Making the most of life

I am someone with a tendency to over think things.  Recent gin and tonic fueled chatting about life with some of the closest people in my life in a hot tub in the Forest of Dean last week, along with sucky things happening to people close to us, has put me in a reflective mood.  I am determined to  to..., to what? Live life I suppose and not stress the small things. So...eat that bit of cake, go to that gig, do nothing, do something, phone your friend, don't phone that friend who always makes you feel bad about yourself, walk, laugh about it, say yes, say no, completely ignore me and make your own list, don't inspect badly taken work lanyard photos to closely (this one might just be me), and realise that there ain't nothing wrong with turning 30 (or any age) this year.

Here are some awesome things I have been doing over the last week

Extremely sweet and delicious cake from Jolly's tea room in Bath

Seeing Caitlin Moran speak in Cardiff last week

Beautiful Tintern Abbey

Cardiff Bay on a Spring evening (we had fish and chips from Top Gun)

Not quite the back row at the Radio 2 Folk Awards

November wrap up- Eating, drinking and gigging

Once again I have neglected my blogger duties because I was just having too much fun.

So November, where do I start. It's been a busy one exploring and enjoying the best that Cardiff has to offer.

Eating and drinking

If you didn't already know, the amazing Wahaca opening in Cardiff earlier this month. This warranted a day off work to head on down there. I first tried their Mexican street food style food in Covent Garden and absolutely loved it. The Cardiff restaurant is amazing, very cool decor and exceptionally yummy food. To make things even better, we got free tequila cocktails (slightly lethal).  As Wahaca say, if you need lemon and salt with your tequila, you're drinking the wrong tequila. Go. Try. Eat. Drink. You'll love it. Seriously, our friends who have not yet been are sick of us going on about how good it is.

Free cocktails

Last week, late to the party as usual, a few of us went down to the Depot's Street Food Cardiff event. Wow. The atmosphere they created in an urban warehouse was pretty incredible. And the food, oh the food. There was so much choice but eventually I decided to have a hot dog from Haut dogs (with popping candy on it because I'm such a darn hipster). 

hipster hotdog

Then, being surrounded by so much choice, I wanted more food.  I very rarely get to go to Bangkok Cafe so I went for the Thai Green Curry. Amaze. By this point my stomacch was too full for anything else but I tried a bite of Hywel's crème brulée and can attest to it's deliciousness. All this while drinking Prosecco. Oh yes. One piece of advice, be prepared to queue.

Me being a hotdog

Gigs

Wave Pictures at the Moon Club, Boy and Bear at Clwb Ifor Bach and the Welsh Music Prize nominees also at Clwb. I saw both the Wave Pictures and Boy and Bear at festivals over the summer but it is always nice to see a band in a smaller venue (and you can't get much smaller than the Moon Club). These bands are fantastic and I loved them. I wish that Cate le Bon had played the Welsh Music Prize gig, and Gruff, and the Manics, and future of the Left, but getting to see The Gentle Good is always lovely.

I also went to my best friend's wedding this month and pratted around in the dressing up box.

That's How for Now folks.

September

So just like that September is over....and what a busy month I have had. Despite some low points (being ill and cancelling our trip to Brighton), I have had a pretty good time. One of the highlights being going to see First Aid Kit at Colston Hall in Bristol. What a great band! What a great venue! I has only previously been to the O2 Academy in Bristol so the Colston Hall seemed very civilised in comparison. The First Aid girls put on a great show, very different and more intimate than seeing them at Green Man fest.

Before the gig we found a hipster heaven bar where we indulged in a couple of drinks and delicious burgers. If you're ever Bristol way you could do far worse than going to Start the Bus. 

Hipster drinks at Start the Bus

From a purely materialistic point of view, my gorgeous birthday present from Hywel arrived. I had been looking for a leather satchel for ages and Zatchels delivered! I love, love it.

My gorgeous Zatchel satchel

From there we headed down to Dorset for a good old fashioned barn dance at my grandparent's farm. Plenty of dosey-doeing, cider and checked shirts.

Last weekend I went to my wonderful friend Meg's hen do. Ever done a yoga/ stretch glass after downing 2 glasses of Prosecco? I highly recommend it. The instructor was Lou from Stretchii in Swansea and was a wonderful way to start the day's activities.

Mats ready for hungover/ tipsy Stretchii class

This week I am super excited to go see the "Gone Girl" film adaptation. I read the book about a year ago and loved it. It really is not the normal genre I go for (I'm more an historical fiction kinda girl than dark thrillers) but would highly recommend it. Oh yeah and I'll be walking the Cardiff half marathon on Sunday with my mum. I'm hoping for good weather as I walk around this wonderful city.

Festivals and summer fun

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. August always seems to be a really busy time for me with festivals to go to and birthdays to enjoy. This year I also had the added bonus of attending one of my best friend's weddings.

Green Man Festival

I love Green Man so much. There is such a chilled and relaxed vibe there along with great music and beautiful scenery. I always discover a great new band or artist. This year we spent the majority of the time at the mountain stage as the line up was just fantastic. This was also the first year our gorgeous 11 month old Godson joined us. He seriously knows how to rock a pair of ear defenders. To mix things up a bit, my friends and I, for the first time, ventured into the Nature Nurture area for a spa experience on the Sunday morning (when we seriously needed a wash). We had prosecco on arrival, and then constant top up, clean towels, warm showers, hot tub and the only sauna/tent I have ever seen. It was just perfect.

Highlights:

First Aid Kit (obvs)
Beirut
Nick Mulvey
Boy and Bear
Georgia Ruth
Outside Spa (and prosecco!)
Burning of the Green Man

We have already bought our tickets for next year's festival where I will be celebrating a rather scary birthday!

My Birthday

I love my birthday and always make sure I take the day off work. This year, despite the grey skies, Hywel and I went for a swim in the sea in Dunraven Bay. It was such a nice beach and, due to the weather, not very busy. The sea was choppy but fairly warm considering. We then discovered a secret garden where we drank our hot chocolates. In the evening we went to the delightful Shot in the Dark for drinks then curled up at home to watch Amelie. Wonderful.

End Of The Road

My mum and I always try to go to a festival together. In the past we have been to Glastonbury numerous times and Camp Bestival. This was the first year I went to End Of the Road but I already can't wait to go next year. The festival site is such a good size (you can walk between all the stages in 5 minutes meaning fewer band clash dilemmas) but you still get some of the quirky areas such as the forest disco where my mum, aunt and cousins and I danced the night away.

Highlights:

Sweet Baboo
The Wave Pictures
Gruff Rhys
Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit
Cate Le Bon
9 Bach


And seeing as Hywel and I can't quite get our selves back into normal life, we had dinner last night at the excellent Got Beef.