OCTOBER 2015

October is the month I finally visited IKEA. 

The Scandinavian design is chic and minimalistic and the shopping experience is revolutionary!! You start in the show rooms with your pen and paper ready, jotting down the aisle and lot numbers of items you love; tables, sofas, cushions, everything!! You then go into the market section where you can collect the smaller items like chopping boards, pots and pans before following the conveyor of people into the third stage of the experience; the warehouse. Floor to ceiling is packed with racking stacked with all the goods from the show room like a modern day Aladdin's cave. People dash about with their trolleys like Santa's helpers, piling them so high they wobble as they go round corners like life-like cartoons. The whole experience was mesmerising; so much so we ended up with a car full of goodies and a delivery the following Tuesday...

It is that time of year again when the christmas decorations are stacked alongside the pumpkins. It is our first halloween in our new home and we bought sweets in preparation for the trick or treaters and carved our pumpkins meticulously. We lit the candles and presented them proudly to the community on top of our wheelie-bins; we were the only people to do so in our street. We had the odd knock on the door and the children who did come where dressed up like pros but lets just say it looks like I will be having Haribo snack packs for the next week. Not to mention having eaten half a tub of Heroes which I won at work for the best dressed on Halloween...had to up hold my HX title.

SEPTEMBER 2015

 So the bridal-frenzie hasn't kicked in yet; this may be because we have yet to set a date or because we have been together so long it does not feel any different!! So to get the ball rolling we visited the National Wedding Fayre in London with our also newly engaged "grown up" friends. These "grown up" friends are the couple you go on double dates with, talk about mortgages and evidently go to wedding fayres with in comparison to our "single" friends who you drink with and swap outrageous stories!! 

Any way the wedding fayre was amazing; there were hundreds of wedding dresses like an ocean of white ruffles and petticoats rolling from one exhibit to the next. Thousands of people stood in awe as the models strutted down the runway, visions in white. I only hope to look that good on my wedding day!! The whole experience opened up our eyes to a wedding abroad as well which we hadn't even considered but are really thinking about now...maybe in a quaint taverna in Italy or on the beach in Cyprus...

Mum came round the other day as we were having plastering work done in the lounge and bought me some gorgeous white roses, (about the only immaculate looking object in the house at the moment!!) The fire place is all in and the flue all secured in the chimney breast so just a couple more licks of paint and the lounge should be pretty much complete. I have already started pulling the plaster off the walls in the stairway and have plans all set out in mind for the kitchen which are being virtually realised by B&Q and I must say I can not contain my excitement!!

On a far less exciting note work is going well at the moment; received two customer compliments about my customer service so I was awarded two bottles of vino from work as a well done!! Know what I am doing this weekend...

AUGUST 2015

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!

So Mikey and I had our offer accepted and we moved in on the 3rd of August; so excited.

We have already done so much to the house with regards to renovation which has taken its toll on my hands with blisters, cuts, scrapes, burns and broken nails but it is so worth it. :) 

Watch this space to keep updated with the renovation, hopefully you are excited as I am to watch the transformation.

We also had our engagement party this month at the pub where we met all those years ago; even the pub has changed name since!! It was such a wonderful evening and I announced my bridesmaids; my three best friends from secondary school and my younger sister. (pictured below)

I also had the bank holiday off which makes a change as working in hospitality and retail you could almost always guarantee you would be working!! I spent mine in the vibrant city of Brighton bidding farewell to my Aussie friend heading home after her many years of travelling. We spent the day eating Lebanese cuisine in a quirky restaurant Jodi had found and strolling the cobbled lanes in the warmth of the sun before having Al Fresco cupcakes. Although Jodi's cupcake looked divine I can safely say I am not a fan of red velvet or cream cheese frosting; my tastebuds can not handle the weird combination of flavours!!

As for the beauty post I think that will be put on hold for the for-seeable future!!

JULY 2015

 So in July we headed over to the rolling hills of Wales with a hand-full of Mikey's family (it would be considered a small army if they all went!!) for a summer retreat in a fantastic rustic cabin found by his younger sister on airbnb.co.uk. The cabin had a very Scandinavian feel with bare wood walls of pale timber and a log burner with a free standing flue. Being on holiday with a hospitality graduate had its perks too with eggs Benedict for breakfast on the cabins veranda overlooking the valley and speciality cocktails!!

The holiday consisted of beach days, salty hair, kayaking, cycling, yoga you name it we did it!! We also had awards which would be announced at the end of every day with the person at the end of the holiday having the most votes being awarded the title; naturally I had lady of leisure... 

Ah c'est la vie!! 

I mentioned before how I was starting to think we wouldn't find anywhere which would fill our expectations or feel like home house hunting but a week later we pulled up outside a property in the small village of Elvington and got "the feeling". We put an offer in on the two bedroom, terraced house the day we viewed it just before we went away so we should know when we get whether or not we are on our way to being home owners!!

JUNE 2015

So not only was my birthday in June but we also.... got ENGAGED!!

In the words of Monica "MY TIME IS FINALLY HERE"  #friendsreference

Below are a few pictures of my ring and where he proposed; it was perfect. I can not believe after all this time it still took me by surprise. It is the most surreal feeling having something you have dreamt about for so long actually play itself out in front of you. But you never imagine how special the person is who plays such a lead role in your fantasy. Mikey and I have known each other for just over five and a half years now which seems like no time at all yet I find it hard to remember a time we weren't together; he is my best friend. Cliché but true.

So now we are engaged and have been approved for a mortgage we are officially home hunting!! We have seen a couple but we haven't fallen in love with any so we are still looking. It is so hard trying to picture somewhere as your own when you have only ever considered one place to be home. I'm starting to think I wont find anywhere which will fill my expectations or feel like home. Are you just meant to find somewhere and make it your home? Or do you get that feeling? Like they rumour about "the dress"; the moment you become that ivory vision? You are the dress?

By the way I haven't forgotten about the beauty post, honestly I am just a bit nervous about putting myself out there when it isn't really something I understand or forte in. I realise this post is also late but in all honestly I wonder sometimes if anyone even reads my posts; it isn't a fashion blog, it isn't even a lifestyle blog I just blog...

MAY 2015

The month of May has proved to be the beginning of a new chapter; Mikey and I have a Mortgage agreement in principle!!

We have seen lots of properties ranging from the affordable to the dream, the realistic to the ideal, the contemporary apartment to the quirky flat. Looking at properties to buy isn't a far cry from clothes shopping; you have the item that is desirable but not quite your style, the item that is your style but hasn't got the quality and finally the item that seems like a good idea at the time but ends up hidden in your wardrobe with the tags still on. The only difference being you don't have to re-mortgage if you want to return...so watch this space!!

I am so excited on embarking on this new chapter of adulthood and the long bank holiday weekend was the perfect way to celebrate. We had a lovely meal at the newly reopened Gatekeeper; the starter of cured meats, mozzarella and sun dried tomato salad I had was amazing. The venue is old style English pub infused with a contemporary London wine bar vibe. Candles held in old spirit bottles; the wax cascading down the glass sides, tea lights in perforated tin pots, mismatching furniture and furnishings. Its cosy and chic in an unpolished way and comes with my highest recommendation.

This new turn in events also had me thinking about how we are growing up and how people perceive me. So I went for the chop. Yep that's right I have embraced the 'Lob'. As much as I loved my edgy cut and bleached waves I felt a more grown up style would be appropriate. I am also on a quest to find 'My Lipstick'. I have experimented with a couple of colours and brands in the past but I think Mac is going to be the winner. There are two colours I am contemplating; one day colour, one evening colour. I'm really liking the Taupe, which is a slightly darker shade than my natural as an everyday lippie however there was this one colour named 'Rebel' which I am warming to as a statement shade. I have always liked the idea of having a 'colour' and a 'scent' which people associate with you. For instance whenever I see an Elizabeth Arden product it makes me think of my Mum. She uses the invisible difference face cream like her Mum before her and I love how it reminds me of them both. I would like to think my scent was Chanel No5 but because of how expensive it is I don't wear it everyday. Mikey said to me once its the smell of my hair that he loves; I have used TRESemmé for as long as I can remember so maybe that's my 'scent'. Anyway once I have accomplished my quest I shall do a beauty post and fill you all in on the outcome!!

P.s. I'm hoping to do more regular posts with more creative names.

APRIL 2015

 So I have finally started my new job!! I love that we get to wear what we want; I went and bought a pair of 'happy' shoes as a result. They are reminiscent in shape to the ones you used to have to wear at primary school with frilly ankle socks and baby blue gingham summer dresses however this particular pair have had a wardrobe update in mirror finish. I feel like I should be in a musical or something when I wear them and they always make me smile hence my 'happy' shoes. FYI Clarks have really stepped up their game in my opinion and buying shoes from them in the near future is pretty much a guarantee. Another recent purchase of mine is 'How to be Parisian' by Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas, Audrey Diwan and Anne Berest; just eating my cereal, sipping Lady Grey (my new found tea obsession) reading the immaculate white hard back left me feeling more sophisticated!! It was refreshing to read; wit hidden between the lines of the Parisian ramblings and in the unconventional layout of the book. For instance there is a double spread of colour swatches, the kind found in Dulux paint booklets all renamed after their association in Paris: café latte, mistress rouge etc. Of course I have tried my very best at Parisian chic previously before but now I feel I am equipped with the correct tools to actually attempt to pull it off. Of course the weather has helped with this optimistic outlook on life; I lay in my Mums garden the other day and positioned my chair in the hope that when the spring breeze rustled the cherry blossom the delicate petals would fall delicately around me, some grazing my cheek as I slept in the warmth of the sun as a passer-by caught their breath at my picturesque beauty. This could have been reality had my Mum not lived in the middle of no where and woke up to find the petals tangled in my hair and an imprint of the cushion branding my face. Ah, c'est la vie!!

 

 

So as I shall soon have mastered the art of balancing full time work with socialising with my friends and family and keeping myself in shape I thought I could increase my blogging to more than once a month. I would like to be a writer, not so much in the novel literature sense of the word but maybe as a columnist but blogging is a great platform to practice so please let me know how I am getting on?!