birthday week

it was my birthday week last week! and i'm so excited, i've never felt like i was my age, i've always felt a good few years older than i am so telling people i'm 20 has never quite sounded right in my head, i'm finally hitting the big 21. so last weekend i got my present from G and we headed off on the train to York for the weekend! G was pretty good at keeping a secret as i literally had no idea what we were doing for my birthday until he told, which is pretty impressive i'm good at guessing surprises! i've never been to York before so it was exciting getting to visit a new place with G, we've been thinking about travelling so much more recently. our honeymoon plans are an insane road trip around south west america and grows overtime we think about it again. i want to take every opportunity to travel and make memories with my love so we're taking every opportunity to see the world no matter how close. York is only an hour away on the train so it's not too far from home but such a pretty place to visit. on saturday the weather was beautiful sunshine and we soaked it up in the park, it was definitely sandals weather and i've been whipping out my Saltwater sandals at every occasion. (they're super comfy and perfect- expect a review soon!). the museum gardens are b-e-a-utiful! and with all the sun I made them such a lovely place to sit for the afternoon. we also did some birthday shopping!! so exciting! i finally took the plunge and got some Levis i've been eyeing them up for ages and i'd tried them on a few months back, when we saw the shop i decided to pop in a try them on again and was tipped into buying them by the 20% student discount (yay). we browsed around a few more shops as well and got some little bits and pieces. i loved Gap and managed to get the perfect denim shirt in the sale, i've been hunting down one i liked for ages. we stayed the night at The Windmill, which is about 10 minutes drive from York city centre and was so cozy. plus i love having a cooked breakfast in the morning (and not having to cook it). sunday was a lot wetter and it was cold and drizzly all day, unfortunately i had only brought sandals with me as so my feet got a little wet. my inner crafter was intrigued by the quilt museum but thought that G might not appreciate it.

then this weekend after a few days of workin, we headed over to Carlisle to visit with my fam! lux came with us and loved her best friend Rommel, our families dog and she followed him round all weekend chasing him. my mama made the most incredible ombre layer cake which tasted so good and looked super cool! she never fails to surprise me in how generous and amazing she is. i have the cutest little cousins! they've both grown up so much since i saw them last and lead me around the whole house searching for cats to stroke. they're gonna be the sweetest and funnest girlies! i had the loveliest weekend catching up with all my sweet family and friends, i am so lucky and blessed to have such amazing people around and supporting me.

21.03.2015

G & I have been so busy the past few weeks even our weekends have become working days. i have finally finished my magazine and I have a few weeks off and G's work has calmed down a bit.

so this Saturday we had a wander around different parts of Newcastle.

we had lunch at The Little Hippo and fresh pressed juice at OCC in Jesmond as G has gone coffee crazy and we wanted to check their coffee out.

katy xoxo

03.03.2015

Took some photos with this cutie this afternoon. Taking more photos of us is something I wish we did more often, I love being able to look back at what we were doing a six months or a year ago. So hopefully there'll be more of this kind of photos up on the blog in the coming months.

Oh we match and I love it!

The Hoppings 2014

I hadn't heard of the Hoppings until a few days ago when I saw it mentioned on my Instagram despite living in Newcastle for nearly two years.

Once I realised it was a giant funfair, the world's biggest touring actually, I knew we needed to go!

Mostly because G and I both love funfair food! 

It's held at Town Moor and this year marked the 132nd Year of The Hoppings, so it's definitely a Newcastle tradition. There's rides and so much food it will make your tummy ache just looking around. 

Well when they say world's biggest, I never imagined how big it actually would be! I'm used to a tiny funfair in my hometown so this kind of blew my mind. 

There is every kind of ride imaginable, add to that tons of food stalls and numerous hook-a-duck style prize stands, it could be quite daunting. 

I think Town Moor is perfect though as it's sheer size accommodates everything they have there without feeling like you're packed like sardines with strangers. 

We stuffed ourselves, and as I'd been thinking about having a slushy since I'd heard about Hoppings I was so pleased to find some additive filled strawberry-raspberry goodness. G enjoyed amazing looking noodles and curry sauce. 

It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!

Unfortunately this unicorn cutie was just too hard to get and we weren't willing to spend all our pennies to get him (you know how funfairs are) not that it wasn't fun to try. 

If you fancy going The Hopping's is on until Saturday 28th and is free to enter! Check the website here for opening times and information on parking and finding Town Moor. 

Katy

Whitley Bay:

I'm 20! Woohoo! I feel like and adult now, it's so different saying twenty and not teen anymore. I had a lovely birthday just hanging out with G, we had lunch and I used my birthday money to invest in a new DSLR camera.

I chose the Nikon D3200 after plenty of research and a couple of test runs in the shops I committed and went for it. So far it works like a dream and I'm in love with the crisp clear images I get in comparison to my iPhone.

The day after my birthday we decided to take a picnic in my new basket (my amazing parents present to me!) and catch the metro to Whitley Bay as G used to go all the time as a kid and wanted to show me the sights.

The sun was shining and it was such a lovely day, I even got my sunglasses out! 

The sky was so blue and it was just lovely to be beside the sea. We were trying to walk to the lighthouse you can see in the distance, St Mary's, where G visited as a little boy. It looks a lot further than it is, we only walked about three quarters of the way there before the wind just got too cold and we headed back. 

This picnic basket was a birthday present from my parents, it's all decked out with green and blue cutlery and plates/cups. It's an antique and it's so perfect I don't know how my Mum thought up something so incredible! We packed up some homemade sausage rolls and popcorn, some carrot sticks and leftover cookies and cream birthday cake (Courtesy of G!). It was delicious but freezing! 

I spent forever testing my camera and getting tons of shots of the waves crashing against the walls. I always love watching this and I'm a little obsessed with the sea, I've loved it ever since I was a kid. Blame several holidays to Cornwall where I'd often wade out into the sea up to my neck and bodyboard all the time.

I loved spending the day soaking up the Vitamin D and enjoying G's week off work.

G and I are going down to Cornwall for our holidays in September and I can't wait, I actually want to learn to surf this year! If anyone has any good places to visit I'd love suggestions? I'm looking for the places that aren't on the guides, the kind of places only the locals know about? 

Katy