As most of you probably know (because I have NOT shut up about it!) last week was my week off work. Wheyyyyy!!
I started working for River Island late November of last year and this is the first time I've had a week off so you can just imagine how excited I was, and how much I needed it! I wasn't quite sure whether to have one of those weeks where you do absolutely nothing and laze around having what I like to call a 'detox from work' or to make it jam-packed full of fun adventures because it might feel like a waste if I do nothing... I was rather torn, but in the end I decided on the latter. I can revel in my laziness on my days off... This was going to be a week where I made memories.
And oh boy, how I did!
After a great week off I thought "This would be so much fun to blog about" so here I am, I decided to write a bit about each day, what I got up to, things that I bought and people who I spent time with. Let's get started!
Sunday
Sunday was my first day off work, and surprise surprise (RIP, Cilla) it was a miserable, wet, rainy day in my miserable, wet, rainy hometown. There isn't a lot to do where I live so coming up with plans on a rainy day was a lot harder than me and Elliot thought, but we weren't going to let that ruin our fun!
After many hours of really bad ideas we decided on three places we would visit today.
First stop, The Little Dessert Shop.
The Little Dessert Shop is... Well... A little dessert shop..?
I hadn't heard of it until a girl at work mentioned it, of course the word "pudding" got my attention so I asked what on earth it was, she explained it was a little restaurant where you go in and eat any dessert you like, no main meals... Just dessert.
Who came up with that idea??!! I'd like to meet them and shake their hand.
They do cookie dough, ice cream, waffles, pancakes, sundaes. It sounded like perfection so I have wanted to go for a long time. Well today was the day! I had tried to visit The Little Dessert Shop a few times but it's so popular that the queue is always down the street! But it was Sunday. It was raining. It was 11.00am which meant it had only just opened. Surely it wouldn't be THAT busy... I was right. It wasn't. Yay!
We were shown to our seats and given our menus. The menu is HUGE. It was more like a booklet. The choice there is unreal, there are so many nice desserts to choose from so we were struggling but then me being the detective that I am, noticed on the last page that you can "make your own".
You choose a base, then a sauce, then ice cream, then toppings, and fruit if wanted. After much deliberation I decided on a waffle, with Curly Wurly ice cream, blueberries, white chocolate sauce and fudge pieces.
Elliot chose cookie dough with milk chocolate, white chocolate flake toppings, and brownie ice cream. After a 5/10 minute wait THIS arrived at our table...
LOOK AT IT!!!!! It's huge and it was delicious! However this was our breakfast, and I felt extremely sick afterwards but it was sooooo good! If any of you happen to go past a Little Dessert Shop you MUST stop and try it. You won't regret it.
We then visited RAF Cosford Air Museum. I really don't know why we went there. I am TERRIFIED of planes. I don't even like looking at them stationary. My logic behind it was that I was going to be really brave and it might help with my phobia. This was not the case. I freaked out and we came home. That is all I have to say on the matter.
We decided to try something else brave instead. Something neither of us had done before... Ice Skating. I already knew this was going to be a disaster but I also knew it would be very funny. We invited our good friend Matt with us and yet again, I was right. It was a disaster. We must have looked like such idiots. We were all holding on to one another, scared to let go of the wall, screaming like little children. Hilarious!
Elliot and Matt got the hang of it pretty quickly but I just held onto them the entire time letting them drag me along with them. We only lasted 45 minutes before giving up and going home. But at least I can say I've done it! Something to cross off my bucket list.
Monday
Monday was the day I was most excited about. We were going to Cheshire Oaks! It's a designer outlet in Cheshire. Designer clothes for high street prices. I was that excited about my visit to Cheshire Oaks that I have already blogged about it. I don't really feel the need to write about it twice so if you want to read about it please click on 'Cheshire Oaks Designer Shopping Haul' in my blog archive! You can read about the absolute bargains I bought that day and how much money I ended up spending. If it doesn't convince you to go yourself then I don't know what will!
Here's a sneak peek at some of my new purchases...
As you can see I bought some very lovely things, to find out more and the amazing prices read my last blog post!
Tuesday
Tuesday we were struggling for plans yet again, the weather wasn't great and we were running out of things to do... So we decided on Ikea! I loveeee Ikea, It was fun to get an idea of what furniture, colour schemes and themes we would like when we eventually move out together. While I was there I picked up the CUTEST perfume bottles. I think they will look so pretty on my dressing table. Aren't they just darling?!
We didn't get anything else while we were there, we just went for a browse and some inspiration. After that we went to The Range which is very similar to Ikea but it's more so the little bits and bobs to go in your home, I love it there. One thing I've always wanted is one of those gorgeous mannequins! They were reduced to £30 and even though we don't have space for it we got one anyway while it was so cheap, we decided on this Parisian one as when we get a house we want to settle in we are having a 'Moulin Rouge' themed boudoir. I will not let it be tacky, it's going to be done with sophistication! It's risky but we can do it.
After our little visit to the home shops we went to Boots for an eye test that I had booked. A lot of people have asked me lately if I'm short-sighted and I've never had an eye test before so I thought it was for the best that I got checked. Turns out I have perfect eyesight! 20/20 vision. That I was NOT expecting! How pleasantly surprising! To celebrate we went for a "cheeky Nandos".
Anyone who has been to Nandos with me will know about my obsession with the Lemon and Herb sauce. It's becoming a problem now. I can't stop. I've had to buy some for the house. It's so good, if you haven't tried it, please do. Thanks.
After a nice little day out we went home for a busy night of packing, ready for our road trip!
Wednesday
First Stop... Plymouth!
I had been so excited for this. I LOVE Plymouth. As a teenager I always dreamed of living there. My Auntie and Uncle live in Plymouth so whenever we visited I'd always be sad to go home. It's a great city for shopping, the Barbican is a lovely place for days out in the sunshine and some of the areas there would just be heavenly to live in.
I woke up in a fabulous mood and the drive there was easy, we flew through it, no traffic or anything. We got there in 3 and a half hours when the SatNav said 4.
Yeah, in your face SatNav.
Once we got there we of course visited my amazing Auntie and Uncle. We don't get to see them very often, what with them living so far away, but it's always special when we do. My Auntie is the typical loving auntie who overwhelms you with kisses and cuddles while you're struggling to breathe in her massive boobies. She's fab! She always feeds you up, makes you laugh, tells inappropriate jokes, and gives you lectures on life. When we got there she made us lovely jacket potatoes, and we got onto the conversation of "The Future".
Me and Elliot know we want to move down South. We decided this a long time ago so we are saving all our money to make our dreams come true. When we told my Auntie she was so excited! "OOOOH! You can live by meeeee!" She definitely encouraged us and inspired us, telling us while we are young we need to reach for the stars and just do it. She told us about her move to Plymouth and how it was the best thing she ever did. We left hers feeling even more positive about the idea. My Uncle came home from work just to see us for a bit which was really lovely of him, he always makes us laugh and always fills our heads with wise words. As much as I didn't want to leave them we had another important person to visit! Mr Seb.
Seb is Elliots best buddy. He's awesome and hilarious. We met him in Drakes Circus Shopping Centre and decided that evening we would go to Royal William Yard, a fancy eatery with lots of individual posh restaurants. Of course me being me, I had only packed 'hobo' style clothing so I panicked, I couldn't go somewhere la-de-da dressed like a hippy. Could I? In the end I decided that I could. So I did. After buying some new shoes of course. These lovelies!
I knew they would go wonderful with my #OOTD so I snapped them up. Next stop... Seb's house.
Oh. I'm sorry. Did I say Sebs 'house'. I mean Sebs Mansion!
It's huge. 4 storeys high, it felt like I was in a hotel not a house, The hallways are so big and grand and the rooms were beautiful. Jealous was not the word. His sisters bedroom is a loft conversion so her windows were those big ones on the side of the roof. The view is just spectacular. The whole of Plymouth. She pointed out Royal William Yard which reminded me, I needed to get ready!
I got dressed up, re-did my hair and makeup after the journey, and put on my new shoes,
Ouch! These have got to be the most uncomfortable shoes I have ever allowed near my feet in my entire life, Not good. So yes, not as lovely as they look I'm afraid guys. Gonna have to return them on my next visit to Primark unfortunately. Me, Elliot, Seb and Olivia (Seb's sister) went to Royal William Yard and chose the restaurant 'Secco'. It was a nice atmosphere in there, apparently a lot of celebs visit there! We spent the majority of our night picking out different people and wondering what relationship they shared, Were they dating? Were they family? Were they a freaky swingers group?
It's a funny game. You should play it next time you eat out. You'll be giggling away to yourself and they'll be none the wiser. It sure passes the time while you're waiting for food.
After our lovely meal we went back to the mansion and watched Friends, my faveee. It was a funny night and I hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. I suffer from anxiety and I realised I hadn't felt worried all day. Just goes to show that if you are with people who make you laugh and take your mind off things then that's all that matters.
Part two of our road trip... Dorset. Today was going to be a family day and I couldn't wait! My family are so important to me! A while back my family asked me if Elliot and I wanted to go on a camping holiday. I said no. The only reason being that my anxiety would be bad in July because that is the month that we get the most lightning. Yes, I researched it. I'm that bad... But anyway I'm glad I didn't go because they had a VERY rainy weekend and I would have been a nervous wreck so we went down for the day instead. It was a great day! I got to see my mum, dad, brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew, and cousins! We had a BBQ, a walk around the campsite, and lots of laughs! Here are some family pics!
After a wonderful visit to Dorset we set off on our next adventure, Bristol.
I had been told so much about Bristol, how it was an amazing city, full of lovely people, and always something to do. I was super excited and we were off to see our good friends Sam and Tertia.
However when we got there as happy as I was to see our friends I didn't feel too good. I felt very anxious. I wasn't sure why as I had been good all week but then it hit me, I was missing the comfort of home. You know when you just need your own bed..? Well it's safe to say I didn't sleep well. I could see tomorrow was going to be the same.
Friday
After a bad nights sleep I woke up anxious as ever, I needed to go home. I didn't want to leave and let our friends down but I wouldn't have been much fun blubbering all day so Elliot and I decided to make our way home...We were disappointed but I needed to be somewhere relaxing where I could feel calm and centered.
On the way back I realised... My hometown was the one thing I had been trying to get away from this week. I didn't want to go home either. I couldn't win.
But then Elliot had a fantastic idea. Somewhere calming... Somewhere nice... Somewhere I wouldn't be scared... Stratford-Upon-Avon!
We stopped off for a few hours for a wander round. It helped soooo much. We had a wonderful day walking beside the river, listening to the buskers dotted around the town, and we even managed to fit some sneaky shopping in. One thing me and Elliot love to do is read! So we visited the Waterstones and treated ourselves to a new book each. I'm more of a writer... And I like being creative so when I saw this book I thought it looked very interesting and I love stuff you can make into a keepsake to show your children!
Elliot bought this for himself...
The complete fiction by H.P.Lovecraft. This book is one of those books that is so grand and exclusive that you do that thing you only see in movies. You know, where you stand there with your mouth wide open and breathe the word "wow" It's a very thick book, with silver lined pages. Very fancy. It is a book of short supernatural horror stories. Not my cup of tea but it was nice to see my boyfriend get so unbelievably excited over a book. It'll look good on our bookshelf, that's for sure!
After we had a break in Stratford we headed for home where we had a lovely lazy night watching Criminal Minds, Simpsons and eating junk food.
But now it's back to normality. It's back to work, back to early mornings, back to eating healthy.
No. Good things come to those who go out and earn it!
Until next time...
See ya!
Love Stacie xoxo
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