Ladies who spa

Even though I don't think of myself as someone who has a particularly stressful life, I can't think of anything better than going for a fancy spa day to unwind and relax. And so in typical Jenni style, I bought a spa day for me and my mum for her birthday (because that way it's a present for me too) at The Belfry spa & hotel, which is just outside of Birmingham. And to say I've spent the last 2 weeks ill in bed, this was exactly what I needed.

We started off the day in the spa's relaxation room (which is decorated how I would like my first house; lots of grey and nice sofas), fully kitted out in the robes and slippers that they provided us with. We were both booked in for a massage and facial combo and so I enjoyed the most amazing back and shoulder massage where I was told 'wow you have a lot of knots' (again, not really sure why because I don't think I suffer with stress or tension). Then she moved on to the facial where she started by taking all my make up off me (I hadn't worn any for 2 weeks so putting it on that morning was obviously a massive waste of time) and then she did a skin test to see what products to use and told me I have 'really really really good skin' which was lovely to hear (and pretty surprising considering my skincare routine is basically non existent). So she did a hydrating facial with lots of lovely serums and creams and then I got a head massage too and she finished with some hydrating lip balm. Have you ever had someone else put lip balm on you? Me and my mum both agreed it was a very weird experience. But the treatments altogether came up to nearly an hour so it was really good and definitely good value for money!

Then we went into our 90 minute 'fire and ice' experience which is made up of 12 rooms all varying in temperature. There was a sauna, caldarium, aroma cave, sanarium and crystal steam room which were all hot rooms and varied in the different scents and humidity. I'm not massively into the really, really hot rooms - I can only last about 5 minutes in the sauna before I start to feel weird and want to get out. There was the igloo and shower grotto which were both freezing cold (so bravery is needed here) and the tranquility room and conservatory which are just room temperature, plus foot spa, feature showers and hydrotherapy pool. All in all the whole thing was amazing and I think 90 minutes is just the right amount of time to work your way through each section and then revisit your favourites (mine was the caldarium).

After our fire and ice experience, we moved on to my favourite meal of the day - afternoon tea. I think I'm actually trying to work my way through all the afternoon tea spots in Nottinghamshire (the red velvet cake at Browns keeps it pretty much in the top spot). This one was made up of finger sandwiches; ham and mustard, egg and cress, cucumber and cream cheese and smoked salmon (neither me or my mum touched that one because we can't stand smoked salmon), fruit and plain scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream, and petit four cakes; a fruit tart, a chocolate mousse cake, a slice of fruit cake and a slice of banana cake with salted caramel frosting (my favourite). And of course there was plenty of tea too.

Then all our appointments for the day were done so we could just chill out for the rest of the afternoon. The pool and hot tubs were lovely but in typical British fashion, it was pretty cut throat trying to secure some loungers. All in all though it was an amazing day and it was well worth the money. Happy birthday to mother dearest (and me too I guess seeing I bought it for myself too).