Life Lately #142

Hi lovelies,

My birthday seems like so long ago, but also like it was yesterday. I managed to pack so much into my 5 days off, it felt like I was constantly on the go!

I started my celebrations off with an evening meal at my Grandparents' last Friday. We had a catchup over a roast dinner.

On Saturday, James & I went to brunch with Allan & Maria at our local pub. They have only recently started doing breakfasts & after James & I tested it out a few weeks ago, we brought Allan & Maria to try it out. I had a full English last time we went, but tried the pancakes this time & they were so delicious. Definitely will be going back again!

Our friend Tom came down to stay for the weekend on Saturday evening & we spent the evening playing games & eating pizza!

Sunday morning I'd organised a brunch with my girlies at Sunmers Pond. I won't go into too much detail as the service wasn't great, but the food was lovely. We had a walk around the pond before coming back to the cafe for cake & tea. I was thoroughly spoilt by the girlies & although we won't be going back there in a hurry, it was a lovely morning.

In the afternoon, we went to see The Greatest Showman. It was absolutely fantastic, I can't reccomend it enough. We've had the soundtrack on repeat since we saw it!

On Monday, James, Tom & I went to Brighton for the day. Tom had only visited Brighton once before, so it was nice to show him Churchill Square & The Lanes. It was pouring all day, so even though we didn't get to venture onto the pier, we briefly saw the sea from afar! I treated myself to the most beautiful coat from Pull & Bear, which I'm sure will be appearing on my Instagram in the next few weeks, as I've literally not taken it off since buying it!

& Tuesday was my actual birthday & I spent the day at my favourite place, West Wittering Beach. I wrote a full blog post about this place just over a year ago & why it's so special to me. It really was a no-brainer when Mum asked what I wanted to do on my birthday! It was extremely cold, but not too windy & it just started spitting with rain when we were driving home. We met so many adorable dogs & had birthday cake & tea when we got home.

& finally I wanted to mention one of my lovely birthday presents that I've become obsessed with, The Bullet Journal. I'm going to do a full post on this once I've properly finished organizing mine, but if your not sure what this journal is all about, just have a search on Pinterest & you'll find loads of examples!

& finally finally! I wanted to say a massive thankyou to everyone that wished me Happy Birthday. I had such an amazing week, filled with cake, presents & the best company! Roll on 28!

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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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