What I Got For My Birthday & Bournemouth Follow-Me Blog

Hi everyone! Hope you're well and staying safe. I reached out on my Instagram to ask if people would still like to read my what I got for my birthday and share our trip to Bournemouth which was earlier on in March (before the social distancing and guidelines were in place) and so many of you suggested I still posted it - I hope you enjoy reading this post! I honestly had such a lovely birthday. As you get older (I'm still in my early twenties... but I'm sure lot's of you will relate, it isn't about the gifts, it is about spending time together) I had my family round with my boyfriend and we enjoyed dinner and cake together - it was so lovely and this followed by a weekend away in Bournemouth. We've been to Bournemouth a few times, and absolutely love it!

From my parents I received a beautiful bouquet of roses, which are my favourite flowers! What are your favourite flowers? And they also organised dinner (which was a fish and chip takeaway) and cake for us all (the cake was so cute, Mum got this from Marks and Spencers and it tasted delicious) along with money to put towards something I would like and my Grandad gave me money also! I decided with my birthday money to buy a watch as I've wanted a small dainty silver watch for the longest of times, whilst we were in Bournemouth we looked around the shops, which by the way, there is great shopping and I was super happy to find one I fell in love with. I also treated myself to a massage in the Spa at the hotel! I'll share a photo below of my watch which is a Fossil watch. From my brothers I received car wash vouchers (definetly a theme in my presents this year to do with my new car!) and a gin glass which is stunning and so glittery, along with a tiny bottle of gin in this design. I loved this present, it's so cute and a lovely keep sake gift. I don't think I'll drink the gin in that cute bottle, I'll keep it for decoration!

Next up are the lovely presents from my boyfriend! I am really into personalised items at the moment, ever since I was kindly given the opportunity to design my own phone case with Caseapp, I created one with my initials and loved it (check my Instagram here to see!) I think personalised items look stunning, so on my birthday wish list I asked for a personalised key ring charm (for the car) and also a personalised pair of pyjamas. I discovered these companies through Instagram, and we we're so pleased with their service and the quality of the items. The first gift I opened was the personalised keyring. This was from a company called HA Designs; they do a wide range of personalised items and the key rings are absolutely beautiful. My boyfriend chose me their saffiano heart key ring which is black with silver monogram writing. The quality of this key ring is amazing, I am really happy with the design and how the initials look - a cute keyring is always a good idea... but personalised makes it even more special! Check out HA Designs website here and their Instagram here. If you could have an item personalised, what would you choose?

I then received the most beautiful pair of personalised pyjamas with my initials on of course! This is a short sleeve set with shorts and the quality of these pyjamas are amazing. They are so comfy and silky, and the most luxurious pair of pyjamas I've ever owned. This is from a company I discovered on Instagram called House of ABD, I instantly loved the style of their range, especially this set! They were super helpful via DM when asking about the different font styles and sizing. I'm sure I'll get lot's of questions about these - so I've got the personalised satin luxe short sleeve pyjama set, in black with the italic font which writing matches the piping. Honestly these are soooo beautiful. How cute are these PJs? I'm obsessed with them! House of ABD were amazing, such lovely service we received and the packaging was beautiful with quick delivery too! I got to see a sneak peak of them on their Instagram story which made me even more excited to receive them. I wanted to say a huge thank you to them, and I would highly recommend their pyjamas! I have seen they also do personalised scarves, bikinis, hats and so much more which all look absolutely incredible. They came in a beautiful black netted draw string bag with ribbon and of course, the perfect set of PJ's inside! This really is such a lovely gift to receive and I'm so happy and grateful that I got them for my birthday. Check out House of ABD website here and Instagram here. He also took me for a lovely dinner at a restaurant near the hotel we stayed at where we enjoyed some cocktails afterwards. Now, keep reading and let's get on to our trip we had to Bournemouth for my birthday.

We went away to Bournemouth for the weekend to celebrate my birthday. The hotel we stayed at was absolutely amazing, the food in the restaurants were delicious as was the cocktails and wine, the staff were super friendly and helpful and the spa treatments which I booked as one of my birthday treats. The hotel was called Ocean Beach Hotel & Spa - Oceana Collection which is located right on the sea-front, top of the prestigious East Cliff of Bourneouth. We were upgraded to one of the best suites of the hotel which had views of the sea the whole way around the room and the room itself was stunning. The first evening we relaxed, went for a walk along the beach and had some dinner at the restaurant - spaghetti bolognese is always a go too for us (Fun fact about me - I never like to try anything new at restaurants!) The second day we got up early, and headed out for breakfast, did some shopping, followed by more beach walks (this day we did over 13,000 steps!) and then FEEDING SQUIRRELS, this felt so surreal, we watched as the squirrels were running up to a man and eating from his hand, we then got speaking to him and says he does this each morning and the squirrels now recognise him, we then came back and was able to do the same later that afternoon, amongst lot's of other people, it was beautiful watching them. They are so fascinating! This was one of my favourite memories from the weekend. We went back to the hotel for lunch, and then followed by my special birthday meal dinner. The last day on Sunday, we did more walking and shopping, I managed to get my watch too whilst we were away, and we had glorious weather the majority of the weekend which was lovely. As Bournemouth is so beautiful especially when the sun is shining. Before we headed out on the Sunday, I was booked in for some spa treatments at the hotel and had the most incredible massage! We booked the hotel specifically as it had the spa facilities. I really enjoyed the spa and the staff were so friendly and welcoming and the spa itself was beautiful and super relaxing.

There we have it - my birthday blog post and sharing our trip to Bournemouth. I am very grateful for all of the lovely thoughtful gifts I received, as well as a personalised card I received from a friend I met through social media - hey if you're reading this Kayleigh - I've never had a Moonpig card before, but always wanted one so this was the year I got one. Such a kind gesture from her, so thank you so much! Also, a huge thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! I really am treasuring the amazing memories and time spent with my loved ones and friends on my birthday more than ever right now! I hope you enjoyed reading this post - although it was back from early last month. I love seeing what other people get for their birthdays to give me inspiration of what I might like to buy myself, ask for or treat a loved one too.  If you have any recommendations you'd like to see me post please let me know in the comments below. So far I have for this month I have planned; April Glossybox, my fake tanning routine at home and also a loungewear look book.

Take care, and stay safe.

Speak soon,

Love Em oxo