My birthday celebrations: the 2019 edition

As you'll have guessed from the title of this post, it was my birthday last week. My birthday was on a Tuesday which is arguably the worst day of the working week, so I booked the Monday and Tuesday off work so that I could celebrate for four days.


Saturday 

We made the most of Saturday's beautiful weather and took Jessie for a long walk to Penarth. Our local Coffee #1 branch has got a dog friendly area, so we stopped there for half an hour to have cheesecake and a hot chocolate (and water for Jessie, of course).

On Saturday evening, we went to Miller & Carter in Cardiff Bay for birthday meal number one. I hadn't had the opportunity to dress up for a while, and I took great pleasure in wearing a pretty new dress and highly uncomfortable shoes. 

Although my meal was nice, the service was terrible. They got every part of Neil's order wrong, even his very simple soft drink. It's sadly put us off going back to that particular restaurant for a while, but it'll make a good anecdote at least! 

Sunday 

On the Sunday, we had a lazy morning before doing some shopping and taking Jessie for a walk. I'd arranged to go to stay with my parents for a couple of days, so I packed a few things and headed west at around 4pm. I stopped off at Sarah's house first and was greeted with a little strawberry and white chocolate cake and candles. She'd also prepared fresh strawberries and a Highlights hot chocolate... she knows me so well.

After eating and talking with Sarah for an hour or so, I drove to my parents' house and caught up with them for a few hours before going to bed. I haven't seen them for a few months so it was lovely to catch up properly and to exchange some funny stories. 

Monday 

On the Monday, I'd arranged a spa day in Machynys Pensinsula Golf Club and Premier Spa with Nicola. We got there early and went to the gym for half an hour, then we had our back, neck and shoulder massages before lunch. We went to the hydro spa after lunch and had the whole place to ourselves. We spent loads of time relaxing in the jacuzzi and also made use of the sauna, aromatherapy room, steam room and heated stone chairs. It was such a relaxing day and it definitely encouraged me to make time for spa days more often.

After I got home from the spa day, I went to the Harvester with my parents for birthday meal number two. The three of us ordered the classic burger and it was SO GOOD. You absolutely can't go wrong with the Harvester in our opinion, and the service was impeccable as always. I had a voucher for a free sundae, so we shared two of their giant monstrosities between the three of us. I'm glad we didn't have one each as I couldn't even manage half of mine!

Tuesday 

On Tuesday, it was finally my birthday. I woke up and opened my cards and presents from my parents, then we went to Costa for a celebratory hot chocolate. The weather was absolutely hideous, but I didn't have any outdoor plans so I didn't particularly mind. 

After having some cake with my parents for lunch, I drove back to Penarth in torrential rain to spend the rest of my birthday with Neil and Jessie. I opened my presents from Neil and all my cards from family and friends, then we took Jessie for a walk as the weather had vastly improved. We then went to Tony's in Penarth town centre for birthday meal number three. It's one of our favourite restaurants, and the food and service was amazing as per usual. 

The presents! 

I know most of you probably clicked on this purely to see my birthday haul, so I had to include a little section on my gifts. I had lots of lovely presents, most of which are photographed below. 

The Minnie Mouse cupcakes were from Nicola and were a very tasty surprise. I had lots of bath and shower products and plenty of Disney themed gifts, along with an amazing phone case from clever Jessie which featured her own face. In addition to the gifts below, I also had a New Look gift card from my parents in law, a Lush gift box from my sister in law and an afternoon tea voucher from Sarah. As always, I'm really grateful to everyone for my gifts and I've already made use of quite a few of them!

After four days of celebrating with lots of my favourite people, it was very hard to get up to go to work on Wednesday. However, I felt as if I'd had a nice long break and it was the best birthday I've had since my 30th birthday three years ago. 

Now that my birthday is over for another year, I'm counting down to Christmas... 198 days to go! 

Christmas and new year celebrations

Happy new year! I've had a busy couple of weeks over the festive period with my family and friends so I thought I'd write a little summary for my blog.


Friday 21 December

I finished work on the Friday before Christmas and drove straight to McArthur Glen after leaving the office to meet Sarah. We had a massive meal in Frankie and Benny's and wandered around a few shops before exchanging Christmas presents. It was absolutely pouring with rain but that didn't take away from the company and the festive atmosphere.

Saturday 22 December and Sunday 23 December 

Neil and I finished off all our Christmas shopping and wrapping on the Saturday, then we had our own little Christmas Day on the Sunday where we opened our gifts from each other. We also went to the cinema to see the new Fantastic Beasts film, had an Indian takeaway and watched Elf on DVD in the evening.

Christmas Eve

Neil had to work on Christmas Eve which meant I had a quiet start to the day. I did some pre-Christmas cleaning and watched The Holiday, then Neil came back home just after lunch. We then headed to my parents' house with Jessie and a very full car boot! My brother had already arrived so Jessie had plenty of attention to keep her busy. We had a lovely relaxing evening with lots of chocolates, Pringles and Christmas TV.

Christmas Day 

Me, Neil and my brother opened our stockings together on Christmas morning, then the three of us went downstairs with my parents to open our presents under the tree. We had bacon sandwiches for brunch then settled down to watch TV and to play with our respective gifts.

My brother cooked the Christmas dinner and it was scrumptious. After dinner, we all flopped in front of the TV and watched Home Alone 2 and Rise of the Guardians. Jessie was spoilt rotten with lots of new toys and treats, and she was in her element all day. We left my parents' house at around 10pm to drive home, and she slept like a baby all the way back.



Boxing Day 

We went to Neil's parents' house on Boxing Day to spend the day with his parents and sister. We all opened our gifts before eating another lovely lunch, then we watched Paddington and Mrs Doubtfire before Neil and I headed home. I know I say this every year, but I feel very fortunate that we've got so many family members to celebrate the festive season with.

Thursday 27 December 

We had a day to ourselves on the 27th, and I'd well and truly reached the stage where I had no idea what day it was. We took Jessie to Cosmeston for a long walk, then I spent a couple of hours sorting through all my Christmas presents and putting them away (after I'd painstakingly photographed them, of course). As always, I'm hugely grateful to everyone for my thoughtful gifts and I can't wait to use them all.

We had a meat, cheese, chutney and mulled wine feast in the evening. I can confirm that it was just as delicious as it sounds.



Friday 28 December 

On Friday 28th, we drove back to my parents' house to see my sister, brother in law and nephews as they'd arrived there on Boxing Day. Jessie loved all the extra attention, and even my smallest nephew made a fuss of her even though he was nervous at first. We then called in to see Nicola and her two children on our way back to Penarth. I think Jessie and Nicola's eleven-month-old baby were equally fascinated with each other! I had some more lovely gifts to open from my sister and from Nicola, so of course I had to photograph those too.

Saturday 29 December and Sunday 30 December 

We had a quiet weekend recovering from all the festivities and spent lots of quality time with each other and with Jessie. We went in to Cardiff for a few hours and picked up some bargains, and Neil cooked a Christmas dinner just for the two of us which was pretty spectacular (and huge).

New Year's Eve 

We did some shopping in Cardiff Bay in the afternoon then went out with my in-laws for a meal in the evening. We all walked to our local Harvester restaurant which was surprisingly peaceful and quiet. Neil and I somehow managed to get a decent pre-dinner family selfie with Jessie after many failed attempts!

New Year's Day 

We had a nice lie in on New Year's Day before taking Jessie for a walk in the sunshine. We then went to see my in-laws in the afternoon and had another lovely lunch with them before watching The Croods together. I was exhausted in the evening so went to bed before midnight for the first time in ages!

We both had the rest of the week off work so we've managed to get a few bits and pieces sorted around the house as well as lots of shopping, walks with Jessie and a trip to the cinema. We're off to see Neil's auntie tomorrow to finish off our Christmas visits, then we'll be taking the decorations down on Sunday to officially mark the end of our Christmas break (sob).

Hope you've all had a great Christmas and new year!

Christmas 2017

This blog post is being published on a Friday rather than a Thursday because I got my days mixed up... perils of that very confusing week between Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The latest terrible Nationwide advert calls it Chrimbo Limbo, and I'm inclined to agree with them on this occasion.

After blogging about my pre-Christmas celebrations last week, I thought I'd focus on Christmas itself for this post. It's been a really busy few days but we've had a lovely time celebrating with family, friends and Jessie!

Neil and I had a quiet Christmas Eve together and opened our presents from each other in the evening after our Indian takeaway. Jessie also opened her stocking on Christmas Eve to make sure the excitement was spread over a few days for her too. She was overjoyed about suddenly having lots of new toys to play with, although her exuberance isn't very apparent in this particular photo.

On Christmas Day, we headed over to Neil's parents' house to spend the day with them and Neil's sister. We all opened our presents throughout the morning then went to Miller & Carter in Cardiff city centre for Christmas dinner. We had five courses in total, including this beauty of a turkey dinner, and it was all amazing! I was completely unable to eat for the rest of the day which is unheard of for me.

On Boxing Day, we drove to my parents' house for round two. We had another lovely day with more presents, and a tasty dinner cooked by my brother. The cookery genes clearly passed me by and went straight to him! We stayed overnight as my sister, brother-in-law and nephews were arriving the next day and we wanted to make sure we saw them before we left. We also called in to see Nicola and Osian on our way back to Penarth to finish off our Christmas visiting. Jessie was well and truly played out and slept all the way home!

As always, I had lots of really lovely and thoughtful gifts from family and friends. I painstakingly photographed them all before putting them all away yesterday as I wanted to make sure I included them in this blog post! I might blog about a few presents separately, but I thought I'd give you a bit of a summary in this post.

Gifts I can wear - two Pandora charms and a ring, a new coat, three pairs of pyjamas, three pairs of cosy socks, Cath Kidston bag and purse, two scarves and two shopper bags.  

A girl can never have too many toiletries. 

Gifts for the home, including four new Disney Traditions figurines and five mugs! 

The edible/drinkable gifts. Diet will start in March. 

I can't believe Christmas is over already, but I've still got just over a week off work with lots of exciting plans, so all is not lost. 

What did you get up to over Christmas? Have you blogged about your Christmas presents? Send me your links if so! 

What I had for Christmas!

I love writing 'what I had for Christmas' posts, as well as reading other people's posts about their Christmas gifts. Writing these posts gives me a chance to document all my presents before I find homes for them (or eat them!) and it's a great opportunity to thank people again for their kindness. Just like every other year, I had lots of lovely presents from family and friends and I'm excited about showing them all to my readers!

I'm not writing a lengthy Christmas haul post this year as I'm going to write more detailed reviews throughout the next few weeks on my Pandora gifts, my Disney Traditions gifts and so on. However, the photos below give an excellent flavour of what I've received over the last few weeks.

This pile includes lots of toiletries, hot water bottles, hot chocolate and

heart-shaped scourers!

Lots of Pandora gifts, pyjamas, slippers, dressing gown, scarf, pom pom,..

I've already worn all the items in this photo at least once. 

More Pandora and toiletries! CDs, DVDs, gift vouchers, alcohol,

candle, kitchen equipment... 

I'm not even going to attempt to name everything in this pile

as there's so much of it... rest assured that it's all great! 

I've photographed this one on its own so that you can see it in detail.

Beautiful personalised phone case from Venice from my in-laws!

My parents also bought us a microwave for Christmas...

this one wasn't wrapped up underneath the tree as it was a bit big
and we were in desperate need of a new one before Christmas!

I love buying presents for other people as much as I love receiving them and I always put a lot of thought into other people's gifts. With this in mind, I'm considering blogging about some of my favourite presents I bought for other people as well as blogging about the presents I receive next year... any thoughts? I thought it could be an interesting twist on the usual theme!

I'm always sad when Christmas is over but, on the plus side, I have all these lovely gifts to enjoy and to keep me entertained for the foreseeable future. 

Have you written your own Christmas haul post? Send me a link if so, I'd love to read it! 

Two very simple words... thank you!

If you've read my most recent blog post, you'll know that I've been going through a difficult time during the second half of this year. I really couldn't have got through it all without the support of my family and friends and I want to thank you all a million times over.

Sending gifts and cards (and gift cards), giving me a hug, sending me positive vibes via Instagram or Twitter, having a hot chocolate with me, sending me a text or motivational Disney quote... all these things, however big or small, made me feel a bit better when I was at my lowest and continue to give me the strength I need to get through this.

Special thanks go to Neil and my parents for being the best husband and parents anyone could ask for during what was undoubtedly a horrendously difficult time for them too. They saw me and supported me at my worst, visited me in hospital twice every day, came with me to appointments, helped me with those little tasks I just couldn't do on my own, completely took over the bigger tasks so that I didn't have to think about them, listened to my worries, and held me while I cried.

I know I'm incredibly fortunate to have such an amazing support network and I need to remember this through everything that's still to come. 

I thought I'd include some photos of the gifts and cards I've received as another way of documenting my journey. I didn't take photos of everything because some days I didn't feel well enough to take photographs (I know, I must have been REALLY ill). Also, it won't surprise you to hear that I ate some of the edible gifts before I had a chance to photograph them... I had to celebrate getting my appetite back somehow!

So, here are just some of the lovely things I received:

I really was and still am overwhelmed by everyone's kindness and support - thank you!