Category: Lifestyle

My favourite places to shop online…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

  
Okay, I’ll admit it. I am head over heels in love with online shopping. I may even go so far as to say that I am slightly addicted to it. I adore the convenience, the fact that it’s open all hours and there is such a vast array of choice. Everything is readily available at the touch of a button, gifts, electronics, clothing. It’s all there in Internet glory, gasping to be bought. I think it’s amazing that I can have an idea about something, track it down and have it on its’ way within a few minutes. Oh what a time to be alive! No car park/finding the item in your size malarkey, it’s all there right at your fingertips. Another huge bonus is that you can see if they have your size as opposed to rummaging through rails before chasing down a shop assistant.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love an actual trip to the shops and sometimes you really just have to see the item in the flesh before committing to it. Not to mention it is sometimes nice to have a wander too. We particularly like doing this in the cold, grey months as shopping centres provide a haven from winter.

I now present to you my favourite online shops!

1. Oliver Bonas

They also have actual shops, but I adore perusing their online catalog. They have gorgeous items of home wear and also lovely clothing too.

2. Kate Spade

I’ve been a fan of Kate Spade for a couple of years now. I love the playful and fun style and am yet to find another designer who ticks the same boxes for me as Kate Spade does. I adore everything from the homewear to the handbags and drag my poor hubby into every single Kate Spade shop we pass by. 

3. Hush

I love the classic style of this company. Most of their products are simple, yet absolutely gorgeous. Think monochrome strappy tops and effortless dresses. I love the quality and the versatility of their items although they can be a bit on the pricey side.

4. Amazon

Let’s be honest here, who doesn’t love themselves a bit of Amazon?! You can find pretty much everything on here from cookware to gadgets as well as a vast array of books – hurrah!

4. Topshop

I love this place. Like literally love it. I like the affordability, the statement pieces and how you can have fun and push boundaries with their fashion. 

5. Asos

The best thing about Asos is the amount of choice. So many brands, so many items. I think it is literally impossible not to find anything to fall in love with on this site. Impossible. 

6. Jack Wills

I’m a bit of a Jack Wills junkie. Again it’s the quality and staple pieces that draw me in. I love the different prints they have for dresses and their preppy, feminine style. 

7. Cath Kidston

Great for cute homewear pieces and little gifts for friends, Cath Kidston has been a favourite of mine for years. Where else can you get such wonderful prints?!

So there you have it, some of my favourite places to splash the cash.

I’m off to check out the summer sales!

Where are your favourite places to shop?

L x

The Second Love of my Life by Victoria Walters…

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Second Love of my Life is the debut novel from the lovely Victoria Walters. 

It follows the story of artist Rose who is trying to rebuild her life in fictional seaside town Talting after losing her husband at a young age in a terrible accident. Rose is such a likeable character who has been through so much, but still has such a big heart. It was interesting to start in the middle of a really glum time for Rose. Often stories start with upmost equilibrium followed by tragedy. I quite liked that we arrived in the middle of such a major part of Rose’s life.

 Like all good stories, the journey is bumpy and like all good chick lit novels, slightly predictable. I really enjoyed Victoria’s writing style as it was so easy to enjoy no matter what sort of day you’ve had. It’s the type of story that you can take on your commute or on holiday. 

Of course, given the nature of the storyline there is the occasional sad part, but on the whole this book is uplifting and full of hope. Sometimes you just need a bit of simple chick lit in your life and The Second Love of my Life ticks all of the boxes. Rumour has it it’s only 99p at the moment for the kindle edition too. Bargain!

Best bits:

  • The development of the story between Rob and Rose
  • The light tone of the story
  • The creation of Talting

Worst bits:

  • Predictable in places
  • It felt a little drawn out around the middle of the story and full on towards the end 

Read it if:

You love a good chick lit story that is heartwarming and a little bit different.

Have you read The Second Love of my Life?

What books are on your list to read this summer?

L x

Me Before You…

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, Uncategorized3 Comments


Aah… Jojo Moyes. What a complete legend. Her writing style is brilliant, telling a story so well that you aren’t even aware it’s a story. Her writing flows and is something you can read anywhere from the train home to the poolside in an exotic location. 

I read Me Before You at a time when I hadn’t read anything that had excited me for a while. I wanted something to wrap me up in a story so gripping that I couldn’t put it down and thankfully, this is just what it did. I love how I was unsure of the ending right up until the end, how believable the story is, how wonderful the characters are (even Will Traynor), and just how beautifully written it is. That is why it remains one of my favourite books of all time. I love that it’s gritty and not your average chick lit. I love that it’s absolutely hilarious and heartbreaking all at the same time. I love how it tackles a massive issue that is a bit of a taboo. Anyway, in case you haven’t guessed, I’m a huge fan. That is why I was super excited when I heard that Me Before You was being turned into a movie. It’s always a bit of a gamble when a book that you love is turned into a motion picture, but I was excited all the same. Even if I did have to wait a couple of years! 

A couple of months ago the trailer was released, and it was everything that I was hoping for. A great cast and beautifully shot. It made me even more excited for the movie, so I was super glad when it finally came out last week and I could drag my husband along on Saturday. I wasn’t sure if he would like it as he is such an action movie boy, but he rocked up with me anyway and I was pleasantly surprised when he said that he enjoyed it much more than he thought he would. Hurrah! 

Starring Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame, the screenplay was written by Jojo Moyes and I think that’s why it has retained so much accuracy and remained true to the book. The cast are fabulous and have really succeeded in embracing the characters. The funny parts were absolutely hilarious on screen, it was like the scenes had leapt out of the book with added detail. Patrick’s facial expressions were the best. The sad parts were terribly moving, literally all I could hear around me were tissues ruffling and noses snorting. Overall I was very impressed with how the movie has turned out, such accuracy and detail with a wonderful cast. I would highly recommend a watch, even if you haven’t already read the book.

Now I just need to read After You, to see how the story continues!


Have you read the book or seen the movie?

L x

Our first BBQ in the new house…

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You may remember reading about our house move that took place a couple of months ago. One of the things that really stood out for us when viewing this house back in October was the garden. It has a sumptuous patio area that is a brilliant size and absolutely perfect for barbecues. From that moment on I was on countdown to Summer when we could invite our buddies over and bust out the barbecue. I’ve decided to try and have a barbecue once a month and think it’s a wonderful excuse to have a few people over for a catch up and to stuff our faces. With the warmer weather slowly creeping in (snow one week, heatwave the next?!), last Saturday was a great day for a barbecue. Although a little cooler than the weekend before, the sun was shining and the fire pit burning. Oh how I adore a barbecue!


The hubby and I made a trip to the supermarket to stock up on supplies the night before. We decided to make rocky road and frozen yoghurt as sweet treats for our guests. The rocky roads were so tasty I could have happily hidden them away for myself. Damn you conscience!


When people arrived they brought a wonderful array of goodies from burgers, lemonade, halloumi, right down to this marvellous cheesecake made by our friend Sarah. It was lovely that everybody brought something and meant that we had a gorgeous variety of food on offer.


It was so nice to be out in the garden enjoying the sunshine. Holly loved having lots of people to fuss over her and the new addition to our garden – the Egg Chair – got some use too.


We hung out, caught up and played Heads Up which is an app version of charades and terribly fun. It records the people acting out the cards and is such a giggle. I would highly recommend it. The girls team won – hurrah!


There was ten of us in total and all eight of our guests were part of our wedding party. It’s not very often that we all manage to get together, but it’s so lovely when we do because everybody gets on brilliantly.


We were chatting away in the garden when we realised that Eurovision was on later that evening, which resulted in us deciding to have an impromptu Eurovision party. I have never been massively into Eurovision and have only rarely watched the whole show. A few people popped out to top up our alcoholic stash and then we all put in some change and drew countries out of a hat. I picked The Netherlands and Ukraine and was convinced I wasn’t going to be winning any monies. Flash forward a couple of hours and I had morphed into Eurovisions biggest fan, shouting at the telly and critiquing away. I was convinced that Australia had won (which they had), right up until the last second. I was super pleased when Ukraine won. Hello seven quid!

I had a great time hosting our first barbecue here and can’t wait until our next one in June. 

Have you had your first barbecue of 2016 yet?

L x

A cruise around London Town…

On By louiseIn Food, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment


Aaah, London. One of the most beautiful cities in the world, and thankfully the one I call home. Underneath its often grubby exterior, London is such a gem. There’s always something new and exciting going on and I have so, so many fond memories that were created here. That’s why I was extra excited when PGtips invited me along to their Green Tea boat party on the Thames. I literally couldn’t wait to go. 

Now, I’ll be honest, I’m not your stereotypical British tea lover, but I am a big lover of the iconic PGtips Monkey. My Mum is besotted with PGtips and I loved collecting everything they were dishing out when I was a child from hologram fridge magnets down to cuddly chimps, we’ve always embraced the brand. Fortunately I was allowed to take a plus one on our boat trip, so took along Mumsy to try out the various flavours of green tea, mocktails and tasty nibbles.


We had a little walk around town before finding the pier and boarding the boat, ready for our little adventure.


The boat was really nice, and I loved spotting Monkey hanging around.


We found a little table with comfy chairs ready for our trip along the Thames before spotting the nibbles that had been laid out for guests. Ever a fan of food, I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and had a delicious plate of chicken satay, sandwiches and fruit. 


Soon enough some of the lovely folk at PGtips brought over some strawberry green tea and iced tea mocktails. The strawberry tea was super lush, even I (who is quite fussy), enjoyed it. I love that PGtips have created some gorgeous flavours for their green tea. Life is about variety and it’s great that they have expanded the brand. 

I would say that the colour palette of the trip was green, and rightly so as PGtips have carried out a new research report which has found that green colours in the home and workspace help boost productivity and positivity. I think that green is quite a zen colour and reminds me of warm summer days out in the sunshine. I’m always most productive on sunny days, so I imagine that this report is quite accurate.


After having a nibble and refreshing our palettes with some green tea, we stepped out and enjoyed views along the river Thames. When you are familiar with London, it’s often easy to forget about the sumptuous architecture and gorgeous skyline. The trip reminded me of the amazing sights that we have in London and it was nice to take a few moments to take it all in.


The cruise soon got extra exciting as we were presented with a six metre high monkey that had been made out of 110,000 leaves! It was a wonderful surprise and everybody on the boat got snap happy (including my Mum who has recently upgraded to a smart phone!).


It was great to see Monkey bobbing around with the London Eye in the background, the sunshine just breaking through and glistening upon the Thames.

Sadly all good things come to an end eventually and our cruise was no exception. We had a lovely time and will reminisce about our trip every time we have a cuppa!

L x

Exploring Hughenden Manor…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, Uncategorized2 Comments


A sunny day in England is rather divine. Colourful, sumptuous and resembling the constitutions of heaven, when the sun shines over Britain, it’s impossible to be dreary. I love the positivity and motivitaton that oozes from a perfect sunny day. I love being outdoors and am in my element on a beautiful day. We became National Trust members before Christmas and I am super glad that we did as their sites make for a brilliant spontaneous day out. 

Last Sunday we chose to explore Hughenden Manor in High Wycombe. We all bundled into Phil’s Dad’s car and rode off in to the sunshine to explore this new to us National Trust site. Situated amongst rolling hills, the scenery devours you and it’s impossible to ignore such natural beauty.


We drove up the steep car park and began our trip downhill, already dreading climbing the hill back up again. The staff are super friendly and wonderfully knowledgable. We stumbled upon a tour of Hughenden Manor and learnt so much. It was brilliant. Considering we knew nothing about the place beforehand (I wasn’t even sure there was a house!), we came away feeling rather familiar with the place.


The manor is grand and voluptuous, and I loved imagining what it would be like to live there. Where would I put the couch? Would I move the library? 


Once we had finished having a jolly good nosey, we found a cafe and decided it was cake o’clock. 

The cakes were gorgeous and I had serious food envy after trying Steve’s apple and berry flapjack. It tasted how I imagine winning the lottery feels. 


We then had a stroll around the beautiful gardens and visited the bee hives.


Seeing the bee hives was great. It’s so good that Hughenden are supporting the tiny little creatures that help the world go round. It’s so sad to hear of how much the bees are struggling and hopefully these hives at Hughenden will help the little guys out.


There’s also a lovely walled garden which is home to some gorgeous crops. It’s a pretty little place to walk around and a great place to pick up a couple of plants. I chose a Holly Hock and Geranium. Our back garden is quite bare and I can’t wait for the little bursts of colour to brighten it up.


Soon it was time for us to make our way home, but not before a quick climb and some cow spotting.

Have you visited any National Trust sites?

L x

Book review: Us by David Nicholls

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, Uncategorized2 Comments


‘Us’, tells the story of Doug, his wife Connie and son Albie. Doug is a middle aged British man who finds himself in a situation when his wife Connie announces that she will be divorcing him after their family travelling holiday around Europe which they are having as Albie will be off to university after the summer.

I had such a funny relationship with this book. At times I couldn’t wait to delve further, discover more about this family and their life. At other times I felt like I could only read a couple of pages before my attention was averted. It took me a whopping two and a half months to read, and landed up coming to both Iceland and Florida as well as in my handbag when we moved house. Honestly, I was so glad last week when I finally managed to finish it and could start something new. I think it was partly because being a girl in her mid twenties, recently married and not pursuing a career in science, I didn’t really have much to relate to with the lead character, Doug. I also found that Connie was a bit annoying at times and didn’t relate to her either. I think that this is the main reason that I struggled with it. It is quite well written though and certainly wasn’t torturous enough to give up on. There are some truly humorous parts as well as some heart warming snippets and I really found myself routing for Connie and Doug to make it work.

Read it if:

  • You like a love story 
  • Enjoy a smidge of humour 
  • You like to be taken on a journey 

Best bits:

  • The way in which the story is told. It flips back and you slowly learn about Connie and Doug’s relationship and their past
  • The comedic value
  • Their journey through Europe

Worst bits:

  • I found Doug unrelatable
  • Connie is annoying 

Whilst I did enjoy ‘Us’ overall, I won’t be re reading it anytime soon. 

Have you read ‘Us’? What did you think? Have you read anything exciting recently?

L x

A birthday celebration at the Bluebird in Chelsea… 

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

I absolutely adore Chelsea and it’s one of my favourite places in the world. With its shops and gorgeous restaurants, it really is a gem. There is so much character bursting from the streets and it just feels rather lovely. London can be gritty, grubby, harsh and fast paced, but Chelsea is never any of those. Always calmer, cleaner and brighter. It’s also home to one of my favourite restaurants in the world – The Ivy Chelsea Garden. I am so in love with that cute little restaurant nestled right into the heart of London with its voluptuous garden. It is simply beautiful. Oh and the food is good too!

On this occasion, we were in Chelsea to celebrate my wonderful friend Kimberley’s thirtieth birthday and recent engagement (but it was mostly all about the birthday girl). Kimberley had opted for the Bluebird to play host to her celebrations and it was such a nice place to celebrate in. With its clean, crisp and modern interior down to its tasty menu with unique choices and delicious cocktails, the Bluebird was rather great.

We started our evening having drinks in the bar which is situated in the middle of the restaurant and littered with stunning flowers. Apparently a guy from Made in Chelsea was in our presence, but as I don’t watch the show, it went completely over my head!


After we had relaxed in the bar, we went to the mezzanine room for our private dining experience which was totally lush. The room was spacious and well presented. There is a glass wall which overlooks the restaurant. I think that this was a nice touch as it brought the sumptuous Bluebird atmosphere into our room whilst still offering upmost privacy. 

We had a three course set menu and for starters I opted for pate. A bit of a staple choice for me as I love a bit of pate and toast! Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations and I soon traded my starter with my hubby’s watermelon and beansprout choice. Although it sounds a bit wild, it was deceptively tasty and I much preferred it to the pate.For my main course I chose lamb with Cous Cous. It was absolutely delicious and I am quite convinced that I could eat it every day of my life and remain quite contented. It made much more of a positive impact than the pate!


Dessert for me was ‘Burnt Cambridge’ aka Creme Brûlée and was rather tasty, although I found it a bit too sweet towards the end.


Soon enough the evening began to draw to a close and we sang Happy Birthday to my lovely friend. Kimberley had a pretty cake chosen by her fiancé Simon and the staff at Bluebird were really brilliant at packing it all up for us to take a slice home.


We then popped back down to the bar for more cocktails and catch ups before the night carried us away along King’s Road and to the tube station, where we were super lucky enough to just catch the last train home. Phew!


Have you visited the Bluebird? Where is your favourite place to eat in London?

L x

Cinema dating…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

  

Aah the cinema, the ultimate place to view the latest blockbusters, overindulge on popcorn and generally just switch off for a couple of hours. I’ve always quite enjoyed going to the cinema. It’s great seeing a movie that’s trailer has caught your eye. 

Watching the storyline unfold on a gigantic screen with perfect sound is always enjoyable, but I don’t think that this is the reason I adore going so much. I think that it’s more of the whole experience. The choosing of the seats (I often find middle of row G is pretty good!), to the choosing of the snacks (sweet popcorn, Diet Coke and Pic ‘n’ Mix please), I just love it. I love switching off for a couple of hours and being immersed in something that isn’t super ordinary. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore my life, but it’s nice to just switch off and relax too. Have uninterrupted time (unless your cinema companion is a talker). 

We’ve recently moved home and now live within walking distance of a Cineworld, so the hubby and I have snapped up some Ultimate passes. They are bloomin’ brilliant. Going to the cinema is super expensive, by the time you have added on drinks etc, you’ve pretty much spent thirty quid each. With our passes we can go as often as we like for £16.90 per month. As long as we have gone a couple of times, we’ve made our money back. The passes also give us a discount at a few restaurants as well as drinks and snacks, so it’s a pretty good deal. There’s also an abundance of movies coming up that the hubby and I are keen on seeing, so it’s worked out quite well really.

It’s a great excuse to make quality time to spend with one another as sometimes it can be so easy to spend time together without really spending time together. If that makes sense? We are both quite busy and I barely see him in the morning. We get in quite late from work and often cook dinner together, but mostly the evening has gone, so it’s nice that we set aside any free evenings for a cheeky cinema date. It sounds bonkers because obviously we don’t talk to each other during the film, but we have a nice chat on the way there and discuss the movie afterwards. I quite enjoy our little cinema dates.

Have you been to the cinema recently? 

L x

Visiting Universal in Orlando…

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


It was in January of twenty-twelve when I first set foot in Universal Studios and fell in love with the place. If you can fall in love with a theme park that is…

I had travelled to Florida before, but there is always so much to do in the sunshine state that we never got round to visiting. With gorgeous beaches, Disney World and a mountain of other theme parks, it’s almost impossible to squeeze everything in to one trip and poor Universal was previously overlooked. Not on this occasion though, with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter littering our screens and magazines, it was quite clear that we needed to go. Needless to say, we had a super fun time and it became transparent that this wouldn’t be the last time that I would hold a ticket to Universal Studios firmly in my grip.

Flash forward to Summer of 2015, and my newly wedded self was found at Universal Studios in California during our honeymoon. It was a completely different experience, with the park set on two levels. It was much smaller than in Orlando, and we managed to see and do literally everything in one day. 


This Easter break we decided to return to the sunshine state, Florida. We hadn’t been since 2012, and felt like it was time to go back. I hadn’t been to Disney World in Florida since I was a child, so we decided that we would hit up Disney and revisit Universal whilst we were stateside.

We chose to stay at Rosen Inn, a hotel that was only a ten-fifteen minute walk from Universal Studios, a decision I was very pleased about. I love walking and it saved us $20 a day in parking too. Most hotels have shuttles to the theme parks, but you have to book and I’m a free spirit who doesn’t like to be tied down to bus timetables, so being able to walk was rather fabulous.

We could also see quite a few rides from our hotel room, which was cool and it had everything you could need from a nice restaurant to a swimming pool. We enjoyed our time there.

We were meeting up with friends further into our stay and had planned to go to Universal with them. On the first day of our Floridian adventure, we were due a beach day at Anna Maria Island. Unfortunately we were forecast thunderstorms for part of the day, so we decided to visit Universal instead. I mean it couldn’t be that bad in the rain, right?!

When we arrived in our jet lagged early risers state, it was a bit grey, but sumptuously warm. The park wasn’t terribly busy and we managed to hop on a few rides before the thunderstorm landed. We bought ponchos and just rolled with it!


It was great because the weather pretty much emptied the park and we hardly queued for rides at all – hurrah!

It also only lasted for a couple of hours and soon enough the sunshine was back on top form, drying our rain soaked feet and my hair into it’s natural wavy glory.

Top: Next ,Shorts: Topman

Top: Project Social Tee ,Skirt: River Island
We had such a fun day, just the two of us and we even managed to grab a Christmas decoration – something that has become a little tradition on our travels.

We were quite surprised by just how much the park has changed since we last went. There is so much more to do now and the Harry Potter section has pretty much doubled in size, spread out across the two parks. They are also opening a new ride later this year – King Kong – and it looks pretty rad!

We visited Universal another two times whilst in Orlando this time with our friends. We all had so much fun and the park really does make a great day out.

Top: Topman, Shorts: River Island Playsuit: Topshop

Playsuit: Topshop , Top: Jack Wills, Shorts: Next
We were also super lucky as that first day was the only day we saw rain for the duration of our trip. 

Following on from our three trips to Universal, I’ve picked up a few tips that I like to use.

  • Stay as close as you can to the park. The last thing that you want after walking around all day is a long journey back to bed. Likewise, before starting a long day, you don’t really want to have a long journey. Plus if you can save on parking, it’s always a bonus!
  • But your tickets in advance. There are so many deals to be had and it means that you don’t have to waste precious holiday time sorting out tickets. I swear by Attraction Tickets Direct.
  • Work out what things you absolutely must see/do and prioritise them. There’s a good chance that you might run out of time and you don’t want to feel like you’ve missed out.
  • Choose comfortable clothes/footwear for the day. I know that this may sound blindingly obvious, but short skirts and flip flops aren’t terribly practical for rides!
  • Try and stay as late as you can because the crowds filter away and queue times drop dramatically towards closing time.
  • Download the Universal app. It has ride wait times and a map, which is super handy. There is free wifi at Universal too – hurrah
  • Take advantage of the single rider lines if you don’t mind riding on your own!

So there you have it, a snippet into our time at Universal!

Have you visited any of the Universal parks?

L x