An anniversary, a birthday and a short trip away

April was a pretty big month for me and my boyfriend; not only did we celebrate the 3rd year of moving into our flat, we also hit two pretty big milestones – 10 years in our relationship and him turning 40!

These big adult things are enough to make anyone feel old and kind of freaked out because how did we get old and how did we manage to spend that much time together and still want to continue? It’s just strange but, at the same time, kind of wonderful that we’re now old enough to do whatever the hell we want and be chill about it.

For our anniversary we decided to get a joint gift which will be a piano. We’re currently mulling over options and prices (because ouch) but I’m excited to learn how to play, finally.

To celebrate both our anniversary and my boyfriends birthday I took us both off to our fave place… yes, you guessed it. Harrogate. I know, I know, I go every year and every year I do a blog post and so if you’re already bored of this you can leave now – don’t worry, I won’t be offended.

If you’re staying… thank you for humouring me! I’ll try to make this quick!

I managed to find this cute apartment to stay in just a footstep away from our usual haunt. Because it was just after Easter weekend the prices in all the places were still kind of holiday prices, which means the big bucks. But this one was both affordable and perfect. I always go for two bedroom places because I like to have space to just chill out and not feel cramped but four people could have stayed here easily, without feeling like they were living in each other’s pockets for a week. That being said, I like having too much space and having two great bathrooms and bedrooms feels like a treat?! I don’t know what kind of person I am. Something I didn’t really think about at the time but I was really glad to find was the fact that we were staying on the same road as the movie theatre which was helpful because, for his birthday, we went to watch Infinity War and End Game back to back and we only got out at 3am so it only took us 60 seconds to stumble home sleepily!

If you can’t understand why I go back to the same place each year… well, have you not seen the architecture? Spa towns are notoriously beautiful and Harrogate is no exception. I suppose the reason I always go back is because of how much I feel at home there. I know where all the shops are, where I like to eat, where the cool places to wander are… My boyfriend used to live there as well and so it’s like a little trip down memory lane for him. It’s our life goal to live in Harrogate at some point – I know people think you shouldn’t live in a place you like to go on holiday but I disagree wholeheartedly. I know what I want my life to look like (writing for a living) and, if I get to do that I want to do it in Harrogate, not where I currently live. I don’t know why; it’s just a vision I see and so I’m working towards it. Some people dream of living in LA. Not me.

We always make sure we go for huge walks when we’re there – it’s a great place to walk in the countryside but we actually love walking around looking at buildings and houses. My boyfriend actually laughed at the thought of people asking him what he did on his holiday because he’s have to tell them we just walked for hours looking at houses, but I am pretty sure we’re not the only people who do that?! The tree lined streets are wide and hidden behind walls and private driveways are these giant houses that seem impossibly expensive I have no idea who could own them! I’m not someone who strives to live in a giant house but I am the sort of person who will look through windows to see how the other half live and I’m OK with that!!

Because of the recent heatwave and, you know, spring; all the flowers are out like nobodies business. Not great for my allergies but meh. What ya gonna do? I love taking pictures of flowers. I’m a cliche, so sue me. We had a few rainstorms on the day we walked over 5 miles just wandering down streets and through parks but we managed to miss them and our reward was that smell of cut grass and fresh warm rain. The best smell in the world!

Now that we’re back I can’t deny that we are both bummed out a little to have to leave the place behind us. Don’t get me wrong, I love where we live and I missed Juno a lot (I don’t think the feeling was mutual) but when you have a goal the idea of working towards it can feel demotivating because it seems so far away. That being said; we’re both buckling down and trying to get a move on with things in hopes we can some day make the dream a reality!

Sam