2015 highlights...

Who's excited for 2016?

 

 

2015. Blog started. Blog died a slow death... I've had this blog on the go for nearly a year now, and had great intentions at the outset, but have not achieved nearly as much as I wanted to. The reality is that it is pretty tricky trying to maintain the writing, photo editing and ideas whilst working full-time. Perhaps if I wasn't out of the house 12 hours a day (5 days a week), I might have been able to add a little more content to the blog. Maybe this year, I'll get more organised and dedicated. Or maybe not. We'll see...

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to look back on what was my 2015 and share a few of the highlights (that probably didn't make it onto the blog). Most of it's on Instagram, if you fancy having a nosey there (@s11ona).

January
The worst month by far. My mother was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Not the best way to start a new year. Quite the shock and the horrible feeling that this was going to be the worst year on (my) record {see my previous blogposts on this}.

Mother dearest

February
Mother had successful surgery (huge thanks to Neurosurgery team at Hull Royal Infirmary) and made a speedy, and quite surprising, recovery. Whilst at my parents, Fraser and I managed a day out in Bridlington; one of my favourite childhood places. What's not to love about the seaside in freezing February?

Breezy Brid

March
I tested my handwriting skills and attended a calligraphy workshop with Quill London. It was a lot harder than I thought, and a lot more practice is required. We also had our first mini break of the year. We like to see places out of season so as to avoid crowds of people. We visited Dorset for the weekend, staying in Lulworth Cove at the beautiful Cove House B&B. Dorset is truly stunning (see my blogpost for details). 

Durdle Door

March was also the month I found £10 in the street. What a turnaround for 2015...!

April
The start of spring meant a busy month at the allotment, with seedlings being germinated and beds being dug over. It was a lovely warm and sunny month, so I recall, and we had a trip to Windsor Great Park with friends over the Easter holidays. I also got to visit the south coast (again) with work and stayed by the beach in Hythe. I even managed a wee trip to the Dungeness RSPB Reserve, and what a beautiful day it was. Let's hope April 2016 will be as sunny.

Sunrise in Hythe

May
I enjoyed May as I took part in the SYGM Married May challenge - such fun. A different theme each day and the perfect showcase for your wedding. Not sure I will do it again this year, but would definitely recommend it to any bride to be, or those recently married. 
We also had a day out in Chelsea, ogling at all the expensive properties. We stumbled upon the Chelsea Physic Garden, which was lovely. Definitely worth a visit - I'll certainly be returning in 2016.

Chelsea Physic Garden

June
I went to Edinburgh with work and made a weekend out of it with a colleague. I've visited Edinburgh so many times but have never done the touristy thing. Who knew there were so many cashmere shops and Christmas shops. Yes, in June (!). I made one of my favourite purchases of the year in Edinburgh - Minnie Mouse Vans {heart eyes emoji}.

Minnie!

July
It was the beginning of wedding season, with a Hen Do in Newquay - it was pretty epic. Butlers in the Buff, glamping, paddle boarding and plenty of Stags. It's a pretty crazy town in the summer.

Miss Heath, the Hen

August
We attended our first wedding of the year in Somerset. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony and the rain managed to hold off. It was a very drunken affair with friends old and new. As we had travelled all the way down to Somerset, we decided to make a long weekend of it, staying in yet another fabulous B&B (The Cross at Croscombe). The owner Terri is fantastic and can't do enough for you - another highly recommended visit. We also visited places like Cheddar Gorge, Watchet, and the quaint Wells. I never got round to doing a blogpost on this trip. Ho hum.

One of my favourite photos of 2015

I chopped all my rotten hair off too. Back to the old me. 

September
Wedding number two in bonnie Scotland. Another outdoor ceremony, which even the Scots couldn't believe. More drunkeness. 

October 
My birthday month. My favourite month. Afternoon tea at The Ritz {woooooh!} and a mini break in the Isle of Wight. Who needs the Caribbean when we have our own beautiful islands? The most wonderful birthday dinner at The Shed in Bembridge, discovering Steephill Cove and The Crow's Nest spa {what a view} and visiting the donkeys at the IOW Sanctuary. Take me back...

Cakes at The Ritz

Chintzy tea

IOW

November

This is my second favourite month as it is our wedding anniversary. This year was our first wedding anniversary. Yay, we made it through year 1. I chose The Gallivant in Camber Sands for a few days away, and it was everything we hoped for. With a slogan of "Eat. Sleep. Beach" what's not to love. A truly beautiful part of the UK. We paid the famous Mermaid Street in Rye a visit and visited Hastings and local villages, which were all beautiful. I really do appreciate living in such a beautiful country. Happy Anniversary Hubby {heart emoji}.

Wedding wrapping paper {how awesome?}

Our cards to one another

December
It's Chriiiistmaaas!! Our final adventure of the year was a wee trip to Rome for my sister's 40th birthday. This was a surprise for my sister, who got the shock of her life when she saw us there. Man, I love surprises. Rome is now my favourite City - I totally fell in love with everything: the culture, the pace of life, the food and the huge statues and buildings. Stunning. 
{I plan to do a blogpost on Rome in the new year - keep your eyes peeled}.

Roman seagull

We finally ticked off our first activity from our wedding bucket list

Christmas has now been and gone and so I'm thinking about what 2016 holds. For us, it's the promise of owning our very first home, which excites and scares me in equal measure. 

Here's hoping you have something equally exciting planned for 2016 and wishing you a year of health and happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

S
xoxo

 

One year on...

It's been one whole year since we said "I will". One whole year. That time has flown by. I'm not sure whether that's a reflection of married life or ageing. Whatever it is, I feel it's worth reflecting on our first year as husband and wife. So here goes...

I've heard the saying that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I think that's bullsh*t. If that's the case, then you married the wrong person. Our first year has been a breeze, largely down to the fact that I think nothing really has changed on a day to day basis, and the sheer act of getting married somehow further cemented our love and commitment to one another. It's indescribable really, but something felt different - better, but different. 

We started married life off in style; hungover and full of cold and babysitting my Mum while my Dad was in hospital with a horrendous, non-stop nosebleed. Luckily my Dad got sorted very swiftly and our colds subsided before we jetted off on honeymoon. The honeymoon was epic and everything we wanted it to be - relaxing, adventurous, drunken, nail biting (Fraser driving a speedboat and nearly getting us stranded), romantic and fun. We really did not want to step off cloud number nine.

Biras Creek, BVI

After the honeymoon, we dived straight back into work and both of us have been non-stop since. Fraser has spent a lot of this year up north with work, so it feels like I've hardly seen him. It's made weekends much more important and I've loved the build up of excitement each Friday, knowing a squeeze from my favourite man was only hours away. As difficult as it is being away from each other, it seems to have its benefits, especially in retaining our own sense of independence. Neither of us want a marriage where we're stuck by each other's side 24/7. Although we think we could happily do it, we like going to work, seeing friends, and generally succeeding at life against our own personal goals. 

I consider our first test as husband and wife arriving when my mum was diagnosed with a brain tumour in January. Quite the shock for all of us, but having someone to depend on 100% for emotional support was what gave me a lot of strength to stay strong for both my mum and dad through such a difficult time. And Fraser is possibly THE most optimistic person EVER, that there was no option other than the full recovery my mum made {blog post on my Mum here}

I know that I've held on to the memories of our wedding day much more than Fraser. It's not that he didn't have an incredible day, because he did. I think he's very much focused on the future and setting us some pretty damn good life goals. And that's why we work so well together - I like to keep memories alive and Fraser likes to build new ones. That's not to say he doesn't love to watch our photo slideshow every now and again; it's just too good. Maybe we'll watch it every anniversary from now on...? 

So, after one whole year of marriage I'm neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. Nothing has really changed, apart from getting a joint account, which I found more scary than getting married. Our next big life goal is to buy our first house, which I also find more scary than getting married. And we've already started making plans for our long term future, which we both find the most exciting. Isn't it wonderful to have someone to make life plans with and build new memories with? 

S
xoxo

The psychology of... colouring

Colouring is an activity many of us will associate with children. As a child I LOVED colouring and considered myself somewhat of an expert - never deviating outside of those lines. I was so good that I won first place in an esteemed colouring competition - for a local travel agency. I'll gloss over the fact that my mother permitted me to enter in to an age category I was too old for...

Colouring for adults is a bit of a craze at the moment. Just take a look at the number of colouring books available on the market, and at the time of writing there are two in Waterstone's top 20. Even my parents have bought into the craze. Somewhat. My Dad had given it a good go but commented that "it's quite a slow process" and "it takes ages to complete"; clearly not a person bought into the benefits.

Slowly but surely

As a Psychologist I instantly wanted to know more about the merits of colouring and whether the claims of soothing anxiety and eliminating stress were in fact based on sketchy (sorry!) evidence, at best.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a useful relaxation technique and it allows people to remove themselves from the chaos of daily life. It focuses the mind and provides an outlet for creativity. Some Art therapists have even claimed it is a form of mindfulness, which focuses people on a specific activity rather than on any sources of anxiety.

Cathy Malchiodi, an Art Therapist and Psychotherpist, argues that colouring is not mindfulness, and goes on to suggest that for some it may actually lean toward obsession, "reinforcing the need to complete all those designs in all those books you purchased." 
I do find it difficult to accept such bold claims of eliminating stress - a colouring book will not eliminate stress; identifying and removing the root cause of stress will eliminate stress. The same goes for anxiety. At best, colouring is a sticking plaster solution.

Despite the mixed evidence, I have found colouring to be relaxing, fun, and a good distraction from all the thoughts I have running around my head. I've enjoyed reminiscing about my childhood colouring experiences and will probably continue colouring to the point of obsession. Yep, I'm one of those people.

I've bought two different colouring books and a set of new pencil crayons to set me on my way...

 

I'd love to hear others' experience of colouring and any perceived benefits. Can it really provide a form of mindfulness or is it just a short-lived relaxation craze?

S

xoxo 

A day out in Chelsea...

It's been a while since I last posted, mainly due to extremely busy periods at work which don't allow much time for thinking let alone writing. But I'm making a conscious effort to blog more regularly from now on...

Hubby and I recently had a day out exploring Chelsea, London. It's been on the to-do list particularly since the new series of Made in Chelsea started {yes, it's a guilty pleasure}.

We started with a spot of lunch at The Phene, which is tucked away down a side street off King's Road. This is definitely our kind of {posh} pub - lovely interior, awesome beer garden and a delightfully varied menu - food, wine and beer. 

I opted for the Macaroni Cheese with spinach and truffle oil and Fraser went for  the Croque Madame {he loves a good toastie with an egg on top!}

After our lunch lunch we headed for an ogle at the houses on Cheyne Walk. A millionaire's paradise. Apparently the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Laurence Olivier have lived there. The houses are HUGE, but it's free to look though!

We then headed to the Chelsea Physic Garden. It's a beautiful oasis of green right in the heart of Chelsea - quite the hidden treasure too. I definitely recommend a visit and apparently the cafe is pretty good too {we were too full after lunch}. As I'm quite green fingered I took a lot of photos...

Always the clown...

I bought a few postcards of vintage seed packets for framing at home from the lovely gift shop at the Gardens.

After we left it started chucking it down so we hopped into the nearest pub, The Surprise, for respite from the rain. Absolutely nothing to do with the bunting on the outside of the pub...

We had a good wander down King's Road, window shopping and for our final stop, we popped into Gail's for coffee and cake: A Chelsea bun in fact. Delicious!

All in all it was a lovely day out exploring the more affluent part of London. Jealous much!?

 Shones
xoxo