What's happening Hot Stuff: Turning 30!

Turning 30 was AMAZING! Well me turning 30 was made amazing by some very special people in my life and before life gets busy again I wanted to take time to record just what happened to turn it into what may be the best birthday I ever have!

If you saw our previous post (surprise party) you will know that a certain amazing fiancee of mine was in cahoots with my Mum to organise a surprise party for me on my actual birthday but that was at the end of what had been the best week ever! The surprise party was absolutely mind blowing! It was the first time in so long that I had all the most important people in my life in one place!

But back to the best week ever! In our 4.5 years together we have had some pretty amazing weeks but last week was one of, if not the best! It started with a trip to the Lake District which I will do another post about! But every single day of my birthday week I received an envelope that had a cute note complete with a love voucher- that I can use any time up to my next birthday, a clue to the evening activity and a small gift- beautiful earrings x 2, lip gloss, face mask and a gift card for a clothes store! The receptionist at work had no idea what was going on when I appeared like a kid a Christmas ready to open the envelope every day.

The evenings were wonderful - the week started with a spa night at home- my L gives one 'ell of a massage! We had takeaway and relaxed, little did I know that would be our only night at home that week!

On Tuesday we headed back to one of our recent restaurant discoveries - Southern Joe's (previously Navahoe Joe's). What better than mac and cheese with mash potatoes and pulled pork for dinner?! They do seriously good food! I would have been happy if that was the end of my birthday surprises but it was just the beginning!

Wednesday night was movie night - we finished off left over takeaway and headed to our local cinema to see Despicable Me 2 and LOVED IT! We loved the first film so when I saw my list of film choices there was no question what I wanted to see. Dressed in sweat pants we had a very comfortable evening. We laughed, we cried and we were thoroughly entertained :)

By Thursday I was convinced the best of the week had been and gone - oh how wrong I was. The evening started with us going in search of cupcakes in Covent Garden before I discovered my wonderful L had arranged a dinner in Carnaby street at the new Whyte and Brown restaurant (they only served, you guessed it - White and Brown food :) ) and not only that she had organised for friends Karen and Dave and my sister to be there! It was so much fun, the company was great, the food was delicious and I was well and truly surprised!

It didn't end there either! Come Friday we were sat in the most amazing Dim Sum restaurant - Shanghai Blues - Friday night was Jazz night so we ate while being serenaded, it was so romantic, so sophisticated and the food was so so good! At the start of the night L had also given me a beautiful ring that said 'love' on it and as we left the restaurant we were definitely very much in love!

I don't think I have ever been so spoiled in one week! 30 presents in total! Every surprise was something I loved, spending so much time together was amazing and I was so well fed! Even at work I received a selection of my favourite treats and DC!

As Saturday morning arrived, my actual birthday, I bounced out of bed ready to start the day. I wanted to have as much time together with L before I left to head to my parents (little did I know eh?!) but I also wanted to open a set of presents that had been patiently sat in the corner since the previous week. The presents were from Lauren and Sarah and they had already proved themselves to be amazing gift givers last year and with the wrapping on these presents I could not wait a moment longer.

The presents were beyond anything I could have asked for. The generosity was overwhelming - I was crying (in a good way) just reading the card!

These girls prove they really are the best best friends we could ask for time and time again- the gifts were so thoughtful (especially as they had organised it in the middle of wedding preparations ready to give me before they left for honeymoon). They had picked things that they loved about me and each gift was related to something on the list. It included the BIGGEST box of the sweets from my childhood, a photo frame that said 'the family we choose for ourselves', a magnet to make me smile, a book about the year I was born and my favourite thing - not quite Willow, their adorable dog- but a donation to Battersea cats and dogs home - how frigging AMAZING! Thank you doesn't seem quite enough!

Laura made my birthday the best yet, I am so grateful that for everyday with her! The gifts and thought that went into everything made it such a wonderful birthday! Together with my family inviting Laura to my surprise party and my sister for starting the process of bringing everyone together and my extended family for making the journey I was feeling incredibly loved as I officially started my 4th decade. My life, in fact our life, has NEVER been about how much we have had but this birthday was overflowing with love and I am so grateful!

I even got birthday cards/wishes from Laura's parents, grandparents, family in Australia, so many of my wonderful friends, my lovely extended family and our fellow bloggers. It's a shame birthdays come but once a year!