Dreaming of Stardew Valley

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is Water

hi, hello, good evening

As well as being slightly obsessed with Stardew Valley, I am also a huge bookworm and slowly discovering that there is a huge community of like-minded people on the internet. I'm not feeling quite brave enough to start interacting with them on any of the link ups just yet but I still want to join in and post my answers to the questions.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is a freebie/pick your own, and I'm going to pick a topic from a couple of week's ago of 'Books on my Summer 2023 to-read list. Some of these books include:



What's on your summer TBR?

One of the things that frustrates me about people in general (but most usually seen when you watch any type of TV show when there's a contestant/s) is how, when they introduce themselves, part of what they say is their job. I understand that to some people that is an important part of their view of themselves, that their job is crucial to their identity, it matters to them and it does actually say a lot about who they are.

But that isn't the case for me. While I enjoy what I do in my job, it's literally just something I do to earn a salary so I can pay for things I need to live, like mortgage and food etc. So why did I just type 'Hi, I'm Erica, I'm 31 and I'm a school receptionist'? I'm so frustrated with myself. I'm not a school receptionist, it's simply what I do and in my opinion, those are very different things.

A much better, more accurate, way to start would be:

Hi, I'm Erica, I'm 31, I live on the coast in Cumbria (north west England), and I am completely obsessed with Stardew Valley (in case being called stardewdreaming didn't make that obvious). Not just Stardew Valley but also Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons, etc. I legitimately dream of dropping out of the rate race and moving to small town in the middle of nowhere and becoming self-sufficient, living off my land. I'm like a walking cliche of the Millennial Dream, crossed with Cottagecore and Rusticcore - and I am absolutely ok with this! I'm also fully aware that what all this encompasses is a very romanticized view of rural living and not an accurate portrayal of farming life - but I still strive to embody some of the ideas of simple living, harmony of nature etc.

When not playing these games, I'm often watching people stream them on Twitch. I feel like such a cliche!
I also enjoy reading, baking & cooking, colouring, needlecraft, making jewellery, sleeping, swimming. I've usually got music playing and quite enjoy country/folk.

That's me in a nutshell. It's nice to meet you, and thank you for spending some time reading my blog!