5 Reasons To Watch The Office

Hello all :)

Today I decided to write a "5 Reasons to Watch" post for a show I took far too long to get in to. This time last year, I had only recently started watching the US version of The Office, despite being told by so many friends that I just had to give it a shot. When I did, I realised what a mistake it had been to put off watching it for as long as I had! I finally watched the finale a couple of weeks ago and cried my eyes out, both because it was utterly perfect, and because I was so sad it was over!!

So here are 5 reasons to watch The Office - if you've never seen the show before, I hope this inspires you to watch it, and if you're already a fan, I hope you enjoy reliving some of the best (spoiler free, obviously!) aspects of this nine season comedic masterpiece!

The Acting

First and foremost, the acting in this show is incredible. Honestly, the entire cast just make the show a joy to watch, and as the seasons go on it just gets better and better. For me, Steve Carell as Michael Scott is one of the most perfect casting choices ever made - in the original British version of the show, David Brent was not a particularly likeable character, while you can't help but love Michael. Carell strikes the perfect balance, and while Michael still says plenty of stupid things, he has a vulnerability that just leaves you absolutely rooting for him. But it's not just about Michael - the acting from everyone is amazing, and they created some of my favourite characters of all time.

The Writing

The writing on the show is also incredible. Not only is it really sharp and funny, but because we have nine seasons to spend with these characters, we get to know them so well. They are all so well developed that there are genuine moments towards the end of the later seasons (keeping it spoiler free, I promise!) when you find yourself saying "But X situation would never happen because I know that character so well". The relationships they build up feel so genuine, and while not an episode goes by without a lot of laughs, there are plenty absolutely heart-breaking moments thrown in there too. We experience so much with these people, and that's all thanks to the clever writing.

The Short Episodes

It sounds like a daft reason, but since the majority of the episodes are only 20 minutes long, it's so easy to watch. If you have 20 minutes to spare, it's the perfect thing to stick on. It does, however, lend itself extremely well to binge watching for the same reason. You may find yourself having watched six and going, "but one more is just another twenty minutes..."!

The Romance

The search for love is a big deal in this show, for a lot of the characters, and they write their romances so cleverly. Some of my favourite TV pairings exist in this little world, and some of my favourite moments in the show are tied to characters trying to meet the right person. SO CUTE.

Threat Level Midnight

Again, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but Threat Level Midnight is one of my favourite episodes of television ever. And I have a lot of favourites episodes. It doesn't arrive until season 7, but seriously, it's worth the wait. I've lost track of the number of times I've watched it now, and I genuinely laugh till I cry every single time. It's just one of those perfectly put together, absolutely hilarious moments in television that I'll never get tired of.

So if you haven't watched The Office yet, please give it a shot - you will not regret it! My parents have just started watching it from the beginning for the first time, and I'm so jealous of all the brilliant storylines they have to look forward to!

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Favourites of the Week #20

So, way back in the day I did a little series of posts titled "Favourites of the Week" - somewhere along the line, those posts fell to the wayside! Today, however, I decided to bring it back! Hope you enjoy!


Track of the Week
Blank Space - Taylor Swift

Ahhh Blank Space. If this song is not single at some point I will be so surprised - it is amazing! I won't spend too much time discussing it right now because the next favourite is connected...

Album of the Week
Taylor Swift - 1989

I got this album the day it came out and I am absolutely addicted! Every single track is incredible. Favourites are Blank Space, Wildest Dreams, Out of the Woods, This Love and Style, but the whole thing is just amazing. I made a video ranking the tracks, so if you are a Taylor fan and fancy checking it out, here it is!



TV Show of the Week
The Office (US)

This week I have watched pretty much all of season five of The Office Netflix binge-watching style! Every time I get home from work and want to just relax with something easy to watch, this is what I'm going for. I'm also loving Season 4 of Once Upon a Time (have I ever mentioned that I like that show?!) and Season 5 of The Vampire Diaries, the boxset of which I am making my way through at the moment. It, however, is an entirely different sort of genre - much more dramatic! It's incredible, but when I just want a laugh and a distraction at the end of the day, The Office is perfect. Michael Scott will never fail to make me laugh and Jim Halpert will never fail to make me want to marry him.

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Film of the Week
Gone Girl

Emma and I went to see Gone Girl a few weeks ago now, but as it was the last new film I saw, I thought I'd include it. I actually really enjoyed the film, but honestly? For me the book was better. There are reasons why, which I won't discuss on here to avoid spoilers, but I'm going to try to rope Emma into filming a video with me about it. I will say though that had you not read the book, I think the film would have been absolutely amazing! Bravo to the entire cast, who I thought did a really good job with it.

Beauty Product of the Week
Makeup Revolution "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" Eyeshadow Palette

Guys. THIS PALETTE. There are no words for how I feel about this palette, it's just so, so good. The colours are beautiful, the pigmentation is insane, they last all day, they blend nicely and the entire palette is just £6. There is little else for me to say on the matter other than put this on your Christmas list! Or next payday list ;)

Book of the Week
Looking for Alaska - John Green

After finishing Gone Girl a couple of weeks ago, I haven't actually properly got into anything else yet, but I have started John Green's "Looking for Alaska". It has definitely impressed me so far, in the first chapter I've read, but I need a bit more time to actually get into it. This week on my commute to and from work I'll take the time to read it, rather than listed to Taylor Swift's album on repeat and create dramatic music videos in my head!

YouTuber of the Week
Giovannasworld

My favourite celebrity couple (yes, that's right, I have a favourite celebrity couple) are Kristen Bell and Dax Shephard, but they are now very closely followed by Tom and Gi Fletcher. I've been watching Giovanna's vlogs for the past few weeks now, and I just absolutely love her! I haven't actually read any of her books yet, but I think I'll download them on to my kindle and give them a go, because I just think she seems like the nicest person. Her enthusiasm is infectious, and any time I see a new "Coffee with Gi" video pop up in my subscription box I am a happy girl!



Website of the Week
Bored Panda

Bored Panda makes me happy. I love looking a pretty photographs, and if there is a place on the internet that you can find beautiful images, Bored Panda is it. If I'm lacking inspiration I love to hop on to Bored Panda and have a look through the lovely pictures and it always cheers me up!

Style Icon of the Week
Fleur East

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Sounds like a random choice, but from the very earliest auditions of this year's X-Factor I have had the hugest girl crush on Fleur East - she is just beautiful, and seems like a nice person. She's also a brilliant performer. Anyway, every week I just think she looks stunning, and obviously she has stylists on there now, but right from the word go I always thought she looked really cool!

So that's it for this week! What have some of your favourite things been lately? Let me know in the comments! :)

Thanks for reading!

I've Been Watching... #2

It's time for another update on what I've been watching recently! Netflix is a wonderful, wonderful thing...

First, let's talk about Fargo. It started on channel 4 a few weeks ago now (we're now 7 episodes in) and it is phenomenally good. Insane, but phenomenal. I usually don't have the patience to watch a TV show as it airs - I am useless, and hate waiting a week between episodes - but I've been managing to keep up with Fargo pretty well. I've never actually seen the original Coen brothers' film, but having heard such good things about it, and being a massive Martin Freeman fan I was intrigued to see what the TV show would be like. The cast is absolutely outstanding - Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton are both superb, as are Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks. My mum mentioned to me that this is the first major role Tolman has landed, which is hard to believe because she is absolutely excellent. Thus far, the show has focused on the unravelling of Lester Nygaard's (Freeman) life following an encounter with a stranger going by the name of Lorne Malvo (Thornton), and the attempts of Deputy Molly Solverson (Tolman) and officer Gus Grimly (Hanks) to solve a series of crimes they believe Malvo is connected to (it is so difficult to summarise what has happened so far without giving anything away!!).

You can catch the show on Sunday night (9pm) on channel 4, or catch up on 4OD (but I'm pretty sure by now the first two or three episodes will be unavailable), otherwise I've been informed by a friend that it is showing on Norwegian Netflix!


Next up we have season one of MTV's teen dramedy Awkward. I watched this entire series over the course of my one month free trial of Amazon Prime Instant Video. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this show, but as a lover of all teen television I was willing to give it a shot, and I'm really glad I did. Is it a little bit predictable? Yes. However, there are some genuinely interesting and well developed characters here that kept my attention through the whole series. It is funny without being too over the top, and explores high school in what feels like a pretty up front way. This isn't your Gossip Girl-esque Upper East Side party zone (which, incidentally, I thoroughly enjoy too), nor is it the opposite extreme which usually depicts teens in pretty dire situations. The only issue for me was main character Jenna's parents - believability sort of went out the window there, and it felt like a sort of awkward (pardon the pun) stereotype of "young parents". That aside, I couldn't wait to get stuck into season two, but to my horror it wasn't available. I'm sure I'll catch it somewhere eventually though!


I FINALLY started watching The Office (the US version) a couple of months back - just when I had lots of uni work to do, of course! It really is as good as everyone told me it was. I am, unsurprisingly, full on obsessed with Jim and Pam. John Krasinski is now, pretty much, my ideal man! I've been a fan of Steve Carell for ages, and he is just brilliant as Michael Scott, he is guaranteed to make me laugh in every single episode. I'm halfway through season four at the moment, so I still have lots to watch, and that pleases me - I love having something familiar to tune in to.


And last but not least for this little update, we have a typically cheesy, rom-com style film called Stuck in Love. As a fan of the majority of the cast of this little movie, I had almost bought it in Asda for £5 a couple of months back, but in an attempt to save some pennies I put it back! This was a wise move, as it appeared on Netflix a couple of weeks later. Starring Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Connelly, Lily Collins, Logan Lerman, Kristen Bell and Nat Wolff, for a rom-com there are a couple of darker storylines running through the usual romantic stuff here. Much like Awkward, is it a little predictable? Yes, but I genuinely really enjoyed this film, so much so that I got home from a night out the day after I watched it, and put it on again. Any scenes between Lily Collins and Logan Lerman were fantastic - I'm pretty sure I tweeted that they were metaphorically making my heart swell they were so cute, and that's always a hit with me. Is it life changing? Probably not. But I'd definitely say it's worth a watch if rom-coms are your thing!

This is not an exhaustive list of what I've watched over the past couple of months, but just a few words on some things I've been really enjoying! Hope you enjoyed this, and let me know what your favourite films/tv shows of the moment are!

Thanks for reading!