AD – PR Gifts – This post contains some PR gifts which I have marked with *. For more information, see my disclaimer.
IT (WAS) MY BIRTHDAY!
And ooooh it was a good one!
I won’t lie to you, as it’s been a crappy few months with lockdown, the uncertainty of it all, miserable news updates everyday and grieving over the loss of our Benji, I didn’t think I was going to be up for celebrating this year.
I mean, 25 was a great birthday as I went to London, saw Phantom of the Opera and I even managed to fit in a visit to the Silverstone British Grand Prix! I didn’t think it would top that to be honest.
Plus, 26 is SUCH a weird age like… I’m in my twenties, but I’m closer to 30 but I can’t say I’m in my early twenties anymore; I’m in my late twenties. Ew. Ha!
But I am always one who likes to milk their birthdays for a whole weekend, a whole week and sometimes even the whole of July if I can get away with it! Josh will tell you; I’m not a high maintenance person, but when it comes to my birthday, I like to make an occasion of it!
But my birthday weekend really and truly was an eventful one, mainly down to my family and Josh for going all out and making sure I could have the best weekend and day ever.
And my main birthday wish came true: being able to spend time with my family at their house (whilst observing social distancing!)
And since it was so full on the weekend, I thought I would revert to old fashioned blogging where I actually write about something nice. Here is what I got up to during my 26th birthday weekend and a few mentions of some local businesses who made it great!
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
The first birthday surprise was a trip to Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable!
Those who know me well, will know I love visiting the zoo! I think Whipsnade are a fantastic one who do a lot to help … plus, it’s a good hour drive for us, so it really does feel like a big day out – and one of our first since lockdown!
A lot of people asked me on Instagram how I felt about the safety measures in place and honestly? They did really well to accommodate and make us feel welcome, safe and happy.
There were lots of red painted animal prints on the floor to help with social distancing and to know which places had one way systems in place, most of the indoor exhibits were closed for obvious reasons apart from the butterfly sanctuary and aquarium.
The best things about the zoo is how everything is so wide open and spacious and because they had 10am – 2pm and 2pm – 6pm booking slots, this really helped with crowd control. But we saw all the animals we could possibly want.
Lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) we loved seeing the penguins, giraffes and I really did enjoy the beauty that was wandering through the butterfly sanctuary with them all flying around you.
It was a real treat and a great day out!
The return of BiteStreet NN!
This couldn’t have come at a better weekend, but the return of BiteStreet NN was well overdue and I WAS VERY EXCITED!
Obviously due to the current situation, no one knew when BiteStreet would return and if they did, what they would put in place to ensure everyone could enjoy it safely and without any risk.
Crispin and his team did extremely well considering it was their first event back and one thing I was really impressed with was the pedal sink = no touching taps! But obviously, we werent there for fancy taps but for the food…
The food and drink on offer was plentiful as always! You’ll always find something to enjoy at BiteStreet from Pork Burgers and BBQ ribs from Little Urban BBQ, Tacos and Quesadilla’s from Baja Cantina, chicken wings and chilli burgers from Smoke Braai and obviously plenty of Strawberry cider to wash it down with.
Josh and I just LOVED being back at one of our favourite monthly events and best of all… BiteStreet is going fortnightly during the summer!
Spread in bed
The best way to start your weekend: order a spread and eat it with your partner with a cup of coffee.
The lovely Amy from Spread was super efficient when she put together this gorgeous brunch spread that was surprisingly healthy with so much colourful fruit, pots of granola and yoghurt, freshly baked pastries and bread rolls and let’s not forget the wonderful pancake skewers complimented with a pot of nutella!
I’ve ordered a party spread from Amy before, but I was yet to enjoy an individual one to share with Josh, and it was so worth it!
A Vintage Surprise!
Saturday was full of surprises thanks to Josh, but this one was slightly earlier than planned on Josh’s behalf.
I remember him wanting me to get out of the house, but due to my lack of timing in getting myself up and ready, plus Josh not wanting to look suspicious, Josh decided to let me in on an early birthday present when it finally got delivered.
A GOLDEN VINTAGE DRINKS TROLLEY (of dreams!)
I remember visiting Vintage Guru a couple of weeks ago with Josh and I couldn’t believe he remembered that I saw it and said how much I loved it. I have always wanted one in our house, but I didn’t think it would suit due to having such a modern house.
But when it arrived and we unwrapped it, it actually completes our living room perfectly!
Now I have the fun project of figuring out what I want to place on it.
Yummy Cheese and Piggy Boxes
Is it just me, or isn’t food that’s contained in little boxes SO much more appealing? Yes!
It was so nice of Danny Tompkins, who you may know as the Chef of the Year winner at the Carlsberg Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards, to drop off some of his speciality *cheesy and piggy boxes.
One box filled with cheese, the other filled with meats galore. Both super tasty and perfect for snacking!
We enjoyed them whilst we sat down and watched Frozen II and I couldn’t think of a better way to end my last day being 25.
IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!
Then Sunday, I woke up at the early time of 5:30am(!?!) but obviously I must’ve been excited!
Regardless of the early wake-up, I was treated to a lovely eggs benedict for breakfast by Josh and enjoyed reading all my lovely cards whilst drinking a coffee. A nice relaxing morning!
I then went over to my parents who set up such a lovely birthday spread and table for me, filled with decorations and more!
My parents don’t do things by halves!
But the one thing I was hoping for and wishing for was to be able to come over to my parents and celebrate my birthday with them – with all the lockdown restrictions around, I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to as originally we couldn’t – it made my whole birthday to be honest.
I was spoilt with lots of presents, including a Royal & Derngate tote bag from Mooch, some beautiful cocktail glasses, lots of flowers and a very sentimental Mickey Mouse watch.
And boy… there was lots of cake! Firstly, some lovely birthday cupcakes and a slab made by Lauren at Break with Cake, based in Towcester and it was so hard not to eat them all!
Plus, a HUGE bespoke birthday cake made by the fabulous Gemma at The Copper Kitchen… and it was WIZARD OF OZ THEMED AND COFFEE FLAVOURED!
I enjoyed the rest of my birthday with some friends in our garden with a few drinks and I felt rich in people’s time and effort!
A big thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! Considering the circumstances and whether we are in lockdown or not, I had such a great weekend full of treats, surprises and lots of food and drink!
I actually found myself worn out and run down on Monday (which thankfully, I took off) because we had done SO MUCH!
Just goes to show what 4 months doing nothing in lockdown does to you when you’re suddenly thrown into lots of (exciting) things!
I came away from that weekend feeling happy, grateful, tired and about 10 pounds heavier – ha!
I think 26 is going to be a good year… I’m getting closer to 30. Waaaahhhh!
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