Whether we're a parent ourselves or not, we all know about Mum guilt. But what about the auntie's I hear literally none of you cry?
Well I'm here to tell you the auntie guilt is very much alive and kicking my friends.
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For those of you readers who aren't from round these parts, the United Kingdom is, amongst other things (world cup fever, government falling apart etc, Brexit etc)....a heatwave. It's been going on a solid 3/4 weeks. Longer if you take it back to the beginning of June and ignore the sporadic rain we had after that. I don't know at what point we stop calling it a heatwave and start considering this might just be our summer but I for one am living for it.
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I have also been feeling this year like home is more important to me too. The notion of home has always played a huge part in my life and that's been more to do with family than anything else. I have always felt like 'home' has meant different things to me, like I'd refer to my childhood house as 'home' when I was in university and my flat 4 hours away as 'home' when I was back with Mum and Dad. Both those places felt equally homely to me, both the house I had for a mere 2 years with a friend and the house my parents have been in since I was born.
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This week has been a busy one there's no doubt about it. I have been rushing here there and everyone, as you read this I am away with the weekend in West Wales with friends and I have had a million and one things to do in my bullet journal.
So how to combat it?
Throw caution to the wind and take your brother and father out for a wild Thursday evening of course.
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Last weekend marked 8 years since me and Joss got together and we always try and mark it with something fun. Being skint, working hard and not having the time for a fortnight's holiday in the sun we booked a last minute hotel room in a Premier Inn on the outskirts of Llanelli and headed West for a few days.
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I feel like I should be apologising for the lack of content or saying 'oh hey I'm back' as if I've been on an impromptu blogging break. Except I haven't been away, I have been ever present on social media and there has been regular content ticking over on this ol' site.
But can you tell my heart's not really been in it? Can you tell I haven't been all that present mentally or all that committed to what I'm creating? Can you tell it's been posting for posting sake?
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It may or may not have escaped your knowledge but a few weeks ago, toward the end of March, the blog squad and I made the journey down to the East English coast for the wedding of the year. If you follow any or all of us on Instagram you probably couldn't avoid the constant stories updates of the fun we were having, and all the photos that we posted on our grids after that.
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Oh hi just me trying not to freak out about us being a quarter of the way through the year anyone else? This year is absolutely flying by and I am filling it with all the lovely things and it's been a pretty solid start to 2018.
March for me was hectic, in the best sense of the word but it meant it went by quicker than both the months before it. March was bookended by trips away, first to Venice and then to Sussex and it meant I was in a constant state of packing, getting ready to go away and unpacking again. Despite the never ending busy it was a great month filled with lots of fun things I'm excited to tell you about.
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Back in January I really had a think about how I wanted 2018 to pan out for me. You can read the whole blog post here but to sum up, I wanted this year to be punctuated with more happy, fun memories than stress which would be exactly opposite to 2017. I decided to be selfish, at 25 I had a big ol' realisation of what the next few years of my life might be like and I decided to intentionally put fun first, something we forget all too often when you're navigating first homes and savings and car maintenance and bills and life.
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It's one week to go till Easter Sunday and my house is looking pretttyyyy festive. I mean, I'm not actually there at the moment because I am away with my gal pals but as I write this, I am sat in my living room with my easter bunting everywhere snacking on a mini egg or two and I am loving it.
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The mini beast from the east returned didn't it? I was out of the country (in Venice) when it made it's first appearance, though it didn't stop it delaying my travel plans. I missed the chance to photograph the snow the first time around so when Derek the weatherman (if you know, you know) forecast snow and disruption for a second time this weekend I knew it was my chance.
Yesterday morning, on what would have been a normal sleepy Sunday, Joss and I wrapped up warm in coats and wellies and woolies and took the dogs for a wander round the forest and the lake on our doorstep.
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It might have escaped your knowledge if you don’t follow my blog or any of my social media platforms but I spent the first four days of March in (snowy) Venice. This was my second trip to Venice, the first time being with college for the Biennale in 2011, and this time with my Mum and two of our friends for a girly weekend away.
The first time I went to Venice it was November and we were told it was rainy season so to pack wellies – it ended up being beautiful sunshine all 6 days and we were boiling. This time we were advised it would be 10-15 degrees – instead Venice saw it’s first snow in years and then rained every other day at a casual -4.
Having done Venice twice now, and for 10 days in total, I feel like I have had a chance to see everything I want to see, do everything I want to do and have a few recommendations and tips to share if you’re also planning a trip to one of (imo) the most picturesque places in Europe. Deffo one to tick off the bucket list.
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Mother's Day is a mere week away and the shops and supermarkets are full of flowers and cards and chocolates for you to treat the woman who brought you into this world when no present will ever be good enough.
How do you buy a gift for the woman who birthed you? For the woman that raised you? For the one who kissed your grazed knees and brought you warm soup when you were off school ill. For the woman who ironed your uniform and saw you off to uni with a care package from home and welcomed you back with open arms 3 years later when you were full of debt.
In celebration of all Mum's - here's a few of my favs.
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For those folk amongst you who are not Welsh, you might not know that today is St David's Day. We celebrate our patron saint on March 1st every year with an Eisteddford and dressing up when you're in school and scoffing welsh cakes if you're not.
If you're not Welsh, you probably don't know a lot about it, least of all why we celebrate being Welsh, and what it feels like. It's probably unsurprising that with a name like mine and from a family of Welsh ancestors through and through, I really quite like being Welsh.
Here's a coupla reasons why;
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This post came requested from a lovely school friend who recently got sent not one but six care packages over the course of a fortnight when she was in need of a little cheering up. She was pretty happy with her mini care packages and mentioned she'd never have had the thought, nor the ideas of what to put in the parcels.
A care package for those not in the know is a little parcel, letter, card or collection sent in the post or delivered in person when someone needs it most. A way of cheering someone up, letting them know you care and you love them, a way of helping when you sometimes can't physically be there.
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Sometimes you just have a normal Thursday night planned in front of the TV with something beige to eat – and sometimes you get an invite to a press launch in another country and you just up and leave. Ok sure, admittedly the other country was England but a quick hours drive over the Severn saw me in Bristol last week with my blogging bae Sarah at the press launch for Handmade Fair at Bowood House.
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In December I talked a bit about what I was and wasn't bringing back for 2018 and my Friday Favourites and my Pinspiration didn't make the cut but this wee babe did. I wasn't sure on this one, I felt like it'd gone a bit stale and was repeating a lot of what I said in my Friday Favs. However, since I don't do my Favourites anymore at all I felt like I was itching to share a bit of my life, what I've been up to and well, this blog post format still fitted so here we are.
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Ah January. That month where half the time you're exclaiming over how you can't believe it's the new year and the other half of the time you're tweeting about how it's lasted approx 8 million years.
It's also the fated month of Blue Monday (whether it be a marketing ploy or not) and the month of new habits and maybe failed resolutions and you're skint from Christmas and it can all be a bit shit.
With that in mind I thought I'd share twenty little loves that meant this January wasn't so awful after all.
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An open letter to my blogging friends - to the gaggle of gals brought together by one fateful picnic and a shedload of laughs.
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The start of a new year brings a whole lot of reflection and often a feeling like we didn't achieve enough in the last year. It also brings the desire to do better, to make a change and to set some goals and that's a ok with me.
Twitter of late has been full of people mocking those who sign up for a gym membership in the new year, those who plan to lose weight, those who want to set a resolution and that's fine too if you don't want to. You CAN make a change or set a goal at any time of the year but let's not take the piss out of those who live in hope of 2018.
I myself have never felt so motivated and positive about making some changes as we head into what this year has in store for us so here's what I got up to the NYE, and what I plan for the next 12 months.
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