Friday 28 September 2012

twenty first birthday celebrations

Including my 'Mexican Birthday' + birthday meals, I celebrated a total of five times over the past fortnight! Bit extravagant maybe but I've come to the conclusion that I'm not getting any older so I won't be having any more birthdays(;aha.

wiw- flower crown + tie-dye tee made by my sister; crochet waistcoat newlook last summer; shorts h&m last summer.

MOLFEST; I decided in the summer that I'd like to celebrate my birthday with a bit of a party. I'm not really one to host a big party in a big venue so decided upon having a festival themed garden party for my family + close friends. Any excuse to fancy dress! My mum had got me 50 paper bands with 'Charlotte's 21st Birthfest' printed on them to hand out to everyone, we run out! We worked out there must of been about 80 people packed into my garden! My boyfriend + I had got home from holidays the morning before so it was a lovely surprise that so many people turned up + the effort everyone put in. All in all it was a rather messy night; we open and finished off the 3 bottles of Tequila I had brought home from Mexico + we ended up going to bed at around 5am! My neighbours must love me!


wiw- republic dress; river island heels.

REVOLUCION DE CUBA + GLAM NIGHT CLUB, CARDIFF; Standard birthday night out but with my friends it's never that standard!ha. With thanks to pre-drinking games 'Ring of Fire' + my very own game Water Pistol Roulette we was very merry (to say the least!) before we even arrived in the capitol! We went to Revolucion De Cuba for the first time to try some lethal tea pot cocktails before moving onto our usual haute of Glam Nightclub for some old school R&B! Brilliant way to finish off my birthday celebrations(:

Thursday 27 September 2012

mexican memories

 our beach + cabana beds; catamaran boat trip (h&m dress, asos hat); xel-ha; drunken golf buggy tour; beach bbq for lunch; relaxing in the pool cabana (river island bikini); our room for my 'mexican birthday' petals, balloons, champagne + birthday cake (topshop bralet, river island skirt).
  

It feels like quite some time ago now that my view from breakfast was the gorgeous, turquoise Caribbean sea. If I could start every day of my life like this I certainly would! I strongly believe that I wasn't built for the British/Welsh climate. I'm always cold and dreary days depress me just as much as having pasty skin! Visiting places like Mexico make me realise that I'd love to live somewhere where even in hurricane season the temperatures reach the 40's! Aah someday!

This was without a doubt my favourite holiday of all time! I've been fortunate enough to holiday in many places with my family and boyfriend in the past including Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Cyprus and Malta, but this was my first transatlantic journey! Yes the time we spent travelling got a bit tiresome by the end (2 hour drive to Birmingham, 3 hour wait at the airport, 11 hour flight!) but it is more than 100% worth it! We stayed for two weeks at the Azul Sensatori in Riviera Maya. After um-ing + ah-ing about booking to stay in Cancun/Riviera Maya/Playa Del Carmen I think that we made the perfect decision! Playa seemed a little quiet + Cancun was definitely too go-go-go for a fortnight. Everything in the hotel was beautiful from the grounds to the rooms to the pools. I can't think of one thing to complain about! The focus of this hotel is definitely food and drink! With 6 restaurants (buffet, Italian, Mexican, Caribbean, Tapas + a gourmet experimental restaurant) and a Mojito Lounge with a menu boasting 31 types of mojito, it's safe to say I've worked out where this excess weight has come from! We spent our 'chill out days' sun bathing in the cabanas around the adults only swim up bar pool before diving in to work our way through the cocktail list! This is easily the friendliest hotel I've stayed in too; I have so many amazing memories thanks to the friends we made!

There is so much to do in Mexico there really isn't a way you can fit everything into two weeks! We had an idea of what we wanted to do before we went so tried to get a healthy balance of days out + sunbathing time! First excursion we did was the Cancun Bar Crawl, one word to sum this up CRAZY! We went to four bars; Charlie's & Carlos - a open air bar to get everyone in the mood, Dady O's - a night club with a rotating dance floor, one of the best of the bunch for me so funny, Sweet - a drag bar + the legendary Coco Bongo which there are no words! We also did a Catamaran day trip where we snorkelled and visited Isla Mujeres where they let you hire a golf buggy to tour the island (even after having an open bar on the boat aha!). A day out that I would strongly recommend is Xel-Ha it is even more beautiful than the pictures! We swam with dolphins in the morning then went cliff jumping followed by snorkelling the lazy river back to the start in time to snorkel with the dolphins then finished the day by relaxing in a hammock whilst sipping Corona. One of the best days of my life! We also took advantage of some of the amenities that the hotel had to offer. We painted sugar skulls on the beach the one day it was overcast, went jet skiing at a nearby beach, had a spa day which included a massage on the beach and for my 'Mexican Birthday' my boyfriend booked us a moon lit lobster dinner on the beach and had our room + hot tub filled with petals, heart shaped balloons, towel swans, champagne and white chocolate birthday cake!

We're in talks about going back again next summer + I cannot contain myself! I think I left a part of me back at the pool bar!aha, I hope I don't come across as bragging, I just wanted to share what an amazing time I had incase anyone reading this is thinking of going! If you do have any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me(:

Wednesday 26 September 2012

back to reality

early wake up calls; airport beverages; bye bye wales; 747; the reason why I didn't want to leave; missed morning cuddle with my maddie; molfest nearly all set up; party invitations; festival party time; birthday cards; birthday cupcakes; spoilt girly; nearly my birthday dress; my models own collection; collars + knits; forgetting to take your luggage ticket off your bag; two for tuesday; best type of delivery; perfect dress imperfect fit; birthday meal round two; champagne please.


There's no denying it anymore; I'm back to rainy Wales after the best holiday of my life, back to earth with a bang after my week long 21st birthday celebrations + back to reality as a third year in University! My tan is fading, university stress is already peaking but I'm filled with ambition that I seemed to have lost over the last year. I met some amazing people on holidays who I think have helped me rediscover my lost drive. I only have a year left before I am released into the 'real world' and I feel far from prepared! It's really frightening, maybe in a good way?

I think I'll write separate catch up posts on my holiday + birthday celebrations as this post could become stupidly long if I was to share my highlights! I was going to record a birthday presents + duty free haul today but the constant go-go-go of the last couple of weeks and the sudden arrival of winter in Britain has resulted in me now suffering with a horrible cold): With a sore throat + general bunged-up-ness I don't sound too great so hoping to sort something out by the end of the week. I'm quite excited to invest more time into writing on here + would like to thanks everyone for sticking with me whilst I took my extra long holiday! Onwards and upwards from now on(: