Some of you may know, some of you may not, but I started this blog when we were planning our wedding! I started it to document the lead up and planning to the big day.
So, it seems only right each year to do a little post to honour the day that inspired this blog in the first place.
The blog has evolved over the years and has more of a book focus, but this is how it all began 😊
Let’s take a look back at our special day!
11.06.16
I loved our pink & green theme. These are still my two favourite colours.
My bouquet still has pride of place on our dining room table, and I loved all the personal touches like our ‘Honeydukes’ sweet shop!!
We had a brilliant day with our family and friends.
And the party was pretty good too 🥳
We spent our 9th wedding anniversary enjoying a cooked brekky together before work, and exchanged our cards and pressies. Tim got me some lovely flowers 💐 😍
We had a lovely dinner at one of our favourite Italian restaurants this evening.
Train journeys are the perfect time to pick up your book.Coffees, walks & catch ups.Sunshine & sea.Takeaway Nandos 🙌🏼Lil ice cream at the cinema treat.My fave reading spot.Shorts in April? Who dis?Cinema with hubby 💗Breakfast with my nephews.Mediterranean brekky, delish.Colour hunt – I spy purple. Colour hunt – I spy yellow.Spring floral nails by moi.Colour hunt – I Spy orange.AC birthday tradition photo. Book one of the hols.Work ✌🏼 at least it’s sunny.The Sims ⭐️ Brunchin’ with a friend. Book 2 of the hols. 20° – whattttt!?
Week Two
Out for lunch with Mum.Breakfast crossaint 🤤Fun playing The Sims.With my favourite 3.Easter craft session with the kids. Easter Egg hunt time.& finally, chocolate Easter Nest making.Enjoying Good Friday on the Waterfront.Our yummy brunch sandwiches.Playing Catan at Geek Retreat.My Easter Egg.Yummy Easter desserts for a family lunch.Out for a lovely Easter Sunday afternoon walk.Me & Tim 💗Our traditional family Easter Chinese in the evening 😀
I hope you’ve enjoyed the long Easter weekend, if you celebrate it 🐇
In August 2015, we started planning our wedding, and that is when I began ‘Roseanne’s blog’ to document our wedding planning & the big day!
So, heres a little look at our wonderful day 🥹
Some of my favourite things about our wedding day that we planned were:
•The venue – it was a converted barn that was beautiful, and we both fell in love with it the first time we visited. We just got this feeling that this was the place ♡ I loved the incorporation of all the old features of the barn in the venue, as well as the two separate rooms for the ceremony and reception. It was just perfect.
•The Colour scheme. My two favourite colours and I just love how they look together in all aspects from the flowers, centrepieces and decorations.
•The people involved in our day. It was so lovely spending the day with so many loved ones. We really enjoyed having some of our favourite people for both the bride & groom parties, that we chose together, as well as those doing the readings, photos/videos (which were family & friends) It all added to the day and made it so special.
•Our geeky touches that made the wedding ‘us’ from a Middle Earth wedding breakfast to Harry Potter wedding programs and a Honeydukes sweet shop at the Reception. I just loved adding all these little personal details to our day.
•Our Italian inspired food (Pizza & antipast!!) including our cake with authentic Italian decorations from Venice 😍
A few weeks ago it was mine and my twin sisters’ 33rd birthday – woohoo! It actually fell on a Sunday which was the day we were actually born.
Here is how we spent our birthday weekend…
Saturday
We started off the Saturday with a delicious lunch at Revs. The sun was shining big time.
Me & Sarah (along with my husband Tim) met our friend Dan there.
Me & Sarah shared some delicious picky bits. The tater tots with garlic & chilli butter were INSANE. I was really impressed with all of the food and I’d love to go back.
We also had a bit of fun taking some photos in the photobooth ✌🏼
Once Tim and Dan had gone home me and Sarah went to Boom Battle Bar. We had a round of Mini Golf and did a spot of basketball on the machines. We each had a frozen cocktail each to round off the afternoon.
We picked up some smaller picky bits on our way home from town and ate those before having a nap (because, sun ☀️) and then went to the cinema. We watched ‘Fall Guy’ (with Tim too!) It was really good.
Sunday
Sunday was our actual birthday, so we decided to meet up for a nice brunch and do our usual present exchange together. We went to this lovely brunch spot along the waterfront – again, the sun was shining beautifully (we got very lucky with the weather!!)
Delicious!
Once we had eaten, our respective families got together at our Mum and Dad’s to open our presents from them.
Me & Sarah also got a little spontaneous birthday present for ourselves (pic below) 🙃
In the evening we enjoyed a nice family meal together with our older Sister, Mum, Dad, Brother in laws, Nephews, and Niece.
Here’s to year 34! Let’s see what it will bring 🎈⭐️
We started back doing our Parkruns this month! Happy with my time of 34.01 – here’s to getting back to it again 👟
Me and my twin sister Sarah organised our bestfriends baby shower. It went really well and everyone had a great time! Lots of delicious food, fun games, presents and laughs 👶
Pancake day! One of the best days in Feb 🥞 I managed to have two pancake meals, haha.
We celebrated Valentines Day this year with our traditional meal to a local Turkish restaurant. It was delicious as always.
As you may have see from my previous holiblog post, we went to Northern Italy for the Feb half term. It was brilliant. We did Verona, Lake Garda, Milan & Venice (again!)
We had a brilliant time, there was so much to see and it was beautiful. We were also mostly, pretty lucky with the weather.
This Feb Half Term, we embarked on our latest Italian adventure, this time in Northern Italy. This trip was sort of inspired by our 2020 Italy trip that never was (thanks, Covid!)
We changed the plans a little from the original idea, as we only had a week half term instead of the Summer Hols, but we knew we wanted to travel around more of Northern Italy. I found some cheap flights to and from Verona, and we went from there.
Let’s see what we got up to!
Day 1 – Travelling to Italy
Sat 17th – Today was mainly spent travelling to Italy. It was pretty uneventful (and actually an ok flight, and that’s coming from someone who isn’t very fond of flying)
We arrived in Verona at 7 pm and after a short bus ride and a check-in at our hotel we went in search of food.
The little Pizzeria (Rio’s) that we found nearest to our hotel did not disappoint. It was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had in Italy.
Day 2 – Verona
Sun 18th – Today, we spent the day in Verona, exploring the town.
We did lots of walking.
We had a short tour of the Verona Arena, which was really cool!
It’s the best preserved Arena in Italy!
The Arena was probably my favourite ‘sight’ of the trip.
In the early evening, we travelled to Lake Garda, the next destination of our trip.
Day 3 – Lake Garda
Mon 19th – Today, was we visited Salo in Lake Garda.
It is home to the longest promenade in Italy.
& it is very beautiful.
They also do a bangin’ sandwich. This was an insanely good lunch. That bread 🤤
We had a lovely time walking up and down the promenade as well as looking through the city streets.
We rounded off the day with a delicious dinner, Caprese, Rosemary Foccacia, Risotto, and Tiramsu – so good.
Day 4 – Lake Garda
Tues 20th – We started off Day 4 with another yummy breakfast at our lovely B&B before we headed off to get our bus tickets for the day.
We didn’t realise a market was on, and it was quite extensive. There were some amazing food stalls, including fruit, veg, soooo much cheese and meats.
We decided to pick up some bits and create our own lunch. We chose a delicious fresh tomato, a fresh ball of Mozzarella, a fresh Foccacia, and some amazing strawberries. Delicious.
These made a yummy picnic.
In the afternoon, we headed off to explore another part of Lake Garda – Sirmione.
They are known for their delicious gelato, so we had some in the sunshine when we arrived!
We then had a walk through the castle and town on our way to the ruins of a Roman villa. There was a museum and the ruins itself so that was really interesting to see.
The ruins were so vast.
Once again, the weather was amazing.
We went back to freshen up before having a delicious dinner and a chilled evening in our room.
Day 5 – Milan
Wed 21st – Today we travelled to Milan! We were sad to leave our lovely accommodation in Garda.
Milan Centrale Station is massive! It gives Grand Central Station NYC Vibes for sure.
We spent the day doing LOTS of walking around Milan, seeing the city on foot, there is some cool architecture and graffiti. We picked up some more delicious ice cream, and we went to the Leonardo Di Vinic museum to round off the day.
We had these incredible crepes for dessert from those amazing Gelatoria that we discovered first in Verona.
Day 6 – Milan/Verona
Thurs 22nd – Today, we travelled back to our starting point, Verona, for our final leg of the trip!
Once we made it back Verona (after a 40 min delay at Milan) we freshened up and spent some time just chilling/reading in our hotel room.
It rained in the evening, so we just ventured out nearby to get some food. We didn’t stay out for long before heading back and watching a film in bed.
Day 7 – Verona
Fri 23rd – Today was the only day it rained pretty much all day. We had been so lucky with the weather so far. Typically, we had our Verona Walking Tour.
We didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits and we both thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the city. It was so interesting and Verona is such a beautiful place.
Booking a tour is well worth it!
We grabbed a spot of lunch from a place near the end of the tour, as recommended by our tour guide. The fresh pasta was delicious, and the tiramisu was insannnne.
We were very glad to have such a lovely shower in our hotel room because we were freeeeeezing 🥶 after walking back in the rain.
And of course, we had another delicious dinner to round off the day!
Day 8 – Verona
Sat 24th – Today was our last full day 🥲
The weather was beautiful, which was great for our final day. We headed over to a cafe that we heard was really nice. We had yet another delicious coffee and pastry.
We spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon looking around the castles museum – it was really interesting with our audio guide, and at the top, you get soke beautiful views of Verona.
After all that exploring and walking around, we enjoyed a lazy afternoon in the hotel.
In the evening…
WE WENT TO VENICE!!! My favourite 😍
It was beautiful as always ❤️
We had a delicious pasta dinner when we arrived…
… before heading to our favourite gelatoria!! 🍨 Su So is incredible. We had to squeeze some in for dessert.
It was buzzing in Venice as it was the Venice Carnival that weekend.
Venice is truly unique.
I love sitting by the Grand Canal. It’s so peaceful.
💗
Day 9 – Home time
Sun 25th – Today, it was time to go home!
We enjoyed a nice walk into the city centre of Verona to find a nice cafe for breakfast again. We really enjoyed doing this the day before.
We had a final delicious coffee, pastry (and Lasagne for Tim 🤣)
We then had a walk around a bit more, including the arena before heading back to make our way to the airport.
We had such a brilliant trip and it was great to see so many new parts of our favourite country.
I thought I would (try) doing a post a month called my monthly highlights. I thought this would be a good way to share what I’ve been up to. A little diary of sorts.
So, without further ado – here are my January highlights.
Our first film of the year, Disney’s Wish 🎥
Back to running on the track, at our running group! 🏃♀️
Testing out my new headphones that Tim got me. We’ve been doing lots of gaming this month!
🍫Fun in London watching Stranger Things: The First Shadow. A brilliant show.A fun afternoon playing a murder mystery for my besties birthday, with my husband and her family. Great fun, and Granny did it!!!An evening in London, on a weekday (oooh ah!) To see ABBA Voyage. Absolutely fantastic.
So, something super fun happened last weekend! March 4th.
Me and my Husband went to our very first comic con. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was at times as stressful as I thought it would be… but also, not as stressful as I thought at the same time…
Let me explain – so I don’t think the where’s and when’s of your photo experiences were massively well explained. I was never explicitly told a time but thankfully someone I know worked it out for me and we arrived with plenty of time, without prior con knowledge I have no idea how you’d ever work it out… but,
Once we were there the staff were super helpful and it was relatively easy to find/ask where you needed to be and when for any experiences and photos you may have booked, so that made it alot less stressful! Everyone else who was also visiting were helpful too which was lovely.
So, anyway – our first comic con was really fun and it was exactly how I imagined it to be. There were so many people in so many costumes, epic costumes. Seriously impressive stuff. It was just a vast room filled with people geeking out, having fun and being unapologetically themselves and maybe slightly irrationally excited about celebrities 🤣 (my self included) I walked past Sylvester McCoy for christ sake!!
And best of all… I MET JOSEPH QUINN.
It was actually surprisingly nervewracking just before the photo slot but it all went well, mostly… I had to have my photo done twice as the camera flash left a glare on the photo because of my glasses… so I had to go again… I had to stand and have everyone look at me as I had a photo taken, again… which I hate… but, it meant I got to say ‘hi’ and put my arm around Joseph Quinn twice so… 🤷🏼♀️🤣 I’d take that as a win tbh
Plus – I thought it was really nice that they let me go again and made sure everyone got a nice photo.
I mean, I literally said ‘hi’ x2 and ‘bye’ and ‘thanks’ to him but in those 10 seconds he seemed very lovely (as I had heard he would be) his very enthusiastic ‘HI’ and smile as you walked over was very sweet. I kind of wish I had plucked up the courage to say a bit more to him but you don’t really have much time anyway… I would probably buy a autograph next time if he goes to any nearby cons again.
The two things that struck me the most were how totally normal he looks (and I mean like in a non celebrity way, he looked great but I think it’s very easy to forget that celebs are just people and they don’t like float around on clouds, with gold sparkles around them or whatever ) and how friggin tall he is in real life- jesus.
I enjoyed having a walk around and looking at the stalls and costumes. A highlight being when I rounded a corner and saw Ghostface casually browsing a t shirt stand 🤣🤣
I got me and my sister a cool Stranger Things Poster each and then we headed over to the mainstage and queued for Joseph’s talk. It was the final event of the day and it was so packed, I’m glad we started queueing when we did.
It was so surreal seeing the set up that I have watched so many times on tik tok of his previous con ‘talks’ but it was really cool to listen to one and see him chatting in real life. To be honest, if you’ve seen one you’ve probably seen most as he gets asked alot of the same questions… but there were some really funny moments that made it worth it… and some adorable moments from a few little kids too.
All in all I really enjoyed my first comic con experience and I would definitely go to one again and be more confident and less panicked now that I know how it all works.
I hope you enjoyed NYE, however you spent it. We had a chilled one with out friends, playing games, eating party food and having a few drinks.
We made the most of the first new day of the new year by spending the day together.
We started off still at our friend’s as we stayed over last night. We all had a nice chilled, lazy get up which was great as I was knackered from staying up but also from a rubbish nights sleep the previous night (I never usually have trouble staying up until midnight!)
Once we left, we decided to stop off for lunch on our way home. We both fancied a roast to roll in the new year, and let’s be honest, a roast is way better when you don’t cook it or there’s no washing up at the end, so to Toby carvery we went.
Perfect for a Sunday or Bank Holiday and there was a slot that fitted I’m perfectly with when we would be arriving home.
I went for Roast Turkey as I didn’t have any at Christmas. It was so really juicy turkey and it was delicious with cranberry sauce, the thick gravy and awesome roasties.
After our yummy roasts we decided for go for a walk.
After that we headed home for a little while before we went to the cinema.
We went to watch the film ‘Till’ which was playing as an Unlimited Screening, so you can get to watch the film before it comes out to everybody, if you have an unlimited card (which we both do)
The film was incredibly powerful, thought-provoking, inspiring but also truely heartbreaking. The film was from the perspective of Emmett Tills mother Mamie, which it what makes it so compelling and as I said, emotional – It is told from the perspective and experience of a black women and is co-written and directed by a black women.
I took some of the Christmas chocolate in a tub for us as we have loads left still. It saves us buying anymore and is a good way of getting through it as you need a cinema snack!!
Roseanne Byford 