I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, so if you are looking for a post about ‘new year, new me’ then you are in the wrong place. I think that resolutions are great and all, but we aren’t always fair to ourselves and often set unrealistic targets. Plus I think that we all do things when the time is right for us and not magically when the clock strikes past midnight and into the new year. There’s enough pressure buzzing around in our everyday lives without placing extra pressure on ourselves at the start of the calendar year. 

Having said that, I do feel that the start of a new year is always a nice time to reflect on the past year and look towards the coming months ahead.

There are some things that I am looking forward to next year, achievable things that will hopefully happen in 2016.

Firstly…

Surviving January

January is a hard month for most of us as everybody is a bit skint from Christmas and the weather is naff.

January is normally quite kind to me as it’s my birthday month and we normally have a cheeky holiday to celebrate. This January will be a bit odd as we will kick it off with Grandad’s funeral, followed by his birthday. I never imagined I would be spending the start of the year saying goodbye to such a wonderful human being, but life throws the odd curve ball and you just have to roll with it. It will also be my Uncle’s sixtieth birthday on the same day as what would have been Grandad’s, so whilst it will be sad, I am determined to make it a nice day for my Uncle and create happy memories.

Then it will be my birthday. With the kerfuffle of moving house and with Grandad passing, we haven’t booked anything exciting. I am thinking spa day, a nice meal (always thinking about food!) and a trip to the theatre.

Soon after my birthday we will hopefully be upping sticks and moving into our new home. I am beginning to worry about it as I love to be organised and know what’s going on and I feel like I can’t plan anything until we have a definitive date set. I’m worrying about everything from packing pots to having the Internet connected (seriously cannot live without Netflix). I’ve even started having moving anxiety dreams!

Once we move, I will work on putting our own stamp on the new house. We’ve already decided a couple of things (new porch and patio doors), but I’ll also have great fun designing the interior.

Secondly…

Travel

Being honest, I’m not normally a fan of February. It’s a bit of a dud month to me, no Christmas, no birthday, just winter. The hubby and I always enjoy valentines’ day, but aside from that and praying for no snow, there’s not usually a lot going on in February. This year I am planning on hop skipping away to somewhere sunny. I haven’t chosen where exactly, so any suggestions are welcome. At the moment I am undecided between:

• Maldives 
• Dominican Republic
• Mauritius 
• Mexico
• Thailand
• Bali

Let me know if you have been to any of these and what you would recommend!

I would like to squeeze in a trip to Florida for Easter and I am contemplating hitting up the West Coast of America again in the summer as we had so much fun this year. I also adore Europe in the summer, so maybe a trip to one of the Greek islands or something. I’m also thinking of escaping around New Years next year, but  not sold yet.

Reading and writing

Something I would like to do next year is read more. I read quite a lot at the moment, but sometimes life takes over and I’m too tired or busy. I want to make reading more of a priority and hopefully devour many exciting books!

I also would like to write more in 2016. I want to put more effort into my blog and organise myself so that I am posting regularly. I am planning on structuring my posts too, so that we all know what we are expecting!

Continuing with the writing theme, I am going to look at the two novels that I have been writing (one is finished) and look into getting them published. I love creating the characters and developing the story. There is a perfect writing spot in the new house that I am looking forward to utilising. It has such a lovely view that I’m sure will leave me feeling nothing but inspired!

Move more

We recently joined the National Trust and I can’t wait to explore more sites next year. I want to exercise a bit more (far too much face stuffing), and walking around the magnificent grounds that the National Trust possess is going to be a great way to capitalise on getting fitter. I also need to cut down on the sweet stuff as diabetes runs in my family and I don’t fancy developing it if I can help it. I’m not sure I want to know who I am without chocolate and cake though, so I’ll have a good think about the best way to do it! 

Volunteering

I am very aware that I lead a lovely life and am very blessed. I want to get more involved in volunteering and helping the local community. I haven’t decided how or what exactly, but I’m big on giving something back and will look into new opportunities when we move.

Host Christmas

Yes, next year I would like to host Christmas. We will have more space and I love having people over. Coupled with how much I adore the festive period, I can’t wait to shove canapés in peoples’ faces and cook a mahoosive bird. 

And last but not least…

Family time

I love spending time with loved ones and I would like to organise some nice adventures with the family next year. Quality time with the hubby and our marvellous family. I think sometimes we all take each other for granted and I want to do less of that. You never know where life will lead you next and I want to embrace what we have.

So yes, I think that sums up my general plan for 2016. Have you made any grand plans?

L x

I was really enjoying taking part in Blogmas when, unfortunately my poor Grandad passed away. I was very close to him and we are all heartbroken. He had been terribly unwell, especially this past year and it was definitely the right time for him to say goodbye. We never wanted to say goodbye to him though, and it’s been really tough. I know that it will take a long time to feel okay about him not being around anymore. It still feels very raw and odd. I’ve had moments where I’ve really panicked and broken down and moments where I just want to hold his hand again. I’m just going to try my best to carry on as normal as that’s what he would have wanted and I feel that’s the best way to help me overcome such a sad time. I haven’t felt like doing anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary for the past eleven days, but I feel ready to get back to blogging, so hopefully I will have some new posts coming up soon!

Hope you are all ready for Christmas, only  five more sleeps people!

L x 

 

Okay, so I know it might sound like a right lame blog post, but just hear me out.

I absolutely love pyjamas. 

When Autumn starts to creep in with morning dew and dark, chilly nights, I love nothing more than to swap my skimpy summer sleepwear for my soft, snuggly and warm pyjamas. One of my favourite things to do the second I arrive home for the night is to kick off my clothes and smother myself in pyjamas, slipper socks and dressing gowns. I just love being all warm and comfy. I also think that sleepwear makes a great Christmas gift. I have been gifted festive pyjamas and slipper socks in the past and my face has resembled a recently crowned National Lottery winner. With all this in mind, I thought that I would present to you my hot picks for sleepwear!

 
These beauties are from Victoria’s Secret .

I fell in love with their sleepwear whilst on our Honeymoon Stateside. I had accidentally only packed one pair of pyjamas to last me a month, so had to do an emergency sleepwear run. I picked up a nightshirt that says ‘I woke up like this’ and some pyjamas from M&Ms world. I’ve actually picked up a couple of pairs from M&Ms world in New York too, so I’ve got a bit of a collection going on! Anyway, I was after some goodies to add to my nightwear wardrobe and chose the nightshirt that asks the question I ask most mornings (is it Friday yet?) and a comfy pair of pastel plaid pjs. They also came with an eyemask which I thought was pretty rad. They are a bit pricey, especially when you add on shipping and taxes, but I think they are so worth it.  
 
I purchased these gorgeous dinosaur print jammies from Asos. They are super comfy, and aren’t too thick. I really love the print – I mean who doesn’t love dinosaurs?!

 

These are an old faithful pair from   Topshop. I bought them last year and I don’t think they have these exact ones anymore. I have seen a plaid pair though. They are really really comfy and I just adore anything red during the festive season. 
  We picked up this Harry Potter dressing gown whilst we were in San Francisco. It’s so, so warm and I love anything to do with Harry Potter, so it was a bit of a winner really. Only downside is I have to share it with the hubby!  
This dressing gown is from  New Look and is possibly the most gorgeous dressing gown to grace our planet. It is incredibly soft and warm. It also has a hood and is one of my staple wardrobe colours – grey! It has now become one of my most prized possessions and I literally have to force myself to tear it from my back and put it in the wash every couple of weeks.

Another great place for pyjamas is Cath Kidston. I have a brilliant pair of pjs in their ‘Stop Thief’ print. They also have some great festive sleepwear attire that I am desperate to get my body in.

If you are looking for an eye mask, Maggs London have recently added a beautiful eye mask to their collection which I have, er, got my eye on. 

Jack Wills and French Connection have got some lovely pairs of slipper socks. I have a gorgeous grey fair isle pair from French Connection that are lush.
So there you have it – a post all about pyjamas!

L x

May. A brilliant month. A month that truly signifies summer is about to burst into your face singing Zip a Dee Doo Dah. A month with two glorious bank holidays and lots of birthdays. May 2015 was certainly a busy one!

We kicked off the month with celebrations for two of my friends birthdays, Kimberley and Sarah. They both share a birthday and it was nice for us to hit up Pinner after rehearsals to celebrate.   
    
    
    
It is also my Mum’s birthday at the start of May and we went to Zizzi’s for some birthday munch.

  

I also went and saw Hairspray at the theatre with Mumma. I love that musical, the songs and storyline are simply fabulous. So much fun!  
 
We also voted in the general election. It’s so important to have your say, even if you think that it won’t make a difference, it’s important to use your voice.

   
 
With just two months’ to go, it was full steam ahead with the wedding prep. We had a bridesmaid meeting at The Hare in Old Redding, which the boys gate crashed!

   
    
 
We also managed to squeeze in some lovely walks with Holly round the aquadrome and lido. I love playing with her and watching her running around.

   
    
    
    
I hit up central with my friend Debbie, we had a mooch and stuffed our faces at the recently opened Bubba Gumps in Leicester Square.

    
    
    
    
    
Phil also sent me a brilliant typo on Skype. Defo one of my favourites!

We went for a lovely walk around St Albans. I find St Albans really peaceful and relaxing. I love walking around the park and they have a great variety of restaurants and shops too. It’s one of my happy places!

    
    
I picked up some sparkly sandals for the wedding. I was worried about being in heels all day and thought that these would be great to slip into in the evening. My heels were actually okay, but I had two dresses and the sandals went nicely with my evening dress.

 
Mum and I went to see a Blondie tribute act. We sometimes like to go out and have a dance of an evening and Bootleg Blondie played all the classics!

   

I am an avid reader and read ‘Goose’ by Dawn O’Porter in May. It was a lovely little read that took me back to my teen years. I love our little garden in the summer. I’ve planted such gorgeous plants, I’ll miss them when we move.

    
 
Our friends Alex and Nick play acoustic sets sometimes and in May the played the Slug and Lettuce in Uxbridge. We love going along to support/heckle them!

   
    
Phil and I took a pre marital trip to Richmond for a mooch and a spot of retail therapy. I spent a lot of my childhood rambling around Richmond with my Grandad and have such fond memories of being there. It was perfect.

    
We also tried some local honey to see if it helped poor Phil’s hay fever. We didn’t notice much of a change, but it sure was tasty!

L x

 

I’ve written a lot recently about our amazing honeymoon adventure that we went on this summer to the West Coast of the grand old USA. We had such an incredible time, spending the month together going to different places. We were busy every single day. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and at the end of August it was time for us to visit Las Vegas one last time before heading back to rainy old London. 

We flew from San Francisco and I was desperate to get back to Sin City. I fell in love with Las Vegas pretty much from the moment we arrived on the 29th of July and it still consumes a significant chunk of my heart. Like true love, I can’t even pin point the exact reasons why I adore it so much, it’s simply just an overwhelming feeling of happiness and home. I really didn’t enjoy San Francisco as much as I thought I would and you couldn’t have got me onto that Jet Blue flight quick enough and back to the dessert. 

   
 
We stayed in Paris this time and it was perfect. Such a great location and gorgeous hotel. It was wonderful watching the Bellagio fountains and being so close to everything. Vegas never sleeps which is awesome when you are jet lagged or running out of time for things.

   
We spent one day finishing off our shopping and stopped for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory where I had a delicious pasta dish followed by one of the tastiest things that I have ever put in my mouth. 

  
It really was as lush as it looks.  
 
We also mooched about in the forty degree heat, stopping to reminisce about our first time in Vegas and pointing out our favourite memories.

   
 
Of course no trip to Vegas is complete without seeing a show and we (okay, I) chose to see 90’s pop sensation Britney Spears. I’ve always been a fan of Britters and have seen her ‘live’ a few times. Her Vegas show was by far my most favourite. It’s a wonderful celebration of her career, and includes all of her hits. There wasn’t a soul in the room not singing and dancing along. The show itself was very aesthetically pleasing and you can tell that a lot of thought has gone into the production. It was also nice to see her in a more intimate setting. I’m so glad that they have extended her stay, I would definitely go again if I find myself back in Nevada.

There were some of her iconic costumes on display, it was really nice to have a nosey!

   
    
    
    
 
On our last day we cruised around in the Mustang and stuffed our faces. It was a brilliant end to an incredible experience. Sadly, before we knew it we were dragging ourselves kicking and screaming back to normality and temperatures at least twenty degrees cooler.

   
    
   
Until next time, Vegas!

L x

Aah April. What a glorious month it was in 2015. I’m always a fan of April because you can really feel the dregs of winter fade away, with a vibrant huge fireball in the sky taking its place. Well, sort of. April is actually more like a bag of pick ‘n’ mix when it comes to weather, beautiful, bright days and cold, grey mornings. You never can tell with April. Anyway, I always quite enjoy it.

One of the reasons that I love April is because Easter either falls just before or during it. Easter is literally my favourite holiday. I am head over heels in love with Christmas, but Easter really is the love of my life. You are guaranteed a four day weekend (I know, I know, not everybody gets the bank holidays off!), the weather is normally far more pleasant than in December, there’s an abundance of chocolate and it is perfectly acceptable to consume it at any given time. There also isn’t any pressure suffocating you. You don’t need to commit to seeing certain people or buy a thousand people presents. You can simply enjoy the Easter holiday in its entirety and it’s just marvellous.

   
We often go away around Easter time. It usually coincides with Phil’s birthday and it’s just a pleasant time to go. That’s why we chose Easter to have our Hen and Stag do in the most romantic city in the world – Paris. We were so excited to be spending six days tearing up Disneyland and parading around the centre of Paris all in the company of some of our favourite people in the world. So before you could say ‘Charles De Gaulle’, we had packed poor Holly up in the car and on her own holiday to my Mum’s before sauntering off to Heathrow.

 
Whilst we were waiting for everybody to arrive, we carried out a spot of retail therapy and picked up a GoPro and essential selfie stick. We tried it out as soon as we got to Wagamama’s.

   
… And again when we arrived in Paris!

  

I love a good macaroon, and picked up some gorgeous ones from a shop that was local to the hotel. They were lush.  
 
We spent two days at Disneyland and had such a blast. I have been before, but they had built the Ratatouille section since my last visit and I was super eager to check it out!

   
    
Three of us accidentally all wore navy crew neck jumpers. As much as I love my Tinsbury Crew, we did look funny!

    
    
    
We had so much fun at Disneyland. I laughed so, so much. A few of us were crying with laughter on that first day. It was brilliant!

The next couple of days were spent wandering round the streets of Paris, soaking up the glorious Parisian scene. We walked so much on this trip, but it was great.

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

After exploring the city, we went back to Disneyland for one final day of magic. The sun was shining and we were in high spirits.   
    
    
 

This is literally my favourite picture of these two. Never fails to make me smile!
   
    
    
 
Soon enough, our Parisian love affair came to an end and our April days were replaced with hose time with Holly… 

And a trip to Madame Taussauds!
   
    
 

My friend and I also hired a boat in Regent’s Park. The weather was perfect and it was blissful peddling around watching the wildlife. London really is beautiful sometimes.
   
    
    
    
April also consisted of lovely walks with furball and the purchasing of lots of plants ready for the summer.

    
    
I also managed to shut my face in the boot of my car (I KNOW), towards the end of April and cut my nose. I’ll just leave this here…

So that was our fabulous April!

Vive la France!

L x  

We are currently on the cusp of moving home. We don’t have a date yet, but we are looking at completing within one month. It could be next week or it could be next year. All that we know is it’s happening pretty soon. This coupled with the fact that Phil and I have both been ridiculously busy has resulted in our current home feeling pretty unfestive. In fact if it wasn’t for our beautiful wreath on the door and our advent calendars, you could easily mistake us for relatives of The Grinch. It’s a terrible shame because I love Christmas. It’s pretty much the only positive thing about winter and I just adore anything festive. Anyway, seeing as we aren’t acting very festive at home, we decided to go to places that are festive. 

We recently became members of The National Trust. It’s something that I had been toying with for a couple of months because there are so many beautiful places to explore and you can go with anyone – family, friends and even dog. We both love a bit of fresh air and a stroll around perfectly manicured gardens and ferocious looking woodland and what better way to do those things than with The National Trust? It’s actually quite affordable and only a couple of quid a month. I worked out that as long as we visited a couple of the places within a year that we would easily make that money back. It was also quite exciting as this is our first membership as a married couple!

 
Flash forward a couple of weeks and I found myself at Waddesdon Manor with one of my favourite people in the world, Alex. Around Christmas time, the people at Waddesdon Manor fill the house with beautifully decorated Christmas trees and general festive paraphernalia. It gets booked up quite quickly, so I would highly recommend booking weeks in advance.

Unfortunately poor Phil had to work all day, so was unable to join Alex and I. Luckily for him we landed up going the next day too, so he only missed out on the house (fully booked!).

They have so much to do at Waddesdon from light displays to nature trails and even a Christmas market. It was really lovely.

   

  

 The trees are all themed and I loved how much their filled the room with their gorgeous aroma.

They had a dressing up area which we think was for children. It didn’t stop Alex trying on the top hat though!

   

  

  

  

  

  

 I really loved their Narnia room. It truly felt like you could step straight into Narnia through the coats. So magical!

  The grounds are also divine and it was great that they had the Christmas market on. We enjoyed smores and toasted marshmallows!

   

  

  

  

  

 The light show was really amazing. They have a show on the main house to music that feels like something out of a Disney movie and an art installation by Bruce Munro. It’s not very festive, but is pretty special!

The following day Phil’s Dad came to visit and we decided to visit Ashridge Estate as they had a Christmas market on (clearly making the most out of our passes!).

Steve was quite excited!

   

  

 Their market was super busy and didn’t feel as magical as Waddesdon. We enjoyed a lamb burger and picked up a wonderful wreath before deciding to go to Waddesdon as it’s not too far away.

   

  

 We visited the stables before hitting up the nature trail, making the most of the beautiful setting. Oh how I love being outdoors!

   

  

  

  

  

  

 We then had a mooch (and some chilli nachos) round their Christmas market which felt much more authentic and fitted perfectly into the opulent setting of Waddesdon Manor before checking out the light show (it was actually different second time around would you believe!).

We then stopped off on the way home for my first festive supper of the winter. 

  
What a perfect weekend!

L x 

So I started off March with a delicious Belgian chocolate crepe with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream from Indulge in Pinner. Indulge is such a cute little dessert lounge where you can catch up with friends or just have a naughty treat. What a great way to start the month of Spring!

  
March was also the month that we chose and purchased my wedding ring. With the wedding ever rapidly approaching, it felt great to get another thing ticked off of the list and I was very pleased with our choice!

I also squeezed in a lunch date in Chinatown. I am such a sucker for Chinese food. It was a staple choice for dinner as a child (Mum and I both love us some sweet & sour!), and my adoration for oriental food is still in abundance. I could probably eat it every day. 

  
We also finally sent out our wedding invitations. I had sent out ‘Save the Date’ magnets a year in advance and had planned to send out the actual invitations in January. Unfortunately, things were just too manic and I had to postpone them. We opted to send out guests a huge box filled with confetti and tissue paper. It also contained a heart shaped helium balloon with a weight that had the date of the wedding. We had our invitations made and they were navy with photographs from our engagement shoot and all of the wedding details. As they were quite elaborate, we had most of the wedding party over to help get the invitations put together and distributed. It was actually quite a fun day!

   
   
Whilst on the subject of getting organised for the wedding, March was also the month that Phil’s Best Man and Dad chose their suits. March was evidently the month for wedding productivity!

  
Phil and I hit up The Ideal Home Show. Since we moved into our own place almost four years ago, we try to go every year. I used to go as a child and was always fascinated by the gadgets on display. Not to mention the freebies in the goodie bag, which seemed to be much better than they are now. I once got a mini red telephone courtesy of Direct Line Insurance and I loved playing with it. It fitted right in with my Barbie Dream House!

We always love having a nosey at the home interiors stalls and Phil loves looking at the latest technological advances for the home. We are always lusting after the hot tubs and summer houses.

It was great to see Martin Lewis in action this year too. He’s really switched on with anything to do with saving a few pennies. We normally get our tickets for free through his website.

Can’t wait to see what’s new in 2016!

   
 
The hubby also went on a business trip to Munich, so I arranged a girlie night of face stuffing at a gorgeous Chinese restaurant in Eastcote called Yi Ban.

It felt really weird to not have Phil at home whilst he was away. I did miss him, but I didn’t miss the mess that he makes! 

We have a tradition to buy a Christmas decoration whenever we visit a country and he picked up this little bell decoration (and some Oreos too!).

   

Hope you all enjoyed your March 2015!

L x

 

As the penultimate day reserved for family rapidly approaches, I would like to talk relatives. I think at this time of the year we are reminded to think about our family and we just make a bit more effort than we do the rest of the year. Something I have really learnt to appreciate over the past couple of years is spending time with my family. Not that it was a chore beforehand, more so it was taken for granted. I think that there are a few reasons why family time has shifted up a gear. One of the factors being that we bought our own place and upped sticks seven miles away from my family. Seven miles isn’t far at all, especially as I drive, but it does mean that I  am no longer living on the next street to my Grandad and Uncle. I also wasn’t living with my Mum and brother anymore, so I needed to swap chats whilst Mum was sorting out the washing for arranged visits. Quality time. I think that people are right when they say that your parents become your friends when you move out and I really enjoy catching up with Mum. It’s predominantly uninterrupted and much more focused, which is lovely. I think it’s the same for Phil and his Dad. We love meeting up and going for walks around St Albans or the Lido. We set aside a day and it’s always really nice to catch up. 

Here are some of my favourite family meet ups from 2015:

   
    
    
   
   
    
    
    
    
   
Hope you enjoy spending time with your loved ones as much as I do!

L x

Aah, February. The final month of winter, the month of love and the promise of Spring. Poor Grandad was in hospital for the whole of February, so what I mostly remember from February is traipsing back and forth to the hospital every day and having a Costa Coffee tea cake for dinner most nights. The silver lining of this situation was that I did get to see a lot of my family and hidden amongst the stress and worry were some funny little moments. 

Fortunately I did manage to squeeze in other things between hospital trips including wintry walks with our fur ball, Holly.

   
 
  

We also had a little smittering of snow. I have mixed feelings about snowfall, I love it when it is convenient, for example, if I don’t have to go anywhere in a hurry. I hate it if it’s on a week day.

  
Phil found his suit for the wedding! This was quite exciting and a complete surprise because we just happened to spot it whilst out shopping and fell in love with the colour.

 
  I finally got round to reading ‘The Fault in our Stars’. What an amazing book. Perfectly written. It’s on my list of favourites!

   

  

 We also had a lovely valentines’ meal in Holborn. Yes, I did have all of those ribs to myself.

We were also lucky enough to hit up the Game of Thrones exhibition at the O2. We are both huge fans of the show, so it was brilliant to have a nosey at the props. They also had a lot of interactive things going on too, which were great fun!

   

  

  

  

  

  

  

 We are so lucky to have a fields with horses in across the road and I sometimes take Holly for a walk to see them. It’s hard to believe we are in London sometimes because it’s such a rural little spot. I’ll really miss it when we move.

   

  

 The boxes arrived for our wedding invitations and they were huge. Holly was very intrigued!

  I also managed to over do it on the burgundy front. It’s one of my favourite colours, especially in the winter months, but a jumper, coat and handbag all at once is a bit much! 

   

 So there you have it, a reflection on February 2015. Can’t wait to see what February 2016 will bring!

L x