Valentines Day! (Yes, two weeks late)

As many you know, valentine's day has been and gone in a matter of seconds. Now, I don't know how many of you celebrate the day (kind of turned into a day for marketing) but myself and my other half celebrated it this year, the evening before... so we could drink... of course.

I do appreciate the fact that for couples, there shouldn't be just one day of the year that you treat your other half, or show them that you love them. That should be every day of the year. Which again, is what we do with 'date nights' and going for walks etc, normal couple stuff!

As it was my other half's birthday the previous week (everything comes at once it seems) I purchased a few of his favourite things to give him for Valentines which did in fact include a few Lush bath bombs... he is a little bit girly like that. My favourite is 'Dragon's Egg', I always think that the water is leaking out of the bath though as it crackles when it melts.

So, on the Saturday night, we both knew that we would be cooking dinner and actually dressing up to make an effort. I was sentenced upstairs to get ready, and my other half informed me that he was 'going downstairs to check on the mashed potato', after about five minutes, I could hear banging around in the kitchen and dining room. Bit odd. But, then he came back upstairs, did his hair and put a shirt on then led me downstairs.

In the dining room he had laid out a table with a single red rose on my plate, a champagne ice bucket, the works - something that I DID NOT expect, as he is not an 'out there' romantic, he's a secret romantic. Yes, I almost cried. But we did have a lovely evening, food was amazing - we made bruschetta to start with, steak, mash and asparagus for main and then apple pie and custard for pudding, along with champagne, wine/cider. Like most Saturday nights, we end up finishing a bottle of raspberry vodka between us and play UNO and board games. Such an old couple.

On the actual Sunday of Valentines we went for a walk at 'Watermead Park', in Leicester. We always go 'Bradgate Park', which is huge... but we do go there so much, so it was nice to have a change. It was absolutely freezing though and did in fact start to snow a little bit! We also managed to find a mammoth... yes, a mammoth.

Woburn Center Parcs Spa Day (UK) REVIEW

Center Parcs. I'm sure you've all heard of it, but for those of you that don't know I shall explain. Basically, they're parks in England that are situated in forests, such as Sherwood (Nottingham) and Longleat (Somerset). Now within these parks they have apartments of all different sizes, a pavilion which includes badminton/tennis courts etc, restaurants and a market place for food. So they do acquire for all of the guests' needs. Also within the pavilion or a separate building (it depends which Center Parcs you visit) there is an 'Aqua Sana', the spa. 

The Aqua Sana is one of the best spa's that I've visited; not that I have been to many - let's be honest. But, there is such a wide variety for each person, male or female. Multiple steam rooms and saunas with various scents and smells, foot baths, relaxation areas - or you can book a treatment! My favourite was the salt pool that led outside, which was rather nice in the February months to be in a warm pool in the cold - it did cool down toward the end of the day though. 

We ventured there on a Thursday as a 'Spa Day for 2' for a birthday, as it's cheaper in the weekdays than Friday-Sunday. We were greeted on arrival with lovely members of staff who were extremely accommodating, showing us how the locker system worked and where the complimentary towels and robes were. As the Spa Day runs from 9am-6pm (5:59pm) we had a snack which was included in the price when we were changed and upstairs. I opted for the custard and apple pastry with fresh orange juice; again, the staff were friendly and greeted us with a smile. 

For the rest of the day, we ventured into various rooms and chose our favourite! I personally loved the salt steam room (hotter than the others, and most of the time we were the only ones in there!) and the lava sauna (again, hotter than the other saunas). But, a close favourite was a steam room which heated to its optimum temperature and then it 'rained' to get the temperature back down so it can heat up again, which was rather interesting. 

The different sections in the Woburn Aqua Sana included; Fire and Ice, Blossom, Herb, Gem and Salt. Each of these sections included a 'rain walk', which was so cold to start with! It changed the temperature from each section of the shower heads. Quite a few times that day, we heard guests squeal as they didn't realise it was cold at first. In each section also, there are relaxation areas with beds and sofas - along with water beds in a certain section. 

The thing that split up our day and to have a break from the spa was our lunch, which was included again with the price. There is a menu in which you can choose which meal you would like and then a drink, but you can also upgrade for five pounds each which you get a glass of prosecco and a bread board to share. Instead of this, I bought us both a Mediterranean sharing platter for a starter which was amazing. A whole ball of mozzarella, olives, breads, dips, sun-dried tomatoes, prosciutto and salami... lovely. For our main which was included, I opted for the spinach and ricotta canelloni and my other half opted for the beef lasagna (with a lemonade), both were beautiful. 

You can change your robe and towels however many times you want, if you don't want to walk around with a damp robe (not a nice feeling) especially when you're eating lunch or wanting to relax. Also, there were seminar sessions which you could partake in for free, to give yourself your own facial or try out their different products that they use within the treatment areas or sell in the shop (I loved the shampoo/conditioner/body wash, which were Aqua Sana's own brand)

All in all, it was a thoroughly relaxing day and my skin has never felt smoother! The staff were lovely, the company was lovely and the other guests kept the noise to a minimum to ensure that it was relaxing. I would highly recommend this spa to anyone looking for a spa day!

Script Writing

For our most recent coursework, we have to work on our own scripts that may be performed by the acting students. For myself, I have never worked with scripts for a theater before so it was a little bit daunting, but since I've started writing - I'm loving it! I'm just hoping that it's a good idea; so I'll give you all the synopsis and I'm sure a lot of you have been through this situation if you have had a partner. I just wanted something a play can relate to the majority in the audience and will hopefully make a few people smile, or look at their other halves and give them the knowing nod.

So, my play is about a male and female, Freddie and Sophie; a couple. Now, Sophie has come over to Freddie's house for a movie and takeaway evening, so they have a catch up and try to decide what they want to eat. Now, with females (I for one) I will mostly always say that I don't mind... because the majority of the time, I don't. So this play is based from that - the 'I don't mind' and the guy getting more and more frustrated. Freddie lists all the takeaways and in the end, Sophie chooses the first takeaway that Freddie has suggested (annoying right?) which was an Indian takeaway, but Sophie keeps saying the name of the curry wrong which just frustrates Freddie more! After they've ordered, they now have to decide on a film... and we all know what's going to happen here - 'I don't mind'! Yet, Sophie has an idea of a film in her head, a guy that has great kung-fu skills. So, they both set out googling films that have a certain guy in with action and they come across 'Iron Man' and Sophie agrees that that is the film. Can we guess what happens next? The film isn't the right one! Freddie offers to turn it over and find the right film... but of course, Sophie answers with 'It's fine' (It's not fine). This continues and takeaway arrives - Freddie cheers Sophie up, but the play will end with them having to choose another film and 'I don't mind' finishes the play off.

Can anyone relate to this? I know quite a few people who would nod their head in agreement!