My 2016

2016 has been an interesting year hasn't it? The world seems to be falling to pieces and I'm genuinely worried about the way politics seem to be going. In a stark contrast, my personal life has been mostly amazing, with a couple of downs to go with my ups, so I'm choosing in this blog to focus on that. 

The years started out relatively quiet, January was unremarkable. and in February my birthday was lovely and quiet. I'm not the biggest fan of my birthday, so anytime I can have a nice meal with my family I'm happy. Sadly in February we also suddenly lost our dear, sweet one eyed Sinbad. It was so unexpected and heartbreaking. I miss him a lot and wish he could have been with us longer.

March and April were filled with wedding preparations and DIY, it kept me so busy and I am forever grateful to my Mum, Fal my best friend, my Nanny and my Auntie Maisie. I couldn't have done it without you! I also got to hang out with Melly Em Clark, Nancy of Sugar, Darling and Dom Clark which was so much fun. Anytime I get to hang out with fellow blogger babes is wonderful and I'm lucky to have them nearby.

Me, Melly Em and Nancy, photo by Dom.

March also saw us welcoming a new arrival into our home, the wild hellion beast that is Lemmy Katmister. We adopted him from Cuddles Cat Rescue and it helped us heal after losing Sinbad, knowing we were giving another rescue a much needed home. He is much younger than our other cats Stitches and Patch, and certainly keeps us on our toes. He is a total Mummy's boy and can usually be found in my face!

May was my hen do! I had such a good time and felt so loved that so many people come to it. Afternoon tea, followed by Anti-Nowhere League in the evening. A bit of a mish mash of events, but I wanted something my Nanny and Grandma would enjoy in the day, and was more me in the evening. I also finally decided I needed fun hair again in the run up to the wedding and went pink, with long grown out roots.

Huge thanks to LovedRobe who kindly dressed me for my hen do <3 Headband by Corn & Glory and sash by Oh Squirrel.

And June... June was the best month of my life. I got to marry Stu! He's the best thing to ever happen to me. He constantly makes me laugh, I have never felt so loved, he shares my politics, is a goober with me, is genuinely caring and would do anything for those he loves, and is so supportive. I'm so damn lucky. Our wedding was truly incredible. I blogged a whole bunch about it, which you can read more of in the wedding tab in the top menu bar. I never thought I would get married, and to be able to call my best friend my husband is everything. Best day of my life.

Photo by ClickClickBang Photography.

A week or so later we then went on our first ever holiday together, our honeymoon to Turkey. Two weeks together in a beautiful country, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. We are hoping we'll be able to go on holiday again next year!

I'd say the rest of the year was a bit more peaceful, but between a 50th birthday, a 70th birthday, an 80th birthday, my brother getting engaged and so much more, I don't feel like we've stopped!

2016 marked a full year of Botox for my chronic headaches, and the first time I can say I had truly pain free days in years. It has been so liberating and life changing. I honestly couldn't have coped with the busy year and the wedding in pain like I was, and it makes me so emotional. I am so grateful for our NHS and how much they have improved my life.

I seem to have travelled more than I have in years this year, with trips to Liverpool for Curve Fashion Festival, and finally taking Stu to Wales to visit my family too. CFF was so much fun, even though I stayed in the worst hotel ever. We also had a weekend away in Sheffield to see Evil Scarecrow! My Mum and Dad moved to Cheltenham so we've been to visit them a few times too, such a lovely town.

Naomi of Diamonds and Pearls and Steph of Nerd About Town.

Both me and Stu got promotions in our jobs which has been so helpful in terms of our finances, and it's given us both new challenges we are enjoying. I love my new role and I'm really proud of myself for it. It's not a position I ever thought I'd be in and is so different from anything I studied. It's the first time either of us remember having disposable income like we have now. We've gone out for dinner a few times as a couple, something I don't think we have ever done before! When Stu needed a new pair of trainers he bought them. To not have to worry so much is such a dream and a privilege. We aren't flush by any means, but to have that little bit of money for us is everything.

Stu raised over £1300 for charity and shaved his beard! Full blog post on this here.

I've been able to work with some brands I love this year, and started writing for She Might Be which is a truly body positive website written entirely by plus size bloggers. I'll share some of my favourite outfits in another blog post I think or I'll be here forever!

My blog was also nominated for a couple of awards from a sadly rather unsavoury company who cancelled their awards last minute and hurt a lot of people. I didn't win, but I was so proud that you guys nominated me at all!

I can only hope that 2017 is brighter for the world, and that I can be lucky enough to continue to be so charmed!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx

My Lucky Month

December was kind of a wild month for me. Not because of Christmas, but because I seemed to somehow become insanely lucky! A lot of my favourite brands ran competitions on their social media, I always enter competitions but have never really won anything before. In December I seemed to win everything!

So I very occasionally use twitter. Like, I have it set up to autopost my photography tumblr and bloglovin, and sometimes I remember I should post on it rather than just let the internet robots use it so that people will actually follow me. I posted on it during December and the following exchange happened....

Now, I don't follow Tesco on twitter, I've never tweeted at them, I have no idea how or why they decided to respond to my tweet. The first thing I did was check out the twitter account to make sure it was legit. It was. So I figured what the hell and I DM'd them my name and address. Two days later I got a very excited call from Stu asking me if I had ordered him anything that would come in a big box for Christmas, and if I hadn't, could he open the giant mystery box that had just been delivered to our house. I told him he could and he better ring me straight back!

Inside was a brand new 42 inch Sony Bravia HD 3D television. Stu rang me back and I said 'Holy shit' a lot and cried. I couldn't believe it. We set it up in our bedroom and just wow. The remote has a built in Netflix button! I know it's all part of a marketing campaign they did at Christmas, but seriously, it blew me away. They made our Christmas. We could never have afford a new TV, and it wasn't something we could justify saving up for when other things were more important.

BloodyMary Metal ran a daily advent calendar competition on their instagram that I eagerly entered every day. And I won! And I was lucky enough to win one of my favourite necklaces from their site. They also sent me some metallic temporary tattoos that I am totally going to play with soon. Thank you so much!

Marks and Spencer's ran a fun Pass the Parcel game on their website that I played most days, because why not! There were all sorts of prizes available from little to big. I won a voucher for some Walnut Whips. Nom. I picked mint ones. There is no photo of those because they quickly went in my belly, soz!

I figured after 3 wins I was at the end of my streak. But I wasn't! Eustratia also ran a daily advent calendar competition, and I also won a prize in that! A £20 prize was my prize, and I put a little extra in so I could buy these beautiful moth earrings. I was so tempted by the other jewellery Eustratia also do, but moths are totally my thing, so moths it was! I opted for these because they make incredible latex and these combine moths and latex together.

Aren't they fab? I plan to hook them through my stretched ears and look fabulous in them.

Of course, December also featured a proposal for me as well.... so it really was the luckiest month ever! Because the best prize was the love of my life wanting to marry me (I know, groooooan at the soppiness).

Thanks December, you rocked!

Much love,

Kitty xxxx