THE COLOURFUL SIDE OF LONDON

I had to do a second post on my London trip because I love the edgy boho side of the city and I just wanted to share these photos with you. We had a wander down a tunnel filled with graffiti near Waterloo and I just couldn't resist the photo opportunity. I do love colourful graffiti and it's always a great backdrop for photos. Lord knows if I lived closer this would be one of my daily spots for fashion photography. After the quick photoshoot we got the tube to Camden town, had a mooch around the market and wandered around for ages trying to decided which delicious food to eat. I ended up having Pulled pork noodles which were scrummy. We did a little light shopping and I took a million photos, so here's some of the photos that made the cut.

LONDON IN A DAY

I've been to London once before but  I didn't do any of the touristy things, we went purely for the shopping. This time around I tried to crush in as much as I could into six hours, obviously I haven't even began to scratch the surface. London has so many different personalities, it can shift from classy to hippy in a tube stop. I have to say I'm partial to either. We started off in Paddington station and pretty much got around by tube. I really hate the tube but it is essential for travel around London especially if you are in a hurry. We had a little walk around Leister square and then moved on to Covent Garden where we had lunch. I only had a chicken and bacon sandwich but look how yummy it looks. So if you are in Covent garden I recommend Davy's wine merchants. I managed to cram in Leister square, china town, Covent garden,Trafalgar square, Westminster and Camden. It was a rush and my feet are very sore but I had such a lovely day. I'm just going to leave it as that and pop my photos in.

BLISSFUL BIBURY

The next destination on my adventure in the south is Bibury, which is a very picturesque village in Gloucestershire. It's part of the national trust and I'm pretty sure its clear as to why. So we arrived here at about two in the afternoon and after the discovery I had forgotten my sd card we did a quick u-turn and went to Cirencester in search of a store. It wouldn't be a day in my life if there was not some small kind of disaster. Usually I wouldn't be too upset about that kind of small mishap but I couldn't bare the thought of not photographing this amazing place. It reminds me of the hobbit, just because everything is so small and quaint. The shot above and below is of Arlington Row, these were built in 1380  but converted into weavers cottages in the 17th century. Its one of the most photographed scenes in the Cotswold's and its not hard to see why. 

The weather has been really lovely today, we've been really lucky the entire trip the only time it has rained has been during the night. We  made the most of the sun and had a little stroll around the town,  we even went to the trout farm. I wasn't too sure on feeding the trouts, they swarm as soon as food hits the water. They were thrashing all over the place, it reminded me a bit of piranhas. I'm not sure what would happen if you fell in... bares even thinking about! The farm itself was very pretty to walk around full of nice plants and trees, I enjoyed that a lot more than the terrifying trout. 

If anyone is curious my top and jeans are from misguided. Not trying to turn this into a fashion post but I bloody love this top. It was twenty Two quid and I'll link it here. 

Back to the place itself, I had a quick look around the grounds of the local church purely because this cute little sign caught my attention. For some reason It had me singing 'were going to the chapel and we're gonna get married' over and over in my brain. My brain works in weird ways. This was actually the gates to the grave yard, which was beautifully kept, its really odd to say but there is something so peaceful about a grave yard... well during the daylight anyway.

The church was lovely from the outside and was right next to a very quaint school. I love this path way with the roses either side, when they are in full bloom its would be magical. I'm getting serious wedding vibes from this place. Don't panic Nath not my own. I think I've fallen in love with this little village, it seems like the most perfect place on earth. Every ones house is beautiful, the gardens are taken care off and there's not one piece of litter in sight. It almost doesn't seem like a real place or that anyone would live here. One things for certain I am eternally jealous of those that do. 

WESTON SUPER MARE

Today's little adventure took place in Weston Super Mare. The weather was bright and of course on a sunny day you have to partake in the most British of all customs; going to the coast, having fish and chips and pretending that it's a lot warmer than it actually is. The thing about the seaside as we so quaintly call it is that they are basically all the same. Weston Super Mare is pretty much the southern equivalent of Blackpool.  Is Blackpool northern? It's certainly more north than Weston anyway.  My geography is a little to be desired.  Only difference that the weather was better. It had the usual trademarks of a seaside town, Ferris wheel, roller coasters, sweet shops, ice cream and fish shops. The pinnacle of British culture. 

We obviously had fish and chips on the pier and sat outside and then moaned continuously about the influx of seagulls. Numerous references to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds were made whilst the smell of vinegar lingered in your nostrils. It always scares me that if seagulls were a little bit more intelligent and decided to work in a pack to mob you, we wouldn't stand a chance. The food was a bit naff if I'm honest, we waited about 20 minuets in a queue and it really wasn't worth while.

After we had a stroll along the beachfront, we decided to have a gander at the sand sculptures. It's corny but you have to appreciate the effort that goes into these sculptures. I don't think I could put my heart and soul into a creation to know that it would soon crumble into a heap. I only took a few photos of the ones that I personally liked. My favourite has to be the elephant and the tortoise but that's just because I find it cute. Not exactly a cultural awakening but it was a pleasant day out and we got to enjoy the sun for the short time its here. 

MAKING OVER MINI ME.

Millie, 12 : Swindon 

This is just a little bit of fun between cousins, before I get any ranty comments about making over a 12 year old. We got bored and decided to play with some makeup. I'm calling her my mini me for this makeover because we look similar and this is one of my go to looks! 

For the base we went for a very glowy foundation Dior Forever in shade 11, paired with plenty of liquid highlight by Becca and a bronzed glow with my Revolution bronzer. Eyebrows were filled in at the from with MACs eyebrow pencil in the shade Delineated and filled out further with MACs brow cream in ash blonde, the tail was then filled in with ABH dip brow in taupe. Eyes were created with the ABH modern Renaissance palette. Warm taupe was added to the crease and then blended out with the shades burnt orange and raw sienna. Finally I applied Primavera all over the lid and added the Kat Von D liquid eyeliner. To finish it off we added Marc Jacobs hi-shine lipgloss in skin deep. 

STAYIN' DOWN SOUTH

I don't often do day to day posts on my blog purely because I don't often do anything note worthy. But I'm staying with family in the south which isn't something that is a regular occurrence, so I thought why not blog about it.  This trip has already taught me that I should not be allowed to book train tickets... I'm travelling with my grandad and although he lives in Durham and we are travelling south, I booked the tickets from Newcastle... So we essentially travelled north to go south. When we got to Newcastle on Sunday and picked up our tickets we realised that we did not have any seats booked, which meant that my 83 year old grandad and I had to fight our way to the front of the queue and scour cabins for spare seats. We finally found some free seats together; but I'm not gonna lie it was like a military operation securing those seats, I felt a little bit flustered. The rest of the journey went without a hitch and we arrived in Cheltenham and were greeted by my auntie and cousin. We had a quiet night on Sunday, drank some vino and reminisced.

Today we went to the Outlet village in Swindon, mainly because I wanted to go to the Cosmetic Company and stock up on some makeup. Keep an eye out for a blog post on my purchases. We did some light shopping and had a bite to eat at Giraffe. I really enjoyed my Katsu Noodles and I have a soft spot for any drink served in a mason jar, they will forever be cute. My grandad however was not so fussed with his steak and chips. In his opinion proper chips are not thin and they should have spent less time on the fancy menu and more time making the food taste better. The verdict on the food created a small momentary divide in the family, but then as you do became the running joke of the day. Differing palettes aside we had a pleasant day of chit chat and I picked up some real bargains.

Plans for tomorrow I think are the beach so hopefully the weather is good and I'll document the entire thing. I'm just going to leave you with a photo of my family, because I'm running out of things to say and I need sleep. < Mainly because a house alarm went off from 6am - 12am  yesterday and disturbed my slumber. Stay tuned for more information on the comedy of errors that is my life!

HOTEL DU VIN NEWCASTLE

The other half and I had a few weeks off work together recently and we basically made it our duty to to do as much as possible together. We value our alone time as it's not often something we get. This time off included, a weekend in Rome, cinema dates, netflix binge's, meals out together and a romantic mid week stay in the toon. I was so impressed with the hotel in Newcastle that we stayed in, I wanted to share it with you guys. If you are looking for a lovers getaway in a swanky hotel then look no further than Hotel Du Vin. 

We booked a superior double room, this came with a Queen sized bed, chaise lounge, rain fall shower and free standing bath. If a chaise lounge and a free standing bath IN your bedroom doesn't have sex appeal I don't know what does.  I kid you not I felt like we were in an apartment not a hotel room. I've stayed in some swanky hotels and honestly most rooms you can barely swing a cat in. I hate that phrase but it gets the point across. I could swing a giraffe around in this room. Scouts honour. Not only that but the room was so tastefully decorated, the bare brick walls are so up my street that I seriously want them as a design feature in my own home. The colour scheme is so sophisticated, it almost seems to have a mood of its own. 

But lets talk about my favourite part; The bath. I confess that this was the lure to this hotel, I always judge a hotel on the quality of it's bathroom and it's toiletries. ps the toiletries were divine, sorry for stealing them. I love a good bath, I love a freestanding bath more. This is honestly such a romantic touch, a glass of champers and a soak together in here wouldn't go a miss. As you can tell I brought a little something from lush with me to make it all bubbly. It would be an unjust to this bath not to prepare it to it's full potential. So I spent a portion of the night soaking it up and pampering myself before a night on the tiles with my other half. The only disappointing part of this room was the lack of facility to do my makeup. There was one long mirror but no lighting around it, and I had to get ready in the bathroom which isn't great when its very humid in there. Just food for thought. However I was impressed that there was aircon, very few british hotels have it and it was a welcomed extra. 

The hotel itself is also very beautifully decorated, with lovely touches like log burners and outside the smoking area has a hut named the cigar shack. It also had an onsite restaurant that I hear is highly rated and not too badly priced, although we did not eat in, the dining area looked beautiful and elegant. I also passed a couple having afternoon tea and it contained candy floss... This place just has the perfect mixture of sophistication, good taste and quirkiness. Each member of staff we encountered were wonderful from the gentleman who checked us in who was pleasant and funny, to the bar man who kept us chatting till late into the evening. I can not sing this places praises enough, we will be returning hopefully for bank holiday weekend and I urge you to check it out too.  If your interested heres the link to there site, there are other locations although I highly recommend Newcastle! https://www.hotelduvin.com