3 + 1/2 {and a little wedding chat}

Today is our three and a half year anniversary! This little date snuck up on me this time and it wasn't until yesterday that I realised. How are we celebrating? O is in London at the beer festival with his old work buddies and I am staying with the parents, as I'm helping out a friend with some work early tomorrow morning. I am so looking forward to a little reunion tomorrow evening, where we shall be ordering pizza, getting comfy on the sofa and watching some trashy TV (or O will no doubt try to get me to watch Blade Runner again without falling asleep...).

 

We did manage a little date night last night, as we had booked a last minute hotel in Glasgow (O had a super early train to catch in the morning) and went out for some Greek food. I seriously can't get enough of Greek food at the moment, anyone else with me? So much so that I've almost persuaded O to book a little villa somewhere in the Greek islands for a week. Almost.

 

This coming December we'll have been engaged for three whole years (I know I know, shotgun engagement! But when you know you know, right?). With all our moving around, our wedding has pretty much been put on the back burner, but we finally have some (secret) plans in place. We've decided on the ceremony, have an almost date (2017 - we have Canadian and Barbados holidays booked next year) and just need to narrow down a reception venue/country! It's hard work wedding planning when your friends/family are scattered all over the world...but we're getting there. What I can tell you is that we're going for a low key affair and that O has already planned his outfit. He's way ahead of me in that respect!

 

At the moment I'm pretty much obsessed with honeymoon planning. We have a huge travel to do list and narrowing it down is proving a little harder than we thought. So if you have any recommendations, we'd be more than grateful to hear them! :)

 



Camping! {+ a video}

Did I mention we bought a new tent? Well we packed up our shiny new car this past weekend and headed to Tarbert for a few nights under the stars. Before Oscar and I met, he used to be one of these minimalist campers. These days however, he has more camping swag than Go Outdoors! I have to take most of the blame (credit) for this, as sleeping on the hard ground is not my thing. So instead, we compromised and bought a heck of a lot of new camping gear. We now have a much bigger tent, some seriously comfy camping chairs and a huge blow-up mattress (amongst many other glamping accessories!). We tested the new tent out in the Lake District a few months ago and on Sunday we pitched our little canvas (is it even canvas?!) home up in Port Ban. 

Our campsite was right on the west coast (near Tarbert) of Scotland and we literally pitched up right next to the beach. I genuinely don't think I've ever seen anything to rival these views. We took a shed load of food with us, but of course decided to drive 16 miles to find the nearest fish and chips! 

If you fancy seeing a little more of our trip, I might've just made a video of all the best bits! You can find it right here...

I'm still trying to find my way around filming and editing, so if you have any tips, please let me know! Please do like and subscribe if you like it! Thanking you kindly! 

P.S. Please forgive me for the Crocs...they really are the ugliest thing I've ever worn, but they are the best footwear for camping (my Birkenstocks got soggy at the beach!)... #sorrynotsorry

Video :: Glasgow!

So I know I've been a little AWOL on the blog front lately. What with the move and all the craziness that goes along with it, I've had to put my blog mojo to side for a while. However! I have made a little video of a Glasgow adventure! Now go easy on me and excuse my shaky camera and editing, I'm a YouTube newbie! I used iMovie to edit this one, but the Mr just installed Premiere Pro on his big boy PC, so I think I might give that a go...if I decide to give this YouTubing thing another go! Hope you enjoy! 

Oh and you can subscribe to my channel here if you fancy! :)

thirty four

Last Thursday {July 2nd, in case you want to pop it in your diary! ;)}, I turned 34. Oscar arrived home from Norfolk at about 1am on said Thursday and then promptly swept me away to a little surprise getaway. He was very naughty and booked us into The Midland in Manchester for three nights, along with a ten course (you heard me right, TEN COURSE!) tasting menu at The French by Simon Rogan. The hotel was beautiful of course and the dinner was actually the best food I've ever tasted. The plates were the prettiest I'd ever seen and there may have been an optional cheese course with an obligatory gin or two. We decided on a no phone rule during dinner, so alas, I have no photographic evidence, which is pretty much how the whole weekend went! 

Of course, we couldn't not go to Moose Coffee for breakfast every single morning. Their pancakes and french toast are *almost* as good as their Canadian counterpart and their coffee is legendary (they sell their own beans too!). If you're looking for a secret little lunch spot, Pancho's Burritos is amazing. Oscar had the lime pork burrito and I had the burrito bowl. Serious value for money and the portions are huge!

We bumped into a few of our friends in the city and had some serious belly laughs over copious pints of Deaf Mermaid (amazing Brewdog beer) and Rosebud cocktails (we had these in the Alchemist). We also hit up Red's True Barbecue one evening, because some days you really need all the BBQ that's going! We loved it, the ribs are seriously drool-worthy and their own craft beer is perfect on a hot summer's day. 

We finished the weekend off with even more BBQ at O's family's. A lot of burgers, steaks, cake, beer and cider were had before we almost missed our train back to the city! Props to O's Mum and Dad for an amazing spread, as always and to Holly the dog for keeping us entertained with her digging skills!

No trip to Manchester is complete without a trip to the Trafford Centre where we popped into Selfridges to buy a birthday Nespresso machine (as if I hadn't been spoiled enough...hello all the Charlotte Tilbury make-up!). I can honestly say that I'm in love with this little beauty (caffeine shakes optional!). 

You wouldn't be wrong in thinking that the weekend revolved around food and the odd alcoholic beverage. It's pretty much what O and I do best! All in all, turning 34 wasn't as painful as I imagined and with all the exciting things we have coming up later this year, I have a hankering that it's going to be a good 'un!

Sunday Mornings #29

Hello pals! How the heck are you? I know I've been a naughty wayward blogger...my apologies! Life has just been so busy at the moment and to be honest, I just haven't felt like blogging. After my post the other day, you'll be glad to know that I finally had a decent night's sleep last night...a whole 11 hours! I think the two beers I had helped...So I'm feeling much more human this morning. Anyway, enough rambling from me. Let's catch up, shall we?

:: As you know, Oscar is away in Norfolk for work every two weeks at the moment. I'm not going to lie, I find it really difficult when he's away. When he's back we try to fit everything into that week, which makes it fly in...boo! Last week we had such a brilliant one. O surprised me with a little hotel stay in Glasgow, so we indulged in a lot of beer, food and cocktails. It was the schnizz! The morning after this we drove to Manchester for the Father's Day weekend. Was so nice to catch up with O's family. I also had the tastiest burrito of my life and of course, far too many Krispy Kremes! 

:: The weather up here has been horrendous this week. We've had one sunny day, so I decided to get the gin out in the garden. No excuse needed really! Yesterday was so lovely and hot and this morning I've woken up to cloud and rain. Joy. 

:: Whilst O has been away I've been getting my chefing on! I've stolen O's Moleskine recipe book and have been jotting down all my fave blogger recipe - this means you Lizzie! (The scrawling handwriting in the photo above is Oscar's by the way!) It's a whole other experience just cooking for one, but means I get to eat whatever I bloomin' well like!

:: Another pro to O being away is that I have unlimited Netflix time! I'm not gonna lie, I've only been watching one show, which is of course...The Good Wife! I was on season 2 when I started on Wednesday and now I'm almost finished season 3...whooops! I little bit in love with Julianna Margulies and of course Alan Cumming is perfect as Eli Gold. 

:: It's my birthday on Thursday, so I have lots of things planned next week. Some dinners and drinks are on the cards, along with some family time. O comes home late on Wednesday evening and he won't tell me what he has planned for my actually birthday. Naughty. 

:: We're going back down to Manchester next weekend to celebrate O's sister's 30th with a family BBQ and hopefully lots of cake. There may be more Krispy Kremes too. 

:: I've persuaded Oscar that Waitrose has to become a fortnightly thing. Especially since I get a free coffee every time we go. He was a bit dubious about this, but once he saw the whisky selection, he was sold! I may have bought him a bottle of Swedish whisky (Mackmyra) to sweeten the deal! Totally worth the 40 minute drive, right??

Well that's all for now my lovelies. Let me know what you've been up to lately! I'm off to do the usual Sunday chores and of course have Netflix on in the background...til next time! :)

sleeping on my own...

...turns out I'm not very good at it. With Oscar working away every second week, I've had the house to myself and some serious 'me' time. It never occurred to me that I would struggle to sleep on my own. For the last two nights I've still been awake at 3am and spend the rest of the time tossing and turning. It's not that I'm not snoozy either...I'm so sleepy that I'm yawning my head off, but I soon as my head hits the pillow, it's all downhill from there. I can't switch my brain off. I keep hearing strange noises. I find myself actively listening for said strange noises. I listen out for robbers and intruders....surely this is not normal?!

I've tried all the usual tricks...no caffeine, switching off from my phone/laptop etc., reading my book before bed, but nothing seems to work. As soon as Oscar comes home, my sleep goes right back to normal. Does anyone else have this problem? I would really appreciate any tips/tricks/insight into why sleep has suddenly started to elude me and why my brain suddenly thinks that I can't cope on my own. Any ideas and positive sleepy vibes would be greatly received!

Yours,

A seriously sleep deprived Lou x

{photo credit}

E S C A P E :: to the Lakes

This weekend just gone, O and I decided to test our new tent out and escape to the Lake District. We (Oscar) packed up the car and drove down straight after work. We'd chosen Sykeside Campsite right in the heart of Dovedale Valley to pitch our tent in for the weekend. The campsite itself was great. Plenty of amenities and with two pubs attached, what more could you need?! There were lots of sheep with their little lambs roaming about and we'd been warned about badgers, but I didn't managed to spot any. On a side note, I really wanted to take a little lamb home with me, but Oscar wouldn't let me :( He said that it's Mum would miss it, which is true I guess...but I'm pretty sure it would be happy living with me! The campsite was a little too busy for our liking, so next time I think we'll seek out a smaller one, but we couldn't fault the location. We were literally at the bottom of a valley surrounded by the fells. Waking up to such a sight and then watching the sun set behind those great mountains and hills is something I won't forget in a hurry.

We had checked the weather forecast before leaving and knew that we were in for a wet and windy weekend, but luckily our new shiny tent stood up to Mother Nature. We had no service on our phones, so we switched them off for the entire weekend and relied on our trusty camera for taking photos. I didn't take as many photos as I would've liked, but to be honest, it was just lovely to enjoy ourselves without any technology for a change. Switching off and spending time mindfully with each other is just what we needed. 

We started our weekend off in Ambleside to visit our favourite little bakery, The Apple Pie. If you've never been, the food here is amazing and the cafe is so cosy. I really recommend it, even just for the pastries alone! We then decided, in true Oscar and Louise style, to visit the local distillery and brewery! We've been to the Hawkshead Brewery before and it's now become one of our favourite haunts in the Lakes. It's a little tricky to get to, but the beer and food is really worth the trip. The Lakes Distillery only opened last year, so we were keen to visit an English whisky distillery! 

The distillery setting and buildings are beautiful. The tour itself was a little expensive considering the distillery wasn't in production, we spent a lot of time watching videos and we weren't allowed to take photos. But it is a young company, so hopefully these things will improve. The whisky we tried (and that they sell) is a blend, as their single malt is still maturing. For a blend is was actually lovely, which surprised me! They also distill vodka and gin and let me tell you, the gin is fantastic. We may have added a few bottles of whisky and gin to our collection! The distillery has a restaurant attached, so we decided to stop here for some lunch. Alas, Oscar had been making poor food choices all weekend and accidentally ordered a salt beef salad, which he thought was a sandwich. So even though the food was pretty good, poor Oscar left feeling still a little hungry!

The brewery didn't disappoint! Oscar ordered a Ploughman's lunch platter to make up for his disappointing salad and we had a few half pints of their finest beer whilst almost falling asleep on the comfiest leather sofa known to man. I'm a huge fan of their lager, but Oscar is more of an ale and bitter man! 

We found a Booths supermarket in Windermere to stock up on some late dinner essentials. We bought enough antipasti (antipasto?) ingredients to feed an army, and of course some red wine and beer to go along side it. The cheesemonger was really spot on with his recommendations, as the brie, stilton and cheddar we bought were seriously droolworthy. We spent the evening slathering crusty bread with butter, cheese and salami whilst drinking said red wine out of our camping mugs. Unfortunately it started raining around 8pm, so we had to retreat inside our tent and watch the sunset through our little windows. We whiled away the hours playing Scrabble and cards, before falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting our tent. Isn't that sound the most therapeutic? This little escape was just what the doctor ordered before O heads down to Norfolk this Sunday. Now that we've got this camping malarkey down, we're planning on heading up to the Highlands with our tent for a few days when O comes back home. Oscar is trying to persuade me that he'll need to buy a few more camping essentials first...any excuse! ;)

How were your weekends? Have you been camping recently? I've been a little blog awol lately, so would love to hear about your adventures and news :)