Monthly Recap — September 2020

How crazy is it that we’re in the last quarter of 2020 already? 

I have decided to change the format of how I do monthly recaps as sometimes I honestly find it hard to pick a few ‘favourites’, there are some months I enjoy lots of things and other months where I enjoy 1 new thing. My recaps will now be more fluid and casual, I hope you’ll enjoy the new structure as much as I like writing it. 

I don’t mean to sound extremely boring but September was a very normal month for me. I read a bit more, I encountered more back, neck and shoulder pain than ever before (I think I’ve got the body of a 70 year old) and I miss my boyfriend so much! It has been 10 months since we’ve seen each other, thanks pandemic!

I made some great changes with my blog too, including a whole new theme, an updated About Me page and creating my very own icon! I’m very happy with what my blog looks like now and I’d love to hear what you think about it – whether you’re on desktop or mobile. It was a rather expensive theme but I was thinking about it way too much to ignore it, so I hit the bullet and spent the money.

I enjoyed a few new things this month as well! 

I got gifted a free Batik Face Mask from my favourite local eco-friendly store, BambooStrawGirl! 

I got the mask alongside a purchase of a deodorant stone and some bamboo toothbrushes. The Batik material is extremely comfortable and the straps are easy to adjust. Because of how pretty the prints are, I only wear these on my days off work! I leave the boring regular cloth ones for my days at my job. 

I try to use reusable masks as often as I can because I do feel the landfill from disposable ones are awful! 

I love these red love heart lollipop earrings so much, I got them for only $1 on Shopee and they are ADORABLE. The only problem I have with them is that they’re a tad bit heavy and the stick that comes out of the heart is long and tends to get tangled up with my mask when I wear them out. 

I have a huge collection of really cute yet cheap earrings, I’d love to know if you’d like a haul one day! 

I am also a daily user of Spotify and recently I’ve dabbled in making a few new playlists for myself. Click on the links to listen and follow if you’d like! 

Magical Cottagecore – a collection of soft, fairy-like tunes. Perfect for a cosy day of staying in, or for background music when you’re having a picnic in the garden. Definitely my most played playlist this month! Not a noisy playlist at all – no loud crashing drums or crazy electric guitars. I like most of my music to have soft, snug vibes.

Seasonal Depression – a collection of mostly indie tunes that aren’t too happy and aren’t too sad. Starring a lot of my personal favourites like The 1975, girl in red and Bleachers. 

Sipping Starlight – I’ve had this playlist for awhile but it’s one of my favourites. A lot of atmospheric voices like Billie Eillish, Lana Del Rey and Bon Iver (my personal FAVOURITE indie singer for the last, what, 10 years?I Can’t Make You Love Me? I’m dead). Nothing too noisy in this playlist either, which makes it great for background music as you go about your day. 

Snug Lo-Fi – This playlist is for everyone! You know how much I love my lo-fi beats. This playlist has Studio Ghibli (if you’re into that) and Animal Crossing ‘star gazing’ vibes. I love this one so much and it’s the one I worked the hardest on. I’ve received quite a lot of good feedback on this playlist – very very proud of the collection I’ve gathered. 

Finally, probably the biggest thing about September is that I got into soap making

I would like to emphasise the above is NOT my photo, haha! Credit to Allie on Unsplash.

I made my first batch of M&P Soap last weekend and gave them away on my Instagram stories to local friends and I’m so happy to say that I made 14 cute mini bee and honeycomb soaps, some were scented with lavender and some with English pear fragrance oils and I let go of all 14 by the end of the day itself! I was so so so elated, I couldn’t even explain that feeling to you. 

My little bees weren’t perfect but that’s the beauty of handmade stuff!

I am very excited about my little ‘small business’ venture and I hope you all would join me on my journey by following an Instagram account I made for my crafts with a Tangled-inspired store name –

Snuggly Duckling Crafts

Not entirely active on there yet as I still have lots to learn and do, but my IG stories will be active! At the moment, I only ship locally in Singapore as I can’t afford international shipping, nor do I know about the logistics of mass shipping abroad – a lot of knowledge to acquire over here! I’m still in the trial-and-error stages of everything.

Overall, September was a pretty cool, chilled-out month with new things I learned and new music I discovered. 

How was your September? Did you have any big life changes, or any small achievements? Let me know and we can celebrate or chat about it in the comments below!

Comments

65 responses to “Monthly Recap — September 2020”

  1. JoJo Hall Avatar

    That’s awesome to hear! My September was crazy busy but good overall. I can’t wait for October to be here!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Hope October treats you well 😊

      Like

  2. Jaya Avendel Avatar

    Oo, those lollipop earrings are so cute, but I have the same trouble with heavy earrings that you do. However, my sister loves earrings, the bigger the better, so I want to find her something similar now!

    Love that you are making soaps! It is so joyful to make something that is useful and pretty.

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Glad you think the lollipop earrings are cute too, I really like them! And thank you, soapmaking is really fun and fulfilling to me!

      Like

  3. Sahara Avatar

    Yess 2020 really just swept right through!! September itself I am convinced lasted 4 days. I can definitely relate to back, neck, shoulder discomfort, my foam roller has been saving me! And I’m currently on desktop and I love your new theme! It’s super easy to click through and not get lost on the page and I really love how the underline is when you link something like your About Me page!

    The heart earrings are so cute!! It just reminds me of like at the dentist/at the doctor getting one for doing a ~good job~!

    Spotify Playlists!! I love finding new things to listen to as listening to the same playlists every day can get a bit boring, I love changing things up and finding new favorite songs! Definitely going to have to listen to your playlists when I start work for tomorrow to listen to something new for a change!

    Soaps!! That’s amazing!! I’ve never tried DIY’ing soaps but that sounds like so much fun!!! YAY SMALL BUSINESS!!

    My September went way too fast, it’s like I blinked and it was gone, but I read more books than this time last year and finally got back into the blogging world after taking time off! 🙂

    Sahara
    https://www.saharasdreams.com/

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I’m soooo happy you like the theme too because I love it, thank you for the positive feedback as well. And they totally look like those adorable lollys you’d get at the doctor’s/dentist’s. I’m very happy with my little business and I hope it grows more as 2020 comes to an end 🙂

      Like

  4. Alice Myles Avatar

    Oh boy I had such bad back and neck pain this month too! What’s going on there? I love cottagecore so I’ll definitely be checking out that playlist. Also how fun that you’ve got a new crafty hobby – I always love discovering something fun and new

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I think we’re all just getting older haha! I hope you enjoy my playlist too 🙂

      Like

  5. claire Avatar

    Sounds like a very productive month for you! I bet the soap making is a lot of fun. Good luck with your new venture x

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I’m really enjoying it, thank you so much 😊

      Like

  6. Swarnali Avatar
    Swarnali

    Yes September was so busy month for me. I love this Red lollipop ear rings.

    https://swarnaz.com/

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I love them too!

      Like

  7. chapelhillbaby Avatar

    Congrats on your shop! Sounds like a good September!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Thank you, hope you have a good October 😊

      Like

  8. Rosie Culture Avatar

    I love your new theme! 🙂 It’s beautiful

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Thank you! I’m very happy with it!

      Like

  9. femaleoriginal Avatar

    Loved this! Those earrings are super cute! I haven’t seen anything like them before. Your Spotify playlists all sound amazing, I’ll have to check them out 🙂

    https://www.femaleoriginal.com

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I love when people like my playlists, thank you! 😊

      Like

  10. lucymarytaylor Avatar
    lucymarytaylor

    Those lollipop earrings are so quirky and adorable! It sounds like you had a good September and I hope you have a great October! x

    Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I love quirky and weird little earrings! 😊 Hope you have a great October too!

      Like

  11. sunkissedlexblog Avatar

    Seems like you had a good month! I’m definitely going to be checking out those playlists! Thanks for sharing!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Yay, I hope you like them!

      Like

  12. Unwanted Life Avatar

    Ok, what is a deodorant stone exactly? Is that just a weird way of saying a deodorant bar?

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      It’s a stone made of concentrated salt! 😊 Slightly different from a deodorant bar. You can google it for more info, but I’ve got a review for it coming up soon 😛

      Like

  13. mindbeautysimplicity Avatar
    mindbeautysimplicity

    I’m so excited for October! It’s my favorite time of year. September seemed to fly by. But the entire year feels that way actually.

    – B 😊🌿💕

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      September was weirdly quick, I’m not sure what happened there! 😛

      Like

      1. mindbeautysimplicity Avatar
        mindbeautysimplicity

        Agreed! Probably being in quarantine will do that to you

        Like

  14. Melina Elisa Avatar

    omg it’s super exciting that you have started a lil soap business. I wish you the best of luck! I definitely am going to look into your lo-fi playlist. Great post xxx

    Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Yay, I hope you like it, and thank you – I’m very excited about soap making!

      Like

  15. Riana.AngCanning Avatar

    I can’t believe we’re into the last quarter of the year! Time has flown! Sounds like September was a fun month for you. Those lollypop earrings are so cute and soap making sounds like such a fun new hobby. Happy October to you!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I’m very excited about my soap hobby! Happy October! 😊

      Like

  16. Jenny in Neverland Avatar

    I agree September wasn’t a particularly exciting month for me. It was my birthday and I did a few nice things but other than that, it was pretty standard. I’m much more optimistic for October, tbh! I’m so proud of you for your shop. I can’t wait until you can ship to the UK! Also I’m IN LOVE with your new theme ❤ xxx

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Aw, I’m glad you still managed to do some stuff for your birthday! And thank you, I really really can’t wait till I can afford international shipping for everyone!

      Like

  17. Shirsha Avatar

    I am so glad that September is over. It was a super weird month for me! Your September looks way better. 🙂 🙂

    And soap making sounds like such a cool hobby/side hustle. 🙌

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Oh no, I hope it wasn’t anything too bad! And thank you, I’m really enjoying it 😊

      Like

  18. Liz Avatar
    Liz

    September had its highs and low for me. Though overall I would say it was a good month. Enjoyed reading how your month went. Congrats on the soap making business!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Glad you had a good month and thank you, I’m very excited about it!

      Like

  19. Lisa M. Alioto Avatar

    My September flew by but I’m kind of glad it’s October – October is a fun month

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I hope it’ll be good for you!

      Like

  20. crystalsandcurls Avatar

    Your new theme is super cute! I used to do monthly favourites and ran into the same issue – I love that you’re doing a more fluid format, forced posts never read as well in my opinion xx

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I just like being more casual in general, same with my blog posts! Glad you like the new format 😊

      Like

  21. jazminheavenblog Avatar

    ah making soaps is so fun!! I bet they were so cute x

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      You can see them on my soap instagram, it was super fun!

      Like

  22. Aliceee Traveler Avatar

    Wow! I love homemade soaps. It’s a pity you are shipping only in Singapore for now. Waithing patiently until you give us the good news 😁 I’ll be able to get a sample in UK

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Aw that’s so kind of you! I can’t wait to ship internationally either 😊

      Like

  23. Anika May Avatar

    Glad to hear you had a good month. A friend of mine got into soap making in lockdown and is obsessed with it too! Kinda makes me want to give it a go haha! Lovely post 🙂

    Anika | chaptersofmay.com

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Aaahh soap making is really addictive! I’m having a lot of fun with it 😊

      Like

  24. lifestyleseason Avatar

    Lovely post! I love the sound of the playlists and the soap making sounds so cool! Thank you for sharing! I hope you have a great October!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I’m really enjoying the playlists AND the soap making! I hope October treats you well too love!

      Like

  25. brittshedhappens Avatar

    I can’t believe that 2020 has been flying through at the rate that it has – especially with everything going on and so much shut down… I am an instructor with a local community marching band and I usually mark my year out based on events that occur. Not having those is really making it hard to keep track of where we’re at lol!
    I’m also a Spotify lover – using it ALL the time for everything from workout music to casual tunes while kicking back in the back yard. It’s set up across all our devices, which makes it so easy to use regardless of where we are (phone, computer, Google Nest speaker, Firestick).

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      I loooove Spotify, I want to dabble in some Apple Music as well but since Spotify has served me so well, I didn’t try Apple Music!

      Like

  26. A Sustainably Simple Life Avatar
    A Sustainably Simple Life

    How exciting to start a new business venture! I hope it goes well for you! Good luck with it!

    I actually only recently downloaded Spotify and am learning my way around it. I’ll have to check out your playlists. 🙂

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Thank you very much 😊 I do hope you’ll enjoy my playlists!

      Like

  27. Kathleen Ryder Avatar

    Loving your blog! Soap making is something that I have always wanted to try.

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      You should totally get your hands on it 😊

      Like

  28. Patrick Avatar

    I really like this! Sometimes it takes a little silver lining to feel better!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Very true! Thank you!

      Like

  29. SHARETT BROOKS Avatar
    SHARETT BROOKS

    This is so sweet and pure! In the time of chaos, I love that you’re able to reflect and find the good things you’ve gotten and done in the past month. Especially going into the holiday season and those who experience SAD, this is something I want to practice by just being appreciative of the little things I’ve purchased and enjoyed over the past month. Keep it up!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Thank you for reading Sharett! Hope October treats you well 😊

      Like

  30. Tibbstales Avatar

    So happy for you ! I hope you have a great October too

    Like

  31. baileymcgraw Avatar

    Lovely post. September was busy and crazy for me but that’s okay. Also I think I’ve said this before, but I love your blog theme!!

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Ahh thank you so much! 😊

      Like

  32. Izzy Matias Avatar

    I enjoy reading recap posts like these. 🙂 Those red love heart lollipop earrings are too cute. Yes to a haul please!! Will definitely check out your Spotify playlists as I love discovering new music – I used to be a music blogger but right now I’m super into Kpop as I just discovered it 😂 And that’s really cool you started making soaps 😀 I followed your Instagram account too. Best of luck to your new business, Marissa! 🙂

    Like

    1. Marissa Belle Avatar

      Yayyy I have loads of earrings so it’ll definitely take more than one haul haha! Thank you so much!

      Like

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