5 Monthly Loves: February 2021 | planetshannn

Ello ello,

I am back with, what I think, is the first monthly loves of the year. I did write one for the month of Jan, but I don’t know what happened to it but I’m gonna pull a “technical error” excuse card out from somewhere and use that. As they were last year, this is the post at the end of each month where I (try to) tell you 5 loves of mine throughout the month. Sometimes we have to think long and hard, sometimes we know straight away, sometimes we need to cut down and the odd time, we don’t hit 5 things to talk about. If you’re here for a book favourites, I don’t include them here for the soul purpose that is, the following post is all about books I’ve read.

Now we’ve waffled on for a bit, like usual, I’m actually going to start telling you some of my Feb monthly loves.

Slippers

First up, we got slippers. One thing I’ve learnt during the pandemic is the importance of being comfy. Socks aren’t really my vibe. Never been a big fan of ankle socks, always buying and wearing trainer ones, even in the middle of winter. So, when I’m just chilling in the house, I just tend to wack my slippers on and job’s a good’un – easy to slip on and off when needed, comfy, keep feet warm and provide more of a substantial grip on slippy floors in comparison to socks.

• 

• 

A Routine

I never really understood how much of a routine probably saved me during the first lockdown when I was mostly on my own in Sheffield, before I came back home. It isn’t something I really adopted since coming back from Magaluf until one day at the beginning of Feb, I just tried giving it a go and it’s stuck. I wake up, I journal, I get dressed and ready, I walk the dog, I do 1-2 things off of my to-do list so I don’t run out of things to do in the long run, I do chores, I read, my mom comes home and we do a pilates workout and it seems to be doing so much for me. It’s become really beneficial to my mental health and happiness.

• 

• 

Sudoku

If you have been here since the first lockdown, this will be of no surprise to you. I’ve been into sudoku for a long, long while. I’m pretty sure it’s stemmed from my mom taking sudoku and wordpuzzle books to caravan holidays that we went on when I was younger. It’s just something to keep my mind at peace, and something to do instead of staring at TikTok for several hours.

• 

• 

Journaling

Journaling isn’t something I’ve ever really got into before. But after struggling with motivation and the ability to stay happy in this third lockdown, that on my 23rd birthday when I was very drunk I bought, a gratitude journal. Then back in December 2019, my friend got me the “Fearne Cotton: The Calm” journal in an attempt to help calm my anxiety down but with third year of uni and then a pandemic, I decided I had better things to do apparently. With my gratitude journal arriving, I decided to dig out The Calm journal as well, and I’ve been doing them both every morning since.

• 

• 

Gel Polish

I have spent the last year trying to grow my nails out. There’s something about painting my nails, and giving myself a little manicure that just really relaxes me and chills me out. One thing I found, was my nails kept chipping really easily, even with a regular top coat on and it was driving me insane. One of my close friends is actually trained in gel nails, so I decided to buy 5 quid gel lamp and a 5 quid gel top coat and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

• 

• 

And that is all I have for you today, folks. Do tell me some of your favourite things of the past month down in the comments below, and maybe you’ll see them pop up in future Monthly Loves posts of mine.

On that note, stay safe & take care of your damn self,

~ Shan x

PS – you can find me here and here
if you fancy a book or two, you can find me here
Previous Post
Mental Health Organisations