Well, this entry has been a long time coming, as I had been looking forward to and planning our trip back to the UK for a very long time! I absolutely love heading home to see my family and friends and I enjoy every single minute of it. It is always hard to leave. This trip was especially memorable as I got to walk down the aisle as Jennie's maid of honour. Another memory I will never forget!
Where do I start?? I suppose at the beginning:
Friday 15th August
I always fly home over night, and land early in the morning around 7.30am. This time round there was no stopping in Windsor, I was homeward bound to Wales by 10am! We had decided that we would celebrate Dad and Chris' birthday with dinner and drinks in Cardiff, so by 7pm we were sat outside Las Iguanas sipping cocktails and by 8pm we were stuffing our faces full at Viva Brazil.
What a fun evening and fantastic welcome home! I absolutely love my family.
Saturday 16th August
Girlie time. Thanks to Carley, who is always the first to arrange a girlie gathering, I was lucky to see the majority of my friends for lunch at El Prado's for a much needed catch up and gossip. Followed by a few drinks at the Loft, Broadloads, I had the most wonderful day with these fabulous Welshies who I miss so much whilst not at home. The bestest friends a girl could ask for!
Sunday 17th August
I was in for a treat today. Afternoon tea at the Miskin Manor with mum, dad, and Aunty Rose. Located just a short 15 minute drive from mum and dads this wonderfully quaint hotel was the perfect place to relax, with as much tea as we could drink and delicious sandwiches, scones and cakes. Simply delightful.
Tuesday 18th August
Another treat from mum... a spa morning at the Vale Hotel with mum and Aunty Rose. Another fabulous location not far from mum and dads house where I spent the morning relaxing with a wonderful full body massage.
I also took the opportunity to take a drive to the coast. I absolutely love the Welsh coastline and this is one thing that I really miss about home...
My time in Wales came to an end pretty quickly. But there was still so much more to come on this trip. Carley and I left Bridgend to head to Brighton as it was time for Jennie's Hen Weekend. The planning all came together and we were setting off on our road trip! Brighton here we come (via Windsor to collect Lauren!)
Friday 22nd August
Jennie had no idea what we had in store for her hen weekend apart from knowing that we were off to Brighton. Myself and Naomi (her other maid of honour) had a jam packed weekend in store for her and the other 16 hens.
Arriving in Brigton we kicked off with lunch at Jamie's Italian. My first Jamie's experience. It was delicious! Must try the Jamie's here in Singapore soon! I'm pretty sure Joe would love it!
The afternoon was spent gossiping, eating and drinking and walking along the pier. We had glorious weather, which always helps when you're on the beach!!
We followed the beach with even more gossiping, eating and drinking at Bill's Bar and Restaurant and finished off the evening with cocktails at Merkaba bar at the My Hotel. All pretty civilised for a hen do.
It was time to make Jennie look a little bit, well, scary! Time for Thriller!
We had arranged a thriller dance class for everyone as Jennie is a Michael Jackson fan. It was great to see all the girls put in so much effort on their fancy dress outfits. Jennie hated every minute of walking along the main front looking like Wacko Jacko! Not only did she look hilarious but PVC in that heat must not have been fun!
Our last stop of the hen do was Funfair Club where all took part in a cocktail making class and danced the night away, with the occasional dip on the ball pool. Yes you read correct, the ball pool! For more information on the Funfair Club check out the website http://www.funfairclub.com/Funfair-Club.aspx
A massive thank you to all the lovely ladies who made Jennie's hen such a wonderful experience. Jen is very lucky to have so many amazing family and friends!
Sunday 24th August
With the weekends antics over, it was time to head home from sunny Brighton and back to Windsor ready to collect Joe from the airport. Landing late afternoon, Joe and I decided to spend the night at a hotel near by for some much needed rest and relaxation before spending Bank Holiday Monday with Lauren and Ken.
Monday 25th August
Bank Holiday Monday was (as it normally is) a wash out. It literally did not stop raining! Our plans to cruise the river in a boat and drink beer in the beers gardens of Windsor went of the window and we ended up watching the Inbetweeners at the cinema in Staines!
Tuesday 26th August
Kick starting the day with a quick trip to Windsor castle we managed to catch the changing of the guards. In the whole time I lived in Windsor I didn't see this! So I was really pleased to that we both got to witness it!
Our next stop was Croydon. We decided to base ourselves here, as it was a short train ride into London, close to Jen's and also close to the wedding venue.
I haven't really been into London in four years, so we arranged some dinner and drinks with friends and family on the South Bank and spent the night catching up with everyone who we haven't seen in a while.
The Festival of Love was taking place along the South Bank which was great to see. Very colourful and basically full of love!
Lauren had found us a really cool bar, ?????where we based ourselves for the evening, and where several of our friends and family came to join us for a few hours. It was so lovely to catch up with everyone. John William and Darren came along, with Leslie and Bruce who were over from Australia.
Dinner was at Wahaca. I remember first discovering Wahaca many years ago with Chris Coulson, not long after we left university. It was one of my favs then and it still is! Delicious food, great drinks and amazing service. Not to mention the free chilli seed giveaway, which we have since planted and are trying to grow! Hopefully we'll be able to make them grow.
Wednesday 27th August
Mum and dad joined us in Croydon, which was great as it meant we got to spend more time with them and we had a few days where we were able to chill before the weddings!
Friday 29th August
Jennie and Stuart's big day! And one which we had all been looking forward to for a very long time! I could not wait to be Jennie's Maid of Honour and I was very much looking forward to a) walking down the aisle and watching her marry the man of her dreams and b) getting to put on the amazing dress that she had choosen for us to wear!
Jennie has been an absolutely incredible friend for nearly 10 years. I love her to pieces. She has met an amazing man in Stu and together they have created the most adorable son in Tommy. It was a lovely day from start to finish jam packed to the brim with love. So many fantastic memories I will treasure forever. Especially this wonderful pressie which of course bought tears to my eyes:
I was so gutted when I had to leave that evening, as it was yet again, another goodbye. I always hate leaving my friends. It never gets any easier! I can't wait to get back to the UK at Christmas to see everyone again. Thank you so much to everyone who made our trip so memorable!
