February 2020
It always feels strange when a Monthly Wrap falls on the same day as a Weekly Wrap normally would, but here we are! Today’s post is two wraps for the price of one, and it also means February 2020 is over.
Can anyone answer why January takes a thousand years to go by, but with February, you blink and you miss it?
Beyond the Blog
Unfortunately, it’s been a bit of a hazy month. I talked about it a little in a wrap a couple weeks ago, but I tumbled headlong into a nasty depressive episode, and it robbed me of a lot of time and joy and energy. Things are looking up now, even if it’s not perfect, but the first two weeks of this month really took the stuffing out of me. I honestly can’t think of much that I accomplished besides dragging myself to work on time and keeping up with Pondathon side quests. Even depression can’t keep my completionist tendencies at bay, apparently.
But the last couple weeks have been an improvement in so many ways. For one, I picked up a new skill! It turns out that embroidery presents very few challenges to beginners, and it’s CHEAP. Maybe $5 for a hoop, a little bit of cloth, and some floss? A little more if you want more fabric or more colors to stitch with? But really, a little goes a long way, and learning the common stitches is a BREEZE. YouTube is a friend for this, but so are all the craft blogs out there with handy tips and diagrams. One night, I went on a research deep dive. The next night, I was already stitching. That quick!
It feels so good to be able to create something again. I still have other things I want to get back to (namely my writing, fic or otherwise), but this is a great standby, especially because I can work on it while listening to podcasts or watching TV shows that I’m behind on. The fact that one project takes a few hours to complete is not the drag I thought it was going to be, but a HUGE positive. It gives me time to really sink into the swing of stitching, but also provides a time frame I can expect to be done. It’s honestly ideal.
And hey, check out the finished product! 😊
Sometimes, you just have to teach yourself #handembroidery and make a blue-ringed octopus. pic.twitter.com/rMUJTBKCN5
— Meaghan 💛 (@hailandwellread) February 28, 2020
Other than my embroidery adventures (which you can probably expect to see more of if you follow me on Twitter!), there’s not much else to chat about. Hopefully March brings more exciting happenings, though!
Posts This Week
Havenfall Review — T5T Books That Caused a Major Reading Hangover — February 2020 Wednesday Pen Recap — Chocobo Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!
The Week Ahead
Does it feel a little weird to you, squishing this category in here? It feels a little weird to me. But still, this is where it’s going, because it’s the last weekly thing before we go to a monthly frame of the wrap. And what a week!
March is already shaping up to be busy. For one, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out on the 20th, which means my self-control is flying out the window on the same day. Add in plans to get my desk done by the end of the month, and the release of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team: DX on the 6th, and productivity? I don’t know her.
For real, though. I have this coming Saturday off, so that’s reserved for PMD hours ONLY. In this house, we love an appreciate PMD. But for the rest of the week, I’m juggling odd work hours, a new embroidery project, reading to keep up with the Pondathon, and some little miscellaneous tasks to tidy up the blog. Like that review page I keep promising. And reviews that need to be cross-posted to GR and Amazon. Oh dear.
I’ll take “I bit off more than I can chew AGAIN” for $1000, Alex.
Books Read and Reviewed
This month, I managed to get through # books! It’s not the number I would like, but that’s okay. So far, you can read my reviews for The Hand on the Wall, Blood Water Paint, and Havenfall already, but there’s more to come next month. Look out for reviews on Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco, All the Pretty Things by Emily Arsenault, and Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab!
Next Month’s Reads
If all goes well, I’ll get through about five books. There Will Come a Darkness is at the top of my list, since I’ve really waited too long. It’s inspired by a lot of classical Greek mythology and such, so I’m way overdue on getting to it. I’m also planning to read Belle Révolte, my ARC of Fractured Tide, To Kill a Kingdom, and The Tenth Girl. Here’s hoping that goes well!
My Top Three Posts
It’s not a wrap without sharing the posts I’m most proud of! These were fun to write and share, and I hope you enjoy reading them.
3. Dragon’s Den Discussions || What Makes a Good Love Interest?
Favorites From Around the Blogging World
The real reason you’re here, right? 😉 Here’s all of the best this February had to offer in the blogging world! You guys are just absolute stars. 💛
Kat @ Novels and Waffles shares some tips for making sure your bookstagram has a theme!
Isabelle @ Nine Tale Vixen asks why book boyfriends so often upstage the heroines!
So there you have it, folks. The February 2020 monthly wrap, nice and neat and finished. I hope you’ve all had a good month, and that you’re making good use of that extra day! (And tip for those of you who love Pokémon Sword and Shield like me: the Wild Area is going to have fog everywhere today, so go fill your Dex with those sneaky Pokémon who like this weather!)
See you around in March, and may all your reading and blogging move ahead like a dream. 💛
that octopus is so cute!! i’m so in love with how excited people are for animal crossing: new horizons to come out. it’s so lovely to see the level of hype for such a soft-hearted game!! ps: i completely understand you with the depressive episode. i have been in one for some time now and it’s very very very hard to drag yourself through each day. so i’m very glad for you that you’ve found some new passions (like stitching) to make you better again!! hope that positive trend continues for you c:
Thank you! And haha me too! Folks are just so happy to spend their time being chill, and it’s so darn wholesome. Best possible reason to be excited about a game. 🥰
It really is tough to climb out of one. I’m getting there slowly, but surely. I think. I hope things start looking up for you too. ❤️
definitely!! wholesome is the perfect word to describe everything related to the collective affection that animal crossing makes people feel. it’s so pure and soft.
it definitely is. thank you so much. i hope they start to look up even more for you, too and hopefully you’ll create many more cute embroidered animals ❤️
Oooh!! Look at that embroidery!! You did such a good job for your first go!!
Thank you!! I’m very proud of it. Might do some more stitching today if I have time! 😊