It’s been a while since I shared a ‘what I’ve been up to’ style post on the blog. I’m not sure why as I absolutely love writing them and also having a nosey what you lovely lot have been up to as well. I’ve noticed these little ‘happiness’ posts popping up on lots of blogs recently and they always just radiate good times and warmth, which makes them a lovely read (my favourite’s being Carrie’s Lovely Things, Erica’s Some Happy things and Sally Tangle’s Wonderful Wednesdays). So, I thought it would be fun to celebrate the good times and write a little list of the things that have been making me smile at the moment too. Here goes!
The beach– This summer I’ve realised just how lucky I am to live just steps away from the beach. We’ve enjoyed long dog walks along the promenade in the howling wind with the waves crashing against the cliffs, ice creams in the blistering sunshine and beach BBQ’s as the sun sets. In all weather the beach is my sanctuary of calm and place to go and relax and I can’t believe it’s just on my doorstep.
Being a host family – We have recently been renting our spare room out to a local Language School and have hosted two students so far which has been a wonderful experience. It’s amazing to meet and get to know people from around the world and our two students have not only come to learn about our culture but we’ve learnt so much about them too! Firstly we had Joy from Inner Mongolia, China. She didn’t like English food and ate a strange spicy ‘beef jam’ for breakfast but was sweet and funny and loved our dog like her own. Now we have Gloria from Spain – she’s only 17 but confident with brilliant English. So far we’ve established she’s not keen on some English food either (theres a trend!), she’s a bit scared of our friends Beagle but we introduced her to Ru Paul’s Drag Race and I think she’ll go home with a new TV addiction.
I’m going to TURKEY! – This week I had the biggest surprise of my life! I only went and won some flights to Turkey following the Thomas Cook #5SensesofTurkey blog event I attended. I couldn’t believe it and nearly broke into a the biggest happy dance ever (if I wasn’t driving). I’m now busy organising a trip to Turkey next month which I’ll be blogging all about, so watch this space!
Friends, old and new – Summer’s long evenings are the perfect time for catching up with friends and just recently I’ve spent many an evening out eating delicious food and drinking cocktails with friends old and new. I also finally met up with Emma and Cindas, two lovelies I’ve known online for about 10 years who were friends from way back in the old Livejournal days. It wasn’t like meeting someone new it was just like we’ve been friends for years – we also ate a LOT of pasta and tiramisu, was fab and I can’t wait to see them again.
Date night – The last few months have been a really busy time and it feels like I’ve barely seen Vee although we live together. Last week we took some time out to reconnect and have an amazing meal at her favourite restaurant in Brighton – The Gingerman, it was the most beautiful fine dining I’ve ever experienced, it wasn’t your average dinner out for sure – for a special treat I’d highly recommend it!
