That was gonna be more impressive. It was gonna be like a whole roll in and everything.

But I feel a bit poo, so...

That's all you're getting.

This is editing Jessica.

Hi.

When I filmed this video originally,

I didn't know that there was going to be a rather big announcement coming out

on the day that I put this video out.

So I've filmed a little extra bit which will be at the very end of this video.

That's a drum roll.

[Drum roll sound effect]

With a big announcement!

Now, on with the video.

Hello, lovely people!

Aw, this is very exciting

because I get to do another Favourites video

for the first time in...

months.

So for anyone who has known me for any length of time

or maybe met me one time and I talked to them about certain things,

I have a very obsessive personality.

My mother liked to point this out all the time

when I was a small child; I tend to get into something

but REALLY get into something.

When I was very little, it was Postman Pat

aaand then

I found the Spice Girls.

An entire two walls of my bedroom

were dedicated to my love of the Spice Girls

because I cut their picture out of any newspaper or magazine that I saw.

And then I cut their pictures out and I stick them to my walls.

She also wasn't pleased about the fact that I would stick things to my walls.

I keep saying my mother. I think my dad was just more of a "let live"

type of personality.

Openly loved Ginger Spice and Baby Spice.

Obviously.

And Sporty Spice I had really weird feelings for.

And I covered my walls in them and I loved them, and...

if any of them were on TV, I had to stay up

late.

I would even like, you know, stay awake, pretending I was asleep,

while my parents went to bed

but I'd just be looking and waiting.

Waiting.

After the Spice Girls, I then discovered Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

which I still haven't quite got over

and I probably never will.

And I had to have every single Buffy thing

that there possibly was

and watch every single episode multiple times

and...I can quote them.

But the thing is it was very specific; it wasn't like, "Oh, look, Buffy."

No. It was just Faith.

And just Eliza Dushku.

I still own every--everything Eliza Dushku has ever been in.

And of course I had to buy every single magazine

that she was in.

Yeah.

And I had another habit of plastering my walls.

The Spice Girls came down because I changed bedrooms to a much larger room

and I decided the Spice Girls weren't coming, too.

No, now, it was Eliza Dushku.

And I still will go and watch anything that she's in.

"Where is this going?" You ask me.

Where is this going?

My point is: if I like something, I really, really, really like it.

When I was younger; I really liked historical fiction. It was great!

It was such a thing.

I read abs--anything I could get my hands on.

Any kind of historical fiction.

But then I just didn't really read anything for a few years.

That was quite sad, and I didn't realise that that was missing, even.

Until we went to Malaysia

and I took a book with me

called 'The King's Curse,' by Philippa Gregory,

that had just kind of been sitting on the shelf.

I think someone gave it to me.

Two pages in, I was hooked.

This was gonna be my new obsession.

Yeah.

And I read the whole book in a day and a half.

It's this thick and I read it in a day and a half

because I could not put it down.

It went everywhere with me.

And then I was very, very sad when I finished the book

and I didn't know how it was gonna end and [sad noise]

If you're an obsessive person, I think you'll identify with this:

Your obsession thing is wonderful and amazing, but then you can't get your hands on the other stuff and...

I wanted an English book. In fact, I wanted all of the books.

Where they sold English books, and lo and behold...

These two were available!

Amazing.

'The Last Tudor,' which semi follows on from 'The King's Curse.'

'The King's Curse' is about the life of Margaret Pole

who is at King Henry VIII's court

and she is--of course, she is a kinswoman of him, because she is cousin to his...

So you follow her life.

And through it, you see...King Henry's descent

into madness.

But she dies

and then it's a bit like, "And now what? What happens now? What happens now?!"

And 'The Last Tudor' is set after that, so that's great.

But then 'The White Queen'

- also magnificent.

It's about the life of Elizabeth Woodville who start--well, she didn't start.

Well, if you know anything about

Tudor history (don't talk to me about Tudor history; I could talk for a very long time).

Anyway, if you're interested in Tudor history,

or Plantagenet history,

it's amazing; this is a great one.

I would start here, maybe.

'The White Queen,' because then there a number of books that follow it.

Then there are even more books.

So I read these two and I was absolutely gripped.

Completely. Couldn't put them down.

Which meant that I had to immediately get on my Amazon

and buy

the four books that come after it.

We have...

'The Lady of the Rivers,' which is about Elizabeth Woodville's mother.

Very interesting.

This one is set in France, and it includes Joan of Arc!

'The Red Queen'

Now, this is about King Henry VIII's mother.

How she put her son on the throne in a way that wasn't super legal, but...

Then we have 'The Kingmaker's Daughter,'

which is about Anne Neville who is married to King Richard III.

'The White Princess'

Who is Elizabeth, who...

--the wife of King Henry VIII who is the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville.

And wow, she had an interesting life, too.

Going to stop talking about these books now, because

you know, I am not a BookTuber; people don't come here for the books, Jessica, they're not here for the books

Favourite thing number two:

If you're in need of a beautiful summer skirt,

well, my goodness,

have I got the answer for you!

It's got [?] English roses and gardens

and it's from Collectif and I am obsessed.

It's all of the colours that I am currently loving.

I was never a very pink little girl, but...

I've decided to become a pink adult.

And it's that kind of gorgeous linen skirt that can be worn on its own

or with multiple petticoats underneath.

Which you know is the way I like to wear things.

Favourite thing number three:

These beautiful shoes.

Since getting back from Malaysia, I have been a mixture of

unable to leave my bed, because I am just too ill,

for life,

and going to London to do multiple work-related things.

It's been a big old jumble.

Lots of stuff happening, and then...

"Can't cope with lots of stuff, please leave me alone in the dark."

"The pain."

She says that like it's different from her normal life.

OK.

And every time I have gone on an adventure,

to London, I've worn these shoes.

I bought these in Malaysia, whilst shopping.

I have a habit of going shopping,

thinking, "Oh, it's fine, I will walk. I don't need to get the wheelchair,"

and then being in excruciating pain

and needing to change my shoes, because sometimes that moves the pain around,

and then the pain is slightly lessened.

It does make me buy terrible shoes occasionally.

Like really, really bad choices.

But these were an excellent choice!

Saw them in Parkson.

They have really flexible soles. Their entire range had amazing flexible soles.

They are padded

inside.

They have a bow on, which clearly - you know me - I mean...

And they also have a little wedge.

Now, they did have some that were completely flat, and some with more of a heel.

I can't do flat shoes.

I cannot do flat shoes.

I have foot drop in my left foot.

Which means--I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory there.

Foot drop means my foot is dropped.

So, its natural position.

This foot's like this.

And this one's like this.

And it's very hard

for me to bring it up.

I love how I tried to explain this

but also used my wrists that aren't ever quite recovered from being paralysed

and therefore struggle to bring themselves up.

Hands up everyone who has a hyper-mobility limp muscle issue

or foot drop.

Leave me a comment so I feel less alone.

Anyway, these shoes came in a range of colours,

but I went with navy because it seemed like a good sensible choice.

And along with pink, I'm quite liking blue at the moment.

Favourite thing number four:

This also came from Malaysia.

Unfortunately, however, I cannot show it to you

because I ate it.

Yes. They're called FunStix

and they're essentially just freeze-dried

chopped up vegetables.

And they're a delight.

I've only recently been able to start eating

crisps.

And then only a special few

because they have to be gluten-free

and I can't actually really eat a whole potato.

FunStix come in a range of vegetable alternatives

and oh, my God, I bought these every time we went to the supermarket in Malaysia.

I had to have them.

They were the best thing ever.

But they're basically just vegetables

and I've not been able to find any in the UK

and that's breaking my heart a little bit.

So, if you know of any...I think they're freeze-dried. Any freeze-dried

vegetable crisps

that are available in the UK

and don't cost the Earth,

let me know.

Favourite thing number five:

Oo! This one I'm dying to show you

I've been really excited to show you this.

Number five.

So, this little lovely

is from the brand Joanie

and they asked me if they could send me some stuff

and I was like, "Oh, yeah, that would be amazing! Your stuff's really cute, thank you!"

And then I saw THIS.

There's a J and a C.

For Jessica and Claudia.

It's also made with just viscose and nylon

which means that it's very soft and very warm

and as someone who is allergic to wool and therefore cannot wear it,

I am always very happy when I get a nice jumper

made of a different fabric.

To see more of the wonderful things that I purchased in Malaysia,

you can watch my Malaysian hoard video,

in which I show you various beauty and skincare and...shoes. So many shoes.

And finally, favourite thing number...what number were we on?

Six!

Favourite thing number six

this month

has to be Malaysia.

The whole darn country.

Yep.

Malaysia.

Really stunningly gorgeous.

And the people are so warm. Every person that we met in Malaysia was just a delight.