While I haven't written as many blogs as I would like to over the passed few weeks (I should really say I haven't published many as there are a fair few in my drafts folder just waiting for me to take photos), I've done plenty of other things that have made me happy. In a tradition that has been going on for quite a while now, here are ten things I've loved about the past month.
2 - We have been trying to sort stuff out in our house since we moved into last year, but with both of us working full time it has been hard to do so. The husband has been off work for a couple of months and managed to sort through piles of stuff that has been hanging around since before we moved in together. We now have about 4 boxes of stuff in the spare room to find places for but the rest of the house is looking fab and super comfy.
3 - This may not seem like a big thing, but i have managed to keep three plants alive for several months. Usually, any plants I buy at Christmas die before New Year, but this year, they are thriving and even sprouting new green bits. Now I just have to get my act together and tackle the kitchen.
4 - Opera season has started again so people who follow me on Instagram can expect some theatre spam. I have 5 operas to attend in total right up to May, as well as a ballet, so I'm ready to feel super cultured. If you haven't already, sign up to the Opera North Under 30 scheme to get yourself some £10 tickets.
5 - I've got into a great routine with the husband where we cook together a lot and I'm really enjoying it. Even if he's doing washing up when I cook, it is making preparing meals a lot more fun and is making me want to develop new recipes as I have someone to talk to. I'm also teaching him how to make lots of new things like fresh pasta and Greek yoghurt flatbreads, so he has no excuse not to do more cooking. I'm even writing a lot of my own recipes down and am contemplating sharing them on the blog.
6 - I have totally given up on shapewear - as you might know from my recent blog - and am embracing every part of my body just as it is. This means I wore my gorgeous and very fitted Collectif dress out for dinner and felt amazing. I wasn't self conscious at all and really enjoyed the sense of freedom it gave me to just wear what I wanted.
7 - I now get every weekend off with my husband, which has never happened in all the time we have been together. This means we have been making time for a proper Sunday breakfast, which is awesome as breakfast food is the best. After years of only getting the odd day at the weekend together, we've been making the most of it and the excuse for dippy egg and soldiers.
8 - In fact, the husband and I have been making a lot of time for each other so far this year. He's working in a full-time office job now for the first time ever, so we both get home around the same time, we're both not as stressed as we used to be and we are making an effort to go on for more date nights. It started as a celebration of his new job but now every week, we are doing something special together.
9 - I've written about how much i love sending cards and letters before, but this month I got loads of fab and fun cards from Ohh Deer and have been sending them to people just because. Seeing as I love getting surprises in the post, I figure this is a great way to make someone smile.
10 - Food is good, especially when it's free and i've been able to enjoy two free meals this month. One was a blogger perk and the other I won on Facebook so I got to eat at two places I've been meaning to for a while. My favourite was Bar Soba, which served up this awesome king prawn curry and will be on the blog soon, so I highly recommend paying it a visit!