Download Festival, BBQS And All The Social Gatherings – June 2023 Overview

What a month June 2023 was, and now we’re over halfway through the year already. The weather has been absolutely beautiful and our solar panels have been having the time of their lives.

Our wedding already feels like it was forever ago but in June we got back both our wedding photos and our video. We couldn’t have been happier with the final results and being able to relive the day again. We’ve already printed off some of the photos to get up on our walls and it makes me happy every time I see them.

Live music in June 2023

I was counting down the days to Download Festival to see my favourites headline and Bring Me The Horizon did not disappoint. Even though I may be biased I stand by the fact that they’re one of the best live bands around and really know how to put on a show. After their performance, they officially announced their January tour with Bad Omens, and I may have booked tickets for five shows. Yes, I am that person! I’ll be heading to Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester and both London shows.

Bring Me was the only band I really went to Download for, driving there and back for the day, but I was really happy to see The Blackout play a reunion show. All the bands I saw over the day were great.

On the flip side, the other musical event I went to in June was to see Gwen Stefani at Warwick Castle. Gwen has been on my bucket list for quite a while and I was so happy to finally see her. I wouldn’t say the show was the best I’ve ever seen, but it was a really fun sing-a-long evening.

Other entertainment

During the month I went to two theatre shows, the first being Carrie Hope Fletcher in Milton Keynes. Carrie is one of those incredibly talented people who has been in countless musicals such as Heathers, Les Mis, Cinderella, The Addams Family and more. It was amazing to hear her sing such a great mixture of musical tracks mixed in with others such as a McFly song (her brother is Tom from McFly).

Then the other theatre show I saw was Groundhog Day at the Old Vic in Waterloo. I’ve actually never seen the movie, although I know the overall storyline, so I don’t know how close it kept to the movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I headed to the cinema three times in June starting off with Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse which was such a great movie. Then I saw No Hard Feelings with Jennifer Lawrence which was really good. There aren’t many romantic comedies that come out now, but it reminded me why I love them. Then finally we saw The Flash which I quite enjoyed, but it wasn’t the best superhero movie.

Tidying up the garden

The only problem with having your own place is that there’s always work to be done but never enough money or time to do it all. My list of tasks to do just seems to be growing by the second.

As the weather has been nice we’ve focused a bit of time on our outdoor space. We picked up some new outdoor lights thanks to Lights4Fun including two sets of solar-powered lights to make the most of the sunshine. The little mushroom stake lights* that surround our gnome are my absolute favourites (top photo on this post). And the string of solar fairy lights* really light up the corner of our garden and they’re a beautiful warm white colour when on.

We were lucky to have my dad come round to help us sort out some of our front garden as well as re-plant some seasonal bits in our pots and bedding area. I just hope they last well.

June 2023 was full of BBQs and socialising

I swear it must be the weather but I did so much socialising over June, way more than I usually do.

Family wise we had Luke’s mum and his sister’s birthdays and Father’s Day so we had plenty of meals and family time. Then we hosted a BBQ for some friends as we got a new BBQ not that long ago and we love using it.

It was one of my best friends’ birthdays in June so we had a night out catching up and grabbing a few drinks. I did go round to a friend’s house to meet her new cat but the poor thing hide the whole time I was there, so I’m going to have to go back again when she’s more comfortable.

We also had another work social after an office day which was filled with food and plenty of cider and gin. It was so nice to spend more time with the whole team as the last time we all met in person was my very first day.

Everything else

Near the start of the month, I had a tattoo session with my favourite artist in London. In total, I got five different tattoos, two small gap fillers and three slightly larger ones. I am so happy with them all and already have my next one booked in for mid-July with more ideas ready to book. It really is true that they do get addictive, but I’m getting to the point (especially on my arms) that I’m having to really think about the space I have.

The one treat we decided on after I got my new job was to get Sky TV and this was installed in June. We now have a Sky box in our living room and a second one in our bedroom and I’m already so happy with it. Although I do find myself just watching Kerrang! TV all day and feeling old.

What did you get up to in June 2023?