two little ducks / 22

So here it is; my first blog post as a 22 year old. It was my birthday and as always with these things, I don't feel any different, although apparently I'm now officially a year older (and, laughingly, wiser).

My birthday itself was on a Wednesday, so was a fairly quiet one - I went to work as normal and celebrated with a lovely Thai green curry with my parents in the evening, followed by a gorgeous chocolate birthday cake (with melted Cadbury's chocolate on top - such a guilty pleasure) to follow.
On Saturday, though, I made up for my quiet birthday with a gathering of 14 or so friends; it was so lovely to see everyone, including some people I hadn't caught up with in going on a year - can it really be that long since I finished university and moved away from Brighton now? Apparently so!
To celebrate, we went for tea and cake at a lovely vintage-inspired café in Soho, in the heart of London. We had our own private room, with records playing, old photos on the wall, a selection of old wooden tables and chairs to sit at and gorgeous tea sets - it was all very much like a typical grandmother's lounge, but in a very cute way. We had delicious cream teas and lemon cake, and the English breakfast tea was lovely, too; after all, nothing beats a cup of tea, and nothing beats loose leaf tea in particular.



After the rather civilised tea, we went for not-quite-so-civilised cocktails and wine in a bar nearby, where we all got rather merry. Lots of fun.

I've been so lucky this year. I've got some gorgeous presents from some wonderful people, and feel very spoilt and very happy. Here are a few gifts that I received:

Beautiful earrings from a lovely boyfriend:

A lovely floral Cath Kidston mug and little pot (biscuit tin?)


And amazing flowering tea:

A rather funny (and apt!) mug from work colleagues:

Pretty soaps and such:

Lush bath bombs:

And fancy chocolates:


Add to that tickets to see two ballets from my parents and money from other very kind relatives, and I really do think I did rather well for myself this year!

I feel like I'm settling, properly, into my 20s now. Not only does the number of my age now of course reflect that, but I'm starting to feel like a proper adult - like I've made the transition from teenage girl into young woman. I've been a graduate with a full-time job in PR for nearly a year now, and I'm just starting to develop my freelance writing too, something which I've wanted to do for a long time.
It's been quite an eventful time since my 21st birthday, in lots of ways; a graduation, a first full-time paid permenant job; a transition from a university relationship into singledom into a new early twenties relationship; a change in dynamics of several friendships, sometimes in the most unexpected of ways; a promotion and change of job title and some really very exciting plans for the future ahead.

21 was eventful - but ultimately, very positive. And now, you know what? I have a feeling 22 will be even better; I have a feeling it'll be one of the best years yet.