Lettering and Postcards

The last few months seem to have blended into one long one. Time has flown by at a ridiculous rate this year.... Definite sign of getting older isn't it?!

Back in September I started an evening class in Calligraphy. I've been wanting to learn for a long time and after meeting Betty in Florence back in January, I decided to book onto a course and I absolutely love it! 

On arrival I was given my name card beautifully handwritten by our teacher Mary Noble ... 

There is a lovely mix of people in the class and all at different levels. As a very beginner, I started off with lower case foundational hand. Once the concept of letter shapes and spacing was figured out I moved on to traditional Roman capitals a couple of weeks later and it was a real challenge. Spacing, sizing and lots of mistakes! 

First attempts

We are now coming towards the end of the term and I'm feeling much happier with my work. Last night I moved down a nib size and getting used to the spacing etc... A few others in the class were working on Christmas cards so after practicing with the smaller letters I wrote a little festive quote. It's not perfect and I've got a lot to learn but I'm already looking forward to next term!

In October we had a much needed holiday away with Harry's family. We stayed in a lovely villa in south Tenerife. The first day or so wasn't the greatest as I was in agony from a tooth infection... luckily the drugs kicked in very quickly so I could enjoy the rest of the week.

I'd definitely go away at this time of year again. After working a very busy Summer it gave us something to really look forward to. It was the perfect amount of relaxing, yummy food, sunshine, sleep and laughter. I even read 2 books in 4 days which for me is kind of a record. When I try and read at home I get through a couple of pages and fall into a coma. 

 

Are you planning a sunshine break anytime soon or do you tend to wait for the official Summer holidays? 

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Firenze - part two

A few more (read a lot more) photos from the rest of our trip...

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Pisa and Firenze - part one

Aside from the excitement of our engagement and celebrating my Birthday, we also had a wonderful few relaxing days in beautiful Florence.

We flew into Pisa on the Friday night. Not wanting to rush for trains or anything we booked a night in Pisa, so after dropping off our luggage we headed out for a wander. We ended up in a tiny little bar and after quite a few drinks, we stumbled back to the hotel.

Before getting the train to Florence, we headed out in the morning to see the infamous leaning tower.

Hundreds of people were making ridiculous poses, we spent a good 10 minutes giggling and people watching, then well... we joined in. When in Rome Pisa...

That afternoon we made our way to Florence, I was so excited to show Harry to my favourite places. First off was Boboli Gardens...

Our first day ended with a visit to a gorgeous shop and some amazing pizza. We had read about Gusta Pizza on Trip Advisor and had to try it out. Gusta means fast and that it was. You place your order at the desk, grab a drink from the fridge and find a seat. If you're lucky you can sit in front of the counter and watch your pizza being made in the wood fired oven.

Your receipt number gets called out around 5 minutes later... done.

I had a classic Margherita and Harry went for the Calabrese. Both so tasty and so simple. It was easy to see why it's so popular... American students, worldwide tourists and Florentine locals all fight for a seat... and everyone likes to leave their mark somehow.

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When the moon hits your eye...

Last Friday, Harry and I flew to Italy for our long awaited holiday in Florence. I'll be doing a few posts so I don't bombard you with photographs all in one go, but for now I'll share a little story.

I woke up really early on Sunday, so after breakfast we headed out into the city before the rest of the tourists.

Birthday excitement in a grey Firenze

After visiting the Galleria dell'Accademia to see the amazing Statue of David, we walked back towards the Duomo. Despite the dull conditions we wanted to climb the tower... All 414 steps of the bloody thing and I am SO unfit. We got our breath back and admired the foggy view. I was about to take some photos when Harry took my hand and told me to put my camera away.

He then reached for his pocket, to which I asked in a nervous voice "what are you doing?' In his hand was a little box containing a beautiful ring... and he asked if I would marry him! 

I said of course I will! 

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur, I think there were some tears, laughter and screaming... Once we had climbed back down the steps it started to pour down with rain but I didn't care one bit! 

  

We wanted to celebrate immediately so popped into a little bar that we were in the night before. It was probably a little early but we had a drink... and the bar maid also gave us a celebratory Limoncello each on the house. That stuff is potent. I couldn't stomach mine at 11am... Harry did though and it certainly calmed his nerves.

The next few hours were spent ringing and facetiming family and close friends to share the good news. That evening we got dolled up for dinner at a gorgeous little restaurant we had spotted earlier that day. 

After a lovely meal and lots of wine we wandered back to the hotel...

and I realised that turning almost 30 ain't so bad after all...

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Wildest Moments

Big news this week... H and I booked our first ever holiday together! We're heading to Florence in January for 5 days... Ooo and it happens to be my Birthday whilst we're there. Prosecco a plenty...YES!

Via Pinterest


This will be my third trip to the beautiful city and Harry's first. I'm so excited to go back and explore again. I've been a right girl about it thinking, what am I going to wear and pack?  I've only ever been to Florence in the Spring/Summer so I didn't need much. We're only taking hand luggage so obviously I'll wear my winter coat and big boots to fly, leaving me with extra bag room for other clothes etc. So I spent a while on Pinterest and got some ideas. These were some of my favourites...

I'm a big fan of layers, especially during a city break. Going in and out of galleries, museums, restaurants etc and then out in the cold air. I'll definitely pack my trusty big scarf (that I bought in Florence last time I was there) and some thick socks for my big boots... 

Are there any items of clothes you wouldn't be without for a Winter city break? Remember, hand luggage only folks! 

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