A Man

Aloha Sprinklerinos,
If you are reading this then chances are it's because you hopped over from THIS video and you want to know more about the marvellous new man in my life. 
I had planned to be cool, calm and collected in my video but the joy and zizz of a new man took over and it seems I just giggled on about how fun he is. There are other things I wanted to say so I thought the blog would be a good place to write all my junk down. And by 'junk', I mean 'highly valuable opinions and feelings' heh heh. 
(My favourite thing is to surprise him with cuteness like this. The other night I set up a little garden cinema for us. I thought it was warmer than it was but the key is blankets above AND below! I can't wait for summer to do this more!)
So, I'll start at the beginning of the year. I was settled and happy and felt that life sans man was enriching and full filled. I had no deep desires to rock my boat or add anyone to my team. Everything felt fine. Then one day, I was at a gorgeous spa with my Tina (my step mum) and sisters and I was relaxing and being job free and child free and, well, bored. I need things to do. Idle hands yadda yadda. So, in a silly moment and with no intentions, I decided to re-download some of the dating apps I'd had on my phone last year and have a little swipe. Experience had told me that nothing special would come of it but it was fun to flick through whilst I lounged by the pools. 
Fast forward a few months and it turned out that silly moment was a good call because I met a goodie. A 6"4, dark haired, handsome goodie. Squee! We went on a few dates, enjoyed each other's company and then without any real effort, it just sort of naturally progressed into a relationship. I think that's a good way to be. 
(By Valentines we'd only been seeing each other a few weeks so I bought him a jokey book about dating and uber-wrapped it!)
I'm reluctant (because, like many, I don't want to have my heart broken again) to throw myself in at the deep end and declare him The One, whilst I swoon and run through flowered meadows but, things are going well. We are the same age and aren't each other's firsts so we know how these things work and are taking things slow and steady and not rushing into everything all at once. 
I've introduced him to one of my Aunties and some of my friends and I've met some of his friends and some of his family too- everyone likes everyone so that's a relief! He and Darcy haven't met yet but she knows he's about. Darcy has had a big year and I think it would be best to take baby steps and keep everything gentle and easy for her. 
(I think it's safe to say we're both foodies. We've had a couple of hotel stays for little minibreaks or luxury nights and oh me oh my we love a fancy breakfast. I'm hoping to make this, hotel staying I mean, our 'thing'. There are so many amazing hotels I'd like to try out. Should I make a blog feature of it and review them??) 
 (I've had this particular breakfast at the Sanderson twice now and neither time did it dissapoint. French toast with banana, bacon, maple syrup and walnuts. *drool*)
(Utterly thrilled to have a cocktail sampling buddy with! One weekend we went to London for a little jolly and had grand plans to hire bikes and cycle round St James Park. Then cocktails happened and the whole plan fell through haha.) 
(We hosted a Cheese&Wine evening in a bid to set up his guy friend with my gal pal. Sparks didn't fly between them but holy macaroni that cheese was good.)
What else can I tell you? I like him a lot! He is kind and gentle and understanding. He thinks my dress sense is colourful (I think sometimes a little too colourful haha) and he thinks my cooking is awful (it is!). We're really good at mocking each other and banter and have all the lols. I like that he can take a joke. Sometimes I struggle and cave and sulk but mainly, we do OK haha. He's confident and able and that shines through in his humour and his ability to take mine. Phew! He is a leader. He helps me with things that are a struggle (fixing my TV, telling me what bulbs I need in my kitchen, warning me to shut my eyes for the gory horrible bits of GoT that he knows would give me nightmares) and I love that. He likes to take charge of the day but sadly for him, so do I. A lot of the time I let him win but I like to remind him that I LET that happen haha. 
He's protective too which I like. As much as I am a strong, independent woman (insert sassy finger click here), I also like to feel the arms of a strong man round me or the calming words of a man with everything under control. I'm yet to see him in a fluster! 
(A night in St Mary's church watching Romeo & Juliet with Backyard Cinema. We went with Maddie {the world's greatest manager}, my friend Chris and Lucy & Lydia and had the best night. There are more photos on my instagram but I tell you, I'm still thinking about the pic n mix!) 
(Another night we went to the Royal Albert Hall to watch Chvrches play. I'm not nearly cool enough to be going to 'gig's but in my mind, I was REALLY cool that night. I knew none of the songs but gave my best efforts to sort of sway about at the right times. God I sound lame.) 
('gig')
One of the main things I like is that I know where I am with this lovely new man. I'm not second best or an enticing play thing. I am valued and cared about and cherished. It's a very underestimated feeling to be secure in knowing what someone thinks of you. I like it a lot. 
I plan on blogging more about our adventures and vlogging about them too but I need to find a way to do that where we are both comfortable. He isn't after internet 'fame' and has nothing to promote or gain from being 'Sprinkle of Glitter's Boyfriend'. The only interest he has in GlitterWorld is that I'm happy in it. He respects it and loves that I love it but he has his own thing, his own success and his own world. He has social media but it's private and personal and I'd like to think it will stay that way. I hope you don't mind me being a bit stern but I would implore you not to seek him out. Even if you did find any of his social media, there's not much on there. Unlike me, he doesn't want to post every moment of his day haha! For now, I'll just be calling him 'him' or 'he' or 'bae' or 'the bf'. 
I really appreciate how sweet those of you who have sussed it out from instagram or have spotted us out and about have been, you never fail to give me warm fuzzies with your support and kindness. I'd really love to share more photos and updates of the kind of things we do together but only if that's something you want to see. I know it might feel strange to some of you for me to be in a relationship after so long of being solo so I'll leave it up to you to tell me what you'd like to see and we can go from there. No pressure.
I think before this gets too cringey I'll call it a day! You're all caught up and in the loop. What a happy post to write!! I look forward to writing many more! 
Leave your (hopefully!) positive comments below <3
Toodlepip!
xx