THE OUTFIT POST / A RAINY DAY IN LONDON

OUTFIT:

JUMPER, JEANS & BIRKS - PRIMARK

BAG - H&M

My mum and I went to London last weekend to (hopefully) buy some last minute tickets to see The Lion King. I've wanted to see it for ages but tickets are absolutely extortionate so we decided to take our chances and get some cheap tickets from the ticket booths in Leicester Square. Luckily we managed to get some for the very top tier for (a still overpriced) £52pp - but for The Lion King you're really not going to get much cheaper than that! It was bizarre being so high up as I normally ALWAYS pay for stalls seats because you have a much better experience. The show was really good but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if we weren't so high up so we could actually see the detailed costumes and face paintings. I think the costumes and make up are what make the show so special, so it was a shame that we couldn't really see them that well. I love going to see new shows but Les Mis will always be my favourite!

We walked from Covent Garden to Leicester Square where we had dinner before going for a wander and ending up in Trafalgar Square. I absolutely love my new jumper from Primark and can't wait to wear it more now the weather's getting colder! So many of my friends asked me where I got it from so they could buy it too - they're always so shocked when they find out a lot of my clothes are from cheaper shops like New Look and Primark! They always go on about me having some form of magical power because I always find hidden gems in the most unlikely of shops! They do the jumper in light grey too if anyone is interested!

xxx

THE TRAVEL POST / BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (& I ACTUALLY VLOGGED!)

My friends Polly and Connor (who I met in Australia) and I went to Brussels a couple of weeks ago on a weekend getaway to visit our friend Bruno (who we also met in Australia). Polly and Connor are just as obsessed with travel as I am so it was basically an excuse to visit a new country whilst having a mini reunion with everyone. My friend lives opposite Nottingham Coach Station so I stayed at hers the night before as I was up on Friday morning for the 6.30am coach to Heathrow. The 5.30am wake up call wasn't fun but I wanted to make sure I was at the airport extra early just in case we hit traffic on the way down. Luckily everything ran on time so I had a couple of hours to kill at the airport before Polly and Connor caught the train in from Portsmouth. A glass of wine at the airport followed by free wine on the plane meant that I was pretty drunk by the time we arrived in Brussels... so naturally we got the beers in as we were waiting for Bruno to pick us up. We checked in to our hostel (which was a 10 second walk from the main square in Brussels) and sipped on sangria surrounded by the stunning architecture of Grand Place. I've been to a lot of European cities but Brussels is by far the prettiest! It's not somewhere a lot of people would think to visit but I would 100% recommend it - for scenery and atmosphere!

After dinner, Bruno left us for tennis club so the 3 of us headed out on the cobbled side streets for some Belgian beer (which FYI is double the strength of English beer!) We asked around for where the best youth bars were and came across a place called Delirium which was SO good. We got chatting to these guys from London and at this point Connor had bought me about 8 beers so everything turned into a giant blur!

The next morning, we took our hungover and sleep deprived selves (8 bed dorm + snorers = NO SLEEP) to breakfast at an outdoor cafe before heading off to explore the city. Who knew the Smurfs originated from Belgium ay? I did my research before we booked the trip and knew there was a water park and place called Mini Europe we could go to so we decided to go there to make the most of the boiling hot weather we were blessed with! The water park was so much fun and had the craziest slides with triple rubber dinghy's and outdoor cannon balls (watch here)!

We went back to our hostel (which had the coolest historian themed common room!) to get ready and then Bruno drove us about half an hour out of Brussels to Leuven - the city he went to university. The place was absolutely stunning and had such a great atmosphere with tons of people sat outside eating and drinking under the sunset. We went for a lovely meal at a posh restaurant followed by a few drinks outside in the main square. It was perfect.

Bruno took us to his very swanky apartment (did I mention he's a 30 year old real estate lawyer?) for more drinks before we headed back to Brussels to pass out on our not quite as luxurious bunk beds (talk about going from a 10 to a 4...)

Our flight wasn't until the afternoon so we squeezed in some last minute sightseeing to the 'Pissing Boy' (don't ask) and bought some souvenirs from Pandora and the Belgian chocolate shop. Connor bought us all matching bracelets from the Hard Rock Cafe too which was really cute!

TOTAL COST OF THE TRIP

City centre hostel (bunk bed in an 8 bed dorm) = £22 per person per night

Flights with British Airways from LHR > BRU = £140 return

Entrance to Mini Europe + Oceade water park = £19
Spending money = UP TO YOU!

Vlogging my travels is something I've always wanted to do but unless you're 100% committed to it, it's REALLY easy to forget! I made a conscious effort to film everything when we were away in Brussels and I'm so glad I did! Just goes to show that you don't necessarily need iMovie and an expensive camera to make decent videos - an iPhone and Movie Maker can work just as well! I'm hoping to improve the quality of my videos each time I go away but let me know what you think of my first attempt!

THE TRAVEL POST / PARIS, FRANCE

So it took me about 5 months to write up my Australia trip so it's only natural that it's taken me 4 months to write up my trip to Paris. Typical Jess!

I paid for me and my mum to go to Paris at the beginning of March for my mum's birthday/celebrating my new job because you know, who wouldn't wanna go to Paris? City breaks to Europe are so cheap so whenever I have a few dates free in my diary, I'll almost always book to go away somewhere. For £150pp for the Eurostar and hotel, we couldn't really complain!

Having been up since 6am getting the train from Notts to London, the worst possible thing happened when we arrived at St Pancras. We sat on the Eurostar waiting to set off when an announcement told us that unfortunately someone had been hit by a train in Kent so there would be delays. There was nothing anyone could do but sit and wait until the track was clear and it was safe to go. 5 HOURS we were sat on that train!!! For the most impatient person in the world, it was absolute HELL. Ohh the anger.

Eventually we set off and 2 and a half hours later we arrived in Paris. We had to dodge the con men trying to charge us €70 for a taxi to our hotel when we eventually found someone who took us for €15. We got to the hotel at 9pm and headed straight out to see the Eiffel Tower which was a 5 minute walk away. It looked absolutely stunning lit up against the backdrop of a nights sky. Thankfully it made up for what was a truly awful first day.

The next morning we went for breakfast and devoured croissants and coffee at a little cafe around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. I pre-booked tour bus tickets before we left the UK so after breakfast we jumped on the bus and headed for the sights. You could hop on and hop off as many times as you liked so our first stop was the Louvre followed by the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées and Notre Dame. It was SO windy and absolutely freezing so please forgive how windswept I look!

I absolutely loved the Arc de Triomphe, more so than the Eiffel Tower! It's such a beautiful structure and probably one of my favourite monuments ever. We went shopping along the Champs-Élysées and experienced the amazingness that is Sephora. I bought a few souvenirs and ate macaroons (standard) before heading back on the bus to Notre Dame. When we were walking around we somehow stumbled across the love lock bridge which I was SO excited about! We didn't really know where it was so we were lucky to come across it, especially as they've got rid of it now! I saw a padlock with Jess on which unfortunately wasn't me but hopefully one day I'll be able to go back and have my own love lock on the bridge (if they ever re-open it!)

That evening I persuaded my mum to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me which was a cool experience! The next morning we got the metro to the train station and made our way home (thankfully with no delays this time!)

Have you been to Paris before?

xxx

#LFW & MEETING LILY MELROSE

 DUSTER COAT | NEW LOOK

TURTLE NECK | TOPSHOP

RIPPED JEANS | PRIMARK (DIY)

SANDALS | ASOS

BACKPACK | PRIMARK

WATCH | CASIO

I had the weekend off work (which NEVER happens) so thought I'd treat myself by buying some last minute tickets to see Les Miserables in the West End. I've been working pretty much every day since I started my new job at New Look two months ago so thought it was about time I had a weekend off to enjoy myself. Me and my mum were so lucky to get last minute tickets as Les Mis books up months in advance but oh boy did we have to pay for it... was totally worth it though! We were six rows from the front and centre stage so the view couldn't have been better! It just so happened that London Fashion Week fell on the exact same weekend so I made it my mission to pop along to Somerset House to soak up the atmosphere.

We arrived in London at 11 so had plenty of time to visit LFW before heading over to Leicester Square for the theatre at 2:30. I thought there was a small possibility that I might see some celebs/fashion bloggers from afar at Somerset House but I could honestly not believe my luck when one of the biggest fashion bloggers/vloggers in the UK, Lily Melrose, strolled right in front of where me and my mum were standing. I went over to her straight away and asked for a photo (coolness went out of the window, mega fan took over) and she was so lovely and down to earth she didn't seem to mind at all. She said something about us taking a selfie so I rolled with it but I was that much in awe of her I couldn't really focus, not to mention I was shaking like a leaf! Such a ridiculous reaction considering I'm 21 but I was so shocked to see her that I just went all weird and nervous. I was only watching her youtube vids the night before so it was a pretty surreal experience. I also spotted the girls from Two Shoes One Pair and Zoe from London Lipgloss who Lily went over to greet as we were leaving.

LFW really is as crazy as it looks on photos. Although we were only outside Somerset House in the courtyard, the amount of people there with cameras (including me) who would run over to people walking in the entrance wearing the craziest, most extravagant outfits was insane. It's most definitely a case of 'the one wearing the wackiest outfit will get the most attention' and you could tell everyone there was trying to out-do each other to get noticed. Nevertheless the sun was shining, the style stakes were high and it was a very enjoyable day!

Before Les Mis we shared a quick burger at Jamie Oliver's Diner on Shaftesbury Avenue before heading to the theatre for a good old cry. The singing was phenomenal and the production was so extravagant I couldn't help but get massively choked up, especially before the interval and at the very end. Obligatory standing ovation followed. I found out on Instagram that Phoebe from That's So Phoebe was also at the same performance as me which was pretty cool. We headed back to King's Cross that evening for a Nando's before boarding the jam packed train back to Notts.

For those of you who haven't seen Les Mis before, I would seriously recommend it! xx