Anniversary Celebrations

So we have come to the end of our two-day anniversary celebrations. 

Day 1 started with a nice homemade breakfast and ended with an evening out in Theatreland, in the West End. It's not that easy to dress up with an expanding bump, but I tried to wear something nice for the occasion anyway.

It's not proper Summer weather in London at the moment but the temperatures are just perfect for me, not too high and definitely not low either. It's nice not to wear a jacket but at the same time it's great not to be sweating all the time. 

As you can see, the bump is regularly growing. I am at the end of week 31 now, only nine weeks to go (or less!). I am getting every day slower and slower but I can't complain, things are still going pretty smooth.

At 6.30pm our car arrived and we were driven to the Royal Drury Lane Theatre to see Shrek The Musical.

Unfortunately, the musical wasn't great. I don't think I disliked it as much as Rob but I was certainly disappointed. The good things about the movies are the wittiness and the songs, both these things were taken away in the musical. I don't quite understand why but all the songs were new and specifically written for the musical. Why would you do that when the soundtrack of the movies is so good and entertaining? This is a mystery to me. Anyway, the story is still sweet and we enjoyed an evening out in bustling London. It was crazy busy on a Monday night and it took us forever to get back home, I have never seen so much traffic in London. I wonder how it is going to be in a month time for the Olympics!

Day 2 was perfect. Rob came home from work and surprised me with a colourful bunch of gerberas. Aren't they lovely? I told him he has won the *best husband of the year* prize :)
He has done so much for this anniversary and I am very grateful.

For the evening's dinner Rob picked Gaucho, here at the Tower Bridge. We love this restaurant and their meat is just delicious. I loved this choice for many reasons: it's very close to our flat, the ambiance of the restaurant is very cool and the food is to die for.
Here is a picture of me and the bump a few minutes before leaving the flat.

I really enjoyed the short walk to the restaurant and Gaucho certainly didn't disappoint. We started with non-alcoholic drinks and appetisers; it was so weird to be drinking a non-alcoholic Mojito but let me tell you, it was sooooo good! Rob opted for a *fake* Pina Colada instead.

And then the amazing meat, all the iron I needed for the day.

We ended the meal with a super yummy dessert: I had the best white chocolate and yogurt mousse I have ever had with a nice and refreshing mango and coconut sauce. I didn't even have the time to take a picture, I just ate it and loved it!

So this is it, our first wedding anniversary has come to an end. I had a great time. One year down, the rest of our lives to go...

One year as Mr and Mrs

On April-1-2011 Rob and I promised eternal love to each other in a small town-hall in South London in front of the registrar, a witness, and two good friends.We joked it was an April fool.

Vale & Rob | Civil Cerimony from Colors Design Studio on Vimeo.

A couple of months later, on June-25-2011 we confirmed our promise in church in Italy in front of our beloved family and friends. That day was magical for us.

Today, we celebrate our first wedding anniversary. A full year of happiness.
The day has started with a yummy breakfast. I made chocolate croissants and cappuccino. It was the first time I tried to make croissants, and thankfully, they turned out rather good. I was pleased and Rob really enjoyed them.

Rob and I had extensively talked about the anniversary and how we wanted to celebrate. We had to change plans a couple of times. Originally, way before I got pregnant, we had decided to go to Santorini. Remember we were undecided whether to go to Santorini, Greece, or New Zealand for our honeymoon? We picked New Zealand in the end because we thought it would be more special for the occasion, and therefore decided to leave Santorini for our first wedding anniversary get-away. Then, back from New Zealand, I got pregnant and with time we realised that going to Greece at the end of June may have not been a very wise option. We looked at alternatives and we warmed up to the idea of celebrating on the English coast, in Brighton. However, traveling is getting a bit harder for me these days and given that we will (hopefully!) be going to Italy in a couple of weeks, we thought it may be more sensible not to stress my body and baby O too much. So, we will celebrate in London instead. Tonight I am taking Rob to the theatre to see Shrek The Musical. We love the movies and the soundtrack and I thought it would be cute. Baby O will enjoy it too, I am sure. And then Rob is taking me out for dinner tomorrow evening. Details to come. 

So, given that we both organised something for the two evenings, we agreed that we would not exchange gifts. The musical and a nice meal out would be our gifts to each other. But then Rob surprised me this morning...after breakfast he asked me to sit on the couch and close my eyes and when I opened them, this was sitting next to me:

Inside, the iconic Speedy 35. In the weekend we will go back to the store to have my initials added. Which colour(s) should I choose? I was thinking yellow...

Today, I am an explosion of joy!

Wicked

Yesterday evening Rob and I headed to the Apollo Victoria theatre to see the musical Wicked. As I mentioned before, this was one of my gifts for Rob's birthday this year, and I knew he would love it.

We hadn't been out on a Saturday evening for quite some time, so we dressed up a bit for the occasion. Here are two pictures of me and the bump. Thankfully, I managed to fit into one of my dresses. I still haven't bought proper maternity clothes and am trying to use my own as much as I can. Of course, I will need to buy some maternity clothes soon as the bump is getting every day bigger and bigger.

At the theatre we bought a bucket of sweets for a craving mum-to-be and then headed to our seats, which were in a quite good position, in the stalls, right in front of the stage. Overall the musical was very nice and powerful and we enjoyed it. I can't say it's the best musical I have ever seen but it's definitely worth a visit. Baby O seemed to love it as she literally went crazy kicking all the time. This was a good test as we have a Coldplay concert in a couple of weeks and I want to make sure she can take the loud music! Of course there will be thousands of people at the concert and the music will be much louder, but if she is truly our daughter she will just love it! 

Also, Rob got another gift in the mail yesterday. It's a book he wanted to read but he had not bought it yet. I was quicker than him and ordered it for his birthday. It's the Commando Dad book. When he mentioned that he wanted to read this book I melted, I thought it was very sweet of him and I know how much it means to him to be a good father. I have no doubt he will and am sure this book will just give him the confidence he needs :) Of course, I am going to read it too, I too need to know how to survive the first 24 hours!!

Happy Birthday To Me

It was my birthday on Sunday and for the first time in 32 years I had not organised a party of any sort. 

I have celebrated every single year with members of family and friends since I turned one. This year, however, after the big wedding, I didn't feel to plan anything else. So Rob took over and organised a wonderful weekend celebration for the two of us.

Friday after work we viewed a couple of flats in Chelsea and as you'd expect we got frustrated. So instead of going home straight away we headed to Nandos, to cheer ourselves up! We had our chicken and sides and went home happy. The celebration then began. Rob had bought these lovely little treats that we enjoyed as our dessert

I chose the pink one and Rob had the blue with the glittery winged heart. We watched a movie and then at midnight Rob gave me his first gift: tickets to Mamma Mia! We had been talking about going for quite a while but we never had the chance to do it. We are not too big on musicals, to be honest, but we really liked the movie and love Abba songs. So I really thought it was a lovely gift and a nice way to celebrate. 

On Saturday morning we viewed another flat, this time in Shad Thames, an area we absolutely adore and for a change the flat was actually beautiful. It ticks all the boxes, it's just a little bit too far from the tube station and that's why we are still not completely sure. The thing that really makes the flat amazing is its private pontoon overlooking the property's Japanese water gardens. Dreamy. 

We then headed to Covent Garden, had a lovely meal and right after lunch when I was enjoying my daily dose of espresso, Rob gave me his second gift: a black 3G ipad! I was so thrilled!  How cool of a gift is that?? 

It was then time to hit the theatre. Mamma Mia is shown in the very heart of Leicester Square, an area I am not too fond of. There are way too many tourists and it's just so cheesy there. To make things  worse, it started raining while we were walking to the theatre. Oh well, in perfect British summer style, I guess. 

The musical was ok but Rob and I agreed that the movie is actually better. I know, it's strange, usually it's the opposite, isn't it? It's inevitable to compare the famous and super charismatic actors (e.g. Meril Streep) and their performance with the theatre crew. They were good, don't get me wrong, but not amazing, in my opinion. Plus, the movie was filmed in Greece, how do you top that in a small theatre in the heart of London? 

The celebration continued. Saturday evening Rob cooked for me. He made smoky bbq fajitas and they were absolutely delicious. I had four!

And finally Sunday, my real birthday. Rob booked a table for lunch at the ever so cool Nobu. We tried different things and they were all very good, especially the lobster and prawn salad. Oh my! I am still thinking about it.

Back home I received some other gifts: a huge bunch of flowers and this cute Orla Kiely dress from my in-laws and another sweet card and lovely Paul Smith socks from my husband. 

No birthday is a real birthday without a cake and Rob took care of it. He chose a super indulgent and rich Belgian chocolate cake which we devoured. And yes, I did blow the candle!

Thanks so much my love for taking the time to organise all these sweet things for me! It truly was a wonderful birthday.