New Year, New Hair

December Highlights

Day & Night in Brighton

Festive party season dress 2015

Fancy Dress/Halloween Costume - Poison Ivy

Crete: Old Town, Rethymno

Crete: The White Mountains & Libyan Sea

Crete: Fortezza & Venetian Harbour, Rethymno

Crete: Perivolia Beach, Rethymno

Iggy Azalea London show

Dirty Burger

25th Birthday

Black tie/vintage inspired dresses

Next month I have a black tie event to attend which has a 1920s theme but isn't fancy dress. Fortunately, vintage inspired dresses never seem to fall out of fashion and ASOS in particular is spoiling us with a plethora of options. Aside from the easy returns and avoiding dingy changing rooms, ASOS is great for stocking boutique brands. It wasn't intentional but my favourite dresses were from the same three brands - Chi Chi London, Frock and Frill and Virgos Lounge. Let's take a look at their offerings...   

Lovebox 2014: Saturday

Going blonder

You may remember that I went blonde in October. About 6 weeks ago, I went blonder!

Boom Burger

I'm afraid it's another post with phone photos and dodgy lighting. Think I need to make sure I leave my camera permanently in my handbag from now on! 

At the beginning of this month, a group of us from work went to check out Boom Burger, a Jamaican burger restaurant in Portobello, West London. As you can see from the picture above and their website, Boom Burger has a very strong aesthetic; made up of green, yellow and red from the Jamaican colour palette and cartoon-style graphics.

May roundup

Just in case you don't follow me (yet ;-)) on Bloglovin', I thought it'd be a good idea to do a round up of my posts from the month just past. In retrospect, May was a pretty fun packed month - Dan & I took a week off together to have a little break from work. Luckily I remembered to pack my camera and blog our London adventures.

Spring/Summer Haul - New Look, H&M and Zara

L-R clockwise: H&M Jersey Skirt, £7.99; New Look V-Neck T-shirt, £5.00 (sale); Zara Sandals with Metallic Strap, £19.99; H&M Blue Printed Wide Leg Trouser, £14.99

Flat Iron

I wasn't expecting to have another lifestyle post for you so soon but Dan decided to take us for a post-work Monday night treat at Flat Iron on Beak St. in Soho. His boss went there the Friday before and couldn't stop raving about how good it was. I had a peek at their website which annoyingly didn't contain much information (we later discovered this was part of their minimal theme) but their Facebook page came up trumps with plenty of photographic evidence of their meaty offerings.

Fudge Whiter Shade of Pale

Patty & Bun

Following our 3 hour tour around the British Museum, we'd worked up a serious appetite. This was a semi-deliberate attempt to balance out the gluttony that we planned to embark on at Patty & Bun. I'd been desperate to try Patty & Bun for a while but we don't spend much time around Central London. Plus I'm not really about that queuing life (Dan's colleague once queued for an hour to eat there!). Cleverly, we scheduled our trip just before dinnertime rush hour and arrived at 4.30.

(Photos taken on an iPhone)

The British Museum

Our plans to check out some more greenery had to be abandoned due to the predictably crappy British weather. Rather than trudging around in the rain we chose to get some knowledge at the British Museum. I'm pretty sure we've been before when we were at school but neither of us could remember much about it. 

As we walked up to the grand entrance, we were surprised at the amount of people around.

Richmond Park

Something has changed in me. Or maybe I've always felt this way and never realised. The truth is, these days I'm always craving fresh air. Even popping out at lunchtimes in the polluted City doesn't satiate my appetite for the outdoors. So it was only natural that the first thing Dan & I choose to do on the first day of our week off together, was find the biggest bit of greenery we could find in London - Richmond Park.

Pink Leather Jacket

Studded PU Boohoo.com, £30; Pastel faux leather Forever 21, £35.75; Zipped collar biker River Island, £55; Double breasted faux leather Zara, £69.99

Life recently, April 2014 edition

I have a huge amount of respect for bloggers that hold down a full time job yet still manage to come home and blog. It's something that I've really struggled with recently for a variety of reasons but mainly that as I sit in front of a computer all day at work, I have no desire to do that once I'm home. However after not blogging for almost 3 weeks, I've missed it and thought I'd ease myself back in with a little life update (check out last year's April edition). A lot has changed this past month, mostly positive. First up, as I'd like to think my first photo depicts - Spring has sprung! What better way to inject some seasonal decor than a colourful bunch of tulips?

Spring/Summer Sandals

L-R: Black wedge, £19.99 H&M; Blue leather, £39.99 Zara; Black lattice, £25.99 Zara; Embellished, £19.99 Deichmann; Tan & black, £14.99 Deichmann, Double buckle, £45.00, Aldo

Ireland - Dun na Ri Forest & Cabra Castle

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to take an impromptu trip to visit Dan's brother and his family in Mullagh, Ireland. I'd only been once before back in 2010 so was long overdue a return trip. We arrived on Saturday evening and spent the night catching up with some drinks by the fire. That's what I love most about going to visit, they live in a gorgeous house tucked away in a little village right in the middle of the Irish countryside.

The next day we were pleasantly surprised to wake up to the sun shining despite Ireland's rainy rep. Determined to make the most of it, Dan's nephew and niece took us exploring around Dun na Ri Forest.

Saturday in Portobello

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, Jasmin wanted to show me how West London does brunch after salivating over my Breakfast Club photos. She took me to Raoul's, a Mediterranean restaurant and deli situated between Notting Hill & Westbourne Park. 

Little homeware haul

In my last post, I mentioned that I had picked up a few little bits of homeware. I didn't intend to but there were so many cute things that were pretty cheap and from places that we don't have in London.

Brighton: North Laine

You may remember from my last Brighton post back in October that my sister goes to Sussex Uni, providing me a quick and easy way to escape the city now and then for the day.

Last time we spent most of the time by the seaside so this time I wanted to explore North Laine - an area made up of several streets full of little quirky, kitsch and vintage shops.

After picking up some rock from the Pier of course.

Saturday in London Part 2: Borough Market

After a huuuuge breakfast from The Breakfast Club (come & salivate over it here), it was time to make our way slowly to Borough Market. We weren't the only ones that rose and showed our faces on Saturday morning - the sun came out to provide the perfect backdrop for playing tourist in our own city.

Saturday in London Part 1: The Breakfast Club Hoxton

Earlier in the week Dan & I decided that for once we were going to get up at a reasonable hour and actually partake in some day activities around London. Dan suggested we go to Borough Market which has been on my list for a while. I proposed that we start off with breakfast at The Breakfast Club in Hoxton followed by a long walk to London Bridge.

Taking your camera really forces you to pay attention to your surroundings. And as it happens, walking through Shoreditch is full of weird and wonderful sights to snap:

New handbag - Fiorelli's Harper

Say hello to my new orange baby, the Harper Triple Compartment Shoulder by Fiorelli:

Hair saviours

How does the saying go? "You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". Okay, it might be a little shallow to apply to hair care but it's true! I took for granted the good that certain products did for my hair and learnt the hard way when I didn't repurchase and used cheaper alternatives. As most people do around the festive season, I scrimped on my hair products to have some extra pennies for all things Christmassy. By the end of January after replacing the L'Oreal Hair Expertise collection with Tresemme and running out of the Organix Coconut Milk Serum, my hair was a frizzy, frazzled mess. As I needed to get my roots done anyway, I thought it would be the perfect time to get the split ends chopped off and rekindle my love affair with the products that had treated my hair so well before.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop the January blues from creeping in. Even though I started the year filled with excitement and optimism, it wasn't enough to combat the dreariest month of the year. Thankfully I had a trip to the Harry Potter studio tour with Dan to kick start the remainder of the year in style.

The Warner Brothers studio is based in Leavesden, just outside of London. You can get a fast train from Euston to Watford Junction where you hop on a shuttle bus straight to the studio. Naturally I managed to get us on the Overground train which stopped at every stop along the way. Panicked that we would be turned away for missing our slot, I called the Customer Services team who kindly reassured me that we would be able to join the next tour. Phew!

We finally arrived chilly but giddy (ok, that was just me). The entrance hall was decorated with portrait photos of the cast, including a picture I'm sure Daniel Radcliffe is delighted that it greets guests:

Goodbye 2013, hello 2014!

2012 was one hell of a year. Therefore 2013 had big, big boots to fill. And boy did 2013 go to town! This year I felt like I took more action, more risks. From the major- changing jobs and moving into my first flat with my other half; to the minor- going blonde and giving my blog an overhaul. I'd like 2014 to be a little more settled, not getting too comfortable because that would dull but maintaining and improving all of the things I managed to change this year. So gaining more experience to progress in my job, turning our flat into the perfect sanctuary to come home to, not letting nasty ass roots show through the blonde too much (semi joking!).

More importantly though, I want to enjoy more that life has to offer. While my job is incredibly important to me, I want to ensure that I use my time away from it wisely to keep my mind open, positive and relaxed. I want to use less energy on negativity and save it for doing more, seeing more, achieving more.