Lately

Last month was a bit of a hectic/stressful month for me. A close family member of mine has been having some health issues, but thankfully they have been dealt with now. It left me with a little cloud of worry which had been following me around for the best part of month. It can be difficult trying to be positive and supportive to those closest to you when inside you are just as fearful as they are! I've had to be the stable, constant rock of reassurance which hasn't always been easy, but thankfully things have worked themselves out. I won't go into detail as it's quite personal. One thing I have definitely learnt from this experience is to never ignore things/symptoms. Even if it may seem trivial, embarrassing or not that big of a deal - it's always best to be safe. Fortunately things were dealt with swiftly otherwise it would have become a much bigger and scarier issue! 

After all of the worrying I really enjoyed some time away last weekend. I travelled back to my old home town, with the boyfriend, on Saturday up until Monday. It was so nice having time together, and being able to catch up with family and friends! On the Sunday we ventured out to an Italian restaurant. The food was delicious! We had bread, dips and olives to start and pizza for our mains. Yum.

I've had most of this week off work which has been lovely. So I've been trying to make the most of the time by getting into my studies and trying to get on top of things. As well as just having a bit of 'me' time. I finally managed to get around to getting my holiday pictures printed out... all 200 of them. There were so many pictures to choose from! I'm looking forward to sorting through them all and putting my favourites into frames. 

I have to say it's nice to be in a new month. Hopefully this one will be better than the last! 

p.s. I had to include this photo of Charlie - he looks so sweet and comfy! Not so sweet yesterday evening though, after he decided to use my cupboard as a toilet (TWICE!)

In A Nutshell

So the last month or so has been pretty hectic for me - a good hectic though. I've really missed taking the time out to mooch around the blogging world so I'm happy I've taken some time out this afternoon to write a little post. I thought I'd do a little update type post today. I can be a bit nosey and lifestyle posts like these are definitely my favourite to read and to write :)

At the start of June I went away with some of my family for a couple of weeks in Italy. I had an amazing time and enjoyed every minute of it. We travelled around and visited some beautiful places, it was a lovely adventure and I have lots of great memories from my time away. Once I'm feeling a bit more organised, and have sorted through the hundreds of photos, I'll be doing a post on my time away and sharing some of the pictures with you all. 

I've been back home just over two weeks now and aside from getting back to work, I've been trying to sort out various bits and bobs that I've been meaning to do for a couple of months now. Funny how time away can refresh your batteries and give you that bit of motivation! But in a nutshell here are some of the things that I've been up to, apart from the above of course.

Watching: Mainly Buffy. Netflix has given me the excuse to get comfy with a hot drink, relax and watch old TV programmes that remind me of my childhood/teen years. This morning I did just that.

Listening: Rudimental and Icona Pop - I Love It.

Reading: A Game of Thrones - A Song of Ice and Fire. A friend that I work with has been in the process of reading the AGOT books. I've recently heard a lot of talk about the TV series aswell. I downloaded the first book on to my kindle at the start of the month and started reading it on the plane. I didn't think it would be my kind of thing but it really sucks you in. I've been enjoying reading this book!

Eating: Wraps, fruit and salads. In Italy I consumed a lot of pasta, pizza, paninis and ice cream. Makes me hungry just thinking about it..

Seeing: Family, and the boyfriend. I was off work last weekend so after being away on holiday it was lovely to have the weekend catching up with him. On the Saturday we visited a few little villages around the countryside nearby. It was nice - we strolled around, stopped and had a delicious pub lunch and just enjoyed each others company. 

Debating: On whether or not to start a particular course in September. It's something I know I need to do but it comes with lots of little decisions, planning... and of course saving. 

Well that roughly concludes the month of June for me! This coming weekend is full of long shifts at work for me, but whatever you're all doing I hope you all have a great weekend :)

Lately

On  the bank holiday Monday me and the boyfriend made a last minute decision to make the most of our day off together go and visit a safari park! I worked all weekend but fortunately we both had the Monday off. The weather was absolutely beautiful so we picked up some snacks, packed some suncream and a camera and made our way to a safari park.

As it was a bank holiday it was super busy, the actual process of driving through the safari park was long! I'm talking hours. Most of the time it felt like sitting in a very long traffic queue. Normally this may have been irritating but the sun was shining and seeing all of the animals along the way made it worth it. In particular seeing the two beautiful elephants. I don't think I can explain how much I love elephants! Once we'd spent hours making our way around the safari part we parked up and had a little mooch around. This park also had amusement rides and other animals located within the park. We went on a couple of rides, which was highly amusing. My boyfriend isn't one for rides. He enjoyed them in the end but watching his reactions were hilarious. We ended the day by grabbing a bag of chips, sitting on a picnic bench and enjoying the sunshine before heading home. 

I loved our day out together, despite how busy it was. It was one of those fun, light hearted days. 

There was a nice week or so of rain-free days and sunshine. When me and the boyfriend had bit of free time together and weren't stuck in work we tried to make the most of it by getting out and about. This usually consisted of jumping in the car and finding nice places to have a mooch and a walk around. Below: the view by the docks and taking the dogs for a walk :)

                                                                                                                                                                    






I had last weekend off so me and the boyfriend spent a couple of days back home. Well back home for me anyway. I live a little way away from where I grew up so I often go back and visit some family and friends. This time around my boyfriend joined me. It was a lovely laid back weekend full of delicious home cooked meals, bowling, drinks and movies. You can't beat a catch up with loved ones especially when it's been a couple of months since your last visit. 

What have you all been up to lately?

Lately

I've been particularly impressed with myself for saving up those pennies. It was a NYs resolution of mine and I've surprised myself by how well I've managed to stick to it. Avoiding the shops and working most weekends has helped massively! In the last week or two I have treated myself here and there. But over the last couple of weeks I've mainly been taking it easy and pottering about with the boyfriend, getting in to a good book, working my way through my stash of Lush products and enjoying the odd bit of sunshine. 

{I love a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake, although in this case a Tiramisu in a teacup. Delicious!}

A hot bubble bath and a good book definitely can't be beaten after a long day at work.  Me Before You has been on my 'to-read list' ever since a good friend reccommended it to me. I've only just finished it and I loved it. It didn't take me long to get stuck in to the story.

Below: I had to include this cute little picture I took a week or two ago. The sun was shining, I was sat in my back garden and this little munchkin was bouncing in circles around me. She is so adorable. Although sunny days can be short lived, it makes a change seeing blue skies and sunshine instead of the usual wind and rain.  I guess I wasn't the only one enjoying the sunshine! :)

What have your last couple of weeks consisted of?