Planes, Cakes, Iron & Mages

   Today, we fly out to The Netherlands. The wedding is looming, and as it's small - limited to the closest to our hearts (bar two who can't make it) - we're heading out to see Seeg's family. We last visited in October 2016 (was it really so long ago?!) when we went with his parents to Texel Island for a week, then back to Arnhem to see the rest of his family and friends for a few days which was lovely all around, but this is a slightly more...formal affair, I suppose. Compulsory. Collecting well-wishes and congratulations from the people who aren't coming rather than going just to faff around. Although, it is true that I'll be stuffing myself silly with Cote d'Or. It's worth it. You can get the little bouchees here with a bit of trouble, but nothing beats the bonbon blocs. Praline noisette and white are both our favourites ♥ our bag on the return journey usually holds about 6+ bars. Among other chocolatey things... We all have our vices.

   As far as the wedding goes, we're more or less set. The only thing now is the cake, which I'm making myself (cringe) and trying something I haven't before (triple cringe). It's going to go wrong, of course, so I'm working on a back-up plan. Worst case scenario, I resort to Love Brownies. For real. They're ridiculously good and, like I said, it's a very small event. Spruce them up with some of the cake decor I had planned and all will be fine.
   My only issue is my hair. Seriously. It's one of my favourite qualities to be honest - naturally straight, perfect amount of volume, wonderful colour and very thick and strong. I don't have a natural parting, though, so my hair always just drops in front of my face and I do not look good in a fringe. I have ways around that, though. But I wanted to do something different with plaits and soft curls for the wedding, but, my goodness, it is impossible. I can't even get curlers to work - I'm not kidding, it's wizardry that I do not understand. I've been practicing with my sister's tongs and it's just...it's...my hair is iron-straight. And I mean that by both definitions. It won't curl. And I don't want to try too hard or too often because I don't want to destroy my hair even with heat protective spray. If I'm honest, so far it's the must difficult part of the whole wedding.
   I do have to admit, though, that it's nice that I've not had to stress over things. Keeping it small has meant that the run-up, so far, has been exciting but easy - there's far less to go wrong, far less to worry about, and far fewer people to keep happy with expectations. The day is about us - not flowers, dresses, speeches or dinner. And those coming want to be a part of that single, significant detail. And so it's also for that reason that, if my hair refuses to co-operate, it really won't matter.
   There will be no Bridezilla here.

   I'm quite excited to be going away - I woke up early Monday morning after a terrible night's sleep, waking up every hour for no good reason at all, but I was actually in a good mood. I tackled my workout with ease, did the groceries and was actually fine with sacrificing writing time to ensure that I got as many Etsy orders out before the end of the week as possible. I love Seeg's family - his parents, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, cousin's wife - and I realise that I'm actually immensely lucky to be marrying into such a family. I'm really looking forward to seeing them all!

   And I love the Netherlands too (though I despise its lack of hills) - the food, the people, it's all great.
   It's just a shame I have to fly to get there (the boat is just too long). I know, I know, I really shouldn't complain since it's a 55 minute flight from the west of the UK, but I hate the acceleration, I hate all the people in airports, and it is beyond me why they would serve alcohol in airports and, especially on planes. A substance known to make people loud and restless served inside an enclosed space with people who didn't volunteer to be around them. Go into a bar and you'll expect to be around loud drunkards, but a plane?! Why does vacation mean that people need to get drunk the moment they reach the airport? I've not had one experience without people being loud and drunk on a 55 minute flight, and on one occasion the plane was even delayed because of a drunk man causing trouble and refusing to co-operate because he was 'on holiday'.
   Aaaand breathe. People who say half the fun of going on holiday is the travelling haven't used public transport in a while. They've forgotten what other people can be like. But we usually sit at the rear of the plane, right by the food trolley, so I can distract myself with the muffin I always treat myself to. That's how I start my holiday, yo. Quietly. Because I am eating.
   Of course the upside to planes is that they do, generally, wait for you. You get a call out on the tannoy (well, I don't because I am always ridiculously prompt - I generally have my coat on half an hour before I have to actually leave the house) and you're advised to be at the airport at least 2 hours before your flight. It's true that there's a lot of waiting around, but once you're in the airport and through security, you're there and ready. It's plain sailing from thereon out. Sit down, read a book, grab a sandwich and look forward to that muffin. It's easy. Trains are not. And there's a 1-1.5 hour train ride after the plane. Euughh. But, once that's done...you have to do it all over again to get back. And that hangs over me the whole tip.
   So it's safe to say that I like to get away, but I'd rather rely on a mage to portal me there and back.

   On a final note, being away also obviously means that orders placed in Myth of the Wild will be delayed, but I've factored my Mother's Day deadlines around it. As long as orders are placed no later than April 20th, they will be shipped out from the UK by the 25th, giving them 2 and a half weeks to arrive by Mother's Day. Please note, though, that time varies from country to country and as no one has ever gotten in touch to inform me of how long it takes (and the post office give rather ambitious times that are met only about 5% of the time, so I always triple the provided time frame), I can't be certain that it will arrive on time. Based on my personal experience over the past 5 years, though, 2.5 weeks is appropriate.