Wednesday 29 August 2012

Summery

Well, it appears I accidentally took a holiday from blogging since I left Baltimore, so I thought that rather than try to write a blog post about all the different things I've been doing this summer (which, it seems, is a lot!) I would write a little round-up post instead. Do you like my play on words in the title? I shouldn't be so proud of myself for that should I?! hehe!

So I'm going to be sparing with my photographs in this post, otherwise it will get too long. For more photos see my Facebook when I get around to putting them up. If you don't have Facebook and would like to see some more photos, then just let me know and I'll send you a link (unless you're a random psycho :P).

First Lemon to be wed! - 6th July

Three days after getting home I was off to Bath for the wedding of the first of my friends to get married! Unfortunately it rained all day, which sucked, but the beautiful bride and groom made the most of it and it was a lovely day.



And it was great to catch up with my Lemony friends after three months away :D





Tamzy's 21st! - 7th July

The following morning I hot-footed it up to Liverpool, cake in tow, to stay with my sister for a few days, first and foremost to celebrate her official entry into adulthood!



The weather even held out long enough to go on a ferry up the Mersey!



After several days of shopping and chilling (and eating out for pretty much every meal) it was time for the next main event

Tamzy's Graduation! - 11th July

Yes, it's true, my little sister is old enough to be graduating from university already! This scares me!



I like this one of my sister and our step-dad :D



Such a clever girly



Family meal! - 14th July

With so many things to celebrate, we made sure to meet up with our family in Exeter while both my sister and I were home in the south west. We went out for Thai food here and it was awesome! I didn't take many pictures, but even the starters were great:



My 25th Birthday! - 15th July

So, after spending three nights at home, it was time to be off again, this time to Cardiff. It was a funny birthday, mostly spent travelling and waiting for N's family to arrive. We had some time waiting in Cardiff city centre, which isn't the most interesting place late afternoon/early evening on a Sunday, so what did we do? Why a birthday photo challenge of course! And it being my birthday, I had to be in all the photos, which spell my name!

G - Gate
E - Escalator
M - Menu
M - Millennium Stadium
A - Aneurin Bevan

In the evening we went for a meal at a Portuguese restaurant with N's family and a couple of lovely Lemons. The meat on sticks was really tasty, but I can't say much for the over-cooked veg...



Mine + N's PhD Graduation! - 16th July

The following morning we donned some silly robes and headed to the city centre to graduate from our PhDs!



Unfortunately it tipped it down with rain all day, but we did have a lovely day and managed to get some great photos indoors.



We went for tea and cake in the afternoon.



And tapas for dinner.



Followed by drinks for some, and the most amazing cheesecake ever for others!

Holiday in The Netherlands! - 21st-28th July

This photo pretty much sums up our week in The Netherlands. Happy, sunny, cycling around, relaxing. The only thing that's missing is some yummy Dutch food in our mouths. We're probably holding sausage rolls in the hands you can't see in this picture hehe!



Unfortunately the holiday eventually had to end, and N had to go back to work in Baltimore. Sad times :(

My stay in Gloucestershire - 8th-12th August

I continued the fun though, staying with my good friend Panda Lemon and her lovely parents in Gloucestershire for a few days (thanks guys!). The weather was lovely, lots of Olympics was viewed, and we even found this lovely pub in the unassuming village of Cricklade, where I devoured a very tasty sausage and mustard sandwich!



Bristol Balloon Fiesta - 11th August

On a beautiful Saturday Panda and I headed to Bristol to meet more of our Lemony friends for the balloon fiesta and some catching up. We did a lot of great catching up, but unfortunately, even though the weather was gorgeous, the mass ascent of balloons had to be cancelled because it was too windy! Boooo! But the night glow in the evening was quite fun.



And I can't let that weekend go by without a mention of Panda's Dad's infamous BBQ. Amazing as always!



Weymouth - 18th August

Road trip! I went to Weymouth with some friends from school, to play Pirate crazy golf (I didn't come last woo!) and surprise another friend of ours in her mum's cafe! Fun day! And look at my new mascot:



The guys brought me a Wenlock from the Olympics! Thanks guys!

London - 19th/20th August

I had to go up to London (at this point I was saying to anyone who'd listen "I'd love to just have one week where I don't have to get on a train!") for my visa interview (more about this another time!), and took advantage of this by seeing my grandparents and my aunty while I was there. My grandparents live near Regent's Park, so while they were resting I decided to take advantage of the sunshine (30C! In London!) and go for a two hour long walk. Look who I came across on my travels!



I even made it up Primrose Hill. Prizes for anyone who spots the most London landmarks in this picture (also, you have very good eyesight, well done! Maybe it's better to check out the bigger version in Facebook!)



Burrow Farm Gardens - 25th August

Tamzy and I braved a torrential downpour to get to this beautiful place, where one of my aforementioned lovely friends from school was kind enough to show us around his grandparents gorgeous gardens as a potential wedding venue! It is soooooo incredibly beautiful there, even in the rain, absolutely loved it.



If you want to go there too, check out their website!


Wow, well this turned into a long post anyway in the end, sorry about that! But I hope you've enjoyed reading about how I've spent the past two months. I feel like I've been busy, and now that I've written it down I see that I have been! That's not even everything that I've done or everywhere I've been!

I fly tomorrow, so the next post will be from Baltimore. See you on the other side of the Atlantic!