Birthday blogging, 2017.

Saturday, the 28th of January, was my 26th birthday.  I had arranged with some of my college friends, who I hadn't seen for in a while, a small trip to Inverness for some quiet birthday celebrations and a chance for us all to catch up. I should've known from the start that 'quiet birthday celebrations' is definitely not in their vocabulary and on the way down in the car, it was apparent they had several things up their sleeve! 

The first part of the day was spent browsing round the shops and waiting on everyone to arrive. As soon as we all got together, we went back to my friend Kayla's house, where we were all to stay over the weekend and got ready for the evening because according to the girls we had a 'strict schedule to stick to!' of which I knew not a thing about. I had packed for every eventuality and had to ask them what kind of occasion it was for - smart/casual/dressy? I was so out of my depth because I am used to knowing what i'm doing from start to finish so then i can plan my outfit choice around that and prepare myself for anything and everything. On this occasion, however, I had to suck it up and trust my girls. Thankfully, I trust them wholeheartedly and this weekend they really didn't disappoint! 

The only clue they would tell me about where I was going was that I would 'love it' and it was 'so me'. That's when I realised it wasn't just a jaunty to Johnny Foxes. On the way into town I thought I would be sneaky and ask the taxi driver where we were going but it ended up we didn't get a taxi and one of my friends' partners was going to take us - and even he was in on it! He would not even tell me where I was even going for dinner! The banter in the car on the way into town was good, even though- I do think I gave a little too much cheek to Kevin for not telling where I was going! When we pulled up outside one of my favourite restaurants in Inverness I couldn't believe it! The Kitchen Brasserie is one of the most perfect places to sit and have a nice meal. It is a building with three floors and large glass windows on each of the levels.. We were situated on the upper level with the most perfect view overlooking the River Ness and Inverness Castle. We all enjoyed a delicious two course meal, all of which was too difficult to finish and had a long awaited catch up. 



Throughout dinner I was allowed to guess where I thought I was going. All of which was apparently incorrect. It was when we asked for our bill and the poor waitress, asked me to 'hold on!' and gave a nod to her colleague that the first beats of 'Happy Birthday' rung out throughout the restaurant and everyone turned and looked at me. I, like any other person, tried to remain neutral and hoped and prayed that someone else in the restaurant had their birthday the same day and the waitress would go to them instead! On this occasion, it WAS for me - just my luck - and she handed over a little ice-cream with a candle in it which was really so sweet! The other waitress was on standby with a Polaroid camera, taking a photo and immediately sticking it to a birthday card to give to me! It was such a nice gesture.

After all that excitement, the girls FINALLY decided they would tell me where I was going. "We've booked you in for some group accordion lessons!"...
My reaction was just to laugh! How on earth did they think that this was 'so me' because, without sounding rude, I hardly have a love for accordion music!?! According (or accordion in this case 😉) to one of my friends, Clare - her auntie, who is a trained musician, was going to lead us in an accordion lesson with 'wee Tam and the tartan beret' to accompany. This was when I thought they really were pulling my leg (to put it politely). They said they thought it was the perfect present because in their words 'I like all things Scottish' and 'I love music' I still would not believe them - until I rocked up to Eden Court Theatre and met Clare's auntie Fiona - who told me to wait 'two seconds, and then we'll get the accordion out'. By this point I was in mild panic because there were hoards of people about and they couldn't be all joining me in my 'group accordion lesson.' It was then that my pal, Hollie, stepped to the side and I saw a board with for 'Scottish ballet's Hansel and Gretel' and the girls decided to tell me that I was going to the ballet! I could not take it in!! I was nearly in tears. After several 'I hate you all but I love you at the same time's, we headed to get some snacks and find our seats. I was still in sheer amazement when I was sitting there looking at the front cloth.
Ballet is something I absolutely love and have done since I was little. I cannot put it into words what I felt when I realised what I was going to see. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have friends who would be so thoughtful to get me tickets to see one of my favourite art forms with them on my birthday. I had seen several ballets before but I had never seen Hansel and Gretel so it was such a lovely surprise!! 

After watching in pure amazement at the ballet for the next few hours, it was time to head back down stairs and meet for a drink with Clare's auntie Fiona, who was actually a flutist in the orchestra for Scottish Ballet. (So the girls weren't telling me too many lies after all!) 

The front cloth for Scottish Ballet's 'Hansel and Gretel.'

Heading home, we spent the rest of the night chatting, chilling, snacking, drinking and playing games. 

The next day was a nice one but a cold one so after breakfast we decided to go a nice walk around the Caledonian Canal. It is beyond beautiful with lots of things to see and also lots of clean pathways and friendly and responsible dog walkers. I even managed to find a place on the canal to have a paddle! 😊

These boats were situated on the canal - at the end of someone's garden. So lucky!

Blue skies and still waters.

Boats on the Caledonian Canal

 After our nice long brisk walk, we headed into town to get some lunch! It was then that I realised the girls weren't finished with me yet! We had to be finished lunch by half past two in order to get to my 'next surprise.' The girls, realising how nervous about surprises, decided to tell me that I 'need not worry because this is just a small surprise' and 'nothing like the surprise last night' - which, in hindsight, did make me feel a little better but turned out to be a pack of lies! Which they KNOW that I hate! *although, I do forgive them - just this once!
We were walking into town and ended up outside a building which said 'Break Out Games Inverness.'  What I thought would be My.Worst.Nightmare. The thought of having to work out clues to solve combinations on several locks hidden around a room is such a frightening prospect! I was flat-out refusing to co-operate and pulling back when we walked in. Thankfully, the man who was there was able to put my fears to rest and I decided to give it a go. When I am presented with a challenge - I don't like to turn it down so we were given an hour to try and work out the codes for all the locks hidden around the room. It was a like Inverness' very own version of 'Crystal Maze' - * that's one for all you 90s kids out there who watched it on a Saturday night like I did! A lot of it was strategic thinking and thinking 'outside' the box, which I really enjoyed! It got the brain ticking, the adrenaline pumping and got us working as a team because we all really wanted to get out of there in time! In the end we managed to crack it in 56 mins 20 seconds - which we hope to beat if we go back again! We were just happy that we didn't go over the allotted time and got our prize at the end! I'm so glad I gave it a go and the girls had planned a fun afternoon for me - even though I wasn't so keen to begin with! It really was so much fun.

When we all had to to say our goodbyes - I won't lie - I was really quite sad! It was just so lovely to have all of my college friends together again having a fun time, laughing, reminiscing and catching up and it was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday too  What they had in store was the most thoughtful thing and something I would never have imagined. 

So - what I have worked out from this birthday weekend?

- I am lucky to have the friends I have around me

- I should give things a go, even if I think I won't enjoy it.

- Now that my birthday is over, my friends better watch out because they're next and I will not be holding back! 😉

Lastly, I will leave you with some photo's I took on the way back up the road on Sunday (taken with my iPhone which might explain the picture quality.)

Dunrobin Castle .

Golspie

 Caithness - with the moon (small crescent just above the horizon) and Venus just above it. 

Lots of love

Lauren

xoxo