Tag: party

A Night Glamping In Devon

September 8, 2024

This weekend me and my girl friends took a road trip down to Devon to celebrate with our friends who eloped in lockdown. Given the small, intimate ceremony they had a few years ago due to the social distancing laws at the time, they invited their friends and family for a big party at Farway Countryside Park in Devon.

Leaving early on Saturday morning, me and my two best friends packed the car ready to ‘glamp’ in a teepee for the night. We hit the road and didn’t come across too much traffic, so we stopped at a picturesque farm cafe called Otter Valley for a spot of lunch and coffee.

Arriving early afternoon, we got ourselves setup in the teepee we had booked for the night. Unfortunately the rain was relentless all weekend so it wasn’t the most ideal conditions for camping, but certainly made for a funny experience!

Safe to say the teepee was very basic with just the three beds together in the middle, so we had to improvise in making a nice space for getting ready with pre-drinks and snacks. Thankfully we had our camping chairs to use inside then we used the plastic bin upside down as a small table…

I came prepared with plastic wine glasses and inflatable flamingo drinks holders which I actually used as bowls for the snacks! With the mini speaker playing some tunes and the prosecco popped, we had fun getting glammed up and ready together for the party.

I wore this chocolate brown low back mini dress with long flared sleeves from ASOS, paired with these super platform flower detail H&M sliders, and my oversized gold pearl flower earrings also from ASOS.

The girls looked gorgeous too and I think we nailed the dress code which was ‘dress to impress’, however we were in a field with gravel and grass so we had to keep this in mind particularly for footwear.

It was a fabulous afternoon and evening celebrating the marriage of our friends and a great opportunity to catchup with so many old acquaintances from school too. My friend even made her handbag into a prosecco bottle holder for handsfree pouring, genius 😉

There was a hearty Thai Green Curry for dinner which was served at 6pm, then later in the evening they brought out some delicious desserts and cakes.

After lots of dancing and celebrating with friends, the party wrapped up at 11pm and we made our way back to our teepee to get cosy for the night as the rain continued to pour. Despite the rain ,we were snuggled up in our layers and got a good nights sleep. It might have not been ‘glamping’ as I’d envisioned it, but having a proper bed to sleep in made all the difference.

Cheers to a fun weekend away in Devon full of many hilarious moments with my besties as we celebrated the marriage of our wonderful friends ❤

Christmas Party Silly Season

December 17, 2023

As soon as we hit December, I find myself at another Christmas celebration week on week; this is the official season of partying and being merry!

The month began with a festive lunch and private show around on the 5th December at the newly opened Fairmont Windsor Park.

I was invited with work to view the stunning event spaces and rooms there and the hotel was beautifully decorated ready for Christmas, it got me feeling so festive!

We were treated to lunch in the gorgeous bar area where I had a few small plates of dill cured salmon served with buttermilk sauce and pickled cucumber, and the pumpkin kale salad topped with blackberries and pumpkin seeds. The food was exquisite and it was a lovely afternoon being hosted by the team at the Fairmont.

Later that week, it was our member’s Christmas Social Lunch with work which we held at Platform in Shoreditch.

Starting at 12 noon, we welcomed our guests to play retro games together whilst enjoying drinks and freshly made festive pizzas. This is a relaxed, fun event we host every December to thank our members for their engagement and support throughout the year.

Onto the second week of December, last Thursday we had our internal team celebration lunch at Zero Degrees in Reading. This was a great opportunity to spend time with colleagues outside of work and celebrate another successful year together as a team.

That brings us to yesterday when we drove to the Cotswolds for a family lunch with my boyfriend’s relatives. I wore my Stradivarius mid-wash flared jeans, Pull & Bear khaki long sleeve backless top, platform Ugg boots, Zara cropped aviator jacket, a check print scarf also from Zara, my brown knitted beret and my new Coach signature print handbag, worn across body to complete the look.

We met at a pub called The Bell Inn at Welford on Avon and to start, me and my boyfriend shared the fresh bread and olives served with oil and balsamic.

For main I opted for the smoked salmon and prawn salad paired with a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio wine, the perfect light lunch.

There’s plenty of roast dinners and heavy food to come over the Christmas period, so I always like to have something fresh and healthier when I can.

Another wonderful afternoon spent with family and friends enjoying good food and drinks whilst catching up and having lots of laughs together.

So now we approach the final week before Christmas bringing with it yet more parties and celebrations with loved ones; let the happy merry times roll ❤

Friendsmas; Feeling Festive, Grateful & Loved

December 10, 2023

It’s now just two weeks until Christmas and the festivities were in full swing this weekend as I hosted my friends for our very own ‘Friendsmas’ on Saturday evening.

Having done the food shop earlier in the week, I had the day to clean and prep the house, before collecting the chicken from our local village butchers that afternoon.

I laid the table using my favourite gold cutlery and black dinnerware from Next. I brought these pretty mistletoe napkins from Waitrose and the traditional red crackers from Sainsbury’s to complete the festive place settings.

In the lounge I laid out some trays of nibbles and set the festive mood with our Christmas tree lights and a Christmas playlist from Spotify; cosy and welcoming ready for my guests arriving at 5pm.

I kept my outfit simple with a pair of Topshop black flared pants, a brown tie front top, my favourite maxi cardigan, fluffy slider slippers and a cute bow in my hair to bring the look together. With a night of cooking and hosting ahead of me, comfort was key.

First course was the cheeseboards and with everyone having brought a cheese each, there was plenty to go around. In my opinion, a Christmas cheeseboard isn’t complete without a Wensleydale and cranberry, a soft cheese like brie and a super strong aged cheddar.

The main event was of course a traditional English roast dinner with all the trimmings. Everyone was assigned a dish or two to bring for the dinner which made my job as host so much easier, I could just focus on cooking the chicken. I loosely followed a recipe I found online which included roasting it with onion, garlic, lemon, rosemary, thyme and a mixture of melted butter, white wine and lemon juice which I poured on top of the chicken right before cooking. I cooked it for an hour covered in tin foil, then a further half an hour uncovered, before leaving it to rest for 20 minutes.

Once all the dishes were heated, we kept them warm on the hotplate and everyone helped themselves, before we carved the magnificent chicken at the table. It was an absolute feast and everyone’s contribution was very much appreciated, fabulous team work girlies!

We had a delightful spread of crispy roast potatoes, creamy cauliflower cheese, sweet honey roast parsnips & carrots, spiced red cabbage, chestnut stuffing, garlic butter broccoli, sprouts sautéed with bacon, pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puds, lots of gravy and I even made my favourite accompaniment to a roast, bread sauce. Safe to say, we were all in a food coma after dinner and had to retreat back into the living room for a break before our final course.

Dessert was courtesy of my friend Jess who made the most deliciously indulgent apple crumble and custard, it was divine. More drinks and chats and soon it was time for my friends to leave; it was over too soon but I loved every minute of our time together.

Evenings like these spent in the company of my closest friends become memories I treasure forever. I’m so grateful to have such wonderful friends who I’ve known since childhood and still to this day, despite our lives having branched out different ways and becoming adults with families of our own, we still hold a strong bond as best friends ❤

Chapter 2 7

January 30, 2022

On Wednesday 26th January 2022 I officially entered my late twenties and welcomed in chapter 27 of my life. It’s been quite the week of celebrations and so amazing to be with my family and friends again following a lockdown birthday last year.

I had a wonderful family birthday dinner on the big day at Giggling Squid in Farnham. I was even surprised by my brother who I didn’t know was coming all the way from London to join us for the occasion.

I’m very lucky to be so close to my family and it was the best birthday present I could wish for to have us all there celebrating together.

After our cocktails to kick off the evening, we shared a selection of starters including delicious squid and duck spring rolls. For mains I opted for a traditional vegetable red Thai curry which was exquisite.

At the end of our meal I was presented with this gorgeous birthday desert and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was a joy to be with my family just chatting, laughing and enjoying the moment over fantastic food and drinks, we didn’t leave the restaurant until they were closing!

With my birthday being midweek, I decided to invite my girlfriends over for an evening at my house on Saturday.

My birthday fit for the night was this stunning backless silver blouse along with my stretchy flared pants and cute fluffy slider slippers – dressy but comfy.

I absolutely love hosting so I was super excited to setup the dining room and prepare a spread of nibbles as well as my famous cheeseboard platter of course. Candles lit, music playing and prosecco popped, I was ready to welcome the girls for a fun cosy evening at home.

A number of bottles of bubbly and wine later, we’d had such a beautiful night full of catchups and plenty of laughs, those girls really are my soulmates.

Now its Sunday evening and I’m feeling so content and happy following such a fabulous birthday week. It’s certainly been an epic start to the year already and I can’t wait to see what chapter twenty seven of my lift has in store.

Stay sane, stay wild ❤