MONTHLY FAVOURITES: AUGUST 2015.

Hello, my blog-reading children, welcome to another monthly favourites post. I've spent the past four weeks pretty much doing nothing in our apartment here in lil' old Switzerland. Here are some of the things I've been loving.

BADLANDS REVIEW.

On 28th August 2015, after a few release-date hiccoughs, Halsey released her debut album, BADLANDS. I first stumbled upon Halsey (though she still called herself Ashley Frangipane back then) in summer 2013. I watched a few of her covers on YouTube and couldn't shake this feeling that she had something. Over the next few months I realised I'd had good reason to sense something special in her. I found myself converted to being a fan, and after a couple of small and temporary name-changes Ashley took a big step in her musical journey and became Halsey. In early 2014 she released Ghost as her first official single on iTunes, and it was a poignant moment to bear witness to. A couple of months later, Halsey presented her relatively-small-but-ever-growing fanbase with yet another taste of what was to come, in the form of New Americana. Later on, a newer version of it would prove to be one of the most successful songs she had ever released, with people praising it left, right and centre; dubbing it an anthem for the world's youth. Fast-forward one Room 93 EP, a record deal, a few tours and exponentially more radio plays later, and we arrive in August 2015, with the release of the eagerly-anticipated BADLANDS album.

YEAR ABROAD BUCKET LIST.

I'm about to up sticks and head to Paris for a year. Yep, Paris! Everyone around me seems more excited than I am, but then, that's understandable, because they are thinking of the good things, whereas I am going to be dealing with a whole bunch of potentially overwhelming and stressful stuff (think: setting up a bank account in French, trying to survive on the measly loan Student Finance gives me, attempting to not fail my classes, all of which are in French, et cetera). Don't get me wrong, I'm getting a little more excited each day (especially now I have an apartment sorted, which is a huge weight off my shoulders), but in order to keep this excitement brewing, I started to try and think of things to look forward to. Thence came the idea for my Year Abroad Bucket List. Some of the things on this list are Paris or France-specific, but others are just general things I'd like to accomplish/do during my year abroad.

FAVOURITE PLACES TO DRINK IN LONDON.

With the relative success of my Favourite Cafés in London post I decided to continue in a similar vein and offer you my wisdom in the form of a new post. For the benefit of my loyal readers (all five of you) (three of whom are underage) I have risked bankruptcy to compile a small list of my favourite places to drink in London. Enjoy. Drink responsibly. Do not blame me for any drunken misdemeanours that may or may not occur after having read this list.

A LITTLE LOOK AT ORPHAN BLACK.

Over the past couple of weeks I've become nigh on addicted to Orphan Black. For anyone unfamiliar with the programme, it's a sci-fi drama about human cloning. Let's get this straight: usually, as soon as I see "genre: sci-fi" I tend to be a little put off, but I decided to push through (especially as my last Great TV Show Find was also a sci-fi) (hi there check out this post if you want to know what I'm talking about) and I'm so glad I did. If you're hoping for aliens and intergalactic adventures this isn't the show for that, but I wholeheartedly recommend you give it a shot anyway.

MONTHLY FAVOURITES: JULY 2015.

Hey there, I'm back with another favourites post, and only few days later than I'd intended. Okay then, let's get right to it!