Best of Culture 2017| CarenzaOnBooks

Today's post is my final post in my Best Of series. Like last year, I am going to be discussing my cultural favourites for 2017. 2017 was an exceptionally good year for cultural favourites. I honestly have no idea how many plays I saw in 2017, but I saw a lot and I enjoyed the vast majority. I also saw a great selection of movies and tv shows. I got to visit some amazing new places, plus some old favourites and I listened to a lot of new music.

Theatre

Undoubtedly, my favourite play I saw in 2017 was Angles in America. I could rave about this until I turn blue in the face. It is the most epic (and I mean epic in the sense of it being an epic piece of theatre because it is about 8 hours long) piece of theatre I have seen to date. The actors were incredible and I went away feeling inspired to write. If I could, I would see it over and over again, but sadly the UK production has ended and they are currently performing it in the States. If you are a lover of theatre, then I highly recommend reading this. It's something I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life. 

Another favourite play I saw was Snow in Midsummer at the RSC. I saw this three times within the space of a week- I kid you not. In a similar way to Angels in America, Snow in Midsummer is an incredible piece of theatre. The whole production was amazing. I'm genuinely struggling to put into words how much I love these plays as they hold such a special place in my heart.

As a part of my birthday celebration this year, I got to see Hamlet with Andrew Scott. Hamlet has to be my favourite Shakespeare play. I think I've seen it five times (at least) now. But Andrew Scott 's (who plays Moriarty in Sherlock) was my favourite. Many of the productions I have seen depict Hamlet going mad, but this portrayed it as someone who was grieving. I adored this production and am so happy I got to see an incredible actor like Andrew Scott playing Hamlet.

While we are on the subject of Hamlet, I saw Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which is about Hamlet's best friends. I saw this with Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire as the lead roles. This was a really funny piece of theatre and definitely added to my experience of seeing Hamlet.

I really got into political comedies this year, so when I saw Labour of Love, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was one of the funniest pieces of theatre I have ever seen. Martin Freeman and Tamsin Grieg were hilarious and if you are into political comedies, I highly recommend.

Another favourite was La Ronde. I will be honest and say that I went to see it because it had one of my favourite actors in, Alexander Vlahos. But, the play itself was amazing. They had all of these interlocking plays and I really enjoyed how it performed.

Finally, I finally saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (only part 1). I now understand why everyone sees this a million times. It is incredible. I'm so excited to go and see it again for my 18th birthday later this year. It fulfilled my Harry Potter heart and I'm so happy to see how it branched out into a new performance style.

Film and TV

I saw a lot of amazing films and Tv shows, so here is a list of my favourites from 2017:

• Game of Thrones
• Lucifer (series 3)
• Poldark (series 3)
• Sherlock (series 4)
• Stranger Things
• Beauty and the Beast
• La La Land
• Loving Vincent
• Death of Stalin
• Amazing Spider-Man films
• Breathe
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Travel

2017 was a bit of a slow year for travel. Having moved house, I didn't really travel that much, but the places I did travel to were amazing.
I went to the Harry Potter Studios near London twice in 2017. Once with my college and once for my birthday. I love them so much. To have all the sets and props and be able to explore how one of my all-time favourite film series was made was a magical experience. I felt like a child exploring them and to this day, my friends all maintain that I cried at the studio tour- I didn't, I was just very emotional.

I went to the Edinburgh Fringe and Book Festival in 2017. I've been to the fringe religiously for a few years in a row now, but it was my first time attending the Book Festival. I went so I could meet Cassandra Clare and Holly Black. I was so excited to meet Cassie as I've been a huge fan of her books for years now.

Music

I listened to a lot of new music in 2017 and here are some of my favourites:

• Dear Evan Hansen
• Hamilton
• Movie Soundtracks (Harry Potter, Stranger Things and Amazing Spider-Man)

So that concludes my culture favourites for 2017. I really hope 2018 is as good of a year for culture!

Carenza x

Best of Bits'n'Bobs 2017| CarenzaOnBook

I'm currently a bit behind on my blogging schedule as the first week back at college has been crazy for me, but I'm continuing my Best Of series today with Bits'n'Bobs. For those who are a bit confused by what I mean when I say Bits'n'Bobs, I'll quickly explain. Bits'n'Bobs are the random items that don't exactly fit into any other category. They're still valid and well loved, but you're often confused as to how you would categorize them. I will be honest and say that some of my favourites on this list were on last year's list, but that just shows how much I love them.

Pop Funkos

I think anyone who follows me on any of my social media platforms will know how much I love Pop Funkos. Those of you who have followed me pretty much since I started my blog back in 2015 will know that I used to collect Tsum Tsums. I will admit that my love for Pop Funkos overtook my love for Tsum Tsums and I am tempted to get back into collecting them. Pop Funkos are one of my favourite things to collect. I have made myself stick to Harry Potter ones for now, but there are so many more that I want to get. Having them displayed in my room makes me very happy as I can see them all no matter where I am. 

Redecorating My Room

If I'm being totally honest with you, 2017 was a bit of a flop of Bits'n'Bobs. Looking back through my favourites posts from 2017, almost all of them have featured Pop Funkos as my Bits'n'Bobs favourite. However, something else I have enjoyed in 2017 is changing up my room. Occasionally, I will change the way things are displayed in my room or buy a new set of bedding. As I spend almost all my time in my room, it is very important to spice things up or I can become bored. I know that at some point in 2018, I will be moving house and I can't wait to sort out my new room.

In all honesty, those are my Bits'n'Bobs favourites for 2017. I hope 2018 will be a better year for Bits'n'Bobs as if it isn't, I will probably stop featuring it on my favourites posts.
Carenza x

Best of Bits'n'Bobs 2016| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

Welcome to the final in my Best of series for 2016. I've already talked about my favourite books and cultural things. In this one I am going to talk about my favourite Bits'n'Bobs of 2016. A lot of these have been featured in my favourite posts, so it will come as no surprise that they are in my favourite list.

Bits'n'Bobs 

My first Bits'n'Bobs favourite of 2016 is my ever growing collection of Happy Hello bookmarks. I decided to treat myself one day and here I am owning more than I probably need. These bookmarks are ridiculously cute and I have loads more that I want to buy.

My next favourite is obviously my Tsum Tsum collection. You guys know that I love all things to do with Japan, so Tsum Tsums are a perfect thing to collect as I also love Disney. Again, I probably have more than I need, but I love them.

Another favourite is my Pop Funko collection that I started in 2016. My mum bought me two after my Gran died and then my collection sort of snowballed. I have almost all of the Harry Potter ones as I have limited myself to collecting them from the Harry Potter universe. These are my 3 favourite Pop Funkos that I own.

My last favourite of 2016 is half Bits'n'Bobs and Books and that is Fairyloot. Both of these candles were included Fairyloot boxes. I really  liked how you never new what the book was going to be and how there were loads of items.










So that concludes my Best of series for 2016. Let me know some of your random favourites from 2016!!
Love,
Carenza x

Best of Culture 2016| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

Welcome to the second in my "Best of" series. Last year I talked about books, beauty and Bits'n'Bobs, but this year I have decided that I am going to stop talking about beauty on my blog as I have no interest in it. I have decided that I am going to start talking about culture as culture is a huge part of my life.

I know that culture is a very vague word, but on here it means theater (plays and musicals), art exhibitions, films and tv, travel etc. I am now going to start featuring culture in my favourites every month.

Theater

I am very fortunate to be able to go so many plays and musicals with my parents. Most people I know would rather go on sunny beach holidays, but we would rather go to the theater. I get to see a lot of plays and musicals and it was very hard to narrow it down to my favourites. I will be honest I am only talking about plays and musicals from June onwards as I can't remember lots of what I saw before June because of exam stress.

First on my list is getting to see The Book of Mormon for the second time. I had already seen it in 2015 with my Dad and my Mum was desperate to see it. So the weekend before my birthday we went and saw it. It was even better the second time. I highly recommend you go and see it as it is hilarious. It is written by the people who created South Park. I will warn that it has lots of swear words and if you get easily offended, this musical isn't for you. I can safely say that The Book of Mormon is my favourite musical.

Next on my list was my trip to Edinburgh with my Dad to the Edinburgh Fringe for the 3rd year in a row. If you are ever planning to go to Edinburgh, then this is the time to go. There is so much to see, I can guarantee that you won't be bored. My Dad and I only went for a day and we managed to fit in 5-6 pieces of theater.  

In mid June, my parents and I went to Glyndebourne Opera House near Brighton as part of my Dad's present to my Mum for her birthday. I had never been to an opera, so I didn't know what to expect but I really enjoyed myself. I believe the opera we saw was called The Little Vixen. The costumes the singers wore were amazing, as was the set. I don't know if they do this at all Operas, but at Glyndebourne the interval was longer than the performance. In the interval, you have a picnic! The food was really nice and it felt very posh. I hope at some point in my life, I can go again as I really enjoyed it.

My final theater favourite is the Winter season at the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company). I've been going to the RSC since I was 6 years old and I have always enjoyed it, but this season was the best thing I saw. Obviously, I enjoyed everything else at the RSC, but these plays have stayed in my mind. I particularly enjoyed the plays in the Swan Theater. If you ever visit Stratford Upon Avon, you have to go to the RSC and see something.

Films and TV

There were a lot of amazing films that came out in 2016, as well as a lot of TV. I think I have narrowed it down to my ultimate favourites, otherwise the list would be endless. I will warn that I am rubbish at describing why I like films because I am not a film reviewer. 

Films

My first film favourite is Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. You guys know that I love the Harry Potter series, so I was both excited and skeptic when they announced the Fantastic Beasts films. I do have a review on here for the film, you can read that here. My review goes into loads of detail about why I like the film.

My next favourite film was Moana. I have always been a fan of Disney, so every-time they release a new film I get really excited. Moana was very different from the other Disney films as it shows that you don't need a man by your side. I've noticed that Disney is branching away from the "a princess always needs a man/prince to save her" recently and I couldn't be happier. I loved the songs as they were written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, so they were in a similar style to Hamilton. 

My final favourite film was Stark Trek Beyond. It is quite possibly my favourite of the 3 Star Trek Films. It was very funny, but it also had some more serious scenes. I loved the opening scene. I was really happy that the film paid tribute to Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin as both died before the films release.

TV

My favourite TV series of 2016 were:

• Lucifer
• Poldark (series 2)
• The Living and The Dead
• Game of Thrones (I know I'm really behind, I only just joined this fandom)     

I'm not going to go into as much detail as I did with films because I can't put into words why I like them, I just like them.

Travel

My favourite place I traveled to in 2016 was Brighton. I visited Brighton when I was very little, so I don't really remember much about it. It was nice being in a seaside town that felt a bit old-fashioned (it has the huge pier). The Lanes were really fun to visit and the weather was mostly good. I hope in the future I can go back to Brighton and spend more time exploring and take more photos.

So that is it for my Best of Culture for 2016. Next weeks  post will be Best of Bits'n'Bobs and I have a feeling that this is going to be a really long post.
Love,
Carenza x