Wonderful Wednesday #45 - The Edinburgh Edition

Well my dear and WONDERFUL l lot i really cannot get my cheeks around the fact that i am hear tip tapping away with another Wonderful Wednesday already.  I feel a little dizzy with quite how FAST  the last seven days have gone!  I can't believe that this time last week i was eating croissants in the prettiest little flat in Edinburgh with the Mr in celebration of my birthday on the Tuesday - how i WISH i was still there!  In the spirit of things - and well because there is just so much to share with all of you about our beautiful little getaway - today's Wonderful Wednesday comes at you in an Edinburgh-shaped fashion.  A little indulgent maybe?  I do hope you don't mind.  So here we go with a little list of all of the little things which made our few days away together, and my 30th birthday no less, so extra special.   
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*  TIME. Something which there is never enough of at home, more accurately in my working life.  I expect that is something we all struggle with:  The correct work and life balance.  Our few days away were really and truly savoured.  We had only vague plans of an itinerary and chose to just go with what we felt like doing and when we felt like doing it.  The most precious thing was the fact that we got to spend these days with just the two of us.  Even-though we live together and see each other each day; it's not the same.  No matter how mindful you try to be, you really can take each other for granted and real quality time together gets eaten up in the name of jobs, catching up on emails, work you shouldn't really be doing at home or just with sleeping.  I felt so much like i truly valued each and every minute we got together and like we gave each other our full attention always.  It felt lovely.

*  You! And you! And you and you and YOU!!!  All of you.  I was truly overwhelmed by your kind, thoughtful and beautiful birthday wishes on here and on Instagram and Twitter.  I am such a lucky lady to be a part of such a sweet and thoughtful community and i am ever so grateful.  It most certainly didn't go unnoticed so thank you so very much for all of your wishes and all of your support for this little corner of the internet, you are all wonderful!

*  EXPLORING.  If you have ever visited Edinburgh before, you will know what an architecturally beautiful city it is.  Whenever i visit, i try to make a point of just wandering and walking everywhere on foot.  If you can do this (and luckily despite the freezing cold weather, we were blessed with bright blue skies and winter sunlight for the entirety of our stay) you really get to appreciate the quirks and wonderful-ness the city has to offer.  My very favourite part of the city is the Old Town:  so much of it is just as it was:  all old-y world-y wonderful and twists and turns of high-hilled cobbled streets.  Exploring at this time of year in bright winter sunshine, or on a crisp evening after dinner walk - always holding hands - might just have been one of the very best parts.  Each evening we were exhausted and slept full and heavily,  but wandering along cobbled streets of the prettiest townhouses with streets lined with fairy-lit trees was worth the achey legs a million times over.  

*  LILIES.  On the Saturday before my birthday, my parents surprised me by popping into work with the hugest bunch of white lilies you have ever seen.  It made me fill up!  Whilst i love fresh flowers, i always think lilies are a little too extravagant for just me and so i tend to stick to jam jars filled with roses, anemones or peonies.  So I arranged their long slender stems into the biggest clay jug i could find and trundled off up to Edinburgh first thing on Monday morning.  When we arrived at our sweet little Air BnB flat to meet our host, she had kindly covered the pretty wooden floors with pink balloons and left us a huge bunch of fresh lilies and a big bowl of oranges to juice for breakfast.  It was so thoughtful!  So as the days passed in Edinburgh, each day upon our return the lilies had opened a little more and began filling our little flat with their sweet flowery scent.  It was beautiful.  After a long train journey home, tired and hungry we climbed the stairs to our little attic and when we opened the door we were met with the exact same sweet scent of lillies. Whilst we were away they had opened up beautifully and scented our sweet little space just the same.  Now whenever i smell lilies i shall think of our lovely few days away and my birthday and i love that so much.  

*  The MR.  For just being himself.  For taking me to Edinburgh, for nothing in the world being too much trouble; for putting a candle in an almond croissant on my birthday morning; for knowing where we were going always and for being Chief Map Holder.  For putting up with the hour (and some!) that i kept him in Anthropologie while i tried to decide what to buy when everything was so very beautiful that i wanted it all.  Or in fact would have been happy just sitting down in there and gazing around for a bit.  For holding my hand tight always.  For not minding that i wanted to film/photograph it all even if it was minus 10 (exaggeration).  For always holding each and every door open.  For being the best hangman partner in a flat with no television (which i secretly loved) and for looking so handsome wearing a black and white fairisle snood that he finally gave into buying along with a pair of gloves after thinking he'd be fine without either in December in Edinburgh (Pah!).  

*  Feeling CHRISTMAS-SEY.  For once Christmas wasn't about work; or about prepping for January sales or about filling things up and being nice for nine hours a day.  Christmas came in a rose-y-cheeked bundle of festive markets; mulled everythings, mince pies, ferris wheels, fairy-lights, cold noses, carol singers on a random street corner (the BEST!), the smell of waffles and vanilla, hot lattes, red wine and standing back and just taking it all in.  For those few days, a little blink in time; i was on the other side for a change.

*  Early train TRIPS.  It's been so very long since i've been on a train.  We decided to take the train and not the car and our early trip was so pretty.  As we got higher up into Scotland, the train tipped and twisted through misty frosty fields and dipped in and out of low cloud.  Watching the hour or two go by with my head on the Mr was a little bit lovely.  

*  SUNSETS.  Or more accurately, taking an unplanned visit to Edinburgh Castle because we were up that way anyway. As we got to the top we were greeted with the most magically orange and amber skyline as the sun set and fell away.  Even-though we were both so so cold, we stood and drank it all in for as long as we could manage.  I could have stayed there forever.  It was perfect.  
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Now it's your TURN!  While i get my head out of the Edinburgh clouds; i'd love to know the little things that have been making your week wonderful?  Leave me a sweet comment below - better still tag me in a photo on Instagram to show me or tell me on Twitter!  I am @sallytangle on both - remember to use the #wonderfulwednesday too.  

I shall be coming at you with a sweet little VLOG of our pretty trip and a little pictorial slice of Edinburgh loveliness for you over the next little while.  I have definitely not been spending my evenings on Right Move looking at flats in Edinburgh this week…just incase you were worried or anything...

Love and kisses to you all!