Month: May 2018

Visiting Niagara Falls…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

We woke up in our rental penthouse to a beautiful sun kissed skyline and gorgeous blue skies. I’m never a lover of grey days which we have so many of in England and it was so refreshing to have such lush weather.

I had been dreaming of visiting Niagara Falls since I was small and with it only being an hour or so away from Toronto, it was top of our list. So after heading to Starbucks for breakfast (we are in the habit of having Starbucks for breakfast whenever we are on holiday), we jumped in the car and sped off towards Niagara.

The drive was pleasant and we were all in awe of Lake Ontario as we drove alongside it. The lakes are actually incredible, so vast and naturally beautiful.

We found a car park near Niagara Falls that was only ten dollars for the day (I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I loved the exchange rate whilst we were away. Everything felt almost half price!). We then had a short hop, skip and jump to the Falls.

My goodness, they didn’t disappoint! What an incredible place. The experience was most delightful, hearing the water crashing down, seeing the ice covered rocks and watching the sun highlight the current. It was really special.

After we had soaked up the falls, we stopped for lunch (a quick bite at Tim Horton’s – hello chicken croissant!), we mooched around the souvenir shops and quirky tourist attractions. It was around the colourful main area (which felt a teeny bit like Vegas on a miniature scale), that we found the upside down house. It doesn’t cost very much to get in, but I think seeing the house from the outside is just as exciting and a great photo op!

Soon it was time for us to drive back to Toronto, but we stopped a couple of times on the way back. The first to investigate this awesome ship wreck and the second to do a spot of shopping at the Premium Outlet. My goodness the Mall was savage. I didn’t acknowledge that with it being Easter Sunday, most places are closed. This resulted in every man and his dog rocking up to the premium outlet because Simon malls appear to be open pretty much every day. We had to queue to get into some shops (including Kate Spade, which was totally worth it) and it was worse than the Boxing Day sales at Westfield. Anyway after that traumatic experience, we headed back for burritos from the Fat Bastard Burrito company and a well deserved rest!

Have you visited Niagara Falls?

L x

Arriving in Toronto…

On By louiseIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Canada had been on our ‘to visit’ list for a while and when I spotted cheap flights from London to Toronto over Easter (£500 Direct!), we jumped at the chance to go.

We flew with Air Transat and I must say that it was generally a pleasant experience. They had a nice selection of movies and edible food so all in all it was a success.

The only small issue we had was waiting almost two hours for our baggage to appear at Toronto Pearson because ground staff took forever to unload it.

After we finally collected our baggage, we headed over to the rental car collection place across the road where I was greeted with gale force icy winds and rain. It was at this point that I wondered if we should have gone to the Caribbean instead. However, my mood was greatly boosted when we got a free upgrade on our rental car and found ourselves in a nice all wheel drive instead of the saloon car we had booked.

The drive from the airport to our centrally located rental penthouse took around half an hour. We were then blown away by the gorgeous views from the penthouse before popping out to Poutini’s for some, er, Poutine. I had it with pulled pork and it was totes delish!

We then chilled out in a jet lagged haze and I was excited to see what Toronto had to offer.

Have you visited Toronto?

L x

A pupdate on little Ivy…

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It’s been almost six months since Ivy moved in and honestly they have completely flown by. This little fair haired fur ball has stolen our hearts and forced everyone who meets her to fall in love in that half a year.

Her little personality is really prominent now and she has grown to weigh exactly 3kg. It’s unlikely that Ivy will grow much bigger now as she is almost eight months old. Ivy loves running and exploring. We’ve all spent more time in the garden with the warmer weather and lighter days. Ivy likes to potter about in my flowerbeds, batting blossoms with her little nose. She also likes following ants and is obsessed with a family of wood lice that she has found living under a plant pot.

We have stopped attending puppy club and puppy training because Ivy is getting older and doesn’t need to go. Socially, she is fantastic and loves everyone and all animals. We always find it amusing when she bounds over to a large dog when out on a walk. Ivy is often the size of their ear!

Her other favourite thing to do is open the doors to the gym at our local park so that the receptionists coo over her. She definitely likes attention!

Her bond with Holly is quite sweet, they enjoy grooming each other and snuggling together. Holly even indulges Ivy in play sometimes, although I think she still finds her younger sibling a little annoying.

We recently had Ivy spayed which I was awfully worried about as when Holly was spayed she was poorly for two weeks. I was just concerned with how Ivy would cope but I needn’t have worried, she was back to her normal self after one day!!! We are currently trying to keep her calm during recovery although it is proving terribly troublesome. Can a puppy even be calm for ten days?!

In terms of her separation anxiety, it’s definitely improved massively since we returned from Canada. We haven’t created her and just let her have run of the house with Holly. It’s been great as she doesn’t get upset anymore and even relaxes enough to sleep whilst we are out. I’m so pleased!

My friend spotted this tote whilst out shopping and bought it for me. I laughed so much when I saw it. It’s literally like they have put my dog on a bag.

We also DNA tested Ivy to find out wha breed she is and were shocked by the results. Everyone always assumes that Ivy is a Chihuahua, but nobody has ever suggested Yorkshire Terrier. I loved reading her report from Wisdom Panel, I felt like it was quite comprehensive and gave us a bit more of her history. We were never worried about what breed she actually was but mostly curious because we could tell that Ivy wasn’t a pure Jack Russell like her advert suggested.

L x

Book review: Not That Kind Of Girl by Lena Dunham…

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I have been a fan of Lena Dunham ever since Girls starting gracing our screens. Her natural, raw talent radiates through and you can tell that she’s really genuine.

I like people who are open and honest, which Lena certainly is (perhaps even an over-sharer!). So I was excited to read Not That Kind of Girl.

Overall, I really enjoyed this tell-all book from Lena. I liked how raw it is and that Lena is a happy non conformist. However, I do think that there’s a lot of people who won’t ‘get’ her or her story. I feel that this is both a positive and negative trait. I think it’s important in life to not do things because it’s how people expect you to, but more out of the love and passion that you have, which is what Lena has done. I think if you don’t ‘get’ Lena, it might be quite hard going as a book.

There are so many pros, the writing is great, her honesty is refreshing and overall I really feel like I understand her better.

The cons would be that it will appeal to more of a niche market rather than the masses and at times it can be a little emotionally draining.

I would definitely recommend giving it a go and deciding for yourself!

Have you read anything recently?

L x

Countryside walks…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, Uncategorized1 Comment

One of my favourite things to do on the weekend is jump in the car and drive towards rolling hills of countryside. We are fortunate enough to live a short drive away from the green belt so it’s super easy to be transported from hustle and bustle to tranquility.

We recently bought a drone for Phil, the DJI Mavic Air and have found a few spots seemingly in the middle of nowhere that are idealistic for flying.

We are all quite fond of a stroll through the fields and I love the sense of reconnection that I get. I spent quite a bit of time playing outside as a child and have always loved being in the fresh air, although I much prefer dry sunny days to grey wet ones!

I think that it’s so easy to be swept up in everyday life and living through a screen so I like to use my dog walking time to just live in the moment. I try not to look at my phone (although I sometimes sneak in an insta story or two!) and just exist. I like to watch the happiness filling my fur babies faces, the birds and the trees. I find that I feel super chilled after our daily stroll.

I am very much looking forward to the sun kissed warmer days where I won’t need wellies for a country walk!

Where’s your favourite place to walk?

L x

Miami South Beach…

On By louiseIn Food, Lifestyle, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I really enjoyed our stay in Miami, everything from the warm sunshine kissing our ghostly pale winter skin to the gorgeous pastel painted Art Deco buildings lining the streets. Miami was a real treat.

I feel like you can’t visit Miami without having a day at the beach. The beaches are just divine with powdery sand and ‘water so clear you can see to the bottom’ (thanks Will Smith). So on a sunny Sunday in February we hit up the infamous South Beach.

The atmosphere was great – everyone was out from families to girl gangs and people who looked like they were taking a break from a Men’s Health photo shoot. People were having picnics, playing music and generally just frolicking. I love a beach day and couldn’t wait to slip into my new Seafolly swimsuit, however, there wasn’t a changing facility in sight! So I landed up hiding behind a little shed with Phil holding a towel whilst I shimmied my starkers body into the new cozzie. I can assure you it wasn’t my finest moment, but completely worth it for a swim in that turquoise sea.

I must also mention that somehow I got fried despite wearing factor 50! Although luckily it turned to tan, which almost never happens. I’m not sure if the sun was extra strong that day or my winter skin so pale after a few months of cloud, either way I definitely returned home with a holiday glow!

I also introduced Phil and his Dad to Texas Roadhouse where we had amazing bread (seriously it’s so good), drank sangria and generally stuffed our faces whilst watching birthday go-ers mount a wooden horse. It was grand.

In the evening we went to a bar along the water which was a really nice end to a really nice day.

Have you visited South Beach?

L x

Arriving in Miami…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I had been looking forward to exploring Miami for months, dreaming of beautiful beaches, silky sunshine and bright blue skies. Miami always appeared as such a glamorous place and I couldn’t wait to see what it had to offer so after our trip to Orlando, we drove down south to Miami.

The drive took around four hours with a stop for lunch. It was pretty straight forward with no traffic. We checked into our hotel which was located along the waterfront and had gorgeous views which I was quite excited about!

We decided to go for a sunset stroll along the beach in the evening. It was so pretty with the pastel coloured lifeguard huts and sand dunes. There is was also a cat colony which was amazing, so many kitties!

There’s something really tranquil about being at the beach around sunset. The colour palette changes entirely and the crowds disperse. It makes me feel super chill!

Have you visited Miami?

L x