Messina, Sicily

Home of The Godfather films! We were excited about this place although maybe our expectations were too high. We expected the Mafia to be roaming around like a scene from The Sopranos but it was quiet town with very little going on. We could have travelled to Taormina was which was a place about half an hour away to see the famous Mt Etna & also climb the 'godfather steps' but our funds were very limited so we ended up walking the streets. 

We were a little disappointed with this port of call, we were told that if we were able to travel more into the countryside we would have seen more of the 'real' Sicily. Some of the buildings we did see were beautiful though & the town stopped by the cathedral at twelve noon to watch the mechanical statues circle. That was pretty interesting. 

I think the lack of photos say all I need to say about this place. I took more photos sailing away because there seemed to be more of the city to photograph. We had a local beer & pistachio gelato while we caught up with family & friends in a wi-fi spot. Not much to see here though I'm afraid. Maybe we'll give it another chance one day but see a different part of Sicily. 

Alicante, Spain

and finally HELLO!

We have been without internet the first few days of being home, then I went to see both my sisters in Liverpool & Manchester from Thursday to Sunday & could not get onto the internet there either so apologies for the delay in updating!

The heat in England is so intense. It was the same on holiday but I guess we always had the sea breeze we didn't notice it so much. I have to say though it's the first time coming home from abroad that I've actually been able to show off my tan & it's going to last a lot longer. The sun is showing no signs of disappearing! I'm pretty happy with that.

I think it's time to share our holiday photos! We had the most wonderful & refreshing time. I would do a cruise again in a heartbeat. 

I did a Mediterranean cruise with my family about 8 years ago on a ship with the capacity for 2,800 people, the ship we went with was much smaller with the capacity for 1,800 so my experience this time around was a little different but still just as fun. We enjoyed all the different bars but we ended up with a favourite that became our pre-dinner, play a few card games & catch up time. We enjoyed a lot of time by the pools reading & people watching (my favourite hobby!). The average age of people on our cruise was 70 years old but we met some brilliant characters & made some great friends for the trip. We had set dining at in the evening & were on a table of eight. I really think we had the best table of people and my favourite was 89 year old Barry who was one of the funniest people I've ever met. The weirdest thing was that Barry, his daughter & son-in-law grew up in the same part of Birmingham that we live so we had a lot to talk about. Small world! Anyway, I guess you want to see some pictures!

The ocean was absolutely spectacular. I think it's the first time I've really appreciated the vastness of this world. You could have stared out into the ocean all day and let your mind wander into whatever was swimming beneath & around you. We saw so many dolphins but every single time they came up I never had my camera with me. That will just have to be a precious moment I keep to myself. The most incredible sighting of the dolphins was one evening at sunset, the water was so still & mirror-like and you could see the silhouette of them jumping against the sun. Sam saw them but every time they jumped right out of the water he seemed to miss it! I've seen dolphins before, fed & touched them even but there is something about seeing them swim in the wild that feels more intimate.

Our cabin was great. We had an inside cabin which I didn't mind at all. Sam said next time he'd have a cabin with a window or a balcony. We only spent time in there to sleep, have a nap or get ready. We may have spent more time in there if we had a balcony but otherwise it was fine. We were at the very front of the ship & we felt a little motion sickness a couple of times. Some people said to us the middle of the ship is a better place to be because you don't feel it so much. That's just a pointer for anyone considering a cruise. We didn't get a choice of where our cabin was because we had such a cheap deal & we had the sea bands but I'm not sure how much help they were. Despite that, it didn't affect our holiday or enjoyment and we'd jump at doing another cruise.

Alicante, Spain was our first port of call. It was a lovely city but we only got to stay for a few hours before being back on the ship late afternoon. I imagine if you were staying there they'd be a lot of activity during the evening. We certainly saw the aftermath of a few parties the night before. They had a parade while we were there celebrating St. John the Baptist. The clothing was incredible, I can't imagine how they felt dressed up like that in the heat. I certainly would not have wanted to do that but they looked amazing & the little ones looked very cute.

We had a look around a few shops & stopped for a drink after watching a little of the parade. I can't say its a place that we would return to but it was certainly pleasant for a few hours & nice to get off the ship onto land. We stopped by the harbour to sit and sip sangria (obligatory of course) and got back onto the ship in time for afternoon tea!

I'll be sharing our other destinations with you this week so keep a look out!

Feels good to be back to blogging! X

Aaaand we're home!

This picture has nothing to do with us being home other than I can't wait for a cuddle with my Joshua Gabriel! plus I really love this picture of my brother & his baby boy! I have missed his sweet baby scent and soft scrummy cheeks! I'm coming to get you soon Joshua boy!

Yes, we're home today! *big big sigh* I can't wait to share our adventures with you all! Give us a day or two to get settled back in & I'll be updating and overloading you with lots of photographs!

Stay tuned! xXx

Nail art - Bubbles

Here again with another nail art, another really simple one!  I love this bubble effect and the possibilities are endless.

Simply paint your nails a base colour of your choice. I used Maybelline Forever Strong in 'Really Rosy'.

While the base coat is still wet apply small dots of your top colour. I used Barry M in 'Mint Green'. Applying the 'bubbles' while the base coat is still wet allows them to move more fluidly and creates a more unique look/pattern.

Once dry apply a clear top coat to seal.

I think I'm going to try a confetti looks next time with lots of different colours!

DIY: Restyled magazine rack

I found this old wooden magazine rack in a thrift shop a while back knowing I wanted to paint it at some point & also we needed one because Sam doesn't like seeing all my magazines in big piles. He's a very very tidy man! (I'm very lucky!).

You'll need:

Magazine rack, paintbrushes, paint (I used leftover wall paint samples again), sandpaper & varnish (not pictured).

Start by sanding down the magazine rack to get as much of the current varnish off as you can. This is time consuming but it will make the paint stick better when you come to it. 

Then begin painting! I used 'coral flair' in the dulux range as I did on the decorative wooden spoons. I think I'm slightly obsessed with this colour!

It took 3-4 coats to get an even cover but I guess that's what you have to do if you're working with dark wood. I may take less coats if you use a white base coat first.

Once dry finish it off with a coat of varnish & enjoy your tidy storage solution! Sam is certainly appreciating it & he even loves the colour. It creates a lovely pop of colour in our living room/lounge.

Home Tour: Sneak Peek! Living room/Lounge

Hey friends!

This is just a little sneak peek into our living room/lounge in our new home. It's really simple at the moment. It's set up very similar to our old place except we've got some extra furniture like the corner bookshelf that was in another room before & a new rug from Ikea that is so fluffy sometimes we sit on that instead of the sofa!

This is only a week and a half after we moved in. There are a few more things I want to do & add over the next few months but it's a slow process, not finished at all but this room is the most serene in our new home. It feels so comfortable, warm & cosy! It's L-shaped so the part you can't see will be our dining room & there is a deep alcove which we want to turn into a reading nook eventually.

We've started a photo wall which we had in the previous place but I was too wary to nail too many holes into the wall because of it being a rental, this home is a rental but we have more freedom to do whatever we like here. We still need to add more family & friends to it but it's a start for now & we love looking at all the people who have blessed us and been a big part in our lives!

We've already had a few dinner parties, film & game nights at ours. The amount of space we have in this place makes me feel so blessed everytime I wake up. Our (shared) garden was used for our church community event the weekend we moved in & we've now got a spare room & our first overnight guests will be arriving in August unless someone needs a place before that. It feels great to have a space to host & have people stay. This was my desire from the beginning when looking for places to live. I want our home to be open to people. I can't wait for more events to take place here. I think we're going to build a whole lotta memories in this place. REALLY good memories!

I'll share more when we've added to it and feel a little more settled and straight.

DIY: Cushions

I've been having a lot of fun making our new house a home. One of the projects I wanted to do in our other home was make my own cushions but I never got round to it and admittedly I was a little hesitant too because I've never done handmade cushions before.

I was inspired by a friend I had coffee with the other day. At her house she'd got a new (to her) sofa from her neighbour & had made her own cushions for it. They were so cute I thought I had to get on and make my own and believe that I could!

I used this tutorial after I just googled something ridiculous like 'how to make easy cushion covers' and that's just what they are...EASY!

This style is called Envelope Cover. It's one of the easiest things I've done. My first one took a while to work out but once I'd done that one I was making a cushion cover every 20 minutes until my sofa looked welcoming & cosy. I think I'm addicted! I started making some for our bed but now I've run out of materials!

I got these materials from the craft show held twice a year at the NEC, Birmingham. It's one of the things I look forward to going to every year to get my year's supplies! Things are sold much cheaper than in the shops but it's worth looking for pretty materials in markets & thrift shops.