When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month or even your year... I'll be there for you!

I had a really lovely weekend catching up with friends and family, which is why I felt this was an appropriate title for this post! Even though I currently feel as if the world has brought me down to my knees (yes, I've chosen to continue with the Friends theme tune references), a good chat makes such a difference.

My weekend started with a visit to Sophie's house for Pimm's, Haribo, crisps, French Fancies and a very long chat. Neil and I often meet with Sophie and her husband as a foursome, but Sophie had the excellent idea of having a girls' night in on this occasion. It was a lovely end to a difficult week, and it's important to note that Sophie makes the best Pimm's cocktail I've ever tasted. Also, why on earth hadn't I tried Strawberries and Cream French Fancies before last weekend?

The next morning, I said goodbye to Neil and Jessie and drove to Portishead to visit Amy, one of my best friends from my university days. This was my first visit to her new flat and I fell in love with it straight away. It's so beautifully organised and colour coordinated, and I particularly loved the colours in the spare bedroom where I had the pleasure of staying!

We drove to Portishead Marina after I arrived and had some lunch, then went for a wander around Clevedon's independent shops before going back to the flat where I was introduced to Stella for the first time (the TV programme, not an actual person called Stella). We then went out to Venga for dinner where we had the most amazing tapas. I chose an amazing sticky chicken dish along with what can only be described as a sausage and chorizo feast, and we shared a dish of patatas bravas. We also shared a hefty portion of Eton Mess for dessert! We spent the whole dinner reminiscing about our university days and sharing some hilarious recollections... that's definitely the most I've laughed for quite some time.

Our meal was on Portishead High Street which was full of beautiful hanging baskets in honour of the 'Portishead in Bloom' campaign. I wish my local high street was that instagrammable! On the Sunday morning, we visited the high street again for brunch in Impero Lounge where I ordered a very tasty breakfast muffin. 

After saying goodbye to Amy at midday, I drove back to Penarth ready for Jessie's first ever puppy training class on Sunday afternoon. I went to the class with her on my own as Neil had been unexpectedly called into work, and I was really proud of the way I handled it. If you'd have told me two years ago that I'd have to take my brand new puppy to a training class with 15 other boisterous puppies, and that I'd have to go on my own, I'd have been petrified! She's already learnt to 'sit', and we're working on 'stay' and 'heel'...

When I got back to the house with a very tired Jessie, my brother and his girlfriend (another Sophie) had arrived ready for a visit. We had a long chat as we hadn't seen either of them for quite some time, then we took Jessie for a walk together before we settled down for fish and chips from the local chippy. Jessie was very excited about having more adoring visitors, and I enjoyed their company too!

I was completely exhausted when I went to bed on Sunday night, but felt really grateful that I'd had so many great catch ups with lovely people.

So even though it definitely hasn't been my day, my week, my month or even my year, I'm really glad I've got plenty of people in my life who are always there for me, even when the rain starts to pour!