Tag: summer

Redondo Beach and travelling to Anaheim…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Lifestyle, TravelLeave a comment

Dress: Hush Sunglasses: Vans (I’ve repurchased these 3 times in the past seven years, love them!)

After four gorgeous days based in Redondo Beach we packed our bags and moved into Anaheim, but not before a morning spent on the beach.

Redondo Beach is a really lovely place to chill out and embrace that LA Lifestyle. I love the outdoors way of life that comes hand in hand with the gorgeous climate Southern California delivers. From surfing, volleyball, bike riding, skating and running, it’s so easy to be active. 

We had a wonderful stroll where the sea meets the sand, allowing the waves to crash against our bare legs. I’m always at my happiest on the beach.

Sadly a Dead Sea lion washed up whilst we were there and the excellent coast guards came straight away and took it off of the shore. The lifeguards are phenomenal in California, I would say that they are arguably the best in the world. Always so alert and well equipped. They don’t just look out for folks drowning, but keep the entire Beach clean and safe.

Anyway, after our morning on the beach, we headed over to Anaheim in preparation for our Disney days. It was a super hot day, so we headed straight to the pool and hot tub (which felt extra hot!).

Later on we headed to the mall for a spot of shopping where I picked up some Bath & Body Works treats (I’m obsessed with that place) and a little black Kate Spade bag.

I then chilled out at the hotel whilst the boys went to the shooting range. I find the shooting range absolutely terrifying, so I prefer to stay at the hotel and relax. They had a ball though!

Have you visited Redondo Beach?

L x

USS Iowa and a tour of LA…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Lifestyle, TravelLeave a comment

We kicked off our Sunday in Redondo Beach before heading south to San Pedro to visit the USS Iowa. Phil’s Dad (Steve), had always wanted to see a warship in the flesh and that’s pretty much why he chose the West Coast for our holiday.

The USS Iowa is a huge ship oozing with history and character. It’s really fascinating to walk around and Steve loved it.

Once we had finished having a nose around, we headed over to Hollywood to visit the Griffith Observatory and that iconic sign.

It was mega busy over at Griffith Park, but we managed to get parked right outside the Observatory- result! 

I think that the observatory is fantastic for views of the city and the sign. The observatory itself is also great. Both times that we have been we watched a show in the planetarium. It’s so interesting and relaxing. I love how visiting the observatory reminds me of just how small I am – we are. It’s so easy to get swept up in modern day life and forget that in the grand scheme of things Earth is rather insignificant. 

My view on life is to enjoy what we have now. Think about the future, but don’t stress it. Don’t take anything for granted. Anyway, visiting the planetarium helps to keep me grounded!

Cap: Borrowed from Phil, made by Billabong Sunglasses: Kate Spade about 8 months ago, T Shirt: I picked up from Ocean Park when we were in Hong Kong, Shorts: I picked up in Target last year.

After our trip to the planetarium, we took a trip to Rodeo Drive. We wanted to make sure that Steve sees all of the iconic places whilst we were in Los Angeles, so Rodeo Drive was a must see.

We also took Steve to the Chinese Theatre which is honestly one of the most disappointing places I’ve ever been to. It’s not glamorous at all and it’s always rammed. It’s such a seedy area and a complete contrast to the glamorous, exciting image I had conjured up before my first visit. 

Anyway, although Phil and I despise that area, we felt that Steve needed to see it and took him along. We parked right nearby ($2.50 per 12 minutes!!!) and had a nose at the handprints, footprints and stars.

Another place that Steve had mentioned he would like to visit was the La Brea tar pits. Which are basically naturally occurring tar pits where asphalt has seeped through the ground. 

It was completely new to Phil and I and fascinating to see. They have been excavating fossils there for years and have found so many animals including a mammoth.

The animals would come close to the pits for drinking water without realising that they were filled with asphalt and get stuck in the tar. It’s really sad, but awesome that we can gather fossils. I would really recommend a visit. 

Have you visited any of these tourist hot spots?

L x

Long Beach loving and a Taking Back Sunday Saturday…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Lifestyle, TravelLeave a comment

I’ve decided to create a little diary series of our trip to the West Coast of America because I think it will be super lovely to look back on one day and I can share our experience with you all. It’s going to be quite raw in terms of photography because as I’ve said before, I like my blog/Instagram/life to be unedited, so don’t expect any mad photography skills! 

What you can expect though, is an insight into our trip, some tips and inspiration if you are planning your own trip to the West Coast.

We started our trip in Redondo Beach, but headed over to Long Beach on our second day. Phil and I spent a week in Long Beach whilst on our honeymoon exactly two years ago and we loved it. There’s so much character in Long Beach with its beautiful Marina and pastel coloured boardwalk. 

Top: last year from Hush, Shorts: last year from Sainsbury’s, Sandals: years ago from Roxy, Sunglasses: Michael Kors (again from last year!).
The three of us had a mooch around the Marina until Phil left us to go to the LCS studios to watch League of Legends. He gets terribly seasick, so his Dad and I seized the opportunity to head off on a whale watching cruise.

Harbor Breeze Cruises are great for whale watching tours. I went on one in February with my friend Kate and we were lucky enough to see Gray Whales and sea lions!

The migration path along the west coast is great for spotting all sorts of sea life and on this trip we were lucky enough to spot two humpback whales! Unfortunately, one had become entangled in fishing paraphernalia and so a rescue team was on its way. The second whale was loving life wild and free.

My recommendation is to make sure you take a jumper and wear lots of sunscreen. It gets a bit chilly out in the open and quite windy when you are travelling 30 odd knots. I did cover up but I still got wind burn on my face (I’ll wear a balaclava next time 😂), but thankfully I didn’t fry. 

I then took Phil’s Dad for his first ever trip to Hooters. I really like Hooters because I love their chicken wings although on this occasion I accidentally ordered them a tad too spicy!

We then took an Uber back to Redondo Beach. Uber is really cheap in the States, presumably because the cost of driving is much cheaper. We filled up our car for under £20! It costs me over £50 back home.

It was in this Uber that I realised Phil’s Dad had not put suncream on one of his hands and was now sporting one really tanned hand. I laughed a lot in the back of that car.

I had booked Phil and I tickets to see Taking Back Sunday in the evening at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. Although we were jet lagged, it was an incredible gig with a great, well balanced set. I loved it!

Have you been to Long Beach?

L x

The Book Club, Book 2…

On By louiseIn Books, Lifestyle, UncategorizedLeave a comment


So I’ve not had a great couple of months when it comes to reading. I finished reading Vogue from the last book club instalment and have since fallen out of the rhythm of reading. Life’s been beautifully busy and I’ve sadly just put reading on the back burner. Anyway, I’m going to try and get back into a routine of reading before bed because I’ve got so many books at home waiting to be read and I just need to get back on it. 

So I finished Vogue a couple of months back and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think that it’s probably not a book for everyone but as someone who enjoys reading the magazine, it was interesting to have a sneak peek behind the scenes and Alexandra Shulman has a lovely way of conveying things. I particularly enjoyed her humour. I would recommend this to someone who is interested in fashion, the media industry or who enjoys Vogue. 

This leads me on to the next book club title… An Abundance of Katherine’s by John Green. 

My copy is a little dog eared from being dragged around hoping to be read (it’s been all over London, Belgium and California!). I like John Green’s writing style, so I’m quite excited about finishing this one.

Have you read Vogue? What did you think?

L x

Our weekend in Brussels, a photo diary…

On By louiseIn Lifestyle, Travel3 Comments

A few months ago I discovered Eurostar Snap which is a website that sells Eurostar tickets super cheap. There are some rules, you can only choose the dates you want to travel and whether or not you would like morning or afternoon train times and you don’t find out your exact times until 2 days prior to departure. The savings are brilliant so we decided to take Phil’s Dad away for Father’s Day weekend. The three of us travelled from London to Brussels for only £150 (£50 rtn pp), which is such a steal as the Eurostar is traditionally rather pricey. I would highly recommend it, especially if you have no specific time commitments. 

The three of us had such a gorgeous time exploring a city that we had never been to and eating tonnes of delicious food so I thought I’d pop together a little photo diary of our trip.

I think that a couple of days is the perfect time frame to get under the skin of this beautiful city. We all had a great time!

The architecture is super lush and everywhere we turned we were greeted with beautiful, decadent buildings.

Mannekin Pis, smaller than we imagined!

Stopping for a beer…

I sometimes call Phil ‘Philippe’ so was pleased to find a shop with the same name!

Breakfast in the square.

The photo above is my favourite from the entire trip. I never really edit photos because I love things to be raw and exactly how I saw them. This is the exact view we were greeted with as we turned a corner.

Fun in a pretty little park that we found.

Have you visited Brussels?

L x

A weekend in Munich…

On By louiseIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Over the summer, we were lucky enough to escape to Munich for a long weekend. I hadn’t been before, but the hubby had and said that it was really gorgeous, so I was excited to go. Being the type of person I am, I immediately began researching what we could cram into our weekend, I wanted to see as much of this city as we could in a short space of time.

After a flight cancellation followed by a flight delay (cheers BA!), we arrived in Munich. The sun was shining as we rode the train from the airport to the city. I loved looking out of the window and catching a glimpse of the countryside. There’s something so serene about fields dipped in sunshine. 

Upon our arrival I ditched our bags and headed out for a walk to explore. We were so, so lucky with the weather. It was just one of those perfect summer days. Warm and enchanting. I had a mooch around town, stopping for an ice cream whilst absorbing the sumptuous architecture. I felt really safe walking around and free too. I had a lovely couple of hours.

Later on we went for a walk along the river. It was so alive with people swimming and catching the last of the day’s rays. I had a paddle and the water was lovely, so clean and refreshing. I couldn’t imagine an atmosphere like it in London with the murky Thames!

I was so surprised at just how beautiful the city is. With its architecture, people and atmosphere it’s just such a positive place.

We found a great Mexican restaurant for dinner and had amazing burritos before continuing our stroll around until the sun set.

Munich is quite an active city with cyclists galore, runners and dog walkers. It was great to see so many people out and about.

On our second day we were up and out quite early, eager to explore as much as we could in our weekend in Munich. The streets lining the river have some great street art and I loved just taking it all in. 

Munich made me feel so light and free, it is such a relaxing place. 

We had decided that we were going to visit the zoo which was an hours’ walk from our hotel. I like to walk a lot when we are away so that I don’t miss the little details. I’m so glad that we did because we stumbled across a little market in Mariah Platz. The market sold fresh, local produce, plants and cute gifts. My favourite part was looking at all of the gorgeous flowers in full bloom.

We continued our walk and found an Italian restaurant with Al Fresco dining. Again, the weather was divine, so it was lovely to sit outside stuffing our faces!

Once we arrived at the zoo I was so surprised by how large it was. For a city zoo, I was impressed with the enclosures and also the amount of free space for families. There are lots of play areas and you could literally spend the whole day there. My favourite spot was on the sun loungers by the giraffe enclosure. So much love for lounging in the sun!

Soon enough it was time to start our walk back to our hotel. We were almost there when a thunderstorm started, so we ran into a shopping centre to grab dinner and shelter from the rain.

The following day was our last in Munich and we really wanted to check out a restaurant that we had seen on the first day and explore the English Garden.

The restaurant was Speisen and Getranke, a trendy burger place with an amazing woodland interior. The food was super lush and we loved it.

We then headed over to the English Garden which I think is Munich’s version of Hyde Park.

The park was lovely and filled with people enjoying the weekend. We found some surfers practicing in the river, which I really wasn’t expecting. I loved watching them though, we spent ages there!

Before long it was time for us to head back to rainy old London.

We had such a lovely time in Munich and I feel like it’s the kind of city that I would love to return to. It has everything needed for a weekend getaway.


Have you visited Munich? Where’s your favourite place for a weekend away?
L x 

What I wore in Venice, a mini outfit diary…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Last week I wrote about our time spent in Venice over the summer and this week I thought I would put together a mini outfit diary. 

We were so, so lucky with the weather for our trip. Sumptuous sunshine everyday except the morning of our departure. The days were lovely and warm, with high temperatures carrying on into the evening. I knew that I needed comfortable and cool outfits that were perfect for exploring this city on water.

This black daisy print maxi is from Jack Wills. I adore their style and especially love their dresses. This one was perfect for popping out to dinner in the evening. I teamed it with some sandals from Accessorize and a black pair of Ray Ban Clubmasters.

 Hubby is wearing a cap from Target which we picked up in San Francisco last year, Ray Ban sunnies, Topman tee, shorts are last year from River Island and a pair of Toms.

I picked up this cute white top from American Eagle Outfitters whilst in Florida over Easter. It’s such a great buy because it can be dressed up or down, worn with jeans or as seen here, black tailored shorts. This outfit was perfect for a day exploring the islands. I teamed it with some sunnies that I bought at a Forever 21 store in Vegas last year and some black tailored shorts from TU at Sainsbury’s.

I’m such an adorner of flip flops during the summer months and this sneaky Accessorize airport buy was perfect for our trip.

Hubby is wearing a grey tee from All Saints and the rest is the same as above.

No trip to Venice is complete without a gondola ride and on this occasion I chose to wear this lovely gingham dress from Jack Wills. I love the quality of their products and the fact that most of their dresses have pockets (hurrah for convenience!). Teamed with a pair of Ray Ban wayfarers, this was the perfect outfit for exploring the main island.

Hubby is wearing a top from AllSaints and a pair of navy tailored shorts (although I can’t remember where they are from, but I want to say Primark?!). 

I’m so sad that summer has come to an end although I love autumnal cosy knits and I’m a bit of a coat collector, so it’s not all bad. Hopefully we will escape for some winter sun and I’ll be back in my dresses and flip flops!

Do you have any summer wardrobe favourites that you’ll miss over the winter months?

L x 

After You by Jojo Moyes…

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


Summer, holidays and a good book go hand in hand. There’s something about soaking up some sunshine with a book in hand or killing flight time immersed in a fabulous plot that’s just rather special. I love choosing which books to take with me, spending hours wrapped up in a storyline so gripping that for a moment nothing else matters. 

I’ve been a huge fan of Jojo Moyes for years and was literally about to burst with excitement when her latest offering, After You, hit our bookshelves. We happened to be Stateside when it was released and I made sure I picked up my copy from a local Target store. I already had another book on the go, so popped my latest treasure to the side until alas it was time to find out what happened next to Louisa Clark.

I’ll be honest, I was expecting great things from this book. My expectations were not just sky high, they were out of the universe and back. There must have been such a vast amount of pressure put on Jojo to write a successful follow up to critically acclaimed Me before You and it must have been quite terrifying for her. That being said, I wouldn’t say that this was quite what I was expecting. In some ways I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was definitely expecting something magical and sadly I’m not certain that this was sparkly enough. From the start I felt like Louisa was rather unfamiliar and I get it, she went through something life changing and she changed. I’m just not sure if it was entirely consistent with the Louisa that I felt I knew. The storyline itself also felt a bit odd and at first I really wasn’t sure of where it was going. The last one hundred or so pages were brilliant though and I loved being dragged through the trials of Lou’s life. I loved the new characters, the representation of the old ones too. I feel like the last one hundred pages were what I was expecting all along and I was once again in love.

Read it if:

  • You loved Me before You
  • You like a decent chick lit novel
  • You like something a bit different

Best bits:

  • The humour
  • The way the storyline unfolds towards the end
  • The characters

Worst bits:

  • It took a while to ‘get going’
  • Louisa seemed a little too different to me

Have you read After You? What did you think? What’s on your to-read list?
L x

What I wore in Corfu, an outfit diary…

On By louiseIn Fashion, Lifestyle, Travel, Uncategorized1 Comment


Something that goes hand in hand with travelling is packing. Packing is something that I have such a love/hate relationship with. I adore picking out all of my favourite clothes, but hate actually packing it all. It’s such a laborious task, although admittedly I don’t help myself as I’m not a light packer, but hey I’m not sure what I’ll fancy wearing next Wednesday!

On our first day we decided to explore the town that would be our home for the week, Sidari. The coastline is so beautiful with little caves hidden along sandy beaches. The weather was warm and sunny, so I needed something cool and comfy. I had been stalking this monochrome top from Hush for weeks, waiting for a return in my size because it sold out super fast. It feels so lovely and light on and the quality is sublime. I love the cut and simplicity of it. These classic black tailored shorts were a bargain from Sainsbury’s. 

On the third day of our Greek adventure, we went on a massive trip to various parts of the island. I knew that it would be a long day and that comfort in the Greek sunshine was a must. So I wore these cute floral print shorts from Topshop. I love them so much as they are super comfy, light, have a gorgeous print and a cute lace trim. I teamed them with a basic black strappy top from H&M and some black sandals. 

After having such a mammoth day exploring, we decided to have a relaxing day. I recently bought a jumper from American Eagle whilst we were in Florida. It’s a sumptuous khaki colour and I’ve decided that I quite like a bit of khaki in my life despite not wearing it since the military camo trend of the early noughties. This whole outfit came from Topshop. The top is lovely and lightweight, perfect for the warmer weather and the black shorts have a crochet overlay which I adore as it makes them have a bit of character.

After one relaxing day, I was craving excitement, so we hired a quad bike and went on a beach crawl. I wore this incredible dress from Jack Wills. I’m a bit of a super fan of this brand because I love their style and the quality is brilliant. I adore this dress so, so much. The print is fun and it’s really lovely on.

On saturday we went into town for shopping. I wore this shirt dress that is also from Jack Wills. The print is so adorable with tiny keys, locks, hearts and letters. It’s quite unique and fun. Plus I’m a huge fan of navy, so I love it!

On our final day I wore this dress from Urban Outfitters. We went to Aqualand, which is a huge water park and this dress was perfect for throwing on and off after a day at the park. I love a little bit of floral in my life and this dress has the most incredible back, so it’s pretty much perfect.


Have you got any favourite summer clothes? 
L x

The day I fell in love with Paleokastritsa…

On By louiseIn Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

It was a little after eight A M when we set off on our adventure to explore the island of Corfu. It was already well into the late twenties, and I knew that it would be a scorcher of a day, miles away from our non-existent summer in grey London. 

I’ve always had a warm place in my heart for the Greek islands, blessed with the purest beauty and with welcoming locals they are such a lovely setting for a summer holiday in the Mediterranean and although I had my reservations about Corfu being spoilt by copious amounts of tourists, lads holidays and girls get togethers, I know that there is beauty in every place. You just sometimes have to look for it.

When I had been planning our Greek escape, a word that had been thrown around casually was Paleokastritsa. It was mentioned so casually that it didn’t ignite any particular curiosity in me and I didn’t research what exactly it was. Either way it was on our agenda for a visit and I was so very surprised by our discovery. In many ways I am glad that I didn’t research Paleokastritsa as I got to experience that raw, organic emotion that can only be felt when faced with something so breathtakingly unexpectedly beautiful and whilst photographs really don’t do the place justice, the incredible surprise from my own naivety was simply wonderful. 

As we climbed down the mountain, twisting and turning along the narrowest of roads, passing gorgeous bays basked in brilliant sunshine with a sea so turquoise that you questioned if you had even really seen the colour turqouise before, we were met with a crystal clear sea, a beautiful beach and the perfect place to explore.

Sure it was busy, but there was still plenty of space for us and I couldn’t believe that this was my life and this place was real. This incredible experience of visiting such a magnificent place and being able to just simply enjoy it was divine. I was instantly in love.

It was around lunch time when we arrived and we were both starving. We had been recommended a beach front restaurant called Vrachos and decided to stroll right on over for some delicious Greek food surrounded by stunning scenery. We had a massive meat feast and some courgette cakes that were truly scrumptious and I would highly recommend Vrachos as a place to eat if you are in the area.

Soon after it was time to explore and we went for a paddle in the sea. I was sad that we hadn’t brought swimwear with us, but was determined not to miss out on the pure waters, so waded in as deep as my short shorts would allow. Luckily this was enough for us to explore a cave and climb some rocks.

I loved looking at all of the fish dancing around my feet and watching crabs scurry past. I can’t express how clear the water is, it’s like a sheet of the clearest ice and simply incredible (Did I mention I was in love?!). 

There are two bays in Paleokastritsa that are perfect for swimming, going on a boat ride or simply sunning yourself as well as cute restaurants and shops. It’s got such a quaint, organic feel to it. I felt super relaxed there and loved the laid back atmosphere. It doesn’t need anything fancy, it simply speaks for itself, demanding you to embrace the harshness of the jagged coastline and become mesmerised by the lush waters. Forcing you to enjoy this special place on our magical planet.

Soon it was time for us to head on back to our hotel, but I knew that this first time wouldn’t be the last time I would step here.

So two days later we hired a perhaps slightly dodgy quad bike, filled a backpack with everything you need for a swim at the beach and drove for almost an hour, weaving up and down mountains, having close calls with coaches that are probably a little oversized for this island and having a massive petrol panic after almost running out and there not being a station in sight, before we were once again united with the ultimate gem on the Emerald Isle of Corfu.

I was so thrilled to be able to swim in the beautiful waters and be back at such an awesome place. I loved cooling off and living in a summer holiday dream. I’m so glad that we managed to go back.

In case you couldn’t tell, I would highly recommend visiting this magnificent spot that stole a piece of my heart the moment I set eyes on it. It takes a lot for me to really love a place, I lust after many places around the globe, but love is hard to come by and I’m so glad we visited Paleokastritsa.

Also, shout out to my husband for his patience and taking lots of photos for this little space on the Internet. Here’s a shot of him wading through the water before stepping on a sea urchin so I could have cave and rock photos – it’s not all glamour!

Have you visited Paleokastritsa? Has anywhere stolen your heart?

L x