A Long Overdue Catch Up

Wow.. 10 months. 

I seriously can't believe it's been that long since I've sat down & written a blog post. If you're reading this, thankyou for either sticking with me or if you've stumbled across this page, welcome! I used to blog quite consistently, 2 or 3 times a week, but over the past year or so, that's sort of digressed to 1 or 2 a year! Which is so incredibly sad. I'm not going to even start to bore you with excuses why I haven't been, but let's just say life. Life is & has been extremely busy, so I thought we'd better start with a catch up.

The biggest change & what has been taking up most of this year is our move. Not only have we moved, but we've bought our very own house! We've lived together for 2 & a half years in rented accomodation, firstly in a flat, then a house & now finally we are in our very own property! We moved at the end of September & if I'm being completely honest, it still doesn't feel real. I'm not going to promise & say my next blog post is going to be all about buying a house & our experience (because who knows when I'll get round to writing it!) but I would love to share our journey with you. It was full of so many ups & downs (more downs that ups tbh!) but until we actually began the process, we never really knew what to expect & definitely agree with people when they say moving is one of the most stressful things you go through in life! But overall, so worth it & despite us not having the smoothest ride, everything has finally started to fall into place.

Not much else has changed except our living situation (this has honestly been taking up most of our time since February when we started looking!) 

I guess you're probably wondering why have you started your blog up again Cat? Why this moment.. well if I'm honest, I was just about to have a nap & the sun came out & I thought "Mmm, I'll put some washing on, it'll only take 45mins on the quick cycle, that definitely isn't enough time to nap. I know, I'll sit down & make a few goals & analyse my life." You know, a standard Saturday really!

I've recently been reading An Edited Life by Anna Newton & have become absolutely obsessed (honestly, this book is amazing, I can't recommend it enough. It's like your sitting down with an old friend over a brew & a choccie biscuit) I'm currently half way through & reading all about setting achievable goals. It encouraged me to sit down & start writing & I remembered my blog & just thought, what a great way to start.

I really want to give my blog a proper make-over, but I'm terrified of messing everything up. I remember spending hours & hours on my html when I first started, that I'm scared one wrong click & I'll ruin it all, haha! So I guess a fresh style of writing will have to do for now.

Well, that's all I have to write for now lovelies. I hope you're having the most wonderful Saturday. Here's to the next few posts! (Let's at least try to get five in before Christmas ok?)

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28

No waaaaaay am I 2 years off of being 30?! Stop the world.. I want to get off!

Seriously though, where has this year gone? I know I type this most years.. but I'd love to know the answer to that question. Someone actually said to me the other day the world is spinning faster, so time is going quicker & I'm actually starting to believe them..

Anyway! Time for me to look back over the past year of being 27..

We moved.. again!

I mentioned in last year's post we had some exciting news about moving to a 2 bed house last April & I can confirm, everything went to plan & I'm currently sitting in our living room, log fire burning, in my onesie & I couldn't be happier. It was definitely the right decision to leave the flat when we did, even though I cried like a baby on the day we moved out! I get so emotionally attached to things & obviously our first home together meant alot to me, even though looking back, it wasn't the nicest place in the world. The house we are in now has a perfect sized garden; quite small, but I love nothing more than sitting outside in the Summer at our garden table, with my morning cup of tea. I'm counting down the days when it's warm enough to do that again. We haven't decided what we are planning yet for our next move & if we'll be here a while longer, but everything seems to be moving in the right direction, so watch this space!

Holidays

James & I were lucky enough to go on 2 big holidays with family this year; we firstly jetted off to Kefalonia in June & it was honestly one of the most beautiful places I've been to. Definitely my favourite out of the 3 Greek islands we have visited. We also were lucky enough to go to Quimper for a week in July, where we had our own pool & plenty of activities to keep us entertained! I also spotted a wild seal which was amazing.

Events 

This year has been full of exciting things! Here are a few; I met baby Ru, James & I attended Crufts for a 2nd time & met JP the pug, we sat & ate dinner outside in our own garden, we visited Hever Castle, I held a Eurovision party, I took part in my first escape room & went on to do 2 more, I went to Kefalonia & Quimper, I saw Legally Blonde & The Play That Goes Wrong with the girls, I became a gardener, I organised a brunch & Christmas dinner for my work ladies, I held my annual Summer BBQ, I attended my first murder mystery night, James & I attended 2 weddings; Matt & Alice's in Bristol & our best friend's Mils & Craig's, I organised a surprise birthday party for Elisa, read 6 books, went for afternoon tea with Mum for her birthday, went to my first pumpkin picking patch, travelled to Devon for a mini holiday to visit Nicola, dressed up as an elf for charity & went for a job interview, went to Glow Wild with the girls & finally hosted Christmas Day.

I mentioned in my last post it's incredibly hard to put a stamp on the whole year as being 'good' or 'bad'. I had some wonderful things happen last year as I've listed above, but it's funny how one thing can tip the year on it's head.

I lost someone incredibly close to me last year & it was one of the toughest things I've had to deal with. It's still incredibly hard & everyday something will remind me of my Nan & bring a smile to my face. Some days are harder than others & I still can't really get my head around the fact she's gone. Nothing really prepares you for losing someone but I honestly wouldn't have got through last year without my amazing friends & family, so thank you guys.

Here's to 2019; a fresh start & the year of being 28.. here's hoping it's a good one : )

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Life Lately #147

Hello lovelies,

I know you're probably all incredibly bored of me talking about my new house by now (especially if you read last week's post!) but I'm still absolutely loving it! I can't believe we've been moved in over a month now & the weather has been so beautiful, we've been out in the garden eating breakfast & dinners most evenings. We've also had family & the doggies over for BBQ's, which has been lovely! Honey & Harvey adore the garden & spent the first day exploring every nook & cranny they could stick their noses in. Once our grass seed has improved the lawn, I can see them sitting out there for hours! 

We have also been doing some work on the actual garden. Like I say, we've laid some weed killer & grass seed, as well as planted some flowers & seeds for onions & lettuces. I've started weeding the patio as well, but had to stop as I got so hot last weekend! I'm currently writing up another post all about falling in love with our garden, which I can't wait to share with you.

At the end of April, it was Gem's birthday. We celebrated by having the most delicious roast at a local pub. Baby Alice also said my name & made me cry, much to Boop's amusement!

At the beginning of May, James & a few of the girls & I went to watch Bo, Chris, Cathy & Ben perform in a play at our local theatre. It was such a good production! They performed Night Must Fall, a play I have to admit I hadn't heard of, which actually made it alot more interesting to watch the story unfold. 

The Sunday after, James & I went to Hever Castle. It was the most stunning day & we explored the castle & gardens before heading home to a BBQ with Allan & Maria. I've written a full post about our day here if you'd like to see what we got up to.

James & I went to Prezzo for a date night on last Wednesday. I know we live together but with our work schedules being so different, there's nothing quite like getting dressed up & spending quality time together. I have to mention my dish, it was absolutely delicious. I had the penne gorgonzola, which I'd highly recommend!

Last Saturday, the girls came round to mine for a housewarming / Eurovision night as James was in London on a stag do. We all dressed up in connection with our countries, either colours from the flag or something related to the country. We also had a prize for the highest placed country, which Char won! Congrats again Israel!

Last Sunday I went to Ikea with Cathy. We had such a good time! I managed to pick up a few extra bits for the house, including some more tea lights, which I buy on every single trip! But I did manage to resist bringing another plant home.. amazing for me as I seem to pick up a new baby every time we go..

Oh & I've been feeling like complete death this past week. I've been off sick from work & am just starting to feel human again. It always feels so wrong to me being ill at this time of year, it's Summer! I should be out in the garden with my plant babies, not wrapped up in 10 blankets sweating my face off! Nice image for you there.. haha!

Oh & I can't not mention the Royal Wedding in this post. What an amazing day, Meghan looked absolutely stunning & I honestly couldn't have been more proud of our country. I actually wish I'd booked the day off work & had the girls round because it would have been so much fun as I heard there were so many wonderful events in our area!

& finally yesterday James & I went to Brighton as we had some vouchers to use at Café Rouge. Never, ever again will be go to Brighton on the same day as the "mini marathon". The journey was supposed to take us 45 minutes max, but we ended up on the road for 2 hours. The traffic was at a complete standstill in some places & we had to call the restaurant twice to say we were going to be late! They were very understanding & weren't fully booked thankfully, so we managed to get a table & sit down to eat at 2.15pm, instead of our initial reservation at 12.45pm. We had planned to go shopping for last minute holiday bits as well, but we couldn't face the shops after the ordeal of getting there, so we headed home! We had a lovely lunch regardless, it was just so frustrating!

How has your week been lovelies? Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

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Moving Into Our New Home

Hello lovelies!

If you didn't already know, James & I have moved into our new home! On 7th April, we moved out of our 1 bed flat, into our 2 bed house, on the other side of town. 

When I think back to that Saturday, I actually feel quite sick. Not necessarily in a bad way, but even now, the actual moving day was a bit of a blurr. I cried, I laughed, I gained lots of bruises & my back ached for days, but now looking back almost 3 weeks on, all I feel is happiness.

On the morning of the 7th, James & I drove to our house to meet Mark, the guy who would be doing our inventory for us at 9am. This is where it all started to go downhill. I was already stressed from packing manically the week before & once we started looking round the house & pulling it to pieces (every crack, scratch, dent, mark has to be recorded) I was feeling mildly sick. It wasn't until the guy had left & I was standing with James in the middle of the lounge, with nothing surrounding us, I burst into tears. Call it what you will; hormones, excitement, sadness.. it all hit me at once. The house was cold as the tenants before us had moved out a couple of weeks before & all that was going round & round in my head was the guy saying "So this house has had it's fair ware & tare, you can see here this is damaged & this is broken.." Everything got a bit too much & all I could focus on were the negatives. After poor James consoling me best he could, we headed back to our old flat, to meet our "moving family" before loading up the first van full. After another surge of tears & everyone convincing me I'd gone slightly nuts, that this move was honestly the best thing ever, I decided to head back to the new house with my girls to unload the first few boxes. 

I love to organise things & be in control so we thought being in the new place unpacking was the best thing for me to do while James stayed at the flat (& it got me out of the flat that I was so upset about saying goodbye to!) The girls were amazing & we set about making ourselves busy in the kitchen, un-packing the cutlery, plates & pans. The boys would occasional rock up with heavy furniture & I could direct it all to the places I wanted them! After an hour or two I was starting to feel more relaxed. My brain had told me this was the right move for us & once I'd got a few of our things into the house, I felt so much better. 

If you have moved before, you'll know that the majority of the day is one big blurr & to be honest, that's exactly what it was. I remember unpacking boxes & cleaning & hunting for the kettle (FYI, it was the last thing we found, despite my strategic packing!) but the rest of the day went by so fast.

A few people stayed after we'd moved everything in & we grabbed a cheeky KFC for dinner. Luckily Allan, Alex & James had set up our bed & Maria had been kind enough to make it up for us, so we literally crashed about 9pm. 

The next morning, I actually surprised myself & woke up & knew exactly where I was. I wasn't feeling on edge or upset, but content. James woke me up at 8.30 (Tbh I was so tired, I could have slept till midday!) & made me a cup of tea & we set about unpacking a few more boxes. We figured out how to use the washing machine, the hob & attempted putting up the washing line. (Update, I've only just figured out how to properly use it without it collapsing but it's still an on-going battle!) 

The following Monday we headed back to the flat to clean. This day probably topped the stress of the moving day.. I absolutely love clean things, I just hate cleaning. We spent the whole day on our hands & knees cleaning the flat top to bottom, before taking photos & heading home. 

Friday was our official check out date & as James had to work, I met our agents at the flat to give back our keys. It did feel slightly weird knowing it was the last time I'd ever be in our first home again, but I wasn't as upset as I thought I'd be. It will always be extremely special to me, it was the first home James & I shared together, along with our first Christmas & other countless memories. However, our new home has become so special already.

I hope this post doesn't sound all doom & gloom, I mean, firstly, we now have a garden! YES. A garden! Our outdoor furniture arrived last week & we have been making the most of this "heatwave" by trying to eat breakfast outside in the mornings & having tea in the afternoons. Last weekend, mum & I went to our local garden centre & got some new plants which I have potted in our beautiful pink pots Nicola kindly got me for my birthday. I've also purchased a few seeds, so I'm going to attempt to grow a few onions, carrots & lettuces! I've never been into gardening, but I'm extremely excited to have a garden to experiment with now!

We also have a second bedroom which we have turned into an office / second bedroom. Just having an additional space has made our lives feel alot less cluttered & spacious. I also adore our bedroom & lounge, in the evenings I light all our candles & we have fairy lights on around the windows & TV stand. It's really starting to feel like home.

Writing this post, I honestly thought I'd feel more upset about knowing I'll never be going back to our flat again, but actually, I'm not. I'm so happy in our new place, I never thought it would feel as homely as it does so soon. It was definitely the right time to move on & perfect timing for Summer. I can't wait to get everyone round for a BBQ & games!

I just wanted to say a final thankyou to everyone that helped us move & for all our housewarming gifts. We are seriously so grateful & couldn't have done it without you all!

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Life Lately #146

Hey lovelies!

So I'm back after my 'break'. I hate calling it that, but to be honest, that's exactly what it was & what I needed. I learnt from when we moved last year that it was almost impossible to keep up with blogging while moving house & working a full time job. I don't know how some people do it! Anyway, we are now all settled & have just got our internet activated again, so I'm officially back!

Giving myself time off was excatly what I needed. I know last year I went through a phase with my blog where I just didn't enjoy writing it anymore. I was pushing myself to get posts out that I just wasn't that happy with but I refuse to do that now. Hopeully I'll have a lot more of the content I want on here & not just posting words because I need too.

Anyway! Enough of me waffling on! I wanted to share a few updates of what I've got up to over the past few weeks.

Firstly, little Alice celebrated her 1st birthday! I met up with Gem at Costa to give her her presents & cards & she loved them! I can't believe a year has gone by of her life.. only seems like yesterday Gem was pregnant.

I also went with Mils to see a show our friend Sheryl was directing. It was all about the pangolin, an endangered animal being hunted for fun. It was truly eye-opening & the cast where all from our local college & they were fantastic!

& then it was Easter! I unfortunately had to work alot of the extended weekend, but managed to have some time with my family around my shifts. James & I went to visit his mum & partner Barrie on Easter Friday & we saw the Greatest Showman Singalong on Saturday evening! It was so much fun, the whole theatre came alive. (COME ALIVVVVVE, COME ALIIIIIVE) Easter Sunday was spent with Allan & Maria & finally Easter Monday we headed to my mums for an Easter egg hunt. We were so spoilt, we're still making our way through our Easter eggs!

& finally, we moved house! The weekend before last, we moved from one side of our home town, to the other! Even though the flat & our new house are only 10 minutes apart, it felt like we were moving miles! The past week & a half has been spent organising our new home, with a trip to Ikea thrown in along the way. I'm going to write a full post on our move, so I won't harp on about it too much now, but we are so happy & can't wait to get started in our garden. (yes, I can finally say we have a garden now!) Our garden furniture arrived last Tuesday & I'm currently sitting writing this in the sunshine. It's seriously the best feeling.

I just wanted to say a masssive thankyou to everyone that helped us move & to those that have helped us out everyday since. We couldn't have done it without you!

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What I've Learnt From Moving Out

Hello lovelies!

Can you believe I moved out of my parent's house on 13th April, that's over 6 months ago! Time really does fly. It feels like we've been in our little flat for ages, but at the same time, not that long at all. We are currently half way through our tenancy, then we have to decide whether to stay another year or move out. James & I are still discussing this & the we quite like the idea of getting a bigger place, so we'll have to see how we're feeling after Christmas.

I wanted to share with you a few things that I've learnt over the past few months since moving out.

It's expensive

Ok, so I had a rough idea of how much renting would be. I'd budgeted, done the maths of the rent, bills, food & living etc, but I never expected it to feel so.. annoying! Gone are the days where I used to be able to browse ASOS & add multiple things to my basket, where as now I have to ration myself in Primark to one jumper per visit & only pick up essentials when I'm literally scraping the barrel. It's a whole new ball game, but one I'm managing to keep on top of, I just would love to go out & buy ALL THE CLOTHES.

Vouchers / coupons / loyalty cards are your friends

A while ago, I sat down with Elisa (who is the master of finding deals & bargains!) & we went through all her store cards that are free & that can save you money. A lot I already had, such as a Boots Advantage Card, Tesco Clubcard & multiple coffee shop cards, however when your starting to make your space your own, having an Ikea Family Card was one of the best deals we found! You get discounts on sale items, food & on selected products. Not to mention free tea & coffee when you shop! I also got a Waitrose Card, which (to be honest, I rarely shop there, but still) means you get a free tea or coffee when you buy groceries & scan your card at the till. Makes popping to get milk a little bit more enjoyable! & finally a Nectar Card. I've never had one of these because we always shop in Tesco as a rule, but since we do have a Sainsbury's in town, it was worth getting. However, the best part of a Nectar Card is you can link it up to eBay & earn points by purchasing items on there! So I already have a nice stack of points building up just from buying random bits & pieces each month! 

You have no free time

This may sound like a silly one, but have you noticed how little I've posted since the beginning of April? It's because I literally have no time. I'm sure this is just something I've managed to do to myself, but if I'm sitting on the sofa & I spy a cobweb or something needs dusting, I have to sort it then & there! & sure enough, once I've finished cleaning every room, it all needs doing again! I barely manage to do anything other than work, clean & think about cleaning..

You do adult things, because nobody is going to do them for you

Yup. It's true. Mum is no longer going to 'drop that to the post office for you' as it's on the way to town. Your going to have to go to the post office yourself. Your going to have to ring your agency because your freezer door won't shut properly. Your going to have to do the Tesco shop with one of the scary trolleys that don't turn corners every week. I don't like having adult responsibilities.

You don't take anything for granted

When I was writing out points for this blog post, one of the first things I wrote was 'dishwasher withdrawal symptoms' & it's true. I think we get used to having all these luxuries when in fact when we move out, we're almost starting from the bottom & working ourselves up again. I don't mind doing the washing up, however I would like to put my feet up for 20minutes as opposed to standing looking at a wall while cleaning the pots & pans.

You build stronger relationships

Most of you know, I moved in with my partner James & even though we've been together nearly 5 years, we've never lived together before. Obviously this has affected our relationship, but it's made us appreciate the other one a lot more. I actually love the feeling of coming home to him at night, when he's hopefully got the dinner started (he finishes work at 6pm, I'm usually 8.30pm) & just knowing he's there is such a nice feeling. I'm kinda hoping he feels the same, when he comes home from work & I've spent the day cleaning / tidying & I'm there to jump on him as I've missed him all day. I also wanted to mention my relationship with my family as well. Moving out has definitely brought me closer to my mum in many ways. As I've mentioned above, I've been doing things I wouldn't usually do, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been there every step of the way, holding my hand if needed. I find when we do see each other (usually twice a week) we have a lot more to catch up on & it's nice to visit my doggies & have a cup of tea & cake with her.

& finally, I just wanted to write about why I decided to blog about this. At the end of September, my parents went on holiday for a couple of days, so I stayed over at my old house, with Honey & looked after the chickens. While I was there, I was totally happy don't get me wrong, but I knew I wasn't home. I was thinking about the flat & if James had remembered to put on the washing (he had, yay!) & all the bits I needed to do there. I was missing it & it felt weird to get into my 'old bed' as opposed to our one at home. Of course, my parent's house will always be special to me, however, I'm so overwhelmed by how much I missed our flat, it made me really happy to know that we made the right choice to move out when we did & that the place is extremely special to me.

Spreadsheets & budgeting really do pay off!

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Life Lately #129

Hello lovelies!

Long time no speak!

I've had a few weeks off blogging & I have to say, I've loved it. James & I moved in together (a month ago in 2 days time! Crazy how fast the time goes..) & we have just been so busy with everything, I've hardly found the time to just sit down with my laptop & type. In the moments I have had spare, blogging has been the last thing on my mind if I'm honest. I've been out & about with friends & eating lots of yummy things as I'm sure you can see from this update! Anyway, I can't promise I'm going to post as often as I did before, but I really do want to keep up with blogging, but when it feels right to me. There's been too many moments recently where I've felt forced to post when I really haven't been feeling it & that to me is not what I want my little space on the internet to be about. Anyway! Let's look back over the past 2 weeks!

At the end of April, Gemma celebrated her 26th birthday! We went to a lovely Italian restaurant called Filippos. We had a lovely table upstairs with plenty of room (there was around 20 of us) & we were supplied with countless bottles of wine & food. I had the risotti el pollo for main & chocolate tarte for pudding & then we headed into town for more drinks. I wore my new favourite jumpsuit (the one from BooHoo I wore to Maria's hen do) & got so many people ask me about it. It's just the best. I've found I can eat a crazy amount of food & no one knows as it does a great job of hiding my food baby!

Last week I went to visit my mum & all the lambs that have recently been born. Just look at their adorable little faces! They are so tame, the mummies come up to you to be stroked (& obviously have a nosey around to check to see if you have some food!)

Aren't these flowers just beautiful? With moving into our new place, I never expected people to be so generous with gifts, but the amount of cards, flowers, alcohol & house-warming gifts we have received has been over-whelming, so thankyou all again! We've also had some people over for dinner; James' mum & Barrie came last week, along with our friends Boop & Seb & we have James' dad & Maria booked in for next Monday night. We aren't the best in the kitchen, but apart from a failed mushy risotto, we haven't done too badly! (Sorry Boop & Seb!)

Last weekend Char came home for brunch so we headed to one of our fav restaurants, Bills. It was so lovely to catch up with her & the girls & we even managed to squeeze in a visit to our new flat so Mils & Char could see it with a cup of tea & cookies (brunch pudding, that should totally be a thing right?)

On Monday I had my hair cut & I seriously love it! I had quite a lot chopped off but seeing as I hadn't had my hair cut since the end of December, it felt way overdue. I'm debating whether to have my balayage put back in, but not sure. I do love having a few blonde bits in my hair because I think it really brightens it up, but it just costs so much to do! I need to befriend a hair dresser..

& finally on Tuesday night, James' mum & Barrie treated us to dinner at Cote. We haven't eaten there for a while, so it was lovely to go & they have brought back my favourite pudding; the praline, salted caramel, banana crepe. Oh my lord, if you can, go try it. It's amazing.

Hope you're having a fab week so far lovelies! : ) 

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March & April Favourites

Floral Boots

Since buying these boots, they have not left my feet. Seriously. I just love them so much. Embroidery has been massive so far this year & I really hope it stays for the Summer, because it's just too damn cute. They are seriously one of the comfiest boots I've owned & only cost £18 in the sale!

Fluffy Birkenstocks

Ok, so I'm thinking you'll either love or hate these! But look at them, they are so fluffy & soft! I picked them up on a recent trip to Primark thinking they'd be perfect for holiday when we are sun bathing around the pool. I've actually been wearing them around the house instead of slippers now it's got a bit warmer & they are just the comfiest pair of shoes eveeeer.

Soap & Glory Body Lotion

If you haven't smelt this, drop everything & get yourself down to Boots. It's just sooooo good. It instantly reminds me of holidays & I can't wait to get back into the sunshine this Summer!

All The Bright Places 

Ok, so I'm reading a book. Have you fallen off your chair yet? Haha! It's rare for me to read as I just 'never find the time'. Yeah, that old chestnut. It's true though. I really struggle to sit down & immerse myself in a book. However, this one has really got me hooked & I find myself racing home to read it each day! 

Chokers

To be fair, I've always loved chokers, but as they've recently come back into fashion, retailers have brought out some beautiful designs. I'm loving this bow tie one from Primark that came in a pack of 3 for £3. So affordable.

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Lipgloss

Have you ever used a lip-plumping lip gloss before? Neither had I until this one, but I'm seriously addicted to it. Nothing prepares you for the sensation of the lip gloss working its magic on your lips. It feels almost numbing but satisfying at the same time! My lips have never looked as healthy as they do when I apply this gloss! I'm so tempted to pick up a darker shade to add to my collection.

TV

The Only Way Is Essex

I've watched TOWIE since the very beginning, so I get extremely excited when a new series starts. We're almost at the end of this one but I'm seriously loving it as always. 

Riverdale

How addictive is this show? I heard loads of bloggers raving about it on Twitter so thought I'd give it a go & I'm loving it so far. 

One Night With My Ex

Trashy tv at it's best right? This again has been so addictive & actually quite emotional at times.

Orange Is The New Black

So James & I have only just started watching this but seriously, why has nobody ever told me how good this was!? Ok, some people have but we just haven't gotten around to watching it. I'm already so invested in the characters & just want to know what all their back stories are!

Events

At the end of March, Maria celebrated her hen do. I've written a full post if you wanted to have a read here, but we had the most amazing time eating tons of food & dancing the night away to a Michael Buble tribute! I can't believe her wedding is under 5 weeks now! I'm so excited.

Gemma & Ollie welcomed baby Alice into the world & she is absolutely beautiful. She's so tiny & soft. I wish I still had baby skin!

James & I went to see Craig David at the beginning of April & oh my word, that man has still got it. He was absolutely incredible on stage & performed solidly for 2 hours. Tinie Tempah  made a guest appearance as well which was such a surprise.

& finally James & I moved in together! I'm sure you already know this as it's been plastered all over my social media & blog but yay! Definitely a highlight for me & probably the biggest adult thing in my life to date. I'm already so in love with our little flat & can't wait to make some memories there.

How has your month been lovelies?

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Life Lately #128

Hello lovelies,

It feels like ages ago since we caught up! How are you all?

So if you didn't already know, James & I moved into our first flat together! I'm sure you've experienced moving house & know everything is a bit chaotic, so I haven't been able to blog properly since we've been living together! I miss it so much, so it's been lovely to finally sit down with my laptop & write this. We have finally got settled in with just a few boxes left to un-pack, but what I'm hating most of all is all the paperwork. Urgh. Can someone come & organise my life please?

Gosh Easter seems like a distant memory now.. how was it only the weekend before last?! I luckily managed to only work 2 out of the 4 days over Easter, so had Easter Sunday & Monday off. Easter Sunday was spent tidying the whole flat for James' family to come over in the afternoon, before we headed to my Grandparent's house for dinner. It was so lovely to spend time with our families, but equally heart-breaking when I had to drive back to our new flat from my previous home. Felt so weird & I think that's when it finally set in that I wasn't living at home anymore.. Since then though, I've been absolutely fine & our little flat is really starting to feel like home.

On Easter Monday, James had to work, so his family invited me to go to the Plumpton Races with them. It was so exciting as I'd never been before & I had no clue how to even place a bet. After a few goes, I got the hang of it, but sadly none of us won much money! Some didn't win anything at all.. :') We had a lovely picnic; soup, rolls, hot cross buns, salted caramel cheesecake & of course lots of tea.

Last Tuesday, Cathy, Muffin, James & I went to see the new Fast & Furious movie, which is absolutely insane! One of my favourite ones so far. Have you seen it? We also had a BBQ at Gemma & Ollie's house so I got to catch up with some of the group who didn't go to the film.

On Sunday, my tea ladies & I headed to Littlehampton to visit our friend Lorna. We try to go twice a year & luckily, it was a very over-cast day, but it didn't rain! We usually do a walk on the beach, followed by fish & chips & of course a trip to the arcade. All hail Kym; Queen Of The Keyrings! : D

Hope you've all had a wonderful April so far lovelies. Kkeep a look out for some more posts coming soon featuring some flat updates & my monthly favourites!

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We've Moved!

Hello lovelies!

Firstly, I'd like to say..

HAPPY EASTER!

I hope you're having the most wonderful day & have over-indulged on all those Easter eggs.. I totally didn't have one for breakfast..

Secondly, I wanted to share some exciting news with you today.. James & I have moved in together!

James & I have been together for nearly 4 & a half years now & we started dating just before he went to uni. I'm so proud of him for going but it obviously meant we had 3 years of a long distance relationship while he was away studying. He finished uni last May, so since then we have been staying at either my parent's house, or his dad's but not had our own space. It all seems to have come together last month as James finally secured a full time job at a local kennels & I've been saving these past few years while living at home, so when we started looking at flats, it all seemed to fall into place.

The last few months or so we have been going to flat viewings around our local area & we finally found the perfect one. We heard Monday night (much to my absolute panic) that our references had all gone through & we had 3 days until our 'scheduled' moving date (which was last Thursday!) This week has seriously been so stressful, I've had to pack my life into boxes in 3 days around working a full time job!

The flat we have found is a 10 minute walk away from my place of work & a 10 minute drive for James to his, while being near the town centre. All our friends are just down the road (scattered throughout the town) & my parent's are still only a 15 minute drive away.

It's all just come together so perfectly, I'm so excited to be living with my best friend & getting settled into our flat. It's a perfect starter place for us & hopefully after a year or so, we can look at possibly buying a property in a similar location.

I've got quite a few posts lined up, but I apologize now if they aren't as regular as normal, as we won't have internet until the 24th, but I'll keep you as updated as I can over on Twitter & Instagram! : )

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Life Lately #127

Hi lovelies,

My friend Bo was in a play called Family Planning a few weeks back & Gail, Cathy, Elisa & I went to watch her perform. It was such a good little show! Bo's boyfriend Chris was actually performing alongside her, so it was lovely to see them both on stage!

Hasn't the UK had a mixture of weather recently? Luckily the majority has been beautiful sunshine, mixed in with a few cloudy days. I met my girl Ricka for tea at our local garden centre last weekend & we managed to sit outside in the sunshine for about a couple of hours, catching up on life. We actually got so warm!

I also managed to meet up with Cathy, Boop, Gem & baby Alice for lunch after seeing Ricka. We went to Sumners Ponds, which is the most wonderful place. They have a few animals, a lake where you can camp in the summer & outside seating, where you can watch the fishermen around the lake. We had a walk after lunch & visited the cows & most importantly, had a well over-due catch up!

Ah, so I've been looking forward to last Sunday since the end of last year when I booked the tickets as a surprise for James! We drove up to London to see Craig David at the SSE Arena. It was absolutely incredible! We stopped for dinner at Nandos before hand & drove back home after the show. I can't stress how amazing it was to see him live on stage, he is such a talented man.

How has your month been so far lovelies?

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