Things that remind me of home (52 Lists Project)

I love lists. I have a little book of lists, a week-to-view planner, and eight different folders on my phone for different list categories. Do you get the idea? I cannot function without lists.

I'll leave you to imagine my excitement when I came across Emma's 52 lists project. This project is perfect for me, and I'm slightly gutted that I'm late to the party and have already missed a few lists. Still, better late than never!

So here are a few things that remind me of home...


1. Beautiful views
I'm from a small village in West Wales, and sometimes I really miss this breathtaking view from my parents' back garden...

2. Toffee ice cream

My mother always buys toffee ice cream whenever I go home for a visit, so toffee ice cream will always remind me of home.

3. Warmth

My parents' house is always warm and cosy. My flat might be cosy but it's definitely not warm!

4. Piano music 

I started having piano lessons when I was 6 and they continued until I left home at 18, so hearing beautiful piano music always reminds me of home and our trusty old piano.

5. My parents' voices

I have the most lovely parents in the world, and hearing their voices over the phone always gives me 'hiraeth' for home. 'Hiraeth' is a Welsh word which can't really be adequately translated into English... it loosely translates into 'longing' but has a much deeper meaning. 

6. Muller Corner yoghurts

I can't usually afford to buy these myself and have to stick to cheap yoghurts instead. My parents' fridge is always stocked full of Muller Corner yoghurts so I make the most of them when I go home!

7. Creaky attic ladders

My parents used to have the most creaky attic ladder in Wales. Although it has now been replaced by a lovely wooden staircase, ominously creaky ladders still remind me of home. 

8. Christmas 

Home is the first thing that pops into my head whenever I think of Christmas. This is hardly surprising when I've spent all 28 of my Christmasses at home with my parents and loved every single one of them. I'm getting married this year so the routine will change, but I will always cherish my memories of spending Christmas at home.

What reminds you of home? 

My social media objectives for 2014

I love a good SMART objective. All objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time Bound. If they're not SMART, they're not objectives!

I've decided to set myself a few objectives for my social networking sites this year as it's useful to have some goals to measure yourself against to make sure you're making progress and achieving everything you set out to achieve. I work in communications so I've been busy setting objectives and writing a strategy for my professional social media sites, so I thought it would be beneficial to set some for my personal sites too. I'm a self confessed social media addict and I'm keen to achieve more on my social networking sites this year than I ever have before.

So here are my personal social media objectives for 2014!

My blog 

• To revamp and rename my blog by April 2014. Although I like the way blog looks at the moment, it could look a lot more professional. I also really like the name of my blog, but unfortunately the littlemissbusy.blogspot.co.uk URL isn't available and I want the name to match the URL. 
• To set up a Google Analytics account for my blog by April 2014. I use Google Analytics for work and absolutely love it, but it's always been set up for me by web developers so I need to figure out how to set an account up myself for my own blog. Can anyone link me to any blog posts on how to do this?
• To reach 100 followers on Bloglovin by the end of the year. I will (hopefully) achieve this by publicising my Bloglovin presence a lot more and taking part in more blogger chats. 
• To ensure that I read other blogs and comment on them for at least half an hour every week throughout the year. I'm very busy at the moment with wedding planning so I think this is a realistic time commitment to set for this objective. Achieving this objective will also help me to achieve the second objective!
• To take part in at least two blogger chats per month throughout the year. Blogger chats are a great way to engage with other bloggers and to find new blogs to read. They're also very helpful as you often find out that other bloggers have exactly the same insecurities about their blog as you have. 
• To attend at least one blogger meet-up before the end of the year. I'm very scared about this one, but I'm determined to step out of my comfort zone and just do it!

Follow me on Bloglovin

Twitter

• To reach 350 Twitter followers by the end of the year. I currently have 255 so this is a realistic objective. I will achieve this milestone by taking part in more blogger chats as I've mentioned above and tweeting more about current affairs which are of interest to me, using the relevant hashtags for increased exposure.
• To ensure that I engage with at least 5 new people on Twitter every week throughout the year. These could be fellow bloggers, authors, retailers and so on. 
• To ensure that at least 40% of traffic to my blog is driven there from Twitter. Twitter is the biggest promotional tool I have for my blog at the moment and I'm hoping this will continue throughout 2014.
   

Follow me on Twitter

Pinterest

• To reach 100 followers by the end of the year. Achieving the set objectives below will help me to achieve this milestone. 
• To follow at least 100 new people/boards by the end of the year.
• To have at least one Pinterest 'binge' per week! I absolutely adore Pinterest but I do sometimes forget to visit the site for weeks at a time if I'm particularly busy. 
• To comment on at least 5 pins per week as well as re-pin. I re-pin loads of pins on Pinterest but never take the time to comment, which means I'm not making the most of my engagement opportunities.
   

Follow me on Pinterest

Instagram

• To reach 150 followers by the end of the year. I currently only have 30 followers as I've only had an Instagram account for two months, but I think it has huge potential for me so I think this is a realistic objective. 
• To follow 100 new people by the end of the year. I currently follow 115 people, most of which are bloggers or Disney people.
• To make better links between Instagram and my blog by promoting at least one photo from my blog on Instagram every week. I love a bit of social media integration. 
• To have an Instagram 'binge' at least once per week where I like and comment on other people's photos. Again, I can't expect people to engage with my photos if I'm not reciprocating. It's all about two-way communication. I do have difficulty with Instagram as I have a Blackberry which means that I don't have the official Instagram app. The Blackberry version is called 'Blackgram' (I know, awful name) and is very glitchy, to put it nicely!

Follow me on Instagram 

LinkedIn

• To reach 300 connections by the end of the year. I currently have 240 connections and this number tends to creep up quite slowly, so this is a realistic objective. 
• To follow 10 new company pages before the end of the year. There are lots of relevant company pages on LinkedIn with interesting content, both from a professional and a personal perspective. 
• To join 5 new LinkedIn groups before the end of the year, and to engage with these groups as and when interesting topics arise. This will be a great way of engaging with like-minded people and picking up tips on various topics which interest me. 

I'll write a 'Halfway through the year' post in June to let you know how I'm getting on these objectives. I'm now off to read and comment on some blogs... I'm going to start as I mean to go on! 

What I bought with my Christmas money...

I received lots of Christmas money thanks to the generosity of my family and Neil's family, so I couldn't wait to hit the January sales. I don't treat myself very often as I'm obsessed with saving money, particularly at the moment as we're getting married and buying a house this year, so it was nice to have some money to spend on myself. 2014 is going to be a very expensive year so this might be my only chance to treat myself!

I needed to buy a few new dresses as a lot of my existing dresses are too big, so I decided to raid New Look. I used to absolutely love New Look in my teens and early twenties, but there was a period a few years ago when I couldn't find anything I liked in there because everything was either too expensive or too chavtastic for me. However, they've really improved in the last year or so and I now constantly have a few New Look dresses on my wish list.

I needed a new 'dressy' dress and this one was just what I had in mind. It fits perfectly, it's the exact shape I like and it's very pretty! The lace detail is beautiful. The belt came with the dress and it was in the sale, so I was really pleased with this purchase. This black dress is now sold out, but you can still buy it in burgundy. 

This daisy dress cost £10 from £22.99. It's perfect for work or for an evening out as it can be dressed up or down depending on which accessories or shoes I decide to wear, and I really love the pattern. This dress has now sold out. 

I've also had my eye on this beautiful ditzy dress from Animal for months, but it's always been too expensive for me to buy until the price was dropped in their Christmas sale. Look how pretty it is! Please ignore my pasty legs. This will be great for work and for holidays, and I'm already looking forward to wearing it on our honeymoon to Italy. I actually bought this dress from Extreme Pie's website as it was a few pounds cheaper on there. In case you hadn't already guessed, I love flowery clothing.

I've needed a new little black bag for ages and I absolutely fell in love with this black lace bag from New look as soon as I saw it. It was a bargain at £9.99! The strap can either be worn over the shoulder or tucked in and carried as a clutch bag. I also desperately need to learn to walk in heels so I couldn't resist buying these beautiful black lacy shoes. I can't actually walk in them yet... hopefully practice makes perfect. Both the bag and shoes conveniently go perfectly with the new lacy dress shown above!

I also thought I'd buy some nice patterned tops to wear to work or for other more casual occasions, and I found these two at very reasonable prices in Debenhams and New Look. I love the bird images on the first Red Herring top from Debenhams. I wouldn't usually buy white tops but I thought this one was really cute. As for the second top from New Look, I never thought peplum tops would be very flattering for my shape but I've now discovered that they actually look quite nice and they're very different to the tops I usually wear. More flowers!

I also took the opportunity to buy a new Yankee Candle as mine has nearly run out. £8 in Asda for a medium sized candle... bargain! I can't get enough of the Rainwashed Berry scent.

Lastly, I bought Ratatouille and the Bon Jovi Greatest Hits album as they've both been on my wish list for years. They happened to be very low in price on Amazon after Christmas so I snapped them up while I had the funds to do so. Ratatouille is a lovely film (all Disney films are lovely), and everyone loves listening to a bit of Bon Jovi. It's my liiiiiiiiiife!

I'm really pleased with all these bargains and feel as if I made my Christmas money stretch very far indeed. I bought lots of different things for various occasions and have now had my shopping fix for the year!

What did you buy in the January sales?

Idyllic Images #21

The sky above my office a few weeks ago... beautiful!

I'm going to see McBusted!

If you kept up to date with my Christmas blog posts, particularly the post on my fake Christmas with Neil, you'll already know that I'm going to see McBusted in May! Squuuueeeeee! However, even though I've already mentioned it on my blog, it really deserves a whole post dedicated to it.

I was so so excited when I opened this beauty on Fake Christmas Day... I nearly didn't notice the tickets as they were attached to Donald Duck's hand and I was too busy admiring the teddy for a second before I cottoned on to the fact that there was yet another present to open. Neil wanted it to be as big a surprise as possible which was why he wrapped the tickets with the teddy. That's good planning!

I absolutely love McFly... this is definitely not a secret. I was also a pretty big Busted fan back in the day, so I absolutely can't wait to see these two bands performing together at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. I couldn't afford to get tickets myself so I'm massively grateful to Neil for getting them for me for Christmas. I'm especially grateful as he has to come with me and put up with my screeching. Please start sending your sympathy vibes to him now, he'll be very appreciative. 

I've seen McFly a grand total of eight times but I've never seen Busted live, so it'll be a whole new experience for me. I'm so excited about hearing lots of the old songs like Five Colours in Her Hair, All About You, Crashed the Wedding and Air Hostess played and sung by both bands together. I almost want to do a little excitement dance right now!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I thought I'd post two videos from McFly and Busted's early days. I really hope they play both these songs at the gig... my heart might leap out of my chest with excitement but it'll be totally worth it. 

Obviously, McFly

Year 3000, Busted

All I need now is for McBusted to announce that One Direction are supporting them on this tour... highly unlikely, but that would really spiral my excitement out of control. 

104 days to go!

Review of Barry M Matte nail polish

Assuming that you're a regular reader of my blog, you'll already have read about my love for Barry M in my first ever nail varnish post. However, I sadly have to admit that I'm disappointed with their latest addition to my collection.

I bought the Vanilla Matte nail polish a few weeks ago as I'd read lots of good reviews about the Matte range on various beauty blogs. I knew it would be vastly different to my beloved Gelly range, but I fancied a change and wanted to try something different. 

The nail varnish is much easier to apply than the Gelly polish, but even with two coats the colour just isn't very striking. I know the Vanilla shade is quite light and understated, but I was hoping the finished result would look more elegant and a lot less dull. I'm also definitely not a fan of the 'matte' look after trying this nail varnish... the shinier the better! 

It just looks a bit dull...

On the plus side, I've had this nail varnish on for five days now and it hasn't chipped at all, so it does seem to be more robust and less susceptible to wear-and-tear than the Gelly shades. I'm sure I will use this polish again as this is a good understated look for more serious occasions, but I don't think I'll be buying any more polishes from the Matte range unfortunately. 

This just means I'll have to keep buying from the Gelly range! Has anyone else tried Barry M's Matte range? What did you think?

Restaurant review: Bella Italia

Bella Italia is definitely one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Cardiff. There are two Bella Italia restaurants in Cardiff city centre, but my favourite by far is the restaurant in the Brewery Quarter. It's much bigger than the little restaurant on St Mary's Street so the tables aren't squashed so close together which generally provides a nicer dining experience.

We usually order a starter as well as a main course when we go to Bella Italia as they have such a good selection. Also, we're big fans of Italian food so like to make the most of the occasion we visit an Italian restaurant. When we visited in December, I decided to order the Polpette for my starter (baked spiced pork and beef meatballs). If I'm ordering a starter and there are meatballs on the starter menu, it's very likely that I'll end up ordering them. Bella Italia always provide plenty of meatballs and they're smothered in a rich tomato sauce and melted mozzarella. The toasted ciabatta is a nice carby bonus! Although the restaurant was very busy, the starters arrived within ten minutes of placing our order.

There were definitely no complaints from me on the starter. Delicious as usual! The meatballs were packed with flavour without being too spicy, and the melted mozzarella and tomato sauce were the perfect accompaniment. I am a massive fan of mozzarella... some call me boring, but I love it!

I decided to order a calzone for my main course. I tried the Pollo e Spicani calzone a few months ago which was very tasty, but this time I fancied trying the Carne calzone as I was craving a bit of a meat feast. This variation of the calzone contains pancetta, spicy meatballs, red onion, mozzarella and beef ragu. For those of you who have never heard of a calzone, it's basically a pizza folded in half. 

This photo isn't very impressive as it looks a bit like a very ordinary pasty. I should really have cut into the calzone then taken the photo, but I was too hungry at the time to think about the most effective way to photograph my food. As you can see, Bella Italia's calzone is always served with a generous dollop of tomato sauce . 

This calzone tasted like a cross between a bolognese and a very meaty pizza... two of my favourite things! The dough doesn't look very appetising in the photo but it was just the right consistency and was crunchy in all the right places. Again, the mozzarella was a very effective addition and the beef ragu was spectacular. Also, I definitely exceeded my meatball allowance on this particular day as the calzone was packed full of them. 

I love the rustic interior in Bella Italia. The rustic theme is consistent from their bar area to their menus to their tables and chairs. I love the combination of a good theme and striking branding in restaurants.... I've always got my marketing hat on. The staff are always friendly and attentive, and we're not usually kept waiting too long for our food. 

Bella Italia is cheaper than Bellini's, and I would argue that both restaurants are very comparable in terms of quality and their menu choices.  Although Bellini's serves an amazing bolognese, I prefer Bella Italia as the atmosphere is always more relaxed and homely. I feel under dressed when I go to Bellini's as it seems a bit more 'posh'! 

Have you been to Bella Italia recently? What did you think?

Idyllic Images #20

Full moon!

200 posts!

Newsflash... I've reached the very exciting (for me) 200 post landmark! I'm very pleased with this achievement as I've only been blogging properly for just over a year, and last year was an extremely busy one where I sometimes struggled to fit everything in.

When I first decided to start blogging regularly, I was worried that I'd constantly struggle to fit it in with my hectic schedule. However, I've found that writing is a good way to relax and to make sure I put aside some time in the evenings to do something I'm interested in, even if it's only for fifteen minutes.

When I reached my 100th post a few months ago, I wrote a blog post about my ten most read posts up to that point. I've decided to do the same for my 200th post... not very imaginative, I know.

So here are my top ten most read posts so far...

Film review: The Great Gatsby
Frantic about Florida #2
Cineworld Unlimited Card
There's no surprise quite like a McFly surprise
Duffy the Disney Bear
Hollister Addison... best perfume ever?
Costa, Nero or Starbucks?
New York #4: Rockefeller Center
Barry M's Gelly Range
Marks & Spencer's £10 Dine in for two

Apparently the people who stumble upon my blog are interested in films and the cinema, Florida, McFly, Duffy the Disney Bear, perfume, hot chocolate, New York, nail varnish and food! I am genuinely curious about the reading trends on my blog so it's good to have a rough idea about what posts people are most interested in.

Have you read the posts above? Which posts would you like to see more of in 2014?

Christmas presents... the clothing edition

I say 'clothing'... this post will mainly focus on the new pyjamas and fluffy socks I had for Christmas. However, I did have two other very exciting things for Christmas which I've photographed below...

I had these beautiful brown suede boots from Fat Face for Christmas from my parents. I've wanted these boots for ages but could never justify buying them for myself. I love the colour and the button detail, as well as the beautifully fluffy interior. They look great with skinny jeans, hoodie and denim skirt, or my casual dresses. I haven't been able to wear the boots much yet as the weather has been so wet and I don't want to ruin them... hopefully the end of January will be drier! I love them :)

I also had the latest Welsh rugby shirt from Neil's parents for Christmas which I was very excited about, particularly as I'm going to two Welsh Six Nations games this year. My old Welsh shirt was way too big for me so this one came along at just the right time. Roll on the Six Nations!

I love pyjamas! Neil bought the lovely three piece Winnie the Pooh pyjama set for me, and the pink spotty pyjamas are from my parents. A lot of the pyjamas I've had for years are too big for me now, so I might have to organise a pyjama audit and clearout to make room for new ones. If you don't love pyjamas, I don't think we can be friends. 

Everyone loves fluffy socks! I had these beauties from Sarah, my parents and Nicola and I've already worn them all at least once. They're super cosy in the winter and I always stick a pair on as soon as I get home from work. When it's extra cold, I make the bold decision to wear slippers as well with the fluffy socks underneath. Crazy times. 

What clothes did you have for Christmas? I've bought a lot of clothes with my Christmas money, so there's a blog post to follow on those soon!

Christmas presents... the teddy edition

I love teddies more than any adult should. Do you remember my blog post entitled 'Too many teddies'? I definitely have far more teddies now than I did then. Most of my teddies have actually been bought for me as presents, and this Christmas brought even more fluffy gifts.

I had 6 teddies for Christmas... I think I need a bigger flat! Neil bought me the adorable Mickey Mouse teddy in Pluto pyjamas below (on the left), all the way from Downtown Disney in Florida. I absolutely loved this teddy when I spotted it while we were on holiday in September, but didn't have enough money left to buy it for myself. Neil also bought Donald Duck and Mike Wazowski for me... look how cute they are! I've wanted a Donald Duck teddy for a while to add to my classic Disney character collection, and Mike Wazowski in his MU cap has been on my wish list since seeing Monsters University last year.

I also had two teddies from Neil's parents. They bought me the Mickey Mouse teddy on the right hand side, holding a miniature Duffy the Disney Bear, and the Minnie Mouse teddy in the pretty gold dress. I've had my eye on this Mickey teddy for ages as I'm such a big Duffy fan, and the Minnie teddy is so sweet and is a limited edition product. She has '2013' stitched into her left shoe! Neil's parents bought me the '2012' Minnie for the Christmas before last, so I'm building quite a Minnie collection. 

Last but definitely not least, Neil bought this Nemo mug from the Disney store which came complete with a little Nemo teddy. Cutest face ever? Just look at those eyes! I already have a Nemo cushion which Neil bought for me in Florida a few years ago, but this little Nemo is possibly even cuter.

Did you have any teddies for Christmas? Send me your links!

Christmas presents... the baking edition

This is the third post in my 'What I got for Christmas' series... I'm feeling very blessed to have had so many lovely presents. Thanks again, everyone!

After making shortbread for the first time a year ago, I've been well and truly bitten by the baking bug. I don't bake too often as I'm very wary about putting on weight (and about spending too much money on ingredients!), but I find it very therapeutic and rewarding when I do decide to do some baking. As a result, I decided to put some baking accessories on my Christmas list this year.

I love these pretty tins my parents bought for me for Christmas. I always store my baking creations in various tupperware containers which isn't ideal, so I was delighted with these tins which will be used especially to store my biscuits, cupcakes, brownies and whatever else I decide to bake in the neat future. They're so beautiful!

I also had this apron, baking mitt and tea towel set from my parents. I always end up with floury clothes (and shoes and face and hair...) whenever I do any baking so this apron will come in very handy. I also love the fact that my apron, oven mitt and tea towels will be coordinated! I love the cheery pattern on these items and will probably end up wearing my apron every time I cook to protect my clothes. I'm sure some people will think it's quite sad that I'm this excited about an apron... each to their own!

I also had this lovely Hummingbird Bakery book from Nicola which I mentioned in my first 'What I got for Christmas' post. I can't wait to bake some tasty items from my book while wearing my new apron, then storing the finished products in my new tins! 

Did you get any baking goodies for Christmas?

Christmas presents... the toiletry edition

This is the second post in my 'What I got for Christmas' series (read the first post here), and it's a bit of a bumper category. I love toiletries of any kind so I was really pleased when I had so many for Christmas. Edwina bought me a huge variety with lovely explanatory gift tags on each one, and I also had some from my parents, Neil, Phillipa, Siân and Amy. You can just never have too many! I'm now nicely stocked up so I technically shouldn't need to buy anything for myself for ages... I'll see how long I last before I crack. I have a slight addiction to buying toiletries!

My favourites from the pile above are the Peaches & Clean face wash, Iced Strawberry Dream shower gel (smells good enough to eat!), the Minnie Mouse toiletry bag and the Palmolive shampoo for coloured hair. I can't wait to start using all these and they're already all standing neatly in line ready for when my existing bottles/packets run out. 

Moving on to the gift sets I received, I especially love the set of mini Body Shop body butters from Neil as well as the giant Strawberry shower gel. He bought me big bottles of Satsuma and Lemon shower gels from the Body Shop last Christmas and they're both amazing, so I'm expecting great things from the Strawberry edition. I also love the Soap & Glory set from Phillipa and am excited about trying The Scrub of Your Life for the first time as it's been on my wishlist for ages. I had the very pretty Guess Girl gift set from Siân and I'm already obsessed with the perfume scent. I'll definitely be buying more when this bottle runs out! While we're on the subject of perfume, Britney Spears' Curious perfume is an old favourite so I was very pleased when I found a bottle of Curious under the Christmas tree from my parents. I'll definitely be smelling lovely for the next few months!

Lastly, Neil bought me four bottles of Barry M nail varnish for Christmas... he knows me well! I love the limited edition glitter polish, and I always jump at the chance to extend my Gelly collection. These shades are called Blackberry, Blueberry and Plum and they all look really striking. I'll have to write another update on my Gelly collection soon... it's growing rapidly!

What toiletries did you have for Christmas? Do you love the Body Shop, Soap & Glory and Barry M products as much as I do?

Christmas presents... the entertainment edition

I won't be writing just one 'What I got for Christmas' post this year as I like to write about things in detail, so the post would be far too long with way too many photos. Instead, I thought I'd write a series of posts on the gifts I had for Christmas, split into a few different categories. I love categorisation.

I had so many lovely presents from my family, Neil, Neil's family, friends from work and other friends scattered around the country... thanks everyone! :)  Hopefully everyone enjoyed the presents I gave to them as much as I love the gifts from them.

The first category I've chosen is... Entertainment!

I had 5 DVDs for Christmas this year from my family. We watched Nativity 2 on Christmas Day, and I can't wait to watch the others. I've never seen Cars but I've heard great things about it. Toy Story is just a classic which everyone loves, and I loved Olympus has Fallen and Gatsby when I saw them in the cinema. I want to make sure I watch all my new DVDs before the end of January... I'll let you know how I get on. I think I might need a new DVD rack!

I also had the Nativity soundtrack for Christmas from my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I absolutely love the Nativity and Nativity 2 films and soundtrack. With catchy songs such as Sparkle & Shine and Good News Song, I'll definitely be listening to this CD all year round and not just when it's Christmas!

I also had two lovely books for Christmas this year... The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World from my brother, and The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book from Nicola, Mathew and Osian. The Disney book is already making me 'homesick' for Florida as I want to find out more and explore some of the hidden and fascinating facts detailed in the book, and I can't wait to bake some treats from the Hummingbird book. 

So I've got plenty to keep me occupied for the next few months! What DVDs, CDs and books did you have for Christmas? 

Happy New Year... exciting times ahead!

Happy new year, everyone! What did everyone get up to on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day? I thought I'd say hello to the new year by listing a few things I'm looking forward to in 2014...

1. Wedding
2014 is the year of our wedding! The church and reception venue are all booked and Save the Date cards have been sent out, but I'm looking forward to sorting out all the finer details before the big day in August. I haven't had too many 'bridezilla' moments yet... watch this space.

2. New house
I'm looking forward to becoming a home owner this year as Neil and I will hopefully have our own house within the next few months. We'll be moving in together after the wedding and I can't wait to choose furniture, curtains, utensils, rugs and so on... Pinterest will come in very useful for the next year or so!

3. Honeymoon
I'm so excited about having a long relaxing holiday in September after the wedding. We're hoping to start booking flights and so on in the next few weeks and will probably be visiting two or three Italian cities. Italian food is amazing... I can't wait!

4. McBusted
I'm off to see McBusted in May! Neil bought me tickets for Christmas after I moaned for weeks about not being able to afford to get any. I've already seen McFly 8 times but have never seen Busted, so I'm in for a treat.

5. Hen weekend
I'm also very excited about my hen weekend which will be taking place in July. I'll be having one hen weekend with university friends, school friends and friends based in Cardiff, then another hen do with my friends from work. They will both undoubtedly be Disney-themed and full of food!

6. Six Nations
I always look forward to the Six Nations, and this year Neil has bought tickets to two of the Welsh games in the Millennium Stadium. We're off to the first game and the last game, and I'm hoping for another championship win for Wales. Fingers crossed!

7. Russell Howard
Neil very generously bought tickets for us to see Russell Howard in February (he's a keeper!). Russell Howard is one of my favourite comedians and he's always been hilarious when I've seen him in the past, so I'm very excited about this little outing.

8. Fake Christmas 
I'll be celebrating Fake Christmas with my university friends this month. We've decided we prefer to celebrate Fake Christmas in January as it expands the Christmas period even further. I'm excited about Kirsty's amazing Christmas dinner, more presents and traditional Fake Christmas games such as 'rate the boys'!

9. Mini break
Neil and I are hoping to have a little mini holiday in the next few months just to get away for a few days. Some possible options are Snowdonia, Dublin, London and Disneyland Paris. Any other recommendations for a relaxing little break?

10. Christmas 2014
Christmas 2014 will be our first Christmas as a married couple! 356 days to go :)