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Browsing category: Life as a grownup
Who is Life as a Grown up?
Hi! I’m Becca. I’m a stay at home Mum (a recent change so feels a bit strange) with two girls, one 3 year old and a one year old. I started my blog, Life as a Grown Up, about a year ago whilst on maternity leave to try to restart my mushy brain. It’s worked! At least partially.
We’ve recently moved from Birmingham to Dorset, which was very hectic and stressful and sad and exciting. We’re only on week one so there will probably be a lot more emotions to come! Before I left I compiled my top places to go in Birmingham. Here they are:
Favourite places in Brum
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
1. Digbeth*
It’s a bit like Narnia. From the outside it looks like street after street of old factories or dilapidated warehouses, but behind closed doors, round the corner, nestled in between, are urban, edgy delights. You’ll find amazing art, delicious street food, vintage clothes, independent shops, wedding venues, mini festivals and of course some wicked graffiti. It’s also pretty on point with veggie and vegan cuisine too (always major brownie points from me).
I’ve never had enough time (or felt cool enough) to explore it fully, but it sure does look good on the Instagram grid.
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
2. The Plough, Harborne.
Yes of course I’m including a pub in this list!
This one is amazing. You want brunch? The Plough. Fancy some lunch? The Plough. Dinner out? Le Plough. Drinks? Die Plough. Beer garden? Tacos? Kid friendly?
Yep yep yep. In fact, this was the first pub Connie frequented as a newborn.
It’s been our favourite since we moved up here. We could spend all day eating, day drinking, just soaking up the atmosphere, if we didn’t have kids to look after/collect (damn it!).
It may just be the pull of Connie’s cute baby face but we’ve always found the staff really friendly. Plus they have the Becca brownie points with a great vegan menu
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
3. Birmingham Women’s Hospital
This is an odd one but it is very sentimental (and a bit complicated). First off, I love that there is a whole hospital dedicated to looking after the female body 👩🏻⚕️ (where I’m from there is just the one busy hospital for the whole lot).
It’s also where both my girls were born. Prior to their births, I would see it on my way home and feel excited about the upcoming arrival. How would it all happen? What would baby look like?
Post birth I had mixed feelings (mainly “get me home please!” after our lengthy stay with Cece) but they soon turned positive with the rosy hue that birth memories get after awhile (nature’s way to get you to have more!)
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
4. Winterbourne House and Gardens.
Surrounded by university buildings, you could almost miss this place. Its really worth a visit. It’s just the right amount of history and beautiful gardens, especially for little legs.
Any fan of a National Trust property will enjoy the house. They’ve thought about their younger visitors, adding a colouring/reading corner, and an informative automated train set (Cece’s favourite). 🚂
It’s the gardens that bring me back though. They are pulled directly from my dream garden mood board, and are super photogenic. Big colourful flowers, tall trees, shaded pathways round a quiet pond, a wooden Japanese bridge, stepping stones over a trickling stream. It brings back memories of exploring as a child, and hopefully I’ve given Cece very similar memories here.
It doesn’t matter what time of year you visit, there’s something to see. We went last September and saw growing pumpkins, and even had a guided tour by a neighbour’s cat 🐈 That of course sold the place to the girls.
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
5. St. Paul’s Square/St Philip’s Cathedral Square.
These areas have an enviable sense of cool (to me anyway). They are in the older parts of town, with majestic buildings, cobbled streets, trendy restaurants, bars, and a new, exciting drinking emporium opening seemingly every week. They seem to be mostly frequented by business people from the surrounding offices looking for after work refreshment. That gives it a London air, especially on a sunny day when the drinks and merriment spill out to the beer gardens and forecourts.
I think much of the coolness I attribute to it is probably because I’m not in a position to join in, so I’m pretty jealous of the casual drinking with friends and colleagues. 🍸
I can but dream of the time in years to come when we have that bit of freedom back. For now I’ll happily settle for a beer in the garden, watching my girls play. Happy Friday! 🍻
▶️ FAVOURITE PLACES ◀️
6. Cannon Hill Park.
If I’m ever stuck for something to do with the kids, we go here. Rain or shine. Wellies or sandals. ☔️ 🌞
There’s something to entertain them - boating lake, little fun fair, tennis courts, mini golf, two playgrounds, as well as the usual grassy park jazz.
They also hold lots of events like the recent Foodie Festival, and In the Night Garden Live. What I like best is there’s a good atmosphere, a buzz of activity. There are always people using the park. On a particularly bad day, this really helps my mental state. A bit of a walk, a play, and some nice lunch in the MAC cafe (good vegan options!) Even if I have only spoken to one adult just to order the lunch, that little interaction and being around (fairly relaxed) people gets me out of my funk. (Most of the time anyway - sometimes kids are dicks.)
If all that wasn’t enough, there’s a wildlife park next door. It’s just the right size for little kids to walk around and not too pricey either. Plus they have my favourite giant guinea pigs - the capybara 😍🐹