Day Trips And Books, What More Do I Need? – August Overview 2023

Knowing it’s September as I sit down to write this post is pretty crazy. The year is disappearing way too quickly, and I can’t believe that I’m already starting to think about Christmas (sorry, not sorry!) August 2023 was a really lovely month with a good mix of doing things, but also relaxing at home. The weather has been quite nice, and the week this post goes live is due to be 27-29 degrees all week.

Here’s what I got up to throughout August 2023.

Starting to plan for Autumn

I’ve been doing a few wardrobe clearouts lately and have realised that despite loving them I don’t wear dresses enough. So my mission for the tail end of summer into Autumn is to wear way more of the dresses I own. Nothing beats throwing on a dress for fuss-free styling. And it’s super easy to pop on a pair of tights or leggings and some boots for a cooler day outfit. That’s my dream outfit right there, with a snuggly cardigan over the top.

I’ve picked up two new midi shirt dresses from Cotton Traders that I know are going to be perfect for the Autumn months. You know I must love this style as I already own one of these and now I have two new patterns in my wardrobe. Firstly there’s the pistachio dress* which is a khaki leopard print and the polar dress* which is a blue tiger print.

Day trips in August 2023

At the start of August, I headed down to Bournemouth to catch up with two of my friends and we had a lovely day wandering along the beach and catching up. The weather could have been a bit kinder to us as it was really windy, but the sand in my hair was worth it for the day.

Then later in the month I had a random Monday off work and headed into Oxford with a friend. We visited loads of bookshops around the town and plenty of food and drink spots and it was just such a wholesome day. I had an incredible iced tea in Bird and Blend which I need to master how to make at home. We also had an iced chocolate in Knopps which was incredible, I’ve thought about it so many times since then.

Movies and entertainment

I made it to the cinema twice during August 2023. We finally saw Oppenheimer which was really good although a lot happened so I did feel like I had to pay attention a lot. Then later in the month, I saw Haunted Mansion which I will admit started a bit jumpier than I thought a 12A would be. But I really enjoyed the movie and it had such a great case.

In the middle of the month, Luke organised a date night for us in London one evening after I had finished work. We started off by going to Big Easy as he’d never been and I love it there, then he booked for us to go to a show. We saw Crown Jewels with Al Murray, Mel Giedroyc, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Joe Thomas and Neil Morrissey among others. It was a really funny show, even more so because we got picked on (a lot) as we were sat in one of the boxes. So if nothing else I can say we were part of the show.

A fun London day in August 2023

Other than the odd day in the office I don’t venture into London all that much anymore, but I take full advantage when I head in. Near the start of the month, I was lucky enough to get booked into a live class at Peloton Studios. Just like the last time I went, it was such an experience and I had a great time meeting other riders and meeting the wonderful Sam Yo.

After the class I treated myself to some bakery goodies, I deserved it! And then I met a friend for a bottomless pizza and prosecco treat at Gordon Ramsey’s Street Pizza. The food was so good, and they were super generous with the prosecco so I did feel a bit delicate a few hours later when I got home.

All things books

August 2023 was filled with quite a few bookish things which makes me very happy. I had two different Waterstones events during the month, something I want to start going to more of. Near the start of the month, I met a friend for a panel event at the Piccadilly Branch featuring four wonderful authors, although I’d not read any of their books. My friend mainly wanted to go because Sara Hashem the author of The Jasad Heir was there. The event was so interesting and I left with a few more books added to my TBR.

Then my second event was the main reason we headed to Oxford as it was an event with Samantha Shannon. We sat in a beautiful church hearing Samantha talk all about the reimagining of The Bone Season, and it was truly fascinating.

Over the rest of the month, I had quite a few reading days where I set myself nothing on my to-do list other than to sit, relax and read. Aka a perfect day for me. I also took Luke to 66 Books for the very first time where we had a great time and brought a lot of books home with us. We’re really lucky that it’s only 20 minutes away from us, but the whole place has just gotten so popular because of Booktok that it was quite overwhelming.

Date nights and seeing friends and family in August 2023

For our wedding, I bought Luke and I A Year of Dates box filled with 52 different date ideas. We’ve been opening them up and doing the activities (or planning them if they involved time/ money). We ticked off a few foodie ones this month including afternoon tea (which I did for us at home), a pizza night (like we needed an excuse) and a safari dinner where we headed to different places for snacks, dinner, dessert etc. We also did a fully screen-free (and phone-free) evening which was really nice.

Then I got to see friends and family over the month which was really nice. We had Luke’s family round for a BBQ, and my family round for a really nice Thai meal out. Then I headed to see a few friends across the month which is always a real treat.

What did you get up to in August 2023?