366 days of us

I can't believe it's already been a year of me and Ollie (a leap year, before you think I've got the number wrong in the title). I've had close work friendships before (most notably with the gang from McDonalds and then Joe and Rachael from my law firm) and when I first started at UK Meds, I thought the connection I felt with Ollie was the same thing happening again. Our shared sense of humour, our aligned goals, our matched intelligence. But I found myself missing him when he went on holiday, and I found myself hoping he'd be there on work nights out. Obviously crossing that line into more than friends is always a big deal but even more so when you sit 5 feet away from each other every day. It turns out that getting really drunk helps with making it feel like less of a big deal. And after we'd took the plunge and crossed that line (twice), I vividly remember telling my friend Laura "it will all end in tears and my future self will curse me for it but I'm having too much fun to stop". Well, here I am, my future self, a year down the line and I'm definitely not cursing...

Before the anniversary celebrations though, it was time for our weekly date night. It was definitely a super saturday but we didn't go anywhere near a pub or restaurant and instead continued with our weekly at-home date nights (we reckon we've got a few more in us yet). This time, things took a sophisticated turn with the theme of the week so I went for a fairly demure makeup look to match. Which is not my usual vibe, hence why my Naked 3 palette still looks as good as new. But it was perfect for this soft blush eye makeup look. I simply blended limit and nooner through my crease and then buzz and burnout across my lid. I added winged liner, lashes, mascara and gemini lipstick by jeffree star and that was it!

I tried to stick with the sophisticated theme by going for the ultimate sophisticated fabric; boucle. This black and white boucle skirt (shein) is gorgeous and not too thick (so still great in the summer) and I love the big pearl buttons and the asymmetric cut. I added a plunging mesh bodysuit (missguided) with slightly puffed shoulders and cute button detailing, and then pearl studded court heels (new look) and gold and pearl chain necklace (also new look). Obviously I finished the outfit with the perfect accessory; a glass of prosecco.

The reason for all the sophistication was because this week's date night theme was afternoon tea! Afternoon tea is one of my favourite things to do and luckily, The Pudding Pantry were delivering an incredible spread. We had roast beef and halloumi sandwiches, quiche, chorizo sausage rolls, scones with jam and clotted cream, red velvet cheesecake brownies, raspberry and lemon meringue cakes, some kind of triple chocolate square and (my favourite part) rose macarons. Everything was incredible and thanks to this slate tiered stand that Laura got me a few years back, it felt just like being out for the real thing! Despite the name though, we didn't actually have any tea with it (they do include fancy tea bags in the delivery) - we saved room for prosecco instead.

Ollie always does a very good job where flowers are concerned so when our anniversary arrived, I was very excited to answer the door to the postman. He'd picked me the most gorgeous bunch of bright roses in pink, red, yellow and orange - he knows how much I love my bright flowers.

Date night on a Monday was a little strange but it was nice to get an extra bonus one in! I had a very clear idea on the outfit/makeup theme (I'll reveal shortly) so I used my trusty Soph palette. Since this date night was an extra and technically outside the remit of our weekly lockdown date nights, I didn't use a different dedicated palette and we ordered a cuisine that we've already done (*gasp*). But my Soph palette is my favourite for a reason and so I did a beautiful orange eye using running late through the crease, chocolate orange in the outer corners and everyday on the lid. Simple but so so beautiful.

The reason for the orange makeup was because I'd already decided to wear orange in a nod to the outfit I was wearing the night we first got together. My orange blazer dress is now infamous for being the one that got me my man. And while I didn't want to rewear it for our anniversary (I thought it'd be a bit creepy to remake the night exactly), I did give it a little nod with this orange bodycon skirt and black milkmaid top combo. I finished with zebra print strappy heels and dangly jewelled earrings.

Our food choice was also a nod to the night we got together. It's an incredibly romantic story; we were out with work at Anoki after an all-day drinking session, we shared a taxi seeing as we lived in vaguely the same direction and I ended up not getting out at my stop after all. See, the stuff that poems are made of. And so we had planned to order from Anoki for our anniversary without realising that it's not open on a Monday, so we had to rethink at the last minute. We fancied Indian by this point so we ordered from Mem saab instead and we actually thought it was even better! The food was amazing, presented really nicely (even as a takeaway) and was a similar price point. Plus they told us to order directly from their website next time and it'd be cheaper so that's good to know!

We had a lovely time celebrating overall and while our origins story is NSFW, it doesn't make our love story any less romantic as far as I'm concerned. In Ollie I have found everything I've ever wanted; someone who is ambitious and goal-orientated, someone who wants to see the world, someone who truly believes in equality, someone who makes me laugh until I cry and someone who loves me unconditionally. I'm so so glad that he asked me back for another drink and convinced me not to get out the taxi at my stop. Who would've known that the destination we'd arrive at would be this one, 366 days later.