You know that I only realised last week that my birthday was so soon? In less than two weeks I will turn the grand old age of 23 and I'll tell you, it snuck up on me. Last year I'd been looking forward to my birthday for months and this time I genuinely had forgotten. My birthday's on 6th June, which falls on a Thursday this year so I booked some time off work a while ago (I'd obviously remembered at some point) and now I need to figure out what I can do!

Martin's mum booked for me and Martin to see "Sherlock Holmes - The Best Kept Secret" at the West Yorkshire Playhouse on Saturday 8th, which was an unexpected surprise. I had no idea that she knew that I'm a fan of Sherlock Holmes! With this production, it tells a story of Sherlock two years after the Reichenbach Falls. He is refusing to take on any new cases, has no money and has to sell stories of his past cases to get by. His brother Mycroft then ends up being arrested for treason, which puts Sherlock back in action (along with Dr. Watson and Irene Adler) to save his brother from a hanging. It sounds really good and right up my street, so I'm looking forward to going! A friend of mine suggested coming with and going for a meal beforehand, which sounds perfect if anyone would be willing to get their act together.

Apart from that, I'd love to stay overnight in a nice city. Last year, me and Martin stayed in York for two nights and I had a brilliant time. York might only be an hour or so away from us but it was nice to get out of Leeds for a bit and explore somewhere a bit different. Last night when I had nothing else to do, I browsed around the internet to see which cities are worth visiting. One that kept popping up time and time again was Birmingham, which I never previously would have considered.


I've been to Birmingham before with uni friends, for the Christmas markets one year. In all honesty I didn't get to see much of the city at all as it was so busy, so it'd be nice to have a nice relaxing wander to see what the city is like. I'm sure to the people living there it isn't up to much, but when people visit Leeds they think it's brilliant, whilst I see it as a bit boring. I don't want to do too much - certainly not as much as me and Martin did in London, anyway. We came back more tired than when we went! I'd love to go have a proper wander around the Bullring shopping centre... well when it's your birthday, a girl is allowed to do a little shopping right?


Last time we went to Birmingham, me and Martin had the misfortune of staying in the most horrible hotel I've ever seen. I have no intentions of repeating that mistake and have already found a gorgeous, well-priced hotel right in the city centre - Hotel La Tour. It's a four star hotel and appears to be of a similar quality to the Hotel Du Vin in York we stayed in last year. However this one is much cheaper so that's always a bonus, is it not? Apparently it's only a stone's throw away from the Bullring too, so not too far to walk with shopping bags - sounds good to me! I did look at staying at a Premier Inn, because me and Martin are always happy to stay in those and you know what you're getting... we've never been a bad one yet. However La Tour was only slightly more expensive and is ranked the third best hotel in Birmingham on TripAdvisor - although in fairness the Premier Inn I was looking at is right behind it in fourth, so swings and roundabouts really.

So, that's what I'm hoping to do for my birthday this year! I'll probably update in one way or another when I actually decide what we're going to do - I wouldn't be surprised if we end up staying at home or going somewhere completely different to Birmingham! But assuming I do go with Martin, what would you guys suggest to do during an overnight stay? Any must-see places or shops to visit in the Bullring? Good places to eat that aren't outrageously expensive? Any comments would be very much welcome!