Barcelona (such a beautiful horizon)

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This was our first lunch in BCN, we ate beautiful tapas and drank remarkably alcoholic sangria.

A couple of weekends ago, Ross took me on a much needed break to Barcelona.  I’d never been before, but it’s now one of my very favourite places.  And yes, I did have the Freddie Mercury song in my head the entire time.

We spent a gorgeous weekend wandering up and down La Rambla (and getting suitably ripped off! €18 ham as a starter, I kid you not), lounging about on the beach, and drinking unbelievably refreshing Sangria and Damm beer.  On our last day we took an open bus tour around part of the city and ooooohed and aaaaahhhhhed at all the quirky Gaudi buildings.  We didn’t take Ruby, and in this instance I am glad we didn’t – it was good to be able to stay out late at night, and not hide under shady umbrellas in the midday sun and drink and drink and drink.  But we could have done.  We saw family after family after family with children of all ages, and it would have worked well.  If only Ruby had a passport!

So, on to the photos!  I really got my tourist hat on, and I am pretty pleased with my shots.

Aforementioned Sangria

Where we got royally ripped off

Casa Batlló

The rest of my photos can be seen over on my Flickr page, Barcelona is beautiful, and my photos don’t do it justice, but I tried :)

OK, I admit it, I’ve been an absentee blogger

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No excuses really, other than, this week is always a heinously busy one in the year because it’s Ruby’s birthday, and then my birthday and those two things keep me really quite tied up (the former, moreso than the latter).

I’ve been lax, and I know it.  There are so many things I’ve been meaning to write about and participate in and just haven’t.  They all began to mount up and I got a bit lost.

But I’ll try now.

1) Barcelona.  What a stunningly beautiful place.  Infact, that’s all I am going to say on that, because it deserves it’s very own post and I will do it.  Maybe tonight, now that my Sky digital has packed in, I have no excuses.

2) Ruby’s birthday.  My daughter is two! TWO! Her party was very sweet.  Our family and close friends came to celebrate my girl’s special day, even in the rain.  She got a lot of lovely presents, she hated HATED being sung to, and I made a very tasty cake.  The only downer was that I was quite unwell throughout the entire day, and took my sorry self off to bed as soon as everyone had left.

3) The wedding plans.  We went to Southampton for a very brief fly by to meet with the vicar who is marrying us.  She’s a lovely warm lady called Frances, and I am chuffed to bits.  We talked for an hour or so about our plans, our move to Southampton, what we were hoping to get from marriage and the wedding itself.  Then she said a little prayer for us at the end, and it left me feeling warm and fuzzy.  We are by no means religious, but we’re having a church wedding because the church we’re marrying at is tied to the primary school we both attended and it’s sweet and perfect and just right.  Even though we are not practicing Christians, the way Frances spoke about the church and the families who attend and the social activities, made me really want to start going when we move.  We won’t be living in the parish but I think we’ll make the effort to go anyway.

After the meeting with Frances we went for a meal with my brother in law and his girlfriend, which was lovely.  And the following day I popped down to the florist to confirm bouquets and corsages.

Which brings us pretty much up to date.  I started potty training Ruby today.  Taking the slowly slowly approach, but she is now the proud owner of no less than 30 pairs of knickers.  When we are at home, she’ll be in them, when we are going out, she’ll be in a nappy.  When she tells me consistently that she needs the toilet before the event, then I’ll try her in knickers.  If anyone has some advice, then send it my way.  Only one accident today, but I know this is going to be a long and very messy process.

Is it too late to do the Gallery this week?  Told you I’d been lax!

Happy Birthday Ruby!

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Dear sweet Ruby,

Now you are two! What a year of milestones this has been.  You’ve learnt to walk, talk, and occasionally use the big grown up toilet.

And you’ve made some big discoveries, too.  You’ve discovered that you love to help mummy cook, especially cakes.  You’ve spent a lot of time perfecting your artistic skills, and you’ve learnt how to wrap your daddy around your little baby finger.  He’d do anything for you and don’t you know it!

We hope you enjoy being two, lovely girl, stay your sweet self.

Lots of love and a billion kisses,

Mummy and Daddy x

The Gallery – Friendship

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The theme of this weeks Gallery is Friendship, something I think we all treasure and enjoy throughout our lives.  It’s lovely to have people you can talk to, gossip with, have a cup of tea or share a bottle of wine with.  Laugh with, cry with, congratulate and console.  No one ever lay on their death bed and said, “I wish I didn’t have so many friends”.

At the age of two (minus 2 days) Ruby has a best friend, and has since she was born.  And she is extra lucky: she gets to spend all day every week day with her best friend because I look after her whilst her parents work.  Ruby’s best friend is Darcy.  I’ve watched them both grow from newborns to rambunctious, not to mention mischievous, toddlergirls.

Our flat is on the market at the moment, and we’re relocating from London to Southampton.  Darcy’s parents are from New Zealand, and they plan to move home one day, so one way or another, these two little buddies are going to be split up.  But for now they have all the time in the world.

Here is to many many more years of friendship between these two, wherever they live in the World.

We’re off to Barcelona…

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…and we’re not taking Ruby. She knew something was up and we paid for our trip away with her screaming for me until she eventually passed out, exhausted, at 11pm. I wanted to creep into her room and kiss her goodbye this morning but didn’t dare in the end.

Heartwrenching doesn’t even begin to describe it, and we now know there is no way we can leave her when we go on honeymoon later this year. So little Ruby will be honeymooning in Italy with us.

There will no doubt be a post all about our trip next week but for now, our flight is boarding.

The Gallery – Self Portrait

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I’m taking this week’s Gallery entry very literally, and also merging it with another meme that is doing the rounds on the blogosphere, despite the fact I am over a week late for it.

I am a bare naked lady.

Or at least, my face is.  (This is a family blog, you guys.)

And it’s funny that this should come around so close to my birthday because it coincides with another project I’m starting this year.  I’ve stolen Mandajuice‘s idea of taking a photo of my face, sans any kind of makeup, each year on my birthday.  The idea is that I’ll be able to see how I’m aging as it happens.

Well, my birthday is another two and a half weeks away yet, but it’s close enough.

I never leave the house without makeup on, I will always at the very least apply some mascara and lipgloss.  And under normal circumstances would never ever allow a camera to be pointed at my bare naked face.  So I feel quite brave doing this.