January Favourites + Highlights 2020

I personally feel January gets a bad wrap, people exaggerate about it “being the longest month ever” which I don’t think is true. January for me is a chance to reset and start fresh for the year and it always feels quite calm after the busy festive season. January is also my birthday month and I feel like people who complain about disliking it are making an unintentional dig at those who celebrate their birthday in January. I find it hard to believe we are one month through 2020 already, I swear every year gets faster!

Onto this month’s favourites:

1. Nutella – I’ve never been a huge Nutella fan but I saw a teeny tiny jar at the supermarket and purchased it purely for the size. I enjoyed having toast with Nutella to use up the contents of the jar and purchased a bigger size after it was finished. Toast with Nutella is nice to alternate between the yoghurt or fruit I usually have. Nutella hasn’t become a cupboard staple but it’s a nice treat!

2. YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick – Le Rouge 01 – This lipstick is one of the four minis that came in a YSL set I purchased from Mecca towards the end of last year. Le Rouge 01 is a classic red and it has such a lovely comfortable satin finish. The colour lasts all day and doesn’t slip or bleed. I also think the mini sized bullet makes it easier to control and apply, no lip liner is required.

3. And So It Begins by Rachel Abbott – My second read of 2020! Over the past year or so I have been reading more psychological thrillers and this one was extremely gripping and kept me guessing right until the end. The twists and turns weren’t predictable and the book overall was super easy to read, the story was told well and the ending felt complete. I am looking forward to reading the follow up novel coming in April.

Mark and Evie had a whirlwind romance. Evie brought Mark back to life after the sudden death of his first wife. Cleo, Mark’s sister, knows she should be happy for him. But Cleo doesn’t trust Evie…

When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.

4. House Rules – House Rules is an Australian home renovation show that I have watched for years and a new season started airing in New Zealand this month. Six teams travel around Australia renovating each other’s houses and gardens to ultimately try and win money to pay off their mortgage. Teams get scored on their work by a panel of judges and eliminated one by one until a team are crowned the winners. This is a good show for sitting down in front of with my book, I can see what’s happening but I don’t have to be glued to the screen in case I miss something.

5. Deep Water – Deep Water has been called the British version of Big Little Lies which is another series I really enjoyed. Deep Water is described as a modern day look at family through the eyes of three women as they try to balance work and life pressures. Each woman has secrets that surface and their lives intertwine with each other.

January Highlights

  • After watching a documentary about Michael Hutchence in December I have been listening to INXS music a fair bit. The instrumentation and vocals are sensational!
  • It was my birthday on January 24th and also my last day at work for a couple of weeks. I went out to dinner with some friends and had a lovely day.

January’s Spotify Playlist:


How was your month? Share one of your highlights in the comments!

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27 thoughts on “January Favourites + Highlights 2020

  1. 50shad3s0fjay says:

    Yay for a fellow January birthday! Are you Capricorn too orrr? I’m the 9th so not sure when the cut off is!! Happy belated birthday and I feel the same, I enjoy the month of January! It definitely doesn’t feel like the longest month of the year either, I don’t know where they got that from haha! I love January!! Nutella is my fave omg! I actually hadn’t had it for ages until this month too actually, and I went through pretty much one large jar of it in less than a week lol. I love it on toast, but a nutella sandwich on white bread, fully loaded with pure nutella is just so good omg! Craving it now haha!!! Deep Water sounds like a great tv show, I’m going to have to watch and I’d like to check out that book too! Thanks so much for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Chanelle says:

      Happy belated birthday to you too! I’m an Aquarius ♒️ I can see why so many people love Nutella, it’s lovely in crepes with whipped cream too! Hope you like Deep Water and the book 😊

      Like

  2. Belle in the Word ||Debbie 💓 says:

    Happy belated birthday to you darling,hope you had a blast and Nutella is the best gift discovered by man in my opinion and I’m definitely going to check out your playlist….future nostalgia is my jam

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Hollie George says:

    Hope you had an amazing birthday!! 😊🥳 That tiny jar of Nutella is adorable, it’s always been a staple in my house haha I’m addicted to the stuff. Ooooh the red YSL lipstick looks gorgeous and that book sounds really interesting too, I really want to get into more psychological thrillers 😊

    Like

    • Chanelle says:

      Thank you lovely, my birthday was really nice! I did think of you when I saw Nutella and remembered how much you like it 😊 this red is definitely on par with Ruby Woo in terms of how good it is ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Rossy Galaxy says:

    I don’t dislike January and I don’t necessarily complain that it’s a long month, but for me personally I have such a hard time in the winter with anxiety and mild depression. I think people say it’s a long month only because the days are so short and the nights a bit long, at least here in the northern hemisphere. Lol. Maybe they hate it because it means no more consecutive days off and back to work Monday through Friday lol.
    I think it’s great that you have a January birthday, you get to celebrate a special day right after the holidays. I know a lot of people who have bdays this month too. 😁 so happy belated bday!
    I love nutella but had to stop eating it it has so much sugar lol.
    I’ll have to look into this book you are reading, I am digging all these thrillers and mystery novels and the psychological ones are so so good.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Chanelle says:

      I can see why people would dislike it for the weather. I dislike the heat and I always find in summer (which it is at the moment) that I get so tired and drained and wish for cooler weather. I don’t want to imagine how much sugar Nutella has 🙈 in all honesty I probably won’t buy another jar for a while once this one is finished.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. danniijane says:

    That YSL lipstick is really pretty😍 I love psychological thrillers, definitely one of my favourite genres. And so it begins sounds really good😊 Hope you had a lovely birthday, what are you planning to do with your time off? X

    Liked by 1 person

    • Chanelle says:

      It is a stunning red! Psychological thrillers make good movies too 🙂 I’m planning to lots of relaxing, so far I’ve read a little bit, completed a jigsaw and had a couple of trips into town. I got a massage today and it was wonderful! Hoping to catch up with a friend too xx

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Erica says:

    Nutella is such a treat! I haven’t had a tub of it in the house for quite a while, but I used to love dipping fruit in it, spreading it on thin cookies & toast. Oh my gosh, the possibilities were endless! I also love INXS a lot too. I still use Pandora from time to time, and I created an INXS station on there; it’s one of my faves!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Hunida says:

    Happy belated birthday, beautiful! I’m so happy to hear you had a lovely time celebrating. ♡ I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers, And So It Begins… sounds like a good one. I’ve been wanting to watch Big Little Lies so, Deep Water has my attention now, too.

    Thanks for sharing with us, Chanelle!!

    Liked by 1 person

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