Friday Favourites 1st - 14th April 2017.
FF14.04.17
Well isn't April going swimmingly? I mean the world is potentially going to shit yet again but like at least the weather has been glorious right?
I don't know what the rest of the UK has been doing but South East Wales has been fabbbbulous, I think we had about 10 straight days of lovely weather and holy moly we didn't have to wear coats and whilst I didn't brave the sandals, I did have to put suncream on not once but twice.
Long may it continue.
1. Family Tea.
Hot damn the first of April feels like an actual age ago. A fortnight ago we had the busiest, most hideously rushed day ever because we wanted our decorating finished before my family came round. We finished painting, we washed floors, we went shopping, we cleaned the house from top to bottom, we did dishes, we did laundry, we made food...I was in the shower when my family left to come here because I was so rushed off my feet but we pulled it off. My parents and grandparents came to see us on the Saturday night and my brother and his family came on the Sunday morning and it was so nice to have them round and for them to see what we've been beavering away on the past few months.
2. Sunny Sundays.
Because the weather has been so lovely we've been spending a lot of time outside and as we have a 1 year old in the family, that's been consisting of tents and dens and pond dipping and football. A few weekends ago whilst my Mum pottered away happily in the garden and my Dad and my niece found stones to drop in the pond, my brother, his fiancé and I did crosswords with a cuppa in the sunshine and it was absolutely delightful - if a little prematurely middle aged of us.
3. That Greenhouse. Again.
Will I ever get bored of the greenhouse in Dyffryn Gardens? No I don't think so either. Dyffryn Gardens is my most local National Trust property and they have a hot house FULL of cacti and it is my actual dream. We went again last week, we took my niece and I made sure we paid it another visit so I could stock up on 8492374875847 more photos for the old Insta reel.
4. #The100DayProject.
Yassss it's back for another year and I am taking part in the 100 Day project again. You can read my full post on what it is and what I'm doing for it here but if you want the shortened version it's basically a creative project for 100 days (I know, shocked you there didn't I?) and I'm using the hashtag #100daysoffwis - 100 days of from where I stand - for my journey. This is a sample of the first few days of the challenge but you can keep up with all 100 days till July over on my business Instagram @gwennanreesillustration.
5. Postbox Snacks.
There's nothing like surprise blogger mail but when the blogger mail is food you know you're onto a good thing. The little fairies at Ritz UK emailed me last week asking me for my address to send me a little something and the VERY NEXT DAY a courier turned up with this little box. The cutest packaging ever with a hand written note this box opened like 01839283497 times to reveal these little snacks and it was actually so adorable. FYI the salted ones are amaze and I'm not a fan of cheese and onion but the boyfriend wolfed them down so I think you have a pretty solid recommendation on both.
6. Old Traditions, New People.
Last week my Dad had some time off work so we took my niece out for the day to a farm park. It's about an hours pop up the M4 for us but it was a super warm day and we knew she'd love it and she fell asleep in the car so we had a picnic and all was well. As soon as we donned our shades (her included) and whacked on the suncream I recognised the park immediately. We've only been there twice before when we were kids, when my brother was her age but I remembered it exactly. She bloody loved it and it was so nice to take her somewhere me and my brother went when we were her age and enjoyed just as much.
7. London.
I mean, I had to include it didn't I? I won't harp on about it too much because I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about our day trip to Richmond last week but it was undoubtedly the loveliest impromptu plan this week. The weather was ace, the road trip was long but a lot of lols and I felt so inspired and motivated when we came back. The Instagram feed definitely helps to. You can have a peep at what we did in London over here.
8. Blogging Baes.
These guys (and the ones that couldn't make it). There is something so special about blogging pals IRL and I have a post coming up about it but they're like no other group of friends. If you haven't seen these beauties before (wth have you been doing) but Sarirah, Mel and Sarah came with me to London last week and we had such a laugh. I keep giggling to myself about things that we said, things that happened, jokes that were made and I so want to share them on here but like actually it makes no god damn sense. Let's just leave it at they're a right bunch of tens and they make this blogging malarkey all the more enjoyable.
9. Summer Is Coming.
I mean not quite but ya know, the nights are drawing out and the sunsets are pretty ace at the moment and whilst I'm enjoying Spring A LOT, I am pretty sure Summer 2017 is going to be a good one. This week I, for the first time, actually stopped the car when I was driving and got out to take a photo. I know, all for the gram. But really, would you get a load of this view? It was actually way more epic in real life, the field was actually about 4 fields all bright bright yellow and in the distance you could see Devon and Somerset and it gave me all the tingles for Summer nights.
10. Cocktails.
So I didn't actually take any photos from Saturday night so here's one of me taking advantage of a white brick wall instead. Never miss an opportunity me. Last Saturday after the longest day ever in London we woke up hideously early because we'd let the house get a state and Joss had family coming round who wanted to see it - actual panic stations. We spent the afternoon with them having dinner and a catch up and then in the evening we moseyed on down to our local town for my brother's fiancé's birthday. There's a relatively new cocktail place opened in town so we went there and it was all of my hipster dreams rolled into one. Fairy lights, unique decor, board games....it was the actual dream. It was a right motley crew of siblings and partners and school friends and people we haven't seen in years but it worked out so well. We had such a laugh, everyone had such a good time and the board games and chips were winners. I wasn't drinking naturally but that meant I was taxi for the night and did not one but two runs to the same house cos lol 4 seater car problems.
11. Late Night Pig Out.
On Wednesday night we were both feeling pretty crappy and drained and exhsuated mentally so we did what all sensible grown up twenty somethings do and we ordered a Dominos. Living in the arse end of nowhere means we had to collect and the takeaway was having a mare and we didn't end up eating until 9.45pm but it was sooooo worth it and we also ate an Easter egg too for ultimate pig out goals. That's an Easter egg each FYI.
12. Coffee Catchup.
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate Megan's photography here please? She made me do this, I didn't request it, she made me stand here because she is a bloggers best friend. This gal, this little gem, we always meet up when she's home and whilst we always do coffee, today we branched out into lunch and it was divine. There is nothing like a catchup with an old pal who just gets you, she validates my reasoning and I come away from a visit with her like a new person. She's basically my therapist and she's an actual goddess.
13. Goal Digger.
YASSSSS I finally beat the algorithm!!! I mean no not really because it destroys lives but after about a year of fluctuating around the 950 mark I finally hit 1K followers on Insta. I know it might not be a big deal to some and I know it might be a huge deal to others but I've heard the first 1K is the hardest so I'm hoping it's like some kind of milestone you have to hit before you actually se some real growth. Whatever happens, I'm not convinced it won't fluctuate again but it felt pretty nice to see a cute round number up there on the stats (and my 1000th post wasn't too shabby either).
14. Easter Plans.
It's Easterrrrrrrr. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again some other time probably) but even though I'm self employed there's something about a bank holiday that makes me so much happier. This weekend is busier than ever and I swear down I don't know how many plans I've made or how I managed to fit them all in. After today's catch up in town I spent the evening cleaning and tidying and making the house spick and span, tomorrow I have rugby alllll day, cocktail bar in the evening and lifts for people, Sunday I have 2 treasure hunts and 3 different sets of family and Monday I have more family down and a catch up. Like what even. After feeling a bit poorly after pushing myself too hard last week before London you'd think I'd have a rest wouldn't you?
Have a fabulous fortnight my cherubs - may your weekend be filled with lots of chocolate and no guilt.
