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Stylish & Slow Adventuring – A Travel, Fashion and Lifestyle Yorkshire Blogger

HELLO OLD FRIENDS | QUEENBEADY

June 1, 2018

hello old friends

Bodysuit Zara (similar) | Cami Top Tesco (similar) | Belt ASOS (similar)  | Jeans New Look (similar) | Straw Bag H&M (similar) | Slingback shoes H&M  or similar

Hello old friends.

Thought you were wondering where I’d been for so long.

Crikey, it’s been nearly two months since I last graced this little old blog with any written word. There’s been so much happening in my life, some exciting, some not so much that I’ve just not had a) the time or b) the inclination to put finger to keyboard.

And I just had to accept that, that was okay. So here’s a little mini thank you for sticking around and waiting for me to come out from the woodwork.

I’ve got a little catch up coming about all the things I’ve been up to recently and the things I’m looking forward to…

ALWAYS WANTING MORE | QUEENBEADY

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CELEBRATING

We’ve been celebrating a lot of 30th birthdays and birth announcements this year and I for one am ecstatic. It’s so weird to get to that stage in your life where you are becoming surrounded more and more by babies and I never thought I’d say this, but I’m okay with it. I can’t say I’m aching for a baby but I know I can casually handle the act of holding one without thinking I’m going to drop it on its head! If you know the fear, you know.

The new arrivals are being waited for with baited breath.

It’s also my husband’s 30th in a couple of weeks so I’m throwing him a party at one of our local bars which we love. There’s a few little surprises to make sure the event goes without a hitch, because I want him to as feel special and as loved as I feel when I look at him. (Cue the vomming from my overdose of sloppiness.)

I’m 28 and turning 29 later this year so it’s got me thinking a lot about how I want to spend the last year of my twenties myself. I want to make sure I’m fit and healthy, enjoying those small, precious moments, savouring time at home just as much as the trips I want to take (hello husband, please fly me to NYC for the big three-zero!) and laugh until my belly hurts. It would be nice to be made a fuss off, I’m not gonna lie. So, if any pesky friends/family/husbands are reading this, take note 😉

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BUYING A HOUSE

If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that we’ve searched for our second home. Whilst we love our little two up, two down, it is just that. Little. There’s no space for us anymore, the house is slowly closing in on us with piles of clothes threatening to suffocate us in the night. No amount of car booting will help.

We first put an offer in on a house that seemed (at the time) a dream home. It was in the countryside with views for days, gorgeous log burner and family kitchen/diner that it made my heart ache. Little did I know that it would break even further when it went £25,000 over the asking price. Whilst the décor of the home was lovely, it really needed a boiler (it didn’t have one) and there was the issue of the septic tank.

At the time it felt so devastating when we didn’t get it, but on reflection we started to think that maybe we had dodged a bullet.

We’d also been to see another house, one in the place we wanted and wasn’t in the middle of nowhere. It was a typical 1960’s semi but offered us the space, the garage and the mod-cons of a boiler and open fire. It ticked the criteria, just a slight issue with the price. Luckily, we put an offer in and whilst the first one was declined our second took us over the mark to secure it. I remember I was in Starbucks with Mr C and I could have whooped and screamed for joy. The adrenaline from something like that puts you up in the clouds. We are both so pleased!

Things are obviously in the early stages but with a very short chain we are hoping it will be a smooth transaction. With a short ten minute walk to the shops/pub/café and a five-minute walk down to the river, we have everything on our doorstep making life seem so much easier.

There’s a massive pressure with your second home I think, it’s the “are we leaving our cosy and comfortable life behind for a good reason.” The house has to tick so many more boxes, because this is the house you’re going to grow in to one day, it’s moving on to a much larger mortgage than we could ever know (bye-bye social life!) – it has to be right.

I ask that you please keep everything crossed for us because this will be our forever home. I can’t wait to get my teeth in to it and make it “our home.” 

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A SICKNESS BUG THAT WIPED ME OUT FOR TWO WEEKS

Earlier on in the year I’d begun to get excruciating pains at the top of my stomach. It managed to subside and went away without a second thought.

Cue two months later my body felt like it was being attacked by vicious lions, twisting, turning, squashing, pulling and every other uncomfortable feeling you could imagine going on inside your body.

It fucking hurt.

I was out of it for a full week. I stayed at home trying to contain my little yelps (read: screams) of pain from the neighbours who probably thought I was being murdered and reviving daily to go through the same trauma again. I tried to go in to the work on the Wednesday and with one look at me it was straight to the docs and sent back home with a sample bottle, (is there anything more awkward than a poo sample?) back to my sofa cess pit where I would continue to sleep for the foreseeable future.

The pain still didn’t subside, so I got tested for gall stones and pancreatitis. The latter was something that struck my Grandad for a solid eight months before our wedding and it was a hellish experience for all. Luckily, he came through it at the other end but it could have all ended so drastically different.

Well, the tears flowed on the doctor, the nurse and even the hunky trainee nurse, too. I was sobbing so hard that I didn’t even realise my blood was getting taken (something I wholeheartedly hate!) Luckily, my test results came back clear of those, except my body was trying to fight a really nasty virus and wasn’t having any luck at all. Armed with a mammoth pack of pain killers there was nothing much else I could do.

I returned back to work after the bank holiday still with pain but I marched through it and eventually after a solid 15 days of excruciating pain, it went. I’d forgotten what it felt like to not feel like my insides were being ripped out.

The exhaustion from it all set me back even more with finding any time and attention to give to the blog.

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NEGATIVE VIBES BE GONE

Those who are close to me will know that there was a situation happening in my life that I tried to get on with as best I could. Whilst I don’t want to go in to too many details over a public forum, I can say that the light has finally come at the end of the tunnel.

I feel so free.

Free of feeling less of a person.

Free of feeling on edge.

Free of feeling like I always had to have my guard up.

It was emotionally and mentally draining.

And now, everything feels new again. Everything seems a pleasure and I can finally go about things without treading on eggshells.

I’m back in a good place, so my eating habits have become healthier and I’m back at the gym. My head space is just generally so much better to go about my life. It just feels great.

ALWAYS WANTING MORE | QUEENBEADY

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THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO

Well, there’s so much. Obviously I previously mentioned that it is Mr C’s birthday party next week but we also have an amazing Adventure in France this month, you can read about what we plan on getting up to here.

There’s a collaboration trip coming up next month to Armathwaite Hall  which I’m super excited for – there will be a full review of our experience.

Leeds Fest will and always has been the highlight of August, plus babies will be due around then too, so I expect lots of baby cuddles around then too.

And of course, finally moving in to our new home.

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Wow, that was one almighty catch up. There’s probably a gazillion other things I have missed but here’s hoping it explains where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to in my absence.

There are loads and loads of draft blog posts I want to get written, so fingers crossed by hitting publish on this post it might just prompt a wave of posts coming your way.

Again, thank you for hanging around – you’re awesome.

What have you been up to recently?

Bee

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