April Round Up

Oopsie! I somehow have managed to let a whole week go by without posting! It wasn’t on purpose, and I actually have a good excuse. This post was due to go up a few days ago, but this week I was struck down by a rather icky and mysterious spell of – darn it, was trying to think of a nicer word, but there isn’t one – vomiting, and have been bedridden the last few days. Not fun. So May has sucked so far!! But this post is about April, and April was FREAKING AWESOME!

I travelled…

Ok, ‘travelled’ might be overstating it a little bit, but the point is, I got away a fair bit this month, and as per this recent post, there is nothing quite like a change of scenery to brighten your mood! The month started off with that wonderful weekend away in The Forest of Dean. I was a little nervous before setting off as it was with a group of my boyfriend’s friends whom I hadn’t met before, but as it turned out it was a great group of people to spend a few days with. The rental we were staying in was a converted pub complete with bar, games room, hot tub and a play area for the kids, so everyone was catered for, not that we really needed entertaining with the glorious weather we had, not to mention all that gorgeous scenery. It was also the venue for my first barbecue of the year – which in case you didn’t know officially means Summer has started – and if that isn’t cause for celebration, I don’t know what is! Next up came Easter when I headed over to Loughborough for a couple of days with the boy and what was a great weekend of good friends, good food and, well some slightly more stressful stuff that I’ll come onto later….! Then last week the boy took me on a wonderful break to Harrogate, where we stayed in another one of our lodges, The Pine Marten. It’s a stunning old pub and restaurant with the most beautiful gardens, complete with an ornamental pond and koi carp, and it all felt a bit luxurious. We spent the weekend strolling around the town and gardens, visiting some more of our local businesses and generally just enjoying some time away. It included an illicit Monday off work too, and to be honest it felt like a bit of a hardship going back to work. So all in all I’ve been a bit spoilt on the mini-break front this month, but luckily I have some more coming up in May, so I have plenty more to look forward to!

I ate and drank EVERYTHING…!

This time I am not overstating! The amount of food and drink I have consumed this month is criminal, and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t wondered whether or not my recent sickness was actually just my body giving up on me! The boy and I have always been sure to make the most of our staff discount which is pretty generous, and with us being out and about so much this month things took a turn to the extreme a little, that said, I’m always going to be a big fan of good food and booze, so I’m not going to feel too bad… It started with Easter – well, everyone over-indulges a little over Easter, right? There was all that chocolate of course, then that delicious meal with friends over in Loughborough. Then the next day on the way home we decided to stop off in Nottingham to visit one of our newest concepts, Son of Steak. Now, I’m biased of course, but we had an amazing feast of, well, steak funnily enough, with an impressive selection of mix and match sides, but I was most impressed with how affordable it was, even before our discount! We might have gone slightly overboard with the sides, but hey, you have to try everything once…! The next day we decided we should walk off all that food, so headed out with the dog, though we may have accidentally gorged on burgers in one of mine and Bonnie’s favourite doggy-friendly bars first…. oops! So that evening we decided to finally be sensible and cook something healthy…. and went with a full on roast gammon dinner…. oops again. It was pretty spesh though, so no regrets! The following Friday I took the boy out to Digbeth Dining Club a weekly Birmingham event where street food traders convene for hipsters to both consume and Instagram to their hearts content! All jokes aside, it was a little on the busy side for us (translation – it’s become a place to ‘be’ rather than a place to really enjoy food these days, meaning it’s a little tricky to eat when revellers are barging past you or smoking over your table most of the night) so if we go again we’ll probably aim to get there a little earlier, but it didn’t stop us enjoying some delicious treats, namely a delicious Persian chicken, tahini and tapenade wrap and sme South African fried chicken and fries. I reeeeeally wanted to finish off with a pancake, but there just wasn’t any room left in my belly, and it isn’t often I say that. Finally there was Harrogate, and, well, too much food to really go into, but it included the best fish pie I’ve ever tasted, free Prosecco, oodles of sushi, Eggs Royale, pineapple daiquiris and sooooooo much Sauvignon Blanc! Seriously, I don’t know how I’m still walking!

I also experienced some firsts this month!

I had a massage…

I know, the first one ever! Well, not strictly true, I’ve had massages off friends or loved ones, but I’ve never had a professional massage before. I bought one for the other half as a gift to help combat stress, and thought I’d give it a go myself since I’m not always great at keeping the negatives at bay. I wasn’t 100% certain how I’d feel about it to be honest, as it seems like such an intimate experience, but it was incredibly relaxing and I’m definitely a convert! Weirdly, the bit that was weirdest was actually when she massaged my hands, but maybe that’s just me…!

I won a quiz…

Yep, I won! Well, we won, it was a team effort, and I’m not sure how much I actually contributed, but still! I told you last month I’d reignited my passion for a good pub quiz and two attempts later we managed to bag the top spot! We couldn’t decide what to do with the £52 prize money, so it’s gone in a pot for next time. I think there may be an official team name coming up. There was talk of t-shirts and everything….

Finally, I drove a car….

I. Drove. A. Car. For the first time. That seems a little pathetic to be admitting this at the grand old age of 34, but there you go. It’s just one of those things I’ve always been afraid of, and I’ve managed to get away with putting it off for years. You know how it is though, the longer you leave it, the more intimidating it gets, and despite really wanting to get it sorted, I’ve just never had the confidence. So the boy gave me a kick up the butt and took me for a couple of test runs to help me feel better about taking my first lesson, and I managed to do it! I did cry, I did mount a kerb and I almost had a heart attack when a huge lorry pulled out of the corner I was turning into, but I did it. And I didn’t die!

And that’s always a nice way to end a post, isn’t it? Not dying? So here’s to more of that in May!

Love,