My Birthday

It was my 41st birthday on the 19th of January. I can't believe it's been a whole year since my big parties! Time goes so quickly. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for the occasion, and as I've said my mum was diagnosed with cancer at the very beginning of January. On the 17th she and I had been to the hospital for a load of info and decisions on what would happen next. She had a surgery date of the 28th of January which was SO soon, which was good. Due to her previous breast cancer, the consultant felt the only option was to perform a full mastectomy. This is what we expected, but it was still awful and stressful. I had an absolutely huge coldsore and did not feel like celebrating my birthday at all. But I had organised for nine of us to meet up in Sheffield, so off we went. 

Lee and I got to Sheffield at about midday and headed to Costa to meet Sam and Jodie. I was properly sad and had a little cry and Sam and Jodie made me feel better. Jacqui arrived and then Sarah did too, and I took the selfie of myself and posted it to instagram because it was just real. I looked a mess and I'd been crying but I was surrounded by love and my friends, so actually, I was fine. 

Just before 1pm we trooped off to Pho in Leopold Square and my mum, stepdad, and my friend Ros arrived very soon after. I opened a bunch of really lovely presents and we ordered food and drinks. I had a spicy margarita which was REALLY spicy to drink! I had summer rolls with peanut sauce, of course, because I always get that Pho. Then I went for the spicy tofu curry which I've only had once before and thought it was a bit too spicy, but this time it was more sweet than anything? I would get it again though. 

One thing I will say is that service was REALLY slow. They could have easily sold us more drinks but there appeared to be only one member of staff on the entire floor. It took them forever to clear our starters and bring out our mains, and then the mains came at different times and Lee's wasn't right so he had to wait even longer. It was really annoying because usually service in there is really good. 

I had bought a cake from M&S that Lee and I had picked up the day before, and to be fair a staff member did bring out plates and spoons for us. So I cut it and we all had a piece or took one home. I had made party bags for my friends - they were just gift bags with sweets and stationery and stuff inside. They were cute though! 

By this time Jac had to rush off for her train and Sarah and Ros needed to get home too. so we said goodbye to them and then Sam, Jodie, my mum, stepdad, Lee and I headed to All Bar One for a drink. Sam and I shared some two for one cocktails which were nice. It was such a nice afternoon out. 

Lee and I got home about 6pm I think. I was wearing my new snowflake tights which were still giving off glitter everywhere. And I was wearing my new dress. Let me tell you about this dress! My mum made it for me for Christmas. The pattern is based on my Sprinkle of Glitter dress that I absolutely love but which I have worn to death. It's breaking apart! So I asked my mum if she could make a pattern of it. I also gave her this fabric that I had picked up at craft club. It turned out to be a duvet cover! I just love the pattern of it. My mum gave me it for Christmas and I was SO surprised because I really wasn't expecting it! She was really proud of the bands around the bottom and the sleeves, and the pattern matching in the pockets! It is so gorgeous and I will wear it a lot over the summer, but I also wanted to wear it on my birthday because it was from my mum and I love her. What do you think about it? 

In the evening Lee and I watched The Godfather. It's one of my favourite films ever but you have to really plan to watch it because it's so long. I really enjoyed it. Plus it was a nice calm ending to my birthday which I really needed. 

Here I am in Costa after being so knackered and after a cry. As I said, I'm surrounded by love and that's amazing

Super spicy cocktail! Sam had two of them!

Summer rolls and peanut sauce to start with

Then since we had soooo much time between the starters and main course, I made us take photos round the table which I haven't done in forever!

Me and Sarah; I love this girl with all of my being

Lee and I, he cannot take a serious picture 

Lee and my stepdad

My mum and stepdad

My mum and Ros. I don't get to see Ros often enough so I'm really glad she was able to come

Jodie and Ros

Jac and Jodie

Sam and Jac, my bestests

And finally Sarah and Sam, a bit awkward across the table

My spicy curry when it finally arrived

My lovely cake, it was really delicious too

Some kind of something I was drinking in All Bar One

Tights and boots - these boots are from Pavers and they're so comfortable and just look really fancy

And finally here's the beautiful dress! I just love it

Trip to Whitby

On the 16th of January Lee and I went to Whitby for the day. Lee was made redundant in December and was about to start a new job, so we decided to make the most of his time off and go to Whitby for the day. We haven't been there in an absolute ice age so we set off about got to Whitby about midday. We parked near the Co op and walked along the harbour. We went into some charity shops and a couple of other ones. We walked right along the front to the very end to look at the sea. It was completely beautiful and just exactly what I needed. 

We were hungry so we went into a restaurant right on the end for some lunch. It was upstairs and had an absolutely gorgeous view over the sea. They had champagne by the glass for just eleven quid so I had to have one, and it was cold and delicious! It was a lovely lunch. 

We walked back along the front going into some shops this time, and we also went into the one amusement arcade that was open. Upstairs it had a bunch of retro games so Lee made me play the Simpsons arcade game and then he played some other stuff while I played on the 2p machines. We had a massive ice cream each from one of the stalls on the front which was lovely. 

We crossed over the swing bridge and went into some more shops. I had some Christmas money so I bought myself a piece of freeform Whitby jet on a pendant. It's really lovely, I'll have to wear it soon. Then we went into Cafe Montmartre which is on the market square. I can't remember what it used to be but now it's this French themed bar, and it's totally gorgeous. It's tiny inside and heavily decorated with all kind of French paraphenalia. It was cold so we both had hot chocolate - mine also had Grand Marnier in it which was delicious. 

We walked back to the car via some more shops, and then set off home. It was just getting dark and it was absolutely beautiful coming back over the moors. I managed to get a lovely picture of the sunset on the way. My last photo is my outfit when we got home. I was wearing a tartan skirt that my mum made for me absolutely forever ago and which I recently discovered and am determined to wear more often. With it I wore my Carl Barat t shirt. I did have my coat on while were were in Whitby because it was very cold! 

It was a lovely day though and I'm glad we managed to go. 

Standing on the harbour looking towards the sea. Whitby's estuary is very tidal so the water was low at this point

I love the signage on this building and the colour of it, and always have

Right on the front breathing in some of that lovely sea air

There were a few people about, but really not many

View from the restaurant. I'm so glad we went in there because it was glorious

Champagne with my lunch

And then the most hugest ice creams ever

The retro game Lee made me play

Looking across the estuary to the other side, where the abbey is (you can't see it in this photo though)

As we crossed the swing bridge, later, so you can see that the water had come in quite a lot

The beautiful French themed bar we went into 

My delicious hot chocolate

More views of the harbour, isn't it beautiful?

I liked how low this doorway was. We ended up walking through this snicket to get back to the car

Sunset on the way home

And here I am in my outfit of the day when we got home!

Saturday 11th January

On Saturday the 11th of January Lee and I went to The Ink Station in Heckmondwike for Nini to do tattoos for both of us. She had happened to have a cancellation so I got us in so that we could both get Jasmine's paw print tattooed on us. So we went there first. The tattoos took no time at all and weren't even really that painful. 

By the time we had finished it was about 2pm so we headed home but decided to stop in Dewsbury on the way. It's ages since I've been and Lee hadn't ever been and thought there was a record shop, so we parked up near the market. It was absolutely freezing cold and quite a lot of the shops were shut, but we did have a wander round the market and into some charity shops. The record shop was shut which was a shame. But then on the market there was a stall selling fresh donuts so we got some to share. They were delicious! I got a couple of tops in one of the charity shops and we got some bhajis from a stall near the market before coming home. 

We then met my mum and stepdad in Barnsley at about 6pm for tea and the cinema for Lee and my stepdad and drinks for me and my mother. We ate in The Lounge; I had some tapas as I wasn't overly hungry at that point. Lee and my stepdad went off to see Nosferatu and my mum and I went in a couple of different bars for some drinks. She decided she would like some dessert so we went to Dolly's Desserts and had brownies and ice cream. Then we went into the Botanist where there was a musician playing, and he was making quite a good noise, so that was nice. My stepdad and Lee joined us after the film and then we took them home. It was a nice, chill day. 

Here's my tattoo of Jasmine's paw print, right next to my tattoo of our old cat Ivy's face. We miss both of them and I'm glad I can have these memorials to them

And this is Lee's one, underneath his Yoshi tattoo

I really liked this old signage above this building in Dewsbury

Donuts! They were like seaside ones and they were lovely

Some kind of ridiculous rum cocktail that I think I had in the Botanist 

Brownie and ice cream in Dolly's 

And a limoncello spritz I think in the Market Kitchen

Baby Bethany's First Birthday and Dedication

At the very beginning of January Lee and I first of all headed to Penistone for some brunch and some other stuff. We went to Cafe Creme for a breakfast sandwich each, and we most likely popped in to the market too for some cheese and butter. 

Then we went to the dedication and first birthday party of my friend Michelle's second baby, Bethany. We got to Leeds for the service, and met our friends Gillian and Tom and their two kids. Then afterwards we headed off to Gomersal Park Hotel - which is also where we got married way back in 2005 - for the party. Michelle throws an excellent party so each table had a jar of sweeties and some decorations. We say with Gillian and Tom but their girls went off to play in the play area. 

There was a buffet a bit later on and it was delicious. Gillian's mum had recently died so we were talking about that and hopefully comforted her a little bit. Bethany had an absolutely beautiful cake and we left with a piece of that each, at about 6pm. I clearly didn't take a photo of my outfit, but I do remember it was church appropriate! But I was wearing my new Snag tights that my aunt and uncle bought me for Christmas. I already had a pair of tights in this colour and when I saw them with the glittery snowflakes on I couldn't resist them. They're absolutely gorgeous but they were shedding glitter all over the place! 

I will also say that just the day before the party, my mum had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She had it forty years ago when I was a very small baby, and has been well all this time. At her routine mammogram in November, they found an extremely tiny tumour and did further testing before Christmas. She had a mastectomy at the end of January and recovered well from the surgery. As I write this she's about ten days post surgery and is doing pretty well. But of course this was a huge stress for her and for all of us, so January and Christmas were actually just a bit crap for us. I do want to document this here because I think it's important to do so. 

Tights and boots before we set off

Some weak sunshine in Penistone

Egg, mushroom and has brown sandwich. I had a hot chocolate too 

The gorgeous cake

And here's Michelle and the birthday girl herself!

Films of the Month - December

I watched fifteen films in December 2024, which is an average number for me. I saw most of them with other people, which isn't that usual for December because I seem to just be more social then! Here's what I saw: 

I've never seen a Carry On film so when I happened to see one on ITV so I decided to watch it. And I actually quite liked it. Yes they're ridiculous, but it was fun and funny, for the most part

I watched Unicorns and really liked it, I would recommend it

Sam and Jac and I watched Life on the Murder Scene when we were together because we had been talking about it. It's so ridiculous, it's a documentary about the band and it is just so much fun. We enjoyed it

Then we watched Annie together which is one of my favourite musicals of all time but I hadn't seen it in absolutely age 

finally Sam and Jac and I watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks just because it happened to be available and we all like it, but I do really like it, it reminds me of being very little

A few people were talking about That Christmas when it came out on Netflix so I watched it. It's really cute, I would recommend it whether you have kids or not

Lee and I watched Home Alone 2 Lost in New York together which I do like, we generally watch the first one but hadn't seen this one in ages

I absolutely loved the book The Secret Scripture when I read it years and years ago and I happened to notice there is a film of it which had passed me by before. I thought it was a pretty good adaptation. It's a sad story though

Lee and I couldn't see Gremlins at the cinema like we wanted to because other plans got in the way, so we made sure to watch it a couple of weeks before Christmas. I think I've only seen it once before so I hadn't remembered a lot of it, so it was good to see again

Lee and I watched The Muppet Christmas Carol which is a classic for me, I love it so much

Then a few days later we watched Die Hard which is also a Christmas classic, isn't it? 

We were scrolling through the films on Lee's media player thing when I noticed Solo, which I think we've only seen a couple of times, so I suggested it. I like it, I think it's a decent addition to the canon

Then I had a long gap over Christmas and family stuff, but when Lee and I were away we had Netflix so he was scrolling through and he noticed this. I haven't ever seen it so I was willing to watch it. I liked it - not my favourite Adam Sandler film but it was pretty good

Next I made Lee watch Paddington because he had never seen it. He liked it. We'll have to get round to watching the second two too 

Finally we watched Demolition Man on New Year's Eve, which I hadn't ever seen it. It was fine. I'm not a fan of Sylvester Stallone, but I quite liked it