Life Since Italy, Part One

Life has been nothing short of awesome since... well, I'd say since I got back from Italy but that was an amazing holiday so really it's been awesome since I met Tom outside Newport train station that Friday morning a few weeks ago. In less than a week of being home I had driven over 450 miles and I think that total is somewhere near 600 now. I even experienced my very first breakdown which turned out to be my last driving experience with my Mum's Ford Focus. We had to get rid of the car and I didn't realise how sad it would actually be to do that. It was the first car I ever drove, the one I learnt to drive in and the one I've been driving for the last 4 years... It was the end of an era! A lot more than that has happened though, so here's some of what I've been doing recently...

West Wales with Meryn
A couple of weeks ago (before the car decided to never work ever again), I spent the afternoon in Narberth with Meryn. We drove to Tenby and had lunch in my favourite cafe overlooking the bay. I hadn't seen her in 7 weeks and it was so, so good to finally catch up and have a proper conversation (that didn't rely on trying to catch the other one on FB messenger!). I couldn't stay all evening as I had plans the next day so we ended my visit with coffee and even more conversations in her kitchen. Being able to just pop over and have a chat over coffee is one of the main things I miss about not living in Swansea. Not only am I beyond excited to be able to start doing that again in 4 weeks (FOUR WEEKS!) I'm absolutely terrified that next June brings the end of us living in the same city possibly forever. I am barely getting through the summer without seeing her, how I'm going to survive after graduation I'll never know...

An Afternoon in Cardiff with McPake
Even if all we do is have food in Spoons, wander around and then run through Cardiff in the rain, I am yet to spend time with McPake and not come away with a stomach that aches from laughing so much.

St Fagan's with Anthony
To belatedly celebrate our three year anniversary (yet another important date I've missed - this time because I was in Italy), Anthony and I spent an afternoon in St Fagan's. I love St Fagan's. Firstly, it's a museum about Welsh life (why wouldn't I love that); secondly, it's an open air museum (awesome); and thirdly, there was a castle/manor house that was perfect for me to pretend I was rich and actually lived there (I also have a boyfriend who doesn't think I'm totally crazy for doing that). Anthony brought a picnic blanket, my favourite drinks/crisps and books for the two of us to read, so we found a perfect little secluded spot underneath some trees and spent the afternoon reading/taking ridiculous selfies on my phone. We ended the day with a Bella Italia (hands down my favourite restaurant in the world) and it was really just a perfect day. Not to be mushy or corny but he's my favourite person in the whole world... These last three years have been so unbelievably fun.

My New University Room
This week, my Mum, sister and I drove to Swansea to sort out my room for this coming year. Since we're going to be in Florida for the first two weeks of September, I wanted to get my room done so that I can just move in without worrying about unpacking or anything. Part of sorting it out involved moving every piece of furniture in the room to a different place than it was before, including the bed... Moving the bed was funny but nothing could beat seeing Lottie trapped by the mattress as we tried to turn it around. I was laughing so hard, I almost couldn't take the photo. She was so wedged in, she couldn't even move the mattress to free herself. It was so funny!