A new life in England: May

The month of May was a fun one! This month was the first month I had a paycheck. Not only that, but when I started work in April I just missed the payroll deadline...so I had a month and a half paycheck. For the first time since I have moved, I not only had my own money to spend, but we actually had extra money for {fun} things.

In May, we finally painted and decorated our flat. It went from a cold, white wall
flat to something with a little life in it! Our living room, I painted a really nice greige shade and hung up some pictures. We moved furniture around, and made it more..homey. Our bedroom was my next project. When Anthony moved in, it was painted hot pink on one wall, black wallpaper on another, and then grey on the sides. We tore down the wallpaper and painted it a very very light grey. We also wallpapered behind our bed a very light shimmery grey for some contrast. This was both of our first time wallpapering.. and it isn't perfect but a project with some pride into it. Slowly, but surely it came to life. We got a new duvet, some bedside tables and I hung new curtains. It literally took on new life, I only wish I had before pictures.

bedroom makeover

bathroom

kitchen and laundry room

living room overview

Thankfully the kitchen and bathroom were already painted decent colors, so it was just a few updates I made. I know this sounds silly, but doing these home improvements really made it feel like home. Even Anthony, who was dragging his feet a little said it feels nice to see pictures on the walls etc. I feel like I spent my whole budget of my 'whatever' money doing these things, but I am so glad I did.

May also consisted of some nice weekends out with Anthony and Lilly. We found out there is a zoo just twenty minutes away. It was a nice day outing for us three, and a pretty drive on the way there. Anthony and I also took a day out and just had some nice ciders, lunch, and sunshine at our favorite pub, Charters. At the end of May, we had a three day weekend where we went up and saw his brother and fiance at their new cottage outside of London. It was so beautiful there. They live out in the country, and the fresh air and surroundings was just great. We had a nice lunch at a lovely little pub, where I had a cheese souffle with pear and honey mustard salad. It was divine. Of course followed by pudding (dessert). Anthony had a ice cream sundae of sorts and I had my new favorite British dessert...sticky toffee pudding. Oh it is so delicious.