1st March 2016 - we're (finally) here!

Hello, lovelies!

Well, that was a hectic week and a bit…There’s a little bit to catch up on, so will try and give you the short version!

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So, Saturday before last (20^th) was getting to be one of the worst days ever by the time I eventually walked through the front door in good ol’ Kernow. It. Was. Hellish. Picture a fraught pair of twentysomethings, hungover and tired as hell, trying desperately to pack a tiny flat’s worth of possessions into a Ford Fiesta while the weather is as uncooperative as possible and working flat-out in order to catch various flights and trains. Add to that picture assorted emotions (sad, stressed, worried, hopeless realisation that not all the stuff will fit in the car, anger at losing a wallet, relief at finding it again) and remember that breakfast just hadn’t happened – it occurred to me later that I hadn’t actually eaten a proper meal in two days by this point – and you’ve pretty much got the gist of how horrifically awful Saturday 20^th February 2016 was. I missed the first train completely, and had to inevitably deal with rail replacement buses for half of the journey anyway. By the time I got home I was absolutely spent…

Cats and Chinese food helped the recovery process along, though. Can’t recommend highly enough the medicinal healing power of cuddling kitties and scarfing down hot noodles.

The rest of last week passed relatively uneventfully, and was mostly spent acclimatising to the new working from home arrangements. Tell you what, it seems amazing now that I ever had to go to work without slippers on! It all seems to be going well at any rate, if a little unusual that there’s no longer a commute to have to deal with. Plus it’s just a huge relief to not have to worry about where money will come from when there’s enough to be thinking about as it is…

And then, before we knew it, Saturday 27^th rolled around and it was officially time to move! After a freezing hour-and-a-half’s wait at Bristol station (seriously, why are there no seats or cafés to spend long waits in at that station!? Sort it out, BTM), J and I were reunited and set off on the drive to the Midlands. Right precarious drive that was, too: he couldn’t see anything out of the back window due to it being piled high with our things, and I had a suitcase perched on my lap for two and a half hours and cried on and off for multiple reasons for pretty much the duration of the journey. Yayyy.

After spending the majority of Sunday at IKEA (and failing to purchase anything of any decent use except three curtain poles), we’re more or less beginning to find our feet at last. Tomorrow we have some big, important things being delivered (a bed! A fridge-freezer! A washing machine!), so it’ll be my first proper day in the house which should be interesting. Can’t wait to have everything finally put away in its proper place and looking homely and cosy at last.

As the process of unpacking and making a house a home can be dull for some people, thought I might try and mix things up a bit by maybe doing a little house haul here and there, or documenting the process of turning our new place into something special. If there’s anything specific you’d like to see here with regards to home, decorating etc, let me know in the comments section below!

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16th February 2016 – Grown-up shopping spree (and the true importance of pancakes)!

Hello, lovelies!

The weekend just gone taught me quite a few things about being a grown-up. I can now tell you the difference between a pocket-sprung and an open coil mattress (if that’s something you’d ever be interested in; frankly, I wouldn’t blame you if it wasn’t), and get actively excited at the prospect of having a washing machine which can contain 9kg instead of 7. I have perched on every type of sofa imaginable – comfy or otherwise – and positively marvelled over how tall some fridge-freezers can be. I was dwarfed by some of those beasts, dwarfed!

Of course, you can’t go on a proper grown-up shopping trip to buy proper grown-up things like beds and vacuums without a good, solid foundation, so before doing anything we headed to our favourite local caff for a spot of brunch. I highly recommend pancakes before making any important life decisions; a good basis on which to make aforementioned decisions, pancakes.

Pancake Power! Deliciousness courtesy of Lounge, North St

And I was lucky enough to spend Sunday (aka 14th February, aka Valentine’s Day) wandering around Argos and Curry’s gazing at shiny new technology, all aimed at making your home life just that little bit easier. Who said romance was dead, eh. It’s a good job I can’t stand that particular holiday and refuse to partake in any more than a card to commemorate its occurrence…

After 4 years, think it's safe to say we know each other pretty well...

This weekend was definitely the most adult I’ve felt…ever. And it wasn’t actually as boring as I thought it would be (to an extent. I mean, there really is only so excitement to be felt when viewing countless washing machines which, for the most part, look identical and, when it comes down to it, all do the same thing) – although that was probably due to it being an inevitability. At some point the big important house appliances were always going to have to be purchased, and that time has come for J and I. The new place is totally unfurnished which, when you’re used to solely looking at properties that are fully- or at least part-furnished, is quite daunting. But now we’re in a position where we have to get these things or otherwise starve in dirty clothes, the prospect of being an adult and buying adult things (house things; minds promptly out of gutters, please) actually all becomes less scary and more practical. Something you just have to do at some point in life.

Plus it’s definitely helping things relating to The Move become much more tangible. We’re picking the keys up on Thursday (two days!!) and it’s all becoming so much more real now. It’s my last day in the office tomorrow. We’ve started saying our ‘see you laters’ to friends we’ve made (it’s not really ‘goodbye’ if you’re planning on coming back someday, and that’s not off the table just yet). We’re really doing this.
Eek.

Have you had the joyous experience of buying your first furniture yet? Have you got any useful pro tips on moving house? Leave suggestions in the comments below!

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