Inside Melly's Mind

At the end of March, I cleared off to Dublin with my family. Myself, my mom, two of my aunties and my cousin headed off on the Tuesday morning, from Birmingham Airport.  It's no secret that I love a mini  break. It's always nice to head off to another city for a short time. We arrived on Tuesday and left late on Friday evening.  Millennium Bridge We stayed in Staycity Apartments. They're quite basic but perfect for what we needed. We thought that we'd be sharing one but ended up splitting across two. So myself and my cousin shared one and left the grown ups in the other one.  They're really ideally located and the staff were so helpful. The tram is literally a minute walk from the apartment and there are shops and restaurants everywhere.  The first evening was pretty low key.  We strolled a little and found a Tex Mex restaurant, near to the apartment, for our second night.  Nachos for my starter  The stea...

I wrote a post like this last year, and to be honest, I had put writing this one off.

Okay, so in roughly a month, it will be actual Christmas Day and I cannot wait! I've always been a big fan of Christmas. Every year, I'm amazed at how we can pack so much loveliness into one (relatively short) period of time. There's a real buzz in the atmosphere. There's an element of stress but it's all for a good reason, so we take it in our stride. There's planning and preparation (two of my favourite things). Family time, outings with your friends, endless fun and food (!!). All of a sudden, everywhere looks so much more beautiful. I love strolling through Birmingham, where all the big trees are up and the lights line the streets. I love wandering around the shops, listening to Christmas songs. And I even like that little burst of heat that blows onto your face, when you walk into the department stores. Birmingham is also excellent because of the Frankfurt Christmas Market, or 'German Market'. I went along to it with the work peeps and ate fa...

As the year comes to an end, I'm taking a moment to reflect on the years that's gone by. 2012 has been a beautiful one.