thanks for m.r.

just a note to wish my stateside blogger friends a truely happy thanksgiving for tomorrow!

i know we don't celebrate thanksgiving over this side of the pond, but m.r. called me at work today just to tell me he loved me and it made me realise how thankful i am to have found him.

it made me think back to the early months of our relationship, when everything was new and we had just said those three immortal words to one another. shortly after this time, i sent him a list of reasons why i loved him. they are also the reasons i still thank whoever sent him to me:

1. You’re gorgeous
2. You eat my attempts at cooking with a smile on your face
3. You’re a computer geek
4. You are genuinely kind-hearted (a rarity nowadays)
5. You wear awesome clothes
6. You support me and make me believe i am capable of anything
   
7. Your parents have a beautiful house in france (joke!)
   
8. You spend time with my family and love them even though they’re a little crazy
9. You leave the toothpaste in the shower after weirdly brushing your teeth with hot water
10. You don’t eat sweets, which leaves all the more for me

 i love m.r.

christmas excitement (in november)

i realise it's only the beginning of november, but i love christmas and i'm already so excited about it. it's the one time in the year that you're officially allowed to be a kid again!

my parents have always made the biggest effort when it comes to the little things - when we were younger, my dad would dress up in my mum's red coat and white scarf on christmas eve so that if we woke whilst he was putting our sacks of pressies out, we would think he was santa!

and my mum would leave sprinklings of tinsel around the house during the lead up to christmas, telling us that they were threads from the fairys' dresses who had been to visit and check we were behaving.

plus, we used to get our 'big' present left for us downstairs in the lounge and dad would always tease us that he didn't think santa had brought us one this year. i say 'used' to - this tradition is still in full force in our househould, despite the fact that we're hitting our 30s.

christmas is a truely magical time and we feel so lucky to have 3 fabulous niece and nephews to shower with christmas fantasies and pressies this year.

bring on santa!

the beginning

my very first post........esk!

so i guess this all started 6 months ago, when my gorgeous boyfriend proposed to me, in my most favourite place in the city, with the most beautiful ring i've ever seen.

not only did he manage to surprise me (which is difficult as i organise both of our diaries!), he had also asked my dad's permission AND he proposed on one knee. what more could a girl ask for?!

since that night, our lives have been fairly hectic:
our beautiful little niece was born,
our youngest nephew has perfected his disney-esq smile that would melt anybody's heart,
and our eldest nephew has become a toddler, with huge adorable eyes that make you want to give him anything he asks for.
my parents threw us an incredibly fun (if not fairly drunken) engagement party.
so many of our family travelled up to celebrate with us, which we hugely appreciated.
my brother and his wife were married in a fabulous english manor house.
i was, very proudly, one of their bridesmaids.
we visited the parents in law-to-be in france and stayed in their beautiful 18th century farmhouse.
we attended 3 of our friends weddings and loved each and everyone of them.
my best friend (who also happens to be my maid of honour) accepted a marriage proposal from her lovely boyfriend.
the whole family embarked on a whistlestop tour of brazil.
my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary (how inspiring!)
and during all of this, we've also been trying to plan our own wedding............

so our blog is about all of these wonderful times and wonderful people.