Life Lately #141

It feels like Christmas was so long ago! Especially as James has his birthday so soon afterwards (1st Jan) & we celebrated the New Year & we're now planning my birthday! It all goes by so quick.

On 23rd December, we had our yearly friends Christmas do at Elisa & Jamie's. This year, instead of everyone bringing a dish individually, they cooked the entire meal themselves! Complete with this amazing cocktail to start. We swapped Secret Santa presents & ate waaay too much food! I always love going to this every year, they really are the greatest group of friends a girl could ask for.

Christmas is always a bit of a whirlwind for us. We travel to family every day, starting with James' mum & partner Barrie for Christmas Eve. We travelled down as soon as I finished work at 6pm for an evening of food, games & presents. They had 2 french families staying for Christmas Day, so we had tons of food & drink! I managed to make my way through a whole bottle of champagne! We left just after midnight & headed back to our flat.

What made this year extra special was we woke up on Christmas Day in our own place. I've absolutely loved decorating & making the space our own this year. We bought a Christmas tree at the beginning of December & it was lovely to add presents underneath throughout the month. We opened our presents to each other early Christmas Day before heading to my Grandparents' for lunch.

We always have a full roast dinner at lunch time on Christmas Day & this year was no exception. My family completely spoiled us this year!

& finally Boxing Day was spent at James' Dad & Maria's house with extended family. We ate way too much again & played lots of games. I'm so rubbish at most games, I usually end up last! Hahaha, but it's fun none the less.

We celebrated James' 24th birthday last weekend, starting with a meal at my parents' on Friday & we went to Globalls in Brighton for the afternoon on Sunday & played 2 rounds of golf. If you've never heard of Globalls, have a look at some of the pictures on their website! It's such a brilliant concept & really inexpensive. I actually won the 1st round & came 2nd overall, so not bad at all!

We then went out for dinner at our local chinese, which put on a special New Years Eve menu. It was brilliant for trying dishes you'd never normally order. Complete with a glass of champagne, it went down a treat! We then headed back to Allan & Maria's for fireworks to see in the New Year.

On New Year's Day / James' actual birthday, we spent the day with family. We visited Allan & Maria for the afternoon, then headed to Valerie's for dinner & games.

James got given a new board game for Christmas called Labyrinth from Alex & Charl & I'm obsessed with it! We played it on James' birthday & every night since! Like I say, I'm not brilliant at games, but this one is so much fun.

& finally, now the week of celebrations has come to an end, last Tuesday, we went to see Pitch Perfect 3 at the cinema & it was hilarious. Quite a far-fetched storyline though.. let me know if you've seen it & thought the same!

How has January been for you so far lovelies? Do you have any resolutions?

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!

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Life Lately #135

Hello lovelies,

I mentioned in my last update post that I was staying at my parent's house looking after the animals. Just look how adorable Honey looks snuggled up in bed. I thought she would be getting me up at the crack of dawn, but I actually had to wake her up! The chickens were so cute as well, they all lined up in the morning for their food & went to bed obediently at night.

Charlotte organised a late birthday celebration for the 4 of us in London at the end of September. I'm going to write a full blog post on our day, so won't talk to much about it now, but we had such an amazing day. I was the only one (bar Char obv!) who knew what we were doing & it was so much fun giving the girls clues through-out the day! We visited The Shard, Choccywoccydoodah & saw The Comedy About A Bank Robbery in the evening!

Last week, we had a launch night at work for the Year Of Culture that's coming in 2019. It was so beautiful, we got out the red purple carpet & had lanturns all around the foyer. People came from all over the District to watch the launch & it truly made the building feel magical.

I met up with my girly Ricka for brunch at Bills last weekend for a catch up. We hadn't properly seen each other since the middle of May, so we had so much to talk about. 

The girls & I went to see Home Again last week & I haven't enjoyed / cringed at a film for so long! Reece Witherspoon is fantastic as always & the 'young boys' were brilliant as well. Highly reccomend it for a girls night out.

Saturday night I spent with my Grandparents. We had a family meal at their house to celebrate my parent's wedding anniversary in September (they were away at the time) so we had a long over-due catch up, was so lovely.

& finally Char came back for the weekend, so we arranged to meet up with our other friend Shez for a roast. There is nothing better than a roast dinner on a Sunday. Since moving out, James & I haven't yet cooked a roast, but that's made it seem like more of a treat when we do have it, either round parent's houses or out & about.

How has October been for you lovelies? 

Getting excited for Halloween? I've already planned my outfit!

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Life Lately #124

Hello lovelies,

So on Valentines Day I did my last update post & said James & I were off to Brighton. We had such a lovely day. We explored The Lanes, popped into a few shops & visited the pier. I got some beautiful new tops in Primark & even got to pick up a few bits in Lush from their Valentines range, which was extremely exciting (reviews coming soon!) I mentioned we were hoping to go to The Breakfast Club, but we actually ended up in Days, an oriental buffet. I'd never heard anything about it & looking at the exterior of the place, you would never have guessed that it was like walking into a rainforest as you go in! The food was absolutely delicious & we are already planning another trip to Brighton again soon so we can go again! I also finally revealed to James we were going to see Craig David in concert in April! I bought the tickets back in December & had been waiting for the right moment to announce it & Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect time.

Ok, so last week was actually so miserable for me. I had conjunctivitis (I'm not gonna link to what it is, looking at pictures of people's eyes makes me feel so un well!) but basically it's an eye infection. It's one of the most painful, frustrating things I've ever experienced. You feel like a bucket of sand has been tipped into your eye, it constantly runs & hurts to open. I spent my first 3 days with my eyes shut, feeling hot / cold & not eating much, but then that subsided & I was just left with very sore eyes. My doctor prescribed me some eye drops which I had to take for a week & after a few days of hating the sunshine, I'm back to being able to see again! James was the sweetest thing & luckily this all started happening on a Friday morning & he was off over the weekend to look after me. He downloaded the audio book of Harry Potter so I could listen to that as it was impossible to watch TV or YouTube. He is simply amazing.

Last Thursday, Cathy & had a date day & went to Giggling Squid for lunch, followed by watching Sing at the cinema. I've mentioned Giggling Squid many times on my blog, but it seriously is one of my favourite places to eat. (There'll be a post coming soon about my top 5 restaurants to eat at, keep your eyes peeled for that!) Also, Sing. Most people I've talked to about it have loved it, but some haven't been so keen. I have to say, I really enjoyed it & will definitely be purchasing it when it's released on DVD. I didn't think it was as funny as some Disney films I've seen recently, but that didn't seem to matter because the characters were brilliant in my opinion. I might do a full review on it as I enjoyed it so much!

Last Friday; Cathy, Lily, Elisa & I went to Guildford shopping, on the search for my dream pair of jeans! I've been dreaming about the fit, cut & style of these jeans for weeks but alas, I still didn't find the perfect pair. I did however get some comfy blue jeggings from Primark for £6, so I'm gonna try to distress them myself & see what happens! We also had brunch in The Tea Terrace which is just the most adorable café at the top of House Of Fraser.

We also met up with Char & Mils at Nandos for dinner that evening. It was so lovely to see Char as she'd come back for the weekend from uni to visit us & her family. Mils had also just completed her first week of a new job, so we had lots to catch up on.

Last Sunday, it was my Nan's birthday. She turned 88 & we had a buffet lunch at my grandparents' house. My mum bought her the most fabulous cake, covered in iced rose petals. It was sooo delicious.

I also attended my manager's surprise leaving do on Sunday afternoon. Just look at the cake Elisa made! We all know how much Mike loves popcorn.. haha! So anyway, we'd been planning an afternoon tea since May last year, as Mike had a retirement date set early on! It was such a beautiful afternoon, complete with bunting, floral crockery & of course, a lot of tea & cake. He was so shocked when he walked into the barn we'd hired to see all of us standing there waiting for him. It's actually hit me harder than I thought seeing him leave. If you didn't already know, I've worked at my current place of work since I was hired at the age of 17 by Mike. I started as a steward for the films & after a few years & deciding not to go to uni, I was looking for full time work, to which he suggested I move onto the box office & that's where I've been ever since. I remember the day he came up to me & asked if I'd like to go on box office & I was so excited & asked when my interview would be, to which he replied 'you've already got the job Cat, you just need to start training'. I also wouldn't have met James if it wasn't for Mike. We met when he became a steward & we were put on the same evening shift together. I still like to think Mike knew we'd hit it off & become the power couple we are now! I can't thank him enough for all his support & friendship over the (almost 9) years I've worked with him. He really is such a wonderful man & I will miss him so much.

His final shift was last Saturday evening & we have his official farewell do this afternoon. People that know him or have worked with him over the years are travelling to say goodbye, so I think the worst is yet to come. Yes, I cry at everything, so I dread these type of things! Plus.. who's idea was it to jump straight onto box office after the leaving do.. I'm such an idiot.

How has your week been lovelies? I can't believe we are almost in March!
Where does the time go..

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The Perfect Date

Hello lovelies!

Seeing as it's coming up to Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share with you a few date ideas. Obviously these can be done on any day of the year (& you should definitely make time to date your other half, regardless of if your married or not!) Last year I gave James a "date jar" which contained random date ideas, like the ones I've listed below, written on tiny scraps of paper & every time we struggle to think of something to do together, this lucky dip manages to give us a few ideas. You can either make one yourself or there are some extremely cute ones already made online you can purchase for less than £15! Totally adorable.

So here are my suggestions to help inspire you & your other half.

1. Bake together

I absolutely love baking (when I say baking, I mean buying those pre-made cake boxes from Tesco & adding eggs & water..) I really can't cook to save my life, however, nothing beats a fun day making cakes & covering the other person in flour! You could also try making a mug cake, they are so easy to do & don't take hardly any time to prepare. I got this one for Christmas a few years back & swear by it for all the best recipes. There's even a chocolate section!

2. Go out for the day

Depending if the weather is on your side, you could go to the beach or to a local park. If not, there is always tea rooms or cafes. There are so many beautiful places to explore, usually not far from where you live.

3. Watch films / TV

If you're feeling a lazy day, nothing beats watching films, snuggled up on the sofa. If you're looking for a romantic tear jerker, I'd recommend anything based on the novels by Nicholas Sparks. A Walk To Remember, The Notebook & The Longest Ride are some of my favourites. If not, why not start a new series. James has recently got me to watch The Walking Dead (not very romantic but seriously addictive!)  

4. Go to the cinema

Although I work at a cinema / theatre, I love going to see films. I'm really keen to see The Choice (by Nicholas Sparks!) & if you're looking for comedy, How To Be Single looks so funny, especially as Rebel Wilson is in it!

5. Go out for dinner
I'd advise booking this ASAP as I know places get so booked in advance for Valentines Day. Treat your other half to dinner at their favourite restaurant, or maybe try one you've both never been to before.

6. Cook dinner

If your feeling creative (& maybe a little strapped for cash) why not trying making a meal at home for your other half. James has done this for me before & it was the most romantic thing ever. He told me to leave the house for two hours before dinner was being prepared & I went & got ready at my parent's house. I arrived to find candles, wine & dinner & it was the loveliest thing ever.

7. Go for a bike / car ride & picnic
Now this again depends on the weather & if you own bikes / cars! One of mine & James' first dates was a picnic in the car after a drive to the seafront. It was perfect.

8. Go for a walk
I love walks, there's something so peaceful about them. I'm lucky enough to live in the countryside so I can literally step out my front door & be greeted by fields, woods & endless paths to choose from. Why not take a camera & capture a few snaps together.

9. Make a photo album
Ah now this is something I'm hoping James & I will be doing together! We got a photo album for Christmas & have been waiting for a day to just go through all our pictures & pick some out for the album. Like most people our age, we take photos all the time, but hardly have any printed off.

10. Plan an adventure
Writing 'plan an adventure' reminds me of Up, love that film! But seriously, I have so many places I want to go & things I want to do this year, planning is my favourite thing at the moment & what better way to do it than with someone else who shares your excitement.

What are you planning on doing this Valentines Day? I hope this post gave you some inspiration : )

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Life Lately #78

 

Hello lovelies,

 

Last weekend, my friends & I went to support my friend Boop & all the lovely vet nurses she works with to raise money for charity, by doing a mud run. In case you're not sure what that is, it's basically an obstacle course, in the mud. They did fantastically well & managed to complete the course in under an hour which was fantastic!

 

Once Boop had showered thoroughly & managed to get rid of the smell of muddy ponds, we went out for dinner at our local Indian. As it was Sunday, they do an all you can eat buffet for £9.95. So delicious. We all went back to Cathy's for pudding, which consisted of chocolate ice cream & milk chocolate buttons. You can tell we're all health fanatics can't you..

 

I've been feeling a bit under the weather these past few days, but nothing makes me feel better than having cuddles with Honey. Just look at that annoyed face when I stuck the camera in front of her. Just too cute. I haven't seen James for 3 weeks (only 3 days to go!) as he's been studying for exams. I can't wait for our mini break this coming weekend!

 

Last Friday, my group of friends & I went to see Pitch Perfect 2. Oh my goodness, it was hilarious. I haven't laughed as much at a film in ages. If you haven't seen it, it's definitely worth paying to go!

 

We went to Frankie & Benny's for dinner before hand. I had the steak & chips & ended up sharing a cinnamon waffle with ice cream for pudding with Boop. I love eating there, even though the music does tend to be very loud & you end up shouting at each other, the food is always delicious.

 

Finally, Saturday night was girl's night. We watched Burlesque, with a massive chocolate pudding made by Gail & Mils managed to do this brilliant hair style on me. I wanted to get up & head straight out the door to a prom. ; )

 

How has your week been lovelies?  

 

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