Winter Time in London!

London is such a pretty time at Christmas and we are all very guilty of a mulled wine and toasted marshmallows whilst browsing German markets and paying an extortionate amount to go on a fairground ride! So I've rounded up a few of my favourite Christmas markets in London this year...

Winter Wonderland

The ever so famous Christmas Hyde Park attraction; this year there seems to be more rides than ever! Stalls are scattered around the park and they've expanded their outdoor seating so people don't have to be standing around eating their bratwurst. There are two circuses on offer; Zippos Christmas circus and Cirque Beserk. Aswell as the Magical Ice Kingdom and ice rink. Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park is open until Monday 2nd January 2017.

Tate Modern

This cute little intimate Christmas market is back for it's third year, held between the Tate Modern and the Thames. Such a lovely way to spend an evening. There are lots of stalls selling a variety of different things from toys to accessories. There is also a Victorian carousel for kids or simply the child in you! Christmas markets at the Tate Modern is open until Friday 23rd December 2016.

London Bridge City

This yearly Christmas market is back and is held along the Thames with a view of Tower Bridge. There are over 100 unique independent stalls, so if you're looking for a twist on the usual Christmas markets then this is definitely the one for you. Film screening and live music is on the agenda too. London Bridge City Christmas market is open until Tuesday 3rd January 2017.

Have you been to any others? What's your favourite Christmas market in London? :)

#BloggersXmas 2016

#BloggersXmas event with Soeurs De Luxe

Last weekend I headed down to Finch's Pub near Moorgate for the annual #BloggersXmas event arranged by Jasmine and Kirsty from SoeursDeLuxe blog.

There was a wide variety of different small scale companies showcasing their latest collections and ranges. 

These included: Jewellery Box, PNY, Skin Fix, Sweet Cheesus, T Plus, Jewelled Buddha, Aromand, Journey Link, Miiko, Type The Hype, Gia London, La Miela, Sheena Bulsara, Katherine Elizabeth, Joe Browns, Blogosphere Magazine AND My Beauty Matches! 

The brands that stood out to me the most where:

Jewelled Buddha - selling scarves and necklaces made from up cycled old sari's. They work with a women's co-operative in India. 

Sweet Chesus - selling gluten free, handmade cheesecakes and come in a huge range of flavours like peanut butter and elderflower. Simply delicious!

Katherine Elizabeth - selling hand made hats, ascot style! Materials come from all over the world and is sourced ethically.

We also received a massive goody bag with lots of stuff in there, so shoutout to.... 

Freeman Beauty

Carabao Energy Drink

Popband

Nuva

Sibberi

Yankee Candle

Saturated Colour

Seascape Island Apothecary

I want to thank Jasmine and Kirsty for inviting me to this event and I look forward to next years #BloggerXmas! :)

Aromand

Gia London

#BloggersXmas

Joe Browns

Jewellery Box

Jewelled Buddha

Sweet Cheesus

Katherine Elizabeth

My favourite book shops in London

I am a lover of books, book nerd, reading bod, whatever you want to call it!

Here are my favourite book spots in London...

South Kensington Books

Located just outside South Kensington station, I love this little cute and cosy book shop.

They are an independent book seller and much cheaper too. Their books ranges from fiction, to travel and even limited edition finds. 

22 Thurloe St, Kensington, London SW7 2LT

Brick Lane Book Shop

This book shop not only sells books, but they sell literature themed merchandise and cool book related gifts and quirky items. The shop can get quite busy and with limited space, sometimes it is a bit of a struggle to get past other customers! But I really like the modern feel to this shop whilst it is surrounded by vintage shops in Brick Lane.

166 Brick Ln, London E1 6RU

Waterstones Piccadilly Circus

I can spend the whole day here! 5 floors of books! (There is also a cafe on the lower ground floor and a bar and restaurant on the 5th floor) Probably every book you would want to read can be found here. Travel, poetry, fiction, science, educational, children's, languages, history and politics, art... the list goes on!

203 - 206 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9HD

What other book shops would you suggest I visit? :)

Trace Publicity SS17 Press Day

Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Trace Publicity SS17 press day.

Trace represent a variety of different high end brands such as Astrid and Miyu, Furla and Rails LA.

Here are a selection of pictures I took at the event.

#TRACESS17

Rails LA

Astri and Miyu

Baobab

Sockshop

Pure

La Portegna

Rituals

Rituals

Furla

A day trip to Brighton

On Saturday I took a trip down to Brighton with a friend of mine.

We headed to St Pancras around 9am and took the 1.5 hour train to the vintage seaside resort.

When we got there, we went for lunch at a cafe on the seafront and went on the pier. 

After that we went to the Lanes. The Lanes are famous for the cute vintage one off shops in the heart of Brighton. Nestled in narrow walkways with bunting lining the streets. It's a hidden gem in the town. There are various jewellers, fudge shops and even a Choccywoccydoodah! (Mmm)

We stopped off for Cakes at Catwalk Cakes on Bond Street. It is a pretty small shop but had a lovely selection of cakes and teas on offer. We bought some for take-away and sat on the beach eating it! Such a perfect view!

We went to La Choza for dinner which is a Mexican restaurant on Gloucester Road. I had a chicken burrito and a tequila sunrise :)

After dinner, we headed to the British Airways i360 which is the world's thinnest tower. It opened on the 8th August so it is still fairly new. Tickets are £15 for adults and cheaper for students and children. You can book online 3 days prior for a discounted rate. It runs for 20 minutes during the day and 30 minutes in the evening (starting from 6pm). There is a champagne/drinks bar in the pod. Here are some pictures of the view you get from the top of the tower. 

Our day ended after this and we headed back to Brighton Station for our train back to St Pancras. Such a tiring day!

#BigBloggersExpo

A few weeks ago I attended Ldn Meet Up's #BigBloggerExpo event run by the lovely Lauren and Abigail.

If you are not familiar with Ldn Meet Up, it is an organisation for bloggers to meet with brands and other bloggers at events. I have been to a couple of events myself and have thoroughly enjoyed all of them, so I was very excited to be attending this one!

It was held at the Danubius Hotel Regent Park in London from 2-5pm. Perfect was to spend a Sunday afternoon. I bumped into my Welsh babes Neesha, Char and Lottie and sat with them whilst we eagerly awaited for the doors to open. We were given a sheet with all of the brands' names. We had to talk to every brand in order to get a stamp and at the end of the event exchange the stamped sheet to get our goodie bag. I thought it was a really clever way to get us to talk to everyone and stay there for the entire time.

When we were let in it was time to explore the different brands there!

There were 13 different brands altogether: Living Proof, Heaven Skincare, Jody Bell, 4 You By You, Dr Paw Paw, Two Three, Bonnie Boo, Jewellery Box, Juvadent, Westlab, Borough Box, Return to Glory and Brandbassador.

It was great to talk to all the brands and learn more about the products.

The ones that stood out for me were: Living Proof, who do amazing hair products like dry shampoo and hair styling sprays. Two Three, who do cool, affordable clothing. And Bonnie Boo who just launched their website a few weeks ago. They make hampers full of baby goodies perfect for baby showers and gifts. 

I will be doing a more detailed blog post on specific products I got during the event so watch out for that!

The girls also held a raffle for the British Heart Foundation too, which I thought was really thoughtful of them.

I'm looking forward to next years #BigBloggerExpo!

If you are a blogger, based in or around London then I would definitely recommend you to sign up to Ldn Meet Up, you get an email when they announce new events! Who knows, I might see you at the next event :)

Thank you to Lauren and Abigail for having me! x

Hello Kitty afternoon tea at Cutter and Squidge

Soho based cake shop, Cutter and Squidge have teamed up with Hello Kitty to bring the cutest collab ever, Hello Kitty afternoon tea!

Cutter and Squidge were founded by two sisters in North West London, they say their passion "is to invent new products or recreate time honoured classics and experiment with flavours so that we can offer our take on old favourites alongside cutting edge taste sensations."

I went there with with my sisters last weekend. After having booked a table there 2 months in advance (yes, it was two whole months) we were a little disappointed when we arrived and our table wasn't ready for another half an hour. Nonetheless, we were given pink lemonade to sip on whilst we waited. We then headed to the 'Secret Garden' where the afternoon tea was held.

When we were finally seated we ordered our teas and soon after, a huge selection of sandwiches, cakes, scones and sweet treats arrived. They also offer vegetarian alternatives. Everything was refillable, so if you wanted more salmon sandwiches you were free to order as you wish for the same price. This sounds amazing but with a steep price of £40pp it was no surprise. (£20 for children under 8 years old)

You were given a 1 and half hour table time until you had to leave. It was enough time to scoff all our food down and take some pictures.

Overall, we had a lovely time, the food was good and the staff were friendly.

In the shop, there are Hello Kitty merchandise and confectionery to purchase.

The Hello Kitty afternoon tea is available at Cutter and Squidge from now until the 31st August. It is best to book a table well in advanced and you can do so here.

What are you waiting for?! Get booking now!

The Good Ship Benefit

Last Thursday, me and a couple of blogger friends headed to the Good Ship Benefit on Embankment for my friend Georgie's birthday celebrations!

With blogger babes Sarah, Fii and Georgie

The Good Ship Benefit is a collaboration between Benefit Cosmetics and City Cruises Partners and is a temporary pop - up open between 9th April until 31st August 2016. The ship is open to the public and has a San francisco themed design. There are 5 rooms in total on the ship, The Brow Lounge, two upper decks, a bar and a restaurant. It is open from 11am – 11pm, Sunday – Thursday and 11am – 12am on Friday and Saturday. 

There were a large selection of cocktails and wines plus pub style food like burgers and salads. Although the prices were more on the dearer side, the views and location made up for it!

The staff were incredible! So friendly and informative, giving us a tour of the ship and making jokes along the way! It definitely made the experience that bit more special.

Have you been on the Good Ship Benefit or will you be making a visit?

TrekAmerica take 2!

So at the beginning of June I embarked on another TrekAmerica adventure!

This time taking on the deep south; New Orleans, Nashville, Memphis, Natchez, Birmingham, The Great Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg.

If you are not familiar with TrekAmerica, they are a small group tour company specialising in American road trips. Most groups have around 13 people on the tour ageing from 18 - 35.

There are camping trips and BLT ones too (budget lodging). Trips run from as little as 3 days to a whopping 80 days on the road!

My tour started and ended in New Orleans, I stayed 2 nights before just so I could have a little wander in the city before my tour actually started. I stayed in the Garden District and visited the famous Magazine Street. I also met up with some people from my group beforehand to have dinner with which was really nice. The tour started and we headed to Birmingham where we visited the Civil Rights museum.

I loved visiting Nashville; where the CMA (Country Music Awards) festival was on during our stay. The city was so vibrant and there was something going on in every corner you turned. The Great Smoky Mountains were beautiful, we hiked up to Clingman's Dome which gave us a perfect view of the Mountains from a height. Memphis was also pretty memorable, we went to Graceland's and saw the home of rock'n'roll legend, Elvis Presley. It was so interesting and I learned so much about his life that I never knew in the past.

Here are a couple of pictures during my time in the deep south.

I can't wait to book my next adventure!

With my trek friends; Beth and Jo-anna

Beale Street, Memphis

Gracelands, Memphis

Jackson Square, New Orleans

Gatlinburg

The Great Smoky Mountains

Nashville

5 tips to saving money on holiday!

We've all been there, always looking for ways to save money while on your holibobs!

Here are 5 tips to get more for your money!

1.) Bring a re-usable water bottle with you 

In that way you don't have to pay for bottled water every time you go out. Having a re-usable water bottle with you means you can save a few pennies everyday and it all adds up! Most hotels/shopping centres offer a water refilling station, so keep an eye out for them!

2.) Look for hotels that provide free breakfast/have breakfast included in the price

That's one meal that you don't have to pay for, fuels you up for the day ahead!

3.) Plan ahead

Do your research well in advanced. Look at cheaper alternatives, plan your days and nights out. Look for deals.

4.) Take leaflets at hotels for discounts

All hotels have some sort of leaflet stands which showcases the nearby attractions. Pick them up and have a look, lots of them usually have discount codes/vouchers on days out and can save you money!

5.) Look out for shuttles, buses, different methods of travel

Taxi's can be expensive, and looking into alternatives is always a must. Some hotels have shuttles that go to and from the nearest airport and this is always relatively cheaper than calling a taxi. Alternatively, live like a local and not a tourist, catch buses or trams. Save money and ride the city the scenic way!

Has anyone else got anymore tips on saving money on holiday?!

Vans x Nintendo collab range

Hands up who loves Vans and Nintendo?! MEEEEEEEEE.

I'm so excited about this collab range and I have already placed a cheeky order online (oops!)

The range consists of your favourite Nintendo characters; Princess Peach, Super Mario, Donkey Kong and Yoshi mixing with the typical skater Vans look the brand is famous for.

There are backpacks plastered with Princess Peaches' signature pink puffy dress on, t-shirts and tank tops with a cool 'Game Over' logo, and shoes with uncountable Yoshi heads on! What more could you want?!!!

The range is out instores and online now from here!

Will you be picking something up from this range?