I’ve been continuing the home improvement theme lately and have been sorting out my flat and getting some new things in to make the place more my own. I’ve ordered a new wardrobe and a shelving unit from Ikea, and they are arriving Tuesday. The new wardrobe is a lot bigger, so I am looking forward to being able to finally put a lot of clothes away rather than have them in the temporary fabric storage that 
I’ve had for a couple of years now! On Wednesday, the handymen are coming to build my furniture, get rid of the old stuff and put up all my shelving too! It cannot happen soon enough, and I am looking forward to having a huge tidy-up and sort out once everything is ready! They are also going to open a cupboard that has been painted shut since I bought my flat. I have no idea what, if anything, is inside! To me it looks kind of spooky so that’s just in time for the beginning of the spooky season!
There have also been builders here all week finally fixing my bay window in my lounge! That has been a bit of a saga with the managing agents refusing to do anything about the rain coming in and the freezing cold in winter for 3 years now. Finally, after some complaints to the Ombudsman and the threat of legal action they have now agreed to get it sorted. The builders haven’t finished yet but already I can feel the temperature difference!
Yesterday I went to what me and Sarah call ‘the big 3′ which is Tesco, Sainsbury’s and B&M. We call them that as they are all within five-ten minutes’ walk of each other and when we do our Squishmallow hunts we check all three. I went up to B&M first. They are starting to get squish in now after months of not having any, but they mainly had big ones today and until my shelves are up, I don’t have any more room for big ones! I did check their home section too and got these cute mats, a wall hanging and candle holder! I love B&M for little treasures like this as they are well-made and very affordable!
I went onto Sainsbury’s next, and they had the new Zaylee squad! I was able to grab 2 of her for me and Sarah. They had finally put their Halloween stuff out too! We are always so late in the UK for Halloween, but there have been Christmas aisles popping up in stores since June? I don’t get that at all really, but at least Halloween hasn’t been forgotten I guess! I got this very cute top and leggings set in there!
Tesco was my last stop. There wasn’t much there in squish-terms as they have had a clubcard offer on them all week and they are £6 with a clubcard rather than £9 so they were mostly all gone. They had a Halloween display too, but Sainsbury’s has the edge at the moment! They also had some amazing clubcard offers on kids toys in the Christmas section! There was this massive car carrier and all these little cars for £30 with clubcard and without was £50! I will be going back there when I start Christmas shopping to grab some bargains!
I also thought I would give you all an update on my writing progress as it has been a while. I am continuing with Demon’s Past, and I now have 26 chapters so I am over halfway! I had no idea how long this book would be, but I am loving every minute of it and cannot wait to share some snippets with you!
I am also writing my fantasy novel alongside it as I like to have a couple of projects on the go at once. I first drafted this for NaNoWriMo in 2007 (I think!) and it has undergone so many changes since then, but all for the better (I hope!).
One of the first things I bought was this really cool Icelandic / Viking necklace! It looks as though its a crow’s skull and I’m not entirely sure what it means but it glows in the dark too! I also got at the same time a precious stone with the rune for natures wrath on it which seemed appropriate somehow and this really cute sheep keyring!
On the walk back to the hotel on the second day we also found this cool gift shop called Woolcano. We were able to pick up some presents for family and friends back home which was great. I was also able to get this lava rock which was something I really wanted to get too! 
Last weekend I spent hours moving all my stuff into the kitchen and bathroom so that I could have my new flooring fitted in my lounge, hall and bedroom! Whilst I was lugging all my collection around (I didn’t appreciate how much I had until I had to move it!) I was questioning whether I should I have just put up with the carpet but I am so glad I did decide to get it all changed! The new floor is amazing! It changes the whole look of my flat (and unfortunately highlights the fact that the lounge needs a repaint so that’s project number 2 now!). Whilst it was being fitted a few straggler moths made an escape bid. I took pity on them and put them out the window! My new floor is Tash-approved too although she did not approve of the noise whilst it was being fitted!
Today I’m going up to B&M to get some bits for my flat and for holiday (and also to check for squish!). I then want to download the new Sims 4 high school expansion! I am very excited about this (despite hating high school myself when I was there haha!). I hope everyone is having a great weekend too!
I met the lovely lady who is going to be looking after Tash for me the other week. I am worried about leaving Tash as I have not been on holiday since I got her but I am less worried now I know she will be in safe hands. Tash approves of her temporary cat-mum too which is great! 
On Saturday we went up to Hilsea again for another Squishmallow / toy hunt and this time it was a major success! Smyths had restocked and I was able to get so many that I wanted! They had the Squishville playsets on reduced so I was able to grab the two that I was after for £9.99 each which was awesome! I found Xiomara the cat who I really wanted last time but they didn’t have! I also found Maggie the stingray in B&M and my sister bought me Mony the butterfly on the facebook group! 
We also went into Portsmouth to continue the hunt but apart from series 2 capsules in Tesco there wasn’t much sadly. I went into the crystal shop and I bought this really cute dragon incense burner! I’ve got back into using incense again and my stick burner is really old (I’ve had it since I was 17!). Another issue I have is Tash keeps trying to grab the stick! This dragon one is really neat as it uses the cone incense. You can lift the dragon off the base and light one under it and smoke rises up and comes out of holes in his nose! I cannot wait to try it out! I remembered when I got home that I had this log stand that I have never used for anything so I put the dragon on that and think it looks really neat!
I’ve also been on a squishmallow hunt / shopping trip this weekend. Yesterday I went up to the retail park in Bognor. I checked Tesco, Sainsburys, Aldi and B&M. Aldi and B&M didn’t have anything (B&M just had squishville). Tesco had some of the food squad left and Sainsbury’s had some of Caedia’s squad including Briannika which I was able to grab for my sister! I also checked Claire’s in the town and was able to get Quinn the kangaroo! Also pictured is the cat squish that Sarah got for me from the Range earlier in the week. She is actually a pet toy and I have undecided whether to give her to Tash or keep her for myself! 
Today me, Sarah and Georgie went to Portsmouth via the Ocean Retail Park in Hilsea. They have a massive Smyths there and Sarah was able to grab ZoZo the yeti! I was able to get Kaitlyn the lemur whom I have been after! Georgie picked out a bus (‘busi’), some toy planes (he saw the Red Arrows fly over on Friday for Goodwood this weekend and loved them!) and some plastic boats for his bath. I also got a slime popper fidget toy and one of my most exciting gets was this Top Model dress up book. I remember having some when I was a kid and loving them! They were £1 when I was little and they are now £5 for the one I got or £9 for the A4 one! They had this one that I ended up getting, a mermaid one and a fantasy one. I was tempted by the others but the model one is the one that is closest to what I had when I was a kid to I ended up with that one! I also got Bess the pig squishmallow in B&M, some more poppers and these eggs that ‘hatch’ into a dinosaur and dragon! I can’t wait to see what they look like! I will do a proper review on them I think when I start them off! 
In Portsmouth itself we didn’t have much success. Sarah bought Edward the Eagle in Claire’s but when she got home she wasn’t sure about him as he didn’t really fit in with the rest of her collection. She thought about taking him back but her husband liked him so he’s going to stay after all (I probably would have adopted him if not, he’s not on my wish-list but I felt bad for him!). 
Shari Sakurai 