The tale of Tori and the boy's anniversary!

Don't you just hate it when the weather scuppers plans? The boy and I celebrated 4 years together on Saturday (March 9th, in case you all want to pop it in your diaries for future refs!) and had made plans to take a trip to the Peak District (specifically Bakewell) to have a little wander, as I've never visited the Peak District before and the boy has only been once. However, the weather, of course, had other plans, with the heavens opening midweek and not closing again until lunchtime today (that is, after a mini-snowstorm!). As this was the case, we chose not to take the trip as I didn't want our visit to the area (and the memories we would have of it) at all marred by the rain.

Instead we decided to visit Newark-on-Trent as it's only really up the road and it meant we got to spend some of our time outside our flat walls! First, a pit-stop in a not-particularly-worthy-of-having-it’s-name-mentioned tea room that came with a side of embarrassingly slow service and loud staff-chatter (yes, I’m awful!) for Mike to get his morning-fill of coffee, before a walk through the town to Newark Castle, then to the church, before ending the visit with a trundle through the centre. It was a pleasant visit (although our partially-frozen limbs and fully-frozen hands may not have agreed!) and as it isn't far away I'm sure we will venture there again before the year - and when the sun - is out.

Without any sort of let-up in the weather, we spent our afternoon inside (after a pit-stop at Marks and Sparks for soup to warm our insides - Broccoli and Stilton, come at me!) messing about on the internet and being rather lazy. We had booked Prezzo for dinner (the boys fave!) at 8:30, and with tummy's a-grumbling we took the 5 minute journey up to Low Pavement (oxymoron?!) for a wonderful few hours of fine-dining (we did, after all, get dressed up the the nine's so that's what I'll be calling it, despite the fact the family next to us were all in sweats and Uggs!) and colourful conversation. I was very good (not one to be afraid of self-praise, obviously!) and ordered the 'light' pizza option for my main - after my calamari starter - which came with a side-salad, and finished up with their 'mini-dessert' option that came with a hot drink of my choosing (that'll be vanilla cheesecake and tea then). Mike went with something a little more traditional; garlic bread, a mahoosive pasta dish and the chocolate profiteroles. We then sauntered off home for a few more hours of chatter with background music kindly-supplied by the party being held in the flat above us (thank goodness we live in a duplex!)

Before this post is out, I must mention the lovely gift of flowers were received from my parents. It was unexpected and I was very much excited when I encountered the massive box! The pink Roses are truly beautiful and I can't wait for the Lily's to wake up and show us their glorious-selves!

Below are a few pics of the day. I know there are no pictures of us as a couple but this is due to my inability to pose decently with Mike. I did, however, take a couple of outfit pics so fingers crossed you’ll see them in OOTD post #2!

Top row - Left) The exciting arrival of a flower-box! Right) The beautiful surprise inside
Bottom row - Left) Close-up of a pretty-in-pink Rose, Right) the flowers (in my make-shift vase!),
Anniversary balloons (with added words from myself!) and a confetti heart

Left) Mike posing with his umbrella!
Right, top) My tea in the aforementioned tea room
Right, bottom) View across the market square

Top Row - Left) 'Inside' the Castle ruins
Middle) A pretty roadside Monument
Right) Newark Church
Bottom) View of the 'outside' of the Castle ruins

Also worth a mention is our Wednesday evening (fairly rarely-taken) trip to the cinema (Broadway - a lovely independent cinema about 5 mins from our flat. The screen we sat in looked/felt like a theatre which I just love) to see the (apparently little-known) Stoker. I'm not sure I can really summarise what it was about, mainly because it may come off sounding a little crazy, but it really was an absolutely fantastic piece; absolutely visually sumptuous with impeccable acting. If you fancy something a little different (be warned, it is a little gory and, well, 'sexy' in places) then I would definitely recommend a visit. Also, if vamps aren't your thing, no need to worry - don't be swayed by the title, no vamps to be seen here!

P.s - I have decided to introduce a new feature for my blog, hereby known as 'tori's tale of the day', when I will be linking you to my favourite post I have read that day! This doesn't necessarily mean something that has been posted the same day (although it can still mean this!) - it could be on a blog I'm catching up with or something that's struck a chord with me in days gone by that I wish to share. So click on the pic below and have a read of the tale I've chosen to share today :)