hey gurl, heeey. so, as you know, last week rebekah and i went to austria. of course you knew, i didn't stop talking about it for weeks - maybe months? i also wasn't shy about sharing my holiday snaps, which i'm happy to report were (mostly) well received by you lot and the band of merry men over on instagram (if you want to see our snaps, check out the hash tags #climbevrymountaindoe #popupvienna and #britbratsinbrats), despite a few passive aggressive comments here and there. i totally expected that though; my friends are some real arseholes. anyway, i digress...rebekah took me to austria for my birthday. as in, rebekah took me on a holiday to my number one travel destination for my birthday. and when i say 'took me', i legit mean, she organised and paid for everything (flights; we split the accommodation because despite evidence to the contrary, i'm not a total freeloader). she would occasionally send me options of things by email, i would pretend to look at them and make a decision, and she would book it. she booked the transfers to the airports, she booked the travel in between cities, she booked the sound of music tour (which i promise i will get to... eventually!) - girlfriend booked the lot. i knew what day we were leaving, but couldn't have told you what time the flight was, even the day before.
i took no interest in planning, researching, or preparing for this holiday. which is weird, because i've wanted to go there for so long. the strange thing about me (narrowed down, obvs) is that i am super dooper organised in my personal and work lives, but as soon as i've got a backpack on my back or there's talk of aeroplane adventures, all organisation goes straight out the window. i don't care about planning when i'm on holiday - especially when i'm on holiday somewhere as historic and close to my hear at austria. so, i didn't care too much, and i let her get on with it.
well. without giving too much away (the travel posts will commence next week, i promise), i had the best holiday of my life. that's not an exaggeration. i legitimately had the best five days of my life. and, in hindsight, we missed out on seeing a lot of things in vienna. it doesn't matter though, not to me - and i hope not to rebekah, because... i wouldn't want to change that holiday for all the money in the world.
not only did she book my a fabulous holiday to kick off my birthdaymoon, she's also been doing some secret squirrel organising behind my back and has planned an extravaganza for the weekend before my birthday (she's selfishly going away for my actual birthday. i think all the guilt has propelled her to do all these things for me. well, tell you what, nothing gets a girl off the hook quite like all the things she's planned) too. she's got special guests coming. she's got all my friends (including ones she's never met) in on it too, and i only know what i need to know at this stage. which, is totally exciting, and nerve wracking at the same time. i hate being the centre of attention, but i do love a good surprise. i have no doubt that whatever she's planned is going to be incredible.
so, how does one say thank you to the person that's gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their scary big-girl birthday is memorable for all the right reasons? i saw this video recently that la redoute uk created to urge us to share the language of love more. too often we don't tell the ones we love how we feel, and just assume they know... well, you know what they say about assumption. so, rebekah - thank you so much. you have once again shown how selfless, loyal and
i don't say it enough, but i love you to pieces. as our friendship grows from strength to strength, through the bad times and the good, you remain the constant source of humour, of empathy, of support and of love, that i am so desperate for this far away from home. we may have been forced together in this city, but our relationship has never felt that way. not to me. probably because you're the easiest
the friendship that we've developed these last four years has made me feel the most real and constant love that i've ever felt for anyone outside of my 'real' family.
you are my family. you'll always been my family. i love you.
