5th Anniversary

Yesterday was mine and Dane’s 5th anniversary and honestly, I don’t know where those 5 years have gone.

I know I’ve given you all the sop before but I just wanted to write about us here, because it’s nice and stuffs. 😛

We both met through POF (Plenty of Fish), which for those of you who live under a rock and don’t know, it’s a dating site. I remember an old friend telling me how she’d met guys through the website and had gotten loads of dates (even though she never went on any…) with guys.

A couple of months later in jest I was talking to my friend Jacqui about the website, and suggested we both give it a go. We set our profiles up and before we knew it we were ready to meet some guys! Urgh they were either grim, clingey and professing their love or just after a quick shag.

Then Dane messaged me, he was sweet and we had quite a lot in common. I remember my first comments were, “He’s ginger!” and “He’s from Coventry… Is that far from here?”

We spoke for a week via the website and then moved to texting as it was easier. Before long we were arranging out first date and met in Birmingham for drinks. From then on it was just date, date, date! We went to Milton Keynes a couple of days later for a second date and then after that a week later we met up for a shopping trip in Birmingham.

It must have been almost a month before and Dane decided to become a couple during a gig. It was lovely to be honest and was nice to wait a little before jumping it. I think we both knew though that we liked each other and wanted to make it work.

6 months later on my birthday we said those 3 little words and since then we’ve just been so in love and all that soppy shit!

For our first year together we went to Bristol for a long weekend. I loved it so much and it’s a city I have always wanted to visit again, but sadly just never have… Not for any real reasons why either to be honest with you.

That is until our fifth anniversary where we decided to head to Chedder Gorge for a couple of days before the weekend, which also involved a trip to Bristol, as well as a trip to Weston Super Mare.

Before I go into what we got up to, we gave each other our anniversary presents early as sadly we both knew what we’d bought one another. As we always do at Christmas, birthday’s and especially anniversary, we always gift each other a Nendoroid (or two!).

Kakashi Hatake on the left, Nana Ebina on the right.

Dane has recently started to collect the Naruto Nendoroids so it’s lovely that I could help towards that by buying him Kakashi Hatake.

Himouto! Umaru-chan is one of my favourite anime series! Dane bought me Umaru for Christmas in 2015. It’s lovely how nearly 3 years later I can now have her teamed up with Nana Ebina! 😀

I love the Nana Ebina Nendoroid so much! I especially love the little cat body pillow she comes with, which is unbelievably soft!

This year I bought Dane Kakashi Hatake from Naruto and Dane bought me Nana Ebina from Himouto! Umaru-chan.

Sadly I didn’t manage to get a picture of Kakashi Hatake in his box, Dane got him out as soon as he received him and was playing around with his positions, etc. So I decided to show pictures of them in our Nendoroid cabinet instead! I hope you like them! We always try and make our Nendoroids look as happy and “realistic” as possible, all whilst looking cute!

The week before me and Dane broke up from work for our week off together, he booked us a 2 night stay in Webbington at a hotel and spa. It wasn’t a surprise but due to how busy I was at work the day he was booking it I didn’t realise until I got home that he had booked it!

We had originally planned to go to the Lake District and Scotland for a long weekend, but ended up cancelling that due to money. So after I suggested going to Bristol for a long weekend Dane found somewhere a drive away from Bristol and everywhere else we wanted to go.

I was a mixture of excited and nervous. Since leaving my old job I am always conscious and worried about money now so the thought of going away did worry me… Only because of money though!

The hotel didn’t cost us a lot due to Dane’s nights he’d saved up with Hotels.com, so in total we only paid £55 altogether for the 2 nights!

I hadn’t worn my Lumpy Space Princess Black Milk Clothing dress for the longest time, so I decided to team it up with my rainbow cardigan (which you can read about here) as well as my new Eevee doughnut pin badge from Ohayou! Clothing’s Patreon (which I’ve linked here). I felt so kawaii and cute! 😀 Sadly/thankfully I got zero comments on my outfit, which made me a tad sad considering.

Before going to the hotel though, we decided to stop off in Bristol first for a look around the shops and for some lunch. To think we went into Bristol to buy stuff we couldn’t get at home, but alas we ventured into Primark and as sad as it sounds I loved the Bristol Primark! It’s the biggest one I’ve been into to date and as it’s space out over 4 floors, there’s so much room to look around everything and not feel claustrophobic. Dane bought himself some gym/running gear, I grabbed a swimming costumes for the pool at the spa, as well as a pair of mustard yellow joggers (which make me look like the main character from Kill Bill!) and a Lady and The Tramp nightshirt, which I am BEYOND excited to wear!

Before that however we popped to Three Brothers Burgers for lunch. We discovered it the first time we went to Bristol for our first anniversary and we fell in love with the place. I’d talk loads about it here but I want to write A WHOLE REVIEW on the place on a separate blog post! For now I’ll link their website here so you can take a peek for yourselves.

I am so happy that we went to Bristol for the afternoon for various reasons, the main one being how much it reminded us of our first year together and how we celebrated it there. Bristol will always have a huge place in my heart due to that. Not only that, but it made me and Dane realise how Bristol isn’t THAT far away from Birmingham and we’ve already decided that we will go there more for days out. We’re already planning to go there for the second instalment of Gromit Unleashed with some friends!

After we’d had enough we headed to our hotel, which was gorgeous but kind of in the middle of nowhere. We had expected a village within walking distance so we could walk to a local pub for drinks, but sadly this wasn’t the case. The hotel did have a bar, but it just wasn’t what we were expecting. The spa in there was also lovely, but with how tired we were after each day we didn’t want to use it, which again is such a shame as that was the sole purpose for booking this one in the first place. But if you wanted to go in the pool and then to the steam room and sauna, you needed to walk through the gym to get from one to the other and you’d have to dry off beforehand. It didn’t make sense. Plus when we were having a guided tour I felt awkward standing in front of the sauna and steam room with half naked men sat staring at me.

So yeah, big no no! We also contemplated booking massages each, but these cost between £25-£50 and whilst I probably spent that money shopping today, I didn’t feel like wasting it on a massage. I also didn’t know whether you had to call the lady to book to do it, or go to the hotel desk and they’d sort it. I’ll just look at my local college for some cheap beauty treatments soon.

Thursday evening we were shattered and fell to sleep relatively early, ready for an early start the next day!

We got up bright and early, got washed and dressed and headed out for breakfast before going to Cheddar Gorge to explore the caves, as well as the village. I dressed in my gorgeous Midnight Owl dress by Black Milk Clothing. I love this dress so much and since buying it I’ve already worn it loads.

It didn’t take long for us to drive to Cheddar and walk through Cheddar Gorge! I’d never really heard about it before and it was all Dane’s idea to go! I was somewhat anxious walking through the caves, but I put this down to my anxiety and claustrophobia. I was okay though and I actually really enjoyed being able to see inside the caves and how they’ve formed over thousands of years!

Afterwards we popped around the museum over the road and walked up hundreds of steps, only to be left feeling shattered and achey! We deserved an afternoon cream tea. 😛 Well, Dane did! I shared half of the plain scone he had with my cup of coffee. The picture isn’t showing it, but it was such a gorgeous and sunny afternoon! Soon after we had a mooch around the shops, which also included buying a slush puppy, we walked back to the car and headed to our next destination, Wookey Hole!

It didn’t take long to head over to Wookey Hole and I’d never been before, or even heard of it! It was nice to see Dane talk to fondly of it from when he visited it with his family as a child. It was incredibly sweet and I can understand why from my own experience.

Wookey Hole was different than I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t as open as Cheddar Gorge was and due to that my anxiety was quite bad at some parts of the the tour. We went around a dozen, if not more caves and to get through from some to others you had to duck right down to get under, this in itself scared me a little bit, but when you got across the other side and saw the whole cave, it was amazing! There was one area where you had to walk across metal bridges (safe by the way!) to get through one cave to the next. This is where I was incredibly anxious and urgh, when you’re surrounded by people and you feel like that it can really suck! If you’re claustrophobic then Wookey Hole might not be for you, but looking back it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

Sadly we never took any pictures but near the gift shop there were LOADS of old games and arcade machines, which even included some rude photo viewers. Me and Dane had a go at the one for shits and giggles and it was pretty funny! It was only a woman taking off her clothes, as in she’s just got in from a busy day out and she wants that bra off! 😛 You know that feeling ladies. Anyway, it was such a laugh either way and we really enjoyed looking around all the old arcade machines. We also had a go at doing the mirror maze together, as well as looking at our funny reflections in the fun house mirrors. I haven’t seen them for the longest time, probably not for a good 18 years now!

After Wookey Hole we did contemplate going home to freshen up and then head to Weston-super-mare but we just ended up heading straight there, which was a good thing because we hit SO MUCH TRAFFIC and we were pretty hungry too. We’d planned to head to the beach for some fish and chips, get an ice cream and maybe play on some arcades. The only things that happened were the first two.

We walked around for ages as I couldn’t believe that the beach was pretty much all Weston had to offer and that looked rubbish as it wasn’t the best weather. We eventually grabbed something to eat, which was lovely but I was constantly on edge that a seagull may steal my dinner! We didn’t have an issue thankfully, but a family near us certainly did! We don’t quite know what happened but at one point the family had left a full pack of chips on the wall and the seagulls were literally all attacking at it for what was inside! All you could hear was the father shouting, “GRAB IT! QUICKLY! COME ON HURRY UP!” Me and Dane sat there giggling our heads off!

We sat for a while on the beach after we’d eaten out food and just chilled. We sadly didn’t take any pictures whilst in Weston and I’m glad as it was crap there. It looked so miserable and yeah. I was gutted in all honesty about going there as it wasn’t what I remembered it to be when I was a kid. It reminded me of a shitty holiday area for British tourists. It did however inspire me to write a teen novel again, which I’ll get around to at some point.

Eventually we moved on from the beach and went in search of ice cream! For a £1 I had the best ice cream ever in Weston and it took me aggggges to finish it! Just the thought of it is making me want another one. 😛

After we’d eaten our ice creams it was time to head back to the hotel. We’d seen enough of Weston to last us a life time. The only thing that I’d go back for is if there was a special event on there… Probably one involving loads of food. 😛

That evening we just chilled out together watching YouTube videos. We had planned to go for a swim together but we were both far too tired for that. Plus we wanted to be up nice and early to check out and go for breakfast.

Dane had researched where we could go for breakfast in Cribbs Causeway and he discovered they had a Frankie & Benny’s. The plan was made and we went to sleep.

The next morning we did indeed get up bright and early and got ready to leave. It was quite sad leaving as whilst I wasn’t a massive fan of the spa facilities anyway, I was gutted that we hadn’t taken advantage of them. The hotel was lovely but the walls were also pretty thin. On the Friday night we could hear every word of the people’s television next to us. We could also hear people walking outside of our room and most of the floorboards creaked around the hotel. This being said, our room was gorgeous and we actually had the best one in the hotel, aka the supreme suite! I felt special knowing that to be honest with you. We also had the best shower in the world, a waterfall shower or whatever they’re called! I was anxious to use it at first as I didn’t want to get my hair wet, but now I want to get one myself! Me and Dane have added it to our, “perfect bathroom” wish list! 😛

I decided to wear a Lady and The Tramp sweater I’d recently bought from Depop, (which you will see on a future post VERY soon!) with my new yellow joggers from Primark. I was super comfortable but my only flaw with the joggers are that there’s no pockets in them. Very sad times. Not going to lie, I actually love the second picture of me as a potential new profile picture for on here! Let me know what you think. 😉

We headed to Cribbs Causeway but we’ve only been once and the place is HUGE! It reminds me of a shopping mall by me but I feel like this place is just way bigger. Due to getting “lost” amongst all the shops we didn’t go to Frankie & Bennys, because we couldn’t find it! It would have meant driving all the way there, to drive all the way back and it just wasn’t worth it, sadly.

Instead we went to Patisserie Valerie for breakfast and it was so lovely! Dane had pancakes with fruit and I have scrambled egg, salmon and toast. It was amazing and kept us both full up until past dinner time.

We ventured around the shops for a while and I knew the one place I wanted to head into was the Gromit Unleashed shop. I knew I wanted to pick something up from here as we never did 4 years previous when we’d ventured there. Now me and Dane own our own home we’ve become that type of couple where tea towels become pretty good souvenirs! I was also going to pick up a pen and a notebook, but I have plenty of those already. This pink tea towel doesn’t really match our red, white and black kitchen but who gives a fuck! You have a live a little. 😛 This was pretty decent in price so I’m glad I picked it up. It’s now washed and as soon as it’s dry, it’ll be in my kitchen and ready to use!

The next shop we ventured into was Cath Kidston. Over the past year I’ve really fallen in love with the store and their cute and vintage inspired designs. What caused me to fall in love with them was their Disney 101 Dalmatians collection which I bought a notebook from… I regret not buying more!

Since then I haven’t bought anything else from there, until today! I only went in for a nose in case they had any 101 Dalmatians goodies left, or even any cute guinea pigs items from the Pets Party collection. I discovered something even better, fox designs from their recent Park Wildlife collection!

It was Dane who noticed all the cute fox stuff I picked up from the store! It started with a pillow he spotted, which sadly I didn’t buy and slightly regret it… I’m going to keep my eye on it on the website!

I’ve been in need of a trinket dish for the past 6 months now and although I’ve ummed and ahhed at many, I’ve never picked one up because it didn’t say me! I nearly bought one yesterday when I was in Wookey Hole because it was an awesome Pingu one.

If I had of picked it up, I wouldn’t have this awesome little fox one, which is definitely more me! It fits all my jewellery perfectly and also looks adorable whilst doing so.

Finally and Dane noticed it when I was waiting by the till, but it’s this gorgeous tray with all the wildlife animals on it, especially that cute little fox. This is for our living room table to keep things organised on it. At the moment we have our sippy cup on it, television and soundbar remotes and our Xbox One and PS4 controllers. I also suggested how we can also use it for mornings when someone makes morning coffee. It’s very sturdy and I am so glad I bought this!

After we’d had enough of looking around the shops we decided it was finally time to head home.

Although I had a lovely couple of relaxing and adventurous days with Dane, I was so glad to be back home and just relax and chill.

We spent the evening doing our own thing, me doing some blog work and Dane playing some games. We cuddled and relaxed together this evening whilst E3 2018 kicked off with EA and we had some dinner.

We both had such a lovely time together celebrating out fifth anniversary and if anything it’s taught us a few things…

• We still want a puppy/dog to take with us for adventures.
• We love Bristol STILL and can’t wait to go there again for both days out AND Gromit Unleashed 2.
• Three Brothers Burgers are still the best.
• Weston is a shit hole, but the food is spot on.
• Next time we book a spa hotel, we MEAN WE WANT A SPA HOTEL.
• And finally, we really want a waterfall shower.

I apologise that there aren’t any pictures of me and Dane in this post, I want to keep those private for us two. We don’t really take pictures together much another so the couple of gems that we took I want for just me and Dane.

I hope everyone has had a great week though and especially a great start to the weekend! I’m back at work on Monday and whilst I’ll miss lazy mornings in bed and days spent sat in my bed playing games and writing blog posts, I will be glad to be back at work!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekends.