Mid Year Round Up – 2017

Are we really already into the seventh month of the year?  This year has definitely raced past and it’ll be winter again before we know it.  As I’ve done in previous years, I thought I’d just share a few highlights from 2017 in a mid year round up!.

Travel

We haven’t been abroad as yet this year (compared to the mammoth year of travel we had last year!!)  We have done a few overnight stays in the UK just to spend some time away from home.  We’ve stayed at the York and Albany in London whilst JB played at the Arsenal stadium in a charity football match, we’ve had a night in Cornwall (which is waiting to be blogged about!) and we’ve had a weekend in Kent seeing friends.  We’re off to Spain in a couple of weeks so all is not lost!

Yummy Food

Our trip to London involved a huge eating session in Camden where we fell in love with Halloumi Fries (amongst other things) and ate at Heddon Street Kitchen.

For my birthday we took a trip to The Clink in Cardiff which is a restaurant run by the inmates at the jail.  If you’re looking for seriously good food at a great price, we’d highly recommend it!

I discovered Three Brothers Burgers in Bristol whilst on a Sibling Day Out, had an oversized afternoon tea at the Celtic Manor and even had a go at making a Gin & Tonic cake (delicious & very simple)

Outside seating area at Heddon Street Kitchen – complete with cosy blankets for chilly times

Amazing Halloumi Fries

Burger…with avo & bacon

Keep it Local 

I’ve really focused on this side of the blog in the first 6 months of the year.  Through running our own businesses, we know how hard it can be sometimes to keep your head above water and I’m a huge advocate of supporting other local businesses where we can.  I’ve featured restaurants, bars, illustrators, a vineyard and more!  I even had the opportunity to make my own gin which was the most amazing experience!  I also discovered a great shop in Bath where you can buy luxury second hand items for a snip of the price – I fell in love with a Gucci scarf and snapped it up!  A small selection of who I’ve worked with include:

The Old Bankhouse

Maud Heath Vineyard

Gin Making Experience

Italian Tapas at Piattino

Getting Illustrated

Grace & Ted – the Designer Treasure Trove

Introducing HappyWiseOwl Gin!

Delicious Italian Rose to start!

Pornstar Martinis

The Next 6 Months

What will the next 6 months bring for us?  LOTS…We’re going to see Coldplay in a couple of weeks and then a couple of days later we’re returning to the villa in Spain where we spent 6 weeks last year.  We’ve managed to get tickets to the IAAF Athletic Championships in August with Olivia where we’ll see Bolt run his last race.  JB has a special birthday coming up in September so there’s a few things planned around that weekend.  We’re also going to Vegas in October and then much later in the year we’re heading off to New Zealand.  There’s also a family wedding to attend!

Boatman Admin Services and Boatman Financial continue to become busier and on top of all that I hope that the blog will continue to grow and that I get to work with some more incredible businesses and brands.

Here’s to the next 6 months of 2017!  What have you got planned?!

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