Monthly Favourites - May 2018

Dear Friends,

It feels like forever ago that I sent my last letter, although in actual fact it has only been a week, I have missed it and you. If you follow me on my social media, you can find the links to my Twitter and Instagram below, you will know that I took some time away for my mental health. A time I really need to recuperate - physically too exhausted to be anywhere but my bed. However, this new letter is not going to be about that, it's going to be about things I have really loved this month.

The first on the list is the movie The Martian, (adapted from the fantastic novel by Andy Weir) directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. A rediscovered love that was available on Netflix for a short time. During a storm on the surface of Mars the crew of Ares lll, a few days into their mission, are forced to evacuate the area and head home. In the confusion astronaut Mark Watney is struck by debris and separated from the crew. With a reasonable belief that their friend is dead, with a heavy heart, the Ares lll crew leave Mars reluctantly. Shortly after NASA announces the unfortunate death of Watney. However, Mark wakes several hours later, injured but very much alive. With no way to contact Earth, a limited food supply and a lot of disco music, Watney must survive until rescued or the next mission to Mars. In short - the film is great it is tense/funny/smart/scary/dramatic all rolled into one. If you enjoy a good drama or Scifi - watch it! Or, like me, rediscover it.

To fill the void of The Martian being taken off Netflix, I searched through the website for something new, finding Love in the Moonlight. An 18 part Kdrama where a young woman has been forced to live as a man, who somehow manages to land herself in the palace of the King, posing as a eunuch during the first episode. If the truth is discovered she will be executed. I've binge-watched this series over the past week, it is genuinely funny (dramatic in later episodes) and I can't wait to see how it ends. 

Zoella, or Zoe Sugg, is one of the "heavyweight" Youtubers on the website. I've been a subscriber of her for a long time, but much like my rediscovery of The Martian, I've found comfort and entertainment in her vlogging channel. Although not a "traditional" daily vlogger, Zoe films a few days at a time, usually a week, and posts them as one video. I enjoy longer videos, so her long vlogs are definitely up my alley, where she talks about a number of topics. Sugg is someone I find it easy to admire, as a fellow sufferer of anxiety, she just keeps on going. Something that is more challenging than it sounds. If you haven't heard of Zoe (where have you been?!) I'll leave her links down below! I personally recommend her video "All the emotions".

As many of you know, I don't dress for the weight I am, deciding to buy clothes for when I'm thinner. Something I will be changing next month. One of the websites I've loved browsing is a website named Lonleyteez, a fashion site that stocks mainly t-shirts, hoodies, jumpers and a little bit of swimwear. It has a really great variety of styles, such as Americana, quotes, back to school, LGBT and many other collections. The company is something I've been following for a long time, the owner/designer/all-around boss lady is a personal friend of mine, so I've loved watching her empire grow. 

Find all links for my favourites below, all opinions are my own, remember to leave comments on what you guys have loved this month.

As always,
Love Mavis x

The Martian
The Martian DVD
The Martian Novel
Andy Weir Twitter
Ridley Scott Twitter

Love in the Moonlight
It's available on Netflix

Zoella
Vlogging Channel
Main Channel
Instagram
Twitter
Preorder Cordially Invited

Lonelyteez
Lonelyteez Wesbite
Instagram

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The Bucket List

Dear Friends,

This letter is going to be a little longer than most, it’s basically a bit of a mind dump of ideas, so make sure you’ve been to the toilet and grabbed yourself a drink. The day I’m writing this the Duchess of Cambridge has given birth, the weather has gotten a little colder and it marks the day Project Mavis hit 500-page visits. A number I thought I would maybe hit by the end of the year, I’m filled with gratitude and want to thank you all for taking time to read my letters.

If you read my first post “Greetings and Salutations”, which you can find here, you will know that the idea behind the site is learning to be brave. A place I can honestly talk about the things I want to change in my life, challenge myself and hopefully interact with like-minded people. The subject of Project Mavis came up the other day; I was sitting in the park with Hannah and Cerri (two of my best friends), talking about the list I created. That, quite honestly, was not exactly measurable or really the challenge that I needed. That day, after changing into my pyjamas as the home is where the bra isn’t, I started to write a bucket list. These are the first 50 things that popped into my head.

The Bucket List

1. A healthy weight for my height (between 104lbs and 135)
2. Learn to drive and buy a car by January 2019
3. Break into publishing by the end of 2018
4. Move out of mum’s by September 2019
5. Adopt a child by 35
6. Give blood this year
7. Register as an organ donor 
8. Become certified in BSL level 1 
9. Take up roller derby
10. Learn how to snowboard 
11. Trek the Inca trail to Machu Picchu (Cerri I’m looking at you)
12. Ride in a hot air balloon in Bristol
13. Reconnect with some old friends
14. Climb table mountain
15. Actually, use my gym membership
16. Travel more with my sister Charlotte (Belgium in November!)
17. Go New York and visit the tourist destinations – flip off the Trump Tower 
18. Start dating
19. Finish a novel this year
20. Swim with manatees 
21. Go tornado chasing
22. Visit NASA – with my mum the OG nerd
23. See the Northern Lights
24. Celebrate The Day of the Dead in Mexico
25. Dress for now – not when I lose weight
26. Seek Cognitive behavioural therapy
27. Complete a full makeover
28. Learn how to play guitar
29. Go on a road trip with Josh and Amy (two of my favourite trolls)
30. Live in Vienna for a year
31. Learn how to cook Japanese cuisine 
32. Skydive – Hannah/Cerri/Amy
33. Visit my friends more – Hi Charlotte and Alex!
34. Continue to challenge my anxiety and depression (say yes more)
35. Go to Japan
36. Cuddle: a chimpanzee, Koala bear, panda cub
37. Take out time to be alone
38. Learn about self-care in all aspects
39. Try fresh oysters with my brother
40. Go to the great barrier reef
41. Join a writers club
42. Attend networking events
43. Start going to concerts again
44. Read 2 books a month – minimum
45. Start bullet journaling 
46. Surf in Cornwall 
47. Visit Egypt
48. Use 23andme
49. Have my palm read
50. Join a book club.

These are not the only things I want to do in my lifetime, but I think it’s a pretty good start, I would love to hear your bucket list. Comment below or follow me here on Twitter or on Instagram.

For now,

Love from,
Mavis

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Greetings and Salutations

Dear friends,

I’m writing this in the style of a letter because I like to imagine we’re pen pals. You’ve received an envelope in the morning post, opening it over breakfast or on your way to work/college/school, it’s a note from me introducing myself for the first time. An idea I got from the Stephen Chbosky novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

So you can call me Mavis, it’s not my real name of course but a blog called Project Hannah didn’t exactly have the same ring to it, a nickname given to me by my older sister. I’m twenty-eight-years-old, currently living with my mum in a farming village in the south-east of England, working part-time in a local pub in the town over from me. Like a lot of people, whether my age or not, my life has not exactly gone in the direction I had planned. When I was young I thought I would be: living in my own flat in the city, maybe working my way up in a publishing company, having reached my goal weight and finishing yet another novel.

Instead, I’m overweight, sitting on my mum’s sofa in my pyjamas, with several unfinished books on my laptop and wondering where all the time went. I have a good life in other parts, with: a roof over my head, great friends, the best family and a job that doesn’t make me cry. It’s just...I want more. I want to look back when I’m old, obviously getting up to mischief in the retirement village, being able to think over my life and say “I tried my best and lived it well”. Nothing too extravagant...just enough.

With that in mind, today on the 13^th of April 2018, I sat and wrote down the first 20 things I wanted to change and achieve in the next few years. Vowing to make myself my own personal project. Simple things like: learn how to drive, travel, lose weight, start and maintain a blog. If you are in the same boat and fancy reading along please subscribe. Write back to me in the comments or follow me on my social media profiles. For now,

Love From,

Mavis x 

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