Twenty Four.

It was my twenty fourth Birthday on Sunday. Yay birthdays! Despite having had twenty four of them now, I still get very, very excited about my birthday- my friend Kris says I'm the only person she knows over the age of 18 who still gets super excited about their birthday. I blame being an only child. And the daughter of an only child (my Mum is just as bad). This year, with my birthday being on a Sunday, I ended up having a kind-of birthday weekend. Not that I'm complaining! Here's what I got up to...

Friday

I went for breakfast at work on Friday morning and when I got back I was greeted with party poppers and the entire marketing department clapping and cheering. Oh and my desk looked like this! I brought treats for the marketing department as a thank you.

Then, in the afternoon, we went out for lunch and I was surprised with a bowl of ice cream with a candle in (with everybody singing Happy Birthday!) and my card and presents! My team got me a little ducky for my desk and an Um Bongo jumper! I'd only mentioned the afternoon before that I'd always wanted an Um Bongo tshirt so god knows how they got it so fast!

Not brilliant photos, but on Friday night Phil and I went out for dinner so I could use my Las Iguanas free birthday meal. We ended up getting a LOT of food (mmm guacamole) and I got a free birthday cocktail!

Saturday

On Saturday Phil and I went to Alton Towers. It was the best day ever. We went on The Smiler twice, front row both times (fast passes are so worth it!), Sonic Spinball, Hex, Oblivion, Rita and Thirteen. We couldn't resist buying these pictures. The Rita picture is Phil's keyring and I bought the Smiler picture for my room. 

Sunday (Birthday day!)

Now the rubbish thing about my birthday was that I was actually kind of poorly all day. I had started to feel sick when we arrived at Alton Towers on Saturday and had a terrible night's sleep Saturday night. I ended up feeling horribly nauseated all through my birthday and well into Monday and even today. It did put a dampener on the day a little bit, but I'd planned on a quiet day anyway. I started the day giving my Mum her Mother's Day presents while we waited for my Dad to get back from playing golf (I wasn't allowed to open presents until he got back). I did very well this year! Here's what I got!

I'd asked for Insanity and the books, but the dress, soup maker and kindle case were a surprise (mine broke a few days ago so my Mum bought me the exact same one because I love it!). The Picture of Dorian Gray is my favourite book so I really wanted the leatherbound, hardback copy. It's beautiful. I can't wait to get through my 125 Weekends in Europe book too. I spent most of the day resting and feeling rubbish while drinking a tonne of hot water with lemon, ginger and honey while some of the family came to visit. Phil came round in the evening after he'd watched the Liverpool game (he's a huge Liverpool fan so he was over the moon at the result!) and brought my presents! 

The big print is made up of the entirety of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is absolutely stunning. I asked him to get me this but he got it framed for me. It's beautiful. He also got me this Breaking Bad print. I love these prints- I first shared them with Phil after reading about them on Buzzfeed. They're done by a Hungarian artist and he has created a print based around every episode of Breaking Bad. Phil says it took him ages to choose but he eventually went for this one, season 1, episode 4.

He also got me Twister, to continue our tradition of buying each other a board game for every birthday and Christmas, and this Arrested Development necklace.

I had booked a table at my favourite restaurant for dinner weeks before, but as I felt so rubbish I wasn't sure if I would be okay to go. In the end, after all my ginger and honey drinks, I was feeling well enough to go. I managed to enjoy some bread and vinegar, along with this delicious prawn skewer. They also brought me out a pudding with a candle in, but I couldn't eat it because I gave up chocolate for lent, but I ate the ice cream and my family and Phil enjoyed helping with the pudding!

All in all, despite being ill, I had a lovely lovely birthday. I am really excited for twenty four. Twenty three was one of my favourite ages yet. Leaving a job I didn't love, finding my dream job, meeting Phil, starting to run, completing a half marathon. Let's see what 24 brings.

Charlotte x