Since I moved jobs last month I’ve cut down my daily commute from a two hour drive to a ten minute drive, so when I return home after work I feel considerably more content than I did before. I’ve started to form new routines that don’t involve ranting about traffic/bad drivers or scrolling through my Blackberry to read all the work emails that have stacked up on my journey home (in fact, I don’t have a Blackberry anymore,or a pager or a work phone – it’s bliss!) This last year has definitely made me realise how much I love home comforts and the simpler things in life, and I feel so priveliged to have been able to gain back some of my time every day to enjoy those things.
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| // “give me some more attention mum!” |
A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a mini-breakdown when I flicked through my diary and realised that it was starting to fill up all the way up to Christmas with various engagements – some which I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to (dinners with friends, weekends away, birthdays, weddings etc) and some not so much (dentist’s appointments, dates to take Bodhi to the vet’s etc). It made me realise first of all how incredibly lucky and priveliged I am to have the very welcome demands of a wonderful family and friendship circle, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But it also made me realise that I treat my diary like I’m a hair salon and book things back to back, simply giving out the next available date when someone asks if I’m free or I suggest plans to someone. The reason I had a mini panic the other day is because I realised that organising my time this way gives me no time to myself, and no time for Tom (or Bodhi!) So I’ve started putting slots in my diary that simply say ‘keep free’ – an evening or two a week or a weekend every month, for some me time (soaks in the bath, reading in bed etc) or some us time (a long walk with the dog, dinner out, etc). I’m finding it means I appreciate both the plans I have and the unarranged relaxing time so much more as I’m acheiving a good balance between the two.
When I come home from work on a ‘keep free’ day I tend to light lots of candles through the house and enjoy spending time making a yummy dinner or trying a new recipe whilst I wait for Tom to get home. The rest of the evening is for pajamas, movies on the sofa and cuddles with Bodhi. I often go early to bed and then Facetime Tom from upstairs to beg him to bring me up a Sleep Easy tea – which he usually does! Speaking of Tom, he also brought home the lilies in the photo below as a present on Friday, they are gorgeous and have filled the house with such a beautiful fragrance.
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//lillies from tom
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| //early nights and magazines |
Last night I went for dinner at The Old Vicarage in Highcliffe with the lovely Hannah from Baileycakes. It was our second dinner date after I was a terrible date on our first a few weeks ago and had to dash off to do homework from the course I was attending back then. The restaurant (part of a hotel in a country house) is gorgeous and they were really accomodating, especially considering I ordered a dish with mushrooms in when I can’t eat them! Whilst we were there we chatted about the other cool/quirky restaurants around us and I spent my lunchbreak today looking up restaurants and tea rooms in Bournemouth and the New Forest so I can start a big list and tick them all off (I am basically 100% nicking Hannah’s idea to do this – sorry Hannah!) If you know of any cool little places do let me know! I’m still new to living here but I want to make much more of an effort to explore where I live and find all the hidden gems. In addition to that I also want to make a list of places I want to visit in the UK and start ticking them off – I do really love Britain and I want to get to know more of it.
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| // the old vicarage |
Hope you’ve enjoyed this slightly longer post than usual and haven’t got bored of all the words! I love posting outfit posts, wishlists and reviews but above everything I love posting snaps and snippets of my daily life (narcissist that I am) so I hope you enjoy these posts too.
