So my official birthday day was January 27th and this year it fell on a Sunday. Normally, I'd cry at this fact because Sunday has never really been my “fun-day”, but this year was different. I was heading on a mini getaway break to a city that has always fascinated me.
For my 24th birthday I headed to Paris and got to eat lunch on the Eiffel Tower – something I so (cheese-ily) always wanted to do. However, since then a lot happened and after a series of eventful happenings throughout the year, along with a painfully never-ending latter six months to 2012 (aside from my jet setting trip to Vegas and another mini vacay to Paris) I wanted to start my 2013 and my special day off with a real unforgettable BANG. (I'll show some of my presents as time goes on, but for now, I think this birthday post is long enough! Happy reading!)
Using my – dare I say it – remarkable skills for finding a great centrally located hotel, I showed the details to my family who were amazing and paid for it all. We were headed to Milan.
On Friday January 25th, I came home rather late from work (gotta love overtime and paperwork) and headed for a quick catch up with a friend. Before I headed out, my parents and gran gave me my birthday cards and presents – to which I was a little surprised since it was still 2 days until my birthday. I thought if I'd be getting things early, it'd be Saturday morning before we left for the airport. In actual fact, i thought Milan WAS the present so I was shocked to get presents on top of the trip. Then I understood why.
Those of you who've read some of my previous posts might remember me talking about a designer called Lulu Guinness (a fabulous woman in my eyes). Well my parents did an amazing thing and bought me some of her latest luggage collection for our trip to Milan, not to mention some amazing nail manicure beauty products. I've yet to try the manicure products, though they're made by the infamous Red Carpet brand who are renowned for being great quality. I've always wanted some really cute looking luggage (not to mention it'll make my life 100 times easier when trying to find it on the Bag Arrivals belts in airports), and these pieces fit the bill perfectly. For her latest collection, they're black material cases/bags with little pictures of Paris, New York as well as an icon for London – all places which I adore. Not to mention, the interior stripes and iconic Lulu Guinness hand mirror detail zips give these luggage items a really sophisticated look. My aim now is to save up for a large one for my longer holidays. Got to admit, thus far I am very impressed with the amount of space and detailed quality with the products. Anyone who's budget extends to the Lulu Guinness price range, I strongly recommend you invest! Though I digress. So once I'd opened my presents and returned home from my quick catch up, I headed straight to pack my gorgeous new luggage.
I have somewhat of a love for Heathrow Terminal 5 over other airports and terminals – partly because I think it's probably the best terminal I've been to (and shopped in), not to mention it always has that real pre-holiday presence.
We arrived at Heathrow by 9am on Saturday, January 26th. We still had a couple of hours to kill before our flight took off. I made a couple purchases (birthday presents to me of course) in the form of the newest Marc Jacobs Dot Eau de Parfum and a gorgeous black/blush 100% silk skull scarf by none other than Alexander McQueen. I'd wanted one for ages, and figured this could be the first to add to my future collection.
As a huge surprise, my step dad had upgraded us to Business Class, so we got to eat breakfast in the Business Class Lounge – which by the way was very impressive! So much choice for food and drink, and before we knew it, it was time to board the plane.
It's incredible to think how quick it is to travel from London to lots of places in Europe by plane. Paris is only one hour away, and my flight to Milan's central airport Linate, is only two. While we were in the air, we flew over the Alps – mountains I sure hope to visit someday because they were just so picturesque.
It certainly made me think about investing in a nice ski suit and trying out some winter sports on one of my many planned adventures. After being in the air for an hour or so, we were slowly descending, and while we were drifting through clouds, it was just so nice to be surrounded by some winter sunshine, as opposed to a grey, dismal, cold rainy day in London.
When we landed we got taxied in a bus across the tarmac (which I LOVE – theres something a bit special about setting foot on the official soil you've landed in) and picked up our luggage fairly quickly. Thank God we only had mini hand luggage sized cases. Then we got a taxi straight to our hotel, The Westin Palace, Milan.
The Westin Palace is a luxury 5* hotel located very centrally to many of the areas of Milan you'd want to visit. It's walkable distance from Downtown Milan, Fashion District, the Metro lines, as well as the glorious cathedral which took over 500 years to build and still has reconstruction work continuing today.
The first evening we went for a walk into Downtown, and I got to experience my first authentic pasta dish. Got to admit, Italian pasta cannot be beaten! That was followed by my first dose of birthday cake.
After such a long day and the amazing foods, we were all pretty tired so headed back to the hotel for a relaxing evening. As always I stayed up until midnight just to welcome in my birthday day – this time my mum was awake with me watching a film while my step dad slept – and I headed straight to bed soon after.
On the morning of my birthday, my mum came to check I was awake in my glorious room (which could probably fit about 10 of me sleeping in it – it was THAT big). I got ready and headed over to my parents room to be greeted with Happy Birthdays, cards and another present! A gorgeous little Lulu Guinness necklace – that same one which I mentioned in my Designer Wishlist entry. I finally have my replacement and I can honestly say its better than the original.
My birthday breakfast was a delicious salmon and scrambled egg with toast, accompanied by a tasty Italian cappuccino.
Next we got to do sight seeing all day and visit one of my favourite shops, Pandora to pick up a couple of charms – to remember my birthday and trip to Milan – to add to my bracelet.
My birthday meal was in a cute little Italian restaurant in Fashion District and the pasta was A-MAZ-ING!
After dinner we headed to a nice cake shop where I continued to indulge in birthday cake. The nicest surprise came when we got back to our rooms in the hotel. I received a note from the hotel executive and a birthday cake given to me by the staff wishing me well on my day! Now it's a treat like that which separates hotels from an average stay to a really thoughtful one.
So after an exceptionally memorable, unforgettable trip, and my dose of French toast the morning after, we headed back to England on 28th. I can honestly say, I could never have wished or hoped for a better way to celebrate my birthday. These aren't even half of the photos I took, but as you can see, everything about the trip was amazing. The celebrations/catch-ups with friends are still continuing, so thank you to everyone who has been a part of this great occasion, and especially my parents who I couldn't thank enough for this trip.
