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!