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 #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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West Wittering Beach

West Wittering Beach; my favourite place.

James & I took a trip to West Wittering Beach on 2nd January this year. New Year's Day in the UK was one of the most miserable days for weather. It rained all day so we decided to stay in & play games instead of venturing outside.

I've mentioned West Wittering before on my blog & how it holds such special memories for me.

Every year my parents & I would drive to the beach for a long walk with the dogs on New Year's Day. It would take us about an hour to travel down, but we'd take flasks with hot drinks in & treats & water for the dogs. We didn't used to do many things as a family, so this always felt extremely special.

I chose to have my 16th birthday on this beach as well. Mad right? Who wants to go to the beach in the middle of January... 

It was such a beautiful day, slightly chilly but not very windy compared to previous years. We wrapped up with hats & gloves (well, I did James forgot his..) & walked along the sea front.

& as you can see, I was extremely excited by all the dogs that were there & I was constantly trying to take sneaky photos of them all. Just look at that excited little pug!

It's hard for me to put into words how special this beach is to me, but I think we all need that one place in our lives where we feel safe. The place we go back to when we need to clear our heads & re-evaluate life. The place that we call our home.

& this is mine.

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Life Lately #120

Hello lovelies,

A week before Christmas day, James & I attended our friends Christmas meal at Gail's house. We all bring an element of the Christmas dinner to the evening. This year James & I brought the Yorkshires, along with some wine & a bottle of sherry (which I quickly discovered I'm the only person that's a fan of it! Yay me!) We also did secret Santa (thankyou jack for my lovely candle) & played a few games.

The next day we went to see our panto Aladdin at work & it was genuinely one of the best pantos we've put on. I adored the way the story played out on stage & all the characters were brilliant.

On 19th December, it was our work Christmas meal that I'd been planning since the beginning of the year! We went to the same place as last year, a local pub with live music in the evening. We had a late sit down time of 8.45pm, just so the last people on shift could come too & the food was delicious as always. We had a 5 course meal; starter, pallet cleanser, main, pudding & tea & mince pies to finish.

For Christmas this year, James & I split ourselves across all our families. We started with Christmas Eve at James' mums, where we had a full Christmas dinner in the evening, followed by a few games & we watched Finding Dory while we waited for midnight. It's tradition in their household to open a small present at midnight & then wake up around 9am for the rest of the presents. On Christmas Day, we headed to my grandparents' for lunch. We don't have a massive family, so 8 of us on Christmas Day always feels like a lot of people in one place! It was so nice to celebrate with them all. Finally on Boxing Day, we headed to James' dad's for round 3! Auntie Jules was down as well, so we spent the day playing games & consuming a lot of alcohol!

Scary thought coming up.. Lily turned 1. Yup that's right, 1. How has a year of this little ones life gone by already!? We had a party for her on Saturday in the local barn, filled with lots of balloons, bubbles & cake.

& finally, New Years. James' birthday is in fact New Years Day, so we celebrated with a few fireworks & a games day, followed by curry in the evening.

Oh & yesterday was my final day of holiday before I headed back to work this morning. We decided as it was a beautiful sunny day to go to West Wittering Beach. Before James & I met, it was tradition for my parents, the dogs & I to go to the beach for a walk on New Years Day, but we haven't been able to do that for a few years, so it was lovely to go & visit the beach as it holds so many memories for me. Although it was freezing, it was so lovely to see all the doggies running around in the sea & lots of people wrapped up in their new winter clothes. It has to be one of my favourite places ever.

How has your New Year lovelies?

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Life At The Moment #69

Hello lovelies!

Haven't done a catch up in a while & as the last few weeks have been very eventful, I just wanted to do a quick round up.

First of all, I know it was nearly a month ago (crazzzzzzy how fast the time goes) that it was Christmas! If you're like me & still have those festive blues, you can check out our Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & Boxing Day adventures here. I love Christmas, but after it's been & gone, it feels like your life is half empty.. is that just me?

At the end of December, myself, James, Alex & Flo went to Winter Wonderland. You can see a post about our adventure here. I'd highly recommend going if you haven't, even after Christmas day it's still a beautiful place to visit.

Myself & my work colleagues finally managed to meet up (so hard to find a day where none of us are working) & we went for a late Christmas breakfast at the local Beefeater. I never realised before but they do an all-you-can-eat breakfast before 10.30 every morning. We had a full cooked English, plus access to the continental breakfast menu, which included croissants, cereals, toast, muffins & yogurts. Oh & endless refills of tea & coffee. Perfect.

It was James' 21st birthday on 1st January & I managed to book a hotel just outside of London for New Years Eve. It was the most stunning place, complete with heated flooring, a tv in the bathroom & the biggest bed to spread out on. I've done a full post about our stay which you can read here.

& finally, one of my New Years Resolutions was to re-connect with friendships & last Sunday, myself & my three best girls got to spend the day together; shopping, eating & playing games. It seems silly, but to find a time when we're all free is near enough impossible with our working hours.. just need to book in a few more days now : )

What have you been up to recently?

As always, please leave your links to your blog posts, I'd love to read them!

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2015 Resolutions

Hello lovelies,

 

I wanted to do this post in the middle of January so I could actually review my resolutions & see if I've stuck with them! I have to admit, usually I'm hopeless at keeping resolutions. I hate change & anything out of my normal routine, so this year I decided to add small but beneficial changes to my life style.  

 

1. Be healthier

Resolution - This one is something I've been trying to work on since last Summer. Ever since I went on holiday & I came home & saw the photos of me in a bikini, I knew I wasn't happy. Now, I'm not fat, I know that, but that small ring above my hips stopping me from doing that big button up on my jeans, does bother me. This resolution is simply about swapping that chocolate bar for a packet of grapes, or a cup of raw carrot. It's simply about giving my body something healthy other than crap basically.

How am I doing - This one so far I've been able to keep up with! I've been taking a lot of fruit to work & resisted the urge to go & delve into the biscuit tin. I haven't really noticed a difference in how I feel energy wise, but I'm slowly starting to head more towards the fruit bowl than the sweets cupboard. I've been using the 'My Fitness Pal' app which is fantastic. It's got nearly every food listed & broken down for you so you can see exactly how many calories it is, the sugar levels & fat content.

 

2. Exercise 2-3 times a week

Resolution - Again, similar to number one, I want to become more active. My job involves me sitting at a computer screen which can be up to 9 hours a day. Now I'm never going to be an Olympian, but I would love to be able to go for a short run or long walk without feeling like I've hiked up Mount Everest. My tummy does bother me like I've previously mentioned, so I want to tone up for summer.

How am I doing - I have actually been doing more exercise since the beginning of January! I've been watching YouTube workout videos at home, (I'm not one that finds going to an exercise class or the gym appealing, I'd much rather do a free class, alone in the comfort of my own home) & it's been going amazingly well. After each workout, I've felt like I've accomplished something. (We'll ignore the fact I couldn't walk up the stairs very well for 2 days after one workout.. lesson learned.. warm up properly!)

 

3. Blog 2-3 times a week

Resolution - I do adore blogging & like other things in my life, it's all about keeping up a routine & finding the time for your blog. I've managed to stick with this hobby for nearly 4 years now & can't believe how far my little blog has come.

How am I doing - So far so good. Like I say, I am usually pretty good at blogging quite frequently (ignore December..) so this one I hope will be quite easy to maintain.

 

4. Be happier

Resolution - Now this one is hard for me to describe. Let me start of by saying, I'm not an unhappy person. Far from it infact, but certain aspects of my life I want to work on & I think 2015 is the year for me to do that. I want to start by being more organised. People that know me will be screaming at the screen right now, shouting "more organised!? how can you be more organised..?!" You see I usually am the person who does arrange events, days out, places to meet & times etc. But I mean organised with my own time. Now I'm exercising more, I want to be able to have time to workout, to blog, to eat proper meals, to see more people & to make time for myself. I do work a lot of hours & it does drag you down when you literally have no time to do anything but go to work, come home & sleep. I do love my job, but sometimes I need to take time for myself. Also, I've realised I've lost so many connections with friends over the past 5 years, since leaving college & people going separate ways, it's hard to keep in contact. So I want to build back some of the friendships from previous years.

How am I doing - So far, amazingly well. I have booked off 6 days this week as my birthday is on Friday, I've got quite a few bits planned with friends & family, but also a pamper day to myself which will be nice. I also managed to spend time with my three best girls yesterday, the four of us haven't had a day together for ages. I'm also working on doing things that I've never thought I could do before & such simple things as well, which are so scary to me! I'm proud of what I've accomplished this year so far, despite a few rocky patches on the way, I think I'm slowly getting there.

 

Let me know how you're getting on with your New Years Resolutions & if any of yours are similar to mine, I'd love it if you could comment & we can help support each other. Also, please leave any links to your posts in relation to exercise, being healthy or just happiness. I'd love to read them : )

 

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James' 21st

Hello my lovelies, hope you're all well.

 

Today I wanted to share with you a very special post featuring something I had been planning for nearly a year. Back in February 2014, I booked myself & James an over night stay on New Years Eve at Hotel Verta. 

 

As well as being New Years Day on the Thursday, the 1st January is also James' birthday & being his 21st & all I wanted to make it memorable. We headed up to London just after midday on the Wednesday & stopped for lunch at Nandos, before checking into our hotel at 4pm. Hotel Verta is located on the River Thames, 4 miles from the London Eye. I'd packed a picnic & some champagne for our evening meal & we sat in bed & watched Alan Carr until midnight, where we had the most fantastic view of firework displays over the Thames.

 

Nandos!

On the train to London & our room

Our view



Getting packed up on New Years Day

I insisted on wearing my hat. Biggest mistake. It was so windy I had to hang on to it the entire day..

 

Oh & the hotel has it's own helipad where we saw a helicopter land & re-fuel in the evening! We then headed home for more celebrations with the family & to eat a ton of cake & Chinese on New Years Day.

 

How did you celebrate New Years? : )

 

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Life At The Moment #57

 

Hello lovelies, how are you all?

 

I'm super excited, look what came in the post! This beautiful kimono from New Look. I've been wearing it to death (weather permitting..) it's so easy to style & looks effortless with a pair of jeans & boots.

 

About two weeks ago, I helped my best friend & boyfriend move into their flat. It's such a stunning place, in the most perfect location. Looking out onto the cricket field, 64 steps to the pub from the front door, (yes we counted!) & she's still only 15minutes drive down the road from me. : ) Of course, once we'd done all the unpacking.. it was straight to the pub for a burger & chips!

 

I had a rare day off last week & thought I'd relive my childhood & watch Peter Pan. I used to love this film, there's actually some amazing quotes in it which I'd forgotten about. It was pouring with rain, so myself & Honey snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea.

 

The girls & I had a evening in last week (+ some of the boys!) We baked the most amazing cake.. diet starts next week.. I promise..

 

Finally, James came home from uni for the Summer! Yayyyy. I've mostly been at work since he's been back but we managed to squeeze in a small trip to Café Nero before heading to Chichester for his Mum's birthday last Saturday. I'd been saving this beautiful dress for a special occasion & it was perfect & got so many compliments. : )

 

How has your week been so far?

 

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New Year, New Start

Good afternoon lovelies..

 

 & Happy New Year!

 

I can't believe we're in 2014, how quick did 2013 go?! I can't believe how much I've neglected my blog over December as well.. work has been crazy. I had 4 days off in the whole of December, including Christmas Day & Boxing Day. Just been so manic.

 

Anyway, how have you guys been?

 

I guess I better start with a quick catch-up.

 

Apart from being a very busy month, December was actually one of my favourites from last year. On the 22nd, I went up to the o2 with Cathy to see JLS perform at their penultimate show in London. It was fantastic (& quite emotional to say the least!) I've never gotten over how down to earth & lovely they are, just makes me admire them all the more.

 

 

Panto left work yesterday & along with it all the crew & cast for another year. So sad to see them go, work feels so quiet & empty without them all.

 

 

James flew back from Africa on the 22nd & we got to celebrate Christmas, New Year & his birthday together. Sadly, we were one of those families that had no electricity or heating from the Monday to Friday over Christmas & then to make matters worse, we lost water for a day as well. As awful as that sounds, it just made Christmas even more special as we all came together as a family. On the upside, we got the most exciting present from James' Mum, tickets on the Eurostar to Paris! We wanted to go early December for our anniversary, but with Christmas expense we decided to delay it. All we need to do now is pay for the hotel. So excited : D

 

 

Oh & we've also jumped on the band wagon of dieting for the New Year. James returned to uni yesterday so it's pretty hard to motivate each other being so far apart, but we're determined to stick with it. We've both been using the app called My Fitness Pal, which so far has been amazing. It's got a database of over 3 million foods & it's so easy to record what you consume by simply scanning the barcode on the product. Have any of you used it? Or have any dieting tips?

 

So my lovelies, that's what's been happening with me!
Here's a few extra snaps from December. Hope you're all well : )

 

James & his cake / Birthday meal / Curry at the o2 / & pudding / Breakfast at Bills / Christmas trifle / Harv & our tree / Cathy & I / Tea & a mince pie with Gemma / Anniversary presents / Gorgeous boy / Pancakes! / Sausage roll / Latte / Christmas dress 2013

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Christmas & New Year 2012

 

Hello lovelies! Long time no blog!

 

Thought I'd show you a few snaps from this Christmas & New Year. : ) How did you all celebrate?

 

I've had 5 days off in the past month, work has totally taken over recently. I'm looking forward to my birthday in the middle of January for some well earned time off. ; ) Panto is still going but only 8 more performances to go now & then it's over for another year.

 

How are you all? What did you get for Christmas?

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Out With The Old..

Happy New Year Everyone!

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