Derbyshire: Libby's 30th and shootin some clay pigeons

Last weekend we went to a strange and magical place called Derbyshire for my friend Libby's 30th birthday. It turns out i cannot say Derbyshire. at all. i learnt pretty early on to just say 'derbyshhhi...' and then just fade off. 

In my defence, it's a tricky word to say. like squirrel. or Liss'.

That aside, Derbyshire was great. 

Some highlights included:

1. Derbyshire is where the Princess Bride was filmed. I looove the Princess Bride. It is also the setting for 'Pemberley' from Pride and Prejudice. I don't love Pride and Prejudice (is that controversial?) So, when the opportunity to go to Pemberley was raised, i chose to go clay pigeon shooting instead. CLAY PIGEON SHOOTING!!! 

(and before you wonder, no - the clay things weren't shaped to look like pigeons, i already asked. oh)

Shooting was awesome. We were given a girly gun (which still gave me a bruise on my shoulder. oh.) and a VERY helpful coach who quite literally positioned the gun, helped us line it up and basically told us when to shoot. Yet, we still missed more than we hit. Regardless, we were like warriors. Like soldiers. Like shooting HEROS. yes.

The boys had manly guns and had to do everything themselves. suckers.

I learnt lots of things about shooting. The saddest one being that the clay pigeons didn't look like pigeons, but rather this... 

bah. I also learnt that Elissa and I have non-dominant eyes (?) which means that we squint the wrong eye so our alignment is off (this actually could explain a few things...) I also learnt that Elissa seemed to have an 'issue' closing her left eye, so the shooting coach but masking tape over her glasses to 'help'. It was a dark time. ha.

I also learnt that shooting people are craaaazy. The boys' shooting coach said things like "You don't want to be beaten by a woman unless you're paying for it" and "How do you get a fat woman into bed?  Piece of Cake". He also told a scandalous story about his cross-dressing house lodger, which made everyone concentrate more on their shooting...

yes. he really just said that. i know.

I also learnt that a shooting club house is somewhere i prob shouldn't go again.... woah.

Despite that, it was such fun. At one point, I hit four clay disk things in a row and can honestly say I have never been more excited about anything. ever. weeeeeeeee!

This is the face of a joyful shooter.

These are the faces of many joyful shooters

Rob was suspiciously good at shooting clay disks. Almost as if he'd been practising...

2. Libby turned 30 in style.

Libby is insane, and threw a 30th birthday dinner like no one else could; she had rented the most amazing castle (which, awesomely was Florence Nightingale's childhood home! oooooh!) for 20 people to have a Black Tie Country Glamour feast. Yes. It was amazing. She had every element covered... including requesting that our group bring 84 eggs with us (we nervously brought 90 eggs as the Sainsbury in Derbyshhhhi only sells eggs in boxes of 15. weird? yes. weird. we literally discussed "but libby said 84! what are we going to do with the extra 6??" indeed.)

The greatest thing about having such a large group in a castle is that you get dressed for your Black Tie banquet in your lux rooms then sort of wander down the stairs without need for keys or wallets or phones. win. i loved it. A bit Downton Abbey if you will.... except at one point i went back to my room, put my ugg boots on under my ball gown and rejoined the party. win indeed.

wall paper for the win?

Birthday girl glam

men in bow ties. what fun.

3. And then... then... because Libby is pretty awesome, her party had FIREWORKS. i freaking LOVE fireworks. nothing makes me happier (well, except perhaps hitting 4 clay pigeons in a row or wearing ugg boots under a ball gown....) It was amazing. And, to be honest, they were a million times better than our efforts in Mansfield last year... but that's fair enough because Libby's birthday was epic and deserved epic fireworks. 

Elissa captured some of the highlights on video (keep in mind she may still have had masking tape on her glasses at this point...) and my favourite is Duncan's voice in the background saying "This is so irresponsible!" ha. oh Duncan.

Oh Duncan. x

All in all, bonza weekend: i drove a car (and waited until the drive home to google 'what is the speed limit in the UK'.... oops), shot a fake bird, brought the cost-per-wear on my Carla Zampatti gown down a notch and got to celebrate Libby's EPIC party throwing skills. Well played.

'Til next year xoxo

The wallpaper portraits were actually raised. like felt. epic.

xoxo