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WHERE WE FIRST MET.
I was working before our Christmas staff party and Josh came in to buy something and started chatting away to me, where I didn't have a clue who he was or how he knew me. Halfway into the conversation he said, "Oh, I'm Josh by the way. I'll see you in a bit"
I don't think I've ever got on with someone so well, so suddenly. We talked about iPhones, our favourite club(s) and what we spent our money on. We instantly added each other on Facebook and said we'd try to meet up if we both got to town. -
Period: to
Our lives <3
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Hanging out.
This was the last we got to hang out for a while I think. I had spent the day with my mum and bought a SuperDry jacket, which Josh and I discussed because I 'wasn't allowed' to get the some colour as him, incase we looked silly when we hung out. We looked pretty cool, and still do! I met his best friend Kane, and was invited to go out for the night with them and I really wish I had said yes. -
The End.. for now.
Certain things got in the way and we had to stop speaking. I can honestly say my days were so much more boring and I laughed a lot less. That should've been a sign in itself. -
A new beginning.
Josh and I finally worked together on this evening. I remember feeling so sick and nervous about seeing him again, knowing he was still angry at me for not talking to him. I'll always remember how he came to the till and smiled as he said hello to me. & By the end of the night we were just about past the awkward catch-up conversations. -
My holiday that changed everything.
I finally got to go on holiday. I went to visit my parents in India for 10 days and it was such a great week. I was able to escape from my job, the stress of University and mostly, my nasty ex-boyfriend. I was able to text Josh everything that had gone on, and apologise for what had happened. We text almost constantly over these 10 days - day, night, whether I was by the pool or trying to sleep. There's not a single text that didn't make me laugh. -
Claire gets invited for dinner
Once I came back from India, Josh and I had planned to hang out and since we didn't know what to do, he invited me for dinner. Since I'm nervous infront of other people, this was almost my worst nightmare, especially with his parents (more people!) as it turns out, it wasn't just dinner with his dad, it was his entire family! But it went well, and Josh's dad nudged him to invite me to London the following Monday! #thanksdad *This night also started are obsession for scrabble! -
SINGING IN THE RAIN
The Royal Treatment - Blog
Getting treated like a princess :')
Josh bought me lots and lots of presents and paid for everything (L) -
Notice the little things*
Josh always does. If my hair's different, or I'm wearing a new necklace he'll realise. What I always remember from when we first started seeing each other was that every time I painted my nails differently, which is quite often, he would notice. He would say how nice or how cool they looked and ask how I did them. Who does that?! He's so perfect. -
Hard work pays off.
Whilst I was in India Josh sent me a picture of his bedroom wall which was covered in about 10 pieces of paper, all with study plans on them. I honestly didn't think anyone could stick to the amount of studying he had planned out, but of course he proved me wrong. We spent most of April and the first few weeks of May in the library nearly every day. We studied, talked non-stop and had endless Starbucks and snacks. I managed to pass all my assignments and he finished his second year with a 2:1! x -
OUR DAY
After having an unproductive morning of studying at University, Josh rang his friend and asked if we could go round and see his Godson, who I hadn't met at the time. Frankie picked us up and we spent about an hour just hanging out. I was worried about meeting his friends, but it was sweet! & as we got back to Uni before his lecture, he asked "So, when can I ask you out?" and then he did. We decided not to be all PDA and he said "I think we should shake on it" and we did :) -
Love is about appreciation.
And there's nothing more important than someone being able to appreciate my creative side. I'm no international, best-selling artist, and I never will be but I'm going to carry on creating, painting and drawing because it makes me happy. Josh always appreciates little notes and cards I do for him. It makes it so much nicer to be able to do things for something. -
Musically gifted.
and a huge amout of hard work and perserverance means that Josh has a grade 8 in both piano and the oboe.. he is absolutely unbelievably amazing! I miss being able to listen to him play. He has a living room at the back of his house full of books, right up to the ceiling and there's a massive arm-chair I used to curl up in to listen to him practicing (L) -
Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.
If there's one person I absolutely adore from this relationship, is Josh's Godson Alfie. He is the most adorable child I've ever met. He doesn't cry, or tantrum and he talks away for ages. He lets me play in his play house, we go to the playground and water park and he draws me little pictures! He's absolutely gorgeous, and his parents are so amazing! -
Write me notes
If there's one thing that will always, without fail make me grin like a complete idiot, it's cute notes. When we started working together he used to rip off pieces of till roll and write things like "you're beautiful" or "i love you" and put them in my jacket pocket.. and sometimes he'll hide one in my purse or under my pillow. Two got ruined in the washing machine (work jacket!) but the others are all in my purse :) -
Claire goes kayaking!
Claire's blog After talking about it for absolutely weeks and not having the chance because I worked like a mad-woman.. Josh finally took me kayaking! We went down to the beach with his two younger sisters and chilled for hours as he took each of us out. It was so amazing, and really calm so we could just lie out in the kayaks for a bit. I've been a few times since but I love it! I want one!! -
YOUR BIRTHDAY. YAY 21.
After having worked all day, and feeling dissapointed that I couldn't spend the day with Josh, I managed to leave work early and make it to his in time to open presents and have dinner with his family. I made a cake, which was an awful attempt compared to the amazing cupcakes his mum had made! His parents had filled his card with confetti, so that was fun! And we had a great meal, with wine and desserts! And of course got to play scrabble and drink more before bed! -
LONDON FOR BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
Claire's blog For Josh's second part of his present, I bought us tickets to see Billy Elliot, and although I was desperate to see Lion King, this was fantastic! Absolutely outstanding show! We had a great day walking around Covent Garden, our favourite place! I think. We had a dissapointing meal before the show, but made sure we complained! And despite Josh being grumpy on the way home, we had a really amazing day! -
Birthday night out.
Another busy day as I had to work all day, then pick up my sister from the coach station as she had just arrived from Korea, all whilst driving around the shops trying to find Josh a new shirt and a pair of shoes he liked ready for his birthday night out! He looked ridiculously sexy, and we even bought matching onesies! Yes, we are that cool. We had no time to pre-drink or get ready, but it was a fun night and I think he really enjoyed it. It was good to finally go out together :) -
Birthday dinner with the fam!
Josh and his twin's 21st birthday dinner! His parents wanted to take them out with the whole family, but needed a date that everyone could make. So despite being a couple weeks later, we went out for dinner at a great restaurant called Koh Thai Tapas. His sisters are hilarious and I felt really immature as I laughed most of the night and it was really good fun, despite Josh not wanting to take any decent pictures!! -
Pack your bags.
With me being completely and utterly obsessed by holidays, cultures, languages and travelling, we have decided that next summer we are going to take 3 weeks and travel around Europe! In the excitement, we bought a pinboard and an old style map to pinpoint where we want to go - I'm so excited!!! -
Carnaby Street Press Tickets!
So to continue my new love for musicals and shows... the newspaper I was interning with gave me + 2 press tickets to see Carnaby Street. So I invited Josh and his younger sister Jess. We hadn't been getting on very well that afternoon but the show was great and really lifted our moods. -
The frog and the koala.
So, the story behind this is... Whenever Josh or I talked, which was every minute of the day almost, sometimes you can't avoid saying things which to some people would be 'over-stepping' the mark, or sound a bit forward. So Josh came up with this idea that if you put a Koala after a text that could be seen as clingy or too forward, it takes away that sense and makes it okay. I'm the koala, despite him starting it. And he's the frog, because he said they're friendly just like him :) -
REAL MADRID VS BOURNEMOUTH
When this was first announced, I literally could not believe it. Bournemouth was in a state of shock, excitement and a mad panic for people to get their hands on tickets. I missed out the first time because I was at work, so just admitted to myself I wouldn't be going. Then, through various connections and friends, someone saved me two media stand tickets, and OBVIOUSLY I wanted Josh to come with me, as much as he wanted to be there. We saw Zidane, Ronaldo, Ozil, Kaka.. the whole team! 6-0!! -
Claire's first stay in London
A perfect day I came up this weekend to stay with Josh since on Monday he started his new job, and although he had been in London a couple of weeks, I hadn't been since he had settled it. We had a great day, lying in bed for hours, then wandering around London for 5 hours, all by foot! We saw some great markets, shops, food stalls, views! It was such a perfect day! -
A new favourite evening
After a day of torrential rain and walking for 6 hours straight, I came back to Oxford Street to meet Josh from work, and we walked through a lovely park and into Mayfair - had a look in the property windows. We sent snapchats to his Godson who wouldn't go to bed, before wandering down to Charing's Cross to Gordon's Wine Bar - where we spent a couple of hours. We walked along the river, watched the boats go by before having noodles for dinner and heading back about midnight. One of the best days -
GOING UNDERGROUND
A new record.
This morning, on our way to work / Waterloo, we missed 4 underground trains because they were so busy no one could get on. FOUR!! -
SEE YOU SOON!
Josh is coming home to Bournemouth for the weekend! Which means I can finish work and walk to his house, and get all cuddled up for the night! Instead of the long trek back to my house where I end up alone! -
Whoopsidaisies!
Today, Josh and I finally went to Notting Hill. We'd both never been before and it was really excited. Portobello road was packed full of both locals and tourists, and at times a little frustrating as you could hardly move! It was really difficult to get a good look at all of the antiques, trinkets and stalls that were there. The live music and other various acts were all great! There was just no place to stop and listen to them. Then we had a lunch in a park before finding the blue door! -
Our first picnic!
This afternoon I rushed back from Oxford Circus, after trying to find a picnic blanket for hours, and bought some extra snacks from Morrisons - and of course some new wine! Rushed home to cook everything, prepared a salad, some chicken, rice, indian snacks and chilled the wine. Then walked for nearly an hour to get to the park and meet Josh! We sat for a couple of hours, ate our nice food and played a bit of football! Perfect <3 -
JOSH WINS AT SCRABBLE TWICE!
Today is revolutionary! Josh beat me at two games of scrabble out of three! One by 15 points and one by about 40! He's beat me before, but it's just that I usually win... so that was dissapointing considering I scored 87 points in one go! cries in the corner quietly -
Bournemouth Air Festival
A lovely weekend where Josh came home from London. I stayed at his all weekend, after finishing work at 1am and driving straight to his! On Saturday we went to the cliff top to watch the airshow.. It was fantastic. Loads of planes doing shows and stunts! <3 -
Family Fun Day
As I hadn't spent much time with my mum recently, she asked if Josh & I wanted to go to the local shopping centre with her, and took us for breakfast! She bought me a 5 year diary, Josh bought me some jeans, socks and tshirts and I bought him a new tshirt. Then Josh & I went for lunch with his family at Prezzo in Christchurch which was a fantastic meal with great wine! Such a good weekend before Josh had to leave x -
The Zoo!
After weeks of saying I wanted to go to the zoo, we have finally been! I took an early coach from Bournemouth and Josh met me ar Victoria before going back to his house to cook us breakfast! His youngest sister was staying the weekend so the 3 of us went & had a great day! My faves were the giraffes! We got pictures & toys too! -
BOOKED OUR FIRST HOLIDAY
After looking at some great deals, and book marking them etc, Josh said: "Why don't we just book this now? I have the money!" ...So we did! We booked our first holiday together and have already pid for half of it... Prague here we come! -
Josh taught me how to play the piano!
After struggling my way through 5 chords on Saturday, I gave up pretty swiftly. Then on Sunday we spent half an hour of Josh going over and over all of the notes until I could finally play half of 'Dust Bowl Dance' by myself! #proud -
MEET THE PARENTS PT 2
My Dad finally got to meet Josh's parents. We all had dinner with his family at his house and his parents made the most amazing food, especially the desserts. I think it was a succesful evening! -
BOOKED OUR SECOND HOLIDAY!
Germany here we come!! -
Meeting Etienne Hugel
World-wide famous Alsace wine maker Etienne Hugel who took time out of his busy eveing schedule to join us for a drink, leave us with a little present of some chopsticks! Hand mand and designed in Vietnam. -
Up the creek!
Our first time at a Comedy Club and it was fantastic! Up the creek in reenwich for their student ticket and cheap snacks and drinks! Ian Smith was my favourite comedian of the t. Sharp, clever and didn't lower himself to sex, drugs and suicide for entertainment's sake. -
SIX MONTHS!
I wonder what we'll be doing for this! -
Our first holiday!
Our first holiday today! A very short weekend away in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. We flew from Stansted and it was a very, very long trip. Almost 24 hours without sleeping on the way there. We had an Audi A1 which was fantastic, we stayed in a beautiful little guest house, on a vineyard, surrounded by nothing but stunning scenery and absolute silence! We visited some of my family friends, found a great wine cellar in Bingen, and had a fantastic time! <3 -
Kaiserslautern Zoo
Our first zoo trip abroad! It was pouring with rain, freezing cold and absolutely desserted. We had a whole day without a hotel room before our flight so decided to drive to a zoo. It was a wonderful little place and had tigers, sheep, zebras! Such a lovely little place and we had a really nice time! -
Prague, here we come!
Our second holiday together, for my birthday! Started by picking up my dad from Heathrow, getting into London to pack, pick up my birthday presents, have lunch and set off to Gatwick! A wonderful holiday where it snowed lots, we ate some brilliant food, tried 9 different wines, went to the zoo, took loads of pictures and despite staying in a basic hotel, we had a lovely time! -
MY BIRTHDAY!
I'll be getting old! I'm hoping we get to go away for the weekend, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen just yet! UPDATE: WE ARE GOING TO PRAGUE!! -
23 - you Grandma!
My birthday in Prague! Mum had wrapped up some presents for me to take, and I had quite a few cards. So we went through all of those in the morning, before wandering around the city in the snow. We had lunch at the hard rock cafe - Nachos and cocktails! and a lovely meal in the evening, despite getting VERY lost. Such a perfect day! Couldn't have thought of anything better xo -
Prague Zoo
Our second zoo abroad! What a fantastic place this is! It's absolutely huge and it took us at least 4 hours to walk around, in the snow and minus temperatures. I can't imagine how amazing it would be in the summer. The food was amazing, all the little stalls and huts were open and serving hot drinks and fresh pasta and pizzas. The animals were so cute. Tigers, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, penguins! So many different species, and unfortunately because of the cold some of them were hiding. -
Our New Year's Eve together!
A very busy night which involved painful new shoes, a lot of effort trying to keep warm and groups of people pushing and shoving everywhere in attempt to find the best viewing point left for the London Fireworks! 5 minutes to midnight it started raining and we watched the new year roll in amongst drunk people and umbrellas. We were so relieved to get home and snuggle up in bed :) -
HELLO TO THE NEW YEAR!
How lovely to spend the first day of the year together. It was fantastic! We stayed in bed for hours, then finally moved to the sofa and ate lots of junk food and watched trash tv. Such a perfect, relaxing day :) -
A family day in London!
Josh's sister's spent the day with us walking around London! We took silly photos in China town, had a lovely lunch in Debenhams and then had a Starbucks after wandering around Camden. In the evening though, WE WENT TO SEE JACK WHITEHALL! He was absolutely fantastic and I didn't stop laughing. The hall was really good as well as the bar had loads of foreign fruit beers and ciders. Such a great day! -
The Camden Canal
It was such a beautiful day we decided to make the most of it by walking from Holloway to Camden, and all along the lock past Regent's Park and into Little Venice, then around to Paddington, up to Regents Place again and down Tottenham Court Road. Josh made an amazing dinner of Butternut Squash stew and we had a relaxing evening after our big walk! -
Perfect weekend
Josh came back to Bournemouth again and we didn't do much but hung out with each other's families, watched tele and just chilled out most of the time. -
A lovely evening
Today marked 6 months left until Josh finally moves home, and since I was feeling a bit down, he took me out for dinner. We went to one of our local pubs The Spyglass and Kettle and sat and talked for ages before buying some desserts and wine for when we got home. -
Lazy Sundays
Today wasn't quite lazy. We woke up at 8 and went for breakfast on the beach. Romantic? Well, it was pouring with rain and really windy, so we were drenched! At Urban Reef on Boscombe beach, they have the most amazing pancakes! Josh had 2 orange juices and 1 hot chocolate - piggy! We then had a massive lunch at my house, and a huge dinner at Josh's house. Josh lit a fire and we drank wine and watched the Undateables. Such a perfect sunday! -
GOODBYE DEBENHAMS
Despite Josh having this amazing placement, I would like him to move back home as soon as possible, because I miss him too much. Soppy and clingy as it sounds, it's true. -
EUROTRIP!
Hopefully, everything for our interrail trip will have been planned, booked and all ready to set sail!
