Easter Weekend.

The weekend just gone was perfect. Simple, relaxed and spent with my greatest treasures, family and friends. I'm forever going on about how much I enjoy the simple thing in life and this weekend just confirms that it truly is the littlest of things that make me the happiest.. along with MAC lipsticks.. always MAC lipsticks. 

Friday evening kickstarted my Easter weekend with a trip to my family's favourite restaurant  Miller and Carter. It's become somewhat of a tradition to visit this place if there's a birthday to celebrate and this time was no exemption as my nan's 72nd birthday rolled around. My little nan has only come out of hospital the day before and needless to say we were all thrilled that we were able to celebrate her birthday with her and just to celebrate the fact that we're one big happy family. Nothing makes you appreciate someone more than when you actually feel that losing them could be a possibility. With this in mind we all had a lovely night, ate steaks and foodie goodness and washed it down with complimentary birthday champers, cheers to freebies! 

Saturday was my version of a 'chill day'. In actual fact I was suppose to be having a night out with a few friends but sadly I just didn't feel up to it, nor did I feel like spending money on my usual 20+ shots! However i'm 100% sure that this is just a temporary glitch and I shall resume my usual death by shots self soon! I ended up spending the day/night in pj's watching endless episodes of Criminal Minds, eating half a tub neapolitan, watching YouTube videos, scrolling through inspiring blogs and just chilling out.. Lucy style and I was more than happy to do so! 

Now for Sunday, Easter Sunday to be exact was just a splendid concoction of Lindt chocolate, Mum's Sunday Dinner, more chocolate, ice cream and scrumptious comfort food. My friend Ellis came round for dinner too and following dinner we carried out my family's tradition of wind up toy races - for money! Needless to say competition was fierce and game faces were on. After quality family time me and Ellis decided to go for a nice Sunday stroll, however typical British weather wasn't having any of it and decided to produce an ocean sized amount of rainfall, almost to the point of needing to borrow Noah's Ark.. shit was serious. Seeing as the walk didn't go to plan we instead stopped off at a petrol station, filled the car and bought some starbursts, fruit pastilles and orange lucozade. Quite the contrast to our 'relaxed sunday stroll' but after being fed sweets whilst driving to the beach 'for the view' I quickly got over the disappointment. 

All in all i've had a lovely few days! I've got a blog post coming up this week featuring 'My Favourite Red Lipsticks' so once i've actually edited the photos etc that shall be posted. 

Until next time, 

Lucy 
x

My cousin Chloe and I, out for Nan's birthday! Please excuse the slight bra flashing, oh dearrrr.

My Pinterest inspired 'Breakfast Bunny' that I made for my Dad.

Some of my lovely Easter treats!

Ellis and I feeling bunny-ish before dinner.

My mum's original desert. Half an easter egg, ice cream, crushed malteasers, strawberries complete with an edible flower. Amazing.

Bunny selfie to end the day! 

A letter to my sixteen year old self

Pinterest

Dear Lucy, 

Let me just start by asking, do you realise just how easy you have it right now? I highly doubt it. You're sixteen and little do you know it but in just one year you're going to leave high school, go to prom, have the summer of your life, find and ultimately lose love and above all else you're going to grow up a hell of a lot. 

Let's talk about high school, Rumney High School to be exact. Yes it's not perfect and it's certainly no 5* building but it's a place that holds a special place in your heart and a place that will forever be in your greatest of memories. The window's are made up of different types of plastic, the smell of damp is overwhelming and you can't walk down a corridor without thinking that the roof was going to cave in, but believe it or not it was your safe haven. It is so much more than just a school to you and once you leave you'll feel as though it's some sort of time capsule. You started in Rumney High as an eleven year old child who was scared of everything and everyone and look at you now, look how far you've come! You've made friends who will remain with you for the rest of your life and of course some who you'll come to find vanished as quickly as they came. No matter what people say about that school, nobody can deny that it wasn't full of characters, people who will stick out in your mind for their quirks, kindness and a few for their naughty streak, but you wouldn't have it any other way. You'll moan about the place and claim that you 'just can't wait to leave', but the truth is you're only saying that because that's what everybody else is saying. You didn't want to leave. That school gave you the absolute best five years of your life and without it you can't help but question whether things will ever be this good again. My answer to that is no, no it won't be. Dad once said that 'your school days are the best days of your life'. You didn't believe him at the time, but trust me as always he was so so right. What I can tell you is that you really did make the most of your time there and you accomplished what you set out to do. You left with probably better grades than you ever thought you'd get and to date it still remains your most loved achievement, so well done Luc. You owe a lot to that place and you know it, it made you the person that you are and it took away that fearful child and produced a strong willed, brave person so don't ever forget that a single environment can set you on the path to your potential. Don't ever forget where you came from and keep it with you wherever your life takes you. 

The Summer of 2011 
Two words to describe this Summer? Life changing. In all honesty it was the Summer that was never suppose to be as good as it was. You left school in a friendship group that you thought you'd have for life.. although it didn't even make it til' the Summer. However you still cherish every single memory with those girls and as always fate works in strange ways. So strange in fact that you actually re-built some of those friendships that you thought you'd lost, thankfully. Dealing with the breakdown of your friendship group you were actually quite pessimistic about this Summer.. until one evening, one discussion and one spur of the moment camping trip occurred. A camping trip that actually changed everything for the better. Off you went on a 4 day camping trip with let's face it, the most random bunch of people you could humanly find. Some of which you were not remotely close to in school, some who you were close with in the past and some who looking back were just meant to be there. It was a last minute camping trip to a simple field in Porthcawl that in all honesty should never have worked, but for some reason that I am forever grateful for.. it did. That trip changed everything. It gave you new friends and re-united you with old and bizarrely gave you a brand new friendship group overnight. You all enjoyed yourselves so much that you actually went back to the exact same location just under three weeks later, the friendships were sealed and you became a little mis-matched family. It didn't stop there either, we spent the whole summer as a group spending days at the lake, over each others houses for BBQ's, trips to the beach and just making the absolute greatest memories. You'll be delighted to know that even now, three years later you all still talk about the hilarious moment's from those camping trips and the Summer that without a doubt changed everyone for the better. Of course things don't always stay that good forever and currently we all have busy lives, work commitments and sadly we find it difficult to get together as a group. On a brighter note, we are hoping to arrange a camping reunion trip for this year, exciting stuff! Where ever we go and whatever we do, I know that no matter what happens in the future we will always be friends. We were those 16 year old kids who shared that one amazing Summer that would just be impossible for any of us to forget. 

And finally.. 
I wish I could come back to you my sixteen year old self. I would shake the life out of you and pop cocktail sticks in between your eyes to simply open them for you to see that he's truly not worth it! Yes, him, that bastard who you wasted a good two or so years on. Lucy stop being so blind, stop making excuses for him and finally stop thinking that you're going to be able to be his saving grace. You're not. He's a damaged person with a hell of a lot of baggage, so don't you dare for one minute even think of carrying some of it for him… too late.. you did. 
Above all else I wish that I could stop you from getting hurt in the middle of it all, because it's going to sting like nothing that you've ever felt before and it will take a hell of a long time for it to heal. He'll move on with his life and you'll do the same with yours once you stop going back and forth like a bloody yo-yo. On a positive note and even now I can't believe i'm saying this but it was all a great life lesson. It allows you to have something to compare future relationships with. It'll be a life long reminder that you never want to get yourself involved anything close to what this 'relationship' was. It toughens you up and you do get over it for good. As predicted you both move on, however you're given the opportunities to do something with your life where as his path took away any dreams that he 'once' had and I shall leave you with that. You had the last laugh Luc, you always knew you would. 

If you could write a letter to your sixteen year old self, what would it say? What would you change? What wouldn't you change? Would you not change a thing?
It's amazing to think that if you knew back then what you know now some of the drama, hurt, disappointment may have been prevented. However I know that personally I wouldn't change even a second of my past  because good or bad and no matter how cliche this may be, it's made me the person that I am today.. and i'm absolutely fine with that. 

'What defines you is how you rise after falling.'

Until next time, 

Lucy 
x

The simple things in life!

Rushing, racing, against the clock, stressing out, working hard. Sometimes life just happens and without even giving it a second thought a month has gone by and you sit and think, "what the hell did I do with my time?". It always seems to me that these days we're all so focused on 'the important things in life' that more often than not we forget to take the time to enjoy the simple things. The little things that often may seem irrelevant and time consuming, often leaves you with the greatest of memories believe it or not. I found this out for myself today. I've spent the whole day with without a doubt one of the greatest friends i'll ever be blessed with, Ellis. We decided to take the time to just relax, do something nice with our weekend off work and just have fun. This is exactly what we did. 

Firstly Ellis took me to the CUTEST little tea room called 'Selah' in Llanishen, Cardiff. Completely vintage inspired, with all furniture, trinkets, treasures and teacups purchased from boot sales and charity shops. It truly is just an all round lovely place. The owners/staff were friendly and genuine, a lovely array of food on the menu and not forgetting a mouth watering display of baked cakey, gooey goodness. YUM. Dribbling aside one of the things that I love the most is the 1940/50's music that is constantly played around the room, giving it an almost enchanting feel. Once you've finished sipping your tea and gobbling down your cake, you can't help but get that warm, cosy feeling that only a grandparent's hug can give you. Every little treasure within the room has a story to tell and whilst admiring their collection, you can't help but think who may have previously owned these pieces of loveliness. Overall truly one of the nicest places that i've visited for a long time. Lovely stuff. 

After out little trip to the tea room we then decided to take a little trip to Penarth Pier for a walk, following our 'enjoying the simple things' theme. Taking your camera on days out is just the best and you're left with photos that remind you of your lovely memories for years to come. 

Too much happiness for one person!

Blurry as hell but our failed 'jump' amuses me! 

And that's it.. As well as going on little adventures and going for a lurve-ly TGI Fridays. 

Days like this just remind me that when life gets hectic it's important to take the time to have days like today where you can just do the simple things in life. 

Until next time, 

Lucy 

x