Hygge

Hygge was massive a few years ago now but I recently took a proper look into what it was all about. The more I look into the way of living in the Scandi countries the more I’m drawn to them. Their peaceful living and appreciation of happiness just seems so idyllic.

Hygge is all about cosiness and that contented feeling. This I’ve realised why I love autumn and winter so much, you don’t get that feeling in the warmer months (it’s more a feeling of I’m melting). I’m writing this snuggled on my sofa with multiple cushions and blankets, with candles burning and a nice cup of coffee with oat milk, a truly happy place.

I’m using hygge to inspire my appreciation of these moments that I’ve always loved, and to have more of these this autumn and winter. My house will be the cosiest, warmest little space with great food, drinks, people and all the candles and blankets I can fit in.

Roll on the rest of my favourite time of year.

September Buys

I started the month with a couple of shoe purchases, as you can never have too many.

The first pair are some a spotted when browsing through ASOS, I saw them and fell in love with their sparkle. I’ve pretty much given up on heels and become confident in choosing flats for all occasions because I feel confident in them. I bought these as I thought they would be perfect for when I’m a bridesmaid at one of my best friends weddings next March. The only problem I have is not wearing them out until then, I’ve had to hide these in the wardrobe so I don’t get tempted.

The second pair are a Next buy. I went in to look for some new black flats which I wear pretty much everyday at work. Instead of black I came out with these check beauties with a nice splash of yellow to finish. They go so well with my culottes from last month.

I ended the month on holiday picking up some bargains from the Yumi store that was closing down. I couldn’t say no to this check dress for £15, it’s perfect for winter and is super comfy. I also spotted this pretty star dress for £10, which can be dressed up or down. Along with these I picked up a bright high waisted bikini for only £5, it will be perfect for our holiday to Greece next year.

Whilst in St Ives we also visited the Brocante shop, I could have bought almost everything but managed to refrain. I did however pick up a new cookbook, which I’m super excited to try out. I’ve been gradually going meat and dairy free, and anything that shows me how to make tasty food quickly is a winner. My husband also spotted this lovely little book on Mindfulness. It’s got some great tips and is something I’ll be reaching for regularly.

The Wedding Weekend

On the 11th August I had the pleasure of watching two of my best friends get married. I’ve been looking forward to the day for over a year, which flew by so quickly.

The evening before I stayed with the grooms family as my husband was best man, which he did an amazing job of I will add. We went for dinner at a local pub to start the celebrations.

I picked up a lovely red lipsy dress and some beautiful sparkly red flats from next to wear on the day.

We started the wedding day by getting ready and having a good fry up. It was lovely to see all the groomsmen together, along with seeing the grooms excitement and nerves increasing as the time got nearer.

As the groomsmen had their photos scheduled before the ceremony we arrived early and I got my first look at the venue and decor they’d picked. I’d heard and seen a few things but it was so nice to see it all together. They did a great job of decorations and cute little touches, such as the mirror seating plan, cute place names (mine now sits on my dressing table), the favours (cute jars of jam and heart sweets), the sweet table and the adorable kids goodie bags, which I was slightly jealous of as I wanted one for myself.

The venue itself is beautiful, and thankfully the weather held out until late evening. The grounds are gorgeous with a small garden and a stunning fountain outside the room they’d hired for the reception. The main ceremony room has a rustic barn feel with a modern touch. The petals and lanterns added a nice subtle touch to the aisle. All of the decor fit together nicely, it was very elegant and classy.

The ceremony was beautiful, and I somehow managed to just about hold in the tears. Even after seeing both my friends and their family tear up and hearing their vows. It is really such a special thing seeing the love between two people. I remember once reading a photographer saying they preferred to look at the groom when the bride enters rather than the bride. I can completely see why and I’ll be doing things at all weddings going forward, the look of happiness and love is something so genuine and beautiful.

After the ceremony there was the standard signing of the book and a chance for some photos. I got one of my favourites of them both looking so nice and the bride pulling a silly face, it sums her up so well; classy but also a little crazy and fun.

The dress, oh my god what a dress, it was amazing. I’d seen a glimpse in a photo before but never expected it to be so big, it was stunning. It’s not something I’d of picked for her but I really couldn’t imagine anything better. It was perfect for her and looked truly beautiful. Although sitting down was a bit of a task for her and I can’t even imagine how she managed to go for a wee. At one point she gave up and sat on the floor, where I managed to snap this super cute photo of the bride and groom.

The rest of the day was just as lovely, the food was great and the speeches almost got me teary again. They had this lovely cake made by one of the bridesmaids and had their first dance to Ed Sheeran. I enjoyed some dancing and of course had to visit the sweet table. Their family were lovely and we ended up giving a lift to a couple of them as they we drunkenly trying to fit far too many people into one taxi.

I had an amazing day and I will always look back at their wedding with a big smile. I can’t wait to see all their professional photographs as their photographer was lovely and from what I’ve seen so far he’s very good at what he does.

I wish them all the love and happiness, I can’t wait to be part of their future and see them have a long and happy marriage.

August Buys

I’ve picked up quite a few new clothes in August. I’m

Near the start of the month we took a trip up to East Midlands Designer outlet and I ventured into the Yumi shop there. They have so many lovely clothes, especially their dresses. I picked up a lovely yellow dress, this has a nice frill detail and a waist band which adds another bit of detail and shape at the waist. I also got a lovely blue dress with a flower and butterfly pattern, I’ve had so many compliments when wearing this. They both fit so well, give you a lovely shape and are super comfy to wear. Lastly on my trip to Yumi I got some new sunglasses, they’re a bit different but I love them.

Later on in the month we nipped into Tesco for a few food bits and I also managed to come out with clothes and the cutest tea cup and coaster set.

I picked up 2 pairs of culottes and a yellow polo neck t shirt. I’ve been trying to add more colour to my wardrobe, yellow, red and green are my go to colours right now as they work so well with my red hair. Which is why I got the dark red and dark green culottes, but they had a nice range of other colours too. I’ve been wearing these so much for work and at the weekend with my converse.

The tea cup is massive, personally I think all tea cups should be this size as you can never have too much tea. The matching coaster is a cute addition meaning I obviously had to have them both. They’re also super affordable and dishwasher safe. All my cups of tea are coming in this right now.

A day in Matlock Bath and Bakewell

For my husbands birthday this year we took a trip to Matlock Bath followed by Bakewell with our best friends.

It’s been quite a few years since we last visited Matlock Bath and my husband thought it would be nice to take a trip there with our friends to celebrate him making it another year round the sun. On the way there our friends asked if we could also visit Bakewell whilst we were out that way, as we’d never been and they were telling us how nice it is, we thought why not.

On the way there we drove though some beautiful areas of Derbyshire and I eyed up plenty of pretty dream houses. We arrived in Matlock Bath which was pretty busy and with a few travellers setup in the car park it wasn’t easy to find somewhere to park up. We got a spot and walked into the main shop area on the hunt for some lunch. Obviously that had to be fish and chips so we stopped in at the lakeside fish and chip shop and got a nice spot outside.

After lunch we were very stuffed and took a walk back through Matlock Bath, stopping in at the sweet shop and wanting it all. We then took the short drive to Bakewell.

We got a spot in the centre of Bakewell and walked over to the river and bridge, which is covered in lovers padlocks. We then walked round the shop area and over to a little garden which was full of beautiful flowers.

Bakewell is a beautiful little country village, with a lovely riverside and cute little shops and food places. Unfortunately I was still getting through my fish and chip food baby so couldn’t sample any of the lovely places we saw. However, I’m planning another trip back soon so I can eat in the little cafe that does vegan food and get a proper Bakewell pie, which I’m told is good with cream or ice cream.

Back at the Gym

You may see this post a few times on the this blog, but we’ve started back at the gym recently and after 4 visits I’m feeling good and excited for our new routine.

We’re starting with 3 days a week, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday. Eventually we want to increase this but don’t want to make it too much to start with.

I think every time we’ve joined a gym we’ve said we will go early before work. Has this ever happened? No.

However, we made it to the gym on Wednesday and I felt amazing for it. We even made it into work slightly earlier than usual. I felt a sense of accomplishment that I’d been and worked out already. It really set me up for the day and somehow I was full of energy, until I got cosy on the sofa when I got home that is.

I think before I’ve always worried I won’t be able to get ready, I’ll look a mess or I’ll be rushed, but that wasn’t the case at all. We went at the weekend before and tried out getting ready and wondered what all my fuss had been about, it was perfectly fine and I think I look decent and not like a hot mess.

I’m going to put in my best and continue with my gym journey.

Hen Weekend in Albufeira

At the start of July I headed off to Albufeira for my best friends hen weekend. This was the first hen weekend or girls holiday I’d been on, so I was both excited and nervous.

As you can read in my last post, it didn’t start too well with my flying issues but once we got to the villa I put that behind me and got onto enjoying the weekend.

We had a lovely bright red villa for 3 nights which was not far out of the Albufeira strip, but far enough away that it was very peaceful during the day. The villa had plenty of rooms, bathrooms and a nice pool area which was great for the 9 of us. I shared a downstairs room with my other best friend.

When we got in the majority of ladies headed to the local supermarket for supplies and 3 of us stayed behind to decorate. One of the hens had ordered balloons, decor and some pool inflatables, so we had lots of work blowing up all of those up before the rest got back.

After some pizzas and drinks we got ready with our mini mouse ears and headed out for our first night on the strip. The owner of the villa picked us up and dropped us at his recommended bar at the end of the strip called Albufeira 66. If you’re heading to the strip I’d recommend a visit, it was a good bar with nice bar staff decent music and you can dance on the end of the bar, which is obviously one of the first things we did. Later on we moved next door for more drinks and a few of the hens tried out their mechanical bull, which was pretty hilarious.

By the end of the night we’d visited a few other bars, purchased flip flops and were carrying our heels and ended the night with a visit to the kebab shop before hailing a taxi back. This night ended hilariously with the hen being so drunk she face planted the seat in the taxi, was giggling so much and then passed out half way down the stairs, meaning we had to carry her back up. I’ll forever remind her of that night and my favourite picture of the weekend is her passed out at the top of the stairs.

The next day we chilled out by the pool and after the late night people were up surprisingly early, although with a sore head. By lunch time we took a walk into the strip for food and to check out the England game. The atmosphere in the bars was pretty awesome, even though I’m not into football it was a great experience, especially since we won.

Saturday evening was another trip into the strip, which started with dinner in a nice restaurant at the more quiet end of the strip. We then moved onto some bars where the hen got to make a cocktail and we got to pick the playlist, we put on the most cheesy pop songs to start our night. We eventually ended up back at Albufeira 66 and spent the rest of the night dancing away in there. We somehow ended up with an England flag which made a good limbo stick replacement and got plenty of random people joining in. We ended the night with a ride back to the villa in a tuk tuk.

Sunday day time was much the same as Saturday, we chilled by the pool and a few of us headed out for some lunch. We decided to have a more chilled Sunday evening and headed into the Old Town, which seemed lovely and I wouldn’t mind heading back there some day. We had dinner in a lovely restaurant on the beach front, which consisted of a pitcher of sangria, calamari and veggie fajitas. I was stuffed and in a very happy food coma. We had a look at some shops on the way back and I some how managed to fit the most amazing mint chocolate gelato into my already full belly. We ended the night with drinks around the pool, some hen games such as Mr & Mrs and advice for the bride.

It was such a shame to head back on the Monday, although I was so excited to see my husband, the cats and my own bed.

After this weekend I would be excited to go on more girly weekends. Being quite awkward around new people I have to admit I was quite anxious but I had an amazing weekend that I will always remember.

Anxiety – My Problems With Flying

At the start of the July I went to Portugal for one of my best friends hen do. It’s been a few years since I last got on a plane and I know it’s never been a great experience.

It wasn’t until I got on the plane that I realised that flying makes me extremely anxious. I spent the whole flight out there feeling nauseous with my head on the tray table and eyes shut. I was working through calming meditation techniques and attempting to sleep to get through the experience. I somehow managed to make it through the 2 and a half hours including the landing without throwing up but it took quite a while to get back to my usual self.

The experience got me thinking about what causes my issues with planes. I’m still not fully clear and I think there are a few different reasons.

Motion Sickness – ever since I was little I’ve suffered with travel & motion sickness. It wasn’t the best being the one with the bucket on the bus during any school outings, and I feel like I can’t handle many rides. Which also means I’ve not plucked up the courage to try out any big rollercoasters.

The fear of something going wrong – I think this is quite common but being in a big metal tube flying through the air feels a bit wrong. If something goes wrong then it could be very bad and the different noises and feelings throughout the flight are rather worrying.

Claustrophobia – I hadn’t realised that I suffered with this until I started BJJ, but I think I have a small amount of claustrophobia. As soon as I get on the plane the thought of being stuck and not being able to get off and being surround by loads of people in the small space gives me a bit of panic. Which could explain why it gets worse the longer I’ve been on the plane.

All of these along with my phobia of sick and being sick causes me a lot of anxiety. It’s something I’m now able to admit and accept, and now try to work through them. I’ve spent a long time trying to make out it didn’t bother me so I didn’t seem like the strange one, as everyone else is fine flying.

We’re planning on a trip next year for our 30th birthdays so I’ll try again and see if I can find a way to make this experience better.

Book Club – Gone Girl Review

After reading and loving Dark Places I decided to read the highly reviewed Gone Girl, also by Gillian Flynn.

I was gripped at the start and loved the way the story was written going between the 2 main characters each chapter. Flynn has a great way of pulling the reader in and keeping them in suspense and wanting to know more.

I was struggling to put the book down and I NEEDED to know what happened. However after I discovered the truth my interest sort of waned and I struggled to read to the end.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with how the book ended. As it took me so long to finish I’m not sure if it was because of the length of time between me reading the end sections but I felt a small bit let down after all the build up.

I’d say this is a good read but I feel the ending could have been better for me.

Book Club – Darkplaces Review

The second book in our book club was Darkplaces by Gillian Flynn This is a book about a woman called Libby who lost her family to a tragic murder when she was a small child. Throughout the book she visits her Darkplaces to find out what really happened that night.

The book reminded me of watching one of the crime/murder documentaries, which I love watching. I was gripped, I wanted to know what happened as much as Libby along with being intrigued as to what makes people act the way they do.

The story goes back and forth between the present day and the day of the murder, you get to see the mindset of the family and are constantly guessing who carried out the murders that day. I have to say I would have never guessed the ending, which was a pleasant surprise.

I’d recommend this as a very good read, if crime is something you’re into that is. I’ll be taking a look at some other books by Gillian for my future reads.