April Favourites

Hello hello hello! It's time for my second favourite monthly tradition - to make a list of all the things I've enjoyed this month. I've been sharing what I've been up to throughout the month so I'm sure a lot of it wouldn't come as a surprise to you. So here goes.


  1. Book - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

    Like I've shared many many times before on this blog, I'm a sucker for period drama. And over the past few months, I've noticed that I've been giving in to this interest of mine more than ever. Which is what made me pick up this book that relates the story of Thomas Cromwell during the reign of King Henry VIII, who (if you remember from here) happens to be one of the most interesting British monarchs both to me and to most people in general.

    I recently learned that Wolf Hall is also a show on Netflix now and is a direct adaptation of the book I'm reading. My plan was to read the book and watch the show simultaneously but unfortunately, I felt that the show doesn't match up to the book (and even had some spoilers in the first episode that I didn't anticipate although I was a hundred pages into the book) so I stopped watching it. But for any other British History nerds out there, this is a beautiful, yet time-consuming read. It's no slim book and I must admit to feeling an ache in my arm after a few minutes of reading. But it's definitely earned its place on my list of monthly favourites.

  2. Podcast - Bad With Money With Gaby Dunn

    This podcast has made me think a lot over the past few weeks. And a result, Shane and I have been having quite a lot of discussions about our finances.

    Bad With Money is a podcast that is hosted by the hilarious and charming Gaby Dunn from Just Between Us. She starts the initial episodes by interviewing her parents who themselves were so bad with money that they gave her the wrong idea about it altogether. She shares how she struggled with money from the time it started making sense to her, and how there's a possibility that there are many people like her out there. Many people who don't even realise it. People like me.

    I'm bad with money. And it's only at the age of 25 that I've started thinking about it. I'd like to write an entire blog post about this show and explain why you desperately need to listen to it. But for now, please take my word for it and start listening anyway.

  3. TV Show - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

    Yep. You read that right. This month, Shane and I have been binge-watching a show that came out before either of us was even born. We were curious to see what the hype was all about and also to hear Will Smith rap. After all, this was the show that shot him to fame and success. Now, we see why.

    One thing I'd like to remind you of before you start watching it yourselves is that this show is over 25 years old. I'm sure that back in the day, there was nothing like it but now, you're definitely going to see the jokes and plot twists coming. However, the winning point for the show is that it still made us laugh. Also, it's pretty cool to go back and watch something that was super-famous in a different era, isn't it? I'm sure that's why kids these days still like to watch F.R.I.E.N.D.S

  4. Play - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

    I've talked about this before here. And there's no way I can make a list of my favourite things from this month and not include this work of art.

    The play is based on the best-selling novel by Mark Haddon and revolves around a mentally handicapped teenage boy who starts investigating the murder of his neighbour's dog and ends up discovering many things about his family in the process. It's a kind of coming of age story and a must watch if you get the chance.

    More than anything though, I'd like to give special credit to the stage director and the mind-blowing use of props in this show.

  5. App - Allo by Google

    Why am I only finding out now? Why am I so late in joining the Allo bandwagon?

    Allo is a messaging app by Google that comes with an abundance of interesting features, the best of which is that creepy people like me get to have full fledged conversations with the Google Assistant. And I have been doing that more often than I like to admit. Especially the part where you get to just type in "I'm bored" and your assistant comes up with jokes, games and other things to entertain you. If you're planning to try it out, I'd recommend you play the emoji movie game that makes you guess the names of movies through emojis (if that wasn't already clear). And what's more? You get to play with your friends too!

  6. Tea infuser - Baby Nessie by OTOTO

    I can't think of a cuter way to drink tea in Scotland. OTOTO has turned the famous Scottish Loch Ness monster into this cutesy tea infuser and we're totally digging it.

  7. Fragrance - Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir Cologne

    I was In London with Madam Madan ten days ago and every time she got dressed to leave the house, I'd be somewhere around her, sniffing like a bloodhound, breathing in this amazing scent. I've always been a huge fan of woody, floral, feminine scents and have always stayed away from fruity scents. And never would I have expected something called Pomegranate Noir to be more woody than fruity. It's the ultimate feel-good, feel-fresh, feel-sexy scent out there. Oh, how I love it!

  8. Face Mask - Fuller's Earth

    Yep, it's back to the basics in the Shankita household. This month, poor Shane was the victim of a series of breakouts in the forehead and chin area and I went back in time to my teenage years to bring back the magic of Fuller's Earth (multanni matti) into our home.

    I've noticed how nothing unclogs pores and clarifies skin like this little trick from back home and if you mix it with a little bit of rose water instead of ordinary water, or if you even manage to tone your skin with some rose water after washing off the mask, you'll see amazing results.


Aaaand that's it for this month, y'all! I hope you found this list interesting and even decide to read/watch/listen to/try out some of the things I've shared. And if you do, be sure to let me know so that we could maybe chat exchange notes and chat about the things we love ;)

See you next time!