The August bank holiday weekend already feels like it was years ago rather than just a few weekends back. The Friday before the bank holiday was such a great day. First off, it was payday, which is always a great start to any Friday. The forecast for the weekend was fab and it was already sunny on Friday. My work treated us to bacon sandwiches and let us go home at 4pm! To top it all I had the whole following week off work. I was practically skipping by the end of the day.

We spent the Sunday of the bank holiday visiting Old Sarum to watch the medieval joust. For those who aren't familiar with Wiltshire, Old Sarum is the earliest settlement in Salisbury and lies about 2 miles north of the current city. The site itself has been settled since prehistoric times and the fort dates from the Iron Age. 

It was later controlled by the Romans and the Saxons where it was used as a stronghold against the Vikings. The Normans built the Motte and Bailey castle and the cathedral, the remains of which can still be seen today.

When construction began for the new (and current) cathedral in Salisbury during the 13th century Old Sarum began to decline and many of the buildings were used to provide stone for the newer buildings. 

If you have any interest in history this is well worth a visit and isn't as packed as some of Wiltshire's more popular sites (and by that I mean Stonehenge). It's really cool to walk around it and imagine what it must have been like to live there. 

My parents used to take me to visit when I was little as it's a great day out for small children, plenty of room to run around safely and history that is actually tangible enough for even little kids to understand.

Jared has never been and what better day to go then when the fort is playing host to a medieval joust? The sunshine was glorious, we packed a picnic and spent a day enjoying the sunshine.

There was plenty to watch with the falconry display and the knights displaying their skill at arms.

Finally at the end of the day there was the joust itself, which was action packed and great to watch!

If you're ever in Wiltshire and you're looking for things to do that showcase the history of the area, then Old Sarum is a must see.

We have so much history right on our doorstep here in the UK, that sometimes I think we don't make enough of an effort to get out there and actually see it. 

Plus the view from the top, overlooking the modern city is pretty cool as well.

Have you ever visited? Or do you have something awesome near your home town worth seeing? Let me know! I'm always looking for new things to see and do!

Things that have made me happy this week

Its been a long week that has mostly consisted of revision but I have managed to squeeze in some fun things to stop me going completely crazy. So here is what I've been up to this week. I'm one exam down now with only one left to go next week.

1. Abbi's birthday. So last Wednesday was my absolute BFF's birthday and shes a whole 21 years old. In the three years I've known her shes always insisted on us making no fuss for her birthday but this year I decided to just totally ignore her requests and go all out. My original idea was just to get a small group of our geology friends together for dinner to celebrate. But then I thought her flatmates might like to be involved so I contacted one of them and we hatched our plan. It soon grew to include her friends from halls and rugby friends as well. It took a lot of planning to get 4 separate groups totaling 18 people in the same place at the same time so a massive thanks to Felicity for all her help (you're amazing). It was 100% worth it for the look on Abbi's face when she walked in and we were all waiting to surprise her. Thanks for being the best mapping partner a girl could wish for <3

2. Cheeky Nandos. Ok after all the social media buzz surrounding #cheekynandos I remembered I had never actually been. So as a revision break Jared and I went to the one in Southampton and it was everything I expected. The food was good but not amazing and the banter was out in force. I don't know if I'll go again but I'm glad I experienced this part of British culture.

3. New Clinique bonus time. I recently discovered the site feeluinique.com (I know I'm about a million years behind the times) and used it to restock on some favourite facecream from Clinique. Partly because I was too lazy to go to town but mostly because you got a free bonus time gift with it. This included the Super Defense Day cream, Liquid Facial Soap, High Impact Mascara, Blush in bashful blush and a Chubby Stick in Roomiest Rose. I can't stop wearing it, its just too pretty! Plus the bag it came with is pretty cute. And you can never have too many little make up bags.

4. Malcolm in the middle. Such an oldie but I never watched it back when it was actually on TV. I'm currently on season 3 and it makes me so incredibly happy. Mostly because their crazy lives are remarkably similar to my own childhood except I am one of 4 girls instead of boys. Whether you've already seen them or not they are perfect for procrastinating as each episode is only 20min long.

5. Real Techniques brushes. I've always been a massive fan of Ecotools brushes but they don't have as large a range as Real Techniques. Everyone seems to love them and they are a similar price so I thought I would give them a try. I got the powder brush as I don't currently have a nice big fluffy brush and the Expert face brush. I've always used a flat foundation brush and find it leaves streaks so this is perfect for buffing in your base. Plus they were on offer in Boots. A girl's gotta take advantage of these things.

6. Sisters coming to visit. All three of my sisters came down to Southampton for a day out shopping followed by dinner at Turtle Bay. I was naughty and got three new dresses and had the juiciest steak for dinner. But shopping and good food soothes the soul right? That aside though it was nice to spend some quality time with them as now that two of us are at uni we don't get to see each other as much as I would like.

Why I've decided to not drink anymore

I realise this title makes me look like an alcoholic but I'm not. That's also exactly what an alcoholic would say right? I am however a student and we are all aware of the drinking culture associated with going to uni.

In truth I've never really been one for drinking. As a teenager I didn't feel the same desire to get wasted and vomit everywhere like everyone else. Partly because I was shy and unconfident, partly because I was scared of losing control like that and partly because my parents are very relaxed about drinking. If I wanted to drink I could, they wouldn't mind and they've always treated me like an adult when it comes to alcohol. As a result I've never really felt the urge to rebel and go crazy.

Unlike a lot of people I didn't start drinking until 6th form and even then it wasn't the be all and end all like it appeared to be to so many of my peers. It was fun, but I had more fun from hanging out with my friends than from the alcohol. The getting ready and the anticipation have always been the best part of a night out, followed by a take away and sitting up til the small hours discussing the most pointless things.

After two years at an all girls grammar school, by the time I was a fresher I was capable of drinking a fair bit. I went out every night for 2 weeks when I first started uni and was barely tired. I would skip off to my 9am the following morning without a care in the world. But for me going out was always about the amazing time I had dancing and meeting people, the drinking just goes along with it.

I've also always been a total lightweight and its never taken much to get me tipsy. As a student this has definite advantages as it means you can afford to go out whenever you want. But I've also always been equally happy to go out sober. Sometimes this is just a necessity because I have often been the designated driver for the night, but occasionally I just didn't really want to drink but still wanted to have a good time.

Because of all this for a student I have never really drunk much and certainly never enough to make an impressive story. I am not one of those girls that can impress guys by downing pints of beer without so much as blinking or do endless shots throughout the night. Although I making myself out to be quite boring here I don't really care. I think my friends will all agree that being on a dance floor with me is an experience regardless of how much I have had to drink.

Over the three years I've been at uni I have gone out less with time. I guess this is normal as being a fresher is a crazy period of your life and you just want to get out there and see what the world has to offer. But after you've been at uni a while you're more settled with stable routines and friendships so you don't feel the need to party as much. Plus you have actually got work you're meant to be doing.

Recently however I have started to really suffer after a night out and not just with a normal hangover. I've decided that even my occasional drinking is not doing my body any favours. Last night I went out and had a few cocktails, despite not feeling drunk my body is not happy today. So I am going to drink a lot less as there seems to be little point when I can have just as much fun without it.

I'm a big girl now and I can make my own decisions without being influenced by others. My friends might think I'm crazy or boring or whatever but its my body so I get to decide what I do with it.

I'm not going to be so rigid as to say I am never drinking again, I'm only human. But I think I'm going to start being a lot more selective about when and what I do drink.
I guess on the plus side less hangovers, more money and in truth cake would be a better use of the calories.

Boat Party 2015

So this is my third year attending this event, and if I'm honest its probably one of the most anticipated events in my years social calendar. This year tickets were virtually impossible to come by but luckily I have connections so made sure we had some ;)

We kicked the night off with a girly getting ready session which involved large amounts of wine. I actually really enjoyed the part of the night spent at Pitcher and Piano before boarding the boat as its a great chance to catch up with the anticipation of a great night.

The actual party itself was amazing and I had such a great time. So glad I got to spend it with such an amazing group of friends and I'm so sad its the last time we will all be together to enjoy it. I love you girls so much!

Top photo credit: Hannah Cheales

Things that have made me happy

So its been a while since I've posted and been even longer since I've done one of these posts. My bad. Its been a busy few weeks and I've been up to lots of stuff.

1. I finally booked my holiday! I'm off to Crete in July for 10 days in the sun with Jared. I've worked hard to save for this trip and it feels so good to finally have it all booked and sorted. I've just got the car hire left to organise and then all that's left to do is get excited! I've already bought a new bikini and I'm constantly thinking about new outfits I want to take with me. I can't wait!

2. My sister Ellie got me this adorably cute gift just because. Firstly isn't that just the nicest thing? A surprise present for no reason at all? And its from Paperchase which is where the stationary gods place their gifts for me to drool over. A big thank you to her, the notebook lives in my bag so I can jot down random things I need to remember. So not only is it pretty but its also useful.

3. During the Easter holidays I pretty much just worked (in order to pay for uni next year and for Crete) but I did manage a weekend back in Southampton to see Jared. We wanted to go to the beach but it was raining so went off to explore Winchester. Its such a cute little place and as I've previously mentioned on this blog reminds me so much of Salisbury. The main thing we had come to see was the cathedral which is stunning and I had no idea it was *quite* that old. After a cheeky McDonalds we spent most of the afternoon in a second hand book shop which sorta made me feel like we were in a Match.com advert or something. I got a book on watercolour painting as a gift for Ellie, to say thank you for my notebook.

4. As we are now in the start of the new tax year I got some holiday pay. I wasn't expecting to receive this and it made an excellent contribution towards paying for my trip. Nice to get a little unexpected something extra.

5. Last weekend was a special occasion so Jared and I went away for the weekend to Exmouth in Devon. Although the weather was rubbish we had a lovely few days and watched a lot of films and ate huge amounts of food. We made an excellent playlist so the drive down was pretty fun as well.  After a stressful week full of deadlines it was really nice to escape to some fresh sea air.

6. As mentioned above I had a big essay due to last week and I am relieved to see the back of it!

7. A quick shopping trip turned into damn I need more lipsticks. I got these on a 3 for 2 offer and I am just loving the purple shades for Spring!

Things that have made me happy this week

Its been a really busy week for me and I'm pretty tired from it. I'm currently working every weekend and its really starting to take its toll, particularly as I am not very well at the moment with a really bad chest and throat. Poor little me I know.
However because its been a busy week theres been a fair bit going on and theres plenty of stuff thats made me happy.

1. On Wednesday I headed off to London with my Dad for a family party. I hardly ever go to London and its actually been two years since I was last there! The party was for my Dads cousins (so my second cousin?) 50th birthday and we went with my Grandad, two of my Aunts and one of my cousins and it was really nice to spend some time with them. I've never really met much of my Irish family and it was nice to meet some new people.
Also I always enjoy an excuse to get dolled up and I wore a black pencil dress with flats because I couldn't be bothered to walk all over London in heels. It was so much fun and I am really glad I made the effort to go.

2. This party seemed like a great opportunity to try out some of my newest beauty buys. I was so impressed with them that they made me happy enough to warrant their own point on this list. However I had to get ready to leave Southampton at midday and the party was from 7pm to 11pm. Therefore I needed my make up to stay put all day.  For anyone who is interested here is a quick rundown of my #MOTD. It felt odd putting all this slap on my face in the middle of the day as I don't really wear much during the day normally. 
After my usual Clinique skincare routine I used Clinqiue Universal Superprimer followed by Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer in Alabaster. Not entirely sure how my olive skin is considered Alabaster but this is a surprisingly good match for me.
Over the top of this I used Clinique Stay Matt in 101 Invisible Matt. For my cheeks I used Clinique All Over Bloom blush in Peony and Seventeens Shimmer Brick in Pink Bronze. For my eyes I used Urban Decays Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Original, with my new Soap and Glory Supercat eyeliner alongside my Naked 3 eyeshadow palette. I finished this off with my Benefit Rollerlash mascara. Finishing touches were my eyebrows done in my Rimmel Pencil and my favorite Clinique Long Last Lipstick in So Sweet.
 Apart from lipstick touch ups and a quick repowder of my shiny nose my make up lasted ALL NIGHT. Yes thats right. I put it on at 12pm and and I took it off at 2am when I got home and it had not budged a bit. Thats 14 hours. Usually by the end of the night my make up is all over the place. I am crediting the two primers I used. You seriously need them in your life.
Excuse the poor quality of the selfie. There was wine involved by the time I thought to take a picture.

3. After this party on Wednesday I was feeling naughty and decided I couldn't be bothered to go back to uni. Yes I know, I'm a bad person. But I don't care. I spent Thursday just chilling on the sofa (nursing my hangover) and I've got to be at home for 4 lovely days with my crazy family. I literally love them so much.

4. Seeing our new kittens, they are just so cute! They've got their eyes open now and are just starting to try to walk around. Its impossible not to be happy while holding a newborn kitten in your hand. I've been taking so many pictures of them and sending them to my friends to make them jealous. Not feeling any guilt about it either, I mean can you even believe how CUTE they are?

5. Its Bonus time at Boots at the moment and I've grabbed myself some great Clinique Products. I love the chance bonus time gives you to try new products that you might not have necessarily chosen for yourself. I am loving the blusher and the Chubby stick eyeshadow and I think they make a great spring look. I wore them both to work on Friday and they made me feel so on it. I mean get me, coordinating my make up to the seasons. My only complaint is I wish Clinque would let you tailor the products to your skin type. The Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion is just too rich for my oily skin and I wish I had the option of exchanging it for the gel version (which I LOVE). But overall I love the bag that this came in and I was also really impressed with the mascara. Its the perfect size for my handbag too. Get yourself down to Boots and get one for yourself, you won't be dissapointed!

6. This weekend I managed to drive Jasper for the first time since Christmas and he was such a good boy. I think I should get extra dedication points as I was feeling really poorly and going outside in the cold was the last thing I wanted to do. This sport has been such a big part of my life over the last 13 years and its makes me sad that because of uni I can't devote as much time to it. It was so nice to get back to it though and I'm going to make a determined effort to try and squeeze it in around work and uni.

Things that have made me happy this week

 

I've got so behind on doing these posts I've ended up posting two back to back. Never mind, life gets busy sometimes. Its been a great week all in all and I've been pretty busy.

1. My sisters Ellie and Kiera came to stay (Sorry Tigs but you're too young) and we went out for a gorgeous dinner at Turtle Bay. This was then followed by sharing a sundae in Sprinkles which was just pure chocolate heaven.

2. Valentines Day. I had such a blissful day preparing a roast dinner from scratch with my boyfriend, playing music and getting drunker throughout the day. The recipes included honey roast carrots, lemon, thyme and garlic chicken, homemade meat stuffing and garlic and rosemary potatoes roasted in butter. So indulgent! I had then had a long shower and got myself ready just before the meal was ready. My boyfriend got some family recipes off his parents (thank you for that) and made us a very boozy trifle which was great. We followed this with yet more wine and a cheese board. Feeling so full I couldn't move we settled down with more wine to watch Harry Potter. It was literally the perfect day, thank you so much Jared <3

3. Taylor Swifts new album. I know I'm about 48659754 years late with the Taylor hype but my flatmate has been playing 1989 all week and I just had to get it too. Its making me so happy! If like me you were a sceptic then swallow your pride and just get on iTunes.

4. Painting my nails. I bloody love painting my nails and have done several times this week. Theres something so relaxing about it as you need to be zen else you will end up painting your whole hand.

5. Dior J'Adore perfume. I got bought this for Christmas by my extremely glamorous Nanny and it just smells like paradise. Until I found out how much it cost! Seriously Nan! So now I am using it very sparingly. I decided that Valentines Day was a worthy use of this delight and I just feel so elegant when I wear it.

6. Diet coke. Seriously, how does anyone even get through the day without this? I've been using this as a coping mechanism for a shit weeks lectures. Is it bad for me? Probably. Don't even care.

7. Continuing on the food theme, I've discovered that Doritos do a sour cream dip that goes perfectly with Sensations Chilli crisps. So effing good! It took me three films to get me through the whole lot and it enhanced the (shit) films I was watching immensely.

8. Watched 10 things I hate About You for the first time ever. One of those classics I've been meaning to watch and I was left alone with the boyfriends netflix... Such a great film! I absolutely loved it, my friends were right, I should have watched it sooner.

The Happiness Project: Part 2

So it has been a full week since I handed my dissertation in. It feels like much longer but I think that is mostly because I have been really busy. But more importantly: I've been busy having fun at long last.

It's been quite the action packed weekend and thanks to my new uni timetable I now have Fridays off which makes life even better.

I spent Friday going shopping by myself which is always such a treat. I love taking the time to browse slowly and just generally peruse at my leisure. I also got myself a new bag, some new sunglasses (for generally being fabulous) and a new thermos flask for surviving long days at uni. Naturally I have forgotten the thermos today. Well done Amber.
After I had finished wasting all my student loan I spent the afternoon reading which is something I rarely get time to do at uni as there is always so much going on. My book of choice was The Wrong Knickers by Bryony Gordon and I have actually already read it. Its such a funny book and any girl in her twenties can identity with it.

Friday night was a Disney themed house party being hosted by one of my friends. Yes that's right I did say Disney. My excitement could barely be contained. My girl friends came over for drinks and to get ready (always the best part of the night) and the party was a great laugh. I drank a little bit too much wine and ended up getting a taxi to Jareds. Apparently I was very drunk and being quite annoying but oh well. A girl deserves to get drunk with her friends once in a while.

Saturday was spent recovering with Jared being lovely to me because I was feeling rather fragile while watching loads of films. By mid afternoon (and copious amounts of ibuprofen) I was feeling much better. I spent several hours pampering myself for an amazing date night with Jared. Was really nice to spend some time together.

Sunday mostly consisted of food starting with an all you can eat breakfast and ending with a dominoes order. There goes my eating healthily resolution! Then just snuggling up in my onsie watching Harry Potter before bed. Got another action packed week ahead.

The Happiness Project

So some of you might remember a few weeks back when I was still in the midst of exam/dissertation hell I wrote a post about all the things I was planning on doing once it was all over?
Well now that it has all been handed in I just thought it would be nice to share the positivity and happiness of all the fun things I've been up to.

In my head, I have called this 'The Happiness Project'. Please nobody laugh at how lame that sounds, I just think its important that we all focus on doing the small things that make us happy. In the rush of everyday life it is so easy to get caught up on all the stuff we need to do and this makes it hard to do the stuff we really WANT to do. So I'd like to share with you guys my busy week so far which I have tried to fill with as many fun things as possible.

In a way, this is the whole theme of my blog, in that I try to celebrate the small everyday joys in life. It can be tough sometimes, and recently things have been tricky for me. This post is about how you have to sometimes be nice to yourself and be proud of your achievements, even if they seem small to others. What is important is learning to respect how you feel and understanding how to make yourself feel happy. So while the things listed below are actually very mundane, for me the time I have spent with people while doing this has made all the difference.

Went on a fantastic date night on Friday to Turtle Bay which has got to be one of my favorite restaurants. This was partly a celebration of me finishing exams (and my dissertation although I had not handed it in) as well as Jared's birthday. A big happy birthday to him <3 I got pretty sloshed on Prosecco before we even got there and then continued with the wine throughout the meal. It was nice to get merry though after so long of having to be boring. The food as ever was divine, and I had pulled jerk pork for a starter followed by Mo Bay Chicken (chicken in creamy sauce) with sweet potato fries. Jared had their goat curry which was also delicious and as always I was getting food envy. The only problem with Turtle Bay is all the food is so good I always want all of it. 

On Monday as we all know, I handed in my dissertation and this was the same day as the start of the new semester. My new modules seem to be fun so far which is good. As soon as lectures were finished I headed straight to Boots and treated myself as promised. I bought my new Clinique Sonic Brush as mentioned here and a new Long Last Lipstick in a colour called Rose Shimmer. It's much pinker than the lipsticks I usually wear but I wanted a change. So far I am obsessed with it. I think after all that hard work I deserved it. And I feel better now I've rewarded myself.

I did have a whole day of Netflix planned yesterday but this has had to be postponed due to my boyfriend being called into work at the last moment. Will be doing this at the weekend instead and I am really looking forward to some vegging out. We've made a whole list of movies we want to watch and I can't wait to get stuck in.

Yesterday, instead of watching Netflix I went to the gym and actually enjoyed it. I haven't been in so long it was actually fun. Fingers crossed for me becoming a super fit gym fanatic. It could happen.

After the gym however I undid all my hard work by meeting my flatmate for lunch at Wild Lime where the food as ever was delicious. Plus it was nice to have a catch up as I have hardly seen anyone recently.

I spent the afternoon having a really good sort out of my room and threw away a whole bag of rubbish. There is something so soothing about having stuff back in order and clean isn't there? Had a lovely relaxing bath before heading out on a bar crawl with the rest of the geologists in order to celebrate our freedom.

So there is what I've been up to so far. Can't wait to carry on having fun over the rest of the week!




Pictures: my own and the top one is stolen from Pinterest. 

Stuff I can't wait to do

Ever since I was about 14 I've hated January as it involved some sort of exam season. Not only is it cold, with shit weather and no Christmas to look forward to but then they decide to add EXAMS into that delightful mix.

This time last year I was disastrously ill and having one of the worst months of my life. This year is not much better for very different reasons. Basically I have three exams to sit and I hate two out of the three modules. Plus my dissertation deadline is only 2 days after my final exam. That's right. TWO WHOLE DAYS. Aren't they generous?

The amount of work I've got is crippling and is leaching all the fun and enjoyment out of my life. Even when I am taking a break I am so wracked with guilt I cannot enjoy what I am doing. Right now the only thing I seem capable of doing is crying and that is really not helping because I have got a horrible cold that is already making me a snotty mess.

To try and cheer myself up I decided to write a post on all the fun things I am going to do once this work is out of the way.

1. Netflix, tea, pjs. All day, for a whole day. I don't care what I watch or how much fast food I eat but its going to be incredible. Might even do it for several days. We'll see how I feel.

2. Dinner with my Geology Girls. We've got a fun celebratory dinner planned and I can't wait to consume copious amounts of wine and relax. While stuffing lots of yummy food into my face.

3. Get back to the gym. I have not had time to even go near that place, but weirdly I find myself looking forward to going back there... Probably a good thing as I plan on doing a lot of eating over the next few weeks.

4. Date night with my boyfriend. As a well deserved treat we are off to do something special together. It will be really nice to spend some time with him where I am not on the brink of bursting into stress tears at any moment.

5. Party time! There is a big party being planned for some friends of mines birthdays. Best part is its DISNEY THEMED. Time to crack out my well thought out costume and drink large amounts of vodka and coke (mostly vodka).

6. Planning my holiday. The reason I worked my butt off over Christmas was to earn some cash and I plan to spend a bit of it jetting off somewhere hot and sunny. Even thinking about it makes me excited!

7. I'm going to treat myself to some sort of beauty item. I haven't decided what yet but I've promised myself that the day I hand in that stinking dissertation I am going to go straight to town and blow my student loan on whatever takes my fancy.

8. Doing whatever the hell I want. This is probably the most important one. I am desperate to regain some control over my own life and get back to doing stuff I find fun. Life is too short to waste and I believe in spending every moment making yourself as happy as possible. I believe in doing what you love and I am hoping that one day this degree that I despise so much might actually lead to something I enjoy. So once this is over I plan on doing whatever I please for a bit. At least until the next deadline starts looming...



Picture from Pinterest.

Trip to Mangoes for Cordelias birthday

A massive happy birthday to my flatmate Cordelia! Feel like I'm posting about birthdays a lot but apparently all my friends have theirs close together.

She started her birthday in style with a trip to Sobar which was great fun. Sobar if you could play good music like that all the time I would go every week like I used to. I had to leave earlier than I would have liked as I had a massive load of work and errands to do the following day. 

We started the day off with everyone nursing hangovers and blowing out the candles on the delicious carrot cake baked by my flatmate Nicola. Then after a frantic day of scurrying around getting stuff done we went for a lovely trip to the Thai restaurant mangoes. 

Despite living just down the road from this little place for over two years I had never managed to actually go, even though many people have recommended it to me.  I think I've always been a bit put off by how busy it is (always a good sign with a restaurant) and felt like I would never get a table. 

The decor is lovely and I like the cosy intimate feel of the place. It's actually much bigger than I had realised as it has an upstairs and substantial area behind the restaurant you can see from the street. 

The food was sublime and I had deep fried beef. Enjoyed every bite! I hope to go back in the new year, I feel like it would make a really fun date night. 

Turtle Bay drinks for Immies Birthday

I have literally the most disgusting amount of work to do. And I've spent the past few days in a semi permanent state of tears about it. Hence why I have only just got back up to date with this blog. Apologies. But to distract myself from that I went out for drinks at probably my favorite venue in Southampton: Turtle Bay.

My friend Immie has her birthday in the Christmas holidays which are nearly here and we went for cocktails at the Caribbean rum bar.

Had such a lovely time and it was so great to chat to everyone. Got the chance to meet a few of Immies rowing friends and they were all so nice.

Plus the cocktails there are incredible. Discovered a new favorite called Passion Rum Punch which was DELICIOUS and probably had about a million calories in it because it was so yummy. But who cares. If you are ever in Southampton you have to go to Turtle Bay, make sure to get something to eat because the food is to die for.

A big Happy Birthday to Immie! Welcome to being 21 and having the time of your life xxx