Hi everyone! Welcome back to Blogmas! Today I’m sharing my hobbies for the month as well as the 16th Blogmas Advent Calendar item with you. 

It seems really early to write this post, but that’s the way the schedule is going this month so oh well! 

Next month it’ll be later in the month, as I have a trip when this post is meant to go up. Normally I would just write and post while away anyway but this trip I don’t think it’ll be feasible so I’ll schedule posts for that time and then write this post after. But more on that next month! 

For this month, here’s what I’ve been up to! 

Books

Yikes, I haven’t been reading! I’m hoping to get a lot of reading done this week since I am done with classes for the semester and next week as I’m (mostly) off work. I do have a deadline during the holiday break so I am expecting to work at least two hours during that week but otherwise I hope to read and catch up on some books! 

Entertainment

Movies & TV

One show I started but haven’t really continued is Black Mirror. I watched a couple episodes and it was very different than what I thought it would be. I had seen a YouTube video about one of the episodes where society could give each other scores and influencers were the ones with the highest score, so I actually thought it was like a futuristic show all about that idea. However, it seems it’s actually each episode is a completely different world and story. I think I’ll keep watching and I’m not quite sure what I think about it yet! 

The next show I found on Netflix is The Apartment. I think I mentioned this last month and I finished season 3, which at the time was the only season on the platform. I really enjoyed watching the end and really liked the show a ton towards the end. I really had a hard time at the start because there were so many teams, and so many really annoying ones but it got really good at the end. Then they recently added the 4th season, so the second season on the platform (at least in the US version), and it is so different. The 3rd season featured pairs of amateur designers and they were competing for things like internships, a free home for the rest of their lives, and really awesome prizes. It felt real because of the everyday people in the competition. The pairs were friends, family, and knew each other very well. This time it’s “celebrities” (I don’t recognize anyone but others would) and they’re put into teams of 3-4. They are competing for prize money to a charity of their choice which is amazing, but I’m just not as invested as I was in the past season yet. However it did take more than two episodes last time to get really into it and I’ve only seen two so far for this one. 

The last show I started was Nailed It! Holiday Edition. I love this show because I can relate to it so much. I love baking and the idea of it but I’m sure my stuff would be terrible just like those! I always laugh and I can’t wait to see more. 

YouTube

The first YouTube item I wanted to mention is the channel FiveFootOneTeacher. Brittany is the YouTuber and she is, in fact, a teacher. I’m also pretty sure she’s five foot one. I can’t remember how I found her channel but my guess is that she was recommended by another channel I follow. She’s a fairly young teacher, and her passion really shines through – particularly her love for her students. Also, something that really shocked me was that she teaches at a school that went through a horrible school shooting. I don’t want to go too much into it because it’s clearly not what she wants her channel to focus on but I was just so surprised because she is so upbeat and positive, I never would have guessed she’d gone through something like that. She’s very motivating and while it’s clear it still affects her she powers through. I love watching her videos and learning about the teacher life! 

Next is Olivia Sui from Smosh and her video “We Try Everything on the Dollar Menu”. I have followed everyone’s personal channels from the Smosh team, or at least the ones I’ve been made aware of. I loved Olivia’s mukbang with Courtney and Shane to McDonald’s so much I considered ordering McDonald’s and getting a delivery service to bring it to me! It sounded amazing! 

Last is the SacconeJolys “Empty New House Tour” video. I’ve been watching their family since Emilia turned 2 so seeing them get a new home for the big family is so beautiful! Now, I’m not sure how much of a “new house” tour it really was though because we’ve been seeing pieces of the home for so long and nowadays it’s a trend that YouTubers move out of nowhere and suddenly have an empty new home, but it was still really nice to see it so fluidly! 

Music

Of course, I had to pick Ariana Grande! Her “thank u, next” music video and accompanying diaries still being posted on YouTube are amazing. Also she’s been saying she wants to tour two albums in one which sounds amazing. Her new “imagine” song is beautiful too, I’m so impressed with her work ethic and quality of music lately! 

Next, is Taylor Swift’s song “22”. I know it’s an older song of hers, but I’ve been exploring her older songs in ways I hadn’t before as I hadn’t really been a fan until she was more pop. I’m not a huge fan of country, which is why I knew her music but wasn’t super into it. Even so, her older music is great and I’m really appreciating it more. I am trying to explore more country because of her and two of my good friends who are country fans! 

Last music item is guitar! As you may remember, I have been trying to teach myself guitar. I have to admit, I haven’t been keeping up with it as well as I could have but it’s a process. Again, I have a week off coming up so hopefully I can get some practice done. 

Games

So per usual, I’ve been playing Hogwarts Mystery! I haven’t been playing as much as I used to because the game hasn’t been updating as frequently. Plus once it did update and it didn’t work right so the update was removed, which was annoying as I’d already started! So now I wait a few days and I’m not in a hurry. It does suck because there’s some cool story pieces that I see on Twitter but ultimately I just prefer not to risk it! 

Next is Spider-Man! As I’ve said before I got a PS4 that came with this game, and it’s fun to play! I really like the parts where I can play as Mary Jane, love exploring the city as Spider-Man, and I really like getting to know the entire story. I haven’t ever been a Spider-Man fan so I don’t know much about the character to begin with. In fact my friend in Arizona has her boyfriend named Peter, and she had bought the same bundle for him. It took me a whole day to realize that Spider-Man is Peter, just like her boyfriend. I told her and she told her boyfriend who replied “Mary Jane is a redhead” like my friend Erin! Haha, it’s been great! 

Finally, I have Until Dawn! I’ve been wanting to play this game for a long time. If you’ve played Heavy Rain or Beyond Two Souls then it’s the same sort of gameplay. You get prompted through a course where there are a lot of quick time events and your choices have consequences later on. It’s a lot of fun! I do typically enjoy open world games like Spider-Man but sometimes you just need a game where you can make linear, quick progress, you know?

Active Life

I’ve been slacking with the active life to be honest! I do want to get back into yoga as I’m still having back pain so I do want to use it to try to relax and stretch it out. 

Creative Life & DIY

You have seen my DIY projects for this month! We did both a snowy mason jar to hold a candle and a wine glass snow globe. I loved how they look! Another night was zentangling or coloring and I chose a low-key night of coloring. I’ve since lost my coloring page which was nowhere near done by the end of the night as I picked a really intricate one. But it was fun! 

Now I already mentioned my writing award where I won 3rd place in a local writing contest but I finally picked up my certificate and prize this month! They also printed out each winning story and put it together in a book so I can’t wait to read the rest! 

Oh! And I did bake this month! I did cupcakes! I do plan to do cookies at some point so hopefully I get to them! Anyway the cupcakes were pretty good and while the frosting was great it was just sort of playdoh smelling? It was strange but yummy! 

Advent Calendar Item #16

The 16th item in the calendar is… 

An eyeshadow set! I have this set from Espionage Cosmetics that is Firefly themed. The knited hat on it is a reference to the show, which I love! I would for sure love to pick an indie makeup brand with some sort of fun item to go along with it!

---

So that’s my lively month! Let me know what hobbies you’ve enjoyed this month! 

Thanks for reading!

Pamela Silva

Follow me on social media!

Instagram | Youtube | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Bloglovin‘ |Pinterest | Poshmark | Email |Snapchat: StarringPamela |