Turning 24

Birthday present posts are always a bit controversial so let's start by saying I'm not trying to brag about my presents. I know that I'm someone who loves a good nosy at people's gifts, and it's nice to document what you got for later in life when you fancy a look back, so I thought I'd do a post about mine. If you aren't into birthday posts then click off this post. If you are still here then let's have a look at what I got for my 24th birthday. I did good for a gal that is getting on!

First from my mum, I received a George Foreman grill and the DVD of Home. When you move out into your own home you start to ask for more kitchen based items, last year I received a set of colourful knives. So this year I asked for a grill. I'm obsessed with grilled chicken but hate cleaning out my grill pan! I though this would be quicker, easier and healthier as the fat drains away! The DVD was an added extra!

From my friend Jess, I got a whole host of goodies including an Inside Out Disney mug, a nautical notepad and tea strainer, a pack of four chocolates, a candle and a fancy soap. These were all very thoughtful gifts as she knows I love anything nautical, candles and just recently declared my love for Inside Out the movie. Matt's family got me a gift card and some sweeties. Yum! 

Last but no means least are the gifts from Matt. I decided that I wanted a little black backpack so that I didn't always have to wear over the shoulder bags as I was getting a bit sick of them. I found this one on the Whistles website. He also picked up a Diptique candle, my first, in the scent Violet, the Fast and the Furious DVD set and a Pop Vinyl Baymax. Such lovely presents which were all well thought out.

Hopefully, you liked this post and enjoyed the nosy into what I got for my birthday! Do you have any birthday present posts?

Birthday strawberry picking

Whenever you start to plan for your birthday, you know whatever you do, it has to be special. I always have to make sure I'm doing something on my birthday as I'm definitely not spending the day at work. In the past, I've been out shopping, happened to be away on holiday and some days are spent chilling with family.

This year was no different and I set to planning my day off. Out of the blue, must be something I saw on Instagram, I decided that I wanted to go strawberry picking. An odd activity but something I'd never done and always quite fancied. Mum found some places we could potentially go but many were out of strawberries. Thankfully one still had strawberries in abundance, a country farm not far from York called Spilman Farm.

It was relatively easy to find, especially as we followed our sat-nav, and when we arrived it was very quiet. No one else was around so we picked our strawberries in peace chatting away across the rows of plants.

We decided on a large basket for our strawberries and set about filling it. At the end, the lady in the shop weighs up your bounty and you pay for what you've picked. My massive basket came in at £7.50. The strawberries were lovely. So sweet and juicy. It was great to know exactly where they'd come from.

I'll definitely be visiting again next Summer, but maybe I won't get as many strawberries. A small punnet should suffice.

The Bone, Santorini

On the plane over to Santorini, I looked over the travel magazine in the seat pocket that Thomas Cook had kindly left for me. In it were some features on amazing destinations to visit, water parks in lots of different countries and finally a restaurant recommendation list. Amongst the other restaurants listed was The Bone which was situated down the road from our hotel in Firostefani. After reading the review we decided we'd have to visit so asked the lady at reception to point us in the right direction.

When we walked into The Bone we could see it was a trendy hidden gem, situated on the main road heading to Fira, away from the caldera. We were shown to the bar whilst we waited for a table to come available which took no time at all. The decor was very impressive, it was clean, sharp, bright yet moody and topped off with some great accessories - um have you seen the lightbulbs?!

When the waiter brought over our menu it was on an Ipad. Very novelty but it really worked as you were able to click on the different categories and from there click on to the meals to get a picture and a description. This was really helpful for the Greek dishes that we hadn't heard of before.

I, of course, decided to get a cocktail, a strawberry daiquiri, which was probably the best one I've ever had. There were no fake syrups in this, it was the real deal. It wasn't an artificial strawberry taste, but real strawberries. Matt picked Crazy Donkey, the island's own IPA, which came in a large bottle.

When I tried my starter I was in love. It was the best thing ever. I can't quite recall exactly what it was but I know it was like a creamy chicken with peppers and pitta bread. I can remember that I wanted to eat it all but I held back as I still had my mains to come! The waiter was really attentive and noticed just as we'd finished our starters signalling to the kitchen to start our mains. When they came to take our plates they had the main dish ready to put on the table.

For my main meal, I picked a steak with a jacket potato and vegetables. I was really impressed with the quality of the meat and how well it was cooked. I wasn't too keen on the sides but I was already getting super full anyway. After this I basically couldn't move I was so full. It didn't seem like a lot of food but with barely anytime in between to break I was ready to explode. I should probably mention I also had a bit of bread to begin with...

When our plates had been taken the waiter, who looked a little like Shawn Michaels from WWE, brought us over some free chocolate cake to settle our food. I was in no fit state to eat anything else but Matt forced some down. We paid up and then rolled back to the hotel full of yummy food.