My Travel Wish List

August 08, 2017

•

travel

 

I seem to constantly be on Instagram or Facebook or twitter getting jealous of where people are travelling or on holiday and the same thought always crosses my mind...I need to add that to the list.

So here it is my, in no way definitive, travel wish list of the places I want to visit one day.

Croatia - Fabsickle recently went there and her blog on her travels has made me want to go even more!

Hawaii - this is where I've got my heart set on going for our honeymoon.

The Floating Light Festival - this is held in May every year in Hawaii, unfortunately our honeymoon will be in September so it gets its own entry as I'll have to go back for that!

Giraffe Manor, Nairobi - this one actually pops up on Pinterest all the time and from the first time I read about it it's been on my list. I mean if it's good enough for Shay Mitchell then it's good enough for me! You can even take a virtual tour here.

 

 Lake Como - I nearly managed to convince my mum and sister to go there last year but then pesky costs got in the way and we changed our destination...damn you bank balance!

Thailand - not to go to stroke heavily sedated tigers or ride beaten elephants but to explore all the islands and beaches. There's also a really great elephant sanctuary in Chaing Mai that a friend of mine visited that sounds too perfect for words.

Venice - cheap prosecco, pizza, gelato and gondolas everywhere, did I miss anything?

Canada - it’s been on my list for quite a while and is getting more and more prominent...might even make an appearance in the honeymoon if we're lucky. 

 

All the Disney Parks - as you may know Disney holds a special place in my heart, here's the reason if you didn't. What self-respecting adult wouldn't want to visit all the parks?!

Berlin - I actually have family there and yet have never gone. Think I'll avoid it in the winter though, I'm not built for the cold.

LA - after spending my teens watching 'Laguna Beach' and 'The Hills' I feel I owe it to myself to follow in LC’s footsteps.

Singapore - I just want to stand under those trees...you know which ones I mean.

Philippines - have you seen the beaches?! A friend of mine went a few years ago and since seeing his pictures it's been a firm favourite on my wish list.

Bali - firstly it looks like Instagram heaven, secondly it looks like my kind of heaven!

Iceland - Northern lights and the Blue Lagoon

Lapland - SANTA!!!

Sydney - so I saw an episode of Modern Family where they climbed the bridge...that I want to do that.

Northern Ireland - Giant’s Causeway looks like it was designed not a cause of nature. I have to go see it for myself!

Vietnam - I have no idea, I just need to go there, be there and explore.

Maldives - I went a while ago but I'd love to go back before global warming does its thing and floods them all. The coral is incredible and snorkelling in Maldives in the rain is a memory I will always treasure.


So there you have it my Top 20 on my Travel Wish List. I wonder how many I can cross off on our honeymoon.

What's on your Travel Wish List?

READ MORE

Our vows before the wedding

July 01, 2017

•

wedding

As I'm sure most of you know me and the boyfriend got engaged...if you didn't, stop immediately and read the proposal blog first and then come back on over.

Life has been a bit hectic since the last post, we've gone on holiday with friends, hosted disastrous dinner parties, had our highly alcoholic engagement party, put down the deposit for our wedding venue (it's so beautiful it makes me cry) and celebrated Fiancé Knowles' (boyfriend's new name) birthday with a barbecue and lots of races on his new Nintendo Switch.

Our wedding is actually quite a while off, over 2 years away. We've agreed to put the wedding planning on pause for a year otherwise it's going to get a bit ridiculous. I still want to have some kind of wedding excitement in our lives so came up with what I think is quite a cool idea. Vows before the wedding.

We each have to come up with five vows for each other that we have to complete within the year. Obviously ground-rules needed to be set because I'm not doing his washing for a year or cooking all the time nuh uh *sassy snap*

So here are the vows I made for Fiancé Knowles to complete by this time next year:

1. To create a treasure hunt of some description.
I decided to be a bit vague with that one so he can go as big or as small with the treasure hunt as he wants. The only rule is that he has to create the treasure hunt for me to then take part in.

2. Find a creative way to say I love you.
I really like this one and am looking forward to seeing how he gets on with this one and what he comes up with.

3. Tick one thing off of one of our Listography Lists.
If you haven't worked it out yet I'm a massive fan of lists. For one of my birthday's my sister got me the Listography book of lists. Me and the Fiancé spent an evening filling in the book and now have so many travel plans and days out that I thought I'd get the ball rolling and make us cross off at least one.

4. Make up and write down my ultimate bedtime story.
I'm forever asking Fiancé Knowles to tell me a bedtime story and he always refuses...poor me. So I've finally found a way around this that hopefully he'll be happy with. By writing down my story he only has to tell it once and then I'll have it forever after.

5. Watch all of my favourite childhood movies.
The tricky part to this one is everyday I think of another 'amazing' childhood film that I really loved so I think I need to set a limit on that one! Also sometimes when you revisit a film you loved when you were younger you realise just how rubbish it actually is, looking at you Like Mike!

Fiancé Knowles wrote his own vows for me to complete as well and if I'm completely honest I think his are better than mine but shh don't tell him that!

1.  Read each others favourite book.
I'm a little stumped on which book to put forward so will have to have a think about that. I definitely have a top 5 and will probably do a post on them soon.

2. Have a day playing games in our PJ's eating whatever the hell we want.
This is literally how Fiancé spent his teenage years and definitely his idea of a perfect day so I'm looking forward to slobbing out and eating ALL THE FOOD!

3.Write down a list of our favourite memories, holidays and dreams for the future.
I'm thinking of getting a notebook for this one. Mainly so we can keep adding our memories in as time goes on and have it as a keepsake to look back on and also because I'm a massive sucker for stationery so having an actual excuse to spend hours in Paper Chase is something I won't be passing on!

4. Take out each others favourite lady for the day they deserve.
We both love our Mums to bits so this vow is such a sweet idea and I'm looking forward to spoiling his mum silly after all she's the incredible woman that raised the man I love.

5. Plan a spontaneous trip.
I love this idea because the Fiancé is always the one that plans our trips, not that I'm complaining at all! I often joke that all I have to say is 'Ooo I'd love to go there one day' and he's already looked at flights, hotels and dates we can go. I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to surprise him for once with a trip away together somewhere...any suggestions?

So there you have it our vows before the wedding. Depending on how successful we are with completing them all we might do a few more for the second year but we'll have to wait and see as wedding planning madness will probably set it and take over our lives!

READ MORE

A Thank You Letter

May 29, 2017

•

travel

A while ago I was challenged to talk about a part of myself that I like. I really loved this idea because compliments for others seem to come so quickly to all of us and yet I'm definitely guilty of not showing myself the same love. I found it a challenge at first to find one thing I like about myself.

If I'm being perfectly honest the question left me thinking more about the bits of my body I don't like. My stomach that has had to digest excessive amounts of cheese and my bum that shows off its cellulite during bikini season. 

But then I stopped to think about what my body has achieved in the past 20 something years. Together we've gone on fantastic adventures, fallen in and out of love, made friends, memories and even lost a few memories after big nights out.

The more I thought about it and all the things me and my body have achieved the more it dawned on me that there was a part of me that I will always love. 

My feet. 

My feet have carried me across the world from China and Cancun to Swaziland and Antigua.

My feet have had the strength to walk me towards challenges that have terrified me and have been there to get me out of sticky situations quickly. Together we have walked the Great Wall of China, abseiled down buildings, swam with dolphins and climbed halfway up a mountain (we got tired and turned back).

To be honest I can't quite understand their loyalty. I've made them traipse around London, New York, Paris, Budapest and Warsaw for day on end with no rest. I've forced them into countless high heels that cause us both endless pain throughout a night out and then the day after. And there was even that time that I very nearly let little fishes nibble on them.

Even when I push my feet to the limit and they ache, they are always there for me the next day to take me off on the next adventure wherever that may be.

Me and my feet still have a lot of adventures left in us like walking down the aisle, standing on the beaches in Hawaii and chasing after our first child as they learn to ride a bike.

So while I might still view my stomach as a ‘problem area’ when has your stomach ever helped you learn how to drive, snorkel with turtles or skipped around Disney World after the most magical proposal ever? I think I'll stick with the excessive amounts of cheese and our incredible adventures together.

READ MORE

Disney Proposal

May 16, 2017

•

travel

So as you may have seen on my Instagram we recently had the most magical holiday ever in Walt Disney World Orlando. AND as you may have also seen...WE GOT ENGAGED!!! While I'll definitely be doing a Disney blog soon I just wanted this one to be dedicated to our first full day and the story of our engagement.

First off I should start by saying that while I understand it's not for everyone, Disney World is and always will be my favourite place on earth. I don't care if it's childish, sad or not cool. I LOVE DISNEY...so just deal with it, ok?! 

We'd been planning to go back to Disney for the boyfriend’s mum’s birthday for quite a while. They'd all gone together 5 years beforehand and she'd always said she wanted to go back for her 50th and I was definitely not going to argue with that!

Now with that in mind, a few months before our mega-trip the boyfriend told me he was planning a surprise family photo shoot on our first day, in aid of his Mum’s birthday and it would of course be in front of the castle. He went on to explain that he’d been in touch with someone at Disney World for a ‘couple of months’ to sort it all out. Naturally I started crying, this is the typical kind of thing he'd do because he's ridiculously thoughtful and loves surprising people and in all honesty the thought of his Mum’s face when she found out about the surprise just made me lose it.

Anyway, fast forward to the night before... We've all landed, checked into the hotel and me, the boyfriend and all his family are around the pool at the hotel. This is when he’s telling them about the surprise photo shoot and how we all need to get up early and dress up for it. Needless to say, everyone’s excited and cannot wait for the next day!

The next morning bright and early we leave the hotel for our first full day in a Disney park together, Magic Kingdom. As usual in Orlando the sun is shining, the Disney Cast Members are as friendly as ever and the 8 of us are making our way to catch the the ferry across to the park. Inevitably there’s a lot of tears from pretty much everyone in the group cos in all honesty we are all massive Disney wusses.

After the obligatory selfies outside Magic Kingdom and having all mentally prepared ourselves for the most magical day ever we make our way inside. Once in the park you can’t help but be taken aback by the smell of candyfloss and the most joyful and incredibly upbeat music, it's a force to be reckoned with I tell ya. Its at this point though that the boyfriend has to pop into City Hall (the information desk to normal people) to check some last minute details with the Disney Cast Members on the photo shoot plan. Before you know it and after most likely a hundred or so photos between ourselves, the boyfriend is back and we’re all off walking down Main Street USA, towards Cinderella’s Castle. Bear in mind that the whole time he seems completely cool as a cucumber and not stressed at all, an amazing feat given that he is normally abysmal at hiding his emotions!

We reach one of the pretty green areas off to the right of the castle and a cast member asks if we'd like to come over for a photo shoot. Naturally you say yes, I didn’t get dressed up for nothing, so we head over to an exclusive area, roped off to the public, with an amazing view of the castle in the background and we get our vogue on. After what seemed like literally a couple of seconds and snaps (the photos say otherwise) the photographer suggests pictures of all the couples, so each couple takes it in turn. Me and the boyfriend are up last and are having some nice coupley photos taken when the photographer stops and asks if she can have my sunglasses, well why not. I pass them over to her for what seemed like a split second and as I turn round I see the boyfriend getting some paper out his pocket. He unfolds it and begins by addressing me in my full name, middle name and everything, and the sassy black woman in me is all ‘Ooo child this is it, get your game face on!’ But instead of the intended game face he gets my blubbering mess face...perfect! As you may have noticed none of the photos show the entirety of my face...you're welcome ;)

Half way through his A4 printed speech he begins to talk about two people that are very special to both of us but especially me that he couldn't do the next bit without. So naturally, as we’re in Disney World, I started looking for Mickey & Minnie or Beauty and the Beast. So you can imagine my shock and surprise when he shouts ‘YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!’ and it’s not Minnie & Mickey running towards me but my Mum and Little Sister!!! I don’t think anyone, including myself, was prepared for the noise that came out of my mouth.

After a lot of hugging, crying, confusion and clinging to my Mum for dear life I turned back to the boyfriend to find him down on one knee with a little box in hand and a big question on his lips. I wish I could say I was cool, calm and collected in my response but hey, it's me, so behind a sea of tears and a beaming smile I nodded and excitably replied with a loving yes! I mean after a proposal like that who in their right mind would say anything else?!

The next 30 minutes just flew by, celebratory photos, warm wishes, hugs, congratulatory kisses and phone calls to family members, all a bit of a blur really. I am not one to be quiet but for the remainder of the day I truly understood the term lost for words. It literally felt like I was walking around in a fog at the rate my brain was functioning and I was prone to bursting into tears without any warning or prompting...still am actually.

Following the initial shock and still continuing the boyfriend’s ‘50th surprise plan’ for his Mum, we all then went and celebrated our engagement and the fact that we were all together with a beautiful breakfast in Beast’s Castle was the literal icing on the cake. The boyfriend had reserved the table for us, but unbeknownst to him the ever-amazing Disney staff had gone that one step further by scattered confetti all over our table, decorating it it with congratulatory messages and an array of stunning cupcakes! We even got the grey stuff...and it was delicious, singing candlesticks don’t lie!

Our Disney World holiday was hands down my favourite holiday ever. But the day my wonderful, caring and downright surprising boyfriend made all my Disney Princess dreams come true and became my fiance is my favourite story, memory and day all rolled into one.

To all the staff that helped make our dreams a reality thank you so much. To all our sneaky friends and family, you can breathe easy now, you tricksters! And last but by no means least to my fiance, thank you. Words will never properly describe just how much you mean to me.

READ MORE