It’s been a quite a while since I last posted. I hadn’t planned to take a such a long break but the school holidays disrupted my routine and I found I wanted to enjoy spending time with my daughter without limits. Her childhood is passing by too quickly and it really won’t be long before I’ll have to bribe her to spend time with me.

I thought I’d break my blogging fast with some things that I’ve recently enjoyed. I’m feeling a bit rusty so I hope this doesn’t read like it’s been written by a five year old!

Read

I’ve a reading list as long as my arm but the attention span as short as my little finger. I used to surge through books but recently I’ve been finding it hard to keep going past the first few pages. I blame my inability to concentrate on misuse and overuse of my iphone.  I’m now determined to crush my compulsion to stare at my screen every few minutes and kick start my reading habit again.

I was recommended Born A Crime by Trevor Noah twice in a week and so I thought I’d have a fighting chance of sticking with it. For those that don’t know, Trevor Noah is a comedian and political commentator who presents The Daily Show in the US and this book contains 18 stories about his upbringing in South Africa. It combines the personal with the political and provides a great insight into what life was like in pre and post apartheid SA. It takes on some tough themes but overall it’s a funny and entertaining read and I’m happy to say I flew through it.

Watch

Being newly interested in Trevor Noah, I watched his stand up comedy show, Afraid of the Dark, on Netflix. It was recorded in New York but contains lots of material that Brits will find relevant.  His style is more conversational than that of a comedian that fires out joke after joke.  He’s particularly good at speaking in different accents and making connections about how people behave.  He also expands on some of the observations that he touches on in Born A Crime. His book gave the strong impression that Noah is very talented and charismatic and watching Afraid of the Dark confirmed this.

Buy

Nutrient-Charged Water Gel (£50) is the latest launch from Murad and it’s like a cross between a serum and moisturiser. It contains 5 vitamins, 5 minerals and 5 peptides to feed the skin and is also super hydrating. I’m not a fan of heavy moisturisers that sit on top of skin so I love this weightless formula that absorbs instantly and leaves my skin feeling soft, smooth and bouncy. Murad’s recent formulations are some of the best around (their City Skin Age Defence is peerless) and I’m genuinely looking forward to see what they come up with next.

Listen

If you like comedy that’s dark and tasteless then the podcast, Dear Joan and Jericha, is a must. Written and performed by  Julia Davis and Julia Pepperdine, Joan and Jericha are two agony aunts who give the most salacious, sexist and shockingly bad advice to their readers’ letters. It’s only an 8-part series but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets developed for TV.