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 🎈⭐️
I’ve always enjoyed doing a few ‘baking’ recipes on here, every now and then, particularly at Easter time.
All that delicious Easter chocolate in the shops or that you may receive can be put to good use by yourself or your small people – it’s super easy and great fun too!
So what is Easter Bark you say?
Well it’s shards of decorated chocolate.
And here’s how it’s done (by us anyway)
Ingredients
X2 large bars of Milk Chocolate
X2 large bars of white chocolate
Sprinkles
A selection of your favourite Easter chocolates to adorn
Recipe
Prep a baking tray with a lining of baking parchment, make sure it covers the sides of your baking tray a little too, not just the bottom.
Melt your different chocolates (we went for milk and white for the kids – dark would also be delicious) in separate bowls over water (or in the microwave)
When the chocolate that you wish to have as your base is ready (ours was milk), pour that into the baking sheet and spread out so it covers the bottom in an even layer. Don’t spread it too thin.
Drizzle over the other chocolate/s that you’ve melted (our white chocolate) either yourself or the children need a cocktail skewer to swirl the chocolate carefully to create the marbled effect.
Adorn with your sprinkles and chosen Easter Chocolate, trying to evenly distribute it throughout.
Pop into the fridge (or freezer if you are impatient like us!! 😂)
Once it is fully solidified, break it up into shards and ENJOY!
Super easy, fun & delicious! Perfect for occupying the kids this Easter hols – my nephews and niece loved it (especially the eating part!)
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.
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.
Today is World Book Day. I mean everyday is Book Day for me haha.
As I work in a Primary School Setting I do love this Day simply for sharing stories and excitement around books.
Plus, it’s good fun to make a costume and dress up. My favourite part is reading to the children throughout the day though.
What could you do this World Book Day?
Get crafty and make a bookmark for you and or the kids.
Just enjoy a bit of quiet reading time with a new book or a favourite of yours…
Read to the kids! This is my favourite part of world book day at work ❤️📚
Try something new? A new type of book, a new genre. I have recently been enjoying the Heartstopper Graphic Novels which is not a book format that I usually read.
Read your favourite book ♡
Unfortunately I won’t have time today but, going to a local bookshop and treating yourself to a new book would also be an awesome way to spend it too. Especially if the kids have their book token too!
This year I have reused my Stick Man costume as I put alot of effort into making this last year so I thought I would get one more year out of it!
Whatever you do, I hope you have been able to enjoy a book and share that joy with somebody…theres nothing better ♡
I Love Autumn & Halloween… here’s what we got up to !
Spooky fun at the farm.
We went out for the day, to a nearby farm!
It was brilliant.
There was SO much to do.. we made wands, got sorted into our Hogwarts house, had a spooky trailer ride, explored the spooky maze, picked and decorated pumpkins, pettee guinea pigs & rabbits, looked at loads of other animals and had a bug trailer ride.
With our Nephews 💙
A great family day out, themed really well and with lots of fun to be had.
A fanily Halloween party for the kiddies.
We had a fun little family Halloween party at my sisters house.s
She set up some fun activities for them, we also had a buffet of party food, spooky tunes and Halloween pass the parcel.
Halloween at ours
Me & Tim always do a few Halloween traditions at home – these include carving a pumpkin (we’ve done one every year that we’ve been together) and I make us ‘Spooky Sausages’ which are meant to look like mummies.
I also like to watch horror films but Tim isn’t too keen on those so thats usually just me haha
Some of my favourites are Scream, Halloween, Hocus Pocus, Nightmare before Christmas and Nightmare on Elm St.
Our local cinema was showing some Halloween classics on Halloween.
Me and my Twin sister Sarah always watch horror films together so we went along and watched the original Scream! I can’t believe its the 25th Anniversay 😱
Scream is my favourite ‘Scary Movie’ and it was cool to watch it on the big screen.
Take time out for yourself, buy yourself a coffee, go for a nice walk, read a chapter of your book.
Don’t just say yes all of the time – sometimes its ok to say, no I actually don’t want/agree with that.
Take the time to indulge in your hobbies.
Even if someone annoys you – take a deep breath & kill them with kindness.
When you are feeling down and being unkind to yourself, think about how you would feel if someone treated your loved ones like that – it makes you sad doesn’t it?! – so don’t treat yourself like that.
&
if all else fails, talk to someone, anyone. You are not alone.
Roseanne Byford 