Hey everyone.

I don’t know about you but I’m feeling 22.

Yes you guessed it, It was my birthday on Sunday (4th February) I’m now 22 years young. Bloody hell being 21 didn’t last long did it? I blinked and it was my birthday again….

My 21st year was certainly not what I expected it to be, Don’t get me wrong it’s been great for so many reasons for example: I got engaged to my first love, I found a job that suits me at the moment and had a unforgettable summer holiday – I am so grateful for those memories and many more but 2017 was definitely the hardest year of my life – Not going to go into a whole lot of detail but from where I was in January last year to where I am now, I’m a completely different person and I can’t wait to begin my 22nd year!

I also had a pretty typical ’21st’ birthday celebration, It was a Saturday, I wore a rose gold dress covered in sequins, had a booth in one of the trashy clubs in btown and drunk vodka from the bottle (classy) and although that was fun and can look at the photos and  say I had a huge 21st it took me a good couple weeks to recover.

So after that birthday this year I opted for the quiet option but being me I still like to make a fuss of it and so I should you only have a birthday once a year! I want my birthday to last as long as possible so here’s what I got up too over the space of 4 days celebrating it 🙂

My birthday celebrations started on the Thursday, Me and a few friends went for a nice little meal and drinks which was good… Can definitely tell I’m getting older though, I was in bed just after midnight! On the Friday I just had a really boring day doing nothing but Friday’s are never to boring because Joe comes home for the weekend!!! I wasn’t able to be with Joe last year on my birthday and didn’t see him for at least 2 months after so it made it just that bit sweeter to be spending this years with him. I made a spinach lasagne, we watched SAS who dare wins and went to bed. Bliss!

On the Saturday myself and family went out for a meal and spent the evening playing board games. Dean (my brother) bought me a new version of Trivia pursuit so we all enjoyed that. Love a board game night!!

On the Sunday my birthday me and Joe spent it just the two of us. I was spoilt again with my gifts but my favourite would have to be the teddy bear Joe got me. You know when you’re a teenager and in the films the boy would always buy the girl a teddy well I’d never been given one before (in my adult years obvs – I’m sure I had millions when I was a kid) so I felt all the emotions when he pulled out the cute chubby brown teddy bear. Oh the little things 💖 We went out quite early to make the most of the day as Joe had to leave by 6pm. Starting in a restaurant down the marina for breakfast, pancakes of course then ended up just walking round the north lanes (if you don’t know the lanes are iconic to Brighton. Small streets filled with quirky one off shops). We found an old photo booth in one of the shops which was fun – and it was just nice to have a chilled time walking around and doing some shopping!  Then it was time for my Tattoo, I’d booked in to get a tattoo at 2pm at Tattoo & co in Brighton. I’ve always wanted this tattoo and I thought what better way to remember my birthday as the tattoo is of my zodiac star sign symbol which is an Aquarius – The sign is just two little zig zag lines and I got it on my arm in my inner elbow area (see pic below)! I love it and it is a nice little addition to my other baby tatts.

Another birthday been and gone who knows what I’ll be doing on my 23rd birthday maybe I’ll be on holiday so I can finally have a summer birthday? Maybe I’ll be in my own place and can throw a party? Maybe I’ll go out and dance the night away or maybe I’ll just spend it chilling with the ones I love again! A lot can happen in a year so here’s hoping it’s a good one 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

My plans for taking on my 22nd year on this wonderful planet:

TRAVEL : I would love to travel to America, Australia, the Caribbean, Asia and everywhere else on my bucket list but this is me being realistic with money and time so the 3 places I am really hoping to visit this year are : Greece (In summer), Prague (at Christmas) and Dublin (a weekend getaway) 

CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK: This year I want to make sure I’m not stopping myself doing anything because of what other people might say about it. I pretty much stopped caring about what people thought about my looks and personality after I left college, I think most people do as they grow and gain confidence. However there has definitely been times where I’m going to do something and thought oh but what would so and so say about it. NO MORE! If I feel like doing it and it’s going to make me happy then I will.

LEARN TO DRIVE: If it happens it happens. I will drive one day and maybe this year will be the year but right now there’s no rush and we will see what happens!

BLOG MORE: 110%.

READ 1 BOOK EVERY MONTH: This will probably be the hardest of them all for me. I fail every time when trying to finish a book and that my friends is why it’s a resolution!

BE KIND, HAPPY AND HEALTHY!: One we should all strive for.

Kind: Self-explanatory! Everyone you know is struggling with something and to them it’s just as hard as what you are going through. Don’t judge, don’t belittle anyone else’s problems and just be kind. Not only that but I want my family and friends to know I am really happy to have them so a nice little idea I thought of and I want you to join me in doing this year is do something kind for one of your family members or friends every month (each month a different family member or friend). You could even think about who had an extra tough time that month and show them some love with a small gift or take them out for lunch on you! You won’t regret being kind.

Happy: I want to leave all the tears, anger and regret behind and just be happy. Even though how hard you try to make everything perfect, there will be shitty times that’s just how it goes but its having enough happy in your life to get through them that matters! – Take on step at a time and live the life you love! I’ve decided that one of the things that makes me happy is walking down to the beach just before the sun goes down but I don’t do it often enough – so one of my new year’s resolutions is to visit the beach minimum 2 times a week. What is one thing that makes you happy you should do more of?

Healthy: I have always been pretty healthy with food. I know what my body needs and what portion size is right for me, I eat my 5 a day to the best of my ability and limit my treats. The thing I need to start doing is moving my body more – I’ve started a little home exercise routine which really targets the areas I want to tone up and it is paying off but to get in the cardio Me and a couple friends have decided to start going to a dance class and I can’t wait! I use to dance a lot when I was younger mostly street dance so I am so excited to give it another shot even if I realise I’m not as good at dancing as I remember myself being it’s still amazing exercise and so much fun! Winning.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post, I loved writing it! Comment with an emoji of your star sign – any fellow Aquarians out there? ♒♒♒

What would you like the next blog post to be about? Would love some suggestions!

Lots of love, Lou xxx