yet, it was the best cocktail bar I've ever been to! They also have one in Kingston and the cocktails are just so cool and fancy. They are more than just cocktails and are presented with such cool effects. It is better if you just see for yourself on my Instagram reel here.

Cocktail at incognito winchester

I also took my friends from home on a night out in Bournemouth. We went to DYMK which is the gay club in Bournemouth as I had such a great time there seeing Lawrence Chaney earlier in the year.


November


I haven't stopped going on about this, and I'm not sure when I will but I graduated from uni in November, and this was probably the best day of the whole year. It just made all of the days of hard work and feeling like I couldn't do it pay off.



Friends posing


After graduating and celebrating with my friends, I also had a party a few days later to celebrate with my family friends at home. In true Lauren Kenny style, we had a huge brie centerpiece.


Another month, another visit to London, but this time it was to see my friends. We celebrated one of my friend's birthdays by going to Hijingo in Shoreditch, which is basically a really futuristic boozy bingo. I am yet to win anything at a boozy bingo - I'm starting to think it's a fix.


Friends posing


Towards the end of November, I just started getting into Christmas activities early, like Christmas shopping and going to the markets for mulled wine.


December


To kick off December, I was invited to a PR meal at Pizza Venti in Salisbury where we tried their amazing Christmas menu. The pizza was to die for!!


Pizza at pizza venti


I also went to my first book club meeting. I have been a part of the book club since September but there were various reasons why I couldn't attend the previous ones. It was really great to meet some new people in my home city.


As I said, I also try to share the low moments as well as the highlights, and in December, I spent a lot of time feeling really anxious. I have spent a lot of time trying to improve my mental health and going out of my comfort zone, but what I was hearing in the news about the new waves of Coronavirus made me really worried because of how much I struggled in the previous lockdown.

At this time of year, we usually go to the Dortmund Christmas markets but this year we went to the Birmingham one instead.


All in all, the year has been filled with highs and lows just like any other year. Has it been the best year of my life? Has it been the worst? Not really. A lot has happened that I'm grateful for and that's why I really like writing these posts. At first I thought this year had been a bit rubbish with Covid, but looking back through the year, I have some really fun memories and lifelong achievements that I am proud of.


What are some of the highlights of your year?

BIRMINGHAM CHRISTMAS MARKET

Friday

This year for our annual Christmas market trip, we decided to go to Birmingham as it was easier to stay in the UK. We were planning to go to Dortmund as we had in 2018 and 2019 but going would have meant we'd have had to isolate over Christmas while waiting for PCR tests and it just wasn't worth it.


Girl in beret in birmingham

Instead of not going anywhere like last year, we decided on Birmingham as the market looked like the best one in the UK from pictures, and it is run by the same people who run the Frankfurt one, so it was very German.


We only stayed in Birmingham for one night so we traveled up on a Sunday, got there around lunchtime, and started exploring the market. 


When we go to Germany, we usually focus on the food and drink on day 1 and then the shopping on day 2. There may have been too much focusing on drink on day 1 that led to not that much hopping on day 2, but we were all just excited to be together celebrating when we couldn't last year.


I really enjoyed my time at the markets and it seemed a lot more authentically German than other ones I've seen in the UK. However, I feel like this market was more about food and drink and less about shopping stalls as there were only a few of those. 

Related: Dortmund Christmas markets

As the UK is not really known for its Christmas markets, it isn't difficult to beat the other ones in the UK in my opinion. I haven't yet seen one here that is better than Birmingham but if you have been to a really amazing one, I'd love to hear about it!


Incidentally, I have been to the Bath Christmas markets before and they have a lot more shopping stalls than anything else with less food and drinks if I'm not mistaken. However, there is not much of a market in Bath this year. 


With the food in Birmingham, there was not much to choose from in terms of what to eat, but there were plenty of places to get classic Christmas market food like Bratwurst, chips and mayo, and Frikadellen. 


Group of people in birmingham

Group of people in birmingham

Does it compare to German Christmas markets though? Absolutely not, German markets at this time of year are unbeatable, the UK just can't compete. Having said that, I am really glad we went to Birmingham and we all had a lovely time so it is definitely worth doing as an alternative.


We stayed in the Jury's Inn hotel which was pretty cheap for one night too! All in all a fun couple of days. It was also my first time going to Birmingham and I'd love to go back, it is amazing for shopping.


Have you been to any UK Christmas markets that you enjoyed?

BOOKS I READ IN 2021

Saturday

I have started doing a few book reviews this year and that's because, to be honest, I have only really started regularly reading as a hobby this year.


When I was at uni I had to read for my course so I didn't really want to do it in my free time, but I've actually been enjoying it since leaving. Does that mean I'm a real-life adult now?


So, I thought I would share my favourite books I have read this year with you.


Florence given illustrations in women dont owe you pretty


My best reads of 2021

1. Women Don't Owe You Pretty by Florence Given


This is definitely one of my favourite books I have read, ever. It's so important and covers so many different themes of feminism. I actually did a review on this one so if you want to hear my full thoughts then read my review of Women Don't Owe You Pretty.

Incidentally, I actually saw Florence Given (the author) in real life when I was walking through Shoreditch the other day. If you don't know who she is yet, I would recommend following her on socials she is COOL.

2. Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman


Humankind is another non-fiction book and it unpacks all kinds of anthropological themes. Basically, it talks a lot about human history and the main question asked is are humans really selfish by nature? If you are interested in social sciences or just history in general I would recommend this book.

I am aware I am not explaining it too well, there is just so much covered and I feel like I'd need to read it again to remember it all. If you read it, you will understand what I mean.

3. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris


I had literally started reading this book in 2019 but I finished it in 2021 so I have included it in this list anyway. Despite the length of time it took me to read (just me being on and off with it, nothing to do with the book) I really enjoyed this. I know I'm a bit late to the party with this but got there in the end!

4. Good Vibes, Good Life: How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness by Vex King


Another non-fiction book - can you tell which I prefer? I feel like this book unlocked something in my brain. The theme is basically good vibes only and tips of getting away from negativity and it all just makes so much sense. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Who doesn't want to have good vibes and live a good life?

Also, I will be reading Vex's new book Healing is the New High very soon.

5. His Other Woman by Louise Voss


This book is actually written by a lady who is local to Salisbury (near where I live) which made me interested in reading it. It is a fictional book about a couple in Salisbury. The husband goes abroad by himself and is involved in an accident where he loses his memory. I will leave you with that description and the name of the title for you to work out the rest of the storyline. Very good, would recommend reading.

6. Drag Queen of Scots: The Dos and Don'ts of a Drag Superstar by Lawrence Chaney


Lawrence Chaney of one of my favourite drag queens to ever set foot on the main stage of RuPaul's Drag Race. They are also the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 2. If you know me, you will know how much of a fan of the show I am and at every opportunity I tell people I did my dissertation on it (there we go, just mentioned it for the 497th time).

For this reason, I loved hearing about Lawrence's experiences before the show, during and after. I also wrote a review of this one too so if you'd like to hear more about what I thought, read my review of Lawrence Chaney's book.

7. Release the Beast: A Drag Queen's Guide to Life by Bimini Bon Boulash


Similar to number 6, this was written by Drag Queen, Bimini Bon Boulash from Season 2 of RuPaul's Drag Race UK. I loved reading this book, it was a mixture of biographical content and advice, life lessons, etc. There is a lot to be learnt from this book. 

Bimini covers a range of sociological concepts meanwhile their drag persona is branded as a 'bimbo'. Spoiler alert: the term 'bimbo' is unpacked in this book. Bimini also identifies as non-binary and seeing the world through their eyes definitely teaches you a lot about how gender-reliant the world we live in is.

Basically, Bimini can do it all by teaching you stuff, talking about their life and drag while generally just being iconic. There are also cool illustrations.

8. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard


OK so I am a fan of the TV show so I thought why not try the books and see what they're like? I have to say, I am a bit obsessed at the moment. Pretty Little Liars is one of my comfort TV shows that I watched as a teenager and will watch over and over again now, so I find it really interesting to see what is different/the same in the books. I have read book 1 and 2 so far but there are so many, it depends if I can be bothered to read all of them,

When I asked earlier if I'm a real adult? The answer is no.

And there we have all of my favourite books that I've read this year. I'd love to hear your thoughts on book content as I'm quite new to it so please let me know if you like seeing it.