An engagement story

It seems only fitting to end the year with the news which has defined my 2019. In fact it seems a nice way to end the decade as I have spent the whole decade in this relationship. I do like it when things go a full circle and are tied up nicely.

Back in October we took a trip over to Northern Ireland for a long weekend with some friends. We had an almighty Causeway Coast road trip planned, showing our friends all our favourite places and discovering a few new ones along the way. We landed in Belfast around 9am, picked up our car and went on our way. After ticking off a few places we spotted a sign for the Torr Head scenic route by Cushendun Caves. We'd seen this sign a few times but never done the route so thought it would be lovely to do something new to us and new for our friends.

We followed the long and winding roads up to the top of Torr Head. It's not a route for the faint hearted! Those roads seem extremely narrow when you spot a car coming towards you and you have to scoot over... We parked at the bottom of Torr Head, took a deep breath and began our climb up. Apart from a group of four people coming back down, the area was completely deserted and we soon had the whole area to ourselves. The one thing I adore about Northern Ireland is that you often have the sights all to yourselves. We trekked up to the top, had a look around the rather grimy derelict house at the top before wandering around.

After noticing that Connor was wandering off, I decided to follow. I've always been someone who is scared to miss out on the good stuff so when someone wanders off I follow! I looked behind me and noticed our friends had stayed at the viewpoint. Thinking this was weird, I just assumed they had had an argument! I climbed over the wire fence to be greeted with a gorgeous view of Scotland. Connor carried on walking but I called out that I was going to sit on a rock to admire the view. He came back and took a seat next to me. From now it is all a bit of a blur, he cracked a joke then grabbed the ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him.

Obviously never one to keep it cool, I had to sit for a good few minutes with my head in my hands to take it all on. I'm not very good at receiving surprises (and a surprise this was!) so needed a few minutes to get it all together and process what exactly was happening. Not the best situation for Connor to be in! The girl he just asked to marry him sitting there with her head in her hands exclaiming she may have a panic attack... But I said yes!

Connor really couldn't have chosen a more perfect place. It is a place which means a lot to us both and we go back fairly regularly to. Connor's dad and family are from the country and I just fell in love with it from my very first visit. Ireland really does make my heart happy. I love the fact it's a place which is just an hour from where we visit Connor's family so we can frequently go back. Maybe even take our children if we ever have any! I'm a sucker for sentiment and adore the fact the ring is an emerald. Pretty fitting for the Emerald Isle!

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#52 recipes: Recipes 32-36

I'm fully aware that the end of the year is nearly up and I've only blogged 36 recipes when I have indeed already smashed my 2019 goal of trying 52 new recipes. I am going to keep posting about them well into 2020 as I'm pretty proud of myself! This year I tried 77 different recipes from a variety of cookbooks, newspaper columns and blogs. Some were a complete disaster and some became staples which I cooked time after time. I really have enjoyed experimenting and have surprised myself with some recipes I've managed to make edible. I've discovered my favourite cuisine to cook at home is Indian and south-asian dishes. I find curries so comforting and as we've been trying to eat more vegetarian food, it's the best cuisine in my opinion to make vegetables taste absolutely delicious. Cooking and baking are something I use to help unwind after a long week or to relax over the weekend. The kitchen really has become my happy place!

Diana Henry's Goan Fish Curry from Simple
I'm not usually a huge fan of fish curries, preferring lamb and vegetarian. But Simple is a book I feel in love with this year so anything Diana Henry suggested, I was going to attempt to make. I completely misjudged my spice tolerance with this and got a bit heavy handed with the chilli. But this was so tasty and completely worth the punt. Pretty quick to make on a weeknight, it tasted really fresh and light. Definitely one I have bookmarked again for the future.

Meera Sodha's swiss chard and potato curry from Fresh India
Meera can do no wrong in my books and I must make something from her column and cookbooks at least 3-4 times a month. I think this is the book I use the most from at home. Pretty obvious when you take in the curry splattered pages! This beautifully brightly coloured curry was made to use a lunches throughout the week. It heated it really well in the microwave and helped us feel like we were getting a huge chunk of our five-a-day. The potatoes helped it to feel filling so we didn't need any rice or naan.

Alison Roman's chocolate banana bread from Dining In
I have mentioned this many times before but I'll say it again. Alison Roman is one of my all-time favourite food writers and I'm so glad I discovered her this year. Her two cookbooks have become staples in my collection. I have made banana bread more times than I care to remember so am always on the lookout to add some tweaks. Alison's version is pretty dense and very rich. A small bit will go a very long way!

Anna Jones carrot dal from her Guardian column
I make this at least once a week because we always seem to end up with carrots in our veg box. This helps us to use up a fair few! It's so easy to make and I've now adjusted it to exactly how we like it. It is great for midweek lunches and is a great way to get some of your five-a-day. A great shout if you need a boost of veg after the festive period.

Meera Sodha' shredded roti wth cabbage and carrots from Fresh India
This feels like a strange combination to me and wasn't anything I would ever have put together if I hadn't read it in a cookbook. But the combination works so well! It deliciously has the right amount of stodge and is the ultimate comfort food on a gloomy, rainy evening. It tastes just as nice cold as it does warmed through. I like to leave the carrots to have a little extra crunch to help to add some texture.

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2019: A year in travel

I said I wanted to have a big year for my 30th and it certainly happened. At the risk of sounding overdramatic, it's been one of the best years of my life. I've seen and been places I have always dreamed off and I'm not quite sure how next year is going to beat it. What a year!

Malaysia
Our first holiday of the year was two weeks in Malaysia back in February. We booked flights the day after my 30th birthday party, not the wisest idea we've had, and flew out to see our friends who were living out there as teachers. South-east Asia is a part of the world I had been dreaming about visiting since I was 17. I wasn't somewhere I thought I would be lucky enough to tick off so when I did it was absolutely incredible. It still feels like a dream! For the first week we did an epic 7 days road trip visiting Malacca, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill. After our friends went back to school we took things a little easier for the second week and visited Georgetown and Langkawi. I can't wait to explore more of south-east Asia now and hopefully will be able to go back to that region soon.

Las Vegas
A mere two months later I headed to the bright lights of Las Vegas with five other friends to help celebrate our 30th birthday year. We had this trip planned since we were 21 so it was slightly shocking to realise we were finally old enough! Vegas was an absolute whirlwind and I've never experienced anything like it. It was bold, brash and intense. It's not a city I can see myself visiting again but I had the absolute best week. My highlight was an overnight stay at the Grand Canyon. It was the first I have ever been rendered speechless in my life. Words really can't do it justice.

Dublin
I booked Dublin as 30th birthday treat for my boyfriend originally as a surprise. But, as usual I got far too excited and spilled the beans. Sadly we had some sad news a few days before we were going to fly so we had to do a detour to Derry. But we made it to Dublin a day later than planned and spent the next few days eating and drinking around the city. The Irish capital is just as expensive as people say but I really fell in love with it. There isn't an awful lot of sightseeing to do but it's a fantastic place to just chill. We pub hopped and stuffed ourselves silly on some good food. Ireland really is the best country in the world.

Birmingham
My best friend and I decided we needed a few days away bonding with each other but didn't want to spend much money. So we headed to the Travel Lodge website and had a search of hotels to find the cheapest one two hours or less away from home. Our search concluded with Birmingham and we paid a mere £35 each for two nights over the August Bank Holiday. Despite being the only adults in the attraction without children, the detour to Cadbury's world was a highlight. We spent the three days gossiping about everything and everyone whilst eating all the best food Brum had to offer. We had such glorious weather so it was a real treat. A kinda last hurrah to the summer.

Rhodes
September saw me head to Rhodes for the first time for a work colleagues wedding. The whole team jetted out to Lindos on a wild adventure. I have never laughed or partied so hard as I did for those four days. Certainly a trip I won't forget in a hurry! It look me a good week at home to feel normal again.

Paris
I was lucky enough to go on a press trip with Made.com to Paris through work. A whirlwind of a trip, it was lovely to spend a couple of days exploring new places in the French capital. the girls at Made put on a fab itinerary and it was nice to get to know new people.

Northern Ireland
The last trip of the year was to Northern Ireland in October. A place very dear to my heart. This trip was made even more special as it was where we got engaged! It still feels really weird to say that out loud... We took two of our friends over for the weekend and showed them all our favourite places. There is just something about the Emerald Isle, especially this part, that makes my heart sing. We had such great weather with lots of blue skies so really lucked out.

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