How surreal. My twenty ninth birthday. The last year of my twenties. 365 days till the big 3.0.
Last year I spent my birthday in a pandemic. Nothing unusual, we’ve all experienced a lockdown birthday now no matter what month you were born in. This year, a sedate affair with a bracing walk on the beach planned with the family I had to stay apart from last time. Next year, I can only hope will be more normal with a bash worthy of a big birthday or a trip away.
Read MoreThe last year has tested us in so many ways but I didn’t expect it to test my relationship with my phone as much as it has. The constant availability because for real, what else are you even doing? The doom scrolling online, the constant shit news, everyone having a bad time and offloading - it all got a little much and then throw in working from home where work life balances basically don’t exist and I found myself sick of the sight of my iPhone. Let alone the clicking feeling I’ve been getting in my thumbs…..
Read MoreWell 2021 lockdown hit different didn’t it?
Write blog post has been on my to do list every week for the last….three months? I used to pride myself on my ability to churn out daily content and there wouldn’t be a day where I didn’t have the laptop out in front of the tv. These days, the work life balance has been non existent and the idea of sitting in front of another screen has been the last thing I wanted to do - let alone find the bleedin’ time!
Finally though, in front of Gogglebox and snuggled up in a blanket on a Thursday evening I have the time to type a line or two - so what better way than to catch you up on what’s been going on.
Read MoreOne year of lockdown.
Read MoreYes, contrary to the headlines some people did manage to get married in 2020 and we were one of the lucky few who had their big day just before the restrictions. As covid started dominating the news we blissfully danced the weekend away with over 100 of our favourite people and really made the most of what was to be the last big celebration of the year.
Read MoreIt’s easy to forget in this moment of madness, this year which has thrown everything we know into disarray that actually, the new normal isn’t well…..normal.
We are not used to mask wearing in the UK, daily press conferences, staying away from our loved ones, spending this much time at home. Shops being closed, children being schooled at home, the inability to just get in the car and drive somewhere or pop in here to pick something up - it’s all alien to our usual way of life and for those of us who didn’t get a taster of those things back in the summer, it’s been a long slog of acting like this is life now.
Whilst there are plenty of aspects of our ‘old’ life I can’t imagine having back (overcrowding can get in the bin and I cannot ever imagine using a public loo) there are also things from our ‘new’ life I’d like to see stay. I definitely can’t see myself going back to the weekly supermarket run with half of Cardiff on a Saturday morning and I’d like to see masks stick around but really, there’s so much of our pre covid days I can’t wait to see again.
Read MoreI am going into 2021 with cautious optimism knowing full well the first few months are going to be hard, scary, upsetting and worrying but just holding onto the hope, the glimmer of better things to come, the chance to resemble something more normal, the knowledge that this will not be forever it just won’t be and a plea for a happier, healthier year for all the people I hold dear. And if I could go on my honeymoon that would be fab too.
Read More6 month diary of the UK lockdown 1 - March 23rd / September 22nd 2020
Read MoreWe got married on 7th February 2020 - a week after the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in the United Kingdom and as we were all dancing the night away in under the fairy lights, little did we know where the rest of the year was going to take us.
Read MoreI am writing this at the end of 12 weeks since complete lockdown here in Wales, unsure what the assembly ministers will announce as our next step and whilst it’s likely it’s a move toward normality, it’s unlikely to be anything that different. 12 weeks since I last went to work, 12 weeks since I last saw my family, 12 weeks since I saw my colleagues, my friends, since I did my commute. And actually, longer than that for most.
Read MoreYou’ll all have seen the memes about the two types of people in lockdown; the people who have taken up three new hobbies, have lost two stone and have grown vegetables…..and the people who have hibernated under a mountain of blankets for the last three months and had their Netflix subscription cancelled for overuse.
Read MoreEy up, it’s been a while. Apart from one redesign and one half arsed attempt at lockdown ~ content ~ , I haven’t really given this space any time since I finished my month of wedding posts back in March. And boy oh boy a lot has happened since then. I’m going to talk about Covid and lockdown and how I am in another post but for now, let’s act like we’re having a big ol catch up and I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to since we last spoke.
Read MoreIt is estimated that half of the global population is currently living in some sort of lockdown, or under social distancing measures. Here in the UK we are about to enter week 4 of lockdown, where we are restricted to only essential working, going out for one form of exercise per day and to the shops for essential items only.
Read MoreOk so yes, technically I didn’t write one per day because the ol’ coronavirus hit the world and my motivation took a little dip but hey, I backdated the publishing so at least it looks good……
Read MoreI would say I haven’t had the wedding blues that bad but maybe that’s because a month later the UK went into lockdown and I had other things to focus on but when I got ill on the drive home from our mini moon and spent the next two weeks getting one cold after another I definitely had my low moments.
Read MoreYes, the pre wedding period might be full of planning, decisions and admin but that honeymoon phase has a pretty hefty checklist to follow too - especially if you change your name. From updating your details everywhere to opening a joint bank account (we never needed one until people wrote cheques in both our names in our cards). From writing thank yous to collecting your photos to selling your leftover decor - there’s a mountain of jobs to do.
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