Hello 30

Tomorrow it will be almost one month since I turned 30 so I thought it was high time I shared a few pics of R and my joint 30th birthday party back in April. 

Initially we weren't going to mark our birthdays in any other way than doing something quiet ourselves (we both have a bit of a phobia of parties), but then I realised that I would regret it if we didn't do something to celebrate with our friends and so after a bit of persuasion from me, we decided to have a little party at our house. We kept the guest list small and only had our closest friends so as to keep stress levels down!

I set about decorating the house with lots of spring flowers, eucalyptus, fairy lights and huge paper baubles that I got from Ikea ages ago. 

 

I made a slightly wonky-looking 30 banner. 

We used our old tin bath and crates for storing the booze. 

My sister made the most incredible four tiered vanilla cake with buttercream and raspberry jam.

She did such an amazing job - it looked incredible! (and it tasted wonderful too). 

We decorated it with fresh flowers and some bunting that I made from washi tape, and some old numbers that R and I found in a junk shop the week before. 

I re-vamped our Christmas wreath with some daffs to make it look a little more Spring-like.

Bobby didn't lift a finger, as usual. 

  

We made lots and lots of canapes (it's not a party if there's no food in my opinion!). Luckily two of our lovely friends who live in Cardiff came up to stay for the weekend and spent all afternoon helping us with the food. They were amazing!

The canapes were very delicious if I say so myself! And everything looked very pretty and twinkly! 

It started to rain in the evening and got a bit nippy so we lit the fire to make the house cosy. And we put lanterns outside in the garden and along the path at the front of the house to welcome our guests. 

I remembered to take some photos of us before the alcohol started flowing!

After that, things got a little blurry!

It was so lovely to be among all our dearest friends and family, all the people we care about most and love dearly. Who know us better than anyone and who, between them, have been there for all the important stages of our lives. 

 

 

Later on things got a little.....um......out of hand, shall we say, and we forgot to take any more photos (definitely a good thing!) There was chatting and drinking and lots and lots of dancing in the kitchen (and a fair bit of singing too!)

 

We also realised that the numbers on the cake were far better the other way round...!

We had the most wonderful party and felt so glad that we managed to get all our friends together to celebrate with us. We felt very lucky to be marking the beginning of another decade surrounded by our closest, dearest people. It is exciting to be entering a new phase of our lives together, leaving our twenties behind and starting a new journey. We loved our twenties and everything that happened, all the stuff we did and achieved. But I think we're both happy to be entering our thirties, more comfortable in who we are, and the sort of life we want to create together. I'm looking forward to what the next 10 years will hold!

Some moments recently

So after about 5 years of resisting, I have finally succumbed to the power of the iphone (yes, I am completely in love) and, as a result, have lots more everyday photos rather than photos of trips or projects where I would normally take along our SLR. I love looking through these and thought I would share a few of them in one place. I thought I might start doing this regularly at the end of each month. That would be a nice idea, wouldn't it? Unfortunately I'm pretty much allergic doing anything regularly or sticking to any sort of routine so I probably won't. We'll see! 

January was a sort of unexpectedly lovely month. I had very low expectations (I find that helps), but it surpassed them all and we have enjoyed four quiet, gentle weeks with lots of time to ourselves, lots of cooking and resting and reading and cosy wintry evenings by the fire.  

I felt inspired to do some baking, partly because my sister is currently living with us and is a cake maker extraordinaire (sisterly competitiveness), 

We have eaten long leisurely breakfasts and drunk many many cups of tea (dry January required it!)

The house has been bedecked in tulips and hyacinths, much needed reminders that Spring is on its way and that light and colour are not so far off. 

I went a bit gaga for seasonal fruit and went on mad hunts for lychees and Seville oranges (and then took photos of them, natch). 

We ventured out into the East End and had a leisurely lunch and and a wander, stopping at Pitfield for a mosey. 

 And I have fallen in love with our local park all over again. 

Even a ten minute walk or jog around it makes me feel better and more connected to what's going on outside. Each week the colours are slightly different, the light casts different shadows, the plants at a different stage, something new has happened, something is emerging or fading away. 

I hope you liked that little round-up! February is set to be a busy month. I will have to make an effort to find time for reading and crafting and plenty of sleep. But for now, I'm off to make pancakes and wait for R to come home. I hope you're all busy and happily flipping and gobbling! x