London | Travel Diary 2017

With every December comes a time for exploration when it comes to Alex and myself. It would seem that every year we manage to do something or go somewhere and why not, it is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year. 

This year we decided to take our annual London trip in the month of December because there is always something new to see, try and I love going to see all the Christmas decorations. We got our itinerary ready and off we went on Friday, the 8th of December on the 8:44 train. First port of call was obviously to go shopping and the reason I love London so much is due to the vast amount of inspiration you can find for Christmas presents. We stopped at Fortnum & Mason, Liberty (obviously), looked at the beaut decorations on Carnaby Street and Covent Garden. The weather was perfect for us- no rain with blue skies and a cold chill to the air.

Our trip to London would not be complete without trying new food. We are massive foodies and every time we go to London we have a new restaurant to try. Instead of going to our absolute favourite- Bone Daddies, we decided to give Ippudo a try. I have to admit as much as I loved my ramen nothing beats a Bone Daddies. If I remember correctly I believe I had the Karaka-Men ramen with a boiled egg. Belly's full we went back to Covent Garden, definitely one of my favourite places to visit in London and we had a look in some more shops. At this point, we were both absolutely freezing and it seemed the temperature was dropping as the day went on, so we popped into Maxwell's Bar & Grill. We ordered the Salted Caramel Donut Freakshake- one to share between us and it was divine!! Seriously, if you're ever in Covent Garden stop by to try it. It was really delicious and not sickly at all although, that may have been due to sharing one! 

Our time in London was coming to an end so with one last look at Carnaby Street and Regent Street (as the Christmas lights had come on) we made our way home. We had a wonderful time and as always London did us proud. We left with belly's full of good food and many wonderful goodies.

Autumnal Walks and Pumpkin Carving | Lifestyle.

It has definitely been one of those weeks where all I found myself doing was looking forward to the weekend. This past week I've been working 12-hour shifts, totalling a week of 52 hours worked. Safe to say I was exhausted come Friday and all I wanted to do was have a lovely, relaxing weekend with Alex. 

I can safely say I am devastated my weekend has come to an end but it has been so wonderful that I thought I would share with you how I unwind and make the most of my weekend.

Why I Love Autumn! | Lifestyle.

It's that time of year again - my absolute favourite! It's funny looking back to my younger self when I would claim summer as my favourite season. Thinking about it now it was most likely just because it involved two months off from school/college, summer clothes and basking in the sun browning my skin. Needless to say, I always looked forward to Autumn and Winter because hellloooo Christmas!

As I sit and write this I have the 'Addam's Family Values' on the TV, with my view of the outside consisting of very cloudy skies and orange leaves flying up in the air. This definitely called for an Autumn blog post talking you through my reasons on why I just adore this time of year.

Invisalign Journey Part 1 | Lifestyle.

As if I am currently sat writing this blog post. As if I am sat at the garden table with the most beautiful sunshine beaming on to me about to write the first part of a dream come true.

Yes, a dream come true. You're probably thinking the sun has gone to my head because how can braces be a dream come true. But they are! 

Let's start from the beginning. When I was 13 possibly 14 I had to get braces. Now, my teeth were straight and fine but my canine tooth on the left side of my mouth hadn't fully grown down so when I smiled you could only see the tip. I had to get braces to pull this down so the brace I had was a plate (you could remove when eating) which had a single wire going across the front of my teeth. I think I had this for roughly a year or more. In the process of pulling this tooth down the brace had moved my other teeth to allow room but once my treatment was complete this left me with not only a cross-bite but the front right incisor overlapping the tooth next to it. When we mentioned this after the treatment I was told it would be classed as 'Cosmetic' dentistry so my mother would have to pay to correct this. So, essentially I was left with less than perfect teeth and from the age of 15 years old I was insecure about my teeth. I always noticed in photographs it showed up rather obvious and over the years I started practising in the mirror how to smile at the camera while disguising the issue. Of course, any photographs where I was caught off guard was an instant untag/delete.

What's In My Bag - Work Edition | Lifestyle.

I am definitely that girl you can always rely on when it comes to being out and about with because generally, I tend to carry just about everything with me. Now, don't get me wrong I may have everything in there from a memory stick to plasters but you certainly won't find any old nonsense in my bag as I like to keep it super tidy and remove old receipts/empty packets of food. I've seen far too many YouTube videos of women pulling out old furry sweets from months ago and being so surprised - ew.

My Current Skin Care Routine And Regime | Beauty.

Happpppy bank holiday guys! Hope you've all had a good one- I certainly have as the sun has FINALLY been shining for us. I've just sat down on the sofa with a coffee after a 10.1-mile bike ride so I'm feeling super relaxed.

Citadel Festival | Travel Diary 2017.

Tis the season of festivals and with each year a new one presents itself. At the start of this year I knew for sure I wanted to attend one having not been to a festival for five years! I have to say as much as I love going to festivals for the music, seeing your favourite musicians, the food and drink and having a laugh what I actually don't like is the people that come with it. There is always a select few to ruin your time and it's usually the people who haven't grasped the concept of a festival is for a good time, and for the music but they simply go to get trollied, high off their faces and ruin it for others (can you tell I'm a little bitter?). They're also usually the people who tend to remain at camp and don't bother seeing any musicians.

Having already been to Reading twice, Nass and Boomtown which are all weekend festivals, Alex and I wanted to find a day festival. That way you get the experience without the night time weirdos and you get to go home, shower and sleep in your bed (granny alert). I took to google and although there aren't that many especially near enough to us Citadel popped up. This is a rather new festival with only two years behind them but once I'd read their bio I knew it was the one. 

"CITADEL IS LONDON’S BRIGHTEST NEW FESTIVAL. COMBINING THE CITY’S CREATIVITY WITH A THRILLING MUSICAL LINEUP, FOR ONE DAY VICTORIA PARK BECOMES A SUN-DRENCHED UTOPIA…THE ULTIMATE SUMMER SUNDAY"

Fruit Picking At Durleighmarsh Farm | Lifestyle.

Fruit picking is something I've always wanted to do and with every new year I mention it to Alex but we still never seemed to go. However this year we were going to make it happen! I took to the Durleighmarsh Farm website as this is our closest fruit & veg picking farm to see when the best time was to go, July looked to be the perfect month predominantly for fruit. So, making a note in my diary with a set date the day eventually came round and perfect timing too what with the gorgeous weather. After a very long week at work, Alex and I were very excited for the weekend not only to relax with each other but to do something fun.

Croatia In Outfits | Fashion.

Hello everyone!

Now, we all know packing for a holiday is one of the most difficult things us girls can do because who wants to be seen in last years holiday outfits. I know for myself especially I like to buy new clothes for a holiday but also take a few pieces from last year to mix with something new. This is a great way of recycling clothes without having to wear the exact same outfit. Say for example you love a particular top, you could buy new trousers, shorts or even a skirt to make it look new when in reality you've worn it for the past 5 holidays.

This is just a peek into the outfits I wore during my time in Croatia. I wanted to keep it classy because I feel that I'm at an age (yes, I'm only 24) where I don't really want my bum cheeks hanging out anymore. I picked up these pieces over the past 3 months, just buying bits randomly that I came across on websites and as for bikinis, well I had to buy brand new ones because my other bikinis had become very well used from travelling- straight in the bin.

When it comes to packing for holidays I love to pack smart. I know it's easy to just take every single item you love and pair together outfits when you're out there but this year Alex and I were only taking one suitcase ... yes, that's right two people were going to be using the same suitcase, so I definitely had to smart pack. The day before we left I took down all my favourite items including all my new bits. I then organised them into day outfits and evening/dinner outfits as well as what I'd wear on the day of leaving and the day coming back. I paired everything together and actually found myself putting a whole load of clothes back I just wouldn't need. Luckily for us, everything did fit bringing our bag to whopping 19kg.

On to the fun bit ... outfits!

Day 1. 
I wanted to be comfortable for the flight but also warm for the aeroplane aircon/cool for the arrival. This outfit was perfect because these trousers are super comfortable. I wasn't at all cold on the flight nor was I too hot when we spent the day exploring. The entire outfit is from Miss Selfridge, the bralette and my bag are from TopShop and my sandals which are years old are from Next.

Croatia. Dubrovnik and Lokrum | Travel Diary 2017.

Ah, where do  I even begin? Those were exactly my thoughts when anyone asked me how my holiday was. Where do I begin? Other than the fact is was one of the best holidays. Dubrovnik has to be one of the most beautiful cities I've had the pleasure of visiting. It was incredibly clean (literally not even cigarette butts on the floor), the buildings were stunning and the scenery was unreal. 

Brighton Weekend Away | Travel Diary 2017.

If you haven't already gathered by now you'll begin to notice I loooove to travel. Whether that be abroad, in England or just spending a day away in a city. Whatever it might be I love to explore and see new sights. 

A Day In Weald and Downland Living Museum.

Now, this might seem like a random one but Weald and Downland Living Museum, according to Alex has been on his list of places to take me for a very long time. It was perfect timing to go as we had booked our weekend away in Brighton and fortunate for us we couldn't check into the cottage until 4pm. So, what were going to do on our Friday off until then? Alex came up with the brilliant idea to go as it was somewhat on the way to Brighton and what a great idea because I loved every moment of it!

One of the reasons Alex wanted to take me, aside from being a lovely place to walk around was because one of my absolute favourite TV series, The 10th Kingdom was filmed there. We left the house at 10:30am and headed straight over roughly an hour drive. It does cost £13 each to go in but it's so worth it. You're handed a map so you can navigate the grounds and essentially you look at very old housing and see how people would have lived many many years ago. The grounds are very well maintained and to a standard of how they would have been exactly years ago. You can also go into the houses/buildings and see just how the place would have been set up. Whilst you're wondering about there are animals dotted around the place so we saw chickens (whose names we found out were Sid and Rocket), horses, cows, even a mummy pig with little piglets who were so cute. We ended up being there for quite some time, the walks were very relaxing and the people who work there are so friendly and helpful. 

"Come and discover rescued traditional rural buildings set in a beautiful landscape, which tell the stories of the men, women and children who lived and worked in them over a 950-year period."

March Haul featuring Zara, Asos, Urban Outfitters and Topshop | Fashion.

Now, I'm definitely the kind of gal to buy bits here and there very sporadically but sometimes, just sometimes I acquire a crap ton of things within a week and then wonder why my bank account looks so depressing .. but in my defence with summer fast approaching I definitely wanted to start stocking up on some pieces. So, I guess this is my little summer haul. Now, to save up and actually book a holiday. 

Zara

The first thing I picked up is this beautiful coat. I spotted this one morning walking past Zara to work and I fell in love within seconds. It's a very pricey number (£79.99) however I think it's got a classic look to it, very ladylike and smart yet casual. The perfect colour and texture to spice up a plain black outfit and I will definitely have this for years to come. A lightweight piece perfect for cool summer days.

Niomi Smart's 'Eat Smart' Cookbook | Review.

We are all too familiar with the growing craze of veganism with health shops, restaurants and stores popping up left, right and centre and one of those to jump on the bandwagon being Miss Niomi Smart. Around the time she started her YouTube channel she herself decided to take on a healthier lifestyle although she does not claim to be vegan but 'plant-based'. Keep reading to find out what I think of Eat Smart...

Nailberry Luxury Nail Polish | Review.

Now, I'm the kind of person who is a serious health fanatic when it comes to products and what  I use. I am always on the look out to improve what I put onto my skin, hair and nails because why would you want to use something when you can't even read the ingredients? I've already whittled down my body wash, body cream, face care and deodorant to natural, kind to your skin products. 
My biggest quest was finding a nail polish that didn't leave my nails brittle and colour stained or having to resort to shellac. No nail polish in the world (apart from one ;) ) lets your nails breathe and if you're like me having bare nails is just a no no, but because my nails were always coated in polish I found they became weaker and kept breaking. That is until I discovered Nailberry L'Oxygéné nail polish which is the only one of its kind. 

Lottie London | Review.

Very recently I discovered the brand 'Lottie London' in Superdrug who I'm assuming are rather new to the scene. I certainly have never spotted them before so I was eager to try out some of their products AND they claim to be cruelty free and vegan (hoooray). The thing is when it comes to trying a new brand is that it's very easy to buy a whole lot of stuff spend a whole lot of money and not rate anything. There's nothing I hate more than wasting money on rubbish products. I really wanted to try a range of their bits without going over board because if you like the select few products you have bought you can always go back and pick up some other products.

Holidaying In Scotland - Loch Lomond , Luss , Edinburgh and Largs | Travel Diary 2017.

Is there any better way to commence the New Year than being away on holiday. No, I didn't think so either. Alex and I were incredibly lucky to go and spend a week away in Scotland staying with my mum, her partner and my brother. As they live so far away from me I don't get to see them, especially over Christmas as Christmas day was my only day off from work. I was not blessed like others with a week off for Christmas, instead I had the joy of working right up until Christmas Eve and back to work on Boxing day for another 5 days at work. 
So, of  course I was soooo excited for December 30th because that would be my last day at work until January 10th! We got to have a super relaxing day on the 31st, and enjoyed an incredible dinner at Kyoto's Kitchen (omg insanely delicious) before commencing on the very long 7 hour drive on the 1st of January up to Paisley collecting my brother along the way. We left at 4:30am so we managed to arrive by 12:30pm giving us the rest of the day to enjoy ourselves. I won't go into too much personal detail but we got to have ourselves a second Christmas and boy did we have a wonderful time during our stay. I haven't felt that relaxed in months! We got to explore, relax, laugh, have fun and sight see. Honestly could not have had a better start to 2017 (and definitely the cheapest holiday I've ever had).

Luss and Loch Lomond.