Tuesday 15 January 2013

Wow, times does fly!

Wow, I can't believe that the last time I wrote in my blog was August! In my defence, I have been very busy, here's a quick update - Firstly, August marked the month that I was moved from Duo management of the Food section, to solo management of the GM section (General Merchandise - clothing etc). It was a shock at first, but we have all worked hard as a team, and had a good Christmas & I must admit, I do love having a section of my own :D The next thing was Dave's 30th Birthday trip to Salzburg! Which was lovely, I would recommend it has a holiday destination to anyone. Mozart was the top dog over there, with him being the son of Salzburg, so he was pretty much on every type of souveneir you could think of. One of my favourites was Mozart Duck :)
We stayed in the most gorgeous family run B&B, which was so traditional. It was surrounded by the mountains, and I really can't stress how quaint and how friendly the family were. Freshly cooked breakfast every morning, heaven!!
The next big thing after that trip, was a surprise trip from Dave, to Lapland in November. We stayed at the Santa Claus Village, in a cabin, with our own sauna. It was amazing, real proper snow, every day!! We got to meet Santa (which can be stressful, as they film you, but that's a whole other story!)
We went on a Reindeer ride, and a Husky ride, both of which were awesome, especially the Huskies, they built up such speed. Because we were early in the season, we pretty much had the place to ourselves, which when your an anti-social pair like us, is even better!! Also it mean't the staff had more time, so at the Husky park, we had a private tour and we were shown some new Puppies!! So cute!!
Lapland, of course is in Finland, and Finland of course is home to the Moomins! So lots of cute opportunity there, at very reasonable prices, compared to buying things in the UK. I got a wooden Moomin, a purse, a Christmas tin with the characters, a cuddily Moomin Papa (I love his hat!) and Dave bought me an amazing bag, which is made of woven felt. (It hasn't stopped raining here since he bought me it).
It was a fantastic trip and I didn't think I would enjoy a winter holiday, but I loved it and would happily go on another, especially as we also got to see the Northern Lights! After Lapland it was work, work, work, as we were in the Christmas period. Had our annual meet up in Manchester, Dave and I stayed with the lovely James and Emma in their amazing Mill flat, and it was made better by the fact that Anita made it over from Poland :D It was a lovely weekend, and was great to be spending time with everyone again.
My crafting has pretty much screeched to a halt :( But I must get back on track, as Kezz wanted a handmade picture for her 30th Birthday. I did make myself a whipped cream phone cover, which I was pretty pleased with!
Had a strange Christmas, felt a bit same day, but with nice presents and food added. I did a bad cold, with a very evil cough, so I think that didn't help. I did get amazing presents. I am always spoilt and am so lucky. Dave bought me a new laptop, its taken me a while to adapt to Windows 8, but we are starting to get along now. Oh and an amazing Snorkmaiden necklace! It goes perfectly with my new pink dress (a £7 sale bargain). My surprise from Judy was revealed, she had managed to get me two of the Hello Kitty Olympic charms!! She found them in her local shop in Japan, and I was very lucky to get two different ones, Volleyball and Badminton. I also got a Gold medal in one!! Judy also got me a Nano block stitch model from Tokyo Disney (will add a picture next update). So that brings us into 2013, which is now the year of my 30th. I have so many things planned (this is due to everyone being spread about & some being busy on dates near my birthday). So my celebrations start in February with a meal with Brenda & co, then I have my Manchester celebrations, then my works meal, then my actual birthday! Which will be celebrated in a car, travelling to Kent to see my A'Heather and then it's off to Disney! We're under 8 weeks now, can you believe!! So looking forward to it, cannot wait!