Well guys, May was a bundle of fun while at the same time a bit crap because I was sick and had a horrendous cough for the whole month! I had a break from weddings so made an effort to pack in a tone of socialising, fun and time outside. Here’s what I loved in May:

1. Shooting my ‘Runaways’ styled shoot

This is a shoot which has been in my mind since I visited the USA west coast back in 2016, so I can’t believe it actually happened this month! I can only share a little sneaky peak for now but it turned out even better than I had in my mind. Thank you to such an incredible bunch of suppliers for bringing this to life.

2. Balance Festival

Mid-cough and chest infection, I went to Balance Festival at Truman’s in Shoreditch with a friend. This wellness festival is so up my street! It had a food hall with all types of tasty treats and tons of different exercise classes and talks. These were definitely where the value was. Despite being sick, and I probably shouldn’t have, but I managed to get through a workout with the amazing Kelsey Wells, and a Boom Cycle spin. Both were so fun! I was so pumped afterwards. We didn’t make it to any of the talks but there were some really interesting sounding ones. I’ll definitely be going back but next year, but hopefully feeling 100%! The same day I also had an engagement shoot with Jaime and Tommy which was brilliant – they’re so sweet and I can’t wait for their wedding in July!

3. Holiday in Croatia

The best part of May was definitely our holiday to Croatia.  We stayed in pretty Zadar and spent our days visiting the National Parks, sunbathing and mainly eating…. a great way to spend a week! You can read my full blog about it here.

4. The return of The Futureheads

I have been obsessed with The Futureheads since I was the tender age of 16 and they released their first singles. When we were at college and Uni my twin and I would road trip the country to see them. I think we must have seen them way over 20 times. They took a hiatus in our mid-20s and I was gutted! But they’re back, and this week we went to see them at Le Garage in Islington. (Futureheads fans, see what I did there?). The show immediately transported me back to being 20 again!! I can’t tell you how good it was to be seeing them live again after all this time.

With the show being in Islington, it was also just lovely to be back in my old haunts and neighbourhood. Definitely still one of my favourite parts of London.

5. Reading all the time!

This month it felt like I read loads (having a holiday always helps with that). Being sick also means I ploughed through quite a few. Here goes:

1. Eating Animals –  Jonathan Safran Foer: I started the month on a pretty heavy one! This book is so eye-opening. I’ve seen a lot of documentaries on the meat industry and they were part of what made me go vegan, but this book goes into even more detail. Yes, a lot of the detail about the ‘processing’ of animals in the food industry is intimately graphic and disgusting. I nearly didn’t make it through the chapter on the slaughter of pigs and cows as it was so horrifically cruel. But, in a terrible way that is what makes this book so good. It’s time that people stopped burying their head in the sand and opened their eyes to how their food is actually made. I guess no one wants to really face up to the truth, and the industry definitely tries to hide the true methods it uses. The part about chicken farms and the stuff that ends up with your final chicken breast just made me want to vomit – chemicals, bird shit, blood, it was gross.  Certainly after reading this I will never go near meat again – I don’t want any part in such a disgustingly cruel industry. The book is well balanced and interviews workers from within the industry, and does argue that not all of the meat/animal product industry is bad. Not an easy book to read but definitely worth it. 5/5 

1. Quiet (The power of Introverts in a World that can’t stop talking) – Sarah Cain: I thought I would go on to something a bit more positive after ‘Eating Animals!’. Quiet is a book about why Introverts are so powerful. I’ll be honest, I didn’t read it all as it goes into a lot of depth. However, I read the first few chapters and as an introvert myself I really connected to it. You normally hear the negatives about introverts but this book details why this is a common misconception, and then goes on to champion the quieter side of the population. I’m sure I’ll go back to the rest of it at some point! 3/5
2. The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg: I was all about the non-fiction books at the start of the month! In this book, Charles Duhigg talks about how habits are created, the psychology of them, and how to change your habits. It was so interesting! I loved the chapter on how advertising has used our psychology of habits to it’s own interests. 4/5
3. Dark Places –  Gillian Flynn: From the writer of ‘Gone Girl’ this is another dark thriller which follows a girl as she investigates the true killer of her family when she was a child. I didn’t fall in love with the characters at all which made it harder to read – I guess we all want to relate to what we are reading. It was pretty disturbing but did draw you in to the story and want to find out the truth. A good holiday read! 3.5/5
4. The Stranger – Albert Camus: This is a short story written in the 1940s. It follows the story of a man who commits a murder and his subsequent trial. Like ‘Dark Places’, it was hard to connect to the main character, but as you read the book you realise he must be a psychopath. So perhaps that’s the point – you just can’t get close to him. When I finished, I wasn’t left with much of an opinion either way – again, I think that was partly the point as the main character was so detached and indifferent to the world. It was a bit of a wierd one for me! 3/5 

Phrew, lots of literature! On holiday I started reading ‘Sapiens’ and I’m still working my way through it. I feel bad for my other half as every 5mins I was going ‘wow, did you know…’. Will report back once I’ve finished!

As always, let me know what you’re reading, and what you loved this month.